Mage leveling guide for WoW Forever

The Mage in WoW Forever levels fast and alone, with endless food and water and a lot of control. Frost is the quickest spec by far, thanks to the new Ice Lance and Fingers of Frost. This guide covers the specs, the rotation, the key levels, class quests and the new scrolls.

Best spec for leveling	Frost
Key talents	Ice Lance, Fingers of Frost, Frostbite, Shatter, Ice Shards
Strength	Damage, crowd control, free food and water
Weakness	Mana, threat in dungeons, low health
Talent order per level	Mage level build
Builds to level 60	After the launch on 4 November

Which spec to level with

Frost has always been the safe choice: Frostbolt slows every target, and Frost Nova, Frostbite and Improved Blizzard freeze or slow whole packs. In Forever it is also the fastest. Ice Lance deals 300% more damage to Frozen targets, and Fingers of Frost treats your next two spells as if the target were Frozen. Together with Shatter and Ice Shards that gives enormous crits. Ice Lance is so strong that many players expect a nerf.

Fire spends the least mana, but only shines with a lot of critical strike chance. Heating Up makes Pyroblast cast faster after crits, so it relies on luck at low levels.

Arcane can be good, but depends on Clearcasting and Missile Barrage procs, careful mana use and gear. Fire and Arcane do better in dungeons than in the open world.

The Frost build

The Mage level build gives the talent for every level from 10 to 35. In short: first Improved Frostbolt and Elemental Precision, then Frostbite at 15 to 17, Ice Shards, Ice Lance at 20, Shatter at 25 to 27, Ice Block at 28 and Fingers of Frost at 30 and 31.

Talent	What it does in Forever
Ice Lance	Instant, 45 mana, 300% more damage to Frozen targets
Fingers of Frost	Chill effects have a 15% chance to treat your next 2 spells as if the target were Frozen
Frostbite	Chill effects have a 15% chance to freeze the target for 5 seconds
Shatter	50% more critical strike chance against Frozen targets
Ice Shards	Doubles the critical strike bonus of your Frost spells
Frost Channeling	15% cheaper Frost spells and 30% less threat

With points in Talented from the Legacy system, you reach each talent up to five levels sooner.

Rotation

Levels 1 to 10. You start with Fireball and Frost Armor. Use Fireball until level 4, then Frostbolt as your main spell, Fire Blast on cooldown and your wand to finish targets. Conjure food and water between pulls.

Frost

• Keep Arcane Intellect and Frost Armor up.
• Cast Frostbolt as your main spell.
• Cast Ice Lance when Fingers of Frost procs, or when Frostbite freezes the target.
• When a target gets close: Frost Nova and Ice Lance until the freeze breaks.
• Cone of Cold if Frost Nova is on cooldown, Fire Blast while you reposition.
• Against a pack: Frost Nova, then Flamestrike and Arcane Explosion. In a group, Blizzard from a safe distance.

Fire

• Pre-cast Pyroblast on a boss, open with Fireball on trash.
• Scorch until Improved Scorch has 5 stacks.
• Fire Blast on cooldown.
• Pyroblast at 3 stacks of Heating Up, otherwise Fireball.

Arcane

• Arcane Blast to build stacks and trigger Missile Barrage.
• Arcane Missiles with 1 or 2 stacks of Arcane Blast.
• Fire Blast or Arcane Explosion to spend the stacks if Missile Barrage does not proc.

In every spec: Frost Nova and Blink to get away, a low rank of Frostbolt to slow, and Polymorph on a dangerous extra target.

Key levels

Level	What you get
4	Frostbolt, Conjure Water
6	Comprehend Scroll, Conjure Food, Fire Blast
8	Polymorph, Arcane Missiles
10	Frost Nova, first talent point
14	Arcane Explosion
16	Flamestrike
20	Blink, Evocation, Mana Shield, teleports, Blizzard
22	Scorch
24	Counterspell
28	Conjure Mana Agate
30	Ice Armor
34	Mage Armor
40	Portals, Frostfire Bolt, riding and Dual Specialization

Class quests

Mage class quests do not teach spells. They reward staves, off-hands, robes and wands.

Level	Alliance	Horde
10	Speak with Belann, Boughs in the Wind, Mirror Lake, Mage-tastic Gizmonitor	Speak with Un’thuwa, The Balnir Farmstead
15	Report to Jennea, Investigate the Blue Recluse, Gathering Materials	Investigate the Alchemist Shop, Gathering Materials
26	High Sorcerer Andromath, Ur’s Treatise on Shadow Magic, Pristine Spider Silk	Waters of Xavian, Laughing Sisters

Scrolls only Mages can use

Comprehend Scroll at level 6 is new. With it you decipher scrolls you find in the world, with very different effects: a Frog Familiar, a weaker beast with Scroll of Confuse Beast, a weapon effect with Scroll of Imbue Spark or Scroll of Imbue Lesser Flame, and more unusual ones such as Scroll of Cryoblast and Scroll of Khadgar’s Unlocking.

Consumables and gear

• Food. Conjured food keeps you going, but buff food from Cooking now also gives extra experience. Stay Well Fed.
• Elixirs and oils. Elixir of Wisdom and Lesser Arcane Elixir for Intellect and spell power, Lesser Wizard Oil on your weapon, Minor Mana Oil for Arcane.
• Wands. Wands got a big buff in Forever and save you when your mana runs out. Think Novice’s Practice Wand, Lesser Magic Wand, Greater Magic Wand and Thunderwood.
• Weapons. Every weapon upgrade now adds a lot of spell damage. Staff of Westfall, Emberstone Staff and Buzzer Blade are strong while leveling.
• Tailoring. Early recipes were reworked, such as Novice Arcanist’s Sash and Double-Stitched Woolen Shoulders.

Mana and threat

Arcane is the hardest on your mana, but gets the most tools: Clearcasting procs and a stronger Arcane Meditation, which lets half of your regeneration continue while casting. Fire gets mana back from crits with Master of Elements. Frost gets expensive without Frost Channeling. Always keep enough mana for a Frost Nova and a Blink, and use Evocation, mana gems and Mage Armor from level 34.

In dungeons your damage pulls threat fast. Frost Channeling, Arcane Subtlety and Burning Soul lower the threat of their school. Hold back your area spells when the tank does not have the pack yet, and use Blink, Cone of Cold, Frost Nova and Ice Block when a boss turns to you. Remove curses with Remove Lesser Curse, and hand out food and water: a Mage always finds a group.