Mage Guide

The complete guide to playing a mage in World of Warcraft.

Table of Contents

• Introduction/Class Overview
• End Game PvE Mage Roles
• End Game PvP Mage Roles
• Mage Race Choices
• Guide to Leveling
• Mage Talents
• Mage Profession Choices
• Item Goals
• Mage Spells and Talent Levels

Streaks of lightning swirl, the sound of electricity grows into a deafening roar and the hint of burning embers can be smelled as it wafts into the night air. A tall ungainly figure stands behind two Orc warriors and a hunter. There is movement in the distance, this pass was well chosen; he knows it all too well. He can feel the ground shake, the very grass bend under foot of man. The sounds of plate armor and mounted troops grow nearer. The figure closes his eyes for but a moment, an eternity it seems, for his timing must be right. Throwing his arms in the air he unleashes the torrent of magical energy. It courses through his veins as a shower of ice and snow envelops the pass.

His eyes open just in time, he sneers as the first mounted soldiers enter the field totally unaware of their fate. The alliance cavalry begins to freeze in place, their horses strain to move, yet they cannot. Horde hunters reign volley after volley of arrows into the advancing army. Horde warriors charge into the fray, unimpeded by the magical storm. Another blizzard falls from the sky, locking even more in its deadly embrace. The advancing front wavers, cracks, and it breaks. The attackers are routed; his sneer becomes a twisted smile as stragglers are picked off by the emboldened horde defenders. Attacker after attacker falls to every manner of Horde weaponry and magic.

The evening fire is full of joy and spirit. The horde defenders celebrate their victory. Each class boasts of their foul deeds, often shouting over one another in an attempt to boost one’s social standing. Yet among them all, a small handful of robe wearing horde wait just outside the rings of fire. Here waits the mage. They contemplate, they study their arcane arts and they prepare for the battle that will begin anew at first light.

This is just but one facet of the mysterious mage. Welcome to Warcry, what lies before you is a glimpse into one of the most important classes in World of Warcraft, the Mage. This guide is written by a World of Warcraft fan, a fan who loves to play his mage. I will share many of the secrets that I have learned, but I will not reveal all; some secrets are best kept, well, secret.

Class Overview:

Blizzard has done a very good job at balancing all the classes for both PvP and PvE encounters. Class balance isn’t perfect, but it’s well done. According to Blizzard, the Mage is one of the better balanced classes, and as such, it has received little change since beta. There is good news for those interested in rolling a mage: it is a great class for both solo and group game play. Depending on the server and its relative mage population, you will almost always find a group who has need for a mage. Should that fail, you can always take to the wilderness and clear out some of your quest logs, gain faction, farm for gear or join a PvP battleground. The role of the mage is quite diverse and rewarding. Let’s explore a bit further.

What is the role of a Mage, you ask? This is a tough one, as it depends upon the interest at hand and the number of people with whom you are able to join in the interest. Many of the things to do in World of Warcraft can be done solo, with a party, or with a raid group. In addition, the things to do are further divided into PvE and PvP categories. As a mage, you will find that you have few limitations. With a little creativity and a few friends, you’ll find it very hard to not locate a role that interests you.

First off, the mage is one of the few classes that can solo rather effectively. They have an array of ranged offensive spells encompassing three schools of magic, Arcane, Frost and Fire, as well as having the most powerful area of effect (AOE) damage spells of any class. Knowledgeable mages can solo many NPCs that other classes can only dream of soloing. Elite well-geared mages can even solo multiple high level NPCs and a few of the high level elites that populate the world.

Within party game play, the mage is invaluable for most groups. In many encounters, the mage can use their sheep spell to crowd control humanoid NPCs for a short duration, thereby evening the odds or knocking out a critical NPC for a time. Additionally, the mage is the only class that can provide free sustenance in the form of conjured water and bread for other party members, a popular but tedious task. Finally, mages can single target or group buff everyone’s intelligence, a helpful tool for the mana users.

While mages are effective in solo and party game play its in the raid group where the mage truly shines. In 20 and 40 person raid groups, mages form a backbone of support and offensive capabilities. In addition to the crowd control mages in raid groups provide substantial ranged and AOE damage potential, invaluable for many of the ultra-elite end-game encounters. When combined with talent or gear based aggro-reduction and a Paladin or Shaman’s aggro reduction buff, mages can inflict great damage across three important schools of magic, with greatly reduced threat of "pulling aggro".

The mage’s most combat effective role for their group is the ability to crowd control, control, control, AOE and control. As such the mage is most effective in PvP encounters as a behind the front lines crowd control support character because of their low hit points and long cast times. While the mage can be an effective front line single target killing machine with certain talent builds, such builds necessarily weaken the mages role as the King of crowd control.

Mages have several crowd control abilities from which to choose. For single targets they have the Polymorph spell. For multiple nearby targets, they have Frost Nova, Blast Wave and Instant Arcane Explosion. For multiple targets at a distance mages can use Flamestrike to reign down massive amounts of AOE fire damage, or they can call upon an incredibly powerful slowing Blizzard which can bring virtually any advancing force to its knees.

Now, there are mages who like to be in the thick of things during PvP encounters. One popular technique is to run into an unsuspecting cluster of enemy combatants and hit them with several blasts from the mages Improved Arcane Explosion (IAE) spell, an insta-cast AOE spell (assuming the appropriate number of talent points are invested in it). Such endeavors can be quite fun and rewarding at times, but unless they are supported by other players, the mage will most likely earn a quick death. Group effort attacks fare much better on clusters of combatants. Combined with timely Frost Novas and some well timed IAEs, followed by a well timed Ice Block, a mage or two can effectively break a cluster of all but the best coordinated PvP opponents while dramatically increasing their own survivability.

Mage talents will add to their combat effectiveness. Various builds will be discussed later in greater depth, but they are only a start, mages are encouraged to tweak their own builds to suit their own play style. In addition as of patch 1.11 there will be a mage talent re-write so pay close attention to the changes.

Let’s now review the races that are capable of grasping the arcane arts of the Mage.

Alliance Mage Races & Racial Traits:

Gnome:

The gnome is by far the most popular PvP mage class in game and arguably the best overall PvE mage. All of the gnome’s racial traits help in PvP, many help in PvE. Not only that, but the small size of the gnome makes it ideal for hiding behind the smallest of objects. Unless you are looking for the gnome, it is very easy to overlook a diminutive gnome standing behind a rock. Out of sight, out of mind is a highly desirable, undocumented PvP talent that is exclusive to the Gnome.

	Escape Artist   active trait
	Activate to break out of a Root or Snare effect   1.5 sec cast   1 min cooldown

	Expansive Mind   passive trait
	Increase Intelligence by 5%

	Arcane Resistance   passive trait
	+10 Arcane Resistance

  	Engineering Specialization   passive trait
	+15 skill bonus to Engineering

Human:

Humans are by far the most lackluster of all the mage classes. Few racial traits help the mage. The spirit attribute presently only contributes to mana regeneration. When compared to the gnome’s racial traits and the formula for calculating mana regeneration based on spirit, the +5 % spirit bonus pales in comparison. I would personally avoid a mage human for game play reasons. Now for aesthetics, the human classes are by far the most “attractive”.

	Perception   active trait
	Activate to dramatically increase stealth detection   Lasts 20 sec   3 min cooldown

	The Human Spirit   passive trait
	Increase Spirit by 5%

  	Diplomacy   passive trait
	+10% bonus to faction point gain

	Sword Specialization   passive trait
	+5 to Sword skill

  	Mace Specialization   passive trait
	+5 to Mace skill

Horde Mage Races & Racial Traits:

Trolls:

Trolls were once a greatly avoided race. Lackluster racial traits, ugly characters and no large city to call home plagued the Troll, driving many players away from the class. However, since patch 1.09, Trolls are unloved no more! Trolls now have one of the most effective Mage racial traits, Berserking. They’re still ugly, but we can hit faster and on cue.

	Berserking   active trait
	Activate to increase your melee, ranged, and casting speed by 10% to 30%.
	The value scales upwards towards 30% depending how low your health is when
	you activate the ability. Requires a small amount of mana, rage, or energy
	(depending on your class) to activate. Lasts 10 seconds   3 min cooldown

	Regeneration   passive trait
	+10% health regeneration bonus, 10% active in combat

  	Beast Slaying   passive trait
	+5% damage bonus to Beasts

	Throwing Specialization   passive trait
	+5 to Bows and Throwing Weapon skills

Undead:

Undead have very effective racial traits for all the applicable classes, and with respect to the mage class, the Will of the Forsaken and Shadow Resistance traits are the most important traits.

	Will of the Forsaken   active trait
	Activate to become immune to Fear, Sleep, and Charm effects. Can also be used while already afflicted by Fear or Sleep   lasts 5 sec   2 min cooldown

  	Cannibalize   active trait
	Activate to regenerate 7% of total health every 2 sec. by consuming Humanoid
	or Undead corpses within 5 yards   lasts 10 sec   2 min cooldown

  	Underwater Breathing   passive trait
	Underwater breath lasts 300% longer than normal

  	Shadow Resistance   passive trait
	+10 Shadow Resistance