Magebleck

Gems that a Mage Could Use

There has been a tendency lately for Mages to gem pure haste. The theory behind this is that the quicker you get a shot off the less of a chance you have to be interrupted, counter spelled, or suffer a push back from being attacked. While it makes sense in a way, it is still wrong.

Haste is GREAT for Arcane, but what is better, pushing 3000 damage every 2.484775 seconds, or 3023 damage every 2.5 seconds?

Haste formula: 1% Haste = (Haste Rating / 32.79)

For this example I am going to use Arcane Blast as the baseline spell and pretend that you have 3000 spell power to start with. So, a +20 Haste Quick King’s Amber would add 20/32.79 haste OR 0.609% Haste to your Arcane Blast cast. AB has a base time of 2.5 Seconds. 

A two minute fight would have a calculation like the following:

Damage = 3000 * ((2.5 * (1.0-0.00609)) / 120)
So damage = 144,882

Now say you used a +23 Spell Power Runed Cardinal Ruby instead…

Damage = 3023 * (2.5 / 120)
So damage = 145,104

Now, suppose you where to use a Reckless Ametrine giving you +12 Spell Power and +10 Haste…

Damage = 3012 * ((2.5 * (1.0-0.00305)) / 120)
Damage = 145,018

Conclusions:

It is almost always better to stack spell power over haste, UNLESS A) You are really low on haste and your Arcane Blast is still over 2 seconds, B) You are too close to haste cap (1 second hard cap), or C) You are a warlock, in which case you should kill yourself, or D) You get a socket bonus that makes up the difference in Spell Power loss. If you are looking for a happy medium though, check out the Reckless Ametrine, it gives you a middle ground with a little of both worlds.