Mage Leveling Spec

The mage class is a very fun but difficult class to learn. With each spec there are multiple playstyles that you can adapt and apply different ways. The mage leveling spec can be broken down by either frost or fire. After that, you may want to consider the ability to AoE versus direct damage. The choice is up to you and it will greatly affect your playstyle and spell rotations. The Challenge with leveling a mage is that you have so many different options to choose from. I will try my best to sum up some of the different tactics for building your Mage Leveling Spec.

First I'll address AoE tactics for plowing through groups of mobs.

Frost: You will be using frost nova, blizzard, and cone of cold primarily.

Key Talents: Ice Floes, Permafrost, Improved Blizzard, Ice Barrier (later, of course) DO NOT pick up frostbite. The freeze effect can seriously screw your efforts. Any other talents you will want are simply for damage boosts or mana efficiency.

1. Frost armor and Ice barrier - Reduce the damage you're taking and slow the when you're struck
2. Mount up and kite MELEE MOBS ONLY! start with 3-4 to get comfortable. Never go over 10. your aoe loses effectiveness after that, and it's just way too dangerous to handle that many. I'd say stick to 6-7 mobs to maximize effectiveness and efficiency
3. When you have a good group following you, Frost nova to root them in place.
4. Blink away and Blizzard from max distance. With the chill effect, you should be able to get 2 blizzards in before they reach you.
5. If there are any survivors, Cone of cold, Frost Nova again, and repeat the process or just arcane explosion to finish them off.
6. Drink and repeat the process

Fire/Arcane: Key abilities will be flame strike, Arcane explosion, Frost Nova, and Blast Wave.

1. Turn on mana shield for protection
2. Mount up and gather 4-6 mobs (again, melee only)
3. Frost Nova
4. Flame Strike
5. Blast Wave
6. Cone of Cold
7. Arcane Explosion til dead

Note, when AoE grinding, you will probably have a few mishaps which will result in a hefty repair bill and time wasted running back. You pull a ranged attacker, you pull too many mobs, you get the point. With Blizzard's changes to experience gains through questing as well as caps to AoE damage, you are going to be spending a lot more time leveling than is really necessary. It can be very beneficial to find a partner who can AoE tank or heal you while you dish out all the damage. This is a more effective technique if you are focusing on an AoE mage leveling spec. Paladins with consecrate and bear druids with swipe will work really well, especially since they can also heal to help with downtime. With proper talents and abilities they can also help with mana regeneration.

However, when you have no partner Questing is by far the easiest and fastest way to level up.

Now you just have to decide whether you want to chose fire or frost as your primary mage leveling spec. Many players favor frost because of its survivability, mana efficiency and after level 60 can really throw out some strong damage. Here is a sample frost mage leveling spec:

Improved Frostbolt - 5/5

Frostbite - 3/3

Ice Floes - 3/3

Ice Shards - 3/3

Permafrost - 3/3

Icy Veins - 1/1

Arctic Reach - 2/2

Frost Channeling - 3/3

Shatter - 3/3

Cold Snap - 1/1

Cold as Ice - 2/2

Winter's Chill - 3/3

Shattered Barrier - 2/2

Ice Barrier - 1/1

Arctic Winds - 1/5

Empowered Frostbolt - 2/2

Fingers of Frost - 2/2

Brain Freeze - 3/3

Summon Water Elemental - 1/1

Enduring Winter - 3/3

Chilled to the Bone - 3/5

Deep Freeze - 1/1

Then, continue on the Arcane to finish out your spec:

Arcane Subtlety - 2/2

Arcane Focus - 3/3

Arcane Fortitude - 3/3

Magic Absorption - 2/2

Magic Attunement - 2/2

Spell Impact - 3/3

Improved Counterspell - 2/2

Torment the Weak - 3/3

This is just one of many routes you can choose while leveling your mage. This mage leveling spec sacrifices some damage for utility, defensive ability, and mana efficiency. Keep in mind that talent specs are always changing with major and minor update patches. You will want to keep an up to date guide on the best leveling tactics to pair up with your mage leveling spec. Zygor’s Leveling Guide is always kept up to date with the best mage leveling specs and with Cataclysm coming soon, the talent trees are getting a huge makeover with all new features and abilities. Zygor’s Leveling Guide will have all new questing paths and step by step instructions to take you to the new level cap in no time.