Leveling a mage can be somewhat difficult; I daresay it is the single worst class to level in WoW, and I’ve played every class in the game. So it is vital that you do everything you can to lighten the burden on yourself. This guide will tell you how to ensure your mage leveling experience is as painless as is possible.

Let’s talk gear first. Spellpower or Spell Damage of the appropriate element, enough Hit to be capped (four percent against equal-level targets), and Int. Don’t bother with spirit, and don’t dump other stats for stamina, unless you want to PvP a lot while leveling. Evocation and Replenishment are both max-mana based, so Int is your goto stat for regen; Spirit is worthless even with the appropriate talents.

Hit capping takes priority over the rest, but after that you have to determine for yourself whether you need more damage, or more regen. Generally if you are getting hit again after your frost nova, you need more damage. Otherwise stack Int and reduce your downtime by improving the regen from you get from Evocation.

Once your gear is in order, you need to think about specs. Frost is amazingly good for stomping mobs singly or in groups…once you have the right talents. Until level thirty, though, it is the gimpest of the specs, so we’ll go arcane at first. Get the five-point talents from the first two rows, then grab Arcane Attunement and Arcane Focus. At this point you can do whatever you like, it doesn’t really matter. At either 29 or 30, head to a trainer and respec to Frost.

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=#oZZAc0hobu is what you should aim for in your new Frost spec, although if you are killing quickly enough you’ll want to get Icy Floes instead of Frostbite. Not that it matters, since you’ll get whichever one you DON’T start with using your next three points. Then, get Frost Channeling and Winter’s Chill, followed by Ice Barrier and Shattered Barrier, and finally Cold as Ice. Pretty much fill out the tree at this point, grabbing everything below and including Empowered Frostbolt and Fingers of Frost. With the Eternal Water glyph, you can turn your elemental permanent, at which point you’ll be nearly unstoppable.

All that leaves to discuss is playing! Mage has a ridiculously high skill cap, and is generally agreed to be the most skill-based class in the game. But for leveling, it is pretty simple: Nuke, Frost Nova, run away and nuke more. Until you spec into something, your nuke should be whatever you upgraded last. Then either Arcane Missiles or Frostbolt depending on spec. And be sure you use your wand to finish foes off, no need to waste mana if your nuke would be overkill.

The same strategy applies to both Arcane and Frost, but you should note that Arcane will have to tank every second fight, thanks to a longer cooldown on Frost Nova. This isn’t a big deal, since Arcane Missiles is immune to knockback, but you may have to shield if you are taking too much damage. Generally, though, Mana Shield and Ice Barrier are unwanted mana drains outside of emergencies or ranged mob pulls.

I hope this is enough to get you started on Mage. I think its obvious I’ve left a lot unsaid, but by the time you need to outgrow this guide, you’ll be much much more comfortable with advanced strategies. Make sure to check out my other WoW guides if you liked this one!

Enjoy the guide? Check out my site about everything related to WoW gold at http://wowgoldspot.blogspot.com. To read about mages in particular, Check out my guide to Mage Gold grinding!