hi guys pls help

as an arcane mage all we do is spam arcane blast is that it?

i got used to playing destro for years, like, i suppose i could be overthinking at this point. like..i havent played a toon that just used 2-3 spells save for my resto sham (depending on the situation)

but pve destro and shadow its just a bunch of stuff being cast BEFORE using damage spells, and for arcane its just arcane blast and wait for missiles to proc? of course, the mandatory arcane power if needed. iits just 2-3 buttons is that it?

just confirming i dont wanna get yelled at in dungeons.
no. you're doing it wrong.
Anything before heroics you can pretty much just AB spam, evocate if the boss is still alive, then AB spam again and he'll be dead before you go OOM.

I'd still practice a mana conservative rotation on trash though, just so it's not a completely new concept to you at 85.

http://elitistjerks.com/f75/t118084-cataclysm_arcane_mage_compendium

^Also read that.
hey ive tried everything to get my dps up rotation wise popping this gem that proc etc. im about to give up on mages
i dont knwo if this is any concern
but rotation is
1) stack AB 4x
2)a)use arcane missiles
b)if no proc use arcane barrage
3) got back to step one

now if u want to concerve mana you can try saving gems changing race to belf potions evocation anything really use it at 60% becaus ehigher mana you ahve higher dps you do so try using all cooldowns to maintain 60+ shouldnt be too hard with buffs
tell me how it goes
First: I know back in the Wrath days Arcane wasn't really viable until end-game, I don't know if this holds true for Cata but I'm sure a future commenter can chime in on that.

Secondly: Arcane is a difficult spec to enjoy. Most of the pure fun of Arcane only comes through if topping the dps meters is your sole goal. As such, in lower level content Arc can be very hard to really get into, thus making it difficult to learn. I play Fire and love it, as a result I'm always finessing and learning more about it. If you're having trouble learning Arc, try one of our other two fully PvE viable specs (Don't EVER let anyone convince you Frost isn't viable in PvE.)

Third: You're underthinking it, not over thinking it. :) Playing Arcane well is like dancing on an evaporating floor, which is the say the more mana you have the better your dance steps (Nukes) will be.

The rotation is usually as such, from what I remember:
(Burn) Arcane Blast until you're down to 80% mana, then pop a mana gem.
(Conserve) Arcane Blast x 4 then Arcane Missiles if it procs, Arcane Barrage if it doesn't till you hit 40% mana then pop Evocation.
Repeat above until target is dead.

I use IceHUD to let me know when I'm at the prescribed mana levels so I know when to pop my respective cooldowns, but there are plenty of alternatives out there.

In general Arcane is unique in that it's a spec that one can either faceroll to success or can fine tune to even greater success. Three to five buttons, tens of thousands of deeps.

Hang in there! And if you find you're not enjoying it, come on over to the dark side and play Fire, you'll have a blast! (Literally.)