Stack Arcane Salvo with Missiles, cash it in with Barrage, and fire every Prismatic Bolt.
Damage
Gear: Method.ggBuilds: Archon consensus, M+ This Week (+7–+19)Updated 10/29/2026 by Guild guides
Playing
Midnight rebuilt Arcane from the ground up. The old burn and conserve phases are gone and mana barely matters this season. Arcane Missiles, fed by Clearcasting, stacks Arcane Salvo; Arcane Barrage at 4 Arcane Charges spends those stacks for a big hit and a chance at Prismatic Bolt, the Season 2 apex proc. Arcane Surge every 90 seconds and Touch of the Magi every 45 give you a big burst and a smaller one in between.
Difficulty
The Midnight rework took mana planning out of the spec, so the old burn and conserve phases are gone. What is left is reading Clearcasting, Arcane Salvo and Arcane Charges every global and spending the Prismatic Bolt proc the moment it lights.
Resource
Arcane Charges, Arcane Salvo and Mana
Hero talents in keys
Sunfury
Standing this patch
ARaid
Brings to the group
InterruptCounterspell (25s)
StunDragon's Breath, Supernova, Ring of Frost
DispelRemove Curse
PurgeSpellsteal
Battle resnone
LustTime Warp
MobilityBlink or Shimmer, Alter Time
Pick any button below to follow it through the guide: where it sits in the opener, which rung of the priority fires it, and every mistake it is part of.
1Arcane Blast
2Arcane Missiles
3Arcane Barrage
4Prismatic Bolt
520sArcane Orb
645sTouch of the Magi
71m 30sArcane Surge
s145sEvocation
s230sPrismatic Barrier
s31mAlter Time
s44mIce Block
s52mMirror Image
s62mGreater Invisibility
s725sCounterspell
s830sShimmer
s95mTime Warp
Spellsteal
8sRemove Curse
Rotation
What do I press?
Press order
1Arcane Orb0.0s
2Arcane Missiles1.5s
3Arcane Blast4.0s
4Arcane Missiles6.3s
5Arcane Missiles8.8s
6Arcane Barrage11.3s
7Arcane Orb12.8s
8Prismatic Bolt14.3s
9Arcane Missiles16.8s
10Arcane Blast19.3s
11Arcane Missiles21.5s
12Arcane Missiles24.0s
13Arcane Barrage26.5s
14Arcane Orb28.0s
Arcane Orb0.0s
Fires because you have fewer than 3 Arcane Charges. On a pack it gives a charge for every enemy it passes through.
0s5s10s15s20s25s30s
One press per global at base haste (1.5s), longer for casts. Real pulls drift with haste and procs; the order is what matters.
Cooldowns and when to use them
90-second window: 35% more spell damage for 15 seconds and a full mana refund. As Sunfury it also brings the Arcane Phoenix and ends in Arcane Soul.
From SimulationCraft's mage_arcane.simc, changed Sep 6, 2026. This is what the simulations behind most guides press; conditions are shown as SimC writes them.
What top players actually cast
Below are the opening rotations from a small sample of recent top Arcane Mage rankings for Altar of Fangs. You can use this to compare to your own opener and find potential points of improvement. Note that the opener for some specs may vary based on when certain buffs proc.
Arcane BlastBuilder2.3s cast · +1 Arcane ChargeYour filler. Each Arcane Charge makes it hit harder, cost more and cast faster.
Arcane MissilesProc2.5s cast · +1 Arcane Salvo per waveOnly castable with Clearcasting. Each of its waves adds a stack of Arcane Salvo, which is what makes Arcane Barrage hit hard.
Arcane BarrageSpenderInstant · Spends all Arcane Charges and Arcane SalvoInstant spender. Fire it at 4 charges with a healthy Salvo stack; spending Salvo is what rolls for Prismatic Bolt.
Prismatic BoltProc2.5s cast · +4 Arcane ChargesThe Season 2 apex proc. A chance to light when Arcane Barrage spends Salvo, it hits very hard and cleaves, and it does not stack, so cast it before the next proc can overwrite it.
Arcane OrbBuilderInstant · 20s cd · +1 Arcane Charge, +1 per enemy hitInstant charge builder. Use it when you are sitting on fewer than 3 charges, usually right after an Arcane Barrage.
Cooldowns
Touch of the MagiCooldownInstant · 45s cd · 12s long · +4 Arcane ChargesStores a share of your damage on the target for 12 seconds, then explodes. Cast it while an Arcane Barrage is in the air; every second use pairs with Arcane Surge.
Arcane SurgeCooldown2.5s cast · 1m 30s cd · 15s long · Spends all Mana, grants ClearcastingYour big window: dumps your mana into a nuke, then gives 15 seconds of 35% more spell damage and huge mana regen. As Sunfury it also summons the Arcane Phoenix and ends in Arcane Soul.
Survival
Prismatic BarrierDefensiveInstant · 30s cd ×2 · 1m longAbsorb shield that also cuts magic damage taken. Two charges with Improved Prismatic Barrier; keep one up before every pull.
Alter TimeDefensiveInstant · 1m cd · 10s longSnapshots your health and position, then puts you back on the second press. A heal after a big hit, or a free reposition; with Time Walk it also resets Shimmer.
Ice BlockDefensiveInstant · 4m cd · 10s longFull immunity for 10 seconds at the cost of doing nothing. Some builds swap it for Ice Cold, a 70% damage reduction you can keep casting through.
Greater InvisibilityDefensiveInstant · 2m cd · 20s longDrops all threat and makes you untargetable until you act. It no longer reduces damage taken, so it is an escape, not a mitigation button.
Utility
EvocationUtility3s cast · 45s cdRefills mana. Only for a genuine empty bar with Arcane Surge far away; with this season's mana returns you will rarely press it.
Mirror ImageUtilityInstant · 2m cd · 15s longIn Midnight this is a threat tool: you generate almost no threat while the images last. With Refractive Images it also spreads more of your incoming damage over time.
CounterspellInterruptInstant · 25s cdInterrupt with a school lockout, 40 yards, on a 25 second cooldown.
ShimmerMovementInstant · 30s cd ×2Blink that works mid-cast and off the global cooldown, so you keep channeling Arcane Missiles while you reposition.
Time WarpUtilityInstant · 5m cd · 40s long30% haste for the whole group. In a raid, use it with Arcane Surge on pull unless your group is saving lust for a later phase.
SpellstealUtilityInstantSteals a magic buff from an enemy. The answer to enrage-free magic buffs on trash and some boss shields.
Remove CurseUtilityInstant · 8s cdRemoves curses from an ally; your only dispel.
Builds / Talents
Raid and Mythic+ talents
SunfuryRaid and Mythic+The default for raid and Mythic+ this season; every top-50 Mythic+ Arcane Mage on Murlok runs it. Arcane Surge summons an Arcane Phoenix, banks your Spellfire Spheres, and ends in Arcane Soul, a short spell where every Arcane Barrage refunds Clearcasting and 4 Arcane Charges.
SpellslingerSituationalBuilds around Splinters and Arcane Orb charges. Playable, but its Orb and Missiles talents pull in different directions and it sims behind Sunfury everywhere right now.
50 of the top 50 Mythic+ players run Sunfury (4119–4340 rating). Murlok.io
Mythic+
245,927 logs · 2026-11-05T12:00:00Z
Consensus loadoutRecommended
Popularity 97.5% heatmap match · 97.5% heatmap match
Recommended loadout is the closest match to Archon’s aggregate popularity across top parses — not a single one-off key.
Sample size: 245927 top parses. Only talents in the recommended loadout are drawn.
Class
Specialization
Hero
Only talents in this loadout are drawn (Sunfury). Hover a node for its Wowhead tooltip.
Across 245,927 logs. A talent has to show up in at least 40% of them before it is part of the build.
Gear
What do I wear and enchant?
Stats for Mythic+
1Intellect
›
2Haste
›
3Crit
›
4Vers
›
5Mastery
Left to right — highest priority first. Sim your character when secondaries are close.
Based on data in the last 2 weeks, the stat priority for Arcane Mage looks to be Intellect > Haste > Crit > Vers > Mastery. However, there may be bias based on what gear is available to players.
What the top Mythic+ players actually have
Haste28% +998
Critical Strike25% +837
Mastery35% +705
Versatility10% +525
Average secondary stats of the top 50 Mythic+ players (4119–4340 rating), from Murlok.io, updated 2 hour ago.
4×piece set: Arcane Mage16×slots
Best in slot from Method.gg. Every slot is on the figure. Point at a piece to light it.
Wear 4 tier pieces. The 4-piece bonus is what this spec is tuned around.
2-piece: Arcane Missiles fires 1 additional Missile and does 20% increased damage
4-piece: Each wave of Arcane Missiles increases the damage of your next Arcane Blast , Arcane Pulse , or Prismatic Bolt! by 3%, up to 24%.
Best-to-good single-target order from Liquid Armory (Oct 12, 2026). Filled marks = higher on the list. Your own gear can change the order — sim before you buy.
Counterspell is on a 25 second cooldown; take a regular kick slot in Mythic+.
Supernova knocks a pack up, and Dragon's Breath disorients a cone; both stop casts on trash that has no kick immunity.
Staying alive
Keep Prismatic Barrier up between pulls and recast it before predictable damage; two charges and a half-global cast make this free.
Alter Time before a big hit, then press it again to return to the health you had.
Ice Block (or Ice Cold if you take it) for the one hit you cannot survive otherwise.
Mirror Image no longer reduces damage on its own; with Refractive Images it spreads more incoming damage over time. Greater Invisibility is a threat drop and escape.
Polymorph, Mass Polymorph and Ring of Frost for crowd control.
In Mythic+
Use Touch of the Magi on the enemy that must die first or will live longest; it does most of its damage when it expires.
Do not hold Arcane Surge for a perfect pack. It comes back every 90 seconds and it is also your mana refill.
Prismatic Bolt splashes most of its damage onto nearby enemies; on big pulls, plan your movement so you can stand still for it.
Take a kick rotation slot with Counterspell; at 25 seconds it is one of the shorter ranged interrupts.
Mistakes
What do people get wrong?
Playing the old burn and conserve phases
Wrong
Arcane Blast
Arcane Blast
Arcane Blast
Arcane Blast
Evocation
Right
Arcane Missiles
Arcane Barrage
Arcane Orb
Arcane Missiles
The Midnight rework took the mana game out of Arcane. Damage now comes from Missiles stacking Arcane Salvo and Barrage spending it, not from saving mana for a burn.
Sitting on Prismatic Bolt
Wrong
Arcane Barrage
Arcane Blast
Arcane Missiles
Arcane Barrage
Right
Arcane Barrage
Prismatic Bolt
Arcane Missiles
Arcane Barrage
The proc does not stack. If the next Barrage procs it again while you still hold one, the old one is lost.
Barraging without Salvo
Wrong
Arcane Blast
Arcane Blast
Arcane Barrage
Right
Arcane Missiles
Arcane Missiles
Arcane Barrage
Barrage gets most of its damage, and its Prismatic Bolt chance, from the Salvo it spends. Build stacks with Missiles first.
Casting Touch before the Barrage
Wrong
Touch of the Magi
Arcane Barrage
Arcane Blast
Right
Arcane Barrage
Touch of the Magi
Arcane Missiles
Touch grants 4 charges. Cast first, those charges are spent by the Barrage; cast second, they refill you at once.
Playstyle
Is this spec for me?
How it plays
Clearcasting lets you cast Arcane Missiles, and each wave adds a stack of Arcane Salvo.
Arcane Barrage spends all Arcane Charges and all Salvo; aim for 4 charges and 12 or more Salvo.
Spending Salvo can proc Prismatic Bolt. It does not stack, so cast it before the next Barrage.
Arcane Surge (90s) plus Touch of the Magi is the big window; the Touch in between (45s) is a smaller one. As Sunfury, Surge ends in Arcane Soul, where every Barrage refunds Clearcasting and 4 charges.
Running out of mana is fine: Barrage, keep going, and Arcane Surge refills you.
Strong at
Heavy burst every 90 seconds with a smaller window every 45
Single-target damage climbs when extra enemies are around
Good mobility with Shimmer, Blink and Alter Time
Time Warp, Arcane Intellect, Spellsteal and Remove Curse
Weak at
A large share of damage rides on the random Prismatic Bolt proc
Little self-healing; defensives are about preventing damage, not recovering
Cast-heavy, so poorly planned movement costs a lot
Mark of the Worldsoul
Rite of the Hash'ey
Sunfire Silk Spellthread
Indecipherable Eversong Diamond
Flawless Quick Lapis
