WOW-ONE Feenix Server

I see a lot of people saying you should not play on a private server . Many people , many reasons.
Bad scripting , bad community, no battlegrounds , no world pvp , etc

Let me share with you my experience with the Feenix server .
I started playing on this server with all this in mind . it will be a private server with bugs and downtimes etc.
Nothing could prepare me for what was going to happen.
So , here goes.
I was making my way up to rank 14 , High Warlord for the Horde.
If you don`t know , that involves a lot of time. Farming honor. Until rank 10 you farm alone if you are not in the PVE business.
After that , you can get in some premades , some bad some good , some will dodge other premades , some wont. This was back in 2011 before they introduced Naxx , now it is a different story with the r10 items.

Anyway , i was farming honor , i got to r13 , started my own premade to get to r14.
Funny thing happens. Alliance premade can`t steamroll our premade anymore . I dont say we win all the time, but they can`t farm honor anymore , they actually have to spend one hour or more in one WSG.
So this being a private server , there are some bugs you can exploit. One of them was charging over the tunnel, you would drop inside it.
So the alliance druid flag carrier would always stay there and charge.
I made a post on the forum , because he was breaking the server rules . Like any player would do.
Now this is what i did not expect.
I got an answer saying i`m provoking an exploit , and i should stop doing it.
In other words , i was not allowed to go after the EFC , because he would charge me and drop inside the tunnel and it was my fault .
I replied of course , that this is not reasonable and if the gamemasters of the server are playing alliance they should not take sides.
The answer i got , was , take a break or i will make you take one.
This was in my last week before R14.
I did not shut up or took a break , and i said it is not acceptable , he should not threaten me with banning me ingame for posting on the forum . Since i did not break any of the server rules , even if i post lies on the forum , i should be banned from the forum not the game.

But , private servers. I got banned instantly from the game , with no explanation , the thread from the forum was removed and i could not post anymore.
So. I invested a lot of time to get to r14 . and i got banned 2-3 days before honor reset so i could not turn in my marks and keep the standing one necessary. For posting on the forums.
Thank you Wow-one Feenix staff.

Years passed and i missed vanilla so i made a post on the forum to reactivate old character.
I got many people asking me , "wow , a random r13 ?" :why didnt u go for r14" etc .
I told some people the story and they were like " what did you do about it ? " or " do something about it"

I`m making this post . I don't want to post it on their forum because if the staff has not changed it will probably never be published , or maybe i will get banned again.

So , i`m not saying "Don't play on private servers" . I`m just saying expect more then bad scripting.

Vanilla Rogue Macros

Ambush and Weaponchange

/cast Ambush(rank 6)
/script PickupContainerItem (x, y)
/script PickupInventoryItem (16)
/script PickupContainerItem (x, y)
/script PickupInventoryItem (17)
/script AttackTarget();

x = The bag
y = The slot of the bag
After you used Ambush you can switch weapons back to Swords or maces (Kinda useful for enormous burst attacks)(this is meant for bosses NOT FOR PVP)

Bandages PVE & PVP

Pvp Bandage macro/script TargetUnit("Player")
/script UseContainerItem(x,y)
/script TargetLastEnemy();
 Pve Bandage macro/script TargetUnit("Player")
/script UseContainerItem(x,y)
/assist TargetUnit("Maintank") replace Maintank with the name of you tank

The advantage of the PvP macro is, that you retarget u last target after using a bandage, normal /targetlasttarget should do that, but that didn't exist in Classic xD
The PvE macro uses the assist mode, obvious why. no further explanation needed.

Poisons & sharpening Stones

Mainhand :
/script UseContainerItem(x, y)
/script PickupInventoryItem(16)
 
offhand :
/script UseContainerItem(x, y)
/script PickupInventoryItem(17)

applies the Poison/sharpening Stone to the chosen weapon(nothing more than saving time(Make sure to create 2 macros))

Attack the Nearest Enemy

/script TargetNearestEnemy();
/script AttackTarget();

kinda useless since we have the button T who does the exact same, but for Macros in combination to make sure that you actually attack, useful


Riposte & Sinister Strike

/script local isUsable, IsUsable = IsUsableAction (n);
if (isUsable) CastSpellByName("Riposte()") else 

CastSpellByName("Sinister Strike()");
end

a really simple macro for PvP Rogues, when you are spamming Sinister strike and dont watch for Reposte, this macro does the work for you.
it will use riposte when ever possible instead of Sinister strike, if its not possible, he keeps using sinister Strike, Simple or? xD
[it is necessary that Riposte is binded to the key n]

Alternative :

/script if (IsUsableAction(61)) then CastSpellByName("Riposte"); 

elseif not (IsUsableAction(61)) 

then CastSpellByName("Sinister Strike()");

end

Button 61 is on the Blizzard Standart frame the first button on the right bar, Riposte has to be there


Nearest Target Sap

/script ClearTarget()
/script TargetNearestEnemy()
/cast sap

In my opinion only really useful if you have skilled improved sap.

PvP Alternative

/script ClearTarget()
/script TargetNearestEnemyPlayer()
/cast sap

Stealth & Vanish

/script if (UnitAffectingCombat("player"))  

then CastSpellByName("Vanish()") 

elseif not (UnitAffectingCombat("player")) 

then CastSpellByName("Stealth()"); 

end

When you are not infight the macro will use Stealth, but if you are infight, it will use Vanish instead

Expose Armor without doing DMG

/script CastSpellByName("Expose Armor()")
/script StopAttack();

you could use that in Duels, when you Gauge an enemy, using this makro to reduce his armor without getting him out of the CC and than go into stealth, BÄM AMBUSH
now thats going to hurt

/cast Expose Armor(Rank 5)
/script AttackTarget();
/script ClearTarget();
/script TargetLastTarget();

Keep Autoattack up while spamming spells or Switching Targets

/script if not IsCurrentAction(35) then UseAction(35) end;
/cast Backstab

/script if not IsCurrentAction(35) then UseAction(35) end;
/cast Sinister Strike

Spamming the Stealth Button and dont unstealth after spamming it

stealth:
/script if not IsCurrentAction(34) then UseAction(34) end;

And the Button to Actually unstealth you

unstealth:
/script if IsCurrentAction(34) then UseAction(34) end;

A simple Rotation

/run SnD=false for i=1,16,1 do db=UnitBuff("player",i) 

if(db~=nil and string.find(db,"SliceDice"))

then SnD=true end end
/run if GetComboPoints("target")==5  

then CastSpellByName("Eviscerate()");

elseif SnD then CastSpellByName("Sinister Strike()");

elseif GetComboPoints("target")==0 

then CastSpellByName("Sinister Strike()"); 

else CastSpellByName("Slice and Dice()"); end

it Checks if Slice and Dice is up, if not he casts slice and dice.
if the Target has 5 combo points and SnD is up, he uses eviscerate
only pressing one button, a simple beginning, but more is following !

This Rotation is meant for Pve Sword Rogues who got improved SnD
you als no need SuperMacro because it exceeds the 255 char limit


Improved Rotation

/run RuP=false for r=1,16,1 do db=UnitDebuff("target",r) 

if(db~=nil and string.find(db,"Rupture")) 

then RuP=true end end
/run SnD=false for i=1,16,1 do db=UnitBuff("player",i) 

if(db~=nil and string.find(db,"SliceDice"))  

then SnD=true end end
/run if GetComboPoints("target")==5  

then CastSpellByName("Eviscerate()"); end
/run if GetComboPoints("target")==0  

then CastSpellByName("Sinister Strike()"); end
/run if SnD then CastSpellByName("Sinister Strike()");  

else CastSpellByName("Slice and Dice()"); end
/run if RuP then CastSpellByName("Sinister Strike()"); 

 else CastSpellByName("Rupture()"); end

Almost the same as above, but in this case it Checks if you have SnD up, if you dont he recasts it, but also checks if you have Rupture on the Enemy if not he recasts it if he has the Combopoints for it. if Rupture and SnD are up and you reach 5 Cp he does Eviscerate.

This Rotation is meant for Pve Sword Rogues who got improved SnD
you als no need SuperMacro because it exceeds the 255 char limit

If you actually combine this macro with "IsUsableSpell" and insert a spellreaction like Bladefury or Adrenaline Rush, you would have a complete rotation where you dont have to watch for CD's or keeping up your at all. just concentrate on movement and do the best of dps while u move, BUT this is just a theory! (alot of things would still be missing like Autoattack for switching targets and a macro if the current target is not a Boss to use something else, in order to do also MAX dps @trash)


Ambush, Coldblood & eviscerate

/run Stl=false for i=1,16 do db=UnitBuff("player",i) 

if(db~=nil and string.find(db,"Stealth")) 

then Stl=true end end
/script if Stl then CastSpellByName("Ambush()"); 

elseif not Stl then CastSpellByName("Cold Blood()"); 

elseif GetComboPoints("target")<0 

then CastSpellByName("Eviscerate()"); end

After using Ambush, instant pop Cold Blood and do eviscerate. Normaly i would like to add Trinkets like the AQ40 trashmob trinket or Ramsteins L Bolt trinket in order to make a oneshot macro, but since i dont have these items, it wont happen :3

/run SnD=false for i=1,32,1 do db=UnitBuff("player",i) 

if(db~=nil and string.find(db,"SliceDice")) 

then SnD=true end end
/run RuP=false for r=1,16,1 do ddb1=UnitDebuff("target",r)  

if(ddb1~=nil and string.find(ddb1,"Rupture")) 

then RuP=true end end
/run ExP=False for e=1,16,1 do ddb2=UnitDebuff("target",e) 

if(ddb2~=nil and string.find(ddb2,"Warrior_Riposte")) 

then ExP=true end end
/script AttackTarget();
/run if GetComboPoints("target")==0 

then CastSpellByName("Sinister Strike()"); end
/run if SnD then CastSpellByName("Sinister Strike()"); 

 else CastSpellByName("Slice and Dice()"); end
/run if ExP then CastSpellByName("Sinister Strike()"); 

 else CastSpellByName("Expose Armor()"); end
/run if RuP then CastSpellByName("Sinister Strike()"); 

 else CastSpellByName("Rupture()"); end

This Rotation is only desired to keep every debuff on the Enemy up, aswell SnD on yourself, the Priority is : "SnD > Expose Armor > Rupture" as Finisher.


PvP Macro to announce to Grab the Flag

/tf Enemy
/script if (UnitHealth('target')/UnitHealthMax('target')<0.20) 

then SendChatMessage("target has under 20 % Health, GRAB FLAG","PARTY"); 

end

This Macro recuires to have "targetFC",
it Will simply target the enemy Flag Carrier, check if the target is HP is below 20 % and then keep shoutin to remind the people to Grab the flag, and not only kill it!

 Trinket Macro

/script q = GetInventoryItemQuality("player", 14); if (q==4) 

then UseInventoryItem(14); end;
/script q = GetInventoryItemQuality("player", 13); if (q==4)  

then UseInventoryItem(13); end;
/cast Rupture

Action Bar Slots:

• 1 - 12 : Action Bar 1
• 13 - 24 : Action Bar 2
• 25 - 36 : Action Bar 3 (Right)
• 37 - 48 : Action Bar 4 (Right-2)
• 49 - 60 : Action Bar 5 (Bottom Left)
• 61 - 72 : Action Bar 6 (Bottom Right)
• 73 - 84 : Battle Stance (Warrior) or Stealth (Rogue)
• 85 - 96 : Defensive Stance (Warrior)
• 97 - 108 : Berserker Stance (Warrior)

Vanilla Shadow Priest know-how

The key to winning as a shadow priest in World of Warcraft pvp is to think like a tank instead of like a spellcaster. This is often a diffcult change of approach, especially for players who are used to playing their spellcaster as a "squishy" class, and who prefer to completely avoid close range combat.
Shadow Priests are an entirely different class and require a significant change in strategies in order to be successful. Shadow Priests lack the enormous crits, high-damage spells or mana efficiency of the traditional ranged spellcasting classes like mages, shamans and druids, and they lack the versatility of warlocks because they don't have pets or a large variety of spells.
What Shadow Priests lack in these areas they make up for in sheer stubbornness. Shadow Priests are without doubt the toughest spellcasting class for melee attackers to defeat, and they are a colossal headache for other spellcasters because of their ability to silence and mitigate damage.
There are three primary strengths around which players should build their shadow priest pvp strategies.
Shadow Priests have the highest physical damage mitigation of any spellcasting class. The combination of shadowform's damage reduction, the armor bonus from inner fire and the ability to raise a shield every 15 seconds makes it very unlikely that a melee attacker will accumulate adequate damage before their health is consumed by a shadow priest's damage over time spells and mind flay.
Using this class feature in combat against melee classes is simple. Don't run. In fact, don't move at all except to change directions for mind flay. As a shadow priest, you are gambling that shadow word: pain, devouring plague, mind flay and vampiric touch will deplete your opponent's health before they can break through your armor, armor bonuses and shields and outrun vampiric touch with their dps. A well-timed psychic scream, especially just before a mortal strike, eviscerate or windfury will often close the door on a shadow priest loss.
The second strength of the shadow priest is that shadow word: pain is the best damage over time spell in the game. Shadow word: pain has the highest per tick base damage and therefore benefits the most from shadow bonus damage. Unlike warlock damage over time spells, shadow word: pain can also cause a stun through the blackout talent, and in fact, rank one of this spell is often used as a ranged stun against running opponents such as a flag carrier in the Warsong Gulch PVP Battleground.
The third and probably most overlooked strength of the shadow priest in pvp is the ability to heal. While vampiric touch is indeed a nice ability, many shadow priest players overlook the importance of dropping shadowform when necessary. Shadowform is primarily an offensive class ability, and as such, should be viewed as optional from the standpoint of a pvp battle where health is becoming an issue, especially against a class with significant burst damage capability like a mage. Formidable is the shadow priest who lands a greater heal mid-battle against a class that cannot heal at all, especially if it crits.
The general philosophy of the shadow priest is one of constant attack. Shadow priests do not avoid, they do not run and they do not concern themselves with numbers of opponents. Compared to other spellcasters like warlocks, mages, druids and other priests, shadow priests are like blocks of solid iron to a melee opponent and very confusing to other spellcasters.
One of the best openings for a shadow priest is mind flay. As strange as it may sound, landing a mind flay at maximum range gives a shadow priest a variety of options. If the opponent chooses to close, they are walking right into a psychic scream and the loss of their trinket. If they choose to run, the shadow priest can simply allow shadow word: pain spells to tick while they try to stay in mind flay range. If the opponent answers with ranged attacks of their own, the shadow priest can simply answer with vampiric touch and give their opponent a large damage penalty while winding up a mind blast.
One important key to keep in mind while fighting in shadowform is that shadow word: pain, especially at maximum ranks is relatively expensive to cast at several hundred mana. Mind flay is far more versatile and far less expensive mana-wise, even though it does less damage. Shadow priests are notoriously mana-inefficient, and so must do what they can to preserve as much mana as possible by employing such strategies as downranking psychic scream and possibly putting a point in vampiric touch at higher levels.
Shadow priests have always been an extraordinarily powerful class and build for World of Warcraft PVP. The class is very simple and the bonuses and abilities in the shadow tree compliment each other in very powerful ways. The class is somewhat limited by a "come as you are" itemization system. The only true weakness the shadow priest suffers is the lack of efficient mana regeneration. However, with full mana, there is no class or build in World of Warcraft that can count a shadow priest as an automatic win.

everything you need to know about Mage class

Contents

I. Introduction

II. Arcane Talents

III. Fire Talents

IV. Frost Talents

V. Talent Builds

VI. Specs for Levelling

VII. Version History

I. Introduction

This post analyzes and discusses mage talents. It also serves as an introduction to the art of crafting a personal talent spec.

Talents in General

Once you reach level 10, you receive a talent point each level until level 60, amounting to a total of 51 talent points. These talents provide you with a way to customize your character to suit your playstyle and preferences. You can choose your talents by pressing the 'N' key and allocating your points by clicking. Note the three tabs at the bottom of the window: Arcane, Fire and Frost. These are referenced as 'talent trees' and are set up in tiers. You'll have to spend points in the shallow tiers before you can access the talents in the deeper tiers. Certain talents also require specific prerequisites before you can train in them.

Resetting Talents

For a fee, you can reset talents by speaking to any Mage class trainer. You pay to reset all of your talents at once, there is no way to undo one or two talents. The first time you reset your talents, it costs 1 gold. The next time it will be 5 gold, then 10 gold, then every time thereafter 5 more gold, e.g. 15, 20, 25, etc., all the way up to a maximum of 50 gold. However, the cost of resetting talents decays over time. This cost reduces by a rate of 5 gold per month to a minimum of 10 gold.

Note: If you have trained any talent-given spells such as Blast Wave, Pyroblast or Ice Barrier, you will have to rebuy Rank 2 and above when you retrain your talents.

There is no right way or wrong way to spec, and above all your spec should be tailored to the way you play. Enhance the aspects of the Mage that you most enjoy and take everything said in this guide with a grain of salt.

Talent Evaluation Methodology

I evaluate talents according to a five point methodology:

Damage -- Does this talent offer improvements to the damage potential of a mage?

Efficiency -- Does this talent help a mage be more mana efficient or have better threat reduction?

Survivability -- Will this talent make it easier for a mage to stay alive?

Control -- Does this talent influence the crowd control capabilities of the mage?

Equivalence (=) -- Can this talent be replaced via gear or does the talent add something unique and different that isn't available by other means?

Also, if there are powerful talent synergies worth mentioning, they are listed under "Use With:" for the particular talents involved.

Finally, I offer a five star rating for the talent in three areas: PvP, Raiding (Raid) and Levelling (Level).

The five star rating translates thus:

* Not useful, no impact at all on this area

** Slightly useful, but doesn't affect a core aspect of this area

*** Moderately useful, good in certain situations

**** Useful, a solid talent for this area

***** Very useful, one of the best talents for this area

II. Arcane Talents

Arcane Subtlety (2 ranks)

Reduces your target's resistance to all your spells by 5/10 and all of your Arcane spells cause 20/40% less threat.

D: Up to 2.5% more dps.

E: 20/40% threat reduction on Arcane spells.

S: No effect.

C: Up to a 3% lesser chance of having your Polymorph resisted.

=: Equivalent to gear with 10 spell penetration. This talent is the only way of getting any threat reduction on Arcane spells, aside from much smaller reductions possible through some very expensive enchants.

PvP: *

Raid: **

Level: *

Notes: Not worth taking on its own, but can serve as viable filler.

Arcane Focus (5 ranks)

Reduces the chance that the opponent can resist your Arcane spells by 2/4/6/8/10%.

D: Up to 10% more DPS on Arcane Spells (You'll need to be hitting an enemy 3+ levels above you to get full value out of this talent).

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: Works for Polymorph.

=: Equivalent to gear with 10% chance to hit with spells (only for Arcane).

PvP: **

Raid: **

Level: **

Notes: Out of all the first tier Arcane talents, this one has the most all-around usefulness.

Improved Arcane Missiles (5 ranks)

Gives you a 20/40/60/80/100% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while channeling Arcane Missiles.

D: No effect.

E: No loss of channeled damage due to taking damage.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: The only other ways to reduce lost casting time from damage is via Power Word: Shield, Ice Barrier or similar damage absorption/immunity spells and effects.

PvP: *

Raid: **

Level: *

Notes: While Arcane Missiles are not the best damage spell, they can be viable as while not optimum, they are always useful (at the time of this writing, very few mobs are immune to Arcane).

Use With: Arcane Focus, Arcane Subtlety -- Might as well improve Arcane Missiles all the way.

Wand Specialization (2 ranks)

Increases your damage with Wands by 13/25%

D: Up to 25% more dps... with wands.

E: Wands take no mana.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: Equivalent to getting a better wand; in the event you have the best possible wand, this talent has no equal.

PvP: *

Raid: *

Level: *

Notes: Mages wand as a last resort; it isn't a good idea to spend talent points improving something that (ideally) will never be used.

Magic Absorption (5 ranks)

When you resist a spell, you regain 1/2/3/4/5% of your max. mana and increases all resistances by 2/4/6/8/10

D: No effect.

E: Entirely dependent on the resist gear you're wearing.

S: Slight resistance boost.

C: No effect.

=: No other way to get this effect.

PvP: **

Raid: **

Level: *

Notes: This could be of use in raiding, especially in encounters that rely on a mage having a high level of a resist (e.g. Ragnaros). That said, mages tend to have many other viable, more reliable mana recovery options already.

Arcane Concentration (5 ranks)

Gives you a 2/4/6/8/10% chance of entering a Clearcasting state after any damage spell hits a target. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%

D: No effect.

E: Up to a 10% mana cost reduction; not quite that much in practice.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: No other way of getting this effect.

PvP: ***

Raid: *****

Level: ****

Notes: Useful mostly for PvE situations, where mana conservation is of consideration. Since it works off of any damage spell, it's one of the most best talents in the Arcane tree. You can cast low mana cost/high efficiency spells (such as Scorch or Frostbolt) until you get a clearcast and then use a high mana cost spell (such as Arcane Missiles, Flamestrike or Blizzard) thus boosting your net mana efficiency. Definitely pick up this talent if you're spending points in Arcane.

Magic Attunement (2 ranks)

Increases the effect of your Amplify Magic and Dampen Magic spells by 25/50%

D: No effect.

E: No effect.

S: Slightly less damage taken from enemy spells (~45 damage at max rank).

C: No effect.

=: No other way of obtaining this effect.

PvP: **

Raid: **

Level: *

Notes: Best used for solo PvP and raiding situations that have frequent amounts of low damage. Note that for periodic effects, such as Shadow Word: Pain or other DoTs, dampen magic only applies to the total damage not to each period, thus greatly lessening its utility against DoTs.

Improved Arcane Explosion (3 ranks)

Increases the critical strike chance of your Arcane Explosion spell by an additional 2/4/6%

D: 6% more crit on AE

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: Same effect can be obtained through gear with +6% crit.

PvP: **

Raid: **

Level: **

Notes: Useful if you see yourself doing a lot of AoE grinding, or tend to play Alterac Valley a lot. Also good for those who wish to get a little extra boost from AE encounters for damage meters in raids.

Arcane Resilience (1 rank)

Increases your armor by an amount equal to 50% of your Intellect.

D: No effect.

E: No effect.

S: Typically this will be about 150-200 extra armor.

C: No effect.

=: No other way to get this particular effect; however, by simply switching around to use gear with more armor you can obtain the same armor bonus.

PvP: ***

Raid: *

Level: *

Notes: It's basically 150 armor for one talent point. Compares favorably with Improved Frost Ward (168 more armor on Ice Armor for 2 talent points). Not that useful for non-PvP situations, but worth it if you're investing in Arcane and have PvP in mind.

Improved Mana Shield (2 ranks)

Decreases the mana lost per point of damage taken when Mana Shield is active by 10/20%

D: No effect.

E: Makes mana shield take less of your mana.

S: Less mana lost translates directly into more mana shields.

C: No effect.

=: No other way to obtain this talent; PvP Gloves give a flat bonus (+285) to Mana Shield absorption.

PvP: ****

Raid: *

Level: *

Notes: Worth picking up for PvP, but not particularly useful outside of PvP.

Improved Counterspell (2 ranks)

Gives Counterspell a 50/100% chance to silence the target for 4 sec.

D: No effect.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: A 4s shutdown vs. casters. Note it can be resisted, however.

=: No other way to obtain this effect.

PvP: *****

Raid: **

Level: **

Notes: One of the best PvP talents there is. Four seconds can oftentimes be an eternity. Certain classes (priests come to mind) can be completely undone with a well timed Counterspell: Silence -- an interrupted heal, no healing for 10 seconds and no casting at all for 4 seconds. You can also cast it before any spells are cast as a blanket silence; this is useful when you're frontloading on a target (presumably sheeped) and want to take away any opportunities they might have for counterplay. Immunity effects such as Divine Shield work through silence, so keep that in mind if you find yourself fighting them.

Arcane Meditation (3 ranks)

Allows 5/10/15% of your Mana regeneration to continue while casting.

D: No effect.

E: Allows for your mana pool to last longer.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: Same effect as Mage Armor; stacks with Mage Armor, however.

PvP: *

Raid: ****

Level: **

Notes: A very solid raiding talent if you're looking to maximize the damage you get out of your mana. If you have a lot of +spirit gear, this talent will be more useful; combined with Mage Armor, you'll have 45% mana regen while casting.

Use With: Mage Armor

Presence of Mind (1 rank)

Instant/3min. cooldown - When activated, your next Mage spell with a casting time less than 10 sec becomes an instant cast spell.

D: Best burst dps increase in the game.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: Allow for instant-cast Polymorph.

=: No way to get this exact effect; 8-piece Netherwind bonus is similar, however.

PvP: *****

Raid: **

Level: ***

Notes: One of the strongest PvP talents, if only for its burst damage potential. It is, however, dispellable.

Use With: Arcane Power, Pyroblast, Flamestrike

Arcane Mind (5 ranks)

Increases your maximum Mana by 2/4/6/8/10%

D: No effect.

E: No effect.

S: More mana can only be good.

C: No effect.

=: Equivalent to getting more +int and +mana gear; in the event you already have the best +int and +mana gear, or don't wish to wear gear just to get more mana, this talent has no equal.

PvP: ***

Raid: ****

Level: ***

Notes: If you're this deep into the Arcane tree and are looking at going deeper, this talent offers a great place to spend points. If you have 6000 mana, this talent will give you about an extra 600 mana.

Arcane Instability (3 ranks)

Increases your spell damage and critical strike chance by 1/2/3%

D: 3% more damage and 3% more crit

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: 3% crit gear and then however much +dmg gear is 3% more for a particular spell.

PvP: ****

Raid: ****

Level: ****

Notes: A very solid talent; note it works for all spells, not just Arcane ones.

Arcane Power (1 rank)

Instant/3min. cooldown - When activated, your spells deal 30% more damage while costing 30% more mana to cast. This effect lasts 15 sec.

D: 30% more damage.

E: Makes your spells less efficient.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: No other way to get this effect.

PvP: ****

Raid: ***

Level: ***

Notes: Combined with PoM, this is the strongest burst damage combo in the game. It is, however, dispellable.

Use With: Presence of Mind

III. Fire Talents

Improved Fireball (5 ranks)

Reduces the casting time of your Fireball spell by 0.1 sec.

D: Up to a 16% dps increase.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: No other way to reduce Fireball cast time in this manner.

PvP: ***

Raid: *****

Level: ****

Notes: Great for raiding and levelling; the 3s cast time on Fireball makes it of limited use in PvP (aside from sniping situations a la Alterac Valley).

Impact (5 ranks)

Gives your Fire spells a 2/4/6/8/10% chance to stun the target for 2 sec.

D: No effect.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: A chance to stun.

=: No other way to obtain a chance to stun on Fire spells.

PvP: *****

Raid: ***

Level: ****

Notes: Incredibly powerful in PvP as nothing is more frustrating than not being able to do anything to counter a mage. Not so great for raiding since many mobs are immune to stuns. Combined with an AoE fire spell, it has the potential to stun multiple targets.

Use With: Flamestrike, Blast Wave

Ignite (5 ranks)

Your critical strikes from Fire damage spells cause the target to burn for an additional 8/16/24/32/40% of your spells damage over 4 sec.

D: Your crits will now do 210% damage (over time) rather than just 150%.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: No other way to obtain this effect.

PvP: ****

Raid: ***

Level: ***

Notes: Dispellable.

Flame Throwing (2 ranks)

Increases the range of your fire spells by 3/6 yards.

D: Your damage spells now can hit from further away.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: There's no other way to increase the range on your fire spells.

PvP: ****

Raid: ***

Level: ****

Notes: The extra range on Fire Blast alone makes this talent worth it; the fact that it also works for Scorch and Fireball is icing on the cake.

Use With: Fire Blast, Fireball

Improved Fire Blast (3 ranks)

Reduces the cooldown of your Fire Blast spell by 0.5/1/1.5 sec.

D: You can use Fire Blast ~23% more often.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: No effect.

PvP: ****

Raid: ***

Level: ***

Notes: Now only 3 points, this talent is well worth it for almost any Fire mage.

Use With: Flame Throwing, Incinerate, Ignite

Incinerate (2 ranks)

Increases the critical strike chance of your Fire Blast and Scorch spells by 2/4%.

D: +4% crit on Fire Blast and Scorch

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: Equivalent to 4% crit gear; the talent is limited to only improving Fire Blast and Scorch.

PvP: ****

Raid: ***

Level: ***

Notes: Useful for a PvP Fire Mage; as well as for PvE mages built around Scorch/Fire Blast.

Use With: Improved Scorch, Ignite, Improved Fire Blast

Improved Flamestrike (3 ranks)

Increases the critical strike chance of your Flamestrike spell by 5/10/15%

D: +15% chance to crit on Flamestrike

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: Equal to +15% crit gear; the talent is Flamestrike specific however.

PvP: ***

Raid: **

Level: **

Notes: Try a PoM Flamestrike followed by a Blast Wave -or- Flamestrike, followed by Blast Wave and Nova CoC. Basically this talent enhances your AoE damage abilities. Not that useful outside of PvP.

Use With: Presence of Mind, Blast Wave

Pyroblast (1 rank)

6 sec cast/35 yd range - Hurls an immense fiery boulder that causes 716 to 890 Fire damage and an additional 268 Fire damage over 12 sec.

D: A harder hitting, longer casting, Fireball with a long DoT.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: No other way to learn Pyroblast.

PvP: **

Raid: **

Level: **

Notes: In PvP, this talent is pretty worthless without PoM; for levelling it's a decent opening shot... There is no cooldown on this spell any more. The DoT on this spell is handy vs. rogues, provided you can sheep them to set up the long cast time.

Use With: Presence of Mind

Burning Soul (2 ranks)

Gives your fire spells a 35/70% chance to not lose casting time when you take damage and reduces threat by 15/30%.

D: No effect.

E: Far fewer interrupts on Fire spells.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: The only other ways to reduce lost casting time from damage is via Power Word: Shield, Ice Barrier or similar damage absorption/immunity spells and effects. This talent is the only way of getting any threat reduction on Fire spells, aside from much smaller reductions possible through some very expensive enchants.

PvP: ****

Raid: ****

Level: **

Notes: A solid talent for PvP and PvE. Scorch, with its short cast time, will rarely have its cast time set back due to damage.

Use With: Scorch

Improved Scorch (3 ranks)

Your Scorch spells have a 33/66/100% chance to cause your target to be vulnerable to Fire damage. This vulnerability increase the Fire damage dealt to your target by 3% and lasts 30 sec. Stacks up to 5 times.

D: Up to 15% extra damage on all Fire spells.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: No other way to get this effect.

PvP: **

Raid: *****

Level: **

Notes: It's worth having at least one Fire mage in your raid have this talent, so that all Fire Mages and Fire-using Warlocks can get 15% extra damage.

Improved Fire Ward (2 ranks)

Causes your Fire Ward to have a 10/20% chance to reflect Fire spells while active.

D: No effect.

E: No effect.

S: Might help in fire heavy areas, but I doubt the ward will last long enough.

C: No effect.

=: Similar to Engineering's Flame Reflector.

PvP: **

Raid: *

Level: *

Notes: The talent is sort of at odds with the ward; if you're taking damage, the ward will get used up, and then you won't have any chance to reflect Fire spells. So you might get lucky and reflect back a big Fire spell; then again, you might not. All in all, there are better places to spend points once you consider how few sources of Fire damage there are in PvP (mages, locks, shamans) and that most things that deal Fire damage in PvE are immune to it.

Master of Elements (3 ranks)

Your Fire and Frost spell criticals will refund 10/20/30% of their base mana cost.

D: No effect.

E: A weak version of Clearcast. You'll need over a 30%+ crit rate to have equal or greater returns.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: No other way to get this particular effect.

PvP: **

Raid: ****

Level: **

Notes: You can, of course, get both MoE and Clearcast... If you do get this talent, include gear and talents that raise your crit raid.

Use With: Incinerate, Critical Mass

Critical Mass (3 ranks)

Increases the critical strike chance of your fire spells by 2/4/6%.

D: 6% more crit on all Fire spells

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: Equal to 6% crit gear.

PvP: ****

Raid: ***

Level: ***

Notes: A solid talent on its own. Critical strikes do have added threat and thus aren't overly desirable in raiding.

Use With: Master of Elements, Ignite

Blast Wave (1 rank)

Instant/45 sec cooldown - A wave of flame radiates outward from the caster, damaging all enemies caught within the blast for 462 to 544 Fire damage, and dazing them for 6 sec.

D: Another instant cast PBAoE.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: Another instant cast snare.

=: The only way to get the spell.

PvP: ****

Raid: **

Level: **

Notes: The 'daze' mentioned in the talent description is basically a 6s duration 50% snare. Mostly useful in PvP.

Use With: Ignite, Impact, Critical Mass

Fire Power (5 ranks)

Increases the damage done by your fire spells by 2/4/6/8/10%.

D: A flat +10% damage increase on all Fire spells.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: However much +dmg gear is equivalent to 10% more.

PvP: ****

Raid: ****

Level: ****

Notes: More damage is good, and this talent applies its multipler to your +dmg gear, which means it scales as your gear gets better.

Combustion (1 rank)

Instant/3 min cooldown -When activated, this spell causes each Fire damage spell you cast to increase your critical strike chance with Fire damage spells by 10%. This effect lasts until you have caused 3 critical strikes with Fire spells.

D: Basically guarantees 3 crits within 7 casts.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: No other way to obtain this effect.

PvP: **

Raid: ****

Level: ***

Notes: Best used for sustained dps situations.

III. Frost Talents

Frost Warding (2 ranks)

Increases the armor and resistances given by your Frost Armor and Ice Armor spells by 15/30%. In addition, gives your Frost Ward a 10% chance to reflect Frost spells and effects while active.

D: No effect.

E: No effect.

S: 168 extra armor at level 60.

C: No effect.

=: Armor is equal to wearing 168 extra armor;

PvP: ***

Raid: *

Level: *

Notes: You do not need the ward on to get the extra armor.

Improved Frostbolt (5 ranks)

Reduces the casting time of your Frostbolt spell by 0.1/.2/.3/.4/.5 sec.

D: Up to a 20% dps increase.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: No other way to reduce Frostbolt's casting time.

PvP: ****

Raid: ****

Level: ****

Notes: An excellent upgrade to Frostbolt. Note that this makes Rank 1 Frostbolt a 1s cast, which is good to use for quck snares.

Elemental Focus (3 ranks)

Increases chance to hit with Fire and Frost spells by 2/4/6%

D: Up to a 6% dps increase.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: Equal to +6% hit gear.

PvP: ***

Raid: ****

Level: ***

Notes: Useful for ensuring spells land on higher level foes when levelling up; also reduces resists in raiding and PvP.

Ice Shards (5 ranks)

Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Frost spells by 20/40/60/80/100%

D: Makes Frost crits for 200% rather than 150%.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: No other way of obtaining this effect.

PvP: ****

Raid: ****

Level: ***

Notes: A solid

Use With: Shatter

Frostbite (3 ranks)

Gives your Chill effects a 5/10/15% chance to freeze the target for 5 sec.

D: No effect.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: This will proc off of Ice Armor, thus auto-rooting any enemy melee attackers.

=: No other way of obtaining this exact effect. The world drop epic Freezing Band has a weaker reactive-only effect.

PvP: ****

Raid: **

Level: ***

Notes: Good in PvP, not so great in raiding since most bosses are immune to being Frozen. A notable exception is Ragnaros.

Use With: Shatter

Improved Frost Nova (2 ranks)

Reduces the cooldown of your Frost Nova spell by 2/4 sec.

D: No effect.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: Allows you to Frost Nova approximately 20% more often.

=: No other way of reducing Frost Nova's cooldown.

PvP: ****

Raid: **

Level: ***

Notes: Once again, a PvP talent. Most raid bosses are immune to freezes.

Use With: Shatter

Permafrost (3 ranks)

Increases the duration of your Chill effects by 1/2/3 sec and reduces the target's speed by an additional 4/7/10%.

D: No effect.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: Makes all your chills last longer and be stronger.

=: No other way of obtaining this effect.

PvP: ***

Raid: **

Level: **

Notes: Not so great for Frostbolt, since you're typically chain casting Frostbolt anyway. Best used with Improved Blizzard. It's worth noting that it does work on Ice Armor's proc.

Use With: Improved Blizzard

Piercing Ice (3 ranks)

Increases the damage done by your Frost spells by 2/4/6%

D: 6% more damage.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: However much +dmg gear is equivalent to 6% more.

PvP: ****

Raid: ****

Level: ***

Notes: More damage is good, and this talent applies its multipler to your +dmg gear, which means it scales as your gear gets better.

Cold Snap (1 rank)

Instant/10 min cooldown - When activated, this spell finishes the cooldown on all your Frost spells.

D: No effect.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: Eliminates any remaining time on your Frost spells.

=: No other way of obtaining this effect.

PvP: ****

Raid: ***

Level: ***

Notes: Mostly useful for PvP where an extra Frost Nova/Cone of Cold combo or another Ice Block is most useful. Worth picking up as you go deeper in the Frost tree, as it's a solid talent, althought its own cooldown is somewhat long (10m).

Use With: Ice Block, Ice Barrier, Frost Nova, Cone of Cold

Improved Blizzard (3 ranks)

Adds a chill effect to your Blizzard spell. This effect lowers the target's movement speed by 30/50/65%. Lasts 1.5 sec.

D: No effect.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: This makes Blizzard into the best AoE snare in the game.

=: No other way of obtaining this effect.

PvP: ****

Raid: ***

Level: ***

Notes: Best used in Alterac Valley or other places with tightly clustered groups of enemies (e.g. around Arathi Basin flags or WSG flag rooms). Also has select uses in raids (e.g. can be used in Nefarian's room). Finally, this can be the cornerstone of an AoE kiting levelling build if combined with Permafrost (which makes the snare last 4.5s).

Use With: Permafrost, 5 piece Netherwind set bonus for a truly massive AoE snare

Arctic Reach (2 ranks)

Increases the range of your Frostbolt and Blizzard spells and the radius of your Frost Nova and Cone of Cold spells by 10/20%.

D: Adds 6 yards to your Frost Nova.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: Increases the radius of Frost Nova and Cone of Cold by 20%.

=: No other way of obtaining this effect.

PvP: ****

Raid: ****

Level: ****

Notes: More range is a good thing. This bumps Frostbolt over 30 yards, which is the radius for many raid bosses' area effect abilities.

--

Frost Channeling (3 ranks)

Reduces the mana cost of your frost spells by 5/10/15% and reduces threat caused by Frost spells by 10/20/30%.

D: No effect.

E: Frost spells cost 15% less mana.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: This talent is the only way of getting any threat reduction on Frost spells, aside from much smaller reductions possible through some very expensive enchants. Also, this talent is the only way to get any mana cost reduction on Frost spells.

PvP: **

Raid: *****

Level: ***

Notes: A cornerstone of a mana efficient raiding build.

Shatter (5 ranks)

Increases the critical strike chance of all your spells against frozen targets by 10/20/30/40/50%.

D: +50% crit chance vs.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: No other way of obtaining this effect.

PvP: *****

Raid: **

Level: ***

Notes: Frost's burst dps potential lies around the careful use of this talent. Note that it also works with non-Frost talents. Combine this talent with AoEs and/or +crit talents to obtain near certain crits on frozen targets.

Use With: Frostbite, Improved Cone of Cold, Frost Nova, Blast Wave, Flamestrike, Critical Mass, Arcane Instability, Improved Arcane Explosion, Improved Flamestrike

Ice Block (1 rank)

Instant/5 min cooldown - You become encased in a block of ice, protecting you from all physical attacks and spells for 10 sec, but during that time you cannot attack, move or cast spells.

D: No effect.

E: No effect.

S: 10 seconds of complete immunity.

C: 10 seconds of being unable to do anything; you can right-click on the buff to cancel the Ice Block early

=: No other way of obtaining this effect.

PvP: *****

Raid: ****

Level: **

Notes: You can be healed while Ice Blocked. Thus if you are getting focus-fired, hit Ice Block and wait for a healer to heal you. Then when you get healed, you can drop Ice Block and go back to work.

Use With: Cold Snap

Improved Cone of Cold (3 ranks)

Increases the damage dealt by your Cone of Cold spell by 15/25/35%

D: +35% to Cone of Cold damage

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: However much +dmg gear is equivalent to 35% more damage on Cone of Cold.

PvP: ****

Raid: **

Level: ***

Notes: Useful if you're relying on Nova+CoC combos for burst. If you're just using CoC as another snare, it isn't worth grabbing this talent. Has some use for Frost kiting levelling builds.

Use With: Shatter, Frost Nova

Winter's Chill (5 ranks)

Frost spells cause a debuff that increases chance to crit with frost effects by 1%, which stacks up to 10 times

D: Up to 10% more crits on Frost spells.

E: No effect.

S: No effect.

C: No effect.

=: No other way of obtaining this efefct.

PvP: **

Raid: ****

Level: **

Notes: You want at least one Frost mage to have this talent in your raid.

Ice Barrier (1 rank)

Instant/30 sec cooldown - Instantly shields you, absorbing 818 damage. Lasts 1 min. While the shield holds, spells will not be interrupted. Now stacks with PW: Shield and gains 10% of +Frost dmg gear. Absorb effects now prioritized over Mana Shield.

D: No effect.

E: No effect.

S: Effectively 818 (or more) hit points every 30 seconds.

C: No effect.

=: Very similar to Power Word: Shield, fortunately it stacks with it now (it used to get overwritten by it).

PvP: ****

Raid: ****

Level: **

Notes: It can be dispelled. It gains 10% from any +dmg that affects Frost, thus "Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to XX" will affect it.

Use With: Cold Snap

V. Talent Builds

I strongly urge you to use others' builds as starting points in the development of your own, unique build tailored to fit your exact playstyle.

I will, however, quickly list some of the most popular builds:

AP PoM Pyro

The classic Arcane Power Presence of Mind Pyroblast redone for 1.11. The best burst damage in the game at the price of being a 3 minute wonder.

Arcane (31 points)

2/2 Arcane Subtlety

4/5 Arcane Focus

5/5 Arcane Concentration

2/2 Magic Attunement

3/3 Improved Arcane Explosion

1/1 Arcane Resilience

2/2 Improved Mana Shield

2/2 Improved Counterspell

1/1 Presence of Mind

5/5 Arcane Mind

3/3 Arcane Instability

1/1 Arcane Power

Fire (20 points)

5/5 Improved Fireball

5/5 Impact

5/5 Ignite

2/2 Flame Throwing

2/3 Improved Fire Blast

1/1 Pyroblast

Frost (0 points)

None

Classic Frost

The classic 33/18 (now 34/17) Frost control build redone for 1.11.

Arcane (17 points)

2/2 Arcane Subtlety

4/5 Arcane Focus

5/5 Arcane Concentration

2/2 Magic Attunement

2/3 Improved Arcane Explosion

2/2 Improved Counterspell

Fire (0 points)

None

Frost (34 points)

5/5 Improved Frostbolt

3/3 Elemental Precision

5/5 Ice Shards

3/3 Frostbite

2/2 Improved Frost Nova

3/3 Piercing Ice

1/1 Cold Snap

2/2 Arctic Reach

5/5 Shatter

1/1 Ice Block

3/3 Improved Cone of Cold

1/1 Ice Barrier

Heavy Fire PoM

The classic 30/21 Fire build redone for 1.11.

Arcane (21 points)

2/2 Arcane Subtlety

4/5 Arcane Focus

5/5 Arcane Concentration

2/2 Magic Attunement

2/3 Improved Arcane Explosion

1/1 Arcane Resilience

2/2 Improved Mana Shield

2/2 Improved Counterspell

1/1 Presence of Mind

Fire (30 points)

5/5 Improved Fireball

5/5 Impact

5/5 Ignite

2/2 Flame Throwing

1/2 Incinerate

1/1 Pyroblast

2/2 Burning Soul

3/3 Critical Mass

1/1 Blast Wave

5/5 Fire Power

Frost (0 points)

None

Deep Frost PoM

The classic 30/21 Frost build redone for 1.11.

[indent] Q u o t e:

Arcane (21 points)

2/2 Arcane Subtlety

4/5 Arcane Focus

5/5 Arcane Concentration

2/2 Magic Attunement

2/3 Improved Arcane Explosion

1/1 Arcane Resilience

2/2 Improved Mana Shield

2/2 Improved Counterspell

1/1 Presence of Mind

Fire (0 points)

None

Frost (30 points)

5/5 Improved Frostbolt

5/5 Ice Shards

3/3 Frostbite

2/2 Improved Frost Nova

3/3 Piercing Ice

1/1 Cold Snap

2/2 Arctic Reach

5/5 Shatter

1/1 Ice Block

3/3 Improved Cone of Cold

Frost PvP Elementalist w/ Ice Barrier

Focused on PvPing as a Frost-heavy Elementalist, using Frostbolt/Fire Blast.

Arcane (0 points)

None

Fire (17 points)

5/5 Impact

5/5 Ignite

2/2 Flame Throwing

3/3 Improved Fire Blast

2/2 Incinerate

Frost (34 points)

5/5 Improved Frostbolt

3/3 Elemental Precision

5/5 Ice Shards

3/3 Frostbite

2/2 Improved Frost Nova

3/3 Piercing Ice

1/1 Cold Snap

2/2 Arctic Reach

5/5 Shatter

1/1 Ice Block

3/3 Improved Cone of Cold

1/1 Ice Barrier

PvP Elementalist w/ Blast Wave

Focused on PvPing as a Fire-heavy Elementalist, using Scorch/Fire Blast and Shatter.

Arcane (0 points)

None

Fire (30 points)

5/5 Impact

5/5 Ignite

2/2 Flame Throwing

3/3 Improved Fire Blast

2/2 Incinerate

1/1 Pyroblast

2/2 Burning Soul

1/3 Master of Elements

3/3 Critical Mass

1/1 Blast Wave

5/5 Fire Power

Frost (21 points)

2/2 Frost Warding

3/3 Elemental Precision

3/3 Frostbite

2/2 Improved Frost Nova

1/3 Permafrost

3/3 Piercing Ice

1/1 Cold Snap

5/5 Shatter

1/1 Ice Block

Raiding Elementalist

Focused entirely on raiding while being able to use both Frost and Fire damage.

Arcane (0 points)

None

Fire (28 points)

5/5 Improved Fireball

5/5 Ignite

2/2 Flame Throwing

2/2 Incinerate

2/2 Burning Soul

3/3 Improved Scorch

3/3 Master of Elements

3/3 Critical Mass

3/5 Fire Power

Frost (23 points)

5/5 Improved Frostbolt

3/3 Elemental Precision

5/5 Ice Shards

3/3 Piercing Ice

1/1 Cold Snap

2/2 Arctic Reach

3/3 Frost Channeling

1/1 Ice Block

Fire Raider

Focused entirely on raiding using Fire damage.

Arcane (18 points)

2/2 Arcane Subtlety

5/5 Improved Arcane Missiles

5/5 Arcane Concentration

2/2 Magic Attunement

1/1 Arcane Resilience

3/3 Arcane Meditation

Fire (33 points)

5/5 Improved Fireball

5/5 Ignite

2/2 Flame Throwing

2/3 Improved Fire Blast

2/2 Incinerate

2/2 Burning Soul

3/3 Improved Scorch

3/3 Master of Elements

3/3 Critical Mass

5/5 Fire Power

1/1 Combustion

Frost (0 points)

None

Frost Raider

Focused entirely on raiding using Frost damage.

Arcane (29 points)

2/2 Arcane Subtlety

3/5 Arcane Focus

4/5 Magic Absorption

5/5 Arcane Concentration

1/1 Arcane Resilience

2/2 Improved Counterspell

3/3 Arcane Meditation

1/1 Presence of Mind

5/5 Arcane Mind

3/3 Arcane Instability

Fire (0 points)

None

Frost (22 points)

5/5 Improved Frostbolt

3/3 Elemental Precision

5/5 Ice Shards

3/3 Piercing Ice

2/2 Arctic Reach

3/3 Frost Channeling

1/1 Ice Block

VI. Specs for Levelling

The goal of a levelling spec is to first maximize killing speed while minimizing downtime. I'll offer two levelling specs: one for fire mages and one for frost mages. There isn't much point to an arcane levelling spec as most of the talents in that line aren't conducive to levelling. As to Fire or Frost, it's personal preference for the most part; that said, Fire mages typically kill faster because of Fire's higher dps.

The levelling builds stop at level 39 because, at level 40, I recommend respeccing to a build close to your target level 60 build so that you can learn how to play it well. At level 40 you have 31 talent points, which is enough to get to the bottom any talent tree you desire.

Fire Levelling Spec

Levels 10-14:

Improved Fireball

Why? Best DPS increase available.

Levels 15-16:

Flame Throwing

Why? More range means you'll be able to cast more Fireballs before you get hit.

Levels 17-21:

Impact

Why? A chance to stun means you'll be able to cast more Fireballs before you get hit.

Levels 22-23:

Burning Soul

Why? This will let you get off casts even while getting hit.

Levels 24-28:

Ignite

Why? Get more damage out of your crits.

Levels 29-31:

Master of Elements

Why? Obtain mana back from your crits.

Levels 32-34:

Critical Mass

Why? Crit more often.

Levels 35-39:

Fire Power

Why? A raw damage increase.

Frost Levelling Spec

Levels 10-14:

Improved Frostbolt

Why? The best DPS increase available.

Levels 15-17:

Frostbite:

Why? The chance to root at range means you'll be able to cast more Frostbolts before the mob gets to you.

Levels 18-22:

Ice Shards

Why? Make your crits hit for more.

Level 23:

Cold Snap

Why? Be able to reset Frost Nova on demand for added survivability.

Levels 24-26:

Piercing Ice

Why? Raw dps increase.

Levels 27-28:

Improved Frost Nova

Why? Prereq to Shatter.

Levels 29-33:

Shatter

Why? Benefit from Frostbite and Nova+CoC combos for when the mob gets close.

Levels 34-35:

Arctic Reach

Why? More range means more Frostbolts; also a greater radius for Nova and CoC.

Levels 36-38:

Frost Channeling

Why? Better mana efficiency.

Level 39:

Ice Block

Why? Emergency button worth having even if soloing -- you can use it to wait for a Nova reset or a Blink recharge.