WotLK's greatest Mage Post Ever!Follow

We all remember these words. They have been the preamble to that which has guided us all for such a long time. Whenever an answer was sought, Filterspawn's words and wisdom were there for us. Unfortunately, with real life(and that damned warlock of his! ) taking away so much of his time, Filter hasn't been able to share his wisdom with us lately. We are all made poorer for it.

We, Anobix and Poldaran, have endeavored to make for our friends here on Allakhazam a new version of our beloved Greatest Mage Post Ever for WotLK. We hope that we've managed to bring to you some of the wisdom you're used to. We think we've made some improvements on some parts and we're sure that we've made some mistakes. Not everything is complete, that's for certain, nor do we consider ourselves ever truly done with this. So long as WoW evolves, this too shall evolve. So if you see something you feel is really important missing or just have an idea on something to add, please don't hesitate to post in this thread or PM one of us.

That said, we would like to present to you:
Team Avatar!
Hrm...I really suck at this name thing. We'll come up with something eventually. For now, let's just call it:

=_=_=The Greatest WotLK Mage Post Ever!=_=_=

Man, if I were an admin, that would be in [lg] and [blink] tags. For the fun of it.

Contents of this guide:
I. Talent Review.
II. Talent Specs.
III. What to spec first as you level.
IV. What race truly is the best for mage. - Will be redone for WotLK racials in the near future.
V. Gemming your mage. - Will also see a revamp in the near future
VI. General Tips and Mage Knowledge


Instead of writing up multiple posts, covering all these things, I will put all of it together into one resource where you can consult a quick reference on all things mage. I hope this will help answer some of the questions we have pop up on these boards, and maybe even slow down some of the hate mail you bastards keep sending me.

One thing I'd like to point out before we start. If I am a "lazy, good for nothing, pain in the *** who needs to hurry the @#%^ up" then what does that make you, the one who didn't bother writing a post in the first place? Yeah that's right, a lazy good for nothing pain in the mother@#%^ing ***. So ****, off

All talents when discussed will be addressed as being at the max level, anything less than max will be covered under Part III, What to Spec as You Level.

Part I. Talent Explanations and Review.

Talents are given a rating in three categories. "R" for Raiding Usefulness, "S" for Solo Effectiveness, "P" for PvP Power.
They are rated A,B,C,D and F. Not sure why there's no E. There never was one in the grading when I was in school, so I'm not sure why the E was left out. Poor guy.

A = Very Effective for this role. Would likely be unwise to miss this talent if you can get it.
B = Solid talent for this role. Should not be skipped if you can help it.
C = Average in effectiveness or not effective at all times in this role. Might be worth getting if you can see yourself using it.
D = Situational talent or too expensive in talent points for the effect. Unless you have a plan for it, no sense in getting these.
F = Highly situational talent at best for this role. May only be useful in a couple fights ever. Or may just suck altogether. A skippable talent.

ARCANE
Tier 1:

Arcane Subtlety (2) - Reduces the chance your spells will be dispelled by 30% and reduces the threat caused by your Arcane spells by 40%.
--The reduced threat makes this a no brainer for the raiding arcane mage, and strongly recommended for instance/raid AoE builds. The dispel protection makes it required for Arcane PvPers who rely much on Slow. If you have points in arcane, you probably want this talent.
R: A
S: D
P: B

Arcane Focus (3) - Increases your chance to hit and reduces the mana cost of your Arcane spells by 3%.
--While no longer the 10% hit talent of old, still a powerful talent for all raiding/instancing mages. Strong in PvP as well since it gives you less need for spell hit.
R: A
S: D
P: B

Arcane Stability (5) - Reduces the pushback suffered from damaging attacks while casting Arcane Missiles and Arcane Blast by 100%.
--The addition of Arcane Blast to this talent makes it extremely useful all around. Strongest for soloing, especially before you can get Arcane Barrage, but still useful in most aspects of arcane magery.
R: B
S: A
P: B

Tier 2:
Arcane Fortitude (3) - Increases your armor by an amount equal to 150% of your Intellect.
--Seems like a great talent, and it does have its usages, but still not as good as it appears at first glance. Assuming 800 Intellect(got the number from a friend who was level 80 in beta), you'll gain 1200 armor from it with 3 points in. While that can be useful in PvP, you'll have to give up other, more likely useful talents for it. Consider skipping this one unless you really really have to have it.

R: F
S: D
P: C

Magic Absorption (2) - Increases all resistances by 1 per level and causes all spells you fully resist to restore 2% of your total mana. 1 sec cooldown.
--This talent has certainly seen its ups and downs. In vanilla, it was a great talent to have considering all the resistance fights, but at 70, resistance fights were minimal and the talent didn't scale, so not useful for PvP. At 80 points of resistance for 2 talent points for a level 80, this talent just screams "ANTI-CASTER PVP!" Since casters have long been one of the mage's weaknesses, it's worth considering for a PvP build. Additionally, considering Blizzard has hinted that they're interested in bringing back resistance fights to WotLK as a way to "make preparation for fights seem more epic", it's certainly an interesting talent for the raider. You'll likely see tons of mana regen from it in those fights, so on that alone it's worth picking up.
R: C
S: C
P: B

Arcane Concentration (5) - Gives you a 10% chance of entering a Clearcasting state after any damage spell hits a target. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%.
--Long one of the staple arcane talents. Little has changed. If you're specced into arcane, you'll want this. Especially when coupled with Arcane Potency.

R: A
S: A
P: B

Tier 3:

Magic Attunement (2) - Increases the range of your Arcane spells by 6 yards and the effect of your Amplify Magic and Dampen Magic spells by 50%.
--Finally, a range talent for arcane. If you're deep enough in arcane to mostly be casting arcane damage spells, you're gonna want this. Range is life for the mage.

R: A
S: A
P: A

Spell Impact (3) - Increases the damage of your Arcane Explosion, Arcane Blast, Blast Wave, Fire Blast, Scorch, Fireball, Ice Lance and Cone of Cold spells by an additional 6%.
--This talent is an interesting one. Makes subspeccing arcane instead of frost viable for the Fire mages out there. Also gives PvP frost mages some power to add on their way to Imp Counterspell. If you can get this talent and one of your main spells is listed in it, consider getting this talent.
R: A
S: A
P: A

Student of the Mind (3) - Increases your total Spirit by 10%.
--Definitely a worthwhile consideration for the deep arcane mages out there. Spirit will heavily benefit their mana regen, so worth considering.
R: B
S: C
P: C

Focus Magic (1) - Increases the target's chance to critically hit with all spells by 3%. When the target critically hits the caster's chance to critically hit with spells is increased by 3% for 10 sec.
--Focus Magic should be a staple of any raiding mage with enough points in arcane to get it. If you put the buff on the right person, you'll have it up almost all the time on yourself too. Cannot be selfcast, so less useful for Solo and PvP mages.

R: A
S: F
P: B


Tier 4:
Arcane Shielding (2) - Decreases the mana lost per point of damage taken when Mana Shield is active by 33% and increases the resistances granted by Mage Armor by 50%.
--A case of a good talent coupled to a bad spell. One should really not rely on Mana Shield too much. Consider skipping.
R: D
S: D
P: C

Improved Counterspell (2) - Your Counterspell also silences the target for 4 sec.
--Long a staple of the PvP mage, no matter what spec they take. If you PvP, try to get this.
R: F
S: D
P: A

Arcane Meditation (3) - Allows 30% of your mana regeneration to continue while casting.
--Between this and Mage Armor, the amount of spirit based mana regeneration mages can have while casting soars to truly amazing heights. This talent is a no brainer for raiding if you can get it, and still worthwhile in soloing and PvP. Consider it.
R: A
S: B
P: B

Torment the Weak (3) - Your Frostbolt, Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Arcane Missiles, and Arcane Barrage abilities deal 12% more damage to Snared targets.
--In raids, worth considering only if you have slow kept up on the boss at all times. In PvP, if you're this deep in arcane, you should probably pick this up.

R: C
S: A
P: A

Tier 5:

Improved Blink (2) - Reduces the mana cost of Blink by 50% and for 4 sec after casting your chance to be hit by all attacks and spells is reduced by 30%.
--In PvE circumstances, EXTREMELY situational at best, though nice for the cost reduction. In PvP, if you need to blink, it's safe to say you may need a few seconds of reduced chance to be hit. A solid talent.

R: F
S: C
P: B

Presence of Mind (1) - When activated, your next Mage spell with a casting time less than 10 sec becomes an instant cast spell.
--Still godly as far as talents go. Although I would like to point out they say "your next mage spell" as opposed to what? My next Priest spell? My next Warrior spell? Pretty sure I am a mage here, putting points in the mage talent trees, so it's probably safe to assume I'll be using A @#%^ING MAGE SPELL! Idiots.

R: D
S: C
P: A

Arcane Mind (5) - Increases your total Intellect by 15%.
--Not only does it give you a higher mana pool and slightly increased crit rate(you do know about crit from Int for casters, right?), it increases the effect of all other talents where Int comes into play. So if you're going Mind Mastery or Arcane Fortitude...look this baby up.
R: B
S: B
P: B

Tier 6:
Prismatic Cloak (3) - Reduces all damage taken by 6% and reduces the fade time of your Invisibility spell by 3 sec.
--The reduced damage is pretty nice, though probably not worth getting on its own considering other choices. Add in the effectively instant Invisibility, and this is awesome for when you must flee.

R: C
S: B
P: B

Arcane Instability (3) - Increases your spell damage and critical strike chance by 3%.
--You're going to hear this a lot: Damage good. Crit good. Spec this.

R: A
S: A
P: A

Arcane Potency (2) - Increases the critical strike chance of your next damaging spell by 30% after gaining Clearcasting or Presence of Mind.
--Effectively 3% crit plus 30% every time you blow PoM, which is right before you cast something big. Worthwhile talent to consider.

R: A
S: A
P: A

Tier 7:
Arcane Empowerment (3) - Increases the damage of your Arcane Missiles spell by an amount equal to 45% of your spell power and the damage of your Arcane Blast by 9% of your spell power.
--Neither Arcane Missiles or Arcane Blast should be your staple attack spells. However, they should have places in your rotation(if only thanks to missile barrage procs). A solid damage talent and worth considering.

R: A
S: A
P: A

Arcane Power (1) - When activated, your spells deal 30% more damage while costing 30% more mana to cast. This effect lasts 15 seconds (3 min cooldown).
--A solid increase in DPS and burst damage for any spec that can have it. If you're deep enough in arcane, grab it.
R: A
S: B
P: A

Incanter's Absorption (3) - When you absorb damage your spell damage is increased by 5% of the amount absorbed for 10 sec.
--One of the more difficult to decipher talents. Seems to be made to give your fire/frost wards and mana shield some power. Not really worth it, IMO.

R: D
S: D
P: C

Tier 8:
Arcane Flows (2) - Reduces the cooldown of your Presence of Mind, Arcane Power and Invisibility spells by 60 secs.
--A lot of reduced cooldown on some really powerful spells. It really speaks for itself.
R: A
S: B
P: A

Mind Mastery (5) - Increases spell power by 15% of your total Intellect.
--Assuming an Int of 800(again, friend from Beta), this is 120 spell power. Add an additional 18 if you have Arcane Mind. This is a great talent.
R: A
S: A
P: A

Tier 9:
Slow (1) - Reduces target's movement speed by 60%, increases the time between ranged attacks by 60% and increases casting time by 60%. Lasts 15 sec. Slow can only affect one target at a time.
--Combined with Torment the Weak, this talent defines a PvP playstyle for this tree. Too good to pass up if you're gonna PvP, and could be useful in raids to keep TtW going.

R: A(if Torment the Weak is also taken)
S: B
P: A

Missile Barrage (5) - Gives your Arcane Blast, Arcane Barrage, Fireball, Frostbolt and Frostfire Bolt spells a 20% chance to reduce the channeled duration of the next Arcane Missiles spell by 2.5 secs and missiles will fire every .5 secs.
--Finally, a reason to use Arcane Missiles again! Solid talent.

R: A
S: B
P: B

Tier 10:
Netherwind Presence (3) - Increases your spell haste by 6%.
--Much like damage, haste is good. Don't miss this talent if you're going deep arcane.

R: A
S: A
P: A

Spell Power (2) - Increases critical strike damage bonus of all spells by 50%.
--With this talent, spells will crit for 175% of normal damage instead of 150%. Can't beat that with a stick.

R: A
S: A
P: A

Tier 11:
Arcane Barrage (1) - Launches several missiles at the enemy target, causing 386 to 470 Arcane damage.
--Powerful instant with a reasonable cost and a short cooldown. Useful for an arcane mage no matter what they intend to do.
R: A
S: A
P: A


FIRE

Tier 1:
Improved Fireblast (2) - Reduces the cooldown of your Fire Blast spell by 2 sec.

- Average in PvE, great in PvP where a mage uses so many instant cast spells during his fights. If you PvP as fire, get it.
R: C
S: B
P: B

Incineration (3) - Increases the critical strike chance of your Fire Blast, Scorch, Arcane Blast and Cone of Cold spells by 6%.

- Suited for Scorch mages, and anyone who PvP's heavily. 4% more crit on two instants, a 1.5 second cast spell, or 2.5 cast (AB) is awesome. Also helps you get those ignites going on a target. If you are arcane spec, put 3 points in here.
R: B
S: C
P: B

Improved Fireball (5) - Reduces the casting time of your Fireball spell by 0.5 sec.

- Unless you spec something centered around all instant cast spells for PvP, this is a must in the fire tree. Faster casting = more damage, get it.
R: A
S: A
P: C

Tier 2:
Ignite (5) - Your critical strikes from Fire damage spells cause the target to burn for an additional 40% of your spell's damage over 4 sec.

- Definition of 'bread and butter' for the fire spec. This is one of the best talents you can pick up if you are using mostly fire, get it.
R: A
S: A
P: B

Burning Determination (2) - When Interrupted or Silenced you have a 100% chance to become immune to both mechanics for 10 sec.

- An attempt at a PvP talent for those times when you are stunlocked. Situational at best unless you are only doing arenas and find yourself always being silenced/etc and you have the extra points to spend.
R: D
S: D
P: C

World in Flames (3) - Increases the critical strike chance of your Flamestrike, Pyroblast, Blast Wave, Dragon's Breath, Living Bomb, Blizzard and Arcane Explosion spells by 6%.

- A ton of crit for a few talent points in fire. This is amazing for an AoE mage, and is good for a raider with Hotstreak procs. Pretty much worthless for PvP.
R: B (A if you are AoEing a lot - Hyjal, etc)
S: B (A if you are AoEing a lot)
P: D

Tier 3:
Flame Throwing (2) - Increases the range of all Fire spells except Frostfire Bolt by 6 yards.

- A bit of extra range is always great to have on any of your spells, especially when you will not have a snare available, grab this.
R: A
S: A
P: A

Impact (3) - Gives your damaging spells a 10% chance to stun the target for 2 sec.

- Worthless for raiding. If you are soloing a lot and are not killing the targets before it gets to you then pick it up, a bit of extra time to get that cast off can be a life saver now and then. For PvP if you are going elementalist or deep fire this is a worthwhile talent -- note, it is no longer limited to fire spells.
R: F
S: B
P: B

Pyroblast (1) - Hurls an immense fiery boulder that causes 1190 to 1510 Fire damage and an additional 452 Fire damage over 12 sec.
22% of base mana, 35 yd range, 5 sec cast

- Bad for raiding unless you are speccing into Hot Streak for the instant casts. For soloing it is a decent opener if you can wait the 5 seconds to cast it instead of fireball. Only PvP viable if you are super-deep fire (Hot Streak) or PoM-Pyro specced.
R: D (A if specced to Hot Streak)
S: C (B if specced to Hot Streak)
P: C (B only if PoM Pyro or Hot Streak)

Burning Soul (2) - Reduces the pushback suffered from damaging attacks while casting Fire spells by 70% and reduces the threat caused by your Fire spells by 10%.

- With the threat generation for tanks being increased and our threat generation decreased this is not as necessary as it was before, but still good to have if you are having threat issues in raids. For solo only pick this up if you are getting hit a lot or instancing a lot with undergeared tanks. For PvP it is only worthwhile if you are having issues with pushback (which has been nerfed as well, so not quite as necessary).
R: B
S: C
P: B

Tier 4:
Improved Scorch (3) - Your damaging Scorch spells have a 100% chance to cause your target to be vulnerable to spell damage, increasing spell critical strike chance against that target by 2% and lasts 30 sec. Stacks up to 5 times.

- 100% required for raiding as fire, even if you have a dedicated scorcher -- if they die yours and every other spell caster's dps drops like a rock. Also highly recommended to pick up Glyph of Improved Scorch with this. Solo not very helpful unless you plan on instancing at some point. PvP good for that extra crit rating chance to take away the resilience of an enemy -- only pick up if deep fire as you will pick up winter's chill otherwise with frost, too expensive for arcane to go this deep.
R: A
S: D
P: C

Molten Shields (2) - Causes your Fire Ward and Frost Ward spells to have a 30% chance to reflect the warded spell while active. In addition, your Molten Armor has a 100% chance to affect ranged and spell attacks.

- Situational at best, no real reason to pick it up unless you are getting banged on a lot. It currently procs ignite again so it can be helpful for keeping rogues from re-stealthing right after opening on you, with this + impact it isn't awful for PvP if you are getting focused.
R: D
S: D
P: C

Master of Elements (3) - Your spell criticals will refund 30% of their base mana cost.

- Necessary for raiders as we have mana issues. For Soloers it lets you go longer without stopping. For PvP it is decent if you are having mana issues. This will be great for an elementalist build.
R: A
S: B
P: B

Tier 5:
Playing with Fire (3) - Increases all spell damage caused by 3% and all spell damage taken by 3%.

- With the caveat, pick it up if you are going this deep (assuming you have enough spellpower to make 3% worth it)
R: A
S: A
P: B

Critical Mass (3) - Increases the critical strike chance of your Fire spells by 6%.

- Amazing talent, get it. More crits = more ignite + more instant Pyroblasts if specced into Hot Streak. Only get it for PvP if you are super-deep fire.
R: A
S: A
P: D (B if Super-deep fire)

Blast Wave* (1) - A wave of flame radiates outward from the caster, damaging all enemies caught within the blast for 1047 to 1233 Fire damage, knocking them back and Dazing them for 6 sec.
28% of base mana, Instant cast, 30 sec cooldown

- Only good for raiding if you are AoEing a lot and the tanks don't care about the knock back. For soloing, a good talent to protect yourself. For PvP, only good if you are going this deep into fire, a worthwhile, yet expensive instant cast to buy you some time.
R: C
S: B
P: B

Tier 6:
Blazing Speed (2) - Gives you a 10% chance when hit by a melee or ranged attack to increase your movement speed by 50% and dispel all movement impairing effects. This effect lasts 8 sec.

- Not too great for raiding as we should not be getting hit enough to make it proc, and when we need to move we have blink. Solo can be good to get away in those last few seconds of life (assuming it procs). And for PvP it is decent, but only take it if you are going this deep into fire and have points to throw around.
R: D
S: C
P: B

Firepower (5) - Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 10%.

- No reason not to pick this talent up for any case assuming you are using fire spells all the time.
R: A
S: A
P: A

Tier 7:
Pyromaniac (3) - Increases chance to critically hit and reduces the mana cost of all Fire spells by an additional 3%.

- Another amazing crit talent for fire mages. Assuming you took the other talent you should now be sitting at 9% increased crit chance for fire spells
R: A
S: A
P: A

Combustion* (1) - When activated, this spell causes each of your Fire damage spell hits to increase your critical strike chance with Fire damage spells by 10%. This effect lasts until you have caused 3 critical strikes with Fire spells.
Instant, 3 min cooldown

- Even more crits for fire, use this with your cooldowns when raiding. For solo it depends on if you remember to use the talent, but it is worthwhile to pick up as it leads to Dragon's breath. PvP is similar to solo reasons.
R: A
S: C
P: C

Molten Fury (2) - Increases damage of all spells against targets with less than 35% health by 12%.

- Amazing for fire, this is what pulls us ahead of the other casters in these moments in raids. For solo the mobs should be dying within one spell at this point so not really worth it. PvP it is only useful for a finisher (fireblast, pom+spell).
R: A
S: D
P: C

Tier 8:
Fiery Payback (2) - When below 35% health all damage taken is reduced by 20% and your Pyroblast spell's cast time is reduced by 3.5 secs while the cooldown is increased by 5 secs
- A poor attempt at a PvP talent by Blizzard. Avoid it.
R: F
S: D
P: D

Empowered Fire (3) - Increases the damage of your Fireball and Frostfire Bolt spells by an amount equal to 15% of your spell power.

- Essential for Fire and Elementalist builds assuming you have spellpower by this point.
R: A
S: A
P: A

Tier 9:
Firestarter* (2) - Your damaging Blast Wave and Dragon's Breath spells have a 100% chance to make your next Flamestrike spell instant cast. Lasts 10 sec.

- Amazing for AoEing, not so great if you don't need to AoE that often. For PvP it can create some nice burst if you can get the timing down and have the mana to spare.
R: B
S: C
P: C

Dragon's Breath* (1) - Targets in a cone in front of the caster take 1101 to 1279 Fire damage and are Disoriented for 5 sec. Any direct damaging attack will revive targets. Turns off your attack when used.
31% of base mana, Instant cast, 20 sec cooldown

- Only good for raiding if you are AoEing a lot, but is now better than blastwave because of the lack of knockback. A good life-saver for PvE to get one (or two) casts off without getting hit. PvP is a decent bit of damage and an all-important interrupt if you actually go this deep into fire.
R: B
S: A
P: B

Hot Streak (3) - Any time you score 2 spell criticals in a row using Fireball, Fire Blast, Scorch, or Frostfire Bolt, you have a 100% chance the next Pyroblast spell cast within 10 sec will be instant cast.

- For raiding this is what brought our damage back towards the top. Soloing it is decent if you are grinding in close proxmity to other mobs. PvP if you went this deep into fire, grab it.
R: A
S: B
P: B

Tier 10:
Burnout (5) - Increases your spell critical damage bonus with all Fire spells by 50% but your spell criticals cost an additional 5% of the spell's cost.

- Worth it if you are using fire spells at all. 5% seems like a lot, but it is totally worth it.
R: A
S: B
P: B

Tier 11:

Living Bomb (1) - The target becomes a Living Bomb, taking 1380 Fire damage over 12 sec. After 12 sec or when the spell is dispelled, the target explodes dealing 690 Fire damage to all enemies within 10 yards. This spell can only affect one target at a time.
22% of base mana, 35 yd range, Instant cast

- For raiders this has the potential to increase your dps by a decent amount if you can keep the debuff up on the target. The problem with the spell is that if the target dies with it on it it will not go off (unlike Seed of Corruption). Only worthwhile if you can really wait for the 12 seconds for it to go off. In PvP it can be nice if you are up against a lot of dispell teams, but very expensive talent-point wise.
R: B
S: C
P: C


FROST

Tier 1:
Frostbite (3) - Gives your Chill effects a 15% chance to freeze the target for 5 sec.

R: D
S: A
P: A

This is an amazing talent for any solo or PvP mage, especially when combined with Shatter. And with the addition of the ability to crit to blizzard, this becomes a very interesting tool to combine with Shatter and Imp Blizzard in those raid AoE situations.

Improved Frostbolt (5) - Reduces the casting time of your Frostbolt spell by 0.5 sec.

R: A
S: A
P: A

Same deal as Improved Fireball, makes it cast faster. If you spec Frost, you have this. A big nuke that is only 1 second longer to cast than Scorch is pretty badass, especially given it's slowing capabilities. A mage has to be mobile to survive, and this goes a long way to keeping you at least semi mobile while doing your damage.

Ice Floes (3) - Reduces the cooldown of your Frost Nova, Cone of Cold, Ice Block and Icy Veins spells by 20%.

R: B
S: B
P: A

Anyone who has ever been ambushed by a couple foes with Frost Nova on cooldown can tell you just how long a few seconds seems. It's like hell on Azeroth for any mage to be in need of a spell only to have it be on cooldown. This talent makes it less likely to ever be an issue. Being able to use my Frost tree toys even faster? Yes please.

Tier 2:
Ice Shards (3) - Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Frost spells by 100%.

R: A
S: A
P: A

Filterspawn said it best:
Now, let's clear some sh*t up, since some people want to argue with me about the semantics on this talent. I am right, you are wrong if you disagree with me, so stfu and sit your dumbass down. (If this doesn't apply to you, and you are a smart little cookie, then disregard the last sentence). All this talent does, in layman's terms, is cause your critical strikes with frost spells to do double the damage of the regular strike. That's it, there is no 250% x ninja kitten/samurai squared to the @#%^ing Nth power of bewbs. Don't make this overcomplicated, just double your damage, remember that and you will be ok. In case some still aren't getting it, let's go to the math chart below:

Regular Frostbolt hit = 1,000
Critical Frostbolt strike without Ice Shards = 1,500
Critical Frostbolt strike with Ice Shards = 2,000

Got it? Good, if you don't, please review the underlined text again.


Frost Warding (2) - Increases the armor and resistances given by your Frost Armor and Ice Armor spells by 50%. In addition, gives your Frost Ward and Fire Ward a 30% chance to negate the warded damage spell and restore mana equal to the damage caused.

R: D
S: D
P: C

No longer the Frost Warding of old, this talent still isn't great. Its only true purpose is in fights with a ton of fire or frost damage. Otherwise, it's mostly a filler talent.

Elemental Precision (3) - Reduces the mana cost and increases your chance to hit with Frost and Fire spells by 3%.

R: A
S: B
P: A

Awesome talent. Almost (not completely) but almost irreplacable in a PvE spec. In PvP it helps as well, just not as much since you won't be fighting many players that are 3+ levels higher than you once you reach level cap. (If you do, let me know, I wanna know how they pulled it off).

Permafrost (3) - Increases the duration of your Chill effects by 3 secs and reduces the target's speed by an additional 10%.

R: D
S: A
P: A

Another great talent for kiting. Simple as that, nothing else to add.

Tier 3:
Piercing Ice (3) - Increases the damage done by your Frost spells by 6%.

R: A
S: A
P: A

Pretty much a no brainer here, more damage = good mmkay?

Icy Veins (1) - Hastens your spellcasting, increasing spell casting speed by 20% and reduces the pushback suffered from damaging attacks while casting by 100%. Lasts 20 sec

R: A
S: A
P: A

Extremely useful talent in a myriad of situations. Resistance to interruption is great for PvP, and the increased casting speed is godly for both raids and PvP. Odds are, if you can sacrifice something from your build to get this, you want it.

Improved Blizzard (3) - Adds a chill effect to your Blizzard spell. This effect lowers the target's movement speed by 65%. Lasts 1.5 sec.

R: D
S: A
P: A

"I keep putting points in Improved Blizzard but the company still isn't getting any better!" is an old joke, and interesting commentary about the game we love. Thanks to Blizzard's newfound ability to crit, this talent has become a LOT more interesting. Having one point in this + frostbite + shatter can make for some interesting times in raids or instances. This is also a must for AoE grinding. Now, 1.5 seconds may not sound like a lot, but it can mean all the difference in many situations. Example would be WSG, a single mage can turn the tide of a battle with this spell. If you aren't planning on doing much AoE, you can go without this.



Tier 4:
Arctic Reach (2) - Increases the range of your Frostbolt, Ice Lance, Deep Freeze and Blizzard spells and the radius of your Frost Nova and Cone of Cold spells by 20%.

R: A
S: A
P: A

Given that the mage is meant to fight from a distance, a tool to allow him to do it from even farther out is a handy thing to have. Gives you a bigger margin of error when kiting.

Frost Channeling (3) - Reduces the mana cost of all spells by 10% and reduces the threat caused by your Frost spells by 10%.

R: A
S: A
P: A

This makes the efficiency of the Frost tree as far as mana goes truly shine, add in the reduced threat, and you have a very solid PvE talent. Not as great in PvP, as the reduced threat does nothing, but it can save you some mana, which has become an important factor in ye olde arenas.

Shatter (3) - Increases the critical strike chance of all your spells against frozen targets by 50%.

R: A
S: A
P: A

This is one of the most defining talents of the frost tree and it synergizes with a ton of talents. Thanks to Fingers of Frost, it's no longer just for solo/PvP anymore. If you don't have Fingers of Frost, skip it for raiding, though I'm not sure why you wouldn't have FoF as a raiding frostie.

Tier 5:
Cold Snap (1) - When activated, this spell finishes the cooldown on all Frost spells you recently cast.

R: A
S: A
P: A

If you skip this as a Frostie, ehh, I have some beachfront property to sell you in Arizona. This spell turns a formidable Frost mage into a demigod. Learn how best to use it and you can be better than baby Jesus at PvP or up your DPS from "Meh" to "Woot!" in raids.

Improved Cone of Cold (3) - Increases the damage dealt by your Cone of Cold spell by 35%.

R: D
S: B
P: A

Queue the "How much does your CoC hit for?" jokes. In group fighting, whether it be PvP or PvE, this spell adds another page to the mages nasty book of AoE tricks. Story time: I was in Arathi Basin, and rode up to the Lumber Mill which the opposing team held at the time. Seeing no one near the flag, I dismounted and proceeded to cap the flag. Of course, out come the rogues, two of them. I quickly hit Blink and Frost Nova to get my distance. Following up with a PoM Flamestrike to keep them from vanishing. I hit my CoC (Joke again) then Cold Snapped to go into another Frost Nova and CoC. Hit them with two Arcane Explosions and they both fell over dead. That's right, one mage versus two rogues and they lost, lost badly I might add. If I hadn't had Improved CoC, it might have turned out differently. While this anecdote is less relevant nowadays thanks to resilience, CloS and myriad other things, it still is a great talent for a PvP mage.

Frozen Core (3) - Reduces the damage taken from all spells by 6%.

R: D
S: D
P: C

Despite the major buff this talent has received, I'm still inclined to reiterate what the last GMPE said. "Waste of talent points, ignore it."

Tier 6:
Winter's Chill (3) - Gives your Frost damage spells a 100% chance to apply the Winter's Chill effect, which increases the chance spells will critically hit the target by 2% for 15 sec. Stacks up to 5 times.

R: A
S: D
P: C

Quick math again: 2% x 5 =10%. Now in raids, that's a no brainer. Someone in your raid should have this talent or your fire mages will be forced to add scorch back into the rotation. Since scorching is no bueno for the fire mage's DPS, someone should be stacking this if at all possible. In PvP, it can be helpful just because it's one more thing for your foe to have to dispel.

Cold as Ice (2) - Reduces the cooldown of your Cold Snap, Ice Barrier, Deep Freeze and Summon Water Elemental spells by 20%.

R: B
S: C
P: A

We already went over this on Ice Floes. The dividends paid by the reduced cooldown on Ice Barrier alone will pay for the talent point cost for a PvP mage. Not to mention that both PvP and raiding mages will benefit from faster recasting of the elemental. Just pony up and get it.

Tier 7:
Arctic Winds (5) - Increases all Frost damage you cause by 5% and reduces the chance melee and ranged attacks will hit you by 5%.

R: A
S: A
P: A

5% increased frost damage is awesome. The reduced chance to be hit by those pesky enemy melee and ranged attacks is just gravy.

Ice Barrier (1) - Instantly shields you, absorbing damage. Lasts 1 min. While the shield holds, spells will not be interrupted.

R: B
S: A
P: A

This is another one of those talents that truly defines the frost tree. Our version of Power Word: Shield, except we don't have to waste it on sh*tty tanks, it is all ours. Simply awesome spell. Good for AoE grinding, good for PvP, good for PvE good for everything. Also gets a bonus from your spell damage gear. Remember friends, a dead mage deals no damage.


Shattered Barrier (2) - Gives your Ice Barrier spell a 100% chance to freeze all enemies within 10 yds for 8 sec when it is destroyed.

R: D
S: B
P: A

Yet another escape tool in the mage ******** A lifesaver in PvP and soloing(when good pulls go bad!) but not all that impressive in raids. I found myself letting an ice barrier near running out of time get shattered just so I could kill my enemy with ice lances. Granted, I was only soloing Dead Strat at the time, but still a fun talent.


Tier 8:
Fingers of Frost (2) - Gives your Chill effects a 15% chance to grant you the Fingers of Frost effect, which treats your next 2 spells cast as if the target were Frozen. Lasts 15 sec.

R: A
S: B
P: A

Finally! Now raiding frost mages have a reason to get shatter. In fact, if I ever raid with a frost mage that doesn't have this and shatter, I'll probably point and laugh at them. Only downside it really has is that it always seems to proc at the same time as frostbite.

Empowered Frostbolt (2) - Increases the damage of your Frostbolt spell by an amount equal to 10% of your spell power and increases the critical strike chance by an additional 4%.

R: A
S: A
P: A

Crit AND damage. Spec this, ye frost mages.

Tier 9:
Summon Water Elemental (1) - Summon a Water Elemental to fight for the caster for 45 sec.

R: A
S: A
P: A

The awesomeness of this thing is not to be underestimated. Gives you another Frost Nova at range and shoots Frostbolts at stuff. Also gets a damage bonus from your gear. Play with this thing a bit, I will aggro any and all classes on sight if I am specced into this thing. Ol' drippy is worth having at your side, no matter the spec. He is your escape tool. He is the offtank in a bad mob double pull. He is your sunshine, your only sunshine. He'll make you happy when skies are gray. This is the third defining talent of the frost mage. You want him. You love him. You need him.


Improved Water Elemental (3) - Increases the duration of your Summon Water Elemental spell by 15 sec and your Water Elemental restores mana to all party or raid members within 100 yds an amount equal to 0.6% of their total mana every 5 secs.

R: A
S: B
P: A

Look at what I said about the "Summon Water Elemental" talent above. Now, make the damn thing last 15s longer and restore mana to your raid. Now pick your jaw off the floor and put points into this talent. Rated slighty lower for soloing because a lot of frosties will find themselves saving him for rough situations, especially on PvP servers, but still worth having.

Brain Freeze (3) - Your Frost damage spells have a 15% chance to cause your next Fireball spell to be instant cast and cost no mana.

R: A
S: A
P: A

This talent makes no sense. It really doesn't. Why on earth would a frost mage want to throw a fireball? Nonetheless, an instant cast, mana-free fireball is an awesome thing to have available. Especially when you're on the move. Even more nifty if combined with Ignite.

Tier 10:
Chilled to the Bone (5) - Increases the damage caused by your Frostbolt, Frostfire Bolt and Ice Lance spells by 5% and reduces the movement speed of all chilled targets by an additional 10%.

R: A
S: A
P: A

We've mentioned this before: Damage good. If you're the kind of neanderthal who still can't wrap your head around that, then there's no hope for you. Beyond the damage, you'll find an additional movement speed reduction to be an awesome thing to have for soloing and PvP.

Tier 11:
Deep Freeze (1) - Stuns the target for 5 sec. Only usable on Frozen targets.

R: F
S: D
P: B

With the removal of the damage from it, this talent is no longer the joy it used to be. Was great for shatter combos before. Still, it has its place in PvP where a properly timed stun can be more effective than a properly timed burst. Worth looking into for the PvP mage, skip it if you don't PvP.




Part II: Talent Specs




Part III: What to Spec as You Level

I'm not going to be giving you an easy way out here. You will not be getting a step by step guide on what talents to pick in what order. Instead, as I am a big fan of making you think for yourselves, I'm going to teach you how to decide what talents are good for your own leveling progression.

First: What makes a good leveling talent?

A good leveling talent has at least one of the three following properties.

1)Control - It gives you a greater ability to control what your enemy is doing. Or it gives you a bit more control over your own abilities or mana pool. Less downtime means faster leveling.

2)Burst - The talent gives you faster, harder hits, with an emphasis on damage in quick "bursts" optimal. Generic Increases in damage(such as present from "Playing with Fire" or "Piercing Ice" are inferior for this to talents that give greater chances to crit such as "Pyromaniac" and "Empowered Frostbolt" as well as to talents that increase the damage of your criticals such as "Ice Shards", "Spell Power" and "Ignite".

3)Survive - Deaths do not help you level faster. Anything that makes it easier for you to stay alive has at least some emphasis on survival. Many control talents will also gain points for survival as well.


Second: Are there talents that have aspects of each?

Hell yes. Some of the greatest leveling talents include all three. Though the absolute best is when you can have a multi-talent synergy going.

Third: Synergy? What do you mean by that?

There are multiple talents that are decent on their own, but when two or more are combined, they become phenomenal. Here's an example:

Ice Shards - Good burst talent by itself. But it really doesn't have enough crit to work off of while leveling to be great. However, when you add in Shatter, now you've seen a major increase in your burst potential. Every frost nova now becomes an invitation to a nice fat crit(that wouldn't be as big without Ice Shards).

But it gets even better. Add in Frostbite, and now you'll find your foes being frozen a lot more often, meaning the number of crits you see skyrockets.

But wait, there's more. Add in the water elemental, and now you have an extreme potential to burst down your foes with free crits via the elemental's ranged "Freeze" ability.

And that's what I mean by Synergy. There are many sets of talents that function like this. I urge you to seek them out for yourself.

Fourth: Ok, seriously, just give me a step by step leveling talent build.

No. I will, however, urge you to consider what spell you'll be using most often as you level(Fireball, Frostbolt, Arcane Missiles, Scorch/Fireblast), and pick up the Improved version of that ASAP. You'll be glad you did.




Part IV: What race is truly best for a mage?


Thanks to changes in racials that occurred a short while back, this section is under reconstruction. Though the short answer still remains true.

The short answer:
The one you think sounds the most fun!




Part V: Gems

Gems section needs to be updated to reflect new talents and some mechanics changes(spellpower, mostly). Expect to see this redone sometime in the future.



-Part VI. Useful tips and general mage knowledge.
Ice Block - You become encased in a block of ice, protecting you from all physical attacks and spells for 10 seconds, but during that time you cannot attack, move or cast spells. (5 minute cooldown)

Possibly the most powerful spell a mage has. Most people tend to use Iceblock as an "OH sh*t!" button, which it is in PvE. But in PvP, learning to use this spell offensively can be devastating to whomever is on the recieving end of the *** whooping you are handing out. Yes, it is that good.

Edited by popular demand.





Notic a trend here? The biggest advantage in any fight, is suprise. Whether it be an ambush in a real conflict, or in a game, one like, oh let's say World of Warcraft.

Most players use Iceblock for defense. Pull aggro off the tank? Iceblock. Get focus fired in a battleground? Iceblock. Girlfriend won't leave you the hell alone about taking her out? Iceblock... sorry that one would require Inivisibility, and also possibly a Frost Nova, another thread entirely right there.

In PvP, Iceblock's power isn't in it's ability to keep you alive, it is in being able to stop the fight altogether. Stopping a fight allows a quick thinking mage to evaluate the situation, and react accordingly. It can completely destroy your opponents initial plan of attack and allow you to set one up of your own.

A few easy examples:

1. A Rogue jumps you, you nova and blink, and he pops sprint, or possibly even Cloak of Shadows, now what? Iceblock. You can sit there for 10 seconds while he mashes his buttons and figure out what to do next.

I have used Iceblock for nothing other than waiting for the cooldowns on Blink and Frost Nova to be up. Is this a defensive move? Yes but the latent effect is it allows YOU to control the fight now, and that is what offense is all about.

2. A Warlock or Priest is on the attack, don't panic, let them waste a ton of mana and DoT the crap out of you. After they finish, Iceblock it all off. They are now reacting to you instead of you reacting to them.

OH NOES! I've been Deathcoiled! Let's hit this button over here and ICEBLOCK!

If you fight enough Warlocks, you can almost predict when they are going to Deathcoil, and there is nothing funnier than watching him spit as his little green flying skull smacks into your safe wall of ice.

3. You pick a fight with another mage, and he blows all his timers in an effort to kill you with one massive nuke. Iceblock and wait for it to wear off, then proceed to kick his ***.


Further elaboration isn't really needed at this poin

Edited, Nov 29th 2008 10:44am by Wordaen

Edited, Dec 1st 2008 9:07am by MageSock

Edited, Mar 1st 2009 9:40pm by Kaolian

Stickification requested. Please visit Site Feedback to voice your support.

Thanks Wordaen

% Spell Hit Rating (lvl 80)
17%.....445.94387624....hit cap
14%.....367.24789808....Spriest/Boomkin
11%.....288.55191992....Elemental Precision
08%*.....209.85594176....Spriest/Boomkin + EP
1%......26.23199272

Adding that either tonight or tomorrow, as well with trying to work on the talent builds post. as stated in the other thread.. wtb being able to add tables to posts...

% Rating Required

17% 446 Capped

14% 368 Spriest/Boomkin

11% 289 EP

08% 210 Spriest/Boomkin+EP

01% 27

Edited, Dec 8th 2008 1:31pm by Anobix

Edited, Dec 8th 2008 1:31pm by Anobix

Edited, Dec 8th 2008 1:32pm by Anobix

EP is still fire/frost only. Blizz nerfed the arcane hit talents, it is only 3% like elemental precision, so it would be the same 14% (or 11% - 289/290) with talents + raid buffs.

<3

give or take 20hp it makes virtually no difference. Look at them for their racial abilities and not their startng stats.

I went ahead and re-created the basic thread layout. it has now been stickied, please let this one die.