As a 53 Beta/24 Retail Mage, I'm going to have to agree with Skand. I'm probably biased towards early arcane, but it seems to be very useful in terms of efficiency.
A) At level 14, you have an uninterruptable missle.
B) At level 24 (or 25) you have another instant damage spell with improved Arcane explosion.
C) You get access to Clearcasting (10% chance of free spells) and evokation (full mana bar channel).
Arcane explosion will also make you much loved in instances starting as early as Gnomergan.
-MB
A) At level 14, you have an uninterruptable missle.
B) At level 24 (or 25) you have another instant damage spell with improved Arcane explosion.
C) You get access to Clearcasting (10% chance of free spells) and evokation (full mana bar channel).
Arcane explosion will also make you much loved in instances starting as early as Gnomergan.
-MB
-< You can only be young once, but you can be immature forever >-