New lv 50 mage feels squishy

Classes Mage
1

I leveled my mage through solo content and fire, frost, and arcane were all great - i could not tank things but with a little ki9ting I was ok. After 50 I feel like I am getting one shotted.

Any advice? Is it a gear thing because I hit 50? should I play differently? Is it the new meds kicking in?

Thanks :slight_smile:

2

You shouldn’t really be tanking anything for very long. If you take hits your shield should be up. Otherwise, between frost nova, pet nova, cone of cold, frostbolt slow, frozen orb and shimmer you shouldn’t really ever be getting hit before the mob is dead.

I wouldn’t level fire since it’s so gear dependent, and Arcane is ok with Slow but it doesn’t have nearly the tools Frost does for kiting mobs and you have to stop for drinks a lot.

Also frost can kite/kill multiple enemies fairly easily, so there’s that.

3

We aren’t like some other casters that can take a beating, heal off, and live to tell the tale.

Get separation. Slow with spells, and kite. Just how it is.

We’re squishy. Won’t really change much.

I’ve never died as much on any character as I have on this guy. Leveling was interesting. Learning curve for sure.

4

Tell me you haven’t played solo mage in a while without telling me you haven’t played solo mage in a while. This is the most dated, weak advice ever.

Arcane is the best mage spec for solo leveling, but all mage specs are extremely weak sauce because this game isn’t balanced around solo PvE or the leveling experience, it’s balanced around end game content. Arcane’s steroids (Charges) easily beat Frost’s Shatter and while you’re busy trying to kite as Frost other specs in the game just outright kill stuff. Arcane also has access to Temporal Shield via WM for a combat heal, shorter GI cd, and mass invi if needed (works even as solo and doesn’t break when you pick up quest items).

5

Keep in mind you have access to Alter Time spell faster as Arcane I forget what level where as fire and frost get it at 58.

6

Upgrade the heirloom gear to 5/5 or buy some clothie gear on the AH. I remember going into Bastion with ilvl 60 and getting stomped until I got the gear that drops in the story quests there.

7

Arcane and Frost are both decent for levelling now. Arcane has Alter Time from level 19 (which is potentially a full heal if used correctly) and Greater Invisibility which allows to reset fights where you are about to die instantly and more frequently than other specs, while Frost has lots of AoE roots and snares to keep melee enemies away, but is vulnerable against ranged enemies.

Several general tips for Mage levelling 50+:

  • Use Mirror Images in tough situations. They completely drag aggro of nearby enemies while active so can give you 4 seconds of free-casting to finish enemies that survived / kite / etc.
  • You will get access to Covenant abilities during 50+ levelling and they can actually help. Kyrian’s Phial of Cerenity and Necrolords’ Fleshcraft provide you with additional survivability. Venthyr Door of Shadows allows you to get lots of distance, though use it a bit preemptively as it has cast time. Night Fae Soulshape is excellent for kiting or gaining distance - you Flicker (instantly move 15 yds in the direction you are facing) right on its usage, move with 150% speed while it is active and can Flicker manually 2 more times over its duration.
  • Preemptively use your Mage spec barrier. It has 1 minute duration, but only 25s CD, so if you cast it right when leaving town and get into a fight there is a big chance that it will still be active on you, but its CD will reset or be close to reset, so you will be able to instantly refresh it when it is broken.
  • Ring of Frost can be suprisingly effective when levelling. It allows you to incap several enemies at once and slows them after the incap is broken, so even if you for some reason get engaged with several elites at once, you can drag them into the ring and fight only one at once for sime time. Also, unlike Polymorph, which is limited to beasts and humanoids and 1 target, it works against all kinds of enemies that can be CCed and up to 10.
  • As a last resort, you can use even usual Invisibility to drop aggro and reset the fight. It has a 3s delay, so is better combined with Frost Nova root or Blinking away to give you time to activate it.
  • Left talent in 2 row is excellent for levelling for all 3 Mage specs. Fire talent gives you an additional Blazing Barrier whenever you use Blink, Frost talent covers you with Ice Barrier after using Ice Block (and you have 2 of them as Frost Mage) and Ice Barrier also provides additional physical damage reduction, Arcane talent allows you to use Alter Time more frequently and resets Blink when returning to original location so also grants additional mobility. Also, all 3 allow to use normal Blink which breaks stuns and roots which is huge when soloing.
8

I’d definitely echo the other sentiments that Arcane is much stronger for leveling content because you can go into fight with 4 charges and burst something down, where Frost is relying on procs and fire is relying on crits (which aren’t reliable in leveling gear with low secondaries).

If you insist on frost, you’ll want to swap Lonely Winter for Ice Nova and Frigid Winds for Ice Ward. Combined, this will add 3 instant “Frozen” conditions to your kit (pet + Ice Nova + an extra Frost Nova) that you can use to shatter Ice Lance, which is where the bulk of frost’s damage comes from.

As any spec, use Alter Time aggressively. It will snapshot your health and position and it’s cooldown is very low, so every other pull or so you can essentially face tank+aoe everything and then snap back to full health after.

If you are used to casting while strafing I think Icy Floes is a much better tool than Shimmer for kiting, and the base Blink is so much more useful as a stun/root break.

Likewise, if you go Arcane for leveling (you should), Master of Time is superior to Shimmer as it allows you to use Alter Time to facetank just about every pull. I’m undecided about chronoshift because it requires you to blow your charges which helps you with your current pull but sets you back a little for the next one.

9

When I was levelling up this character, I do remember hitting somewhat of a rough spot around Level 50 but it did get better once I got some levelling gear from Shadowlands content, and I levelled as Fire the whole way. That being said, I will admit that Fire is probably the weakest levelling spec, although it’s certainly do-able, I just enjoy the playstyle more than Arcane or Frost.

Each spec has talents that are useful in avoiding and/or mitigating damage, many of which are listed above.

Also, if you’re in a situation where you think you may get an add, there’s always the good old Polymorph to help out a bit.

10

Has your mage been tested for Covid?

11

Fresh Frost here, which covenant are we running with currently? Venthyr or Fae? Also how does frost feel at 60 in ZM/Mythic plus/raids? Plan to mainly do dungeons and Normal raids until I can get into Heroic.

12

I think it’s Necrolord if you’re interested in PVP. If it’s purely for PvE, it’s probably Venthyr.

But, I’d stay away from this class, because it doesn’t have the right to be the best. If it becomes the best at anything, it immediately gets nerfed in every area.

If somehow you were allowed to use blink during a pet battle, their solution would be to disable the ability everywhere in the game.

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13

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
/10char

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14

lol I fw this reply, I mainly PvE but my main is Demo Warlock not my Frost mage which apparently is a good thing? I’ve consigned my Mage to Herb/Alchemy stockpiling and goldmaking, which is unfortunate bc I do really enjoy Frost and it’s play style.

Besides I CBA to go through all the bs just to get him raid/mythic plus ready, certainly not this late in the expansion’s life. Well will be focusing on my Lock for endgame PvE and then farming on the Mage, maybe capping my Hunter/Rogue preparing for hopefully a solid 10.0.

I do really appreciate your time on the reply!

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15

Warlock is an extremely solid choice. Very durable! Mage gameplay is stressful, and everybody hates you in PvP. :stuck_out_tongue:

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16

Why do PvPers hate Mages?

17

I think it’s probably more along the lines of enemy team PvPers seeing the mage and thinking “Squishy! No damage output! Free kill! Hurray!!!”

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18

Like Mistwynd said. People expect a free kill when they target a mage, and when they find out that mage isn’t a free kill, some of them end up feeling extremely insulted. And they’ll come back again and again.

I’ve had warriors focusing on me during an entire battleground because they hated me so much.

Another reason why we’re hated is because of the fire spec. It does really well in 3 vs 3, especially in the RMP (Rogue, mage, and priest) trio. But those are generally extremely high-end players who do well with such a comp.

Also, getting polymorphed is annoying. :stuck_out_tongue:

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