What Forever Changes for Mages
- Frostfire Bolt is trained at level 40: a 3-second cast that hits like Fireball, then burns and slows by 40%. It counts as both Fire and Frost, uses the higher of your two spell damage bonuses and the lower of the target’s two resistances, and most Fire and Frost talents improve it.
- Comprehension is a new Mage-only skill for deciphering the scrolls that creatures drop.
- Cone of Cold’s slow is shorter and Improved Blizzard tops out at a 40% slow, down from 65%, so kiting huge packs takes far more care. Mage Armor returns more Mana from Spirit.
- Ignite is tracked per Mage, and the Improved Scorch and Winter’s Chill debuffs boost only the Mage who applied them. Your damage is your own in a raid full of Mages.
- Teleport: Dalaran is trained at level 50.
- Arcane Blast and Ice Lance are new talents in row 3 of their trees, and the 16-point talents are Missile Barrage for Arcane, Heating Up for Fire, and Ice Block for Frost.
- Orcs and Alliance-aligned Skyborne can play Mage.
New and Reworked Mage Abilities
These are the spells the Forever client adds, opens to every race, or hands you without a talent, in the order you learn them. Spells marked with a race are that race’s own.
| Level | Ability | Status | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | Frost Blast | New in Forever | Quickly launch a weak blast of frost at the enemy, causing 80 Frost damage and slowing movement speed by 40% for 9 sec. |
| 26 | Cone of Cold | Reworked in Forever | Targets in a cone in front of the caster take 260 to 286 Frost damage and are slowed by 40% for 6 sec. The first 4 targets hit by this cone are slowed by an additional 10% for an additional 3 sec. |
| 34 | Mage Armor | Reworked in Forever | Increases your resistance to all magic by 15 and allows 50% of your mana regeneration to continue while casting. Only one type of Armor spell can be active on the Mage at any time. Lasts 30 min. |
| 40 | Frostfire Bolt | New in Forever | Launches a bolt of frostfire at the enemy, causing 270 Frostfire damage, slowing movement speed by 40% and causing an additional 57 Frostfire damage over 9 sec. This spell will be checked against the lower of the target's Frost and Fire resists and counts as both Frost and Fire damage. |
| 50 | Teleport: Dalaran | New in Forever | Teleports the caster to Dalaran. |
Recommended Builds
Each build lists the order to spend every point from level 10, so you can follow it while you level. Open any step in the talent calculator to see the build at that level.
Arcane Beta Start
Levels 10–20, Frostbolt and wand damage until Arcane Blast arrives
11 Arcane0 Fire0 Frost
Wand damage, 3% Arcane hit and Arcane Concentration for free casts, finishing with Arcane Blast at level 20.
Why these talents
- Wand Specialization adds 25% wand damage, and before 20 a wand is a large share of what you actually deal.
- Arcane Concentration gives a 10% chance of Clearcasting after any damage spell lands, which removes the Mana cost of the next one.
- Arcane Focus adds 3% hit with Arcane spells, and that matters the moment Arcane Blast joins the rotation at 20.
Swaps to consider
- Interrupted more often than you are resisted? Move the Arcane Focus points into Improved Channeling instead.
Fire Beta Start
Levels 10–20, Fireball and Fire Blast
0 Arcane11 Fire0 Frost
Half a second off every Fireball, Improved Fire Blast for range and cooldown, then Ignite into Pyroblast at 20.
Why these talents
- Improved Fireball removes 0.5 seconds from Fireball and Frostfire Bolt.
- Improved Fire Blast shortens the Fire Blast cooldown and extends its range, which is what makes Ignite worth taking this early.
- Ignite burns the target for an extra 24% of a Fire critical strike over 4 seconds.
Swaps to consider
- Taking Ignite before Improved Fire Blast is the common mistake: without the shorter cooldown and range, Fire Blast crits are too rare at this level for Ignite to do much.
Frost Beta Start
Levels 10–20, Frostbolt with Ice Lance at 20
0 Arcane0 Fire11 Frost
6% hit with Frost and Fire first, a faster Frostbolt, Frostbite for freezes, and Ice Lance at 20 to punish them.
Why these talents
- Elemental Precision now takes only 3 points for 6% hit with Frost and Fire spells; a resisted Frostbolt costs you more than any other talent here adds.
- Improved Frostbolt takes the two points that frees: 0.2 seconds off every Frostbolt, and the 5 points that open Frostbite.
- Frostbite gives your Chill effects a 15% chance to freeze the target for 5 seconds.
- Ice Lance deals 200% increased damage to frozen targets, which pairs directly with those Frostbite procs.
Swaps to consider
- Ice Shards holds the flexible pair of points; Frost Warding or Improved Frost Nova are reasonable if you are taking more damage than you expect.
Talent Tree Changes from Classic
New talents, talents moved in from another tree, and the Classic talents each tree no longer has. Compare them in the talent calculator →
Arcane
7 new · 1 moved in · 4 removed
Arcane Blast raises the damage of your other spells by 10% per cast, up to 4 stacks, at a rising Mana cost, so you build stacks and then spend them on a different spell. Missile Barrage at 16 points can make your next Arcane Missiles free and twice as fast, and Arcane Blast is twice as likely to trigger it.
New
Improved Channeling
Missile Barrage
Arcane Geometry
Arcane Impact
Arcane Blast
Arcane Shielding
Arcane Wrath
Moved in
Wand Specialization
No longer in this tree
Improved Arcane Explosion, Improved Arcane Missiles, Improved Mana Shield, Magic Attunement
Fire
2 new · 0 moved in · 1 removed
Heating Up at 16 points turns critical strikes from Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Fire Blast, and Scorch into faster Pyroblasts; at 3 stacks Pyroblast is a 1.5-second cast. Pair Ignite with Frost’s Ice Shards and a Frostfire Bolt critical strike deals 200% damage plus another 40% of that as Ignite.
New
Incineration
Heating Up
No longer in this tree
Incinerate
Frost
2 new · 3 moved in · 1 removed
Ice Lance deals 200% more damage to frozen targets, and Fingers of Frost lets your Chill effects treat your next 2 spells as if the target were frozen. Ice Block moves up to the 16-point milestone, and Cold Snap becomes the 21-point talent on a 10-minute cooldown.
New
Ice Lance
Fingers of Frost
Moved in
Frost Channeling
Ice Block
Improved Cone of Cold
No longer in this tree
Piercing Ice
Leveling a Mage
Every class follows the same zones and dungeons; your faction decides the route. Start in your race's zone, follow your faction's route, and spend your talents with the Frost Beta Start build above.
- HumanAlliance · Elwynn Forest
- GnomeAlliance · Dun Morogh
- SkyborneAlliance · Zephras Isle
- OrcHorde · Durotar
- UndeadHorde · Tirisfal Glades
- TrollHorde · Durotar
Playable Race Options
Every race that can play a Mage in WoW Forever. Racials are balanced around offensive consistency, so choose the aesthetics, utility, and movement tools that fit your playstyle.