Mage
Overview
So you wanna be a Mage huh? Awesome. I'm Old Man Franks, and I been playin' one for a long time. I'll see what I can do to help you out.
Specs, Stats, & Rotations
Here's the great thing about being a mage: Options! You're a pure DPSer, so you have three different specs with which to cause PAAAAAAAAAAAIN! We'll cover each of the three below, including best choice in spec, glyphs, and how to prioritize stats, as well as fun stuff to do.
Arcane
Arcane's got hard hitting spells, lots of utility, and it's the least proc-dependant of our specs. It's been said that if you want the most control over your DPS, Arcane is the spec for you.
On the other hand, it's probably one of the more boring specs to play, and the mana management game you have to play can be tricky.
Building Your Arcane Mage
First off, here's the spec you want. (LINK HERE - FORTHCOMING)
For Prime Glyphs, you'll want Arcane Blast, Arcane Missiles, and Mage Armor (links to these Forthcoming)
For Major Glyphs, it's pretty much your choice, but I highly recommend Invisibility and Arcane Power
Arcane Mages use Mage Armor at all times. You'll be burning through a lot of mana, and you'll need this armor to keep in the fight.
Stats
Like all Mage specs, Intellect is your best stat. If you have a piece that gives you more Int than what you have, you should equip it. Reforging and Gemming can take care of any loss to your other stats you might incur.
Hit Rating up to 17% should be your next priority.
Mastery is the best of our three secondary stats for Arcane. Get this as much as possible.
Haste is next.
Crit is the weakest stat for Arcane Mages.
I should not need to say this but avoid bloody Spirit at all costs. If you get a Spirit piece that is just a massive upgrade, use it, but reforge that Spirit away, quickly. Look for replacement options and get them as soon as you can.
Rotation
Your rotation is split into three phases: Burn, Recharge, and Manage. We do this to take the most advantage of our Mastery, Mana Adept
Burn Phase
This is the phase in which you will cause a lot of serious damage in a very short time.
Make a macro to activate your Mirror Images, Arcane Power, any "use" Trinkets you may have, and use your Mana Gem all at the same time. I'll post an example below
EXAMPLE FORTHCOMING.
At the start of the Burn Phase, you will activate this Macro, and then begin spamming the ever-loving crap out of Arcane Blast. Do nothing but this unless you have to move. Ignore any procs of Arcane Missiles.
Continue doing this until your Mana reaches 40%. At this point switch to the Rechage Phase.
OMF, When Should I trigger the Burn Phase?
That is entirely dependant on the fight itself. You can initiate it anytime you are at full mana (or close to it), and you have all your cooldowns and Evocation ready. If the boss has a period in which they take extra damage, such as Hagara Stormbinder after her shields are broken, that is an excellent time to go to the Burn Phase. If not, I recommend doing it as early in the fight as possible, so your cooldowns will have time to reset and you can initiate multiple Burn Phases in a single fight.
Recharge Phase
The recharge Phase is simple. You need to get your mana back to full. All you have to do is pop Evocation. Do not move if at all possible. You need to get your mana back to 100%, and you can't use the Mana Gem for this purpose.
Once this is done, move on to the Manage Phase
Manage Phase
This phase is the tricky one. It requires you to keep your Mana around an optimal level of around 85-90%. Your mana will regen at a fairly decent rate, thanks to Mage Armor, but you have to manage your Arcane Blast stacks, because those will eat your mana for lunch. Tasty tasty lunch.
You want to keep your mana as high as you can during this phase, because our Mastery, Mana Adept, gives you bonus damage based on how much mana you have at the moment.
So the idea is to Stack Arcane Blast as much as your mana pool can handle, and then clear the stacks with either Arcane Missiles if they're active, and Arcane Barrage if they aren't.
You'll also want to fire off Flame Orb whenever it's off cooldown as well.
If you have a decent level of gear, you can generally pull off a rotation of 4 Arcane Blasts, then Arcane Missiles or Arcane Barrage. If that rotation continually puts you below the optimal mana percentage, drop the number of Arcane Blasts by one. Arcane Missiles does more damage, so prioritize that as your stack clearing spell.
Continue with this phase until all of your cooldowns and Evocation are up and available. At that point, switch back to the Burn Phase. Again, you may want to delay the Burn Phase to a point when the target takes extra damage, depending on the boss you're fighting.
AOE
If you've gotta AOE some junk down, Arcane Explosion is really your only option. Unfortunately that often means you have to be in the middle of whatever it is you're trying to kill. If the mobs are also doing AOE damage, that can go badly for you. A good example of this is the Magmaw fight. Just use Blizzard in cases like that.
Otherwise, Blink into the fray, and spam Arcane Explosion to your merry heart's content!
Utility Provided By Arcane
Focus Magic is the big one. This is a buff you cast on other Classes that gives them 3% more chance to crit, and when they crit, you get that same buff for 10 seconds. Give this bad boy to a class that crits often and has speedy casts. Elemental Shaman are probably your best bet, but Balance Druids, Holy Paladins, and other Mages are good targets too.
With Prismatic Cloak, your Invisibility has zero Fade Time, essentially making it as useful as Feign Death or Vanish. Perfect for saving a wipe and Mass Rezzing everyone.
Your Nether Vortex talent applies Slow with every cast of your most damaging spell. Pefect for handling adds!