Overview
The path of the Mage is open to students with a sharp mind and strong discipline. Mages crush enemies with spells, but they are fragile and lightly armored, so attacks at close range are their biggest danger. A good Mage uses spells to keep foes at a distance or hold them in place.
Mages wear only cloth so nothing disturbs their spellcasting, and rely on arcane shields and enchantments for extra protection. They use wands, daggers, one-handed swords and staves, and spend Mana to deal high damage very quickly, though they must take care not to run dry.
Specializations
All three Specializations are ranged damage dealers; each one focuses on a single school of magic.
| Specialization | Play style |
|---|---|
| Arcane | Uses raw Arcane power; its damage centers on Arcane Blast and Arcane Missiles, with the instant Arcane Barrage and the Slow spell. |
| Fire | Burns enemies with combustive flames, aiming to cast big Pyroblasts as often as possible; Hot Streak makes them instant. It has few survival tools. |
| Frost | Freezes and slows enemies, then shatters them; it has strong area damage, a Water Elemental pet, and the wiki calls it the best fit for five-player dungeons. |
Portals, food and control
- Teleportation: Mages can move themselves and their allies between cities with teleports and portals.
- Conjured food: with Conjure Refreshment they create food and water that restore health and mana.
- Control: Mages can freeze enemies in place with spells such as Frost Nova or turn them into harmless critters with Polymorph.
- Area spells: sheets of ice, columns of flame and waves of arcane power hit many enemies at once.
In groups, the wiki adds that Mages are often asked to interrupt with Counterspell, steal enemy buffs with Spellsteal, control enemies and provide food.
Hero talent trees
At high level every Mage specialization chooses between two hero talent trees. Each tree is shared by two of the class's specializations:
| Hero tree | Shared by | Theme |
|---|---|---|
| Frostfire | Fire, Frost | Masters two opposing elements and can combine them for more power. |
| Spellslinger | Arcane, Frost | Splinters its magic to create unstable new effects. |
| Sunfury | Arcane, Fire | Uses arcane flames and can call on a spellfire phoenix. |
Races
The official class page lists every playable race of both factions for the Mage, including the Pandaren, Dracthyr, Earthen and Haranir, which appear on the Alliance and Horde lists alike. See Playable Races and Allied Races for each race's traits.
Sources
Game pictures: © Blizzard Entertainment · worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com
