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WoW: Forever · Client build 1.60.1.70755

Mage

Specs

Tier list →

Arcane

Ranged damage
  • OverallD5.1
  • PvED5.2
  • PvPD5.0
  • LevelingD4.9

Stat prioritySpell power (Arcane) > hit > haste > Intellect > crit > Spirit; Intellect is unusually strong (Arcane Blast, Arcane Mind, Arcane Wrath)

ArmorCloth only at every level; no shields or relics

In a group
Heals othersHeals others: 0/3No heals; Amplify Magic (18) only raises the healing a party member receives (and their spell damage taken).
TanksTanks: 0/3Ranged DPS only; Blizzard calls Mages 'extremely fragile' in melee; no taunt or threat tools.
Many enemies at onceMany enemies at once: 3/3Arcane Explosion (14) with Arcane Subtlety's threat cut, Flamestrike (16), Blizzard (20), Cone of Cold (26); 'very strong AoE' in dungeons despite the anti-farm nerfs.
Lasts without drinkingLasts without drinking: 1/3'Mana hungry': conjures its own water, Evocation (20), mana gems (28), Arcane Meditation plus Mage Armor (34) regen while casting; still drinks a lot.
Keeps the others goingKeeps the others going: 3/3Conjure Water (4) and Food (6), 20 bottles per cast at 60, tradeable; Arcane Intellect (1), Arcane Brilliance (56).
PvP controlPvP control: 3/3Polymorph (8), Frost Nova (10), Counterspell (24) with Improved Counterspell's guaranteed 2/4 s silence, Cone of Cold slows (Frost Blast was removed on 2026-11-03).
PvP burstPvP burst: 3/3Presence of Mind (30) plus Arcane Power (40, +30% damage) on 4-stack Arcane Blast and Arcane Wrath (25); 'high burst windows'.
PvP survivalPvP survival: 1/3Cloth, no Ice Block; Blink (20), Frost Nova, Mana Shield (Arcane Shielding -33% cost); 'weakest survivability of the three', 'fragile'.

Buffs it givesArcane IntellectArcane BrillianceConjure Water / Conjure FoodAmplify MagicDampen MagicSlow Fall

Best race and professions
  • HordeUndeadEnchanting + TailoringC
  • HordeOrcEnchanting + TailoringC
  • HordeTrollEnchanting + TailoringC
  • AllianceHumanEnchanting + TailoringC
  • AllianceGnomeEnchanting + TailoringC
  • AllianceHigh Order SkyborneEnchanting + TailoringC

Fire

Ranged damage
  • OverallC5.6
  • PvEC5.7
  • PvPC5.5
  • LevelingC5.2

Stat prioritySpell power (Fire) > hit (17% vs raid bosses, talent included) > crit vs haste [CONFLICT: the Codex weights favour haste; the spec profile says take crit on a close call] > Intellect

ArmorCloth only at every level; no shields or relics

In a group
Heals othersHeals others: 0/3No heals; Amplify Magic (18) only raises the healing a party member receives (and their spell damage taken).
TanksTanks: 0/3Ranged DPS only; Blizzard calls Mages 'extremely fragile' in melee; no taunt or threat tools.
Many enemies at onceMany enemies at once: 3/3Flamestrike (16, one per Mage), Blast Wave (21-point, 30, 50% daze), Arcane Explosion; Icy Veins: strongest burst AoE in the game at higher levels.
Lasts without drinkingLasts without drinking: 1/3Drinks conjured water; Master of Elements (25) refunds 30% base mana on crits, but crit is low early and leveling is called 'bad'.
Keeps the others goingKeeps the others going: 3/3Conjure Water (4) and Food (6), 20 bottles per cast at 60, tradeable; Arcane Intellect (1), Arcane Brilliance (56).
PvP controlPvP control: 3/3Polymorph (8), Frost Nova (10), Counterspell (24), Impact (15, 10% chance of a 2 s stun), Blast Wave daze (30), Cone of Cold.
PvP burstPvP burst: 3/3Heating Up makes Pyroblast a 1.5 s cast at 3 stacks; Presence of Mind Pyroblast, Combustion (40, 3 charges), Fire Blast; crits hit hard.
PvP survivalPvP survival: 1/3No Ice Block unless hybrid; Blink, Frost Nova, Fire Ward, Mana Shield; Icy Veins lists Fire as 'vulnerable in PvP'.

Buffs it givesArcane IntellectArcane BrillianceConjure Water / Conjure FoodAmplify MagicDampen MagicSlow Fall

Best race and professions
  • HordeUndeadEnchanting + TailoringB
  • HordeTrollEnchanting + TailoringC
  • HordeOrcEnchanting + TailoringC
  • AllianceHumanEnchanting + TailoringB
  • AllianceHigh Order SkyborneEnchanting + TailoringC
  • AllianceGnomeEnchanting + TailoringC

Frost

Ranged damage
  • OverallB6.2
  • PvEB5.9
  • PvPA6.5
  • LevelingA6.4

Stat prioritySpell power (Frost) > hit > haste > crit > Intellect > Spirit

ArmorCloth only at every level; no shields or relics

In a group
Heals othersHeals others: 0/3No heals; Amplify Magic (18) only raises the healing a party member receives (and their spell damage taken).
TanksTanks: 0/3Ranged DPS only; Blizzard calls Mages 'extremely fragile' in melee; no taunt or threat tools.
Many enemies at onceMany enemies at once: 3/3Blizzard (20), Cone of Cold (26; first 4 targets 50% slow 9 s), Frost Nova shatter combos; Improved Blizzard slow capped at 40% against mass pulls.
Lasts without drinkingLasts without drinking: 2/3Safest soloer: kites small pulls, Frost Channeling (-15% mana), Ice Barrier (40) absorbs, conjured water and Evocation; still drinks between pulls.
Keeps the others goingKeeps the others going: 3/3Conjure Water (4) and Food (6), 20 bottles per cast at 60, tradeable; Arcane Intellect (1), Arcane Brilliance (56).
PvP controlPvP control: 3/3Polymorph, Frost Nova (+Improved Frost Nova), Counterspell, Frostbite (15% freeze), Cone of Cold and Blizzard slows (Frost Blast removed 2026-11-03): 'best Mage PvP spec'.
PvP burstPvP burst: 2/3Shatter (+50% crit vs Frozen) and Ice Lance (+200% vs Frozen, cut from 300% on 2026-10-15); Winter's Chill now only feeds Cone of Cold.
PvP survivalPvP survival: 3/3Ice Block (16-point, 25), Cold Snap (30), Ice Barrier (40), Blink, Frost Nova and many slows; Frost is the standard duel spec.

Buffs it givesArcane IntellectArcane BrillianceConjure Water / Conjure FoodAmplify MagicDampen MagicSlow Fall

Best race and professions
  • HordeUndeadEnchanting + TailoringB
  • HordeTrollEnchanting + TailoringB
  • HordeOrcEnchanting + TailoringB
  • AllianceHumanEnchanting + TailoringA
  • AllianceHigh Order SkyborneEnchanting + TailoringB
  • AllianceGnomeEnchanting + TailoringB

Launch changes

What Blizzard's final notes before launch changed for this class.

Frost Blast removed
Before a Mage spell
What it means Answers the trainer question in the open questions
Official[1]
Imbue Iceknife's visual now shows a root, not a stun
Before looked like a stun
What it means Visual only
Official[1]
The low-rank proc penalty stays for Blizzard: a rank learned more than 12 levels below you has less chance to trigger Arcane Concentration, Frostbite and Fingers of Frost
Before same
What it means Use a recent Blizzard rank
Official[1]
Arcane: Missile Barrage is consumed at the start of the Arcane Missiles channel (was the end) and moves to row 2; Clearcasting is no longer used up by Arcane Missiles while Missile Barrage is active; Arcane Missiles can trigger Clearcasting again (fix); Arcane Resilience moves to row 1, up to 3 points for armor up to 75% of Intellect; Arcane Focus removed (merged into Frost's Precision)
Before different
What it means Smoother Arcane Missiles play
Official[1]
Arcane: Arcane Blast mana cost +100% per stack (was +175%), 12% of Intellect as spell damage per stack (was 15%), lasts 18 s
Before 175%, 15%
What it means Cheaper but weaker stacks
OfficialDatamined[1]
Fire: Ignite now applies to every Flamestrike tick (fix); Incineration 5 points for +10% crit (was 3 points for 6%); Improved Fireball renamed Accelerant, also -0.5 s Arcane Wrath cast; Critical Mass back to 3 points for +6% crit (was 5 for 10%); Improved Fire Blast moves to row 3
Before different
What it means Fire's crit moves from Critical Mass to Incineration
Official[1]
Frost: Piercing Ice removed; Ice Barrier gives +15% Frost damage for 1 min when cast and +5% more while the barrier holds
Before no damage bonus
What it means Blizzard: a reason to go deep Frost for PvE
OfficialDatamined[1]
Frost: Frost Warding raises Ice Barrier and Frost Ward absorbs and, instead of reflecting, can fully negate a spell's damage without draining the ward
Before reflect chance
What it means Defensive talent reworked
Official[1]
Frost: Elemental Precision renamed Precision: 3 points for 2/4/6% hit with all spells
Before 5 points, 1-5%
What it means Takes over Arcane Focus
Official[1]
Frost: Ice Lance 8 s cooldown shared with Fire Blast; 300% damage to frozen targets
Before 200% on rank 1 in the client
What it means The launch client puts every rank on that shared cooldown (rank 1 already had it) and also adds Ice Lance to Arctic Reach's range bonus (not in the notes)
OfficialDatamined[1]
Frost: Winter's Chill +20% Cone of Cold damage per stack
Before +5%
What it means Cone of Cold hits much harder
OfficialDatamined[1]
Proc roots (Frostbite) now have diminishing returns
Before none
What it means Shorter chain roots in PvP
Official[1]

From Blizzard's development notes of 3 Nov 2026, checked against the launch client 1.60.1.70755. WoW: Forever development notes, updated 3 November (post 9)

Talent calculator

Click or tap a talent to add a point; right-click or long-press to take one back. The link keeps your build.

0 of 51 points

Arcane

0
Removed from this tree (2)
  • Arcane Focus Reduces the chance that the opponent can resist your Arcane spells by 2%.
  • Magic Attunement Increases the effect of your Amplify Magic and Dampen Magic spells by 25%.

Fire

0

Frost

0
Removed from this tree (1)
  • Piercing Ice Increases the damage done by your Frost spells by 2%.

Talent trees: data from talentsforever.com (CC BY 4.0), reformatted. Icons from the game client 1.60.1.70755. talentsforever.com · CC BY 4.0 · Updated 3 Nov 2026

What it brings to a group

Run Sheets →

Interrupt

  • CounterspellCounterspell100 Mana30 yd rangeInstant30 sec cooldownCounters the enemy's spellcast, preventing any spell from that school of magic from being cast for 10 sec. Generates a high amount of threat.Counterspelllevel 24

Dispel

  • Remove Lesser CurseRemove Lesser Curse10% of base Mana30 yd rangeInstantRemoves 1 Curse or Bane from a friendly target.Remove Lesser Curse · Curselevel 18

Crowd control

  • PolymorphPolymorphRank 160 Mana30 yd range1.5 sec castTransforms the enemy into a sheep, forcing it to wander around for up to 20 sec. While wandering, the sheep cannot attack or cast spells but will regenerate very quickly. Any damage will transform the target back into its normal form. Only one target can be polymorphed at a time. Only works on Beasts, Humanoids and Critters.Polymorph · Humanoid, Beast, Critterlevel 8

Races that can be this class

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