Mages 101 (WoW)
| Parts of this page were originally written by MageSock. |
- Talent Review.
- Talent Specs.
- What to spec first as you level.
- What race truly is the best for mage.
- Gemming your mage.
Instead of writing up multiple posts, covering all these things, I will put all of it together into one resource where you can consult a quick reference on all things mage. I hope this will help answer some of the questions we have pop up on these boards.
All talents when discussed will be addressed as being at the max level, anything less than max will be covered under Part III, What to Spec as You Level.
Talent Review
Arcane Talents
- Arcane Subtlety - Reduces your target's resistence to all your spells by by 10 and reduces the threat of your Arcane spells by 40%.
- Arcane Focus - Reduces the chance an opponent can resist your arcane spells by 10%.
- Improved Arcane Missles - Gives you a 100% chance to avoid interruption cause by damage while channeling arcane missles.
- Wand Specialization - Increases your damage with wands by 25%.
- Magic Absorbtion - Increases all resistences by 10 and causes all spells you resist to restore 5% of your total mana.
- Arcane Concentration - Gives you a 10% chance of entering a Clearcasting state after any damage spell hits a target. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next spell by 100%. (By the way, it lasts 15 seconds, not forever like the talent would have you believe).
- Magic Attunement - Increases the effect of your Amplify Magic and Dampen Magic spells by 50%
- Arcane Impact - Increases the critical strike chance of your Arcane Explosion and Arcane Blast spells by 6%.
- Arcane Fortitude - Increases your armor by an amount equal to 100% of your Intellect.
- Improved Mana Shield - Decreases the mana lost per point of damage taken when Mana Shield is active by 20%
- Improved Counterspell - Gives your Counterspell a 100% chance to silence the target for 4 seconds.
- Arcane Meditation - Allows 30% of your mana regeneration to continue while casting.
- Improved Blink - For 4 seconds after casting Blink, your chance to be hit by all attacks and spells is reduced by 25%.
- Presence of Mind - When activated, your next mage spell with a casting time of less than 10 seconds becomes an instant cast spell. (3 min cooldown).
- Arcane Mind - Increases your total Intellect by 15%.
- Prismatic Cloak - Reduces all damage taken by 4%.
- Arcane Instability - Increases your spell damage and critical strike chance by 3%.
- Arcane Potency - Increases the critical strike chance of any spell cast while Clearcasting by 30%.
- Empowered Arcane Missles - Your Arcane Missles spell gains an additional 45% of your bonus spell damage effects, but mana cost is increased by 6%.
- Arcane Power - When activated, your spells deal 30% more damage while costing 30% more mana to cast. This effect lasts 15 seconds (3 min cooldown).
- Spell Power - Increased critical strike damage bonus of all spells by 50%.
- Mind Mastery - Increases spell damage by up to 25% of your total Intellect.
- Slow - Reduces target's movement speed by 50%, increases the time between ranged attacks by 50% and increases casting time by 50%. Lasts 15 seconds, Slow can only affect one target at a time.
So that's Arcane, up next, Fire!
Fire Talents
- Improved Fireball - Reduces the casting time of your Fireball spell by 0.5 seconds.
- Impact - Gives your fire spells a 10% chance to stun the target for 2 seconds.
- Ignite - Your critical strikes from Fire damage spells cause the target to burn for an additional of your spells damage over 4 seconds.
- Flame Throwing - Increases the range of your Fire spells by 6 yards.
- Improved Fire Blast - Reduces the cooldown of your Fire Blast spell by 1.5 seconds.
- Incineration - Increases the critical strike chance of your Scorch and Fire Blast spells by 4%.
- Improved Flamestrike - Increases the critical strike chance of your Flamestrike spell by 15%.
- Pyroblast - Hurls an immense fiery boulder that causes 877 to 1087 Fire damage and an additional 324 Fire damage over 12 seconds.
- Burning Soul - Gives your Fire spells a 70% chance to not lose casting time when you take damage and reduces the threat caused by your Fire spells by 10%.
- Improved Scorch - Your Scorch spells have a 100% chance to cause your target to be vulnerable to Fire damage. This vulnerability increases the Fire damage dealt to your target by 3% and lasts 30 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times.
- Molten Shields - Causes your Fire Ward to have a 20% chance to reflect Fire spells while active. In addition, your Molten Armor has a 100% chance to affect ranged and spell attacks.
- Master of Elements - Your Fire and Frost spell criticals will refund 30% of the mana cost.
- Playing with Fire - Increases all spell damage caused by 3% and all spell damage taken by 3%.
- Critical Mass - Increases the critical strike chance of your Fire spells by 6%.
- Blast Wave - A wave of flame radiates outward from the caster, damaging all enemies caught within the blast for 640 to 754 Fire damage and dazing them for 6 seconds. (30 second cooldown).
- Blazing Speed - Gives you a 10% chance when hit by a melee or ranged attack to increase your movement speed by 50% and remove all movement impairing effects. This effect lasts 8 seconds.
- Fire Power - Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 10%.
- Pyromaniac - Increases chance to critically hit and reduces the mana cost of all Fire spells by an additional 3%.
- Combustion - When activated, this spell causes each Fire damage spell you cast to increases your critical strike chance with Fire spells by 10%. This effect lasts until you have caused 3 critical strikes with Fire spells. (3 minute cooldown).
- Molten Fury - Increases damage of all spells against targets with less than 20% health by 20%.
- Empowered Fireball - Your Fireball spell gains an additional 15% of your bonus spell damage effects.
- Dragon's Breath - Target's in a cone in front of the caster take 680 to 790 Fire damage and are disoriented for 3 seconds. (20 second cooldown).
Frost Talents
- Frost Warding - Increases the armor and resistances given by your Frost Armor and Ice Armor spells by 30%. In addition, gives your Frost Ward a 20% chance to reflect Frost spells and effects while active.
- Improved Frostbolt - Reduces the casting time of your Frostbolt spell by 0.5 seconds.
- Elemental Precision - Reduces the mana cost and chance targerts resist your Frost and Fire spells by 3%.
- Ice Shards [1] - Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Frost spells by 100%.
- Frostbite - Gives your Chill effects a 15% chance to freeze the target for 5 seconds.
- Improved Frost Nova - Reduces the cooldown of your Frost Nova spell by 4 seconds.
- Permafrost - Increases the duration of your Chill effects by 3 seconds and reduces the target's speed by an additional 10%.
- Piercing Ice - Increases the damage done by your Frost spells by 6%.
- Icy Veins - Hastens your spellcasting, increasing spell casting speed by 20% and gives you 100% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while casting. Lasts 20 seconds.
- Improved Blizzard - Adds a chill effect to your Blizzard spell. This effect lowers the target's movement speed by 65%. Lasts 1.5 seconds.
- Artic Reach - Increases the range of your Frostbolt and Blizzard spells and the radius of your Frost Nova and Cone of Cold spells by 20%.
- Frost Channeling - Reduces the mana cost of your Frost spells by 15% and reduces the threat caused by your Frost spells by 10%.
- Shatter - Increases the critical strike chance of all your spells against frozen targers by 50%.
- Frozen Core - Reduces the damage taken from Frost and Fire effects by 6%.
- Cold Snap - When activated, this spell finishes the cooldown on all of your Frost Spells. (10 minute cooldown)
- Improved Cone of Cold - Increases the damage dealt by your Cone of Cold spell by 35%.
- Ice Floes - Reduces the cooldown of your Cone of Cold, Cold Snap and Ice Barrier and Ice Block spells by 20%.
- Winter's Chill - Gives your Frost damage spells a 100% chance to apply the Winter's Chill effect, which increases the the chance a Frost Spell will critically hit the target by 2% for 15 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times.
- Ice Barrier - Instantly shields you, absorbing 1175 damage. Lasts 1 minute. While the shield holds, spells will not be interrupted. (30 second cooldown)
- Arctic Winds - Increases all Frost damage you cause by 5% and reduces the chance melee and ranged attacks will hit you by 5%.
- Empowered Frostbolt - Your Frostbolt spell gains an additional 10% of your bonus spell damage effects and an additional 5% chance to critically strike.
- Summon Water Elemental - Summons a Water Elemental to fight for the caster for 45 seconds.
That wraps up our talent review, up next, talent specs!
Talent Specs
Alright, on to the talent specs. There is always more than one way to skin a cat, there is also more than one way to get to what you need in a certain tree. Speccing 33 Arcane for PvP will look different that for PvE, same with the other trees. These are merely suggestions, tested ones that I have experience playing with. You can always change stuff around, these are what I have found to work for me. Use at your own risk.
Arcane Arcane still serves as our utility tree, used to round out what you are trying to do with frost or fire. Making this your primary school of damage dealing magic, will make you OOM extremely fast. It can be used in shorter fights, i.e. 5 man dungeons, anything over that and keeping yourself in mana to keep casting becomes difficult. It also lacks the added toys you get in other trees for PvP, the control of frost and the burst of fire. With that in mind, most people spec 21, 33, or 40 Arcane. We will discuss those, as well as some off specs used for special cases.
21 Arcane - PvP Talents or "Getting to Presence of Mind" [2]
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arcane Subtlety | | Arcane Focus | |
| Magic Absorbtion | | Arcane Impact | |
| Arcane Fortitude | | Improved Counterspell | |
| Improved Mana Shield | | Presence of Mind | |
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arcane Subtlety | | Arcane Focus | |
| Magic Absorption | | Arcane Impact | |
| Arcane Fortitude | | Improved Counterspell | |
| Improved Mana Shield | | Improved Blink | |
| Presence of Mind | | Arcane Mind | |
| Prismatic Cloak | | Arcane Instability | |
| Arcane Power | | Spell Power | |
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arcane Subtlety | | Arcane Focus | |
| Magic Absorption | | Arcane Impact | |
| Arcane Fortitude | | Improved Counterspell | |
| Improved Mana Shield | | Improved Blink | |
| Presence of Mind | | Arcane Mind | |
| Prismatic Cloak | | Arcane Instability | |
| Arcane Power | | Spell Power | |
| Mind Mastery | | ||
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arcane Subtlety | | Arcane Focus | |
| Magic Absorbtion | | Arcane Concentration | |
| Arcane Impact | | Improved Counterspell | |
| Arcane Meditation | | Presence of Mind | |
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arcane Subtlety | | Arcane Focus | |
| Magic Absorbtion | | Arcane Concentration | |
| Arcane Impact | | Improved Counterspell | |
| Arcane Meditation | | Presence of Mind | |
| Arcane Mind | | Arcane Instability | |
| Arcane Power | | Spell Power | |
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arcane Subtlety | | Arcane Focus | |
| Magic Absorbtion | | Arcane Concentration | |
| Arcane Impact | | Improved Counterspell | |
| Arcane Meditation | | Presence of Mind | |
| Arcane Mind | | Arcane Instability | |
| Arcane Power | | Spell Power | |
| Mind Mastery | | ||
10 Arcane
| Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|
| Arcane Subtlety | |
| Arcane Focus | |
| Arcane Concentration | |
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arcane Subtlety | | Arcane Focus | |
| Magic Absorbtion | | Arcane Impact | |
| Arcane Fortitude | | Improved Counterspell | |
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arcane Subtlety | | Arcane Focus | |
| Improved Arcane Missiles | | Magic Absorption | |
| Arcane Concentration | | Arcane Impact | |
| Improved Counterspell | | Arcane Meditation | |
| Presence of Mind | | Arcane Mind | |
| Arcane Instability | | Arcane Potency | |
| Empowered Arcane Missiles | | Arcane Power | |
| Spell Power | | Mind Mastery | |
That wraps it up for the Arcane tree, our good buddy Fire is next on the list.
Fire
Anyone else have kids? Seen Ice Age 2? You know when the sloth, Sid gets kidnapped by the other sloths and they all worship him calling him "Fire King" over and over? Yeah, that is us in this tree. Fire still brings the most damage to the table, combined with Arcane it is why other classes complain about our burst capabilities. Nothing can match the sheer damage output of fire as far as mages go. Fully raid buffed, I am tossing 3k fireball hits these days. Factor in Ignite and we are talking just stupid power.
21 Fire - Stack with 40 Arcane or "Holy massive fireballs Batman!"[9]
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Improved Fireball | | Ignite | |
| Flame Throwing | | Incineration | |
| Pyroblast | | Burning Soul | |
| Master of Elements | | Critical Mass | |
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Improved Fireball | | Ignite | |
| Flame Throwing | | Incineration | |
| Pyroblast | | Burning Soul | |
| Master of Elements | | Playing with Fire | |
| Critical Mass | | Fire Power | |
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Improved Fireball | | Ignite | |
| Flame Throwing | | Incineration | |
| Pyroblast | | Burning Soul | |
| Master of Elements | | Playing with Fire | |
| Critical Mass | | Fire Power | |
| Pyromaniac | | Combustion | |
| Empowered Fireball | | ||
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Improved Fireball | | Ignite | |
| Flame Throwing | | Improved Fireblast | |
| Incineration | | Burning Soul | |
| Improved Scorch | | Master of Elements | |
| Playing with Fire | | Critical Mass | |
| Fire Power | | Pyromaniac | |
| Combustion | | Molten Fury | |
| Empowered Fireball | | Dragon's Breath | |
28 Fire - Use with 33 Arcane PvP or "BBQ PvP" [13]
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Impact | | Ignite | |
| Flame Throwing | | Improved Fire Blast | |
| Incineration | | Pyroblast | |
| Burning Soul | | Playing with Fire | |
| Critical Mass | | Blast Wave | |
| Blazing Speed | | ||
Dragon's Breath, while a PvP oriented talent, is so deep in the tree it really isn't worth getting. You lose to much in the Arcane tree from doing it, the biggest one being Spell Power. It also shares a cooldown with Cone of Cold, but here is where it stops making sense.
Cone of Cold, by itself, has an 8 second cooldown, and Dragon's Breath has a 20 second cooldown. Now, if you use Dragon's Breath, the Cone of Cold cooldown goes to 20 seconds. You can mess around with talents, and still PvP with different specs, but again, I wouldn't recommend it.
Enough of the Fire, on to Frost!
Frost
Not having as much of a damage output as a full fire spec, frost still brings some amazing tricks to the table. With Shatter the burst potential is absolutely lethal. Looked at by many to be THE PvP tree these days, it can also provide some decent numbers in raids. I really wish I could link music into posts, I'd bust out the remix of "Ice, Ice Baby" I have with Eminem in it.
40 Frost - PvE Frost or "Raiding, as frost, again..."[14]
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Improved Frostbolt | | Elemental Precision | |
| Ice Shards | | Improved Frost Nova | |
| Piercing Ice | | Icy Veins | |
| Arctic Reach | | Frost Channeling | |
| Cold Snap | | Winter's Chill | |
| Arctic Winds | | Empowered Frostbolt | |
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Improved Frostbolt | | Ice Shards | |
| Frostbite | | Improved Frost Nova | |
| Permafrost | | Piercing Ice | |
| Icy Veins | | Arctic Reach | |
| Frost Channeling | | Cold Snap | |
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Improved Frostbolt | | Ice Shards | |
| Improved Frost Nova | | Piercing Ice | |
| Icy Veins | | Shatter | |
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Improved Frostbolt | | Elemental Precision | |
| Shards | | Frostbite | |
| Improved Frost Nova | | Permafrost | |
| Piercing Ice | | Icy Veins | |
| Arctic Reach | | Shatter | |
| Cold Snap | | Improved Cone of Cold | |
| Ice Floes | | Ice Barrier | |
| Arctic Winds | | Summon Water Elemental | |
| Talent Name | Points | Talent Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Improved Frostbolt | | Elemental Precision | |
| Improved Frost Nova | | Icy Veins | |
What to spec as you level
I'm not going to be giving you an easy way out here. You will not be getting a step by step guide on what talents to pick and in what order. Instead, as I am a big fan of making you think for yourselves, I'm going to teach you how to decide what talents are good for your own leveling progression.
What makes a good leveling talent?
A good leveling talent has at least one of the three following properties.
- Control - It gives you a greater ability to control what your enemy is doing. Or it gives you a bit more control over your own abilities or mana pool. Less downtime means faster leveling.
- Burst - The talent gives you faster, harder hits, with an emphasis on damage in quick "bursts" optimal. Generic Increases in damage(such as present from "Playing with Fire" or "Piercing Ice" are inferior for this to talents that give greater chances to crit such as "Pyromaniac" and "Empowered Frostbolt" as well as to talents that increase the damage of your criticals such as "Ice Shards", "Spell Power" and "Ignite".
- Survivability - Deaths do not help you level faster. Anything that makes it easier for you to stay alive has at least some emphasis on survival. Many control talents will also gain points for survival as well.
Are there talents that have aspects of each?
Hell yes. Some of the greatest leveling talents include all three. Though the absolute best is when you can have a multi-talent synergy going.
Synergy? What do you mean by that?
There are multiple talents that are decent on their own, but when two or more are combined, they become phenomenal. Here's an example:
Ice Shards - Good burst talent by itself. But it really doesn't have enough crit to work off of while leveling to be great. However, when you add in Shatter, now you've seen a major increase in your burst potential. Every frost nova now becomes an invitation to a nice fat crit(that wouldn't be as big without Ice Shards).
But it gets even better. Add in Frostbite, and now you'll find your foes being frozen a lot more often, meaning the number of crits you see skyrockets. But wait, there's more. Add in the water elemental, and now you have an extreme potential to burst down your foes with free crits via the elemental's ranged "Freeze" ability.
And that's what I mean by Synergy. There are many sets of talents that function like this. I urge you to seek them out for yourself.
Ok, just give me a step by step leveling talent build
No. I will, however, urge you to consider what spell you'll be using most often as you level (Fireball, Frostbolt, Arcane Missiles, Scorch/Fireblast), and pick up the Improved version of that ASAP. You'll be glad you did.
What race is truly best as a mage?
The short answer: The one you think sounds the most fun!
The long answer: It really depends first of all on your choice of what you intend to do as a mage. If solo questing is really all you desire, then go back to the short answer. Otherwise, continue reading.
At this point, you have a decision to make. Will you be choosing Alliance or Horde? If you don't care which, go on to the next step. If you do care, pick one and...go on to the next step. [1]
Now, we must break it down to PvP and PvE. Which is more in the cards for you? Do you plan to be a BG bunny or an instance rat? A master of arena combat or a slayer of all monsters great and large? Think about it and continue.
PvP
In Arenas and BGs both, you'll find that control over your enemies and yourself is often key to victory. Gaining the initiative in a fight will often give you a victory as well, so that is something to consider. Anything that helps you survive can be nice, but most racials available to mages are pretty shitty here.
Let's look at each race that has something nice to offer for PvPers.
Alliance
Draenei - Gift of the Naaru will indeed will help you survive. But it's a drop in the proverbial bucket and not much to write home about.
Gnome - Escape Artist is the big thing here. Since mages rely on mobility to stay alive, anything to keep you from getting locked down and destroyed is ace in my book. The intellect bonus is pure gravy.
Human - Perception helps gain you the initiative on rogues and druids. By removing the initiative from them, you severely hamper their ability to harm you. This most often comes into play in arenas, but it makes a huge difference therein.
Final winner:
For BGs, Gnomes are definitely the superior mage. For Arenas, Humans smash them in any battle involving rogues and druids, but fall short on other match ups.
For overall PvP, go Gnome.
Horde
Blood Elf - Arcane Torrent allows you to interrupt enemy spells. This is great for when you have more than one enemy healer you need to lock down for a moment in many situations, but the duration of the silence makes the Blood Elf advantage mediocre at best. The mana drain is nice but pretty weak overall.
Troll - Berserking gives you a serious advantage in a nuke fight with another caster. Combine that with Icy Veins for some decent power. Not the greatest overall, but definitely powerful.
Undead - Will of the Forsaken gives a mage a huge advantage against a lot of different classes. Having this will give you the ability to nullify most any CC used against you. Combined with Ice Block, you can neutralize the two most powerful fears a warlock can use against you, or you can pop out and CS that damned priest right before he gets off that saving heal. All around, a great ability. Cannibalizing corpses in BGs is just another bit of happiness that'll keep you going longer.
Final Winner:
While Trolls and Blood Elves are strong contenders, the Undead just devour the competition. If you want to BG or Arena, you really can't go wrong with Undead.
For overall PvP, go Undead.
PvE
In group PvE, it's all about what makes you burn a little harder or a little longer. Being able to escape roots/stuns/fears can be a factor, but it's really pretty minor overall(makes a very strong showing in a very small number of fights). There are other factors as well, but they're pretty minor. We'll discuss em all, though.
Horde
Blood Elf - Mana Tap + Arcane Torrent gives a bit of longevity overall, but it's really a minor amount. Nothing to write home about. The resistance bonus is also pretty meh, though the better overall of all the resistance bonuses any race gets.
Undead - Will of the Forsaken again shows some strength as the ability to get out of fears is key on some fights. But these fights are pretty rare, so while it's a nifty thing to have, it's not required. Much more useful in raids than in 5 mans.
Troll - Berserking isn't the strongest buff overall. But it can be used often and does contribute to a mage's main role, damage. Combined with Icy Veins and a trinket(and maybe even AP!) this can be a powerful buff.
Final Winner:
On a few fights, especially in raids, Undead make a very strong showing. But for their overall damage increasing racial, you can't beat Trolls.
For overall PvE, go Troll.
Alliance
Gnome - The biggest thing gnomes really bring to the table is their increased Intellect. At 5%, it's a pretty nice increase. This brings more damage in the form of higher crit from int as well. Escape Artist is less useful than WotF for the most part due to the lack of fights where the ability to break snares means the difference between victory and death. Not a bad race, though.
Human - Humans bring two major things to the table here. The first is the increased Reputation gains. This often means humans are first to get the rep they need for pieces of gear. However, this also stops mattering after everyone else reaches that gear too. They also bring in a 10% bonus to spirit. Not a huge increase, but since the change to spirit mechanics, it's definitely helpful. Arcane mages will notice it most of all, especially after WotLK comes out.
Draenei - The mighty blue squids from outer space bring something that gives them an edge in damage(atm, WotLK's talents may make the human spirit bonus a more worthy damage increase). 1% bonus hit with spells to everyone in their party. For a group of 5 casters in a raid, this is HUGE. Their minor HoT is also nice, but nothing to write home about.
Final winner: For those with an eye to raiding in the right now, Draenei are an incredible choice. Arcane mages will love being human, though, and that's something to consider when you're choosing your mage. And after WotLK comes out, Arcane mages will really love being human.
For 5 mans as fire or frost, you can't beat Gnomes.
For raids as fire or frost, you can't touch Draenei.
For arcane mages, you really should go Human. Especially if you plan to play WotLK.
General Mage Arcana
- Ice Block - You become encased in a block of ice, protecting you from all physical attacks and spells for 10 seconds, but during that time you cannot attack, move or cast spells. (5 minute cooldown).
Possibly the most powerful spell a mage has. Most people tend to use Iceblock as an "OH crap!!" button, which it is in PvE. But in PvP, learning to use this spell offensively can be devastating to whomever is on the receiving end of the ass whooping you are handing out. Yes, it is that good.
Most players use Iceblock for defense. Pull aggro off the tank? Iceblock. Get focus fired in a battleground? Iceblock. Girlfriend won't leave you the hell alone about taking her out? Iceblock... sorry that one would require Inivisibility, and also possibly a Frost Nova, another thread entirely right there.
In PvP, Iceblock's power isn't in it's ability to keep you alive, it is in being able to stop the fight altogether. Stopping a fight allows a quick thinking mage to evaluate the situation, and react accordingly. It can completely destroy your opponents initial plan of attack and allow you to set one up of your own.
Further elaboration isn't really needed at this point, I think you get the idea. Even if someone knows you have Iceblock, they have no way to predict when you will use it. When you do, control of the fight now belongs to you entirely. Suprise is an offensive tool, the most powerful one you have in a fight period. Iceblock gives you that element of suprise. Use it wisely.
Gems
This question has been coming up a lot lately, so I thought I'd add a section on it. First of all, for a basic primer on gems, go to Allakhazam's section on the different gem types or the Wowwiki section here.
Now, things to remember about gemming:
- You do not have to match socket colors unless you want the bonus.
- Blue quality gear should at least have green quality gems. Epic gear should have at least blue quality gems. T6 level epic gear optimally should have epic quality gems (there will be no excuse not to in 2.4 thanks to gems from heroic badges).
There are three levels of gem attributes that a PvE mage should consider. Level 1 - These are the best of the best stats to gem for as a mage. All gems should have one of these on it. No gems should be socketed that lack one of these unless it's a specific circumstance set of gear(Stamina gear, for instance).
Level 2 - These are good stats to gem for, work best as secondary stats paired with one of the level 1 stats, but should probably not be by themselves if you can avoid it.
Level 3 - These are ok stats to gem for, but should never ever be by themselves. Best used when trying to match a socket bonus or a metagem requirement.
| | ||
| Level 1 (Purple) | Level 2 (Blue) | Level 3 (Green) |
|---|---|---|
| Spell hit | Stamina | Int |
| Spell Dmg | Spell Crit | MP5 |
| Spell Haste | ||
| | ||
| Level 1 (Purple) | Level 2 (Blue) | Level 3 (Green) |
|---|---|---|
| Spell Damage | Spell Crit | Spell Hit |
| - | Spell Haste | Spell Penetration |
| - | - | Int |
The +dmg isn't mitigated by resilience, so it sits alone in that slot. Spell crit is mitigated, but is still excellent, but it also is a yellow gem stat, meaning bad for MSD. Haste is rated so high because of the new effects on the GCD in 2.4, which will help. Would be higher, but you need a fair amount of the stuff to see any real benefit. Hit is useless if you've got Elemental Precision and Arcane Focus(2 points). Only on the chart because some people may not get both of those. Spell penetration is low because it's situational. Not many classes have resistances to you, but for those that do, it's quite useful.
Some people believe that Haste is better than damage for PvP gems. Because it may make it hard to gem for the MSD, I've rated it as a level 2 gem. If you are not using that Meta, then certainly you'll want to consider rating it higher.
Additional Useful Guides
This is a list put together by Echou a while back, and many may find it useful, so I'm adding it here. Removed the link to this sticky, though.
- Leatherpatches' Frost AOE Grinding Without Taking Damage - A detailed guide on how to AoE Frost grind. A must-read for anyone interested in trying this leveling method.
- Kamuii's List of AOE Spots for Mages - A good list of possible Frost AoE grinding spots. The thread includes good feedback and comments from various mages who have tried various spots listed.
- Talent Progression Guide - A guide listing different builds for PvE/PvP and the suggested order in which to get the talents. Includes a detailed talent progression for Frost AoE grinding.
- Guide: Mage Talents Discussed - A guide discussing the pros and cons of each talent in all three mage talent trees.
- Guide: Arena PvP Talent Builds - A guide written from a 5v5 Arena PvP point of view. Discusses popular build archtypes, unconventional builds, and takes a look at top ranked Arena mages and their tweaked builds.
- Easy / Solo-able Gear for the New 70 Mage - A list of good level 70 gear that can be easily obtained solo.
Notes and References
- ^ All this talent does, in layman's terms, is cause your critical strikes with frost spells to do double the damage of the regular strike.
- ^ Notice that we skip Arcane Concentration here, and max out Arcane Focus, this is to help with your Counterspell. Arcane Impact works well for those of you who run into a group of players spamming Arcane Explosion as a finisher.
- ^ Built with extreme burst in mind, this spec takes the much debated "3 minute mage" to a whole new level. I used this for quite awhile, in arena and BG's. Let the other classes whine, when I get Skillcoil like Warlocks, or Cloak of Skill like rogues, or 14k unbuffed HP, then I might listen to your cries of pain while you are enveloped in my ball of fiery death.
- ^ Focuses on beefing up your total intellect to get as much power as you can out of Mind Mastery stacked on top of Spell Power. An interesting spec to play with, especially if you enjoy really large numbers popping up on your screen.
- ^ Yes I know Counterspell is arguably a PvP talent, but I hate not having it, even when PvE specced. Arcane Concentration is an absolute must, and Meditation is a boost to your regen.
- ^ Again, Concentration is key here, Arcane Mind to beef up that mana pool and my all time favorite talent, Instability adding crit and damage. A solid PvE spec with big numbers. Another option with this spec is to drop Meditation and get Potency.
- ^ A continuation of the 33 build, working deep enough into the tree to get mind mastery. Again, you can drop Meditation and get Potency if you feel like it.
- ^ A variation of this is to go 50 arcane and stick 11 in to fire. Personally, I would drop two points in to Elemental Precision then the other 6 wherever you feel like it. You can drop the Improved Counterspell, as this is really only useful in raids as a build and Imp CS is not that great for them. Then take 1 point out of Magic Absorption to spec the 50/11/0 build.
- ^ This is a PvE focused build, stacked with 40 Arcane it can provide some very nice damage. Has little to no utility or control however.
- ^ Continuation of the 21 build, nice when used with 33 Arcane, centers around lots of crits from both trees. Very strong burst as well, I like this one in 5 man dungeons and smaller raids, like Karazhan.
- ^ Even deeper fire for PvE, more crits and increased damage. Very solid build, another nice group spec when dealing with something smaller than 25 players in regards to groups.
- ^ This spec will most likely put out the max damage you can possibly come up with. Combined with a healthy mix of +dmg and +crit gear, it is absolutely lethal. I spec this for raids. No PvP talents, except maybe Dragon's Breathe and that is there only because you really have nowhere better to place it.
- ^ Notice there is no Improved Fireball, I don't even put Fireball on my bar when I spec this. Centers around fast casting and instant spells, along with the occasional Arcane Powered Pyroblast. While useable in arena (I have done it, great for murdering a healer) it truly shines in Battlegrounds. Not all that great in 1v1 PvP, but still dangerous. I was specced this when I back to back crit my Shadow Priest brother for 6k damage each, netting me over 12k and killing him instantly, and that was before the Ignite tics.
- ^ There a freaking thousand ways to spec a frost tree. This one is built mainly for raids, if you couldn't figure that out when Ice Barrier wasn't in there, I dunno what to tell you, I can't help you. A good frost raid spec, but stuck as being only good at that.
- ^ This one gets paired with a 33 Arcane spec to build on crits. It doesn't work as well as a 28 fire spec, due to not getting ignites off a critical strike, but it does decently. I like a build like this for soloing old world dungeons.
- ^ Burst in the extreme. This stacked onto a 40 Arcane build, using Arcane Power is lethal in PvP. Not much survivability as far as frost is concerned, but probably the best burst build in the game. Nova something, pop timers, cast a frostbolt, then toss and ice lance, GG target.
- ^ The PvP spec that is all the rave. I use this, love it. The pet makes for some very nasty bursting, pretty much every pvp toy that frost can give is in this spec. Most serious arena players are rolling with this build, the control and survivability are top notch. Anything less would be uncivilized.
- ^ This spec can actually be rearranged however you would like. The only mandatory parts are Elemental Precision (for raiders) and Icy Veins. Combined with 48 Fire or 50 Arcane, this makes for some solid damage output. If using 48 Fire, throw your remaining 2 points into Arcane Subtlety for threat reduction when you Arcane Explosion spam. Combined with other haste effects, trinkets, and either Combustion/Molten Fury or Arcane Power, Icy Veins time is sexy time.
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