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Mage
From WoW: IncGamers World of Warcraft Wiki
Background
"The Mages of Warcraft once centered their powers within the mageocracy of Dalaran. After that kingdom's destruction by the Burning Legion, however, the arcane arts spread to the far cornersof the world." - Blizzard Entertainment.
Magi are wizards of immense knowledge and skill. Their obvious physical frailty is deceptive, for they can call upon the cosmic energies of the Twister Nether. Rarely do magi engage in melee combat. Instead, they prefer to attack from a distance, hurling powerful bolts of frost and flame at their unsuspecting enemies.
Introduction
When seeking someone to introduce monsters to a world of pain, the Mage is a good choice. With their elemental and arcane attacks, it’s a safe bet something they can do won’t be resisted by your chosen enemy. Damage is the name of the Mage game, and they do it well. Their arsenal includes some powerful crowd control spells, also, giving them the ability to keep hordes at bay -- in fact, these abilities can be used on the most common creatures in the game, thus making them extremely valuable for this purpose.
The mage class in World of Warcraft is the typical spellcaster that specializes in frost and fire spells. The mage is also capable of casting many useful spells that benefit themselves and their party members.
Which Races Can Be a Mage?
Alliance
Humans
Perception - active
Activate to dramatically increase stealth detection - Lasts 20 sec - 3 min cooldown
The Human Spirit - passive
Increase Spirit by 5%
Diplomacy - passive
10% bonus to faction point gain
Sword Specialization - passive
Humans get +5 to Sword and Two-Handed Sword Expertise
Mace Specialization - passive
Humans get +5 to Maces and Two-Handed Maces Expertise
Gnomes
Escape Artist - active
Escape the effects of any immobilization or movement speed reduction effect - 1 min cooldown
Expansive Mind - passive
Increase Intelligence by 5%
Arcane Resistance - passive
All Gnomes get +10 Arcane Resistance
Engineering Specialist - passive
15 skill bonus to Engineering
Draenei
Gemcutting - passive
Jewelcrafting skill increased by 5.
Gift of the Naaru - active
Heals the target 50 + 15/Level over 15 sec - 40 yd range - 1.5 sec cast - 3 min cooldown
Inspiring Presence - passive (Mages/Priests/Shaman only)
Increases the chance to hit with spells by 1% for you and all party members within 30 yards.
Heroic Presence - passive (Hunters/Paladins/Warriors only)
Increases chance to hit by 1% for you and all party members within 30 yards.
Shadow Resistance - passive
Shadow Resistance increased by 10.
Horde
Blood Elves
Arcane Affinity - passive
Enchanting skill increased by 10.
Arcane Torrent - active - (Hunters/Paladins/Mages/Priests/Warlocks only)
Silences all enemies within 8 yards for 2 sec. In addition, you gain 5 + 1/Level Mana restored per Mana Tap charge currently affecting you - Instant - 2 min cooldown.
Arcane Torrent - active - (Rogue only)
Silences all enemies within 8 yards for 2 sec. In addition, you gain 10 Energy for each Mana Tap charge currently affecting you - Instant - 2 min cooldown.
Magic Resistance - passive
All resistances increased by 5.
Mana Tap - active
Reduces target's mana by 51 and charges you with Arcane energy for 10 min. This effect stacks up to 3 times. Amount of mana reduced is 50 + 1/Level - 30 yd range - Instant - 30 sec cooldown.
Undead
Will of the Forsaken - active
Activate to become immune to Fear, Sleep, and Charm effects. Can also be used while already afflicted by Fear or Sleep - lasts 5 sec - 2 min cooldown
Cannibalize - active
Activate to regenerate 7% of total health every 2 sec. by consuming Humanoid or Undead corpses within 5 yds - lasts 10 sec - 2 min cooldown
Underwater Breathing - passive
Underwater breath lasts 300% longer than normal
Shadow Resistance - passive
All Undead get +10 Shadow Resistance
Trolls
Berserking - active
Activate to increase attack and casting speed for 10 seconds. Speed is raised by 10% at full health, increasing as health is lost to a maximum bonus of 30%. 3 minute cooldown.
Regeneration - passive
Increase health regeneration bonus by 10%. Also allows 10% of normal health regen during combat.
Beast Slaying - passive
5% damage bonus to Beasts.
Throwing weapon specialization - passive
Increase Throwing Weapon skill by 5.
Bow specialization - passive
Increase Bow skill by 5.
Resources
List of all the resources that Mages can use (some training at a Weapon Master might be required) and their primary stats.
| Category | Usability | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Resources | ||
| Health | Yes | |
| Energy | No | N/A |
| Mana | Yes | As magic is their main method of attack, a large mana pool is important. |
| Rage | No | N/A |
| Primary statistics | ||
| Strength | Not Important | |
| Agility | Not Important | |
| Stamina | Important | As Mages often cause a lot of damage, they often attract the attention of foes. Cloth doesn't provide much protection, so therefore some extra Stamina is advised. |
| Intellect | Important | Magic constitutes most of a Mage's attacks, so as much mana as possible is desirable. |
| Spirit | Important | Spirit helps regenerate Mana over time quicker. However, the Mage can make their own food/water, so between fights, spirit is not so important. |
| Other Bonuses | For Damage | Crit Rating, Attack Power, Spell Damage, Spell Crit |
| Other Bonuses | ||
| Other Bonuses | ||
| Armor Types | ||
| Cloth | Yes | The only armor Mages can wear. Often has Intellect and spirit bonuses. |
| Leather | No | N/A |
| No | N/A | |
| Plate | No | N/A |
| 1-Handed Melee Weapons | ||
| 1-Handed Axes | No | N/A |
| Daggers | Yes | |
| Fist Weapons | No | N/A |
| 1-Handed Maces | No | N/A |
| 1-Handed Swords | Yes | |
| 2-Handed Melee Weapons | ||
| 2-Handed Axes | No | N/A |
| 2-Handed Maces | No | N/A. |
| Polearms | No | N/A |
| Staves | Yes | |
| 2-Handed Swords | No | N/A |
| Offhand Equipment | ||
| Shields | No | N/A |
| Weapons | No | N/A |
| Ranged Weapons | ||
| Bows | No | N/A |
| Crossbows | No | N/A |
| Guns | No | N/A |
| Thrown | No | N/A |
| Wands | Yes | Probably the weapon most used by a Mage |
| Class Specific | ||
| Idol | No | N/A |
| Libram | No | N/A |
| Totem | No | N/A |
Abilities
All the spells that the Mage can learn are clearly divided into 3 categories of magic: Arcane, Frost and Fire. There are many other schools of magic such as Holy, Shadow and Nature but those are not available to the Mage class. Nevertheless, the Mage is able to perform a wide variety of tasks and packs a major punch in combat.
Mage Talents
Arcane
There are many arcane spells that are for pure damage, however, Arcane spells are mainly utility spells. Arcane spells also include the following; Conjure food and water - unlimited free food and water for the Mage and other players, Slow Fall - enables the player to fall from great heights with a soft landing, Croud control - powerful AoE spells such as Arcane Explosion, Buff other players - Can increase Intellect for themselves and other players, Remove curses, Damage reduction, Mana gems, Counterspell and also Teleportation.
Fire
Fire spells have the ability to cause the most damage out of the three talents trees available to the Mage. A Mage who has specialised in Fire also has the added bonus of being able daze and stun opponents as well as cast Damage over Time and AoE spells.
Frost
Specialisation in Frost can result in a nice amount of DPS. Most Frost spells have the effect of slowing down or completely stopping an opponent by freezing or chilling them. They are mainly designed for AoE damage and individual enemies.
Spell Casting
List of all Mage Skills
Almost all the spells available to the Mage can be improved in one way or another by mage Talents. Spells in World of Warcraft can also be divided into various categories according to their uses:
Utility spells
One of the many reasons why players like to play Mages is due to their utility spells, offering convenience and saving time. Teleport relieves the tedium of travelling back to town on foot. Portal spells allows Mages to do the same for the entire party. Mages even have a spell called Slow Fall that lets Mages leap from high places and survive! The most useful aspect of Mages though, is their ability to Conjure Food and Drinks for everyone.
Heavy spell damage
Mages are able to dish out damage quickly; their damage output is unparalleled over a short period of time compared to the other classes. There are many different direct damage spells from both the fire and frost magic schools, each with varying effects and damage. Generally, fire spells deal more damage than frost spells but frost spells have the capability to slow down the enemy or even freeze them in place.
Area of Effect spells
Some spells such as Blizzard and Flamestrike target an entire area and damage all enemies in it. These spells have the ability to cause a huge amount of damage to many monsters simultaneously. However, the drawback is that some of these spells are channelling spells and require the caster to remain stationary. Not only so, channelling spells get interrupted completely by any attack, but their damage output capability is very high.
Crowd control
With Polymorph, Mages can selectively disable monsters that threaten to overrun them, and with frost spells such as Frost Nova and Frostbolt, they can also slow down enemies in pursuit, allowing for better party tactics. Killing monsters is that much easier with the ability to slow down one or two monsters, polymorph another while the party can all focus on a fourth. Polymorph is also capable of interrupting enemy spellcasting.
Cloth armour
Mages are only allowed to equip cloth armour. Since cloth armour has the weakest armor ratings, this makes the Mage unsuitable for melee combat beyond the beginning levels of the game. The Mage also receives one of the lowest hitpoints per level making them physically fragile. The Mage's margin for error is one of the lowest while soloing. While Mages to have spells to increase their armour such as Ice Armor, their defense capabilities still falls below the melee based classes.
Longer downtime
Due to the Mage’s reliance on mana to accomplish everything, this means that in solo battle, the Mage will run out of mana fairly quickly and have longer periods of downtime between battles. Fortunately, this downtime can be reduced with the use of Conjure Food and Water. Even so, efficient use of mana while in a group battle is important to maximize group efficiency.
Monster Resistances
Higher level monsters have resistances to spells. Although it is generally rare to find monsters that are both resistant to fire and frost, this does mean that the Mage must diversify its spell base, otherwise the Mage will be severely limited in the areas in which it can fight in. It is important for a Mage to learn which monsters are immune or resistant to what type of magic and adapt quickly to the situation.
Kiting techniques
Kiting refers to a style of combat in which a player continually stays out of combat range of an enemy usually by running around or away from it, while simultaneously causing damage to it. This is especially important for Mages because they are physically fragile as mentioned above. Spells that are often used include Polymorph and Frost Nova, and learning how to kite effectively is a very big challenge.
Monster hate
Monsters maintain a hate list and remember the names of players who have recently dealt them heavy damage. As the Mage can deal a large amount of damage, this can cause monsters to stop attacking the tankers and start attacking the Mage instead. This is especially true for spells that damage a wide area, or Counterspell. Learning how to manage monster hate is an integral part of being a Mage.
Using Polymorph
Polymorph is an extremely effective tool for crowd control and creature disabling. However, deciding which monster to turn into a sheep in an enemy group could sometimes affect the outcome of the battle. Mages may only sheep one monster each at any one time. Hence, group communication is important should there be more than one Mage in the party as well as informing other players not to accidentally attack the polymorped enemy (or he will transform back). It is a good idea to sheep an enemy in an area not too close to the actual battleground if possible. Damage over Time (DoT) Spells Stacking DoTs of different spellnames stack together, with the exception of Fireball/Pyroblast (these 2 overwrite each other, the larger damage has precedence). DoTs of the same spellnames do not stack together, that is, you cannot have 2 Scorch DoTs or 2 Ignite DoTs going concurrently, but you can have one of each. DoTs of the same spellnames only stacks if they are from different players. However, you can stack as many copies of Flamestrike as you want, Flamestrike works separately and differently on an area basis and cannot be dispelled from a player unlike normal DoTs.
How Ice Barrier and Mana Shield interact
Ice barrier absorbs all forms of damage (including falling damage and suffocation damage), while Mana Shield only absorbs physical damage (melee, bows/guns, falling damage and Arcane Spells). Should a Mage have both spells cast, the Ice Barrier takes precedence first and absorbs damage. Note that Ice Barrier doesn't use up any mana to absorb damage (although it has a significant casting cost) while Mana Shield does.
Difference between Chill and Freeze effects
Chill effects slows down the enemy's movement speed. Freeze effects completely stop the enemy from moving. These 2 effects are not the same; spells and abilities (such as Permafrost) that affect chill effects do not affect freeze effects.
Both chill and freeze effects can be dispelled, otherwise chill effects will last for the full stated duration. Freeze effects is a little different in that they can end early by itself randomly, and freeze effects additionally have a chance to end early whenever the target takes damage. Fire spells and effects have a higher chance of breaking freeze than other forms of damage.
How +spell damage (and +healing) items work
These items add an amount of damage up to the stated amount. However, many people think that this type of bonus on items gives a RANDOM amount per spell cast when this is not true. The bonus it gives is determined by the casting time of the spell. A spell that takes 4 seconds to cast will most likely get the full bonus, while a shorter or instant cast spell will get a much smaller bonus.
The effect of having a smaller damage bonus for shorter casting time spells means that spell DPS is increased by roughly the same amount no matter what the spell is since you can cast a shorter casting time spell more often and hence get the smaller bonus more often.
+Damage items also only add to the total spell damage (or healing). For example, +10 damage would mean it gives each of the "5 waves" of a single casting of Arcane Missiles +2 damage, and not +10 to each wave for a total of +50 damage.
Unconfirmed Spells and Talents in Wrath of the Lich King
Here is a list of spells and talents that are completely unconfirmed, but quoted from various sources on the net:
- Arcane Barrage (Rank 3, Level 80, 610 mana, instant, 3 sec cooldown) - Launches several missiles at the enemy target, causing 936-1145 Arcane damage.
(Rank 1, 60, 335 mana, 385-470) (Rank 2, 70, 405 mana, 709-866)
- Burnout - Increases your spell critical damage bonus with all Fire spells by 5/10/15/20/25% but every time you critical with a Fire spell you lose an additional ?[internal entry blank]% of your total mana.
- Chilled to the Bone - Increases the damage caused by your Frostbolt and Ice Lance spells by 1/2/3/4/5% and reduces the movement speed of all chilled targets by an additional 2/4/6/8/10%.
- Deep Freeze - Stuns the target for 5 sec. Only usable on Frozen targets. [30 sec cooldown]
- Frostfire Bolt (Rank 1, Level 75) - "Launches a bolt of frostfire at the enemy, causing 629-732 Fire damage, slowing movement speed by 40% and causing an additional 57 Fire damage over 9 sec. If the target is more vulnerable to Frost damage, this spell will cause Frost instead of Fire damage."
- Netherwind Presence - Gives your Arcane Missiles, Arcane Barrage, Arcane Blast, Fireball, Frostbolt and Frostfire Bolt spells a 1/2/3/4/5% chance to cause the next Arcane Blast, Fireball, Frostbolt or Frostfire Bolt to be instant.
Despite the similar name and effect, this is not the same as the tier 2 bonus.
New Food & Drink
- Food: Sweet Potato Pie (75), Strudel (79)
- Water: Rain Water (74), Crystal Spring Water (78)
- Gem: Mana Sapphire (77, 3412 mana)
Specialisation
Fire Spec - Fire
A Fire Mage's strengths:
- Very High damage output
A Fire Mage's Weaknesses:
- Causes a high amount of threat
Frost Spec - Frost
A Frost Mage's Strengths:
- Good Croud Control
- Can survive longer than a Fire Mage
A Frost Mage's Weaknesses:
- Usually does not cause as much damage as a Fire Mage
Essential Quests
Mana Surges
Destroy Morphaz
Endgame Roles
Fire Spec
Fire spec at Endgame is all about causing the most damage.
Frost Spec
Frost spec at endgame is less about damage, more about controlling individual enemies or groups by slowing them down, therefore reducing the amount of damage they can do.
Starting Statistics
Below are the starting stats and attributes of the Mage. Mages can learn to use other weapons at a Weapon Master.
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Futher Mage reading and Resources
- Forum to talk with other Mages
- Mage Skills
- Mage Talents
- List of Mage trainers
- Quests for Mages
- Mage Item Sets
- Mage Guides
- Mage UIs/Mods
- Mage Patch History
