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WoW class:Mage  

 Mage
RacesHuman, Gnome, Draenei, Troll, Undead, Blood Elf
Talent TreesFrost, Arcane, Fire

SpellsAbilitiesQuests
TrainersMacrosForum
This page needs to be merged into Mage. Afterward, this page should be replaced with #redirect [[WoW Class:Mage]]
See also: Mage ability list, Mage talent trees, useful Druid macros
For a more detailed set of information about the class, see Mage FAQ.

Contents [hide]

Theme

Magic has long been a part of the world of Azeroth, coming in different forms: Demonic magic, natural magic, elemental magic, arcane magic and more; mages draw upon the latter for their power. Harnessing the power of fire, frost, and pure magical energy, mages wield powerfully destructive spells in combat.

Available Races

High Elves were the first mages, and were expelled from Night Elven society for their use of arcane magics following The Sundering. Magic has remained a part of Highbourne culture, and Blood Elves are addicted to its power. Mage is perhaps the most appropriate class for a Blood Elf.

The High Elves also taught the Humans the art of magic in exchange for help in defending their lands. Magic has become a very prominent part of Human culture, and the city of Dalaran is a mageocracy, led by an order known as the Kirin Tor. The last Guardian of Tirisfal, Medivh, and his apprentice, Khadgar, are two of the most renowned human mages. Another important human mage in Warcraft history was Jaina Proudmoore, leader of the human defences at the Battle at Mount Hyjal.

Human mages resurrected as Undead retain their magical abilities. Many mages exist within the undead, helping to supplement the more physical ranks of the Horde. Trolls can also be mages, although their magic tends to be more closely tied toward shamanism and witch doctoring.

In the Alliance, Gnomes are extremely intelligent beings, often too smart for their own good, that will practice nearly any kind of magic that they can study. The Draenei are also very accomplished spellcasters that are familiar with the ways of the mage.

Class capabilities

Weapon proficiencies:

  • Staff
  • Daggers
  • Swords
  • Wands

Armor proficiencies:

  • Cloth

Mages are known primarily for their damaging spells, but are also capable of certain other arcane manipulations, such as teleportation and the conjuration of food and drink.

The three talent trees available for mages are Arcane, Fire and Frost. Fire tends to focus on raw damage capability with the ability to control an enemy completely for short periods of time through talents such as Impact and Dragon's Breath. Frost is slightly more defensive in nature, slowing enemies down or freezing them completely so they cannot harm the mage or others; as such it specialises in dealing with melee classes and monsters. Arcane has a wide range of talents that focus on improving the mage's support spells, mana regeneration and overall offensive power; however, if a mage chooses to focus on arcane damaging spells they increase their firepower a great deal at the cost of mana efficiency.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Mages can do a tremendous amount of damage, especially utilising area effect damage. However, they are limited by their mana pool and can eventually run out of mana, becoming almost useless unless they can regenerate by using Evocation or a mana gem/potion. More importantly, mages are very frail if caught off guard. They focus on avoiding damage completely through damage absorbing barriers, Iceblock, Blink, Frost Nova and snares. In this way they keep melee at a distance and help mitigate some of the damage done by spell casters; they lack tools to deal with ranged physical damage, however. They can either excel or struggle in PvP, depending on the situation; if the mage is taking damage then he has to resort to using mainly instant cast spells, which radically reduces his effectiveness.

Group roles and expectations

The primary role of a mage is normally to deal damage, especially in situations that call for area of effect damage. However, often the most important reason to bring a mage to a group is Polymorph, aka "sheep", which disables a humanoid or beast target. Since most instance enemies tend to be humanoids, mages are appreciated for their ability to apply an easily-repeatable crowd control effect with no restrictions.

In a group, mages are expected to conjure enough water for the group's other mana-users, and portal the group out when they are finished.

Class Quests

Mages have very few special class quests. There is a quest at level 60 which teaches the mage a higher rank of Conjure Water, which has become obsolete with the advent of the Burning Crusade. There is also a series of quests around level 40 from the human mage Tabetha in Dustwallow Marsh. She will speak to either faction.

For a complete list of Mage quests, look here.

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This page last modified 2008-06-13 09:49:26.