“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.

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.

Available in which Races & their Racial Bonuses

Note that during the closed beta testing dwarves could be mages and as such you may see shots or here people talk of them. They were removed to further differeentiate them from gnomes and the Dwarven lore didn’t sit well with exploration of magic. Also the Alliance had one more race/class combination than horde and dwarven mages drew the short straw.

Alliance

Gnomes

• Escape Artist: Escape the effects of any immobilization or movement speed reduction effect. 0.5 sec cast. 1 min cooldown.
• Expansive Mind: +5% to intelligence
• Arcane Resistance: +10 to Arcane Resistance
• Engineering Specialist: 15 skill bonus to Engineering

Humans

• Perception: Increased detection bonus - lasts 20 sec. 3 min cooldown
• The Human Spirit: +5% to Spirit
• Diplomacy: 10% bonus to faction point gain
• Sword Specialisation: +5 to Sword Skill
• Mace Specialisation: +5 to Mace Skill

Horde

Troll

• Berserking (active): Increases your melee, ranged, and casting speed by 10% to 30%. The value scales upwards towards 30% depending how low your health is when you activate the ability. Requires a small amount of mana, rage, or energy (depending on your class) to activate. Does not require being struck by a critical to activate. Lasts 10 seconds with 3 minute cooldownd but no global cooldown.
• Regeneration (passive): Increase health regen bonus by 10%. 10% active in combat.
• Beast Slaying (passive): Increase damage bonus to Beasts by 5%
• Throwing & Bow Weapon Specialization (passive): Increase Throwing Weapon skill by +5 and +5 to Bows

Undead

• Will of the Forsaken: Activate to become immune to fear, sleep, and charm effects and can be activated whilst under the effects of fear or sleep. Lasts 5 sec. 2 min cool-down
• Cannibalize: Increase health regeneration by 7% of total health every 2 sec while consuming human/undead corpses. Lasts 10 sec. 2 min cool-down
• Underwater Breathing: Underwater breath  +300% longer than normal
• Shadow Resistance: +10 to Shadow Resistance

Resources Used

• Health & Mana

Starting Statistics

Below are the starting stats and attributes of the Mage. Magi can learn to use other weapons at a weapon trainer and locations of those can be found in the Trainers page.

Attributes Gnome Human Troll Undead Strength 15 20 21 19 Agility 23 20 22 18 Stamina 19 20 21 21 Intellect 27 23 19 21 Spirit 22 23 23 27 Armor 51 45 49 41 Melee Attack 1 1 1 1 Power 5 10 11 9 Damage 4-7 5-8 5-8 4-7 Ranged Attack N/A N/A N/A N/A Power N/A N/A N/A N/A Damage N/A N/A N/A N/A

Class Skills Gnome Human Troll Undead Fire X X X X Frost X X X X Weapon Skills Defence X X X X Staves X X X X Unarmed X X X X Wands X X X X Can Learn Daggers X X X X Swords X X X X Armor Cloth X X X X

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

• Many useful utility spells
• Quick heavy spell damage
• Powerful area of effect spells
• Crowd control capabilities (read more)

Weaknesses

• May only use cloth armor, low hitpoints (read more)
• Longer downtime than other classes
• Monster resistances and immunities

Challenges

• Mastering kiting techniques (read more)
• Managing monster hate in group play (read more)
• Using polymorph effectively (read more)
• Co-ordinating DoTs with other spell casters (read more)

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.

• Arcane Spells
• Frost Spells
• Fire Spells

Summary of all Mage Spells

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 traveling 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 simultaeneously. However, the drawback is that some of these spells are channeling 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 seperately 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 casted, 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.

Mage Trainers

To learn new mage skills and proficiencies you will need to seek out a Mage Trainer. New skills will become available for learning as your character increases in level. You can find a full list of all Mage Trainers around the world here.

Further Mage Reading & Resources

		Forum to talk with other Mages
		Quests for Mages
		Mage Items
		Mage PvE Guides
		Mage PvP Guides
		Mage UIs/Mods
		List of Mage Trainers
		Mage Skills & Spells
		Blizzard’s Mage Q&A
		Mage FAQ
		Mage’s Tower for the complete Mage resource
		Mage Talents & Talent Tool

Mage Patch History

The history of the changes made to the Mage class during the beta and beyond are detailed below with the most recent at the top.

Patch 1.9.0 (3 January 2006)

• Impact - The stun effect’s duration no longer diminishes or is diminished by controlled stun abilities and spells (e.g. Cheap Shot, Hammer of Justice, Charge etc.).
• Netherwind Regalia - The 8-piece set bonus will now proc immediately upon completion of casting the spell, before travel time on the spell. This will allow the proc to affect the next spell cast as intended.
• Arcane Concentration - Blizzard will now be able to gain a Clearcasting state from this talent.
• Arcane Missles - Will now be able to trigger procs based on dealing damage.
• Remove Lesser Curse - Mana cost now based on a percentage of base mana.
• Blast Wave - Will now show spell data in the talent page.
• Conjure Water (Rank 7) Will now create ten waters instead of four.
• Pyroblast Damage bonus from + spell damage items increased.

Patch 1.8.0 (11 October 2005)

• Arcane Missiles - Should now properly report the correct “out of range” indicator on the action bar.

Patch 1.7.0 (13 September 2005)

• A level 50 class quest has been added for the Mage (Archmage Xylem in Azshara).

Patch 1.6.0 (12 July 2005)

• Frostbolt - Targets that are immune to movement slowing effects will no longer be affected by Frostbolt’s movement slowing effect. Damage will still be caused.
• Frost Nova - Will now cause damage to targets immune to immobilizing effects.
• Blast Wave - Will now cause damage to targets immune to immobilizing effects.
• Cone of Cold - Targets that are immune to movement slowing effects will no longer be affected by Cone of Cold’s movement slowing effect. Damage will still be caused.
• Detect Magic - will no longer cause guard retaliation in Goblin towns.
• Ignite - Can now be dispelled by any effect that dispels magic effects.
• Frost Armor/Ice Armor - Targets that are immune to movement slowing effects will no longer be affected by the Chill’s movement slowing effect. Targets will still have their melee attack speed reduced.
• Arcane Instability - Fixed a bug where rank 3 of this talent was not increasing the periodic damage of various spells by the correct amount (was increasing by 2% and should now properly increase by 3%).

Patch 1.5.0 (7 June 2005)

• Mage Armor - Now has a new, unique icon.

Patch 1.4.0 (20 April 2005)

• Amplify Magic and Dampen Magic effects should now replace each other properly.
• Improved Scorch (Talent) - Redesign. Scorch spells have a 20/40/60/80/100% chance to cause your target to be vulnerable to Fire damage. This vulnerability increases the Fire damage dealt to your target by 2% and can be stacked up to 5 times for a total of 10% increased Fire damage.
• New Spell: Arcane Brilliance (available at level 56 - Loot) - Infuses the target’s party with brilliance, increasing their Intellect.
• Improved Mana Shield - Design changed. Instead of increasing the amount absorbed, it now decreases the mana lost per point of damage taken by 10/20%.
• An error message is now displayed if you try to use Blink on boats and zeppelins.
• Wand Specialization - Fixed a bug where the damage increase with this talent was higher than the listed amount.
• Frost Nova - Now subject to diminishing returns in PvP. This is considered an immobilizing effect.
• Pyroblast and Fireball damage over time will now stack together. 

Patch 1.3.0 (22 March 2005)

• Training costs adjusted. Total training cost was decreased.
• Improved Blizzard - Chill duration reduced to 1.5 seconds (4.5 seconds w/ Permafrost) and refreshes with each damage tick rather than at the beginning of the spell. In addition, a target that resists the damage will also resist the chill effect.
• Blink - Using this spell should no longer cause you to fall through the world.
• Blink can now be used to escape more of the stun effects used by creatures in the world.
• Blink is no longer useable on boats or zeppelins.
• Blast Wave damage radius fixed so damage properly extends to 10 yd.
• Dampen Magic - Duration and mana cost increased. Now castable on all raid targets.
• Amplify Magic - Duration and mana cost increased. Now castable on all raid targets.
• Frost/Ice Armor - Mana cost reduced.
• New Spell: Mage Armor (Available at level 34) - Allows for 30% of mana regeneration to function while casting and increases resistance to all magic schools. Does not stack with Frost/Ice Armor.
• New Spell: Conjure Water (Rank 7) (Available through quest at level 60).
• Arcane Missiles: Fixed a bug where the spell would not function properly against spell-reflecting targets.
• The Celestial Orb and Robe of the Archmage will no longer trigger the cooldowns of a Mage’s mana gems. Mana gems are now on their own unique cooldown category.

Patch 1.2.0 (21 December 2004)

• Portals: Each portal spell now has an individual cooldown.
• Polymorph: Players now have an increasing chance to break free of the effect, such that it is unlikely the effect will last more than 15 seconds.

Patch 1.1.1 (17 November 2004)

• Reagent requirements have been removed from Arcane Intellect.

Patch 1.1.0 (7 November 2004)

• Blink should work much more reliably and will not stop your movement.
• Removed facing requirement from Counterspell, Detect Magic, and Polymorph.
• Polymorph: Now dismounts the enemy target, increased the chance of breaking early.
• Blizzard: Deals its damage in more frequent intervals.
• Arcane Intellect: Ranks 4 and 5 now require reagents.
• Teleport: Now requires a reagent.
• Portal: Now requires a reagent.
• Slow Fall: Now requires a reagent.

Beta Patch 0.12.0 (10 October 2004)

• Polymorph no longer affects Dragonkin or Giants.
• Blink now counters stun effects. Cool down timer has decreased, and mana cost now scales with level.

Beta Patch 0.11.0 (28 September 2004)

• Portals changed. You must now right-click on portals to use them.

Beta Patch 0.10.0 (16 September 2004)

• Arcane Intellect INT boost decreased to offset the increased mana pool per INT point. (Effectiveness will remain the same.)
• Counterspell interrupt duration has been reduced.
• Dwarves can no longer be mages, however all existing Dwarf mages in beta can remain.

Beta Patch 0.9.0 (15 August 2004)

• New spell: Slow Fall (Level 12).
• Ice Armor and Frost Armor should no longer stack.
• Frost Armor and Ice Armor chill effects reduced in effectiveness.
• The Chilled effects from Ice Armor and Frost Armor should no longer stack.
• Polymorphed targets will now wander a short radius around where they were polymorphed. They will no longer return to where they were first attacked and wander from there. Note that they may still wander off if the duration lasts long enough, so keep an eye on your sheep.
• Cone of Cold area of effect has been widened at its base, so it should be much easier to use on targets that are close to the Mage.
• Arcane Missiles can no longer be cast if silenced.
• Arcane Explosion should now be causing the damage listed in the tool-tip.
• Lesser Invisibility, Invisibility and Greater Invisibility removed.
• Blink no longer will allow you to teleport past doors.
• Khadgar’s Unlocking removed.
• Portal mana costs increased.
• Fire and Frost Ward duration reduced, cool down increased.
• Frost Nova duration reduced, cool down increased.
• Frostbolt cast time reduced, damage and mana cost reduced accordingly, slowing effect reduced.
• Pyroblast levels adjusted, damage reduced, mana cost increased, cool down increased, range reduced.
• Blink (Rank 2) and Blink (Rank 3) removed.
• Training costs have been added to replacements for the following spells 
  • Pyroblast
  • Blast Wave
  • Ice Barrier
• Frostbite freeze effects can be dispelled.
• The strike bonus given by Critical Mass has been reduced.
• The damage that Fire Power does has been reduced.
• 75% of the damage that pyroblast does is now up-front, 25% of it is DOT.
• Permafrost duration reduced.
• Added an additional 3 ranks to Ice Shards.
• Removed one rank of Improved Frost Bolt.
• Chance that Frostbite affects a target has been reduced.
• Frostbite duration slightly increased.
• Removed 2 ranks of Winter’s Chill.
• Ice Block duration slightly increased.
• Ice Block is now a buff instead of a debuff (you can cancel it).
• Mana penalty from using Arcane Power has been slightly reduced.
• Reduced cool down on Presence of Mind.
• Presence of Mind now only works on mage spells with a cast time of
• Reduced cool down on Evocation.
• Reduced effect chance on Arcane Concentration.
• Increased effect of Improved Blink.
• Reduced effect of Improved Dampen Magic.
• Added Arcane Instability talent.
• Mana reduction from Frost Channeling has been reduced.

Beta Patch 0.8.0 (7 July 2004)

• Frost Nova: Cool down slightly increased.
• Polymorph: New spell added. Polymorph transforms the enemy into a sheep, forcing it to wander around for the duration of the spell. While wandering, the sheep can not attack or cast spells and will regenerate health very quickly. Any damage will transform the target back into its normal form. Only one target can be Polymorphed at a time. Polymorph will only work on Beasts, Dragons, Giants, Humanoids and Critters.
• Sleep: Sleep is being changed to Polymorph.
• New Portal Spells have been added for each major city.
• Talents are now available for the Mage class.