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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 |
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Arcane PvE
Fire PvE
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:
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Tailoring |
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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:
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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.
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Tailoring |
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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:
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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:
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:
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.
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:
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WotLK Mage Best in Slot Lists
Collecting of items below will be the best possible option for your Mage.
Starting BiS
Phase 1 BiS
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!