I just dinged level 60 last night. From day of creation this toon has always been spec'd fire. 0|51|0
But from time to time, I will be told by other mages to spec frost. They claim that it is easier to level/quest/grind in the outlands being frost and having crowd control. I have also been reading a lot lately about Arcane mages being great for pvp. I am now a little confused on what to do next. Should I go frost or arcane or just stay fire? My goal with the mage is to level him up as quick as possible. Mainly questing and some griding. Once I get high enough(70's) I will start running guild raids with him. But for now I am playing catch up with my upper level toons.
So any advice would be great!!!!
Thanks
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If you're looking for 'any' advice, go with whatever you like. Iirc frost does level a bit faster than fire, but it's generally so close together that you're better of by simply speccing in whatever suits you most.
As for raiding, don't worry yet; arcane, fire and frost are all viable at the moment (right?) so you'll have plenty of choice onre you reach 80.
As for raiding, don't worry yet; arcane, fire and frost are all viable at the moment (right?) so you'll have plenty of choice onre you reach 80.
Frost is not viable for raids, but is my preferred way of leveling. The control, freezes and crits are fantastic (that and the wonderful AoEing with Blizzard that now crits... /drool)
If you have been 0/51/0 you should have plenty of respec money to spend, try each out for a couple of levels and see what fits you the best. As you start in outland though I would go frost as the guys hit a lot harder than vanilla mobs and have more hp (and until you get some gear you will be lacking in that department).
If you have been 0/51/0 you should have plenty of respec money to spend, try each out for a couple of levels and see what fits you the best. As you start in outland though I would go frost as the guys hit a lot harder than vanilla mobs and have more hp (and until you get some gear you will be lacking in that department).
Also, don't get discouraged by frost after the initial respec. Learning to play frost after always being fire is going to be a huge pain at first. Give it some time and a lot of practice to get your control measures and timing down.
I would stick with fire. Why? Because you will need to have some kind of fire/ffb spec later on (or maybe arcane, idk). Frost is beautiful to lvl/solo/farm/pvp with, but it's a stark change to go from frost to fire to raid with.
If you think you can go from fire to frost, then back to fire with no problems, go for it. Personally, I had a lot of a learning curve going from frost to fire. That may have been because I was frost from 1-80, though.
If you think you can go from fire to frost, then back to fire with no problems, go for it. Personally, I had a lot of a learning curve going from frost to fire. That may have been because I was frost from 1-80, though.
First let me say thanks to everyone that has left comment. Your advice is a great help to me. I see most think Frost is the quickest way to level and I may give it a go for a couple of levels. Is Arcane a option here? Or is it more of a raiding build?
Any suggestions for Frost spell rotations? I can guess you would start off with Frostbolt, but after that no clue.
Thanks Again to everyone
Any suggestions for Frost spell rotations? I can guess you would start off with Frostbolt, but after that no clue.
Thanks Again to everyone
frost rotation =
frostbolt spam.
If the target gets frostbite you can do a frostbolt + ice lance (at 65?/66?) to get both to benefit from shatter critical bonus. Until you get ice lance you can use fireblast or just get another frostbolt ready to go.
If they get close, you nova and strafe/blink away and frostbolt more.
frostbolt spam.
If the target gets frostbite you can do a frostbolt + ice lance (at 65?/66?) to get both to benefit from shatter critical bonus. Until you get ice lance you can use fireblast or just get another frostbolt ready to go.
If they get close, you nova and strafe/blink away and frostbolt more.
I had absolutely no problem leveling to 67 as fire. As 67 I switched to frost and froze my way to 70 and noticed barely a difference. Frost is definitely better for PvP (though possibly eclipsed by arcane now) but fire has more options. Frostbolt spam gets old (which is why I waited to 67 and ice lance to even try it).
It's healthy to try different things but don't feel like you have to give up fire.
It's healthy to try different things but don't feel like you have to give up fire.
Not to be completely cocky Mr-know-it-all here... but I have leveled a Mage (my third) who dinged 70 just as WoTLK was released. He was around level 55 when 3.0 came out.
Fire is, for all grinding intents and purposes, dead beyond 55 and quite possibly before with the introduction of 3.0. Sure you can use it, but you can use Holy to level a Paladin if you want. Fire's beauty lies in logistical benefits such as Blast Wave and Dragons Breath and its oddball defense mechanics including Fiery Payback and Blazing Speed. In high end fire stands simply to the benefit of Frostfire bolt, where a deep fire mixed with a mere 8 points into Frost allow for massive Frostfire critical strikes with the benefits of ignite - nothing to be scoffed at.
At precisely 60, Arcane jumps out in the realm of Grinding as one of your best options. Stacking ex-healer gear and utilizing Mage Armor along with proper glyphing will allow you about 280-300mp5 through casting at that level (nearly 700 at 80). Combine that with unstoppable Arcane Missiles + Slow + Arcane Barrage + Missile Barrage and factor in that the Arcane Tree now boosts stats like Demonology does for Warlocks and you'll find yourself with far higher stats than your fire and frost counterparts.
This is NOT to say that Frost is by any means dead, however. Frost will not have the automatic mana gains provided by Arcane, but really in all other aspects of gameplay it will surpass it. In the end, me and a friend who were very competitive leveled neck and neck with each other (I was Arcane and he was Frost) until I seemed to hit a brick wall in Dungeons at about level 77 and took the long road to figuring out FFB. He realized not much after that his high numbers in Instances were only from superior blizzard DPS and that on bosses he too was falling far behind on the meters. In the end, levels 75-80 are rough on a Mage, at least when you compare our damage with the likes of DKs, Hunters, Boomkins, etc.
Arcane's strength is to end a battle with Full HP and Full Mana, where Frost can only say it can do one of those things. Frost's ability to down monsters faster, however, generally equals out the Kills Per Hour to be near exact.
If you're Frost just Stack Spell Power. If you're Arcane stack Spell Power, Int, and Spirit - Healer gear XD.
Fire is, for all grinding intents and purposes, dead beyond 55 and quite possibly before with the introduction of 3.0. Sure you can use it, but you can use Holy to level a Paladin if you want. Fire's beauty lies in logistical benefits such as Blast Wave and Dragons Breath and its oddball defense mechanics including Fiery Payback and Blazing Speed. In high end fire stands simply to the benefit of Frostfire bolt, where a deep fire mixed with a mere 8 points into Frost allow for massive Frostfire critical strikes with the benefits of ignite - nothing to be scoffed at.
At precisely 60, Arcane jumps out in the realm of Grinding as one of your best options. Stacking ex-healer gear and utilizing Mage Armor along with proper glyphing will allow you about 280-300mp5 through casting at that level (nearly 700 at 80). Combine that with unstoppable Arcane Missiles + Slow + Arcane Barrage + Missile Barrage and factor in that the Arcane Tree now boosts stats like Demonology does for Warlocks and you'll find yourself with far higher stats than your fire and frost counterparts.
This is NOT to say that Frost is by any means dead, however. Frost will not have the automatic mana gains provided by Arcane, but really in all other aspects of gameplay it will surpass it. In the end, me and a friend who were very competitive leveled neck and neck with each other (I was Arcane and he was Frost) until I seemed to hit a brick wall in Dungeons at about level 77 and took the long road to figuring out FFB. He realized not much after that his high numbers in Instances were only from superior blizzard DPS and that on bosses he too was falling far behind on the meters. In the end, levels 75-80 are rough on a Mage, at least when you compare our damage with the likes of DKs, Hunters, Boomkins, etc.
Arcane's strength is to end a battle with Full HP and Full Mana, where Frost can only say it can do one of those things. Frost's ability to down monsters faster, however, generally equals out the Kills Per Hour to be near exact.
If you're Frost just Stack Spell Power. If you're Arcane stack Spell Power, Int, and Spirit - Healer gear XD.
We're talking leveling here. One build may be somewhat more optimal, but one doesn't exactly have to min/max to get to 80. Again, I had I think zero deaths as fire in OL and leveled super-fast. Leveling ain't rocket science. Unless you're a perfectionist, you only really have to worry about having the optimal spec when you raid or arena. So to OP, play around with builds, sample all the fun ways to kill things as a mage and play what you enjoy.
46 posts
I have been playing as fire and am at 69 currently. I love fire and seem to do fine leveling with it. I play warcraft for fun and fire is what is fun for me. play what you enjoy and the leveling will take care of itself. I try to keep my intellect high and i realy enjoy the instant cast spells. I use to have to drink a lot but this was due to poor gear. I have gotten better gear with increase spell power and intellect and have done much better since. I know a lot of people spec for specific types of game play but I sugest you spec for what things you like. I love the instant flame strike that can follow dragons breath and blast wave. Right now I am adding frost and looking to decrease my threat since threat has been pulling to much agro in dungeons but recently I learned on another post here to use invisibility which has helped a lot. thanks to all the people on this site since without this site the game would not be nearly as fun.
Personally, I leveled from 1-60 via Frost and from 60-80 via Fire. Personally, I leveled quickly regardless of spec, but I do think IMO that I leveled faster with Fire. I do very nice amount of damage with fire, but frost does give you an edge for survivability and PvP.
I've never looked into or had an interest in the Arcane tree, so I have no valuable information when it comes to that.
I say, level the way YOU want. You won't see that MUCH of a difference between fire and frost.
I've never looked into or had an interest in the Arcane tree, so I have no valuable information when it comes to that.
I say, level the way YOU want. You won't see that MUCH of a difference between fire and frost.
Tusker if I may ask what build did you use while leveling to 60. Currently 26 right now and well i'm going to try fire for personal reasons. I'm also soloing/questing. Frost is good. Do no get me wrong and I'll probably end up going back. Just want to try out fire for 5 or 6 levels to decide if its worth keeping or not. Other question is you all talk about FFB spec. Does it involve heavy fire or heavy frost. Maybe a hybrid of both o.O since it being both a fire and frost spell? Hope I didn't bug anyone. Playing mage today. Neglected him for to long now. Does this represent anything close to what you used:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=oZoEcbohhuVubhst
Edited, Jan 23rd 2009 2:23pm by Souliken
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=oZoEcbohhuVubhst
Edited, Jan 23rd 2009 2:23pm by Souliken
I do appreciate everyone's input. I am still a little bit on the fence about what to do, so for now I am staying with fire. Here is my current build. As stated before, I have never respec'd this toon, so this is a build I have kind of done on the fly. It would be great if someone would look over my build and let me know if it is OK? Also where should I start putting my talent points, Frost or Arcane? I mainly quest and grind. I have not started running guild raids with the mage.
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-talents.xml?r=Bonechewer&n=Hellsscream
Thanks to everyone for helping me out thus far.
Edited, Jan 26th 2009 11:08am by jaziar
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-talents.xml?r=Bonechewer&n=Hellsscream
Thanks to everyone for helping me out thus far.
Edited, Jan 26th 2009 11:08am by jaziar
From there I would max out impact and finish off hot streak (at least for leveling, impact is pretty nice). After that there isn't too much for you to do in fire. I may consider putting points into frost for the mana savings and + hit from precision as well as a decreased cooldown on frost nova.
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