Sup folks,
A bit of context: I’m back from a couple months break. Felt the urge to play again but not on my Dk nor Warrior because they felt kinda stale and I’ve lost interest.
I was going through my toon list and saw my good old Mage, which was my main from day1 up until Cata if I remember correctly. Last time I’ve toyed with him was in WoD in Ashran for the lolz and whatnot so I’ve decided to give him a shot.
I started my journey at 101. Pretty much plowed through Legion with flying enabled and fully rested/heirloom. I’m 116 now and did not felt quite as powerful as I was on my DK/War when I did the grind on BfA release. On the contrary, I feel pretty weak in BfA actually and it worries me, even if I’m not max level yet.
Did I just wasted my time on this Mage? How is it at 120 with decent gear? The only mage spec worth playing to me is Fire so there’s that. I was debating between Mage and Hunter…kinda regret it at the moment if things stay like this.
Now don’t get me wrong I really like the playstyle but if it only leads to deception damage-wise, I might as well roll that Hunter.
Can anyone reassure me please 
Mages aren’t terrible, but we aren’t doing too hot right now. All 3 mage specs suffer in the current raid tier. Mages do well in 3s still. However that’s the only content we excel at right now. Mage feels pretty rough until you get a lot of gear in the open world. Even then a DK or Warrior will still smash things way faster and with less danger of you dying. I’ve been playing a mage for my entire wow tenure and I think this is the worst mages have ever been in terms of damage dealing potential.
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I agree with you here. In the “good old days”, Mages were a powerhouse in most expansions if memory serves. Now they feel like a weak version of what they used to be.
Makes me sad honestly. Anyways, I guess I’ll get him to 120 first and see how I like it. Maybe I’ll be enlighted then 
Well. We’re the lowest on all specs compared to every other caster in the game. The current raid benefits a lot from classes that can multi-dot, which we cannot. We offer nothing in the way of utility like a Warlock. We are suppose to be glass cannons but effectively do not do the amount of damage you would expect, when warlocks/shadow priests do more and are right at the top in damage.
I never thought I would see the day where hybrids with lots of utility also do more damage than a mage that offers none. I don’t see them all that much in PvP, but they’re doing relatively decently in there, at least.
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I’ve been leveling as Frost recently, just hit 117 tonight. it’s been pretty easy for the most part, though super squishy with full heirlooms/no azerite. mages feel a bit bland though at the moment. arcane is probably the worst feeling imo. I do like fire and it feels pretty good, its just pretty weak at the moment. frost overall is pretty good, with or without the elemental.
Mages are at an all time low. In terms of numbers and fun. Pvp they are ok.
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You’re not wrong.
Running pugs in Legion I could easily be one of 2-3 mages in a group (usually taking some flack for running Arcane when few were). Now I’m usually the only one. On my alts I’ve done raid runs where there weren’t any mages at all. None queuing up even.
Depends on what class of mage . Arcane power has really been rolled back, unless you have mythic everything. Fire and Frost are the go to classes however armour type not transferable stats to other classes.
Just as usual complicated and hard. Why mages r least played and not well up kept with the other classes for scaling. It’s a rigged game of dungeons and dragons
I didn’t think leveling my made to 120 was a big deal, until I started leveling a Demon Hunter. The speed at which the DH could take down groups of mobs was insane. I still love my mage, but I haven’t felt like the “glass canon” they said we’d be for quite some time.
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So a bit of feed back on this.
Last night, I’ve decided to give my Rogue a go and compare my leveling experience to my Mage.
O M G
To set the metric, I’ve been using 6 heirlooms (head, chest, shoulders, cloak, pants and weapon) on each toon. The result: it’s not even close!
On a pure dmg stand point, it’s ridiculous how I can take out multiple mobs almost faster than a single mob on my mage. Mobility is also better but still not bad on the fire Mage.
Defensive, well Vanish is a better “oh crap” button than Iceblock and more reliable than Invisibility (also on a lesser cooldown).
Self-sufficient, that boosted vial for the Rogue is nice and you can combine it with Evasion or that parry/deflect skill if need be. On the fire mage, you need to eat in between fights which kinda kills the momentum sometimes.
Utility, Sap, Blind and stuns are a huge plus. No to mention Stealth obviously to avoid unwanted conflicts/mobs.
In the end, I had high hopes for my once favorite class/spec but the numbers just arn’t there 
I mean yeah I can one shot stuff on my mage when everything crits but on average, I have to cast many fireballs and it’s not satisfying enough given the poor numbers I see for a ~2 secs cast spell. Might seem like an apple VS orange comparison but the disparities can’t be ignored…at least not in my book.
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I just wish we could get an explanation for the incredibly low dps output of our class.
Mages are really low these days. They just don’t have the numbers and mechanics to play with the big boys.
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I highly recommend leveling 110-120 as Arcane. Low-movement, burst city, baby.
Hunters are in a better place, with regard to numbers, but mechanically they have been severely simplified, similar to mages.
I, too have lost interest in my DK and Warrior. I have found Rogue quite rewarding.
It’s sad to watch another person get put off Mages just because everyone here has given them false information.
The only Mage spec that is underpowered at the moment is Fire (coincidentally the spec you were leveling as), Arcane and Frost are performing fine on most fights in Dazar’alor while Fire is only useful on final phase Jaina.
People will jump down my throat just because I’ve said this but they’re wrong, Arcane is one of the best single target specs in the game right now and Frost excels at AoE and control. Fire’s main use is for execute damage.
The reason you feel weak right now is because Mage is heavily dependent on Azerite traits for damage.
Also, never trust Aedrid’s opinions on Mages, he’s still pissed off that Arcane had its play style butchered in BfA; I see plenty of Mages right now rolling Frost and Arcane.
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Hold up!
All Aedrid has said is that arcane is simplistic and it seems less people are playing mages lol. What I HAVE noticed is that where you NEVER saw an arcane mage in Legion, a lot of people seem to be playing arcane over the other two specs. Hardly ever see a fire mage now.
I’ve only commented on what people say about logs but honestly I’ve run frost this entire expansion and no one’s ever complained about my dps. Frost feels better to run in M+ dungeons than raiding (for me) so I’m going with arcane for pure single target fights again to see if I can just enjoy the theme even if it’s simplistic.
Actually he’s quite right, pls show me some logs where you’re beating other specs as arcane or frost at the same ilvl and parse numbers. I’m asking you personally because that’s the only reason you’d be spewing false statements, aside from a few fights, they’re all very much in the bottom on wcl. Who cares if arcane has good st if every single fight in the game is tailored to spread dotting/cleave and the fact that any mechanic targeting you during burst will tank your dps.
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Here’s a few examples where Arcane does well in specific fights in BfA:
- Fetid Devourer
- Taloc
- Grong
- Rastakhan (Bwonsamdi phase)
- Conclave
- Champion of the Light (zerg strat)
- Kings’ Rest Fortified
- Mekkatorque
- Zul (Sub Rogue stacking strat)
- Atal’Dazar Tyrannical (not including Volkaal)
- Stormwall Blockade
Warcraft Logs overall DPS data is not the best way to judge the strength of a specialist spec like Arcane but for overall DPS in 8.1.5 for BoD Arcane is smack bang right in the middle for 95th percentile.
im not trying to be an elitist here but i dont know why youd give balance takes on a class when you’re only 1/9m and looking at your logs, you arent even that great. you literally havent experienced the class in the one setting where it matters, how could you have a solid grasp of the state of mages?
also, arcane only looks middle of the pack because youre looking at overall statistics. if you look at individual fights its bottom of the barrel. its being propped up and exaggerated by only 2 fights, conclave and mekka.
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It’s what he’s known for, mate. His post during Legion were either maligned or genuinely ignored for the most part. He’ll post stuff as legitimate fact when really it’s just his opinion on things.
Take what HE says worth a grain of salt.
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Coming from the guy who actively sabotaged every single Arcane feedback thread in the alpha and beta for BfA.