The raging debate right now is whether the changes in 2.4 will cause a resurgence of the Arcane spec.
Currently it is proven that, in both theorycrafting and practice, the Fire Mage (2/46/11 +2) spec puts out the highest amount of damage. Even though Arcane mages can, in some cases, blow the doors off of Fire Mages, one of the greatest limitations to Arc is how fast it depletes one's mana pool.
But in 2.4 there will be changes to the INT stat, which will allow much greater mana regen the higher your INT level is. This is causing some to speculate that Arcane mages, with their boosted INT, could become viable again.
Some mages are seeing some crazy stuff on the PTR (public test realm) where they can literally spam Frostbolt forever and not run out of mana because their regen is keeping up with their mana spend (using consumables, buffs, etc...but still!).
This is leading to the theory that one could just do Arcane Blast spam for some huge damage (with little threat), until empty, use all your mana regen abilities (gems, pots, evocation), then cast Frostbolts until your mana is replenished, and repeat.
It will be interesting to see what develops with this. My feeling is that Blizzard is trying to make multiple specs viable. I'm sure some folks will be making the switch to Arcane...especially those with the T5 2-pc bonus.
There are still some limitations which make Arcane a challenge. Limited range, spell interrupts (on Arc Blast), and tricky Arcane Blast rotations mean that Arc can, in actual raids, easily fall behind Fire even if, in theory it should be ahead.
More to come as the PTR test results come back...
![[del.icio.us]](http://images.del.icio.us/static/img/delicious.small.gif){kind=small}
by got here by accident, on March 8 2008 @ 9:41 am
using frostbolts to replenish mana while still doing damage just sounds too great to be true.
by Biggestweso, on May 21 2008 @ 4:52 pm
I am on Khadgar server if u want to Armory my spec
Arcane/Fire is the Future I can go all out on just about any Boss and not have to worry bout mana due to our new Mana gems, if what u are saying is true my build will servive the ages I can just Spam Scorch while my Mana pool regenerates
33-28-0 is my spec, I hit like a Mac Truck too so if what you are saying is true then LONG LIVE The PoM Pyro!