WotLK Classic Mage Guide

Mage – caster, has 3 builds and a lot of variations of their execution. Good in both PvP and PvE but can be a bit confusing for a newbie. In more detail, we will consider this in our WotLK Mage guide.

WotLK Mage Overview

Mage has three specializations, and all of them are about DPS.

Fire

The build is suitable in both PvE and PvP but is the top choice for the PvE way. In the PvE direction, the build has two variations – TTB and FFB. Both are good, but the first is gear-dependent, and the second can give an impact with the minimal achievement of the cap, specifically in this case – Hit.

Strengths

Weaknesses

S-tier single target damage: when fire mages start to scale, they undoubtedly have some of the highest single target damage rates. What’s more, unlike those goofy patrol cops, we can do all of this from a safe distance, which gives us a huge advantage in some of those more unfriendly melee battles;
Incredibly addictive gameplay: people who played Fire Mage in OG WotLK will tell you that it is one of the best games they have ever played. When you finally gain enough crit to make your Hot Streak proc reliable, you’ll be pumping out Pyroblast like you’re a meteor;
Valuable crowd control: other classes hate mages in PvP because of how powerful our crowd control is, with some really powerful spells like Polymorph and Counterspell. They prove to be a great asset to your team, helping to control dangerous monsters in the raid!
Effective threat management: where other classes may struggle with threats from time to time, Fire Mages don’t have to worry about it at all. We have a permanent 20% threat reduction thanks to the talent Burning Soul, as well as several ways to reduce the threat, such as “Invisibility-Invisibility” if we need it.

Low and medium damage from AoE: while there’s no denying that our single target damage is sensational, our AoE and burst damage, unfortunately, can’t keep up with the big boys. In battles with more than one target, you tend to perform average or below average;
High dependence on equipment and high competition for prey: Fire mages really jump to the top only in the 3rd phase of the game when our equipment has a lot of crits. Until then, we are average in terms of damage and many mages choose Arcane. Moreover, many guilds pile up fire mages like there’s no tomorrow, and most of them also have a few sorcerers, so you’ll have to crack a tough nut to crack in the battle for equipment;
Glass Cannon: It turns out we need all those threat management tools we have because we are made of extremely fragile glass. Fire mages are the definition of a glass cannon, dying from any skill that accidentally hits us because we lack survival tools like Ice Barrier;
Fire mages have powerful crowd control that allows them to contribute beyond DPS, but outside of that our utility is unfortunately not very high.

Frost

Bild is playable in PvP, in PvE quite weak and the same FFB or Arcane at times will be stronger Frost. Frost is the only choice of the Mage in PvP, in order to achieve maximum results, the build in the form of talents about the same regardless of the objectives, changing only a few talents from different components, for example, a build for 2v2/ 3v3, a build paired with Roga/ Priest/ other classes, AoE build for pumping.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Extremely powerful explosion: Frost Mages have the most powerful explosion in the entire game, which can destroy targets in just a few moments thanks to Shatter. Thanks to this mechanic, frost mages have a 50% higher chance to critically hit any frozen target. The great thing about this mechanic is that it works against targets frozen by any type of freeze effect. In addition, this mechanic is not limited to only frost spells but also works on fire spells and sorcery spells;
Extremely powerful crowd control: Frost mages have many tools in their arsenal for crowd control, they can interrupt or silence their enemies, freeze them in place, slow them down, polymorph, and even stun them! With the wide range of crowd control abilities available for this model, they can reliably fight off multiple enemies at once, or constantly control the target, tearing it apart;
Excellent defensive capabilities: the Frost Mage is the most resilient specialization of all the mage specializations in the expansion, thanks to excellent defenses such as Ice Barrier, Shattered Barrier, and Cold Snap;
Reduced healing: the Frost Mage is one of the few specializations in the entire expansion that has access to the healing reduction skill. Unlike other specializations in the game that apply the effect through a specific skill, frost mages can apply the healing reduction effect to any target affected by the chill effect with Permafrost.

Weaker against physical damage: despite the fact that they have access to powerful crowd control and defense tools, frost mages are weak against “Anti-spellcasting” classes: Hunter, Rogue, Death Knight, and Feral Druid;
Easy to play, hard to master: at first glance, the Frost Mage seems like a fun and easy class to play, but as the expansion progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult to play against experienced players. This is mainly due to how many spells we have in the set and how vulnerable we are to classes that accumulate Armor Piercing;
Glass Cannon/Glass: Frost Mage has incredible damage, but despite being the most durable specialization of all Mages, he still uses cloth and glass cannons;
Lack of reliable self-healing: this specialization has no normal healing except for a very special situational healing gained through the Glyph of Evocation. Although powerful, it has a long cooldown time and requires a long aiming time, making it unreliable.

Arcane

The universal build is used both in PvE and PvP, the preferred in PvE. Thanks to the updated talents Arcana in Wotlk Classic build is the top choice for the Mage without a high gear, the basic strong damage and talent allow it to pass any battle and inflict quite an impressive amount of damage.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Highest level of single-target damage: as magic mages, we have the best damage early on in the game, as our damage is based on how quickly we can empty our mana bar (and hopefully finish without it). What’s more, unlike those goofy patrolling cops, we can do all of this from a safe distance, giving us a huge advantage in some of those more unfriendly melees;
Valuable crowd control: other classes hate mages in PvP because of how powerful our crowd control is, with some really powerful spells like Polymorph and Counterspell. Turns out they are a great asset to have on your team to help control dangerous monsters in the raid!
Effective threat management: while other classes may struggle to deal with threats from time to time, Arcane Mages don’t care about it at all. We have a stable 40% threat reduction thanks to the Arcane Subtlety talent, as well as several ways to reduce the threat, such as Invisibility if we need it.

Low and medium damage from AoE: while there is no denying that our raw single target damage is incredible, our AoE and burst damage, unfortunately, falls short of the big boys. In fights with more than one target, you tend to perform average or below average;
Great competition for loot: raids usually have many mages, sorcerers, and shadow priests, as well as other spellcasters, all competing with you for loot. As a result, it can be difficult to get all the items you need to perform at your best;
Glass Cannon: it turns out we need all those threat management tools we’ve been given because we’re made of extremely fragile glass. Archery mages are the definition of a glass cannon, dying to every random skill that can hit us because we lack survival tools like Ice Barrier.

Our recommendations for PvE: if you play recently – your choice is Arcane, easier rotation does not require much knowledge of timings, and you will be relevant in any raid up to +-6k GS, high damage regardless of the level of equipment.

If you have already played as a Mage, or play World of Warcraft recommend FFB build. It is less dependent on the gear in contrast to the TTB, more interesting, almost never runs out of mana, and gives you high damage.

For PvP unambiguously Frost.

WotLK Mage Changes

The main change is the addition of the Arcane Barrage talent, thanks to this now Arcane build is more playable in the initial stages of the game in PvE. In the Frost build added an important talent – the ability to deep freeze, the top ability for any PvP battle. Fire build remained about the same, also strong.

WotLK Mage Leveling

As leveling, there are two main builds you can pump: Fire and Frost. And Frost has two variations:

Solo Target Damage – a standard build that will strengthen your main ability “Ice Arrow” and with it, you will kill monsters and gain experience;
AoE – the build through strengthening the ability Snowstorm. Sufficiently complex build for which need experience playing for the Mage, knowledge about the AoE pumping, and practice, about this build we will make a separate guide.

Reaching level 80 is usually quite difficult, but Mages have a few tricks up their sleeve to get to the top. Thanks to our ability to kill up to 10 mobs at a time, we have a huge advantage over many other Warlocks and even some melee fighters; Mages also have a few ways to get out of difficult situations!

Tips for leveling up

You will probably do it naturally, but try to kill enemies everywhere and anywhere. If you have full reserves of health and mana, try to push your class even further and stop only when you are completely out of mana and can’t restore it other than through water;
Make sure that you visit your class trainer regularly to upgrade your spells, which will make it easier to pass the level;
Unlike other classes, you will almost always want to fight 3 or more mobs (above level 20) at the same time to speed up your leveling;
Try to fight enemies of the same level as you, as they give you the most XP;
Don’t forget to use Hearthstone to move quickly if you are less than level 10, you can also use graveyards to save time running back and forth;
Grouping up definitely increases the speed of leveling and is recommended when playing solo, but grinding AoE is faster without being in a group with others.

Gameplay tips

Mages have several buffs, one of which is Arcane Intellect, which should always be enabled as it gives more Mana, Crit, and Mana Regeneration. Other buffs – are Frost Armor, Ice Armor (a better version of Frost Armor), Mage Armor, and Molten Armor. Each of them provides a unique buff specific to the level or leveling strategy. The last 2 buffs – Amplify Magic and Dampen Magic – have a very narrow scope.

Once you have acquired the Conjure Mana Gem, make sure you never start a battle without having it with you!

If you are afraid to die, you can always kill Frost Nova mobs and run away. Alternatively, if you’re level 70, you can use Invisibility to back out of a fight and run away.

Rotation

The rotation for the Mage is as follows; note that this depends on both what level you are at and your leveling strategy:

Levels 1-10: 3 Frostbolt > Wand to death or 3 Fireball > Wand to death;
Levels 11-24: At this stage, you can start using Arcane Explosion to destroy groups of mobs (3-4 at most);
Levels 25-60: At this point, you can start mass grinding mobs during the quest using Ice Barrier > Wand/Fire Blast > Counterspell (to take down mobs) >Frost Nova > Blizzard > Arcane Explosion, whatever is left! For single-target use Frostbolt or Fireball spam to kill mobs quickly;
Level 61-80: At this stage, any of the main spec spells are great for leveling up, and any rotation can be used at this time!

Each spec has its own way of leveling up after reaching level 60:

Arcane uses Arcane Blast combos up to 4 stacks in Arcane Missiles;
Frost Mages will want to spam Frostbolt and Blizzard to shred AoE;
Fire can spam Living Bomb on 10 targets in Dragon’s Breath in Blast Wave.

Talent Path & Training Abilities

Depending on which school you want to focus on, your talent path will be drastically different:

Leveling Frost involves using Blizzard for AoE, Summon Water Elemental, and Frostbolt for killing mobs. This is generally the best trait to choose for leveling, as it has the highest survival rate of the 3 traits.

Fire leveling revolves around the Living Bomb for AoE, the Fireball and Pyro for single target, as well as getting the Pyroblast with Hot Streak. Fire, while weaker at the beginning with no survivability in Freeze or AoE mode, makes up for it once you get the Living Bomb and can place it on 10 mobs at once and blow them up.

Knowing which stats to prefer and what equipment to look for can make the leveling process much easier.

Equipment

Try to use one-handed and two-handed items to get the best combination of stats. While staff may look cooler, a combination of one- and two-handed equipment is usually better in terms of the combination of stats it can give.

Mages will do fine without major upgrades (you can get up to level 80 in Westfall blues and greens), but anything involving spell power, intelligence, spirit, and stamina will help to kill mobs faster!

Always have a decent wand with you, as at lower levels you may need several wand strokes to finish off an enemy.

Prioritize stats

The following list is a general guide to what stats you should prioritize in your inventory, gems, and spells (and even potions!).

Spell Power – this stat can almost double your damage for some spells and affects everything but staffs and weapons;
Intelligence – increases our mana supply, and mana regeneration and gives us passive crit. This is a very useful parameter, as mages can run out of mana quickly when pumping;
Spirit – Helps with mana regeneration and also turns into crit when molten armor is enabled;
Stamina – Helps us survive longer and allows us to take out more mobs before dying, need I say more about this amazing stat?

Class quests and rewards

When doing class quests, it is important to choose the best rewards!

Mirror Lake: There are only 2 rewards for this class quest, with the Ley Orb being the better option as it is a smaller version of our Conjure Mana Gem;
Celestial Power: There are 2 more rewards for this quest. Celestial Orb is a better option because of its ability to be used with one hand to gain more stats, and also because it is a small spell mana gem;
Destroy the Morphaz: There are 3 possible rewards for this quest; all three can be useful, but the Arcane Crystal Pendant is better for all but fire mages who will want to get the Fire Ruby.

Professions

The professions you want to choose will depend on your goals while leveling up. Do you want to be as fast as possible, or do you care about the endgame, earning gold, etc.? Whatever your goals are, you should learn First Aid as a Mage, but the other professions are up to you:

Speed Level: get First Aid only. All other professions will take you time, even something as simple as skinning will add a few hours to reach level 80;
Quick level generation plus Gold: this is where you can pick up Skinning. It’s will add some time, but also a nice flow of gold making;
Maximum two professions: if you want to master a maximum of two professions at once, then Skinning combined with Herbalism or Mining is a good start;
Endgame: Start with Engineering and Mining, then drop mining and choose Tailoring. These professions may take some time to maximize and get the items you need from them, but you’ll end up with the two best professions for a mage in the slot.

WotLK Mage Talents and Glyphs

Below you find the overall best builds for all specs.

Frost PvP

Frost PvP [20/0/51]: this is the build we recommend for the Mage for a maximum balanced effect.

What’s the difference and what you can modify for yourself:

What can be removed from the talents: Winter’s Chill, may be enough, and one Arctic Winds. Arctic Reach – similarly, Improved Cone of Cold 2\3 leave;

These are more or less variable talents and the example above suggests the maximum damage from the build. What you can improve on your side and why:

Piercing Ice – instead of improving the cone of cold. We lose the cold cone boost from 35% to 25%, but we get 2% for all cold spells – which is important for the frost bolt. I recommend taking it if you don’t like to play with the cone of cold and prefer to always keep as much distance as possible;
Improved Blizzard – a useful talent for the arena, you can take at least a unit to have a slowing effect, usually, on the stages of 2v2, I do not use it because I prefer to play in a set-up with a robber, which already gives a lot of slows + have a mini trick using the first level frost bolt. P.S. Easy tips. Use first-level Frostbolt for primary slowing, practice and combine this with the main Frostbolt and you won’t need to pump Blizzard;
Frozen Core is a useful talent in outlaw sets with weak gear. Helps with survivability when you don’t have a Resilience Cap;
Permafrost is a useful talent to play 2v2 in a set with a Priest since you are the only damage dealer and need to cut opponents’ hits – it’s a good option;
Arcane branch variations in the frost build. Remove Arcane Concentration part > you can pump Arcane Fortitude – in combination with Frozen Core – a good effect for survivability, I opt for these talents if the gear is weak;
Also, boost Magic Attunement – a good boost in the game 2v2 with a horn – the buff is very important against any caster and it helps on long games.

Fire PvE FBB (Frostfire Bolt Build)

Frostfire Bolt Build [0/53/18]: TWB is more demanding to equip, at this stage of the game I recommend only FBB build. about TWB we will make a separate guide where we will analyze these points.

Arcane PvE

Arcane PvE Build [57/3/11]: as with the other builds, there are a few subtleties in Arcane that are worth talking about.

Arcane Stability talent must have on all mages in all dungeons, except those in which there will be Paladin with activated Concentration Aura. Not all paladins include this aura, not in all dungeons, you can meet him. We recommend keeping this talent pumped until the appearance of the slot in the permanent stat, in the guild.

Talent Torment the Weak – like the first, he must have as it gives +12% damage, but if you’re not in a raid or you do not have a class that slows down targets – the effect of the talent will not be, but better to have a chance to +12% damage than not have it.

Many advise pumping Arcane Barrage to use it during defections – the damage from them is minimal, and in our experience, it’s better to focus on other talents.

In case of “freeing up” talent slots from the aforementioned abilities, we can finish her off with:

Incanter’s Absorption – interesting tips, many high-gear mages use it in the final stages of the game – activate mana shield on AoE damage from bosses, get a boost to spell power and deal more damage, losing mana;
Magic Attunement – A nice bonus for mages who like to keep their distance;
Student of the Mind – up to t10 (IceCrown Citadel) – the main focus in the form of an additional characteristic in the clothing will be the spirit, is to combine this talent + glyph to improve the effectiveness of the spirit – Glyph of Molten Armor > Kritt in a red-hot armor = comes out a good combination to the crit.

WotLK Mage Stats

The stat priority may change depending on specialization, don’t miss this moment.

Frost PvP	Arcane PvE	Fire PvE
Hit Rating Resilience Spell Penetration Haste Spell Power Critical Strike Chance	Hit rating Cap: 368 rating/ 289 if you have a Shadow Priest or Balance Druid/ 263 if there’s also a Draenei in your party Spell Power Haste Rating Critical Strike Rating Spirit Intellect.	Hit rating Cap: 446 rating/ 368 if your raid has Misery or Improved Faerie Fire/ 342 if there’s a Draenei in your party as well Spell Power Crit rating Haste rating Spirit Intellect

WotLK Mage Best Race

Mages in WotLK can be different races: Human, Gnome, and Draenei for the Alliance, and Blood Elf, Troll, and Undead for the Horde.

Since mages cannot be orcs, the choice of race for the Horde is very simple, while for the Alliance it is not a very important choice.

Horde

Trolls are by far the strongest race for the Horde, and Troll mages are the strongest. This is largely due to the Berserking race, which increases our casting speed by 20% for 10 seconds. The other races we can choose from simply do not have a race that increases DPS, which means that the troll is our only recommended option.

Troll	Trolls are incredibly strong for mages in general, with a 20% speed buff that is applied at any time with a 3-minute CD. This race makes them the best race for Horde mages, as other races simply don’t have a damage-boosting race. Magical equipment also looks great on female trolls! Berserker is a spell that gives +20% to cast speed for 10 seconds and a 3-minute cooldown. The fact that it is a skill that is used makes a big difference in breaking phases/stacking your cooldowns. Haste is a pretty powerful stat for us, which makes this race very solid; Beast Slaying increases the damage dealt to beast enemies by 5%, which is very powerful. Unfortunately, there are not many Beasts in Wrath of the Lich King, especially in raids, which makes this race not very impressive in practice; Da Voodoo Shuffle passively reduces the duration of slow and immobilized effects by 15%. As a rule, it is mainly a PvP race, but sometimes it can be useful in PvE; Regeneration increases health regeneration by 10% and allows you to regenerate health during combat at 10% of your normal regeneration rate. Mages do not have active health regeneration abilities (this does not apply to healing effects such as potions, only health regeneration), so this talent is relevant only when pumping or completing quests – it speeds up getting food, which is probably already something; Specialization in archery and specialization in throwing increase the chance of a critical hit with a bow and melee weapons by 1%. Mages, unfortunately, cannot use bows and melee weapons and are limited to equipping wands with a ranged slot, so we do not get any benefit from this race.
Blood Elf	Blood Elves became a fan-favorite race after their appearance in OG TBC. Their race is pretty weak for mages in general – they are the second strongest race of the Horde and much weaker than the top variant – but there is no denying that both male and female Blood Elves look adorable. Although they are much weaker than trolls, it can be argued that blood elves are BiS for looks! Arcane Torrent is a 2-minute cooldown spell that silences all enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds while restoring 6% mana. The stun effect can be useful in dungeons and PvP, but most bosses are unfortunately immune to stun. The mana recovery item is useful, but not very much; Resistance to magic reduces the probability of being hit by magic spells by 2%. It combines all kinds of immunity, which makes it surprisingly flexible. Despite this, its benefits in PvE are mostly negligible, while in PvP it works well; Arcane Affinity increases your starting and maximum magic content by 15. It does not affect the gameplay, except for a small convenience.
Troll	Undead Mages stand out in PvP thanks to their incredibly powerful, fear-inspiring race, the Will of the Forsaken. Unfortunately, this race is not very useful in PvE, as well as all their other racial traits, making them by far the weakest race for a horde magic mage. They look very cool! The Will of the Forsaken removes the effects of enchantment, fear, and sleep. This can help you avoid some raid mechanics, but is incredibly situational; Cannibalize allows you to eat the corpses of killed enemies to restore your health. It doesn’t really affect PvE content, but comes in handy during solo play; Shadow immunity reduces the chance of being hit by Shadow spells by 2%. This is the most neglected race when it comes to PvE; Underwater Breathing helps to survive for a very long time underwater. If only there was an underwater raid!

Alliance

The 3 races you have to choose from as an Arcane Mage Alliance are all great, and none of them have a particularly strong DPS-boosting race, so the choice doesn’t matter much – you can play the race you like best. However, we do recommend you to play the Draenei Crest raid – their Heroic Presence race gives 1% Hit and Spell Damage to each member of your party, so you will need 5 Draenei in each raid, and the mage is one of the best candidates for Draenei, as other races do not give a significant DPS advantage, as mentioned above.

Draenei	The Draenei are a powerful race for Alliance magic mages, and we recommend this race. Introduced in Burning Crusade, the Draenei quickly became the Alliance’s favorite race, offering a variety of powerful races while looking incredibly cool. Heroic Presence increases the chance of being hit by spells and physical attacks by 1% for you and all group members within 30 yards. Each DPS group will need at least 1 Draenei for this powerful buff. Since none of the other races give a significant DPS increase over Draenei for mages, we are excellent candidates for 1 of the 5 Draenei that will be needed in a raid. However, this effect does not stack, so if you know for sure that your guild will already have a handful of Draenei, then there is basically no point in picking Draenei because that is the only reason to play them; Gift of Naaru imposes a Heal-over-time effect on one target that lasts 15 seconds, with a cooldown of 3 minutes. Sometimes it can save your life and even help heal a tank in a period of heavy damage, but in general, it is not very good for mages; Shadow immunity reduces the chance of being hit by Shadow spells by 2%. This is the most ignored race when it comes to PvE; Gemcutting increases your starting and maximum jewelry skill by 5. It does not affect the gameplay in any way, except for minor convenience.
Gnome	The little intelligent worms known as gnomes are considered a spell-oriented race. In fact, if you analyze the numbers, they are the strongest race of mages thanks to the Expansive Mind racial – although their advantage over other races is very small. If your raid already has a group of Drenaei, so you don’t need to offer the Heroic Presence buff, the Gnome is your best option. Expansive Mind increases your overall intelligence by 5%. This in turn increases the critical hit chance of your spells by a small amount. It should be noted, however, that while this is an increase in DPS, it is not that significant – you will not earn significantly more DPS with it than with other races; Escape Artist instantly removes all slowing and immobilizing effects, and has a cooldown of 1 minute. While this can be useful in PvE, it works better in PvP (where humanists are much better anyway), so it’s not something amazing; Engineering specialization increases your starting and maximum engineering skill level by 15. This is a bit more useful than other races that increase professional skills, as engineers summon guardian pets that increase along with your engineering skill level. This race increases the level of summoned pets to 83, making them slightly stronger, but since there are not many useful guards, this race is not groundbreaking; Arcane Resistance reduces the chance that you will be hit by Arcane spells by 2%. This is the most neglected race when it comes to PvE.
Humans	Humans are probably the most iconic race for mages in all of Warcraft, with both Khadgar and Jaina being prominent mages in history. In World of Warcraft, unfortunately, they are the weakest race (and strongest in PvP!) for mages. However, the difference in DPS with other races is small – if you like the look of humans, or if you also plan to PvP on your mage, you won’t regret choosing a human. Just make sure you have enough Drenaei in your raid for each group to get the Heroic Presence buff. Will to Survive is a crowd dispersal skill, similar to the Undead race, but this skill is universal. It is useful in PvE scenarios but is much more applicable in PvP encounters where humans are usually considered the strongest race in the game; The Human Spirit increases your Spirit by 3%. This means a slight increase in the critical hit chance of our spells thanks to Melted Armor, although it will generally be slightly weaker than the Dwarf’s Expanded Mind; Perception passively increases stealth detection by a small amount. Since there are not many sneak mobs in PvE, this perk is not very useful; Diplomacy increases reputation gain speed by 10%, which is a big plus for reputation gain. Although it is a useful addition to the quality of life, it does not affect the actual gameplay; Specialization “Sword” and “Mace” increase your knowledge by 3 when using sword and mace. If you use melee weapons as a mage, you are in a lot of trouble, so this race will not benefit you.

The bottom line is if you focus on racial bonuses.

For the Horde:

PvE – Troll
PvP – Undead

If you want to play Mage at the Alliance:

PvE – Gnome
PvP – Human

WotLK Mage Consumables, Chants & Gems

In addition to equipment and talents, there are 3 other ways a player can increase the strength of his character: gems, enchants, and consumables, which, when combined, make the character much stronger.

Many guilds and raid groups may not invite you at all if you don’t have the right gems, spells, and consumables – but don’t worry, this guide will help you avoid that problem!

Frost PvP

Gems	Enchants	Consumables
Meta: Chaotic Skyflare Diamond Red: Reckless Ametrine or Reckless Monarch Topaz Yellow: Mystic King’s Amber or Mystic Autumn’s Glow Blue: Stormy Majestic Zircon or Stormy Sky Sapphire	Head: Arcanum of Dominance Shoulders: Inscription of Dominance Cloak: Enchant Cloak – Spell Piercing Chest: Enchant Chest – Exceptional Resilience Bracers: Enchant Bracers – Superior Spellpower Gloves: Hyperspeed Accelerators Waist: Eternal Belt Buckle Legs: Icescale Leg Armor or Earthen Leg Armor Feet: Nitro Boosts or Enchant Boots – Tuskarr’s Vitality Rings: Enchant Ring – Greater Spellpower Weapon: Enchant Weapon – Black Magic	Flask or Elixirs: Flask of the Frost Wyrm Buff Food: Firecracker Salmon or Fish Feast Potions: Potion of Wild Magic or Potion of Speed Scrolls: Scroll of Spirit VIII or Scroll of Stamina VIII

Arcane PvE

Gems	Enchants	Consumables
Meta: Chaotic Skyflare Diamond Red: Runed Cardinal Ruby / Runed Scarlet Ruby – every socket, after Meta Gem is activated Yellow: Reckless Monarch Topaz / Veiled Monarch Topaz / Rigid Autumn’s Glow – socket bonus only Blue: Purified Twilight Opal – only 2	Head: Arcanum of Burning Mysteries Shoulders: Greater Inscription of the Storm / Master’s Inscription of the Storm (Inscription) Back: Enchant Cloak – Greater Speed or Lightweave Embroidery (Tailoring) / Springy Arachnoweave (Engineering) Chest: Enchant Chest – Powerful Stats Wrists: Enchant Bracers – Superior Spellpower / Fur Lining – Spell Power (Leatherworking) Hands: Enchant Gloves – Exceptional Spellpower / Hyperspeed Accelerators (Engineering) Waist: Eternal Belt Buckle Legs: Brilliant Spellthread Feet: Enchant Boots – Icewalker or Nitro Boosts (Engineering) Fingers: Enchant Ring – Greater Spellpower (Enchanting) Weapon: Enchant Weapon – Mighty Spellpower / Enchant Staff – Greater Spellpower (Staff)	Flask / Elixirs: Flask of the Frost Wyrm Buff Food: Fish Feast or Firecracker Salmon Potions: Potion of Wild Magic (pre-pot & stack with cooldowns) Misc: Scroll of Spirit VIII

Fire PvE

Gems	Enchants	Consumables
Meta: Chaotic Skyflare Diamond Red: Runed Scarlet Ruby or Runed Cardinal Ruby – every socket, after Meta Gem is activated Yellow: Potent Monarch Topaz or Potent Ametrine – socket bonus only Blue: Purified Twilight Opal or Purified Dreadstone – only 2	Head: Arcanum of Burning Mysteries Shoulders: Greater Inscription of the Storm / Master’s Inscription of the Storm (Inscription) Back: Enchant Cloak – Greater Speed / Lightweave Embroidery (Tailoring) or Springy Arachnoweave (Engineering) Chest: Enchant Chest – Powerful Stats Wrists: Enchant Bracers – Superior Spellpower / Fur Lining – Spell Power (Leatherworking) Hands: Enchant Gloves – Exceptional Spellpower / Hyperspeed Accelerators (Engineering) Waist: Eternal Belt Buckle Legs: Brilliant Spellthread Feet: Enchant Boots – Icewalker or Nitro Boosts (Engineering) Fingers: Enchant Ring – Greater Spellpower (Enchanting) Weapon: Enchant Weapon – Mighty Spellpower / Enchant Staff – Greater Spellpower (Staff)	Flask / Elixirs: Flask of the Frost Wyrm Buff Food: Fish Feast / Firecracker Salmon Potions: Potion of Wild Magic (Pre-pot & stack with cooldowns) Misc: Flame Cap / Scroll of Spirit VIII

WotLK Mage Best Professions

For Arcane PvE & Fire PvE

Like most classes and specializations in the game, Engineering will be your strongest profession. For the second profession slot, we recommend Tailoring, which is generally considered the best second profession for casters. However, Tailor is not significantly better than the professions listed in the Useful Professions section (with the exception of Skinning, which is significantly weaker), so you can use any of them instead of the second profession slot.

Engineering

Engineer is the king of professions for PvE content, offering a huge, huge range of different benefits:

The main advantage of engineering is the enchantment of the gauntlet HyperSpeed Accelerators, which gives +340 speed for 12 seconds, with a 1-minute recharge. This translates to a ~10% increase in casting speed with 20% uptime, which is impressive in itself, but becomes even greater when you use the boosters while casting various trinkets;
In addition, as an engineer, you have access to the boot spell Nitro Boosts, which passively gives +24 Crit and has a use effect that significantly increases your speed for 5 seconds, allowing you to instantly recover from dangerous AoE effects;
Finally, as in previous additions, engineers can use powerful explosives such as Saronite Bombs and the Global Thermal Bomb Charge – of course, you must be a Goblin Engineer.

Tailoring

As a tailor, you gain access to the spell Lightweave Embroidery, which gives you +295 Spell power for 15 seconds with a 45-second internal cooldown. This means a possible +98 Spell power bonus on average if you cast exactly every 45 seconds, or a +74 Spell power bonus on average if you cast every 60 seconds, which is absolutely huge;
However, there is an opportunity cost associated with this bonus, as it prohibits the use of the standard cloak spell, Enchant Cloak – Greater Speed, making it somewhat weaker in practice. This trade-off is very worthwhile for us, however, as stacking your cooldowns together with this slingshot can result in a huge DPS boost that surpasses what other professions can bring – though not by much;
Tailoring is unfortunately quite poor at generating gold, so the main benefit is the cloak enchantment. However, there are also some useful clothes you can craft yourself that can be very useful for fresh level 80 characters, saving you some gold by not having to buy them from the Auction House.

For Frost PvP

Engineering	It’s no surprise that Engineer is the best profession for PvP when you consider all the cool gadgets you get access to: Engineering gives you many powerful additions, from accelerating effects like HyperSpeed Accelerators to offensive gadgets like the handheld pyro rocket, and even cool gadgets for escape and maneuvering! Since speed is the most powerful raw stat for a frost mage, in addition to the mandatory Hit Rating, Resilience, and Spell Power, the best spell you can use for your gauntlets is HyperSpeed Accelerators. We have access to many instant skills, so a hand pyro missile is not the optimal choice compared to the speed rating gained from HyperSpeed Accelerators; In addition, as an engineer, you have access to the boot spell Nitro Boosts, which passively gives you +24 crit and includes an effect when used that increases your speed for 5 seconds. This allows you to stalk your targets or create an effective escape on the spot. Remember, however, that Nitro Boosts is not available in arenas! Finally, as in previous add-ons, engineers can use powerful explosives such as Saronite Bombs and Global Thermal Bomb Charge, which can be used to improve your explosion!
Jewelcrafting	Jewelry is an extremely effective profession for most classes/specs, including frost mages. Not only do you get access to powerful, unique gems, but you can also sell them to others, providing you with a steady income, depending on the economy of your server. The main advantage of Jewelry is the unique jeweler’s jewels Dragon’s Eye, which are more powerful than ordinary jewels, but their number is limited to 3 at a time. The main ones you will be mining as a mage are the Mystic Dragon’s Eye and the Quick Dragon’s Eye, which give +42 immunity and +42 speed compared to normal epic gems; Stats are one of the most important criteria in PvP, and jewelry proves to be the best profession to gain raw stats.
Tailoring	As a Tailor, you gain access to the cloak spell Lightweave Embroidery, which grants +295 Spell power for 15 seconds with a 45-second internal cooldown. This is the highest bonus you can get from any profession. However, since the bonus is process-based, it is not reliable; The tailor also gives you access to the Frostweave, a nifty item that can be used to trap any melee threat! In addition to light embroidery and ice nets, tailoring allows you to create a powerful PvP starter kit, the Ice Savage. These items will be extremely valuable to you when you’re a fresh character at level 80! In addition, you can sell this gear to make a good profit from it.

WotLK Mage Rotation

Frost PvP

“Kiting” (escape during spells) – that’s the name of the game! Our set is filled with spells that can slow or stun our enemies, preventing them from trying to get to us. Our spells also have a very long range, allowing you to destroy targets from far away. As a Frost Mage, you usually want to isolate your target and quickly destroy it with powerful Critical Hits.

Your range and permanent slow effects are your most valuable assets, so make the most of them – positioning is key! Fortunately, we have access to extreme mobility through the use of Blink, which means that even if we don’t have the best starting position, we can quickly change it.

Depending on the class you’re fighting, you can limit yourself to instant skills and constantly kick your opponent, or just become a turret and devastate them with constant Frostbolt throws. It all depends on the fight – naturally, you’ll want to stay away from melee classes like Warriors, while against a Mage, dealing as much damage as possible is the way to go.

Remember that while you have many crowd control and defensive skills, you are ultimately a vulnerable sorcerer who has never dealt much physical damage, which means that you always need to be careful when dealing a lot of physical damage.

An important technique to be aware of is the “fake casting” tactic. This involves using another school of magic to trick your opponent into accepting an interrupt effect. For example, you can cast Scorch to bait the interruption of Fire magic, allowing you to cast Frost magic or Bow magic freely. You can also use Frost or Fire magic to enable the use of arcane spells, for example – Polymorph. Of course, this won’t always work. Fortunately, your set allows you to make it so that even if you are interrupted, you will have access to other schools of magic that will take care of things until you resume Frost magic.

Fake spellcasting also has another meaning! You can achieve “Fake Cast” by casting a spell and immediately moving afterward, cancelling the spell. If the enemy grabs the bait, he will try to interrupt the spell but will be surprised that the interruption failed as soon as you moved and canceled the spell. However, False Casting is difficult against experienced players because they will expect it. This means that you will probably have to fake several spells in a row to pull the interruption effect.

Overall spell priority

In WotLK Classic, Frost Mage is a spec that focuses on proc effects. This means that you will not have a specific spell priority that will always be followed, but rather a priority based on your processes. Since we are an explosive class that relies heavily on Shatter to destroy our enemies, we will need to use two specific effects to ensure we get the most out of Shatter.

The first effect we will look at is Fingers of Frost. This passive ability has a 15% chance (at maximum rank) of triggering when you cast a cold effect on the target, and since our set consists of such effects, you’ll be using it quite often. By itself, this effect makes your next two spells work as if they were against a frozen target. This means that you can achieve some interesting effects from the proc, especially since with Shatter you have a 50% increased chance of critically hitting frozen targets.

The most powerful spell you can cast with Fingers of Frost is Deep Freeze, which means you won’t have to spend Frost Nova or Water Elemental Freeze to cast Deep Freeze on a target. If you decide not to use one of the spells on Deep Freeze, you can instead use it on two Ice LanceIce Lance spells.

The second perk we’ll discuss is Brain Freeze, which gives you a chance to get a free (no mana cost), instantly cast Fireball or Frostfire Bolt whenever you cast an ability that inflicts Chilled (this has a 15% chance of occurring at Brain Freeze’s maximum rank). Before you get Frostfire Bolt, this proc can only be used on Fireball. However, after you get it, you’ll only want to use it in conjunction with Frostfire Bolt.

You’ll want to use this perk at every opportunity, given that Frostfire Bolt is a powerful skill. Remember that Brain Freeze can be triggered during Fingers of Frost, which means that Frostfire Bolt will be enhanced by Shatter.

Now that we’ve talked about our procedures, we’ll give an example of what spell priority should look like. Remember, however, that the priority of the spell will depend entirely on the situation you are in and the matchup you are facing!

Fully developed level: (Ice Armor + Mana Shield + Ice Barrier + Dampen Magic + Arcane Intellect);
Battle start: Summon Water Elemental -> Freeze -> Icy Veins -> Deep Freeze -> Frostbolt -> Ice Lance (x2);
During battle: Mirror Image -> Frostbolt (if you have a free cast ability) ->Ice Lance (on the move/immediately after Frostbolt if the target moves towards you) -> Frostfire Bolt (for each brain freeze) -> Fire Blast/Arcane Explosion (if you are on the move or locked in a school of frost magic) ->Frost Nova (defensive/offensive tool) -> Blink (stalking/increasing distance) -> Ice Block (anti-explosion/DoT removal);
Explosion: Counterspell (Silence) -> Icy Veins -> Deep Freeze -> Frostbolt followed immediately by Ice Lance -> Frostbolt (during) -> Cold Snap -> Deep Freeze (if available through Fingers of Frost)/Frost Nova (if Fingers of Frost is not available) -> Deep Freeze -> Ice Lance (spam).

Arcane PvE

Single-target rotation

Area of Effect Rotation

The Mage of Magic’s DPS is overloaded, which means that most of your damage will be dealt in the first 30 seconds of the fight, due to your cooldowns. Your goal is to end the fight with 0 mana; if you had more mana at the end of the fight, you could deal more damage. This means that you can deviate from your normal rotation depending on the duration of the battle.

Your normal rotation will consist of 4 Arcane Blast to build our stacks, followed by Arcane Missiles.

During the Blast Window, due to the change to Presence of Mind and Arcane Power, you will now use 3 Arcane Blast, then Presence of Mind for 4 Arcane Blast, followed by all other recharges (see the Speed subsection under Stat Priority for an explanation), and then Arcane Missiles. This is followed by the normal rotation. For our second use Presence of Mind, you can use it in conjunction with Arcane Missiles thanks to the Arcane Potency talent.

You want to use Presence of Mind in discovery through disguises and trinkets – stacking them is generally better than using them individually. You can use the macro below to help you use cooldowns:

For the cooldown of our potion, we want to pre-brew it before the encounter starts, and then brew another one once the cooldown is over.

For AoE (3+ mobs) the best rotation for Arcane Mage is as follows:

Flamestrike x2 -> Blizzard, repeat from the beginning;
Against moving targets that do not want to stay in Flamestrike / Blizzard, use the maximum rank Arcane Explosion / Cone of Cold;
If there is a priority target, it all comes down to focusing and killing it, as other classes have better AoE than us.

Fire Mage PvE

Fire mages have a very dynamic and fun rotation that has made them a fan favorite in WotLK.

Single-target rotation

Area of Effect Rotation

Both Torment the Weak and Frostfire Bolt builds follow this rotation of priorities:

Apply the Living Bomb debuff;
Use Scorch to get an improved Scorch effect. This is not necessary if you have a Demonologist or Sorcerer of Suffering in your raid;
Use Pyroblast when you activate Hot Streak;
Otherwise, use Fireball or Frostfire Bolt if you are using the FFB build.

About Ignite: when you deal Critical Damage with a fire spell, it deals 175% of normal damage and applies Ignite. Ignite will burn the target for 40% of the damage of this spell for 4 seconds, dealing 25% damage per second. When you deal another critical fire damage while the target already has Ignite, including damage from Living Bomb, 40% of the damage from this spell will be added to Ignite and the duration of Ignite will be renewed.

Example:

Your Fireball deals 10,000 damage. The Ignite debuff is applied, dealing 4000 damage (4 ticks of 1000 damage);
The first tick deals 1000 damage;
The second tick deals 1000 damage;
Your Pyroblast round hits for a critical hit of 12k damage. The Ignite effect resumes and deals 4800 damage (4 ticks of 1200 damage);
First tick deals 2200 damage – 1000 from Critical Fireball + 1200 from Pyroblast;
The second tick deals 2200 damage;
Critical Fireball damage has ended;
The third tick deals 1200 damage;
The fourth tick does 1200 damage;
The Ignite is now fading.

See how Ignite builds up? That’s just a basic example. The more often you get hit, the more Ignite damage you take.

Another essential question is when you should use Combustion.

Combustion increases critical hit damage by 50%, so you want to use it when you have the maximum possible power from spells, pumping trinkets, and effects of use – so an addon that keeps track of their internal cooldown will be very useful.

Also, it is best used when the boss has 35% HP or less, thanks to the Molten Fury talent. If the fight is really short, use it at that moment. If the fight will last longer than 2 minutes, which means you can use Combustion several times, try to use it as soon as possible. Try not to waste Combustion on Scorch and don’t waste it on the last tick of Living Bomb – cast it after the LB refresh on the target.

The biggest damage from AoE:

To begin with, never cast Living Bomb on mobs that will not survive to the final tick.

If the creatures are stationary, try to throw a few live bombs before spamming Flamestrike. Flamestrike has a 2-second cooldown and 8-second burn damage afterward. If you have less than 25% cooldown, first cast Flamestrike (rank 9), then Flamestrike (rank 8), then 2-3 rolls of Flamestrike (rank 9). Repetition. In no case do not throw rank 7;
If the mobs have very little HP, you throw one Flamestrike followed by a blizzard (if it is within range);
If the crowd is mobile, use only the Living Bomb. Start using Pyroblast when they are low on HP. If they don’t survive to the LB explosion and you are forced to move, spam Arcane Explosion;
Boss or “Big Addition” + extra: Living Bomb for all; consider spamming Flamestrike if necessary. Use Hot Streak procs on the boss/”Big Add”.

Below you can find tips for the Fire Mage and how not to ruin the Hot Streak.

The Fire Mage is a very dynamic spec and is a lot of fun to play as. Instead of.

For example, the Living Bomb explodes in the middle of Fireball turn and you get Hot Streak. Once drawn, you have two options: upgrade Living Bomb or cast instant Pyroblast. Here’s what you need to consider: upgrading the LB before firing the Pyroblast gives you the biggest increase in DPS for the LB, as you maximize its duration. BUT, if the airborne Fireball happens to explode and reactivate the Hot Streak while you are upgrading the LB, you will lose instant Pyroblast. It’s called clogging and it’s the biggest DPS loss you can inflict on yourself!

And in between, when you regenerate LB or cast instant Pyroblast, you use Fireball (and also Scorch or Flamestrike). That’s it!

The first rule of DPS casters is ABC – Always be a caster. Encounters with movement are where fire mages shine. If the crit is generous, you can cast and move frequently for the duration of your GCD, which is usually more than enough to eliminate any downtime beyond blinking when the situation calls for it, ensuring that you always maximize your casting time. You don’t have any idle motion.

Next is the importance of the distance between you and your enemy. Outside of that range, in situations where you don’t need to be consistent with the rest of the raid or don’t have a specific position or exact spot where you want to stand, how far you want to stand from your target is determined by your equipment – specifically, your haste rate.

Whether you have the Flame Throwing talent or not, in situations where you are expected to use magical abilities such as Polymorph or Counterspell, stay within the range of these abilities, which is 30 yards.

This brings us to the Living Bomb. Its explosion counts as a Hot Streak, and if it hits two enemies, you get a Pyroblast for boarding. If you are at such a distance that your Fireball is thrown during the Hot Streak and if the LB explodes, it’s a DPS loss because you just lost the Hot Streak; and it’s a DPS loss if you stop the Fireball mid-throw to fire the Pyroblast. It’s a DPS loss if you throw the Pyroblast before reapplying the Living Bomb, but if the airborne Fireball/other hits the Living Bomb and triggers the Hot Streak, it’s again a DPS loss because you just lost the Pyroblast. This is all the other reason why it’s important to keep a good distance.

The more enemies you hit within a 10-yard radius of the Living Bomb explosion, the better the chances of an immediate Pyroblast. In cases where you have enough LB augments for each GCD and boss you have to deal with, you should spam those LBs on all targets (especially on the boss or X large augments), then spam all those lucky Pyroblast on the boss and repeat the process. They don’t necessarily have to be together, but if they are, not only will the boss sing from the Pyroblast spam, but it will take damage from the blasts themselves, adding up the damage from them and all of IgniteIgnite – oh, all of Ignite. No mana problems at all. Oh, and if the enemies are together and LBed, cast Flamestrike next. Even more explosions!

However, if the augments are not important – AND they are not close to the boss – you should ignore them and focus all your DPS on the boss. As you deal more total damage, the DPS of the boss goes down (aka effective damage). If the extras are important, LB them equally.

Let’s give examples:

On the Iron Council, don’t spread LB. They drop HP when someone dies, so your effective DPS will only apply to one target;
In Phase 4, Mimiron should apply LB to all body parts (and still use Scorch debuff if necessary);
On Yogg-Saron 0 fires, you should keep LB on Guardians to help keep extras at low HP;
Anub’Arak in ToGC 25 has four adds – LB all four adds and the boss, but you do NOT use Flamestrike to fill the counters unless the raid leader asks everyone to debuff them;
Onyxia is better if you focus entirely on it. However, if the group is weak, then you can use LB-wills until Hot Streak starts to slingshot, then use all the slingshots on Onyxia or the big adder if necessary;
When you face the Lich King in ICC, during phase 1, you should not drop LB on the ghouls – focus all your DPS on the boss; possibly LB Shambling Horror.

WotLK Mage Best in Slot Lists

Collecting of items below will be the best possible option for your Mage.

Starting BiS

Frost Mage PvP Starting Gear	Arcane Mage PvE Pre-Raid	Fire Mage PvE Pre-Raid
Head: Visage Liquification Goggles Neck: Chain of Latent Energies Shoulders: Dark Runic Mantle Back: Deathchill Cloak Chest: Heroes’ Frostfire Robe Wrists: Azure Cloth Bindings Hands: Heroes’ Frostfire Gloves Waist: Plush Sash of Guzbah Legs: Woven Bracae Leggings Feet: Sandals of Crimson Fury Rings: Titanium Spellshock Ring + Runed Signet of the Kirin Tor Trinkets: Mark of the War Prisoner + Sundial of the Exiled Weapon: Titansteel Spellblade + Ward of the Violet Citadel Wand: Rod of the Fallen Monarch or Wand of the San’layn	Head: Crown of Unbridled Magic Neck: Chain of Latent Energies Shoulders: Dark Runic Mantle Back: Deathchill Cloak Chest: Heroes’ Frostfire Robe Wrists: Cuffs of Winged Levitation Hands: Heroes’ Frostfire Gloves Waist: Plush Sash of Guzbah Legs: Woven Bracae Leggings Feet: Sandals of Crimson Fury Rings: Band of Guile + Signet of the Kirin Tor Trinkets: Forge Ember + Sundial of the Exiled Weapon: Staff of Draconic Combat Wand: Wand of the San’layn	Head: Frostsavage Cowl Neck: Titanium Spellshock Necklace Shoulders: Frostsavage Shoulders Cloak: Deathchill Cloak Chest: Frostsavage Robe Wrist: Frostsavage Bracers Gloves: Frostsavage Gloves Waist: Frostsavage Belt Legs: Frostsavage Leggings Feet: Frostsavage Boots Rings: Annhylde’s Ring + Band of Guile Trinkets: Sundial of the Exiled + Flow of Knowledge Main-Hand: Titansteel Spellblade Off-hand: Faces of Doom Two-Handed: Staff of Draconic Combat Wand: Wand of Ahn’kahet

Phase 1 BiS

Frost Mage PvP Phase 1 BiS	Arcane Mage PvE Phase 1 BiS	Fire Mage PvE Phase 1 BiS
Head: Deadly Gladiator’s Silk Cowl Neck: Deadly Gladiator’s Pendant of Subjugation Shoulders: Deadly Gladiator’s Silk Amice Cloak: Deadly Gladiator’s Cloak of Subjugation Chest: Deadly Gladiator’s Silk Raiment Wrist: Deadly Gladiator’s Cuffs of Dominance Gloves: Deadly Gladiator’s Silk Handguards Waist: Titan-Forged Cord of Salvation Legs: Deadly Gladiator’s Silk Trousers Feet: Deadly Gladiator’s Treads of Dominance Rings: Ring of Decaying Beauty + Deadly Gladiator’s Band of Ascendancy Trinkets: Dying Curse + Medallion of the Horde or Medallion of the Alliance Main-Hand: The Turning Tide Off-hand: Deadly Gladiator’s Grimoire Two-Handed: Greatstaff of the Nexus Wand: Deadly Gladiator’s Piercing Touch	Head: Valorous Frostfire Circlet Neck: Wyrmrest Necklace of Power Shoulders: Valorous Frostfire Shoulderpads Back: Pennant Cloak Chest: The Sanctum’s Flowing Vestments Wrists: Unsullied Cuffs Hands: Valorous Frostfire Gloves Waist: Leash of Heedless Magic Legs: Valorous Frostfire Leggings Feet: Arcanic Tramplers Rings: Band of Channeled Magic + Signet of Manifested Pain Trinkets: Dying Curse + Embrace of the Spider Weapon: The Turning Tide + Matriarch’s Spawn Wand: Wand of the Archlich	Head: Valorous Frostfire Circlet Neck: Wyrmrest Necklace of Power Shoulders: Valorous Frostfire Shoulderpads Back: Pennant Cloak Chest: Valorous Frostfire Robe Wrists: Unsullied Cuffs Hands: Valorous Frostfire Gloves Waist: Cincture of Polarity Legs: Leggings of the Wanton Spellcaster Feet: Boots of Impetuous Ideals Rings: Signet of Manifested Pain + Band of Channeled Magic Trinkets: Dying Curse + Sundial of the Exiled or Illustration of the Dragon Soul Weapon: The Turning Tide + Surplus Limb Wand: Gemmed Wand of the Nerubians

WotLK Mage PvP

The Frost Mage has always been the best PvP specialization since the release of WoW Vanilla, with powerful burst capabilities and plenty of crowd control and mobility. However, their kit relies on quick reactions, kiting, and crowd control because, despite all the defenses available, they are pretty pathetic, and that’s mostly because Frost Mages use cloth.

The mentality you should adopt in arenas depends on the situation you find yourself in – each company will present itself as a slight change to your playstyle. The general approach is that you’ll want to fly your kite as much as possible in preparation for potential kills.

Frost Mage/ Rogue: when paired with a Rogue, you will need to control the target while completely destroying the other. This can be achieved with a combination of Sap, Polymorph, Frost Nova, Deep Freeze, Blind, Gouge, and Kidney Shot. Even if most of the crowd is controlled by Rogue, you will spam Polymorph first until DR makes them immune to it after Sap runs out.

The whole idea of this game is that you will be awesome, but still have enough crowd control to handle games like Arms Warrior/Holy Paladin. Both you and your partner have powerful explosion abilities here, and your main goal as a Frost Mage is to organize the perfect kill.

Frost Mage/ Healer: with a healer like the Priest Discipline, you have two possible options: you can control the crowd or the DPS or the healer, with the crowd-controlled target changing the entire match-up.

Here’s what we mean: if you choose DPS crowd control, you’ll want to focus as much as possible on pressuring the healer while your priest spams Mana Burn on your healer.

If you choose to crowd-control your healer, you will want to try to kill the DPS as quickly as possible, even going so far as to use Cold Snap offensively and have your priest spam offensive skills. Remember: you can keep the target permanently slowed if you play it right!

2v2 Comps

S tier: you can get a +2200 rating and try yourself in tournaments/ challenges, it all depends on your skill and your teammate, even with a weak gear you can defeat stronger opponents, but in this set-up, you as a Mage required a high proportion of the skill because you are responsible for damage and most often coordinate the actions of the healer, are also responsible for control, in this set-up – you number one.

Frost Mage & Discipline Priest

S-A tier: good lineup, but on the way with 2000+ can meet problems in the form of DPS plus heal, like a DK plus Restoration Druid – which is hard to beat without a heal. Here it all depends on your skill and that of your teammate, as well as your equipment. With the right actions and good gear, this setup can be in the S tier.

Frost Mage & Subtlety Rogue

A tier: you can try to reach +2000, but after still hard, Good compositions to gain experience, as these compositions position themselves as “1+1” – each plays more or less independently, you can easily agree on the distribution of duties, the main task of each will be to penetrate the damage of the enemy. Also, these sets have very strong incoming damage, especially when paired with Warlock & Shaman.

Frost Mage & Shadow Priest
Frost Mage & Elemental Shaman
Frost Mage & Destruction Warlock

B tier: a confident lineup to raise 1800+, kit up, and just play in the arena. Alas, more balanced lineups on damage – heal – control will have an advantage over these lineups.

Frost Mage & Retribution Paladin
Frost Mage & Assassination Rogue
Frost Mage & Feral Druid

3v3 Comps

S Tier – Top lineups, can raise 2200+ rating in 3v3, can participate in tournaments, the lineup with DC Priest & Subtlety Rogue is one of the most legendary lineups in tournaments, and just about the only one for a mage in a serious 3v3 rivalry.

Frost Mage & Discipline Priest & Subtlety Rogue
Frost Mage & Restoration Shaman & Shadow Priest
Frost Mage & Restoration Shaman & Destruction Warlock

A Tier – Good lineups to raise 2000+, gain experience and understanding of the 3v3, as it is much more difficult than 2v2 in terms of coordination.

Frost Mage & Restoration Druid & Subtlety Rogue
Frost Mage & Restoration Druid & Shadow Priest
Frost Mage & Discipline Priest & Feral Druid
Frost Mage & Restoration Druid & Destruction Warlock

B Tier – normal lineups, in our case one. Strong incoming damage, the simple heal can allow you to get to 1800/2000, but after that, you will need a stronger control team, at least replace Shaman with Warlock/ Rogue.

Frost Mage & Holy Paladin & Elemental Shaman

WotLK Mage Macros

A little final advice to make your gameplay much more convenient.

For Fire PvE

/cast Icy Veins
/cast Combustion

Plus you can add trinkets or racial bonuses.

For Frost PvP

Casting Counterspell at focus target:

#showtooltip
/stopcasting
/cast [@focus] Counterspell

Casting polymorph at focus target:

#showtooltip
/cast [@focus] Polymorph

Casting Deep Freez at the focus target:

#showtooltip
/cast [@focus] Deep Freeze

Summon an elemental, press again – cast Cold:

/cast [nopet] Summon Water Elemental
/stopmacro [nopet]
/cast Cold
/petattack

For Arcane PvE

/cast Icy Veins
/cast Arcane Power

Plus you can add trinkets or racial bonuses.

In PvP this class can take a +2200 rating in 2v2/3v3, many use this class in international tournaments. In PvE, Fire Mage is S Tier class, and you always have chances to take the top 1-5 in the overall standings, not only in DPS but also in total raid damage (which is important first of all). At some points, to be successful in the game you need practice, learning the nuances of the build/practice abilities will give their fruit after some time.

The main trick, but not noticeable for the average player is the possibility of AoE farming, the possibility of solo killing heavy opponents with kite and character control, as well as – teleportation. Teleportation to cities reduces your logistics by time, which makes the game more comfortable. In addition to the aforementioned basic tips, of the extras: you always create food, and you forget about vendors in terms of buying food. The mage has many pluses as well as minuses, these are the ones worth summarizing.

Good luck in mastering your Mage skills, and don’t forget to rate our guide if this article was useful for you!

WotLK Mage Overview

Fire

Frost

Arcane

WotLK Mage Changes

WotLK Mage Leveling

Tips for leveling up

Gameplay tips

Rotation

Talent Path & Training Abilities

Equipment

Prioritize stats

Class quests and rewards

Professions

WotLK Mage Talents and Glyphs

Frost PvP

Fire PvE FBB (Frostfire Bolt Build)

Arcane PvE

WotLK Mage Stats

WotLK Mage Best Race

Horde

Alliance

WotLK Mage Consumables, Chants & Gems

Frost PvP

Arcane PvE

Fire PvE

WotLK Mage Best Professions

For Arcane PvE & Fire PvE

For Frost PvP

WotLK Mage Rotation

Frost PvP

Overall spell priority

Arcane PvE

Fire Mage PvE

WotLK Mage Best in Slot Lists

Starting BiS

Phase 1 BiS

WotLK Mage PvP

2v2 Comps

3v3 Comps

WotLK Mage Macros

For Fire PvE

For Frost PvP

For Arcane PvE

Related items