Cladius - Arcane Mage

Name: Eugene Liang
E-mail: Eugeneliang88@yahoo.com
Age: 22
Time Zone: EST
Location: NYC


CHARACTER INFORMATION

Character Name: Cladius
Class: Mage
Level: 80 (or no need to apply)
First Aid Level: 436
Profession 1: Inscription
Skill Level: 450
Profession 2: Alchemy
Skill Level: 450
Names of Alts Actively Played on: Porkzqt (Auchindoun) and Porklol (Anub'arak)

Planned Level 80 Talent Build
Name/Description: Arcane
Point Distribution: 57/3/11
Justification: (Healer/Dps/Tank) DPS


GEAR

Link to your armory profile or CT Profile if you're not logged out in your PvE gear: http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Anub'arak&cn=Cladius
My gear is quite lacking but it is made up with in skill.


Glyphs(PVE Oriented):

Major Glyphs:
Glyph of Arcane Missles
Glyph of Arcane Blast
Glyph of Molten Armor

Minor Glyphs:
Glyph of Slowfall
Glyph of Penguin
Glyph of Arcane Intellect

STATS

Prioritize the following stats RELEVANT TO YOU in order of MOST important to LEAST:
Arcane = Spell Power > Haste > Crit
Fire = Crit > Spell Power > Haste

Which stats are you looking to improve on your gear?
All?


RAIDING AVAILABILITY (Yes/No answers only)
(we raid 8:00pm - 12:00am server Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) DO NOT LIE. We expect full regular attendance from each raider, so if your school or work schedule will not allow this, Do Not Apply.

Mon: No
Tues: Yes
Wed: Yes
Thurs: Yes
Fri: No
Sat: Yes
Sun: No


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Do you mind respecing if needed? Sure
Rate your ability at playing your class's other spec(s) on a scale from 1-10: 10
List your DPS/Tanking/Healing Rotation: Arcane Blast x 4 -> Missle if proc, use barrage if I don't get innervate otherwise keep spamming Blast til Missle proc.
Link to a WWS parse for a RAID boss you feel you performed well on: n/a

Link to a Screenshot of your UI:
https://2img.net/r/ihimizer/img440/8104/wowscrnshot081310134349.jpg (Arcane with hidden keybinds)
https://2img.net/r/ihimizer/img132/4606/wowscrnshot081910233727.jpg (Rest of the Keybinds)

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your playing style? (1=Casual, 10=Hardcore): 8

List any guilds you have been in or are currently in and reason(s) for leaving each:

Well, I hit 80 recently on my mage so I don't really have any guilds under it's belt.

Guild 1: XXXX
Guild 2: XXXX
Guild 3: XXXX

Link to your WowProgress.com character profile:

BOSSES DOWNED (on any of your characters):

Pre-TBC (Please specify if you've only done these after WotLK, Yes/No will Suffice)
MC: n/a
BWL: n/a
AQ40: n/a
Naxx: n/a

TBC(Pre-Patch 3.0)
Serpentshrine Cavern: 6/6
The Eye: 4/4
Black Temple: 9/9
Mount Hyjal: 5/5
ZA: 4/4 w/ 4 Chests
Sunwell: 6/6

WotLK (Specify 10 or 25 man)
Naxx: 14/14
Obsidian Sanctum: 3/3 (3/3 Dragons up)
Eye Of Eternity: 1/1
Ulduar: 14/14 (10) 14/14 (25)
Trial of the Crusader: 5/5 (10) 5/5 (25)
Trial of the Grand Crusader: 5/5 (10) 5/5 (25)
Icecrown Citadel: 12/12 (10) 12/12 (25)

RESEARCH:

Sites you use to research your class: Not much since it's a pretty dumb down class.
Sites you use to research boss fights: Youtube?
On a scale of 1-10, how much do you theorycraft?: 5?

Please tell us a bit about yourself, your play-style, why you like your class, why you like raiding, why Like Warm Mana Pie, and anything else you'd like to share with us: Pretty much awesome, new class brings new life to the game, raiding kills time and of course the Professor Plums, saw your recruitment post, nope.

Why do I feel like you just insulted my class... >.<

Well, i didn't mean to insult ur class but i feel the mage rotation is kinda dumb down, it's what im trying to get across.

The rotation is definitly easy cake, but there is more to learning about your class than just a rotation.

Can you be more specific?

Well you have it very easy as far as rotation goes. Arcane blast x4 missilles when barrage procs, rinse and repeat.

And you're good on knowing what specific stats you need as arcane and as fire but do you know why or do you just say so because that's what everyone else says is right. Do you know why haste is so important, as arcane? Do you know why certain items are better for you even if they may not look like it right away? Do you know what your hit caps are as fire and arcane? Though if your playing arcane as main then thats all that really matters. Do you know how to manage your mana? When should your CD's be used? Do you know which fights you can do things, as a mage, that are very specific to that fight, and in the same thought thing that you should avoid doing?

My point is just that even if you have a rotation down, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't do some research on your class. Knowing which buttons to smash is only half of what you need. So while the rotation is easy that doesn't mean you shouldn't know these other things as well.

I guess i'll go thru each question 1 by 1 since I asked for specifics.

Do you know why haste is so important, as arcane?

Not really sure how to answer this kind of question but I guess i'll answer it as general as I can be. I mean this question is like asking is Bloodlust good? Haste is generally one of the most overpowered stats which was introduced into the game during TBC. Haste = faster cast = lower gcd =more arcane blast.

Do you know why certain items are better for you even if they may not look like it right away?

It's pretty simple as a dps for how upgrade works. Always have hit cap prioritized as number 1 which includes raid buffs ie hit for boomkins and shadow priest then have stats that will prioritize your stat priority ie arcane = spell power > haste > crit > spirit and fire = crit > spell power > haste > spirit, etc.

Do you know what your hit caps are as fire and arcane?

Generally hit is balanced around what your talents + raid is providing. Hit is the best stat to have for a DPS class unless your aiming for whites as a melee class. But I guess i'll answer the question, Arcane - 208 hit (8 percent) with talents and Fire - 14 percent i dont recall the specific number.

Though if your playing arcane as main then thats all that really matters.

Only reason I will be playing arcane is due to that fact that fire is very gear dependant and flame caps were removed off the CD with mana gems. Arcane tree isn't as gear dependant as fire i

Do you know how to manage your mana?

Mana gem around 85 percent then use it off CD. Evocation before your CDs are up if you need to. If druids are willing to give away their innervates then mana shouldn't be an issue.

When should your CD's be used?

PoM Arcane Blast on pull into mirrors to reduce threat into icy veins + arcane power. I guess try to time CDs with bloodlust depending on your haste. Since haste + icy veins + lust while being over haste cap is a dps loss.

Do you know which fights you can do things, as a mage, that are very specific to that fight, and in the same thought thing that you should avoid doing?

DPS is sort of really general tbh. Pre-pot couple of seconds before encounter. Tunnel the boss when you don't have to move and when u have to have to move, use instant spells ie barrage or fire blast.

My point is just that even if you have a rotation down, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't do some research on your class. Knowing which buttons to smash is only half of what you need. So while the rotation is easy that doesn't mean you shouldn't know these other things as well.

I mean research is good and all but when it comes down to it you can probably learn your class better by experience. It's not knowing what buttons to smash it's how fast u smash your buttons while paying attention to your surroundings. The rotation is generally easier because i feel arcane mages are like TBC's BM hunters. You have 3 buttons for DPS which 1 is a CD button.

------

I know im being a little bit eltist here but that's kind of who I am, I'm sorry if I approached you as a little bit strong. Anymore questions? I will answer them.

Oh and my character is bugged or something, currently rocking 2 glyphs of arcane missles.

You seem to have a good grasp of it. Personally just hearing someone say "Not much since it's a pretty dumb down class," is kind of off putting. Kind of like saying I'm a healer but I hate healing. To me it would have sounded a lot better for you to have just stated that you learn from experience and see no need to use external sites.

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Generally hit is balanced around what your talents + raid is providing. Hit is the best stat to have for a DPS class unless your aiming for whites as a melee class. But I guess i'll answer the question, Arcane - 208 hit (8 percent) with talents and Fire - 14 percent i dont recall the specific number.

Although I thought that the arcane hit cap would be 289 not including raid buffs, but I could be wrong. I haven't played arcane in a long time.

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Mana gem around 85 percent then use it off CD. Evocation before your CDs are up if you need to. If druids are willing to give away their innervates then mana shouldn't be an issue.

I do agree with the mana gem, however for Evocation I would also like to point out that if you have just used Icy Veins, if you wait for the last second before its about to expire and cast Evocation then the haste buff you receive will last throughout your entire Evocation. I don't know how it's going to be in the future because we are recruiting a number of certain classes but in most situations where I could have benefitted an Innervate, there wasn't one available. You shouldn't depend upon someone else's abilities to keep yourself dpsing. If a druid is available that's great but it shouldn't be the only way you can continue to damage and if another healer is needing the Innervate it's definitely going to go to them. I've seen and heard of certain mages who, in raid, constantly are calling out for Innervates and in most situations those types of players also don't care about raid awareness and are more meter maids. I'm not saying that's how you are, but rather how it has been in my experience.

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I mean research is good and all but when it comes down to it you can probably learn your class better by experience. It's not knowing what buttons to smash it's how fast u smash your buttons while paying attention to your surroundings.

I completely agree with you here. We've recently had issues on certain fights where people are either not focusing on their damage enough and watching their surroundings too much or are focusing too much on their damage and not paying attention to the situation. Neither are good, but someone who can focus on their surroundings is easier to teach to damage as well rather than someone who tunnel visions. We are currently looking for several classes because of this, and lack of attendance on certain days as well. Presently we have 4 raiding mages, and I don't know whether we wil be brining in another because it is not on the recruitment list but that will be up to Bandaidspec and you should hear from him in a couple of days.

Right now our main raiding day is Tuesday, progression is supposed to on Thursday but we have had attendance issues for the past couple of weeks. Because of this the guild is going through a poll at the moment that could cause another problem with your application. As it is right now we raid officially on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, though we haven't raided three nights a week for quite a while. The poll, as it stands at this moment, has 28% of people wanting to keep those days with another 28% wanting to raid Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday from 8-11 and 42% of people wanting to raid Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday from 8 - 12. If this goes through then there may be a conflict with your app with you having stated you are not available for Sunday or Monday raiding.

But I still feel that Arcane Mage rotation is dumb down compared to something like an unholy DK's rotation.

The hit caps I was talking about is after talents and raid buffs. Extra hit is worthless imo, if the druid or shadow priest dies it's their fault and it will reflect on raid dps. Even tho I dont see how they would die with Barkskin and Dispersion being such low CDs. Hit from gear shouldn't be that big of an issue seeing how BiS Fire gear puts you over hit cap by 1 percent.

You won't always have that kind of opportunity to get an evocation with icy veins imo. Innervate wouldn't always be needed. Arcane Blast x 4 - > Barrage depending on the situation and mana. I never used innervate as a crutch, i used it as a situational thing since healers hardly oom now a days. Replenishment + JoW on boss is usually good enough or even be placed in a resto shaman good for tide. Meters chasers are good to a certain extend and there is nothing wrong for a DPS to get innervate, innervate = less down time = more dps = faster boss dies = success.

Mages have Blink, Block, Frost and Fire ward to get them out of their misfortunes even tho they are a dps loss . I understand if there is an excess of raiding mages which is normal and common. Well I guess I can move some stuff around to fit raid schedule if accept.

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But I still feel that Arcane Mage rotation is dumb down compared to something like an unholy DK's rotation.

I agree that the rotation is very easy, although from what I've heard that is changing in Cataclysm. The rotation is probably why I like fire so much. Granted fire is still no where near as complicated as an unholy DK's, but it's still much more involved than arcane and a bit more interactive.

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The hit caps I was talking about is after talents and raid buffs. Extra hit is worthless imo, if the druid or shadow priest dies it's their fault and it will reflect on raid dps. Even tho I dont see how they would die with Barkskin and Dispersion being such low CDs. Hit from gear shouldn't be that big of an issue seeing how BiS Fire gear puts you over hit cap by 1 percent.

As arcane I never had to worry about hit cap, so I understand what you are saying here. And in best in slot fire gear hit cap isn't a worry either. When I was arcane I was so over hit cap it wasn't even funny but there is a bit of a balance you have to find with fire, at least until you get all the hit geared BiS items.

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You won't always have that kind of opportunity to get an evocation with icy veins imo.

That's true that there can be situations where it makes it difficult. For example if your about to expire on Icy Veins and are getting ready to cast your Evocation and Professor Putricide decides to throw a Malleable Goo your way, your gonna have to move and lose that chance. Although for the most part if you plan ahead and are thinking bout when your going to need to use it I think you can manage to capture that moment more often than not.

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Meters chasers are good to a certain extend and there is nothing wrong for a DPS to get innervate, innervate = less down time = more dps = faster boss dies = success.

I will never agree that someone who is a meter maid is a good thing. Someone who only wants to focus on their dps, wants to beat others and end up on top are the reasons why we wipe on hardmodes. It's not about one person being number one but rather the entire group killing something. And I never said that it was wrong for a dps to receive an Innervate but rather the dps should not depend on it. It's not the druid's job to keep the caster dps with full mana. If it is available then there isn't anything wrong with it, but to depend on it isn't right either.

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Mages have Blink, Block, Frost and Fire ward to get them out of their misfortunes even tho they are a dps loss

I'm not quite sure where that came from or what you were referencing it from but you also forgot that we have Invisibility which drops all threat and is definitly a dps loss but it drops us to the bottom of the meters and allows us to blast away without worry of pulling.

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Oh and my character is bugged or something, currently rocking 2 glyphs of arcane missles.

I wouldn't worry too much about that, on the app you have the appropriate glyphs listed. I would like to point out that you are in full PvP gear and that it would be nice to see what type of PvE gear you possess considering you are wanting to join a raiding guild, your PvP set doesn't really help that.

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I understand if there is an excess of raiding mages which is normal and common. Well I guess I can move some stuff around to fit raid schedule if accept.

That would be good but nothing is finalized with it. I don't know yet whether it will go through or not and if it does, then when it would even be put to use. It's good to know that you would be willing to try to rearrange your schedule to make it work, however. Good luck!

hey pork, gtfo, kthxbai

^

JK!

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I agree that the rotation is very easy, although from what I've heard that is changing in Cataclysm. The rotation is probably why I like fire so much. Granted fire is still no where near as complicated as an unholy DK's, but it's still much more involved than arcane and a bit more interactive.

I would play fire but you pretty much need full 264 / 277 gear with ton of crit, seeing how I don't have access to this loot it would be better for me playing PVE frost than Fire.

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As arcane I never had to worry about hit cap, so I understand what you are saying here. And in best in slot fire gear hit cap isn't a worry either. When I was arcane I was so over hit cap it wasn't even funny but there is a bit of a balance you have to find with fire, at least until you get all the hit geared BiS items.

With arcane you benefit from 2 hit talents (Arcane Focus and Precision) and fire it is pretty much not worth specing into precision seeing how TotW outweighs Precision, Icy Veins + filler talents. With ICC gear there is an abundance of hit with certain items if you're able to get your hands on them most of the mages from the top WoL have around 15 percent, almost 1 piece of hit gear change will put u under hit and gemming for hit while replacing that item for a crit piece is still not worth it.

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That's true that there can be situations where it makes it difficult. For example if your about to expire on Icy Veins and are getting ready to cast your Evocation and Professor Putricide decides to throw a Malleable Goo your way, your gonna have to move and lose that chance. Although for the most part if you plan ahead and are thinking bout when your going to need to use it I think you can manage to capture that moment more often than not.

If you have DBM you should pretty much plan everything you do before hand to maximize your performance in raids.

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I will never agree that someone who is a meter maid is a good thing. Someone who only wants to focus on their dps, wants to beat others and end up on top are the reasons why we wipe on hardmodes. It's not about one person being number one but rather the entire group killing something. And I never said that it was wrong for a dps to receive an Innervate but rather the dps should not depend on it. It's not the druid's job to keep the caster dps with full mana. If it is available then there isn't anything wrong with it, but to depend on it isn't right either.

DPS competition is the reason I would want to play a DPS class. Maximizing DPS should always be a top priority when raiding. I never said Innervate should be a dependancy, I said it is nice to have. It's like asking a Disc priest to save PI for themselves. Feral druids can give away their innervates when they have no energy or not tanking, 2 global loss for a feral dps is much better than Evocation. Resto druids don't even use the 21int meta since their regen is ridiculous. And if you oom as Balance then I guess you're just bad.

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I'm not quite sure where that came from or what you were referencing it from but you also forgot that we have Invisibility which drops all threat and is definitly a dps loss but it drops us to the bottom of the meters and allows us to blast away without worry of pulling.

Invisibility = 3 second which is around 3 globals, seeing how instant cast stuff like blink / block requites 1 i think they're better. Threat should never be an issue unless you're getting chain tricks imo. Arcane mages are spec for threat reduction and seeing how ridiculous tank threating is in WOTLK an arcane mage should never pull aggro unless during a gimmick fight. You can always ask for hand of salvation if the pally is good and pays attention to omen then it should be given imo.

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I wouldn't worry too much about that, on the app you have the appropriate glyphs listed. I would like to point out that you are in full PvP gear and that it would be nice to see what type of PvE gear you possess considering you are wanting to join a raiding guild, your PvP set doesn't really help that.

It's true that my gear is very lacking, I've only had about 11 days played on my mage and pretty sure half of it was AFK'd in durotar. =P I mean I can get all the gear from 245 but the current PVP gear that i equiped provides more stats than the items I can obtain outside ICC.

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That would be good but nothing is finalized with it. I don't know yet whether it will go through or not and if it does, then when it would even be put to use. It's good to know that you would be willing to try to rearrange your schedule to make it work, however. Good luck!

Thanks.

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hey pork, gtfo, kthxbai

My favorite ginger, should play SC sometime.

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^ JK

Don't make me use my blackmailing abilities.

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Invisibility = 3 second which is around 3 globals, seeing how instant cast stuff like blink / block requites 1 i think they're better. Threat should never be an issue unless you're getting chain tricks imo. Arcane mages are spec for threat reduction and seeing how ridiculous tank threating is in WOTLK an arcane mage should never pull aggro unless during a gimmick fight. You can always ask for hand of salvation if the pally is good and pays attention to omen then it should be given imo.

This is true. In an arcane stand point I never really worried about threat. However now that I am fire if the hotstreak proc is good and Combustion is up which means Hotstreak will be good then I am critting sever times in a row and I generate a huge amount of threat in very little time. Most of the time in the raid when I ask for a Savlation I am told to Invis first. The only time I'm given Salv is when Invis is on CD. The fight that comes to mind the most is the first phase in LK, it's very easy to just stand still and pew pew that phase and my threat will quickly overtake the tanks if I don't Invis or recieve a Salv.

Oh, and Gôulet does play SC! XD