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Scholar
20 posts
I just started this game when the expansion came out. Before then I heard my friends going on about it so I am giving it a try. One of the main classes that appealed to me was a mage. So I am currently a Draenei mage. Can anyone give me some advice on playing the class? It seems as though I am always brought to the brink of death after fighting mobs. I am currently at level 5 looking to start my professions. Can you also give me a bit of advice on those? Anything else that you feel I should know would be wonderful help to me. My friends had laughed at me saying a mage was too weak for a beginner like me to play. But I see the spells and abilities they get and I think it will be a great class in the long run. Thank you.
There is a bit of info on the Greatest Mage Post Ever (at the top of here) although it is somewhat out of date (Poldaran and myself are putting the finishing touches on a wotlk-updated one as I type this).
Overall, for a beginning especially I recommend picking up two gathering professions (herbalism + skinning or mining + skinning) to get a nice chunk of change by selling the items on the auction house.
For leveling I have always preferred frost (remember to always buy your newest spells by the way), but at level 10 you can start spending talent points. I went with the frost tree while leveling as I preferred to be slowing down the mob that is coming at me and then taking it down. Don't forget to use Frost Nova (level 12 I think) when you get it when mobs get in your face to stop them in their tracks, back up a bit, and wail on them some more.
Pick up a wand from the auction house when you get a chance, at lower levels they are indispesible (and far far far outweight meleeing with your staff or whatever you have at the time).
If you pull an extra guy or two use your polymorph spell (will learn it pretty soon) it will turn it into a sheep [and heal it] but will give you the time you need to finish off the other one first (any damage to it will break it out of the sheep by the way).
Overall, for a beginning especially I recommend picking up two gathering professions (herbalism + skinning or mining + skinning) to get a nice chunk of change by selling the items on the auction house.
For leveling I have always preferred frost (remember to always buy your newest spells by the way), but at level 10 you can start spending talent points. I went with the frost tree while leveling as I preferred to be slowing down the mob that is coming at me and then taking it down. Don't forget to use Frost Nova (level 12 I think) when you get it when mobs get in your face to stop them in their tracks, back up a bit, and wail on them some more.
Pick up a wand from the auction house when you get a chance, at lower levels they are indispesible (and far far far outweight meleeing with your staff or whatever you have at the time).
If you pull an extra guy or two use your polymorph spell (will learn it pretty soon) it will turn it into a sheep [and heal it] but will give you the time you need to finish off the other one first (any damage to it will break it out of the sheep by the way).
1. Professions: Pick up two gathering professions. Herbalism is popular because of Inscription. Get Herbalism and Mining or Skinning. When you hit 70/80 you can power level tailoring. Please just trust me on this. You will not make anything worthwhile until very late in your leveling progression. Don’t waste time/money/effort trying to farm linen/wool/silk cloth. By the time you are 70 you can collect all the cloth you need in a few instance runs. Don’t waste your time as a lowbie – get the gathering professions and sell the mats for gold.
2. No class is good until 20. I pre-judged priest, but now I love it and wish I’d put more effort into getting him to 70 for Nothrend grouping. Mage soloing is probably one of the hardest things to do. (You can’t heal, you can’t get hit, but you can do a ton of damage.) Thus your leveling will consist of 2 things. You must first avoid getting hit (Cause you can’t heal or take many hits) – and – you must quickly kill your enemy. Learn to kill quickly or run away.
3. Get a wand. Get a good wand and keep it updated until you hit 30. Around 30 it will lose it’s importance, but you should still have a good one.
4. Don’t buy gear from the AH.
5. Spec Frost. Just do it. (Look around here for a good spec.)
6. Level your first aid and cooking. They will help you stay alive and most of the mats will drop from mobs you fight.
7. Learn to run away. You’ll live longer.
8. Learn your spec’s rotation. Frostbolt, frostbolt, frostbolt, Nova, Blink, Frostbolt…. Etc…
9. Don’t worry about running instances – just quest and level up. You can get all the gear you need from quests. No need to run instances. (If you do run instances – Dead Mines, Scarlet Monestary, Zul Farrak, and BlackRock Depths are ok – don’t go into Mara, Ulda, RFK, etc… Just don’t waste time)
2. No class is good until 20. I pre-judged priest, but now I love it and wish I’d put more effort into getting him to 70 for Nothrend grouping. Mage soloing is probably one of the hardest things to do. (You can’t heal, you can’t get hit, but you can do a ton of damage.) Thus your leveling will consist of 2 things. You must first avoid getting hit (Cause you can’t heal or take many hits) – and – you must quickly kill your enemy. Learn to kill quickly or run away.
3. Get a wand. Get a good wand and keep it updated until you hit 30. Around 30 it will lose it’s importance, but you should still have a good one.
4. Don’t buy gear from the AH.
5. Spec Frost. Just do it. (Look around here for a good spec.)
6. Level your first aid and cooking. They will help you stay alive and most of the mats will drop from mobs you fight.
7. Learn to run away. You’ll live longer.
8. Learn your spec’s rotation. Frostbolt, frostbolt, frostbolt, Nova, Blink, Frostbolt…. Etc…
9. Don’t worry about running instances – just quest and level up. You can get all the gear you need from quests. No need to run instances. (If you do run instances – Dead Mines, Scarlet Monestary, Zul Farrak, and BlackRock Depths are ok – don’t go into Mara, Ulda, RFK, etc… Just don’t waste time)
Scholar
20 posts
I was actually leaning more towards alch/herb, selling extra herbs. Why shouldnt I buy off AH? Finally after reading how some mages are having a rough time in the expansion, is it feesible to roll a mage with the intention of soloing a majority of the time past 70?
Edited, Nov 25th 2008 3:44pm by ThessarianTheMage
Edited, Nov 25th 2008 3:44pm by ThessarianTheMage
Alch/Herb is fine. I always recommend for a first toon to pick two gathering professions -- skinning and either herbalism or mining. The crafting professions like tailoring are generally only useful at end game. (Alch is an exception to this but it's still better to have spare cash than lose the chance to make gold and gain the odd mana pot.) if you really want to make stuff, wait til you're 80 and have all your mounts, then use the leftover gold to powerlevel.
You really don't have to spec frost. Fire is great for leveling too. Frost may have a slight edge but until you get ice lance at 66 it's just one button and gets dull. Just don't spec arcane at the beginning. Its low-tier talents are horrible.
Don't buy off AH because you will outgrow your gear rapidly. What you receive in quest rewards will greatly outshine what you buy off AH, allowing you to save cash for your mounts. (6,000 gold for an epic flying mount in Northrend, start saving now!)
I'd like to echo Borsuk -- every class seems horrible until 20 and dies constantly, and never more so than your first class. My first toon was a warrior, he died all the time. A dozen of alts later I rolled another warrior and he rarely died even at low levels because I'd learned the game. At some point, probably in your 30s, it will click and you will stop dying.
Mages are having no trouble in xpac. We are actually buffed -- there were issues in TBC but few if any now. Fire is not optimal but that won't really be an issue for you until higher levels. You can be assured you will have no problem leveling to 80.
Soon you'll be level 10 and with frost nova and polymorph, it'll be much easier to fight mobs. (Nuke, nuke, frost nova, step to the side, nuke, dead mob is the normal rotation.) Stick with it, mages are insane fun, fast to level and always desired in groups.
You really don't have to spec frost. Fire is great for leveling too. Frost may have a slight edge but until you get ice lance at 66 it's just one button and gets dull. Just don't spec arcane at the beginning. Its low-tier talents are horrible.
Don't buy off AH because you will outgrow your gear rapidly. What you receive in quest rewards will greatly outshine what you buy off AH, allowing you to save cash for your mounts. (6,000 gold for an epic flying mount in Northrend, start saving now!)
I'd like to echo Borsuk -- every class seems horrible until 20 and dies constantly, and never more so than your first class. My first toon was a warrior, he died all the time. A dozen of alts later I rolled another warrior and he rarely died even at low levels because I'd learned the game. At some point, probably in your 30s, it will click and you will stop dying.
Mages are having no trouble in xpac. We are actually buffed -- there were issues in TBC but few if any now. Fire is not optimal but that won't really be an issue for you until higher levels. You can be assured you will have no problem leveling to 80.
Soon you'll be level 10 and with frost nova and polymorph, it'll be much easier to fight mobs. (Nuke, nuke, frost nova, step to the side, nuke, dead mob is the normal rotation.) Stick with it, mages are insane fun, fast to level and always desired in groups.
Reason not to buy off the AH is because you can get gear that suits your needs from quests and dungeons, thus saving up eventually for epic flying and cold-weather flying. Not sure what you mean about mages having trouble in WOTLK, though. If you look at the thread about AOE leveling, you'll see complaints that we can't find enough areas that have 12+ mobs to round up and kill all at once. And that's solo. :) I'm just lvl 76, but besides needing help with a few of the Wanted quests, I've solo'd pretty much all the way.
I disagree bout skipping dungeons, though. It's not the fastest way to level, but it's a very good way to learn your class in group situations, which are fun. :)
But a lot of good advice was given in this thread. Fact is, you wear cloth, and that's all you'll ever be able to wear, so you have to play with that in mind, and be prepared to blast something down before it gets to you (or run).
As far as professions go, if you can get a friend to loan you 100g and you follow the enchantrix/bottomscanner guide in the tradeskill forums, you'll be able to pay your friend back in a few days and start making some bucks on the AH selling mats. At least it still works very well on my realm. That way you end up with enchants for your own stuff, as well as for friends, + ring enchants, etc. Personally, I had a hard time with herb/alch on my lock, because I'd run out of things to skill up from in the areas I was in, but I could have been doing it all wrong. But herbs are selling very well right now, so herbing is def. a good way to go.
I disagree bout skipping dungeons, though. It's not the fastest way to level, but it's a very good way to learn your class in group situations, which are fun. :)
But a lot of good advice was given in this thread. Fact is, you wear cloth, and that's all you'll ever be able to wear, so you have to play with that in mind, and be prepared to blast something down before it gets to you (or run).
As far as professions go, if you can get a friend to loan you 100g and you follow the enchantrix/bottomscanner guide in the tradeskill forums, you'll be able to pay your friend back in a few days and start making some bucks on the AH selling mats. At least it still works very well on my realm. That way you end up with enchants for your own stuff, as well as for friends, + ring enchants, etc. Personally, I had a hard time with herb/alch on my lock, because I'd run out of things to skill up from in the areas I was in, but I could have been doing it all wrong. But herbs are selling very well right now, so herbing is def. a good way to go.
To elaborate (since I have spare time), the idea of a mage is to keep the mob from hitting you. At level 5 you can only do this through slowing it via frostbolt, but soon you will be able to:
1) Freeze the mob in place (frost nova)
2) Transform it to a harmless sheep (polymorph)
3) Teleport to give yourself a bit of distance from your enemies (blink)
4) Create a shield to absord damage at the cost of mana (mana shield)
5) Slow down anything in a cone in front of you (cone of cold)
6) Stun mobs with occasional spells (impact talent in fire tree) or freeze mobs in place with frostbolts (frostbite talent in frost tree)
7) Knock mobs back and slow them (Blastwave in fire tree) and stun any in front of you (Dragon's Breath in fire tree)
8) Get a pet that slows mobs or freezes them in place (Water Elemental in frost tree)
As you can imagine, this combination of tools allows you to fight one or more mobs and basically keep them from ever hitting you. You need to constantly think on your feet and be on the move; it's one of the appealing things about the class and probably why your friends told you it was too weak for a first one. It requires a certain level of skill and mastery. But once you acquire that (and you will), there are few things you can do while sitting down that are more fun than playing a mage.
1) Freeze the mob in place (frost nova)
2) Transform it to a harmless sheep (polymorph)
3) Teleport to give yourself a bit of distance from your enemies (blink)
4) Create a shield to absord damage at the cost of mana (mana shield)
5) Slow down anything in a cone in front of you (cone of cold)
6) Stun mobs with occasional spells (impact talent in fire tree) or freeze mobs in place with frostbolts (frostbite talent in frost tree)
7) Knock mobs back and slow them (Blastwave in fire tree) and stun any in front of you (Dragon's Breath in fire tree)
8) Get a pet that slows mobs or freezes them in place (Water Elemental in frost tree)
As you can imagine, this combination of tools allows you to fight one or more mobs and basically keep them from ever hitting you. You need to constantly think on your feet and be on the move; it's one of the appealing things about the class and probably why your friends told you it was too weak for a first one. It requires a certain level of skill and mastery. But once you acquire that (and you will), there are few things you can do while sitting down that are more fun than playing a mage.
Scholar
20 posts
Thank you everyone
One thing in being a Herbalist has been missed out , you get a real nice bonus of a heal from it and with the Draenei racial heal it should almost be impossible to die , i know as i have a Draenei Mage and both have saved me a few times .
The others have answered well and i cannot really add much except to say frost is probably a better way for someone that is new to the class , after you get to level 10 and start putting points in the talent tree go for faster frost bolts then those that either slow mobs or that do extra damage , it is a class that by level 35 becomes almost as easy as a Hunter is and perhaps even better at survival than a Hunter.
One tip to make life easier is to do two or more starting/low areas which may seem crazy but if you do only green quests the mobs die faster and do not hit as hard and still give you exp from doing the quests , what you need to look for is mobs about 2-3 levels below your level ,i do it that way and even just killing mobs at below level 20 can easily get you up levels pretty fast.
Take your time and everything will fall into place , sheep can be your best friend with two mobs , freeze them and run away if you get that "ohh hell moment" of too many mobs feeling that we all have had at times , that is even better when you get blink as they will not catch you then , but of course other mobs may be waiting for you to pop in unless you are sure of an escape route , i have done that a few times with freeze/blink only to land in range of other mobs and no way to escape.
One other tip is when you get evocation spell get the Glyph of Evocation as that restores mana and health so a freeze mobs and evocate will help you survive far better.
Other than reading up on how to do stuff in the threads here i can offer little other advice , its a case of learn as you go through the levels.
The others have answered well and i cannot really add much except to say frost is probably a better way for someone that is new to the class , after you get to level 10 and start putting points in the talent tree go for faster frost bolts then those that either slow mobs or that do extra damage , it is a class that by level 35 becomes almost as easy as a Hunter is and perhaps even better at survival than a Hunter.
One tip to make life easier is to do two or more starting/low areas which may seem crazy but if you do only green quests the mobs die faster and do not hit as hard and still give you exp from doing the quests , what you need to look for is mobs about 2-3 levels below your level ,i do it that way and even just killing mobs at below level 20 can easily get you up levels pretty fast.
Take your time and everything will fall into place , sheep can be your best friend with two mobs , freeze them and run away if you get that "ohh hell moment" of too many mobs feeling that we all have had at times , that is even better when you get blink as they will not catch you then , but of course other mobs may be waiting for you to pop in unless you are sure of an escape route , i have done that a few times with freeze/blink only to land in range of other mobs and no way to escape.
One other tip is when you get evocation spell get the Glyph of Evocation as that restores mana and health so a freeze mobs and evocate will help you survive far better.
Other than reading up on how to do stuff in the threads here i can offer little other advice , its a case of learn as you go through the levels.
I leveled in a week with a deep fire raiding spec to a frostfire spec as I got closer to 80. I'm sure AoE grinding is fun and all that, but it's not for everyone.
Do take up 2 gathering professions. You can do w/e you want after you have your mounts and levels and a nice savings set up.
Do take up 2 gathering professions. You can do w/e you want after you have your mounts and levels and a nice savings set up.
Princess Kyrin wrote:
I leveled in a week with a deep fire raiding spec to a frostfire spec as I got closer to 80. I'm sure AoE grinding is fun and all that, but it's not for everyone.
Do take up 2 gathering professions. You can do w/e you want after you have your mounts and levels and a nice savings set up.
Do take up 2 gathering professions. You can do w/e you want after you have your mounts and levels and a nice savings set up.
I think that fire at higher levels is a bit easier than at lower ones as you have more boom and stopping power than at level 15.
I have been leveling a mage (first character). I am now at level 21 and am spec'ed into fire. I like fire cause of the damage available. A previous poster is absolutely correct in that you either need to be able to stop the mob or kill the mob quick. I prefer to kill them quick, lol. Also as far as professions, I am leveling Cooking, Fishing, Herbalism, and Alchemy.
10 posts
WOW even I feel the need to say thank you. I have a mage that I have hovering around 25 and I just haven't liked playing because lets face it you do a LOT of soloing until later levels. I may actually go back to play my mage more now. It doesn't sound that different from how I play my hunter. stay at a distance contrl crowd, and don't die. :)
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