So WoW’s been throwing 410 cloth tokens at me like it’s going out of style. This got me thinking about doing a mage alt. As such I’m curious, what are the good specs for leveling and at 120?
I don’t exactly trust icy-veins as they’re out of date as is.
Arcane is pretty rad. It’s got high damage output if you use the cooldowns right, Presence of mind for your first 2 arcane blasts to make them instant, bypassing the slow cast time, combined with arcane power, which if talented increases damage and lowers spell cost by 60% meaning cheap spam with max charges for a short while. Shimmer and Displacement combined with, say Ring of Frost can keep you from taking damage for a little while. That’s usually my go-to strat for elites.
Better off asking on the Mage forums. But consensus seems to be Arcane (dmg and fun playstyle) and Frost (survivability/control) are the best leveling specs and Fire mage is the best end-content spec. For Fire to be worth it at 120 you need to grind for specific Azerite traits, essences, and gear (bracers from Mechagon, Masterful corruption, and on-use trinkets) and learn how to properly time and execute during the Combustion window.
Really unless you plan on doing like 18+ keys, the latter bosses in Mythic Ny’alotha, or being in the top few % of PvP, any spec is fine. The rotations are all really different so try them all and see what you like. Generally though Arcane excels at single target damage, Fire excels at burst damage and has free cleave/AoE, and Frost offers the most survivability, kiting/control, and has good cleave damage.
For leveling, everything dies fast, so it doesn’t matter, play whatever you like. I like frost for the slows. But arcane and fire are also fun.
I just started leveling my mage from 110 as frost. I leveled him in TBC from 60-70, then parked him for the expansion. Did the same in every expansion since. I have leveled him as frost every time because it feels “safe” with the ability to slow and get away. It was also boring, thus parking him at cap.
Today, I race changed to get a fresh feel and respecced to fire. I’m having a blast, now (pun intended). It’s great fun. I don’t know how much play he’ll see between now and SL, but I’m sure I’ll pick him up again and play a lot more then.
Bottom line, play a spec. Try it out. Try another one. Try the last one. Go with whatever you enjoy. It literally doesn’t cost anything but a few minutes to select talents and set up bars…
Also, icy-veins is fine.
Play whichever one you prefer. They all work more than well enough in basically all content.
Also depends on leveling solo or with others.
If solo, frost mage is easiest since you have slows and your water elemental to take some heat off you. Fire mage is hard to solo once you get to level 80 because your mastery: ignite kicks in and suddenly all your spells light up every trash mob in sight.
I really wanted to love arcane mage but I personally find arcane very boring to play at max level. 1-2 button spam till you’re out of mana, then a little strategy, then back to 1-2 button spam again.
But whatever you choose, have fun! Mages (even arcane) are great fun to play! The ultimate artillery!
I’ll keep this in mind. Thanks for the input.
Frost mage is best, imo. A lot of people seem to like fire though but it’s too slow to build, so I prefer frost.
Try all the specs, see which you like best. Mages are fun, remember you can port everywhere.
I keep forgetting that.
As someone who leveled a mage from 1 to 120 I can safely say arcane is best for leveling hands down. Arcane mages kill everything and their dps is amazing until…
Once you reach say… 115 or so switch to frost or fire because arcane just doesn’t do much damage it seems at least not in comparison to the other 2 specs.
So my answer Arcane.
Edit: Grammar
good for leveling? from 10- i assume 80’s maybe even 90’s or higher ARCANE no doubt. at early levels maybe until around 30 you will out dps anyone imaginable even someone with enchants at least i did.
Basic rotation at 10-30. spam AM. need more damage for bosses? hit 4 Arcane Orbs ( forgot what these were called already XD ) then spam AM. i mean arcane does some INSANE… damage at low levels around 25 it will change up a bit but you will learn how to work around it via evocation and learning the conserve phase but it’s really easy yet strong.
outside of that i haven’t leveled another mage past 30 but i hear that rotation is basically good until higher levels past 60.
end game fire no doubt. frost i think is viable for M+ depending on affixes idk how they do in raiding or PvP. i assume fire for pvp but frost can be viable too. raiding i assume fire or nothing.
if your new to a mage just play w.e. you enjoy the most for leveling so it’s easier for you to learn that spec as you level. if your just trying to power level go arcane then swap to fire/frost when your dps is struggling in dungeons. either way though all 3 specs have pretty simple rotations just the gearing is the issue and kiting.
Frost for leveling because you have a tank pet and Fire for dungeons, raids and PvP content.
Arcane is by far the best to level with right now thanks to it’s high burst damage. It’s usual weakness (mana usage) just doesn’t matter in the open world and they can 1 or two shot most mobs until 110 so long as you maintain high stacks of arcane power and eat in between pulls often. So for questing Arcane is the way to go, and I’d put money on them being the best leveling spec in the game right now.
I will put a caveat on this though: they feel awful in dungeons are are awful at max. If you’re looking ahead to Shadowlands, I’d recommend putting your time into Frost, as it’s generally the most consistantly good spec of the 3, and will always be at least somewhat decent. Leveling as the spec you intend to play at max is a good idea.
I’ve tried Frost in the past (before BfA) and never really cared for the playstyle personally. So it’s looking like Arcane, and then maybe swap to Fire later depending.
Coming from a Fire Mage main, I’d highly recommend against playing Fire Mage in BfA as well as Shadowlands. The spec has a massive reliance on azerite traits, trinkets, essences, activated items, and corruptions that makes the spec a nightmare to gear and get running. Worst of all though none of that stuff is transferring over to Shadowlands, so currently the spec looks like one of the worst in the new xpac. It’s just not worth it to try it right now.
Well that narrows it down to Arcane! That’s fine, I have always enjoyed Arcane’s visuals.
Try all of them, not like we’re bound to one spec like we were 10 years ago
I know. I just remember I never really enjoy Frost. So boils down to Arcane or Fire for me. I’m sure I’ll figure it out from there quickly enough.