Arcane Brilliance: The two-button mage myth
by Christian Belt 
Jul 16th 2011 at 2:00PM
You may not believe this, but lately I've been finding something more annoying than the continued existence of warlocks. I know, I know. Crazy, right? What could possibly be more annoying than our emo-loving, Hot Topic-frequenting, mascara-laden, parent-hating nemesises? Nemesi? Apparently the dictionary says "nemesis" is its own plural, which is just ... boring.
Anyway, the answer to the question that I just pretended you asked is this:
"Mages are a two-button class." -- The internet
These days, you literally can't post the word "mage" anywhere on the web without someone, usually multiple people, posting some poorly spelled, perplexingly punctuated amalgam of the above words. It's usually intended as an indictment of the class, a dismissal of what non-mages feel is the simplistic nature of of our major DPS spell rotations. The assumption is that mages are an easy, boring class to play, that one could be a successful mage simply by drunkenly alternating pressing two buttons.
For a very long time, it was easy for me to ignore this. It was stupid, and false, and perpetuated by non-mages who were either clear trolls or outright ignorant. But lately, I've been hearing self-deprecating versions of this same phrase from actual, honest-to-goodness mages. Are we really buying into the ignorant assumptions of the rest of the community? It was at that moment that I realized that it was time I addressed what I call the two-button myth.
My original concept for this column was to present my argument in the form of a dirty limerick: There was a young mage from Nantucket ... Then I realized that nothing good could come of that, only tears and heartbreak. I instead opted for a sampling of my favorite arguments, each of which plainly refutes the misguided assertion that mages are simple and boring to play.
If you're only using two buttons, you're doing it wrong. Let's just set aside the various main DPS rotations of each mage spec. Even if you, somehow, are finding ways to effectively DPS a boss with two buttons (and the only spec this is even remotely possible with is arcane, which we'll go into more in a second), you're a terrible mage. Let me reacquaint you with your spellbook.
Spells outside your DPS rotation that you should be using regularly:
- Polymorph Yes, CC is still something you should be doing. Unless your tank and healer completely outgear the content, they will appreciate your taking one mob out of the equation on each pull, assuming you've discussed CC strategy beforehand.
- Counterspell It's possible your group may not need you as part of their interrupt rotation, but it's also likely that they will. If you're an arcane mage with Invocation, interrupting actually results in a nice damage buff for you. Find ways to use this spell in a useful manner, and your group will benefit.
- Remove Curse Look at the fight you're in. Are your enemies using curses? If so, then you absolutely need to take it upon yourself to remove them. Don't assume the healer will take care of it. Even if your healer can actually cure curses (many healer classes simply don't have an ability that does this), why should they waste precious mana on doing so when you're perfectly capable of shouldering that particular burden? You run low on mana, you temporarily do less damage; your healer runs low on mana, you all probably die.
- Spellsteal You won't be using it in every fight, but when you see a mob with a buff that you can steal, chances are that you should absolutely be stealing it. Not only are you purging that buff from the enemy, reducing the threat that mob poses, you're also granting yourself a potentially powerful damage, healing, or defensive buff for a few seconds. The spell costs more mana now, so you need to pick your spots, but used effectively, spellstealing is one of the skills that separates a bad mage from a good one.
The two-button DPS rotation doesn't actually exist. The whole popularity of the "two-button" idea can largely be blamed on the spell rotation of arcane mages. And the thing is, it isn't even really true for them. The main rotation for arcane consists of Arcane Blast spam, threaded carefully with Arcane Missiles. There are your two buttons.
But that's not really how it works. Your two-button rotation is divided into three distinct phases, dependent upon your mana pool, and interspersed with judicious use of multiple cooldowns, from Evocation, to Mana Gems, to Arcane Power, to Presence of Mind, to the above-mentioned utility spells that every mage should be using. And then there are the times when you need to release a growing Arcane Blast stack and Arcane Missiles hasn't procced, meaning you will need to fire off an Arcane Barrage. I've said it before and I'll say it again: No class/spec has a wider gulf between competence and incompetence than an arcane mage.
And though each mage spec does have its main nuke, which is cast more often than any other spell, both fire and frost have multi-spell rotations even in their simplest forms.
Fire has a proc-based rotation that begins with Fireball and weaves in no less than 74 different spells, including but not limited to Pyroblast, Scorch, Living Bomb, Fire Blast, and Combustion.
Frost has a priority-centric rotation that looks like this when laid out as simply as possible:
- Frostfire Orb, if off cooldown
- Deep Freeze, if off cooldown and Fingers of Frost is up
- Frostfire Bolt, if both Brain Freeze and Fingers of Frost are up
- Ice Lance, if Finger of Frost is up
- Freeze, if off cooldown, Deep Freeze is off cooldown, and Finger of Frost is not up
- Frostbolt
We haven't even mentioned AOE and movement rotations. These are wholly distinct, multi-button rotations that are used when AOE attacks or movement are called for. Many fights will require periods of switching between the usual, single-target rotations detailed above and these other rotations. The tank's picking up multiple adds that need to be disposed of quickly? Time to switch to a mix of Flamestrike, Blast Wave, Dragon's Breath, Living Bomb, and Impact-DOT-spreading through Fire Blast. Going to have to move for a while? Better adopt an Improved Blink/Arcane Barrage/Presence of Mind-Arcane Blast rotation for as long as needed.
The simple fact of the matter that no class, no matter how simple it may appear to those who do not play that class, is a two-button class. Every class, especially mages, requires a level of skill and intelligence to play well. Each class and spec has its own complexities. When somebody throws around the easy-mode accusation, it does nothing so much as betraying their own simple-minded ignorance.
Unless they are talking about warlocks. In which case they would be totally correct. In fact, I'm pretty sure warlocks only use one button. And that button is "Douche."
Every week, Arcane Brilliance teleports you inside the wonderful world of mages and then hurls a Fireball in your face. Start off with our Cataclysm 101 guide for new mages, then find out which spec is best for raiding, get advice from the poor mage's guide to enchants, and learn how to keep yourself alive.Filed under: Mage, Analysis / Opinion, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
Hinalover Jul 16th 2011 2:06PM
One quick update to your Frost rotation, recently it's been noted that it's a dps increase to cast FFB whenever Brain Freeze is up, regardless if FoF is up.
2011681 Jul 17th 2011 9:33AM
This is good to hear, because it's how I've always played my beloved frost mage. Especially with the glyph of FFB, it's important to maintain that small stack of DoTs so your enemies continue to burn with a cold fire. This is the only DoT that Frost Mages have, and spreading it around whenever you can to whoever needs it is important, and it becomes even more valuable, important, and goddamn sexy with the tier 12 set bonus making Brain Freeze so frequent. It makes me want to take some extra fire talents for additional freezeful burnination.
WoWie Zowie Jul 17th 2011 11:30AM
arcane has always had the simplest rotation of all classes in wow. this is true. and the burst you get from it is extraordinarily easy to see first hand in heroic dungeons and trash mobs. any fool warlock can roll a mage and perform deceptively well when you're in heroic zul'aman.
who cares.
this is harder to see on boss fights where the target lives longer than your mana pool.
the skill involved in playing an arcane mage comes from playing the "manage your cooldowns" mini game. you will need to conserve mana, arcane power, and mana gem for the bloodlust/heroism that will inevitably pop during the fight. is there enough time to do that before and have it be available? when would be the optimal time to evocate? if aoe is involved, arcane will not be nearly as effective as fire (new TB boss, anyone?). will you have to move when you pop your arcane power? i sure hope not!
the fact of the matter is, if you take 2 similarly geared mages you will be able to discern who managed their cooldowns wisely and who was newer to the raiding scene. that gap in dps is the proof that mages were designed to be easy to play and hard to master. just like every other class in wow. what some don't grasp is that you simply can't play a mage like you play every other class. if you approach mage the same way you approach warlock then you will complain that its too easy, but your dps will plummet on a long fight. you can't play a mage like you play your paladin. you will complain that its too easy but then you will never interrupt or spellsteal, you will ignore the number of stacks of arcane blast you had for the first quarter of health the boss has, and your dps will plummet on a long fight. etc. etc. for other classes.
arcane is not about rotation, its about mana and cooldown management and timing.
i could argue that playing a hunter is even easier than mage. you right click on a mob and autoshot it while your pet goes apes*** on it. there, now you are dpsing. even a mage has to actually press a button at least!
but if a hunter wants to actually be competitive with dps then he/she will have to do a LOT more than that. again, easy to play and hard to master. same concept, just different approach. that's only one broad example but i think i'm approaching wall-of-text status here so i'll stop.
Murmel Jul 16th 2011 2:07PM
I always enjoy reading your columns. Today, with this column, you have just lifted my spirits and made me want to play my mage more than ever. Thank you :)
Tim Jul 16th 2011 2:37PM
Same with me. :)
Herpderp Jul 17th 2011 9:15AM
I love this column. Christian Belt is a god of magecolumnwriting awesomeness.
For the tools commenting that arcane mages are two-button easysauce dps, yeah you could say that. But then I guess you can say all tanks are two-buttoners too. I mean, a paladin tank--button 1 = taunt macro, button 2 = crusader strike amirite? Hunters can be two buttons. Hell hunters can just sick their pets and be 0 buttons! Autoshot ftw??? Lol Imadrood I can tree lemme do my 2 button healz - rejuvenate, swiftmend, profit!!
What about dk's? Frost fever, plague strike, afk 15 seconds??? If you want to apply that kind of fail logic you can to every single class and every single spec. But it's failtastic logic. An arcane mage can two-button no more than any other class or spec in the game. As the author of this column pointed out, mana management is vital as damage dealt is linked to mana pool. Somewhere in WotLK mages took the class-tard role away from hunters and I don't get why. For as far back as I can remember, DK's and hunters have always been known as the class anyone can play aka the easymode classes, etc. I don't agree with that assessment (as my hunter needs a few dozen toolbars just to show all the vital crap I need on any given fight) but that type of stereotypical tard mentality has just transferred over to mages.
If you ask me, it's a warlock conspiracy. They're secretly getting the huntards and lolknights to side with them in making mages look like the easysauce dps class. 'Locks have always been jealous of mages. But that's just my opinion. What do I know? I play a huntard after all. And I do put the tard in huntard.
Tirrimas Jul 16th 2011 2:16PM
ARCHMAGE BELT IS BACK! HUZZAH!
Jack Spicer Jul 16th 2011 2:17PM
"ire has a proc-based rotation that begins with Fireball and weaves in no less than 74 different spells, including but not limited to Pyroblast, Scorch, Living Bomb, Fire Blast, and Combustion."
And I thought my priest/hunter toolbars were overcrowded. 74 spells, wow!
krislen Jul 16th 2011 4:05PM
gross exaggeration at its finest, and saying that arcane is in anyway complicated even with mana gaming is simply fallacious, id put destro with a higher skill cap than arcane and no im not a main warlock just happens to be a fun alt along with my mage, warrior, priest, and rogue. The only spec that does show any form of complication to it is fire and even that has moments where its easy (alysrazor OMG SPAM PYRO).
Is the mage class fun to play, yes, is it anywhere as complicated as he is making it out to be, no, is it as easy as the 2 button stereotype, also no. If i had to rate it i would put it mid range in difficulty, easiest spec being Frost DK atm (which is currently my main class but im unholy atm). Sorry if this comes out like a troll it's just my personal opinion from a person who has raided pretty much every spec.
Jack Mynock Jul 16th 2011 5:20PM
Does any class even have 74 spells? I'm guessing he meant 7 and just fat, deformed fingered the 4.
Fireball, Scorch, Living Bomb, Pyroblast, Fireblast, Flame Orb, Combustion.
Sqtsquish Jul 16th 2011 6:04PM
So you cast a couple spells a few cds (for damage, mana, etc), you might have a dot or 2 (one of which is a cd), and you have a few spells you use pretty much only when you have a proc.....
NOT THAT THIS IS BAD but, That is essentially elemental shaman which is btw considered one of the most simplistic classes to play, (unless you count aoe which is like 8 buttons, considerable ramp up time and mana commitment, and numerous different variations for the amount of time the adds need to be downed in and the mana you have available.
All that said is apart from utility spells like interrupts, slows, knockbacks, cc etc. which is where a truly skilled player can show their skill while maintaining a decent workable rotation.
Also IMO, cds though a vital part of playing your class and SHOWING YOU HAVE CLASS, should not be considered part of your rotation.
Yrmes Jul 16th 2011 7:46PM
"Also IMO, cds though a vital part of playing your class and SHOWING YOU HAVE CLASS, should not be considered part of your rotation."
Say that to cat druids. Berserk and Tiger's Fury are to be part of your rotation unless something else becomes more important at that moment. They absolutely maximize your ability to do anything else other than swinging away.
I would argue the self-buffs and mana regaining cooldowns of an Arcane mage can be just as important, as the spec is all about maximizing your dps versus your resources. Do the most as quickly as possible while maintaining as much of your resources as you can.
Obviously unleash weapon isn't part of an elemental Shaman's rotation because it's a cooldown, you should just pop it whenever without regard for lava burst. As well as popping elemental mastery whenever, because we wouldn't want to rotate ourselves into instant critting lava bursts on near clockwork precision due to cooldown timers.
Sqtsquish Jul 16th 2011 9:11PM
@Yrmes
evidently you don't understand mainstream ele theorycraft since..... 4.0- unleash weapon is only to be used while moving, assuming you don't have something else instant you can use, and that is assuming that you are not using the LB glyph for that particular fight. Secondly, elemental mastery is great, but it is FAR better to only pop haste CDs along with straight % damage buffs so you cast faster harder for the duration. In addition to knowing when and whether to pop ur fire elemental because they tend to die, stand there and do nothing, or attack the wrong things if you don't know their behavior in every situation.
As far as I know there no class that is simpler then arcane mage- not that that makes it stupid simple, or even easy to properly optimize everything, just the easiest I know of.
Yrmes Jul 17th 2011 12:41AM
@Sqtsquish
Well, I thought I did, as I've been following every guide I can get my hands on. But, as my shaman is primarily resto, I've never been too worried about my dps when I'm learning fights as elemental with friends.
MusedMoose Jul 16th 2011 2:24PM
I've said it before and I'll say it again: anyone who thinks mages are a two-button class doesn't play a mage.
Oh, they might have a mage character. They might even have one at level 85. But if you're using only two buttons, you aren't actually *playing* a mage. That's like saying that, if you run up and down the court while dribbling the ball, you're playing basketball. And that's just not true.
Mr. Belt, I apologize for tainting your column with a sports reference, but I'm just about to be late to go see Harry Potter, which is a shining example of magely triumph over warlockery, so it was the best metaphor I could come up with on short notice. I hope you'll forgive me. ^_^
Moonfaxx Jul 16th 2011 2:57PM
I can understand from an outsider's perspective how arcane mages seem to be one-button spam. Recount simply doesn't display enough information to give an accurate picture of what is going on behind the scenes. When it comes to 5-man dungeons, arcane mages are tuned to win on virtually EVERY pull (with the only real exception being AoE). That is how it works.
The difference between and average mage and a great mage won't manifest itself much in a 5-man dungeon. In raids (where there are longer encounters) is where you'll see a colossal difference in performance between two mages who are equally geared but differently skilled.
Let's examine for all the non-mages out there why this is the case. Arcane mages' highest single-target DPS rotation is Arcane Blast spam. It is excellent DPS, but it will drain a mage's mana pool in a relatively short period of time. No class or spec (read: NO ONE) can compete with a mage performing this rotation over a short period of time. And in the short trash pulls and boss encounters of a 5-man dungeon, it is easy for a mage to blow through his mana, stop for a quick drink, and be ready to do it again on the very next pull.
The outcome? Arcane is the king of 5-man content. And Blizzard, as we're all aware, doesn't balance the endgame around 5-man content; their focus is on raiding. In the raiding environment, Blizzard knows that mages can't spam a single button. Mages have to play a delicate game of juggling their mana properly. There are multiple CDs to worry about, and a score of other spells that truly great mages will be utilizing during raid encounters. This is a rude awakening for arcane mages that are new to raiding (or players that are new to raiding as an arcane mage).
If you want to witness a plummet in the DPS of an arcane mage in your 5-man, ensure that the tank pulls fast enough that the mage never gets a free moment to sit and drink. He'll either do subpar DPS, or he'll have to sit out of the pull to drink and catch up with you later. That will equate to great DPS and terrible damage done.
Mages, by their very nature, are not difficult to be good at when it comes to the damage meters. To be GREAT, though... that's where things get more difficult. So give great mages the respect they deserve, because Arcane Blast is actually only a tiny fraction of what a great mage is doing.
Bryan Dare Jul 16th 2011 3:00PM
Or like saying Tommy Wiseau plays football. =P
sharlatan Jul 16th 2011 6:53PM
This is just so much rubbish.
The two button mage refers to arcane only, not to fire or frost so dont bring those into it.
Saying you sue spell steal, remove curse and ply and such does not realy count. They are the exception to the rotation not the normally cast spells.
Arcane is faceroll, I've got a mage, I've played all specs, arcane is not only piss easy its boring as hell, which is a shame. Frost is so much more fun, so much more reactive and skillful to get decent numbers on, and so is fire to a lesser extent.
Arcane needs a MAJOR overhaul, it is now and has been for a while a totally unimaginative, boring, easy, faceroll spec.
Yrmes Jul 16th 2011 7:56PM
"Saying you sue spell steal, remove curse and ply and such does not realy count. They are the exception to the rotation not the normally cast spells."
Are you up against things that have stealable buffs or interruptible casts? Then you should be using those two spells every chance you get. It's much like an aoe rotation, you do what you can because it works better. And the mana spent on them is part of what makes Arcane interesting, can you afford to waste the mana here and lose your damage buff from having high mana?
Arcane had its overhaul, and raids are where it shines. Yes, it's less button pressy, but it's not easier. Long term fights become a big deal to know how best to spend your mana to keep maximum damage flowing out. 5-mans are simply about blowing your wad into the open mouth of the town whore, it doesn't matter if you have to take viagra afterwards because you can afford to.
Firestyle Jul 16th 2011 7:56PM
A dps is here, talking about mana juggling. GTFO jackass.