question about talent treesFollow

hello everyone, Im still relatively new to warcraft...and still getting used to how the talent trees work. Ive looked over the greatest mage post up top and am left with a question im hoping you can help me with. Im not looking for a step by step lvling guide or anything as such...im just curious.

as far as lvling goes, what are the pros and cons of each tree?

I'm FAR from an expert, but from what I've seen:


Ice: Great for survival, you can slow and freeze things, keeping you safe from harm.

Fire: Great for impact damage. FAST damage, but no survival.

Arcane: No idea. It seems sweet as hell though.

Frost is a prefered lvling spec for new mages. It allows for the most ***** ups and has the most survivability. It's ability to kite (slow down targets so you can stay out of range of them) makes for great solo play. It's down sides is that it kills slower then fire. It's also the better spec for AoE grinding, which you can read up on in other threads.

Fire is the "shoot first, ask questions later" spec. Bigger numbers = faster kills. You still have a few of your frost spells to slow down targets, but since they are not your main spells there's a learning curve on when you kite and when you just blow up. The spells tend to use up more mana in early levels, so there's more down time for drinking.

Arcane is usually frowned upon at early levels. The top of the tree is more for utility so you won't pick up many "tricks" early on. It's spells use buttloads of mana too. Save that for much later on.

My personal experience now. I leveled 1-70 mostly as frost, I dipped into fire a few times but it didn't work for me. Being able to kill anything that could be kited was nice, no matter if it was a elite or not. When I hit 70 I went to fire. With high end gear farming stuff was a breeze. Anything you need to kill can be done in 2-3 shots, but this was only with good gear.

When it came time to lvl my mage to 80 I made it to 72 as frost then lost interest. I switched to fire and went from 72-80 in 3 days. This just shows that personal play style or boredom may require something different then the norm. Try out fire and frost from time to time and see what you like.

I have leveled with fire only and rarely ever died. I think once you figure out how to play you spec you can do well no matter which one you choose so play what you want.

I started out as a fire mage and leveled as fire till 50-55, I dont remember anymore what level I switched. I liked fire, but I did die alot. I then started to look at the arcane talents and was looking at how it gave alittle more survival than fire, but the damage was still decent so I tried it out and loved it. Took arcane till 70. At 70 I tried out frost and absolutely hated it and when back to arcane. I leveled arcane from 70-80. its damage was decent. I raided with arcane then tried out FFB spec for raiding and it did better damage, after the arcane update went back to arcane and I love being one of the best dps classes out there. I have done alot of research on most of the specs..but it kinda comes down to what spec ya like and what you can live with.

Fire = Decent/great damage depending on spell rotation, Enough AE choices that you can take on a few extra mobs. High DOT effects. a straight fireball spec I hear is also great dps. Fire is easier to manage mana use.

Ice = lower damage than fire/arcane but this depends on player skill and rotation..I have seen ice mages almost keep up with me. Alot of survivability. Can take on large amounts of mobs. Multiple Ice blocks / frost novas and an elemental that helps CC, deal damage, tank, AE

Arcane = Shines more at higher levels, also good for pvp cause of ability to cast instant spells deal high burst damage. Decent/great damage depending on rotation. Offers some survivability/ not like frost. One of best single target dps specs. doesnt offer alot of AE choices, Arcane Explosion is fun but expensive . This spec also offers high burst damage, but it can burn though mana in minutes.

I hope some of this helps

This. Frost isn't better, but new players tend to be slower in reactions so it can be fatal for fire.