Mage

Mages are a ranged damage dealing class specializing in manipulation of the elements of Fire, Frost, and Arcane energies. Their only group role is dealing damage, and Mages excel at offering a variety of damaging spells for any situation.

Frost Mages are especially suited to both damaging and controlling their enemies, including slows, roots, and burst damage. Frost is the only Mage specialization that includes a pet component in the form of a Water Elemental. Fire Mages utilize devastating damage spells and DoT abilities to incinerate foes. Arcane Mages deal in the raw element of magic itself, requiring precision and forethought to unleash maximum damage.

All Mages also bring a useful collection of utility, including portal spells, conjuring refreshment for their group, a passive spell power and critical strike buff, as well as a new raid cooldown that increases healing received by party members.

The Mage is an extremely accessible class, available to almost all the races of Azeroth including Draenei, Human, Night Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, Worgen, and Pandaren for the Alliance; and Orc, Blood Elf, Forsaken, Troll, Goblin, and Pandaren for the Horde.

Boosting to 90

Mages are one of only two pure casting classes, meaning you will never be called upon to do anything other than damage dealing. Having access to three different damage dealing specializations provides a wide range of possibility for all content.

It’s considered polite to put down a refreshment table at the beginning of dungeons, raids, and battlegrounds. Also make sure to cast Arcane Brilliance and have your portal spells accessible. If crowd control is called for, you can cast Polymorph before combat without generating threat. The “Moon” symbol is traditionally used to indicate a Mage polymorph.

Mages have a vast range of base and talented abilities to choose from, enough that it can seem overwhelming at first. Fortunately, many of them have been consolidated. As you grow more adept at playing your Mage, check that you’re gradually incorporating easily forgotten abilities such as Slow Fall, Counterspell, and Remove Curse.

Mages have the ability to be one of the most mobile casting classes. A combination of Blink, Scorch or Ice Floes and Blazing Speed can take you far quickly. Use these abilities to flee, avoid harmful abilities, or keep enemies at bay during PvP combat.

If you’ve ever played a Mage before at any level, you may be looking for the various Mage Armor buffs you’ll need to cast. These buffs have become specialization specific passive effects, so you no longer need to cast them and will always have access to the appropriate benefit for your specialization.

Class Abilities and Resources

Unlike many other classes, Mages do not have a secondary resource system as such. Their primary and only resource is mana. However, some Mage masteries work in a way that is reminiscent of secondary resources.

Notably, Arcane benefits from stacking and then resetting Arcane Charges. The charges are generated by casting certain spells and consumed when other “finisher” spells are cast. Frost’s mastery, Icicles, performs similarly in the sense that it generates icicles every time Frostbolt or Frostfire Bolt is cast. These are stored as additional damage that is unleashed whenever a Mage casts Ice Lance, or whenever an Icicle is generated beyond five, one will automatically fire so that they can’t be wasted.

Blink

Blink allows the Mage to teleport forward 20 yards (unless there is an object in the way). Blink can also free a Mage from stuns and bonds. Blink won’t work on all such abilities, but it is effective against a range of player and monster abilities that would otherwise incapacitate you.

Blink’s functionality allows it to be used in a variety of situations including blinking through moving boss abilities or out of environmental hazards. Blink has a 15 second cooldown.

Travel

Mages are well known for their ability to create useful portals to help group members travel around Azeroth with ease. Portal spells are learned for every major faction city as well as a few additional ones (e.g., Theramore and Stonard). All of the portal and teleport spells are collected on a single button with a dropdown. Any damage taken or movement while casting a portal or teleport will interrupt your portal, so it’s only useful for Mages that are not in combat. Being able to teleport to major cities also means that you can set your hearthstone in an out of the way location for easy access to smaller towns or quest hubs.

Amplify Magic

New in Warlords of Draenor is a spell that will increase a Mage’s contribution to group or raid survivability. It’s called Amplify Magic, and it’s a spell with a 2-minute cooldown that will amplify the effects of all helpful magic, increasing all healing received by 12% for party and raid members within 100 yards for six seconds.

This is a unique raid cooldown because instead of mitigating damage, it will help healers to get a group topped off after everyone has taken significant damage.

Non-Specialization Abilities

Name	Level	Description
Frostfire Bolt	1	Launches a bolt of Frostfire at the enemy, causing Frostfire damage and slowing the target’s movement by 40% for 8 sec.
Frost Nova	3	Blasts enemies within 12 yds of the caster for Frost damage and freezes them in place for up to 8 sec. Damage caused may interrupt the effect.
Fire Blast	5	Blasts the enemy for Fire damage.
Blink	7	Teleports the caster 20 yards forward, unless something is in the way. Also frees the caster from stuns and bonds.
Counterspell	8	Counters the enemy’s spellcast, preventing any spell from that school of magic from being cast for 6 sec.
Polymorph	14	Transforms the enemy into a sheep, forcing it to wander around incapacitated for up to 50 sec. While wandering, the sheep cannot attack or cast spells but will regenerate very quickly. Any damage will transform the target back into its normal form. Only one target can be polymorphed at a time. Only works on Beasts, Humanoids and Critters.
Teleport	17	Teleports the caster to a major city.
Ice Block	26	You become encased in a block of ice, protecting you from all attacks and damage for 10 sec, but during that time you cannot attack, move or cast spells. Causes Hypothermia, preventing you from recasting Ice Block for 30 sec.
Cone of Cold	28	Targets in a cone in front of the caster take Frost damage and are slowed by 60% for 6 sec.
Remove Curse	29	Removes all Curses from a friendly target.
Slow Fall	32	Slows a friendly party or raid target’s falling speed for 30 sec.
Conjure Refreshment	38	Conjures mana food providing the Mage and his allies with something to eat. Conjured items disappear if logged out for more than 15 minutes.
Portal	42	Creates a portal, teleporting group members who use it to a major city.
Invisibility	56	Turns the caster invisible over 3 sec, reducing threat each second. While invisible, you are untargetable by enemies. Lasts 20 sec. Invisibility is cancelled if you perform any actions.
Arcane Brilliance	58	Infuses the target with brilliance, increasing their spell power by 10% and their critical strike chance by 5% for 1 hour. If target is in your party or raid, all party and raid members will be affected.
Spellsteal	64	Steals a beneficial magic effect from the target. This effect lasts a maximum of 2 min.
Conjure Refreshment Table	72	Conjures a refreshment table. Raid members can click the table to acquire conjured mana food. The table lasts for 3 min or 50 charges.
Time Warp	84	Warp the flow of time, increasing haste by 30% for all party and raid members within 100 yards. Lasts 40 sec. Allies will be unable to benefit from Bloodlust, Heroism, or Time Warp again for 10 min.
Amplify Magic	87	Amplify the effects of helpful magic, increasing all healing received by 12% for all party and raid members within 100 yards. Lasts 6 sec.

Talents

Talent	Description	Notes
Level 15 Tier (Movement)
Evanesce	Fade into the nether, avoiding all attacks against you for 3 seconds. Castable while another spell is in progress and unaffected by global cooldown.	A survivability talent in a mostly movement-based tier, Evanesce could be a solid choice for very stationary encounters.
Blazing Speed	Suppresses movement slowing effects and increases your movement speed by 150% for 1.5 seconds. Castable while another spell is in progress and unaffected by global cooldown.	This spell is effective at quickly moving you from one area to another when a single Blink isn’t sufficient.
Ice Floes	Your next spell can be cast while moving. Castable while another spell is in progress and unaffected by global cooldown. Max 3 charges.	An often necessary choice for Frost Mages, Ice Floes can also be used to increase your casting mobility by either of the other specializations.
Level 30 Tier (Survivability)
Alter Time	Alters the fabric of time, returning you to your current location and health when cast a second time, or after 15 sec. Effect negated by long distance or death.	A revamped version of the formerly baseline spell, this talent combines survivability with movement to allow you to return to a previous location as well as restoring your health.
Flameglow	Protects you with fiery energy, absorbing damage from each attack against you, up to 30% of each attack.	This is a damage reduction ability, but lacks the pushback negation of Ice Barrier in the same tier.
Ice Barrier	Instantly shields you for 1 min, absorbing damage. While the shield holds, spellcasting will not be interrupted by damage.	Offering a solid damage reduction, Ice Barrier is most notable for preventing any spellcast interruption by damage taken which can translate to higher overall damage done.
Level 45 Tier (Control)
Ring of Frost	Summons a Ring of Frost for 10 sec at the target location. Enemies entering the ring will become incapacitated for 10 sec. Limit 10 targets.	Useful in specific situations, both PvP and some limited player versus environment (PvE) usage. It can help mitigate the impact of large groups of trash.
Ice Ward	Protects a friendly target for 30 sec. The next 3 melee attacks will trigger a Frost Nova, freezing all enemies within 10 yards for 5 sec.	Allows a party member to freeze enemies with Frost Nova. Be aware that frozen (rooted) enemies will switch targets to hit anything close to them.
Frostjaw	Silences and freezes the target in place for 8 sec. Damage caused may interrupt the effect.	A powerful interrupt combined with a root, this talent is most useful for PvP combat. An extra interrupt can be useful for PvE as well.
Level 60 Tier (Survivability II)
Greater Invisibility	Instantly makes you invisible and untargetable for 20 sec, removing all threat and two DoT effects. Any action taken cancels this effect. You take 90% reduced damage while invisible and for 3 sec after the effect expires. Replaces Invisibility.	A very powerful mitigation talent, it makes invisibility instant and also removes DoT effects. Consider using it if you often struggle with threat and will remember to use its functionality to remove harmful debuffs.
Cauterize	Fatal damage will instead bring you to 35% health and then burn you for 28% of your max health over 6 sec. This effect cannot occur more than once every 2 min.	This “cheat death” ability becomes better when you are quickly able to remove the burning effect by casting Ice Block. Otherwise, it’s recommended to let your healers know you are using it.
Cold Snap	Immediately resets the cooldown of your Ice Block, and Presence of Mind (Arcane), Dragon’s Breath (Fire), Cone of Cold (Frost), and Frost Nova spells, and heals you for 22% of your maximum health. Usable during most loss of control effects, and unaffected by global cooldown.	This new iteration of Cold Snap provides benefits for all specializations instead of just Frost. The spells it resets will be of greatest benefit in PvP combat and the 22% heal is also beneficial.
Level 75 Tier (AoE)
Nether Tempest (Arcane)	Places a Nether Tempest on the target which deals Arcane damage over 12 sec to the target and to all enemies within 10 yards. Limit 1 target. Damage increased by 50% per Arcane Charge at cast time.	A powerful contribution to an Arcane Mage’s repertoire, Nether Tempest requires careful consideration of the number of Arcane Charges when cast. You may only choose this Bomb while specialized in Arcane.
Living Bomb (Fire)	The target becomes a Living Bomb, taking Fire damage over 12 sec. When this effect ends, or the target dies, it explodes to deal additional Fire damage to the target and all other enemies within 10 yards. May be spread by Inferno Blast.	Living Bomb is a powerful DoT effect exclusive to Fire Mages. It is a good choice for Mages who are able to keep track of and maximize uptime on their DoTs.
Frost Bomb (Frost)	Places a Frost Bomb on the target for 12 sec triggered by each Ice Lance while the target is frozen. The bomb releases a wave of freezing ice dealing Frost damage to the target and Frost damage to all other enemies within 10 yards. Limit 1 target.	The Frost Mage Bomb option affords solid AoE triggered by Ice Lances in exchange for a cast time.
Unstable Magic	Arcane Blast, Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, and Frostbolt have a 30% chance to explode on impact, dealing an additional 20% damage to the target, and to all other enemies within 8 yards.	This talent provides some AoE functionality tied to each specialization’s primary spell. This may be worth it for situations where casting an additional spell for AoE is undesirable.
Supernova (Arcane)	Causes a pulse of Arcane energy around the target enemy or ally, dealing Arcane damage to all enemies within 8 yards, and knocking them upward. A primary enemy target will take 100% increased damage. Max 2 charges. Replaces Frost Nova.	Supernova provides Arcane Mages with an attack that will do AoE damage and knock enemies into the air. This has the potential to be useful in situations where a reprieve from enemy attacks is beneficial. The Mage must give up Frost Nova when taking this talent.
Blast Wave (Fire)	Causes an explosion around the target enemy or ally, dealing Fire damage to all enemies within 8 yards, and reducing movement speed by 70% for 4 sec. A primary enemy target will take 100% increased damage. Max 2 charges. Replaces Frost Nova.	This talent brings back a new version of Fire Mage’s old standby, Blast Wave. This incarnation reduces movement speed of surrounding enemies by 70% and would be useful for either PvP or any situation where enemies need to be slowed.
Ice Nova (Frost)	Causes a whirl of icy wind around the target enemy or ally, dealing Frost damage to all enemies within 8 yards, and freezing for 2 sec. A primary enemy target will take 100% increased damage. Max 2 charges. Replaces Frost Nova.	Ice Nova could be very beneficial to a Frost Mage due to its freezing effect and interactions with other Frost abilities. Consider carefully whether this new ability is worth sacrificing Frost Nova in exchange for Ice Nova. This is likely to be situational and may be swapped in depending on the need.
Level 90 Tier (Damage Boost)
Mirror Image	Creates 3 copies of the caster nearby, which cast spells and attack the Mage’s enemies. Lasts 40 sec.	Formerly a baseline ability, the new Mirror Images do much more damage than the ability used to do.
Rune of Power	Places a Rune of Power on the ground for 3 min which increases your spell damage by 15% while you stand within 8 yards. You may place up to 2 Runes of Power at one time.	Still a very powerful talent for Arcane Mages in particular, Rune of Power requires forethought and is best suited to encounters with minimal movement or that allow the Mage to anticipate where they might be standing.
Incanter’s Flow	Magical Energy flows through you while in combat, building up to 20% increased damage and then diminishing down to 4% increased damage, cycling every 10 sec.	The advantage of Incanter’s Flow may be that it is very low maintenance. The disadvantage is that it might be at the “low” end of the cycle when you need it most, such as just before casting Combustion or when your trinkets activate.
Level 100 Tier (AoE II)
Overpowered (Arcane)	Casting Arcane Missiles extends Arcane Power by 2 sec.	This talent directly benefits one of Arcane’s key cooldowns. It could prove extremely powerful if you are able to cast Arcane Missiles many times.
Kindling (Fire)	Your Fireball, Pyroblast, and Inferno Blast critical strikes reduce the cooldown remaining on Combustion by 1 sec.	Because of Fire’s high reliance on critical strike rating, this talent is a powerful choice for Fire Mages, allowing you to cast Combustion more often.
Thermal Void (Frost)	Casting Ice Lance extends your Icy Veins by 2 sec.	Thermal Void could potentially increase your Icy Veins cooldown significantly if you are casting Ice Lance often due to Fingers of Frost triggering.
Prismatic Crystal	Conjures a prismatic crystal at the target location, which is attackable by only the Mage, and takes 30% additional damage. When the crystal takes damage, it instantly releases a burst of energy dealing that damage, split evenly between all enemies within 8 yards.	This talent is an intriguing mechanic for Mages of all three specializations. It would be best suited for situations where enemies are going to remain stationary long enough to be affected by all of the damage dealt.
Arcane Orb (Arcane)	Launches an Arcane Orb forward from the Mage’s position, traveling up to 40 yards, dealing Arcane damage to enemies it passes through. Grants the Mage an Arcane Charge when cast and every time it deals damage.	The value of this talent may not lie in the amount of damage it does directly, but rather that it gives Arcane Mages an additional method of increasing their Arcane Charges.
Meteor (Fire)	Calls down a meteor which lands at at the target location after 3 sec, dealing Fire damage, split evenly between all targets within 8 yards. Also burns the ground, dealing additional Fire damage every 1 sec until cancelled to enemies in the area.	A useful addition to a Fire Mage’s toolkit, the most notable aspect of Meteor is its constant ground effect. Unlike Flamestrike, Meteor will continue to burn for 30% of a Mage’s spellpower until it is cancelled.
Comet Storm (Frost)	Calls down a series of 7 icy comets on and around the target, each of which does Frost damage, split between all enemies within 4 yards of its impact point.	Similar to Blizzard, but isn’t a channeled spell, allowing the Mage to continue casting their usual rotation.

Arcane

An Arcane Mage’s success hinges on successful management of Arcane Charge buffs and mana, due to its interaction with their mastery. Arcane is known for high single target damage and a somewhat more stationary playstyle than other Mage specializations.

Careful consideration and forethought make the Arcane Mage well-suited to Mages with a methodical approach that will maximize their damage output.

Specialization Abilities

Name	Level	Description
Arcane Blast	10	Blasts the target with energy, dealing Arcane damage and generating an Arcane Charge. Arcane Blast’s damage is increased by 50% per Arcane Charge, and its mana cost is increased by 150% per Arcane Charge. Replaces Frostfire Bolt.
Arcane Charge (Passive)	10	A buff (stacks to a maximum of four and lasts 15 seconds) that has different effects on other spells. Arcane Charges are generated by Arcane Blast, Arcane Missiles, and Arcane Explosion. Charges are consumed by Arcane Barrage and Evocation.
Arcane Barrage	12	Launches bolts of arcane energy at the enemy target, causing Arcane damage. Consumes all Arcane Charges. Arcane Barrage’s damage is increased by 50% per Arcane Charge, and it hits 1 additional nearby target per Arcane Charge for 50% damage. Replaces Fire Blast.
Arcane Explosion	18	Refreshes the duration of Arcane Charges and has a 30% chance to generate a charge if at least one target is hit.
Presence of Mind	22	Causes your next Mage spell to be instant. Does not apply to Polymorph, Portal or Teleport spells.
Arcane Missiles	24	Generates an Arcane Charge. Arcane Missiles’ damage is increased by 50% per charge.
Slow	36	Reduces the target’s movement speed by 50% for 15 sec.
Evocation	40	Consumes all Arcane Charges. Evocation’s mana generation is increased by 25% per charge.
Arcane Power	62	When activated, you deal 20% more spell damage and damaging spells cost 10% more mana to cast. This effect lasts 15 sec.
Mage Armor (Passive)	80	Increases your Mastery by 550. The duration of all harmful Magic effects used against you is reduced by 25%.
Mastery: Mana Adept (Passive)	80	Increases all spell damage done by up to 16%, based on the amount of mana the Mage has unspent.
Arcane Mind (Passive)	90	You gain 5% more of the Mastery stat from all sources.

Draenor Perks

Added in Warlords of Draenor, as an Arcane Mage between levels 91 and 99 you will randomly earn one of four Draenor Perks. These vary by class and specialization.

Perk	Description
Enhanced Arcane Blast	Each stack of Arcane Charge now reduces the cast time of Arcane Blast by 5%.
Improved Arcane Power	Arcane Power now reduces the cost of your spells by 10% instead of increasing the cost by 10%.
Improved Blink	Your movement speed is increased by 60% for 2 sec after using Blink.
Improved Evocation	Reduces the cooldown of Evocation by 30 sec.

Group Play

Arcane’s major AoE ability, Arcane Explosion, does bring the Mage into melee range. Be sure that your tank in particular is aware of this because of threat concerns. Arcane’s burst abilities can also be dangerous in terms of threat—prepare to use Invisibility if necessary to avoid pulling threat.

Group Buffs

Mages provide a 10% buff to spellpower and a 5% buff to critical strike in the form of Arcane Brilliance. Amplify Magic provides a nice boost for a healer’s spells and can be used on cooldown. Additionally, Arcane Mages exclusively can apply the Slow debuff (or have it applied automatically if glyphed).

Rotation

Arcane’s rotation is simpler in theory than practice: build stacks of Arcane Charge and then discharge them, lining up and using your cooldowns frequently for maximum benefit.

Place Rune of Power (Talented) if using.
Build Arcane Charge stacks to four by casting Arcane Blast.
Apply Nether Tempest to your target.
Cast Supernova (if using).
Use available cooldowns (trinkets and Arcane Power).
By the time you have four stacks of Arcane Charge, you should have at least one or more Arcane Missiles available to cast. Cast Arcane Missiles.
Cast Arcane Missiles for as long as you have them available.
Cast Arcane Barrage when you are at four stacks of Arcane Charge and you don’t have any Arcane Missiles available to cast. This will reset your Arcane Charge stacks to zero.
Cast Arcane Orb if you have less than 2 stacks of Arcane Charge.

Preparing for High-End Content

Preparing for end-game content in Warlords of Draenor promises to be more straightforward than in previous expansions because of the changes to gear itemization. There will no longer be “spirit” cloth that Mages will need to pass on. Instead, Arcane Mages can concentrate on finding gear with their ideal mix of secondary stats.

The hit cap has been removed and hit and expertise are no longer present on gear. Look for any combination of Mastery, Haste, and Critical strike in that order of priority. New stats have been added to gear including Versatility and Multistrike. Versatility increases damage and healing done and Multistrike grants two chances for your damaging spells to fire an additional time at 30% effectiveness.

To begin doing group content, you may complete Proving Grounds (Silver) to unlock heroic dungeons, or run normal mode dungeons and then use the raid finder for LFR loot.

Fire

Fire Mages utilize a combination of primary damage spells and damage over time (DoT) abilities to burn their opponents. Fire’s DoT abilities are different from other DoT-based classes primarily in that they are mostly applied through primary damage abilities, including their mastery that functions the same way. Fire relies on critical strike to generate devastating elemental attacks that continue to burn even after they land.