Wowpedia

We have moved to Warcraft Wiki. Click here for information and the new URL.

READ MORE

Wowpedia
Register
Silkfire (talk | contribs)
(→‎Spells: new spells from WOTLK)
Line 34: Line 34:
   
 
'''Arcane''' spells are primarily utility spells, though there are several useful direct-damage arcane spells, including the very useful AoE spell [[Arcane Explosion]]. Arcane spells allow the Mage to remove [[curse|curses]], provide [[crowd control]], absorb damage, [[teleport]] himself or others to major capital cities, [[Slow Fall]], [[Counterspell]], buff players' [[intellect]] stat, save mana for later use in the form of mana gems, [[conjure]] food and water for himself or others, and perform many other useful roles that give the Mage class its perks.
 
'''Arcane''' spells are primarily utility spells, though there are several useful direct-damage arcane spells, including the very useful AoE spell [[Arcane Explosion]]. Arcane spells allow the Mage to remove [[curse|curses]], provide [[crowd control]], absorb damage, [[teleport]] himself or others to major capital cities, [[Slow Fall]], [[Counterspell]], buff players' [[intellect]] stat, save mana for later use in the form of mana gems, [[conjure]] food and water for himself or others, and perform many other useful roles that give the Mage class its perks.
  +
  +
  +
====Wrath of the Lich King additions====
  +
{{Wotlk-section}}
  +
  +
[[Image:Spell_Fire_Fireball.png|left|32px]]
  +
'''[[Fire Blast]]''' (Rank 11)<br>
  +
Requires: Level 80, Fire Blast (Rank 10)<br>
  +
<span style="color: #ffd100;">Cost:</span> {{cost|9}}<br>
  +
Blasts the enemy for 730 to 865 Fire damage.<br><br>
  +
  +
[[Image:Spell_Frost_FrostBolt02.png|left|32px]]
  +
'''[[Frostbolt]]''' (Rank 16)<br>
  +
Requires: Level 79, Frostbolt (Rank 15)<br>
  +
<span style="color: #ffd100;">Cost:</span> {{cost|9}}<br>
  +
Launches a bolt of frost at the enemy, causing 630 to 690 Frost damage and slowing movement speed by 40% for 9 sec.<br><br>
  +
  +
[[Image:Spell_Nature_WispSplode.png|left|32px]]
  +
'''[[Arcane Explosion]]''' (Rank 10)<br>
  +
Requires: Level 80, Arcane Explosion (Rank 9)<br>
  +
<span style="color: #ffd100;">Cost:</span> {{cost|9}}<br>
  +
Causes an explosion of arcane magic around the caster, causing 377 to 407 Arcane damage to all targets within 10 yards.<br><br>
   
 
== Talents ==
 
== Talents ==

Revision as of 14:37, 5 August 2007

Template:Wikipedia

Classes Deathknight Demon hunter Druid Evoker Hunter Mage Monk Paladin Priest Rogue Shaman Warlock Warrior
Class races DK DH Dr Ev Hu Ma Mo Pa Pr Ro Sh Wl Wr
Quests DK DH Dr Ev Hu Ma Mo Pa Pr Ro Sh Wl Wr
Abilities DK DH Dr Ev Hu Ma Mo Pa Pr Ro Sh Wl Wr
Trainers DK DH Dr - Hu Ma Mo Pa Pr Ro Sh Wl Wr
Armor sets DK DH Dr Ev Hu Ma Mo Pa Pr Ro Sh Wl Wr
Useful macros DK DH Dr - Hu Ma Mo Pa Pr Ro Sh Wl Wr
Class Halls DK DH Dr - Hu Ma Mo Pa Pr Ro Sh Wl Wr
For information on the role of Mages within the lore of Warcraft, see Mage lore. For related articles, see Category:Mages.

The Mage (plural: magi or mages) is a caster that specializes in burst damage and area of effect spells. Their primary role in a group at lower levels is damage dealing and crowd control through the use of Spell nature polymorph [Polymorph], creating harmless critters for a temporary time. At higher levels, the Mage's role expands into utility, as many encounters in the game are difficult to finish without Spell frost iceshock [Counterspell], Spell holy dizzy [Detect Magic], and Spell nature removecurse [Remove Lesser Curse]. A Mage's utility spells also include conjuring food and drink, and the ability to teleport to major cities and open portals for party members. In PvP combat, the Mage deals ranged damage while using escape skills to avoid taking damage during combat. Their primary stats are Intellect, Stamina, Spell Damage, Spell Critical Strike rating, and Spirit (the order of importance varies with the player's role). Mages are decent against most classes except Warriors, where they have a big advantage due to the Warrior's lack of spells.

Races

Main article: Mage Races

The Mage class can be played by the following races:

Alliance Crest Alliance

Horde Crest Horde

Weapons and armor

Mages are able to wield staves and wands when first created; they can later learn how to use daggers and one-handed swords from weapon masters in Stormwind, Darnassus and the Exodar for Alliance, Undercity for Horde. Wands go in the ranged slot and have the autoshoot ability. Mages can only wear cloth armor.

For details on armor set items that are useful for Mages, see Mage Sets.

Spells

Main article: Mage Spells
File:FemaleBloodElf.jpg

A female Blood Elf Mage in magister's gear with the Staff of the Shadow Flame.

Mages have a wide variety of spells which fall in to three schools of magic: Arcane, Fire or Frost. Fire and Frost are elemental schools, and most spells in these schools do damage. Arcane is the school of pure mana energy, and while it has a few damage dealing spells, most spells are of a utility nature.

Fire spells are primarily damage-dealing spells, including direct single-target damage and area of effect (AoE) damage. With Fire comes other side-effects such as damage over time, and for fire-specializing Mages, stun, disorient and Spell frost stun [Dazed] effects. Fire spells typically have a higher damage output potential than Frost or Arcane spells.

Frost spells are primarily single-target and AoE damage-dealing spells, but with more emphasis on the chilling effects. Nearly every frost spell has a chill or freeze effect that fully or partially immobilizes an enemy. This includes freezing it in place (called a root) or slowing its movement speed (called a snare). Frost specialized Mages can further improve these chilling effects and increase frost damage output to respectable levels. Frost spells help the Mage use kiting as a combat tactic.

Arcane spells are primarily utility spells, though there are several useful direct-damage arcane spells, including the very useful AoE spell Spell nature wispsplode [Arcane Explosion]. Arcane spells allow the Mage to remove curses, provide crowd control, absorb damage, teleport himself or others to major capital cities, Slow Fall, Spell frost iceshock [Counterspell], buff players' intellect stat, save mana for later use in the form of mana gems, conjure food and water for himself or others, and perform many other useful roles that give the Mage class its perks.


Wrath of the Lich King additions

Wrath-Logo-Small This section concerns content related to Wrath of the Lich King.
Spell Fire Fireball

Spell fire fireball [Fire Blast] (Rank 11)
Requires: Level 80, Fire Blast (Rank 10)
Cost: 9g
Blasts the enemy for 730 to 865 Fire damage.

Spell Frost FrostBolt02

Spell frost frostbolt02 [Frostbolt] (Rank 16)
Requires: Level 79, Frostbolt (Rank 15)
Cost: 9g
Launches a bolt of frost at the enemy, causing 630 to 690 Frost damage and slowing movement speed by 40% for 9 sec.

Spell Nature WispSplode

Spell nature wispsplode [Arcane Explosion] (Rank 10)
Requires: Level 80, Arcane Explosion (Rank 9)
Cost: 9g
Causes an explosion of arcane magic around the caster, causing 377 to 407 Arcane damage to all targets within 10 yards.

Talents

Main article: Mage Talents

Mage Talents are split into 3 categories which mirror their 3 main spell types. Descriptions of the roles of Mages who specialize in each talent tree are shown in parentheses.

Talent builders can be found at Official Blizzard site, WorldofWar.se, WoWhead, WoW Vault, ThottBot, Merciless.

Many Mages with a math background have studied the mathematical "best" talents and builds for different roles; theorycrafting as it is called. For more information on these details, see Mage Theorycraft.

Endgame expectations

ArtHumanMage

A human Mage in art.

In a group or raid environment, Mages are usually tasked with ranged DPS, AoE, crowd control and handing out provisions.

With the introduction of patch 1.11, Mages enjoyed a high degree of flexibility in the end game. Previous to patch 1.11, it was expected that most Mages would spend at least 11 talent points in the Arcane tree for Spell nature purge [Evocation], as it is a quite powerful mana-regenerative spell. It was given free without the use of talent points. New changes to all three trees also made investing points into both the Fire and the Frost trees much more viable. This still holds true with the release of the Burning Crusade. It should be mentioned that a build predominantly using the Fire tree will contribute greater DPS; those using a predominantly Frost tree will contribute a fair amount of control.

PvP-wise, Mages are considered "glass cannons" - a design philosophy which gives Mages generous burst damage at the cost of, generally, low health. Aided by talents such as Spell nature enchantarmor [Presence of Mind] and Spell nature lightning [Arcane Power], they are one of the classes with the potential for dealing out the greatest amount of damage in the shortest amount of time. In group PvP, Mages will stay back and focus on crowd control with Spell nature polymorph [Polymorph] and pick off targets from range. Depending on the Battleground and the situation, Mages typically AoE to prevent node captures or nuke flag carriers as fast as possible.

The endgame Mage also acts as a utility class, providing drink, food, buffs and portals. When it comes to providing drink and food, Mages are by some considered equal to "vending machines" due to their unique ability to create refreshments out of thin air and provide them with no cost except mana and time. However, many Mages feel that this is not their primary role and therefore refuse to give away merchandise free to people he or she doesn’t know. It is suggested that the Mage provide his party or raid with food and drink for free.

See also

  • See Starting a Mage for some advice when starting out
  • See the Category:Mages for further information on the Mage class
  • See Mage Theorycraft for numerical information on the popular different Mage talent specializations
  • See Mage Tactics for advanced information on playing as a Mage
  • See Useful macros/Mage for useful macros
  • See Mage (Warcraft II) for unit statistics in Warcraft II
  • Spell Damage Coefficients
  • Mage Stamina Gear List
  • The history of Arcane Magic in the Warcraft Universe

External links

Some helpful information at the official WoW forums: