F2P F2P Mage Guide

Sicknature

Grandfathered
F2p Mage guide WoD 6,1 compatible
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Intro

Good day ladies and gentlemen, my name is Sîck

I've always loved wow and especially the pvp part of it.

I started out with healer classes like restodruids and hpals on the server arathor back in early TBC and played there till WotLK after what i took a break till cataclysm.

When i started playing cataclysm i became a big fan of caster classes by the likes of mages and warlocks since they have the lowest physical damage reduction of all classes and rather rely of self heals(warlock) and CC (both but i mean mages in this case ^^)

So i made my first f2p character by the name of høpsin-aerie peak and later moved on to a mage because i wasn't enjoying rogue that much.

while playing my mage i really fell in love with the class and decided to make that my main class and also leveled a mage on endgame.

I also want to thank Trickynick and Broken for helping me with this guide and getting it approved!

Anyways enough about me, lets get this guide started :)

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Table of content:
  • Specs
  • Talents
  • Races
  • Gear
  • Macros
  • Tips and tricks


Specs

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Frost

Frost is the first of the three mage specs that comes to mind when most players think about the mage class. Frost has the most cc (Crowd Control) out of the three specs.

Frostbolt,
is a snare and this will slow your enemies by 50% for 15 seconds and this is also your main damage spell as frost.

Fireblast,
is the second spell in line of the frost mage arsenal. this is to do some extra damage on shatter combos and to do some damage while kiting.

Polymorph,
is the strongest cc you have as a mage. it will turn your enemy into a sheep for 7 seconds but it is reduced by diminishing returns by every cast.
What this means is that the first polymorph will last 7 seconds. the next one will last 3 seconds and the last one 1 second and after that the target will become immune for 20 seconds. You can use polymorph to keep a enemy that is not your current target out of combat. this can be either a healer or a dps class.

Shatter,
This is a Frost only spell. it increases your critical chance on frozen targets by 50% and adds another 1,5.
(you can you use Fireblast at the end of a frostbolt for double crits on one freeze)

Frost Nova,
sends a frozen blast out in 360 degrees around you freezing all enemies around you in a 12 yard radius and does a small amount of damage. use it to keep melee off of you and others. Can also be used to build up shatters.

Water elemental.
Frost mages are the only mages that can get a pet. This pet has a few usefull abillities like Freeze wich freezes all targets in a 8 yard radius and can be used at a distance of 45 yards and a damaging attack Waterbolt.

Blink,
teleports you forward by 20 yards and it also removes stuns and roots. (a well timed blink can also be used to avoid fall damage or to dodge a spell/attack)

Frostfire Bolt.,
Cast this when you're locked out of the Arcane or Frost spellschools.

Counterspell,
Can be used while an enemy is casting a spell wich will lock them out of that spellschool for 6 seconds.
(Can be used with polymorph for a 14 second healer lockout)

Ice Block,
Makes you immune to all damage and cc (also ones that were already applied before using ice block). this will also make you immune to falling damage.

The frostmage is great at keeping enemies at distance and is probably one of the strongest cc classes in this bracket. using the focus macro which you can find in the macro section you will be able to control your focus while targeting a different enemy. Frost works the best with the set listed in the gear section.

As a frostmage, you use frostbolts to keep enemies at distance and slowed. This together with fireblast and your pets waterbolt are your main damage spells. You can use a fireblast at the end of a frostbolt to get double shatter crits on a single freeze. But like i said frost is more about the CC then damage. Your job is to use your freezes to defend your healers allies and flag carriers. This can be done in different ways aswell, you can use a freeze to destealth stealthed classes, Slow enemies chasing your flag carrier or to keep melee at ranged. Don't forget to use polymorph to make the fights easier.

Frost also has the most actions per minute as you also have to control your pets actions separately. Pet control only has a few benefits but surely is very useful when the right macros are used (which can be found in the macro section) :)

The frostmage can work with all three talents but works best with Blazing Speed

Stat weights:

For frost i prefer keeping several sets that i have keybound to swap alot. This varies on the situation, position (of me or the flag carriers in the battleground) and how or what the rest of my (nearby) team is doing.

I highly suggest getting a set with a fair amount of haste and enough spellpower and crit to dish out fast cc but still maintaining enough spellpower to not completely hit like a wet noodle or miss your crits on every shatter.(See frost set under gear section)

So like i said it varies on the situation so i will refer to frost1 and frost2.

I will start with the most benificial stat on the left, and countdown to least usefull in this set/playstyle.

Frost 1(haste): Haste -> Intellect -> Critical Strike -> Stamina.

Frost 2(hybrid): Intellect -> Critical Strike -> Haste -> Stamina.




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Arcane

Arcane Charge,
This is the lifeline of your damage(Increases the damage of Arcane blast by 50%and mana cost by 100% per charge). You're always trying to get these to 4 by casting arcane blasts and explosions.

Arcane Blast,
is your main spell as arcane. This grants you one arcane charge at the end of every cast. (Costs a lot of mana at 4 charges)

Arcane Barrage,
is an instant cast that depletes your arcane charges. For every charge you had it hits an extra target for 50% damage. (use this before getting arcane charges for a small amount of damage or while kiting as well)

Arcane Explosion,
is a AoE attack (Area on Effect) explosion which hits all targets in a 10 yard radius for a small amount of damage and it has a 30% chance to grant a arcane charge.
(also use this to destealth stealthed classes)

Polymorph,
is the strongest cc you have as a mage. It will turn your enemy into a sheep for 7 seconds but it is reduced by diminishing returns by every cast.
What this means is that the first polymorph will last 7 seconds. The next one will last 3 seconds and the last one 1 second and after that the target will become immune for 20 seconds. You can use polymorph to keep a enemy that is not your current target out of combat. This can be either a healer or a dps class.

Ice Block,
Makes you immune to all damage and cc (also ones that were already applied before using ice block). This will also make you immune to falling damage.

Counterspell,
can be used while an enemy is casting a spell which will lock them out of that spellschool for 6 seconds.
(Can be used with polymorph for a 14 second healer lockout)



Arcane is the damage spec of the three and comes with reasonable CC as well since you keep Polymorph in all three specs. As an arcane mage you're always trying to stack your arcane charges to 4. This increases your damage by 50% per charge on arcane blast which is a lot! At 4 charges you will do a lot of damage with arcane blast and hit a extra target for 50% of the original damage for every charge you had with arcane barrage. This spec works best if you keep your distance and deal damage and interrupts at targets from afar.
You can still cast polymorph so use it wisely to keep extra targets away from a fight or to build up charges by chain polymorphing a target at the end of every arcane blast.
Arcane also has an AoE (Area on Effect) abillity: Arcane explosion and this can be used to destealth stealthed classes or to do a small amount of damage to mutliple enemies at once.

The arcane mage plays the best with Ice floes because you can stay on the move while building up the charges

Stat weights:

When geared right Arcane hits like a truck!
For arcane i also prefer playing with 2 different sets myself. With arcane i play less defensive and try to get a little closer to the actual fight then i do specced as frost. When you stack alot of intellect in your gear and get to 4 charges then you can do amazing pressure with every hit being around a non crit 800(for me). And when you finally get a healer to slip up while having this pressure on him then usually it's just one counterspell and then it's over for him/her.

There are two different ways i like to play as arcane wich are full intellect/spellpower(with a little touch of haste) or haste/crit hybrid.

The first one is purely meant for long range heavy support damage (30/40 yard distance at most times) and returning flags.

i usually use second one when fighting multiple targets at once because of the fast casts, fast charge build up (faster cc aswell!) and because it's easier to spread some quick damage out with the crit attached.

Stat benefits from left(best) to right(least benificial, but not bad at all).

Arcane 1(Intellect/Spellpower): Intellect -> Haste -> Crit -> Stamina.

Arcane 2(Haste/Critical Strike hybird): Haste -> Crit -> Intellect -> Stamina.



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Fire

Fireball,
is a ranged fire attack.

Pyroblast,
is the fire mage burst spell. Two direct crits with firespells will award a instant cast pyroblast that costs no mana and does 25% extra damage

Heating Up,
Granted after getting a critical strike with a firespell. Getting two of these gives you a pyroblast proc.

Polymorph,
is the strongest cc you have as a mage. It will turn your enemy into a sheep for 7 seconds but it is reduced by diminishing returns by every cast.
What this means is that the first polymorph will last 7 seconds. The next one will last 3 seconds and the last one 1 second and after that the target will become immune for 20 seconds. You can use polymorph to keep a enemy that is not your current target out of combat. This can be either a healer or a dps class.

Ice Block,
Makes you immune to all damage and cc (also ones that were already applied before using ice block). This will also make you immune to falling damage.

Counterspell,
can be used while an enemy is casting a spell which will lock them out of that spellschool for 6 seconds.
(Can be used with polymorph for a 14 second healer lockout)

Frostfire Bolt.,
Cast this when you're locked out of the Arcane or Fire spellschools. Can also be used to slow your targets while kiting by 40% for 8 sec. (Crits with this spell will grant heating up)

Fire relies on critical strikes to build up damage. Fire has cc in the means of polymorph and frostfire bolt and can do a nice amount of damage if rng is on your side and when you have enough crit gear. Fire is currently the weakest spec of the three specs. There are no specific macros for fire but i have posted a gear set in the gear section. (a well timed fireblast at the time your fireball hits the target increases your chance on a crit because they hit your target at the same time)

Fire works best with the icefloes for the mobillity while building up pyroblast procs

I currently have fairly little to say about fire stat weighs so ill only make one.

Fire: Crit -> all.


Talents

The mage gets 3 different talent choices:

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Evanesce,
replaces your ice block and turns it into 3 seconds. this can be cast while casting frostbolt or polymorph as it's not on the global cooldown and you can also move while this is active.(Global cooldown is the 1/2 sec cooldown you see on most of your spells immediately after casting it)

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Blazing speed,
is a spell that increases your movement speed by 150% for 1,50 seconds during what you'll be immune to slows. Also not on the global cooldown so can be cast while other spells are being cast.

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Ice Floes,
allows the mage to cast a spell while moving. This can be used in a interesting way to cast 6 spells after one another while moving by doing this: Cast arcane blast and at 3/4th of the spell cast apply a charge of ice floes. This will allow you to finish that spell while moving and leaving you with one charge of ice floes for the next spell. if you repeat this 2 more times then you can can 3 arcane blasts or polymorphs back to back while moving and still end up with 3 charges of ice floes on your char.



The mages talents are all off the global cooldown which allows for some intresting gameplay. Although i feel like blazing speed and ice floes are stronger then evanesce in 90% of the situations.

Fixed as of 6,1!!
Ice floes has several uses besides the simple spellcasting while moving! For example you can use it to mount up while moving, bandage while moving, pick herbs while moving and even walk around stealthed in shadowmeld with it! (This last trick was found by Xó-Darkmoonfaire)



Races/Racials

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Undeads get a fear/charm breakout abillity name will of the forsaken which has a 3 minute cooldown and shares cooldown with your pvp trinket. Undeads also get a lifesteal attack that dous around 100 damage and heals you for the same amount and abillity that lets you eat dead humanoids/ undeads that heals you for 7% of your total health and mana every 2 seconds for 10 seconds.

Blood elfs get a a AoE silence named arcane torrent which silence every enemy within 8 yards for 2 seconds and it also restores 2% mana. They also get three passive effects which increase their crit, reduces their arcane damage taken and allows them to get +10 more enchanting skillspoints.

Goblin has a rocket jump racial which is useful for getting away or closing a gap. Also very useful while fcings as well. In addition to the jump they also get a small damage abillity which shares a cooldown with it. They also get a few passive abillities which increase haste, allow 15 extra alchemy skillpoints and discounts on vendor items. they can also bank anywhere in the world on a 30 min cd.

Orc's get a abillity which increases their offensive abillity for 15 seconds on a 2 min cooldown. They also get two passives that reduce stun duration by 10% and increase pet damage by 1%.

Trolls get a haste cooldown which increases their haste by 15% for 10 seconds and has a 3 min cooldown. They also get 3 passive abillties that give 10% increased regeneration rate, 20% extra exp gained for slain beasts and 15% reduced effects on movement impairing effects.

Pandaren have a attack like sap that incapacitates the target for 4 seconds and has a 2 min cd. They also have passives that reduce falling damage, increase beneficial effects from food (well fed buffs) by 100%, Allows them to get 15 more skillpoints in cooking and 100% more xp off rested bonus.

For horde the strongest choices are either orc for damage, troll for cc or goblin for flag carrying. Although undeads and pandas work in some situations aswell.



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Pandaren have a attack like sap that incapacitates the target for 4 seconds and has a 2 min cd. They also have passives that reduce falling damage, increase beneficial effects from food (wel fed buffs) by 100%, Allows them to get 15 more skillpoints in cooking and 100% more xp off rested bonus.

Humans get a abillity that works a lot like the insignia pvp trinket which removes all movement impairing effects and stuns, roots and fear effects (this shares cooldowns with your regular trinket). They also have a series of racials which increases their reputation gain by 10% and gives them an extra 5 versatillity points.

Night elfs get shadowmeld, this is a abillity that will grant you stealth and can be used to avoid a ranged attack like a chaosbolt or a steady shot. They also have some nice passives that increases their chance to dodge melee and ranged attacks by 2%(this dousn't work for magic attacks), Critical strike chance by 1% during day and 1 % haste during night, Speed while in ghost form by 75% and a reduce on nature damage by 1%.

Gnomes get a abillity that removes all snare or other movement reducing effects on you. they also get 15 extra skillpoints in engineering, a 1% haste increase, 5% increased mana, and 1% reduced arcane damage.

Worgen get the abillity to increase their movement speed by 40% for 10 seconds, the abillity to drop down on all fours and run as fast as your average mount (this is basically a mount aswell) and are able to switch bitween human and worgen forms. They also get passive abillities that grant them 1% increased critical strike, 10 extra skillpoints in skinning and 1% reduced damage from nature/shadow damage.

Dwarfs get the abillity to remove poisons and magic effects and reduces damage taken by 10% for 8 sec. They also get critical damage and healing increased by 2%, 1% reduced frost damage and find extra fragments while doing archaeology from their passive racials.

Dreanei get a HoT (heal over time) effect that heals the mage for 20% of their total health over 5 seconds. They also get passive abillities that allows them to get 10 extra jewelcrafting skillpoints, 3 extra intellect points and 1% reduced shadow damage.

Alliance has more diverse racial choices then horde for both cc and damage. Gnomes would be best in my opinion for cc, Because of the passive haste bonus they get and the engineering bombs, The snare removal on a 1 minute cooldown and for the extra mana as arcane. Altough humans and worgen make for excellent flag carrying or damage mages and night elfs would have more chance on survival.


Gear

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i will add the alternative for when you still need to gear aswell
Horde Frost
Head:
Lucky Fishing Hat Flying Tiger Goggles

Neck: Brilliant Necklace Thick Bronze Necklace

Shoulders: Tattered Dreadmist MantleFeline Mantle, Mourners Stole or if you're lucky enough with chest farming then Magicain's Mantle.

Cloak: Tumultuous Cloak of the Sorcerer Battle healer's Cloak, Lushwater Cloak +1 armor enchant

Chest: Tattered Dreadmist Robe / Gorestained Garb Noble's Robe (but gorestained is fairly easy to get) +6 health enchant.

Bracers: Mindthrust Bracers Cuffs of the Black Elements+1 stamina enchant.

Gloves: Serpents Gloves / Gold-Flecked Gloves(gold flecked are easier to obtain and the stats are the same) +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Waist: Enumerated Wrap of the SorcererGirdle of Nobillity

Leggs: Silk-Threaded Trousers / Godfrey's Britches(both easy to get) +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Feet: Corpse Rompers / Conspirator's Slippers (both easy to get aswell) +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Rings: Dread Pirate Ring / Lavishly Jeweled Ring Ring of Pardons / Stillwaters Signet

Trinkets: Swift Hand of Justice / Swift Hand of JusticeRune of Perfection / Insignia of the Horde

Weapon: Dignified Headmasters ChargeGrand Staff of Jordan / Emberstone Staff +3 int enchant.

Horde Arcane
Head: Lucky Fishing Hat Flying Tiger Goggles

Neck: Brilliant Necklace Thick Bronze Necklace

Shoulders: Tattered Dreadmist Mantle Feline Mantle, Mourners Stole or if you're lucky enough with chest farming then Magicain's Mantle.

Cloak: Tumultuous Cloak of the Sorcerer Battle healer's Cloak, Lushwater Cloak +1 armor enchant

Chest: Tattered Dreadmist Robe / Fallen Apprentice RobeNoble's Robe +6 health enchant.

Bracers: Mindthrust Bracers Cuffs of the Black Elements+1 stamina enchant.

Gloves: Serpents Gloves / Gold-Flecked Gloves (gold flecked are easier to obtain and the stats are the same) +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Waist: Enumerated Wrap of Vision Girdle of Nobillity

Leggs: Silk-Threaded Trousers / Godfrey's Britches(both easy to get) +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Feet: Corpse Rompers / Conspirator's Slippers(both easy to get aswell) +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Rings: Lavishly Jeweled Ring / Ring of Pardons Seal of Argas

Trinkets: Discerning Eye of the Beast / Discerning Eye of the Beast Rune of Perfection / Insignia of the Alliance

Weapon: Dignified Headmasters ChargeGrand Staff of Jordan / Emberstone Staff
+3 int enchant.

Horde CC
Head: Lucky Fishing Hat

Neck: Brilliant Necklace

Shoulders: Sunderseer Mantle

Cloak: Tumultuous Cloak of the Sorcerer

Chest: Gorestained Garb +6 health enchant.

Bracers: Mindthrust Bracers +1 stamina enchant.

Gloves: Serpents Gloves / Gold-Flecked Gloves(gold flecked are easier to obtain and the stats are the same) +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Waist: Enumerated Wrap of the Sorcerer

Leggs: Silk-Threaded Trousers +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Feet: Corpse Rompers +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Rings: Dread Pirate Ring / Lavishly Jeweled Ring

Trinkets: Swift Hand of Justice / Swift Hand of Justice

Weapon: Grand Staff of Jordan

Horde Fire
Head: Flying Tiger Goggles

Neck: Brilliant Necklace

Shoulders: Tattered Dreadmist Mantle

Cloak: Lushwater Cloak+1 armor enchant.

Chest: Noble's Robe +6 health enchant.

Bracers: Mindthrust Bracers +1 stamina enchant.

Gloves: Red Riding Gloves +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Waist: Enumerated Wrap of the Sun

Boots: Conspirator's Boots +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Rings: Stendel's Wedding Band / Stendel's Wedding Band

Trinkets: Rune of Perfection / Swift hand of JusticeDiscerning Eye of the Beast (depends on if you prefer harder hits or faster hits)
Weapon: Grand Staff of Jordan +1 intellect enchant.
Horde Stam Stacking
Head: Lucky Fishing Hat

Neck: Thick Bronze Necklace

Shoulders: Magician's Mantle

Cloak: Tumultuous Cloak of Stamina +1 armor enchant.

Chest: Mystic's Robe +6 health enchant.

Bracers: Ivycloth Bracers of Stamina +1 stam enchant.

Gloves: Imbued Disciple Gloves +1 armor leatherworking enchant

Belt: Enumerated Wrap of Stamina

Legs: Godfrey's Leggings +1 armor leatherworking enchant

Feet: Seer's Boots +1 armor leatherworking enchant

Rings: Ring of Pardons / Blood Ring

Trinkets: Arena Grand Master / Inherited Mark of TyrannyArena Grand Master (two of them is alot of stamina!)

Weapon: Dawnblade / Old CraftyGrand Staff of Jordan

Horde Hybrid haste/crit set (arcane/fire)
Head: Lucky Fishing Hat

Neck: Brilliant Necklace

Shoulders: Tattered Dreadmist Mantle

Cloak: Tumultuous Cloak of the Sorcerer

Chest: Gorestained Garb +6 health enchant.

Bracers: Mindthrust Bracers +1 stamina enchant.

Gloves: Red Riding Gloves +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Waist: Enumerated Wrap of the Sorcerer

Legs: Godfrey's Leggings +1 armor leatherworking enchant

Boots: Conspirator's Boots +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Rings: Dread Pirate Ring / Lavishly Jeweled Ring

Trinkets: Swift Hand of Justice / Rune of Perfection

Weapon: Dignified Headmasters Charge +1 intellect enchant
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I added some extra gear incase you still need to gear up.
Alliance Frost
Head: Lucky Fishing Hat Flying Tiger Goggles

Neck: Brilliant Necklace Thick Bronze Necklace

Shoulders: Tattered Dreadmist Mantle Feline Mantle or if you're lucky enough with chest farming then Magicain's Mantle.

Cloak: Tumultuous Cloak of the Sorcerer Caretaker's Cape / Feyscale Cloak+1 armor enchant

Chest: Tattered Dreadmist Robe / Noble's Robe +6 health enchant.

Bracers: Hovel Digger's Bands +1 stamina enchant.

Gloves: Serpents Gloves / Gold-Flecked Gloves (gold flecked are easier to obtain and the stats are the same) +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Waist: Enumerated Wrap of the SorcererGirdle of Nobillity

Leggs: Silk-Threaded Trousers / Godfrey's Britches (both easy to get) +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Feet: Corpse Rompers +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Rings: Lavishly Jeweled Ring / Dread Pirate RingSeal of Argas

Trinkets: Swift Hand of Justice / Swift Hand of Justice Rune of Perfection / Insignia of the Alliance

Weapon: Dignified Headmasters ChargeGrand Staff of Jordan / Emberstone Staff
+3 int enchant.

Alliance Arcane
Head: Lucky Fishing Hat Flying Tiger Goggles

Neck: Brilliant Necklace Thick Bronze Necklace

Shoulders: Tattered Dreadmist Mantle Feline Mantle or if you're lucky enough with chest farming then Magicain's Mantle.

Cloak: Tumultuous Cloak of the Sorcerer Caretaker's Cape / Feyscale Cloak+1 armor enchant

Chest: Tattered Dreadmist Robe Noble's Robe +6 health enchant.

Bracers: Mindthrust Bracers Cuffs of the Black Elements+1 stamina enchant.

Gloves: Serpents Gloves / Gold-Flecked Gloves (gold flecked are easier to obtain and the stats are the same) +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Waist: Enumerated Wrap of Vision Girdle of Nobillity

Leggs: Silk-Threaded Trousers / Godfrey's Britches (both easy to get) +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Feet: Corpse Rompers +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Rings: Lavishly Jeweled RingSeal of Argas

Trinkets: Discerning Eye of the Beast / Discerning Eye of the Beast Rune of Perfection / Insignia of the Alliance

Weapon: Dignified Headmasters ChargeGrand Staff of Jordan / Emberstone Staff
+3 int enchant.


Alliance Fire
Head: Flying Tiger Goggles

Neck: Brilliant Necklace

Shoulders: Tattered Dreadmist Mantle

Cloak: Silver Embroidered Cloak +1 armor enchant.

Chest: Noble's Robe +6 health enchant.

Legs: Godfrey's Leggings

Bracers: Messner's Cuffs +1 stamina enchant.

Gloves: Serpent Gloves +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Waist: Enumerated Wrap of the Sun

Boots:Ablution Slippers +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Rings: Stendel's Wedding Band / Stendel's Wedding Band

Trinkets: Rune of Perfection / Swift hand of JusticeDiscerning Eye of the Beast (depends on if you prefer harder hits or faster hits)

Weapon: Grand Staff of Jordan +1 intellect enchant.

Alliance CC
Head: Lucky Fishing Hat

Neck: Brilliant Necklace

Shoulders: Sunderseer Mantle

Cloak: Tumultuous Cloak of the Sorcerer

Chest: Gorestained Garb +6 health enchant.

Bracers: Hovel Digger's Bands +1 stamina enchant.

Gloves: Serpents Gloves / Gold-Flecked Gloves(gold flecked are easier to obtain and the stats are the same) +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Waist: Enumerated Wrap of the Sorcerer

Leggs: Silk-Threaded Trousers +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Feet: Corpse Rompers +1 armor leatherworking enchant.

Rings: Dread Pirate Ring / Lavishly Jeweled Ring

Trinkets: Swift Hand of Justice / Swift Hand of Justice

Weapon: Grand Staff of Jordan
Alliance stam stacking
Head: Lucky Fishing Hat

Neck: Thick Bronze Necklace

Shoulders: Magician's Mantle

Cloak: Tumultuous Cloak of Stamina +1 armor enchant.

Chest: Mystic's Robe +6 health enchant.

Bracers: Ivycloth Bracers of Stamina +1 stam enchant.

Gloves: Mangy Claw Mittens+1 armor leatherworking enchant

Belt: Enumerated Wrap of Stamina

Leggs: Archaeologis's Pants

Feet: Seer's Boots +1 armor leatherworking enchant

Rings: Hogger's Shiny / Ello's Band

Trinkets: Arena Grand Master / Inherited Mark of TyrannyArena Grand Master (two of them is alot of stamina!)

Weapon: Bloodsoaked Skullforge Reaver / Old Ironjaw Grand Staff of Jordan
By Trickynick-TwistingNether


Macros(and how to use them)

Set focus macro : This macro sets your focus with one button and if you press it twice it removes your focus. It also allows you to set a focus by hovering your mouse cursor over your enemies and pressing the button to wich the macro is linked.

/clearfocus
/focus [@mouseover]

Polymorph / focus macro: This stops current spellcasting to cast polymorph at your focus. usefull when a rogue kicks a healer and needs fast controll.

#showtooltip Polymorph
/stopcasting
/cast [@focus] Polymorph

Counterspell / focus macro: This interrupts current spellcasts and casts counterspell at your focus. Very usefull for when you need to stop a heal immediately.

#showtooltip counterspell
/stopcasting
/cast [@focus] Counterspell

Mouseover Polymorph macro: This will allow you to cast polymorph at a target by hovering your mouse cursor over them. if there is nothing beneath your mousecursor and you already have a target then it will cast it at them. (Replace with regular polymorph) Helps if you keybind it it shift + scroll up and down.

This is how you use mouseover macros:
https://imgflip.com/gifgenerator


#showtooltip Polymorph
/cast [target=mouseover,exists,nohelp] Polymorph; Polymorph

All in one Counterspell macro: This casts counterspell at mouseover targets(and if you mouseover potraits like your focus for example) and if no mouseovers are selected this casts counterspell at your current target. This also stops your spellcasting while doing so.(replace with regular counterspell)

#showtooltip Counterspell
/stopcasting
/cast [target=mouseover,exists,nohelp] Counterspell; Counterspell

Pet Controll macros: These will allow you to make your pet manually attack something or make it camp a certain spot. they also allow you to keybind the pet freeze and attack to something other then your pet bar.

#showtooltip Freeze
/dismount
/cast Freeze
(This casts the pet freeze and dismounts you to do so if you're mounted.)

/petfollow
/petmoveto
(This makes your pet move to a specific point, Pressing the macro again will make the pet follow you again.)

#showtooltip Waterbolt
/cast Waterbolt
(This casts your pets waterbolt abillity at your current target. Use the follow macro to make it stop attacking.)

Ice Block macro: This uses your ice block cooldown instantly and removes it with another press on the button.

#showtooltip Ice Block
/cancelaura Ice Block
/stopcasting
/stopcasting
/cast Ice Block

Ice Block / Blink macro: This removes ice block and makes you blink away.

#Showtooltip Blink
/cancelaura Ice Block
/cast Blink

Ice Block / Blazing speed: This removes ice block and casts blazing speed.

#showtooltip Blazing Speed
/cancelaura Ice Block
/cast Blazing Speed

Ice floes / shadowmeld macro: This stops your current casting and casts a charge of ice floes and then shadow meld to move around while stealthed but make sure you're standing still for the first second while doing this (by Xó-Darkmoonfaire)

#showtooltip Shadowmeld(Racial)
/stopcasting
/cast ice floes
/cast Shadowmeld(Racial)


Stopcasting macro: This stops your casting for fake casting.

/stopcasting
 
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Tips and Tricks

If you have something usefull to add to this section yourself then please PM me or say it in the comments and i will add it with your name as soon as possible!

Controlling your Water Elemental (By Trickynick)

A very useful tool that I feel many mages either ignore or don't think about is using the Water Elemental in other ways than just aditional damage or using its freeze to either catch someone or kite someone.

By binding your "Move to"-command for your elemental, you'll be able to position it in strategic locations and increase the range of your pet's freeze. In WSG, this method can be used to create windows for either your offense to get your flag back before your flag carrier dies or buying your flag carrier the time and space required to get through middle without being intercepted.
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This is also very useful in arenas when facing teams with a healer. Players tend to be very agressive and reckless and don't start to think about their HP until it's too late for them to top themselves with their own heals (if they have any).
By positioning your elemental in range and LoS (line of sight) for the opposite teams healer after a full CC-chain of polymorph, you'll be able to lock him in place for an other 6 seconds, preventing him from getting in range or LoS of his teammate to top him.

A few tips:
The default keybinding for moving your Water Elemental is Ctrl+3. Change this to something smoother that can be executed quickly in stressful situations. My own keybinding for this is Shift+R.

Often when you want to just throw a Frostbolt for the snare, your water elemental will stay behind and damage that target until you order it to follow. It's easy to forget about it and by the time you need its freeze the elemental is on the other side of the map.
Setting your Water Elemental on "Passive" rather than "Assisst" will prevent it from follow its targets unless you command it to attack. This means you will have to press Ctrl+1 everytime you will want it to attack and Ctrl+2 everytime you want it to follow you again.

Your elemental will automaticly start following you when you get on a mount. It is also much faster than it would've been if you just pressed Ctrl+2. If you're in need of it after it has been positioned somewhere, try to get on a mount to make it come to you quicker.

To prevent yourself from getting sapped when you suspect a rogue is close, select a random enemy player or pet that is not too far away and hit Ctrl+1. Your elemental will engage this target immediately and makes you enter combat. Hit ctrl+2 a few secs later to keep it close and not go out of LoS and then Ctrl+1 again to keep you in combat. Simply repeat this to stay in combat and avoid getting sapped.

If you're in 1v1 vs a Night elf rogue, ALWAYS save your elemental's freeze for his ShadowMeld to prevent him from
getting a second opener.
Proffessions
As a level 20 mage you there are several proffessions you need in order to get the right gear such as enchanting and jewelcrafting. I suggest that when you make a new mage (or other alt) that you always start out with mining and jewelcrafting. This way by the time you reach level 20 you will have collected some ore and stone already wich is required to level your jewelcrafting. When you reach level 20 and still need ores then i suggest you take this route if horde
Ury9PNk.png
and this route
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for Alliance. After you have your Thick Bronze Necklace and your Brilliant Necklace you will remove jewelcrafting and pick up enchanting. Use disenchant on all the greens you're created with jewelcrafting and farm strange dusts untill you can get all enchants required for your gear.(Make spares for whenever you need one)
After enchanting you should roll Engineering for the Flying Tiger Goggles untill you can get a Lucky Fishing Hat.

Once you've gotten your Lucky Fishing Hat you should take Alchemy and Herbalism as Alchemy has alot of usefull perks to add to a level 20's arsenal. Alchemy has the following potions to offer with our level 100 restriction.
  • Swiftness Potion
    This increases your movement speed by 50% for 15 seconds! This is usefull while carrying flags or while making a quick getaway. Can also be used vs melee classes like ferals to outrun them with ice floes.
    Dropped in Ragefire Chasm by the mobbs at the start (the flame hounds[ and random mobbs in Shadowfang Keep)
  • Holy Protection Potion
    This gives you a 750 holy damage absorb. pretty straight forward, works wonders vs discs priests and hpals.
    (Obtained from vendors, Hula'Mahi behind the Crossroads flight path trainer in the barrens and Kzixx in Duskwood North of Darkshire.
  • Elixir of Minor Foritude
    Increases your health by 49 for 2 hours or untill death.
    (Obtained from a regular trainer inside of your capitol city for both Alliance and Horde)
  • Elixir of Wisdom
    Increases your intellect by 8 for 2 hours.
    (Obtained from a regular trainer inside of your capitol city for both Alliance and Horde)
  • Lesser Healing Potion
    A small heal wich you can use together with first aid bandages to save yourself.
    (Obtained from a regular trainer inside of your capitol city for both Alliance and Horde)

Blink/outranging
Blink is a very cool spell that can be used with almost unlimited possibillites. Everyone knows that blink can be used while stunned and even to counter a warrior's charge abillity. But blink is also an extremely usefull vs offensive casters on the enemy team(this includes hunters steady/aimed shots). When timed well you can use blink to counter almost every offensive hardcast abillity like chaosbolt or mind blast by simply blinking out of their range or by blinking straight through them so you end up behind them out of their line of sight.
Wait for their cast.
Blink through them to avoid the attack


Also keeping an eye out for offensive casters helps alot, after you've seen one that wants to engage you then try to outrange them by stepping out of the 40 yard radius. If done fast enough then the attack wont land and it will display a "Target out of sight" Message.[

Blink can also be used for juking! Wich is basically making a run towards the edge of something high and faking a jump only to turn around at the last second to fool them into jumping down! Blink allows you to actually jump off and making a 180 to get back and still get back up if you time it right! (Takes some practice and high mouse sensitivity is suggested because if you turn extremely fast then your enemies will have a 1/2 second delay before they can see your turn!)

It's also great to dissapear when using blink! Always try to blink into an unexpected direction if you are trying to avoid attacks. For example if you are running away from a warrior and you feel like he's going to charge then making a quick 180 to counter the charge and ending up in their old position!

Crowd Controll
Crowd Control is your best friend as a mage. There are many ways how you can combine the level 20's mages abillity to keep multiple targets occupied at once. With the focus macro you can also target, watch attack and control two different people at the same time for example a healer and a warrior, You keep the healer on your focus so you can target the warrior as they are easier to counter for a mage. Then you use the focus/polymorph and focus/counterspell macro to keep the healer out of the fight in the form of a sheep while you continue to control the warrior with your freezes and snare untill you kill him.

Crowd control is also used to protect your healers so they can keep the team alive. If you see a rogue attacking your healer then you focus him and keep him polymorphed with the polymorph/focus macro while you use your frostbolts and freezes to keep others of your team mates and to keep the flag carrier alive or to defend a base from being captured.

Here you can see that i attack the elemental and keep the mage under control through my focus by casting polymorph at my focus.In this case my target is the portrait on the middle and the focus is on the top right of my target, keep an eye out for my focus as i cast polymorph at him without moving my target of the water elemental.(macros found in the macro section)
You can often use the freeze on your pet to deastealth stealthed targets if you saw them enter stealth mode

You can use polymorph while as arcane to quickly build up arcane charges by chain polymorphing your target after every arcane blast untill it's immune, by this time you will already have 3 arcane charges and will do a lot more damage then when starting out a fight without any charges.

Use fake casting with the macro from the macro section, Cast a spell 3/4d of the way and then stopcasting and cast a instant spell which usually fools people with a interrupt into interrupting you allowing you to cast spells without interruption.

/Stopcasting

You cant learn how to properly crowd control simply by reading this guide, as soon as you've copied the macros and are done with reading this you should explore the class yourself aswell to get the feel of the spells.
A good way to practice your crowd control abillities are dueling a friendly hunter and try hitting him and polymorphing his pet while you have it on focus. this is also a good moment to try out mouseovers and learn how to optimize the most out of the class and the guide.

Mages at level 20 only have limited spells but with the gear and playstyle options the possibilities are near infinite. I'll explain someways to make the most out of the spells you have next.
When you use crowd controll you should always keep one thing in mind. If you're either kiting melee or trying to protect team mates. You always want the victim of your control to be subdued by it as long as possible.

When you use abillities like polymorph you will have to learn on how to use every 1/10th of a second from that polymorph.
with this i mean that you will wat for your second polymorph untill it is almost done. Eventually you will learn how to time it well and your polymorph chain will be flawless and one poly will seemingly go over into another.

Dont instantly go for that shatter if you freeze someone the first time (Unless going for a kill wich is not what this section is about ^^)Give him a couple of seconds in what time your cooldowns like blink or frost nova get a little closer to getting of cooldown! This is for example neccesary when fighting a warrior. When you shatter a warrior from your freeze the first thing he will do is charge and if you dont have blink or ice block then you will have a bad time!

You should always try to spread your freezes and snares over as many enemies as possible when in big team fights, this can be very beneficial for your team. At least slow all melee users (ferals excluded) as this in alot of cases severly gimps their damage already. Kiting is often underestimated but it is one of the mages most powerfull (and overlooked) pieces of crowd control!

After playing a few bg's with the macros and your crowd control will become easier and easier untill it will only feel natural. Make sure you stay on the backgrounds when neccesary and keep an eye (or two) out for stealth classes in the distance and you'll learn how to calculate their movement (most of the time..?) and destealth them. Provide support to your team in any form described above and you alone can change the outcome of the game!

"If you can learn all of the spell animations for the spells used by and against you then it makes your awareness in combat a ton better because you can look at your character 90% of the time, Making your positioning better aswell. Imo also more fun and more of a challenge!" - Lolipopp
Flag Carrying as a mage (By Trickynick!)

The mage class is unfortunately right now far from being the ultimate flag carrier. This is something I nowadays do in pugs only, when there are no other carriers around. In MoP mages relied alot on their mobility and could often get out of trouble in slippery ways. They are still as mobile, but other classes got more mobile as well. Getting through middle with the flag got alot harder since WoD when the number of hard counters like feral druid and BM monk increased drastically.

Playing FC requires you to know what you are doing. You need to know at the very least the basics of flag carrying when attempting it as mage. If you lack this, try obtaining it with a class that has some selfheals and can allow a few more errors. I'd recommend druid. Also, if you already haven't - head over to Vanillamilk's FC guide where alot of very good points on the subject are brought up.


Before you decide to grab that flag you should go through your team and ask yourself: Is there a reliable Flag Carrier here? If not, you're most likely in for a wild ride.

Now, without the option of any selfhealing (except from bandages and food) you will quickly notice how incredibly unforgiving the class can be. Every hit you take brings you closer to losing the flag and potentially letting the enemy team score. The only thing you can do to prevent this is to run and hide.

Running flags as a mage and without a healer is all about awareness... and a little bit paranoia wont hurt. More often than not you're going to be alone for a good while after picking up the flag. And as every hit you take will cost you dearly you need to enter the mindset of avoid getting hit. DO. NOT. GET. HIT.
Of course we all know that it's not going to happen and that we all get hit by something at some point, but keep it as something to aim for. If you get hit, try not to get hit again.
It's just the mindset for helping you to stay alive.


ALRIGHT, I GOT THE FLAG! WHERE DO I GO?!
First of all you'll want to know what the situation on the middlefield is like. Try always to use the ramp exit after picking up the flag to increase the number of escape routes and get highground advantage. ToT (Top of Tunnel) will provide you with LoS (Line of Sight) protection while you gather information of the current situation and best possible route through middle.

So questions that should be going through your mind while studiying middlefield would be simular to:

*Where are your team mates and where are your enemies? If they are all fighting at the western side, then perhaps you can sneak by on the east side?

*Are their stealthers visible at the moment? Do you have the Cooldowns necessary to survive and escape from a rogue or two or three?


*Are they waiting below the tunnel for you? Do you have time to wait for your team mates to arrive, or will they catch you first? Do you have to run back to their base to buy your team some extra time? If so, what way in and out again would be safest?

*Are their stealthers visible at the moment? Do you have the Cooldowns necessary to survive and escape from a rogue or two or three? (Yes, again. Your thoughts should be haunted by rogues and ferals).
fQz9UrB.jpg


YAY, I MADE IT TO OUR BASE! NOW WHAT?
You go up, up, up! That's right - you need the highground advantage from your roof. You need to be aware of the incomings and can't afford with some random shadow priest jumping down from your ramp or roof as you stand on cap spot without no awareness what so ever. If stacks are high enough a Shadow Word: Pain and a Devouring Plague will finish you off while he does his /lol emote at you. Get up to highground.

Now that you're on highground you should be standing somewhere you have a good view over the way up to roof (be aware of rogues and druids). Place your Water Elemental a little closer to the doorway and be ready with that freeze for when the enemies arrive. Even if the freeze misses, they will enter combat and it will prevent them from mounting up. The kiting starts and this is where you get the hell away from there (Don't forget to bring your elemental if it has been positioned, Crtl+2).
Try to buy your team as much time as possible to either get your flag returned or get back to help you. Pop swiftness potions if necessary and head over to your graveyard or ToT. Before 5 stacks you might be able to survive for an other minute or three solo, but if your movement speed is limited, you wont last for very long. Let your team know that the flag will be dropped at any time now and that they should be ready for a repick. You've done well if you reach 5+ stacks while solo carrying and at this point you're not to blame (At least that's what I think).

S2nsd6d.jpg


Sometimes you'll feel like it's you against the whole world. No one will help you in def and no one will try to get the flag back, and yes, it's very frustrating. Try to make the best out of the situation. Practise and see how far you can get solo. I myself always respected players who keep trying, no matter how dire the situation is.


Just like any other FC, you will want to avoid trouble on your way back. Your mobility and CC are your tools to make this happen and it's essential that you know what CD's to use in a certain scenario. I will state a few examples of possible scenarios below.

You get sapped by a rogue as soon as you pick up the enemy flag. This happens quite often and shouldn't be too troublesome. The only CDs that should be required to use here are Blazing speed and Frost Nova as soon as he opens on you. make your way towards the ramp exit and throw a frostbolt at him as the nova is about to break and set your pet to attack him (to keep him from restealthing).
If the rogue trinket your nova, simply polymorph him and repeat the frostbolt + pet attack part. The distance you get from blazing speed is enough for allowing a poly to land without risking getting hit

A hunter chasing you will require two or three of your CD's. He will 9/10 times shoot a concussive shot as soon as he gets within range. If you're prepared for this you'll have the opportunity to jump just before the arrow hits to maintain your normal movement speed for an other second and use blazing speed as soon as you hit the ground, this forces the hunter to disengage to keep up with you, and this is where you throw your ranged nova to keep him pinned down.
If a trinket would happen here you might have to use your blink to outrange his next Concussive Shot.

A feral druid opens on you in middle will most likely require every single one of your CD's. At this point there's nothing you can do but running as fast as you can towards any assisstance that you can spot on the map. If you allow him to get 5 combo points on you, you're most likely dead. If you're unlucky he already has a random amount of combo points from a previous target, but a Ferocious Bite only should bring you to 30% - 40% of your total HP, so there's still a little time for you to escape.
If he opens with stun you'll want to blink out of it instantly. Save your Blazing Speed for when he's about to catch you, or if he wastes his Wild Charge right after
you blinked. If you carry swiftness potions, don't hesitate in using them here.
As he catches you a 3rd time you'll want to blow your tyrannity trinket, AGM and possibly standard. This is all assuming there's a chance for you to reach assisstance of any kind to ensure your survival. If there are no help ahead, don't bother wasting huge CD's and accept defeat.
You will experience many simular situations all the time. You'll have to figure out for yourself how to play them out in best possible way.

This whole part got a bit larger than I intended it to be, but I assume to much information is better than too little.
Lastly I'll leave a few tips that I feel is worth sharing:

* Try to counter snares with Blazing Speed and stuns with Blink.
*ALWAYS, ALwAYS and ALWAYS JUMP with 0.5 - 0.1 sec left of the Blazing Speed ability to maintain the 150% speed boost for a few more yards! This goes for every movement speed boost.
*Practise useful jumps in Warsong Gulch, they can save your life many times.
*Try not to be too predictable. Do some odd maneuver now and then to keep enemies confused. This can be things like entering their roof after picking up flag, if you suspect them intercepting you at ramp. Try however to get out of their base before flag icon is shown for them on map (45 sec after picking it up).
*If you manage to reach your teammates after struggeling through middle, don't leave them until the opposite team is wiped out.
*Be paranoid of rogues and ferals
*Always try to keep an eye on the opposite teams flag carrier's HP so you know when to cap.
*Try to blink into cap spot when flag is returned, to avoid interceptions, stuns, slows etc etc.
*If you have a healer with you, let him know you will be kiting with flag, ask him to stay ahead of you, rather than behind you when running. He will most likely end up behind eventually though.
*LoS heavy artillery spells! I'm talking about Mindblast + Devouring Plague, Starsurge, Aimed Shot etc etc.
*If your team is dominating the opposite team, try to grab the third flag rather than the second, to prevent some random player from carrying in case he intend to GY-farm.

Armory page
If you want your own armory here then leave a message on this thread :)

 
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Re: f2p mage guide <WIP>

Looking awesome so far! If you need any help or anything, do tell. When you complete the guide, toss one of us Staff members a PM!

Edit: Finished product looks great!
 
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I feel like Arcane should use a critical strike set, without one they put out sub-par damage.

Frost, should use an eagle type build prioritizing stamina, lets face it they already hit like a wet noodle why not make your time more about the plays you can put out.

I think you should also add how a mage has to look at everything as a moving picture, in battlegrounds there are more than likely going to be more than one enemy healer, so using polymorph + cs on a single healer would be less effective than polymorphing one healer and csing another for locking out 2 healers at one time. Also I would reccomend using mouseovers over focus macros for ease of access.

Also, cc to peel for your healers, one polymorph could make or break the game.

Nice guide, and I love how you talk about pet control, tired of seeing mages in arena not controlling thier pet properly.

Kudos!
 
I feel like Arcane should use a critical strike set, without one they put out sub-par damage.

Frost, should use an eagle type build prioritizing stamina, lets face

I go with haste for full functionabillity on frost and stacking spellpower/int dous alot of pressure damage as arcane :)

Already added mouseover macros for who wants them but i feel like /cast @[focus] macros are something you have to use because it makes life so much easier. I myself use both of them
 
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I go with haste for full functionabillity on frost and stacking spellpower/int dous alot of pressure damage as arcane :)

Already added mouseover macros for who wants them but i feel like /cast @[focus] macros are something you have to use because it makes live so much easier. I myself use both of them

Heya! Awesome guide.

The only suggestions I could give would be to maybe clean up some of the typos (nitpicky I know, but it makes the guide cleaner and prevents the reader from being distracted).

Other than that, maybe explain some of your Stat Weights for each spec, for gearing purposes.

I linked to this guide from my Arena Guide, because it's frankly the best, most up-to-date Mage guide available.

Thank you for contributing :)
 
I go with haste for full functionabillity on frost and stacking spellpower/int dous alot of pressure damage as arcane :)

Already added mouseover macros for who wants them but i feel like /cast @[focus] macros are something you have to use because it makes life so much easier. I myself use both of them

there is not enough haste for trials to stack for it to actually be gamechanging, and i recommended crit because in a full set u can get near 25%

many small bursts > a few bigger bursts
 
there is not enough haste for trials to stack for it to actually be gamechanging, and i recommended crit because in a full set u can get near 25%

many small bursts > a few bigger bursts
My fire set is bis crit and its 24% (outside bgs) so link me your set with screenshot please. And i added a crit/haste hybrid set wich works better then just crit imo because every point of haste helps with that 2.25 cast time on arcane blast :)
 
Nice mage guide, best girlfriend i've ever had.
10/10 Wife material.
 
Time to comment.

I really enjoyed reading the guide, and I think that this should be an example guide for everyone making Class Guides on TI. Often you see "CLASS GUIDE" with written gear, races and skills and that's all. Tips and Tricks are a huge plus, everything got screenshots, love it.

If you are looking for ways to improve it even more you could try and move certain images to the center of the page (like the top polymorph one), I think it would look better then.

Code:
the bbcode for that is [ center][img]linkofimage[/img][/  center]

Thanks for the interesting read! :)
 

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