For TBC Phase 2 Arcane Mage , the practical spell hit target is 6% hit from gear, which is the standard PvE cap for raid bosses; if you have a Draenei in group, you can get away with 5% from gear instead.

For intellect, there isnā€™t a hard ā€œminimum viableā€ number that matters as much as reaching enough mana to sustain your burn cycle. Arcane stat guides put Intellect behind hit and above raw spell power/crit/haste , so the real answer is: stack intellect as a strong secondary stat, but do not sacrifice hit to chase it.

What to aim for

  • Spell hit: 6% from gear, or 5% with Draenei hit support.
  • Intellect: no fixed floor; prioritize enough mana to complete your rotation comfortably, then keep scaling it.
  • Overall priority: hit first, then spell power and intellect, then crit and haste.

Practical gearing take

If you are under hit cap, more intellect wonā€™t fix missed spells, so hit is always the first breakpoint to chase. Once capped, intellect is valuable because Arcane Mage converts mana pool and sustain into better damage uptime, especially in burn-and-evoke style play.

Quick rule

  • Below cap: get hit.
  • At cap: stack intellect and spell power.
  • No special intellect threshold: ā€œleast viableā€ is basically ā€œenough to function without going OOM immediately,ā€ which depends on your raid buffs, consumes, and fight length.

TL;DR: 6% hit from gear is the key number, 5% if a Draenei covers part of it; intellect has no strict minimum, but it should be a strong secondary stat after hit.