Decent Mage build?

Dcully

Im thinking of starting a new Mage char and wondering what build i should go with.
Ill be soloing mostly as i cant guarantee ill be online with guild mates.
Thinking of going alliance this time,i heard the gnome is the best alliance and possibly game mage,how true this is i really dont know.

Ivan

In the horrible grind up to 60, its gotta be fire. Its the single quickest improvement in dps you can get, at those levels. Improved fireball, burning reach, ignite, impact once you get scorch. Then go back to Arcane and get Improved arcane missiles. Arcane concentration, improved arcane explosion and evocation. Then you can continue down the fire path or arcane, depending.

Of course, this all becomes moot once 1.11 comes into effect, at that point you will probably be much better off with a fire/frost build.

At end game, at least in my opinion, frost is king. Ice block, frost channelling, improved blizzard, shatter etc. are all must haves. And these all become even nicer after 1.11.

Dcully

Cheers Ivan for reply.

Of course, this all becomes moot once 1.11 comes into effect, at that point you will probably be much better off with a fire/frost build.

This has me confused as a few more forums i asked same question say go with either of fire/arcane or frost/arcane.
I admit to not having read patch details however so i assume something is changing?

koneko

I couldn't say for post-patch, I haven't paid that much attention to the detail recently of what's coming up.

Currently though, for grind up to 60, I'd say Fire is best. In general, I liked the Arcane/Fire spec most (with Arcane as main speccing up to Combustion), or the cookie cutter Fire crit-build.

Arcane/frost or Frost/Arcane is good for lvl60 raiding. Frost/Arcane is the standard PVE build people seem to use (or used to) for MC for instance, I did that for a while but it was quite dull so I switched to Arcane/Frost which worked out well, not as good for PVP as Arcane/Fire (which has super tasty firey burst damage), but keeps some of the benefits of frost for PVE and some nice burst damage from Combustion when you need it.

Use java spec builder things like on Thottbot to work out a good spec, and read the US forums for the Mage build, some useful FAQs there.

Ivan

Its pretty simple really, after 1.11 mages get improved arcane explosion for free, meaning arcane explosion becomes an instant cast spell to start with. The new improved arcane explosion now only increases its crit rate. Since arcane doesnt get a bonus to its crit damage like fire and ice do, its pretty worthless. Added to this, the fact that we get evocation for free too (and with only an 8 minute cooldown) arcane loses some of its best core talents. What remains combined with the new stuff, is just incredibly lack lustre at best.

This has lead alot of mages (myself included) to completely dismiss Arcane, from the word go, for 1.11

Fire and frost have some nice overlaps now, that will make them worthwhile. Elemental precision increases chance to hit with fire & frost spells. Its a tier 1 frost ability 2%/4%/6% 1/2/3 points, respectively, afair.

Master of elements is a tier 4 fire talent that gives 10%/20%/30% mana back from all fire AND frost crits for 1/2/3 points, respectively. These abilities combined with the thining out of the talent trees and general tweaking, makes fire/frost or frost/fire preferable to any arcane build.

However, for PvP, I (and many others) consider improved counterspell and Presence of Mind, necessities. Its all down to end game play styles. If you intend on doing End game PvE then its gotta be Frost/Fire. For PvP focus, then I'd go with Arcane/Frost or Arcane/Fire.

Fire will be even better for leveling up, in 1.11. No cooldown on Pyroblast is very powerful. Anyway, enjoy the class, its alot of fun if a bit infuriating at end game PvP

Dcully

Cheers again Ivan,im kinda drifting away from my 60 rogue,i simply cant commit 2-3 hour sittings needed to do high level instances for epic gear etc.
While waiting for 1.11 i switched from lvl 9 mage back to my very first char which was 31 human warrior [i kinda disowned him after i started rogue :P )and started a night elf hunter,now lvl 12.

My intention was to go back to my mage after patch but im enjoying both the warrior and hunter,decisions decisions
I plan on sticking with one class but still unsure which of these 3 to stick with.
Ill more than likely go back to the human mage for a bit to see how things so.

Ivan

Its really all down to what you want out of the game. If you want to be able to just run in and club people over the heads then warrior is definitely for you. If you want to be all sneaky and kill unsuspecting people (and be label a "fag" for the rest of your wow experience ) then rogue is for you.

If you want to be a ranged spell caster then mage is the one. Though, personally, I would basically say a hunter is a mage (and alot of the times a better mage) but without all the magic and stuff

The fact of the matter is though, WoW is alot of fun. So, regardless of which class you pick, you will enjoy it tremendously (at least until 60 when class differences become a real issue)

Whatever you decide, just enjoy the game, before you become a grumpy old fart, like myself

Dcully

Dont suppose you have a fire/frost build with talent calculator or similar by chance?
Yes im a lazy git to make my own
Ive seen countless builds posted on the net ,i just might go with what you suggest,you seem to know what your talking about unlike me

Ivan

Well the build I use is: 0/18/33

http://www.wowhead.com/talent/?kZVg0zbcZVVG0oftVo

its a pseudo-jack of all trades build. It allows me to PvP to some effect with Pyroblast for an opener, followed by ignite/stunning scorchs, which have no tracer fire and are great for firing from behind trees

Winters Chill works quite nicely in places like Molten Core but I do seem to be about the only one in my guild that actually has it.

The more common builds in my guild are the 0/27/24; 0/24/27:
Frost/Fire

http://www.wowhead.com/talent/?RZEg0zbczZVVG0obth

Fire/Frost

http://www.wowhead.com/talent/?kZEg0zfczZVVG0obt

Arcane/Fire used to be the king for PvP and while I still miss Improved Counterspell and Presence of Mind, but the nerf to Arcane Power and its non-stacking nature makes it kinda less good.

http://www.wowhead.com/talent/?kbxEbMfouEgMz

Anyway, all of these are just off the top of my head, so arent 100% reliable, but anyway...

Enjoy

anonymous_joe

Mages are getting very powerful. A bevvy of them were nuking all and sundry earlier in WSG. Cold Blood Ambush Backstab Kidney Shot Thistle Tea still works though.