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ShamanOverview
This guide takes a Mage from level 1 to 30 in WoW Forever, with a complete talent plan for Frost, Fire and Arcane. Every spell level, cost and talent value below was checked against the beta client (build 1.60.1), so expect small changes before launch.
Frostbolt slows the enemy, 
Frost Nova pins it in place, and from level 20 
Ice Lance turns each of those freezes into a burst of damage. Fire and Arcane are both playable and have their own tab below.Why Frost comes first
- Enemies rarely reach you. Frostbolt slows by 40%, Frost Nova roots for up to 8 seconds, and
Frostbite adds random freezes on top. Less damage taken means less time spent eating. - Frozen targets melt. Ice Lance deals 300% more damage to a Frozen enemy,
Shatter adds 50% critical strike chance against it, and 
Ice Shards doubles the bonus of those crits. - One tree does everything. The same 21 points work for solo quests, for dungeons and, with a few changes, for
Blizzard pulls. - Free food and water. You conjure both from levels 4 and 6, which saves a lot of silver and keeps your breaks short.
The honest trade-offs: a Mage wears cloth and has no healing spell, so a pull that goes wrong goes wrong quickly, and your mana bar is the only thing that sets your pace. Most of this guide is about spending it well.
The three specializations at a glance
Frost Recommended
Slows, roots and big crits on Frozen targets. The most forgiving tree, the best one for kiting, and the only one that makes multi-enemy Blizzard pulls comfortable.
Fire
The hardest hits per cast, with 
Ignite burning after every crit and 
Pyroblast as an opener. It has no slow of its own, so enemies that survive the first casts will reach you.
Arcane
Arcane Blast from level 20 and free, shortened 
Arcane Missiles through 
Missile Barrage. Fast and fun, but the thirstiest of the three if you stack too many Blasts.
What Forever changes for every Mage
- Ice Lance and Arcane Blast exist in Forever. Both are talents on the third row of their tree, so you can pick them up at level 20.
Fingers of Frost is a new Frost talent: your Chill effects can make your next spells treat the target as Frozen.- Fire gains
Heating Up (each Fire crit shortens your next Pyroblast) and 
Wake of Fire (a shorter 
Fire Blast cooldown). 
Evocation is learned at level 20, and 
Ice Block is a one-point Frost talent you can reach at level 25.
Blink costs a share of your base mana and also breaks stuns and roots, as before. You learn it at level 20.
Talents
You earn one talent point per level from level 10, which gives 21 points at level 30. Pick the tab that matches how you want to play.
The recommended build: quick Frostbolts first, then everything that rewards a Frozen target.
- Levels 10-14 — Improved Frostbolt (5): half a second off every Frostbolt. Nothing else speeds up your kills as much this early.
- Levels 15-17 — Frostbite (3): each Chill effect has a 15% chance to freeze the enemy for 5 seconds. Frostbolt is a Chill, so this triggers constantly.
- Levels 18-19 — Ice Shards (2): a first helping of critical strike damage, and the two points that open the third row.
- Level 20 — Ice Lance: an instant, 45-mana spell that deals 300% more damage to Frozen targets. Use it after Frost Nova and after every Frostbite freeze.
- Levels 21-23 —
Piercing Ice (3): +6% damage on every Frost spell. - Level 24 — Ice Shards (3/5): one more point, which also unlocks the fourth row.
- Levels 25-27 — Shatter (3): +50% critical strike chance for all your spells against Frozen targets. From here Ice Lance crits more often than not on a rooted enemy.
- Levels 28-29 — Ice Shards (5/5): Frost crits now deal double their usual bonus.
- Level 30 — Fingers of Frost (1/2): a 15% chance on each Chill to treat your next spell as if the target were Frozen. In practice: a free Shatter Ice Lance.
Dying too often? Trade the last point of Ice Shards for Ice Block (available from level 25): 10 seconds of full immunity on a 5-minute cooldown. If you rely on Frost Nova a lot, Improved Frost Nova (2) instead of the first two Ice Shards points cuts its cooldown from 25 to 21 seconds.
A variant for players who want to gather several melee enemies and channel Blizzard on them from level 20. It gives up Shatter and Ice Shards for slows, range and cheaper spells.
- Levels 10-14 — Improved Frostbolt (5): you still level one enemy at a time until Blizzard arrives.
- Levels 15-17 —
Permafrost (3): Chill effects last a third longer and slow by a further 10%. - Levels 18-19 — Improved Frost Nova (2): 4 seconds off the cooldown of the spell that starts and saves every pull.
- Levels 20-22 — Improved Blizzard (3): Blizzard now chills for a 40% slow, and Permafrost deepens it. This is what keeps a pack inside the storm.
- Levels 23-25 —
Frost Channeling (3): Frost spells cost 15% less mana, a big deal when Blizzard is 320 mana per cast at level 20 and 520 at level 28. - Levels 26-27 —
Arctic Reach (2): 20% more range on Frostbolt and Blizzard, and a wider Frost Nova and 
Cone of Cold. - Level 28 — Ice Block: the emergency button of every AoE Mage.
- Level 29 — Piercing Ice (1/3): a little damage, and the 20th point that opens the fifth row.
- Level 30 — Improved Cone of Cold (1/3): +12% on the spell you use to finish packs.
Be realistic about it: before level 30 your mana pool only covers two or three Blizzards. Pull three or four melee enemies a couple of levels below you, not half a zone.
Big casts and burning crits. Kills are quick when the first two spells land well, and messy when they do not.
- Levels 10-14 —
Improved Fireball (5): half a second off Fireball, whose cast time grows with each rank (3 seconds at level 18, 3.5 at level 24). - Levels 15-19 — Ignite (5): Fire crits leave a burn worth 40% of the hit over 4 seconds.
- Level 20 — Pyroblast: a 6-second cast with a 35-yard range. Use it as an opener from as far away as you can.
- Levels 21-23 —
Incineration (3): +6% critical strike chance on Fire Blast and 
Scorch (and on Ice Lance and Arcane Blast, should you ever mix trees). - Level 24 — Wake of Fire (1/2): a shorter Fire Blast cooldown, and after a kill your next Fire Blast gets a large crit bonus.
- Level 25 — Heating Up: each direct Fire crit shortens your next Pyroblast by 25%, up to three times. At three stacks it takes 1.5 seconds instead of 6.
- Levels 26-28 —
Master of Elements (3): every Fire or Frost crit refunds 30% of the spell's base mana cost. - Level 29 — Wake of Fire (2/2): Fire Blast is down to a 6-second cooldown, and the post-kill crit bonus rises to 50%.
- Level 30 —
Blast Wave: an instant area hit around you that also slows by 50% for 6 seconds, on a 45-second cooldown. Fire's only real escape tool.
Impact (a 10% chance to stun for 2 seconds on Fire spells) is a reasonable swap for Master of Elements if you care more about safety than about mana.
A wand-and-missiles start that turns into a proper spec at level 20 with Arcane Blast.
- Levels 10-11 — Wand Specialization (2): +25% wand damage. Wands finish most enemies at these levels, whatever your tree.
- Levels 12-14 — Improved Channeling (3/5): Arcane Missiles stops losing time when you are hit.
- Levels 15-19 —
Arcane Concentration (5): each damaging spell that lands has a 10% chance to make your next damage spell free. - Level 20 — Arcane Blast: a 2.5-second cast. Each one raises the damage of your other spells by 10% (up to four stacks) and makes the next Blast much more expensive.
- Levels 21-23 —
Arcane Impact (3): +6% critical strike chance on Arcane spells. - Level 24 — Improved Channeling (4/5): the 15th point, needed for the next row.
- Level 25 — Missile Barrage: Arcane Blast has a 40% chance to make your next Arcane Missiles free, twice as fast and firing every half second.
- Levels 26-28 —
Arcane Meditation (3): half of your mana regeneration keeps running while you cast. - Level 29 — Improved Channeling (5/5): Missiles can no longer be pushed back at all.
- Level 30 —
Presence of Mind: makes your next spell instant, every 3 minutes. An instant 
Polymorph gets you out of most accidents.
Bonus points from the Legacy perk Talented go to what each build reaches last: the second rank of Fingers of Frost and Ice Block for Frost, Impact for Fire, 
Arcane Mind for Arcane.
Playable Races
Six races can be Mages in Forever, and the reworked racials leave no wrong answer. If you want the strongest leveling pick on each side, take Gnome for the Alliance and Troll for the Horde.
Alliance — Human, Gnome & Skyborne
Gnome
Expansive Mind adds 5% to your maximum mana, which is simply more casts before you sit down. Eureka! makes your next three direct damage spells cost 10% less and hit 10% harder, every 2 minutes. Escape Artist removes roots and snares and is mostly a PvP tool.
Human
Sword Specialization gives +2% critical strike chance to spells as well while you hold a sword, and plenty of early caster swords exist. The Human Spirit (+5% Spirit) shortens your drinking breaks a little, and Will to Survive removes stuns.
High Order Skyborne
Read Ley Line doubles your health and mana regeneration for 15 seconds, or for 15 minutes when a ley line is nearby. Wind Blessed gives 1% haste, Elemental Insight 5% damage against Elementals, and Walk on Air is a glide.
Horde — Orc, Undead & Troll
Troll
Beast Slaying is 5% more damage against the most common enemy type of the first thirty levels. Berserking gives 10% casting speed for 10 seconds, and Rapid Regeneration restores half of your Health over 6 seconds, a free meal between pulls every 3 minutes.
Undead
Cannibalize now restores mana as well as Health (7% of each every 2 seconds for 10 seconds) on a Humanoid or Undead corpse. Touch of the Grave gives your damaging spells a chance to drain Health, and Will of the Forsaken removes Charm, Fear and Sleep effects.
Orc
Blood Fury raises Spell Power by 10% for 15 seconds, Hardiness shortens stuns by 20%, and the new Shatter Curse removes Curses and cuts magic damage taken for 8 seconds. Solid, though it only really pays off once gear carries Spell Power.
Main Skills & Rotation
Before every session, check two buffs: 
Arcane Intellect and 
Frost Armor (Ice Armor replaces it at level 30). Then pick the tab for your level and tree.
All three trees play alike until level 20. You start with Fireball; switch to Frostbolt as your main spell at level 4, because the slow is worth more than the extra damage.
- Open with Frostbolt from maximum range and keep casting it.
- Use Fire Blast (level 6) while you move, or to finish an enemy that is about to reach you.
- From level 10, Frost Nova when the enemy arrives in melee, step back out of reach, and cast again.
- Below roughly a quarter of its Health, finish the enemy with your wand. The mana you save is a pull you do not have to drink for.
- Polymorph (level 8) the second enemy of an accidental double pull. It works on Beasts, Humanoids and Critters, and the sheep heals quickly, so leave it alone until the first enemy is dead.
- Arcane Explosion (level 14) is instant: keep it for finishing off several low enemies at once.
- Pull with Frostbolt at maximum range and keep casting it.
- Whenever the target is Frozen (Frostbite, Frost Nova or a Fingers of Frost proc), finish the Frostbolt you are casting and fire Ice Lance right behind it. Both benefit from Shatter.
- Frost Nova when the enemy gets close, step back, then Frostbolt and Ice Lance while it is rooted.
- Fire Blast is still a good instant for the last sliver of Health.
- Wand the enemy down once it is slowed and low.
- Blink (level 20) to get distance or to break a stun or root. Look where you are going first, because a blind Blink is how extra enemies join the fight.
- From level 26, Cone of Cold is an instant slow for when Frost Nova is on cooldown.
Outside a freeze, Ice Lance is weak for its cost. Treat it as a reward for a Frozen target, not as a filler.
For the AoE build, from level 20. Choose camps of melee enemies; casters and ranged attackers will not follow you into the storm.
- Gather three or four enemies by running through them, or tag each with a low-rank spell or your wand.
- Frost Nova when they are bunched up on you, then walk (or Blink) out to maximum range.
- Channel Blizzard on their path. With Improved Blizzard they crawl through it.
- When they reach you, Cone of Cold (level 26) and step away, or Frost Nova again if it is ready, then one more Blizzard.
- Clean up with Arcane Explosion once everything is low.
If the pull turns bad, Ice Block and wait for Frost Nova, or simply run: a dead Mage levels slower than a careful one.
- Open with Pyroblast from maximum range. With Heating Up stacks left over from the previous fight, it is much faster.
- Follow with Fireball, and with Scorch (level 22) once the enemy is close: its 1.5-second cast suffers less from being hit.
- Fire Blast on cooldown. After a kill, Wake of Fire makes the next one very likely to crit, which feeds Ignite and Heating Up.
- Frost Nova and step back if you need room: Fire has no slow, so this and Blink are your whole escape kit until Blast Wave at level 30.
- Finish with the wand when the burn from Ignite will do the rest.
Against two or three enemies, 
Flamestrike (level 16) followed by Arcane Explosion works, but it is expensive and gives you no control.
- Open with Arcane Blast. One or two casts are enough: the third and fourth cost far more mana than they are worth on a normal enemy.
- Channel Arcane Missiles. It gains 10% damage per Blast stack, and with a Missile Barrage proc it is free and twice as fast.
- Spend Clearcasting from Arcane Concentration on your most expensive spell, usually a late Arcane Blast or a full Arcane Missiles.
- Fire Blast and the wand to finish.
- Frost Nova and Blink work for every Mage. Use them the moment an enemy reaches you.
Ability milestones
- Level 1: Fireball, Frost Armor, Arcane Intellect. Level 4: Frostbolt and
Conjure Water. Level 6: Fire Blast and 
Conjure Food. Level 8: Polymorph and Arcane Missiles. - Level 10: Frost Nova and your first talent point. Level 12:
Slow Fall and 
Dampen Magic. Level 14: Arcane Explosion. Level 16: Flamestrike. Level 18: 
Remove Lesser Curse. - Level 20: Blink, Blizzard, Evocation,
Mana Shield, 
Fire Ward and your first teleports (Stormwind and Ironforge, or Orgrimmar and Undercity). - Levels 22-28: Scorch and
Frost Ward (22), 
Counterspell (24), Cone of Cold (26), 
Conjure Mana Agate (28). - Level 30: Ice Armor, and the teleports to Darnassus or Thunder Bluff.
Things to Remember
- Make food and water before you need them. A stack of each in your bags at all times, and learn the new rank as soon as the trainer offers it. Conjured items vanish if you stay logged out for more than 15 minutes.
- Carry reagents. Teleports need a Rune of Teleportation and Slow Fall needs a Light Feather. Keep the feathers you loot.
- Use Evocation and your mana gem instead of sitting. Evocation (level 20, 8-minute cooldown) refills most of your bar in 8 seconds, and the Conjure Mana Agate gem (level 28) gives back about 400 mana in the middle of a fight.
- Train every two levels. New ranks of Frostbolt or Fireball are large jumps. If money is short, skip the spells your tree never casts.
- Buff people you meet. Arcane Intellect lasts an hour and costs you a few seconds. Mages who hand out buffs and water get invited back.
- Keep a food buff running. In Forever, food that gives a buff also grants 5% extra experience. Your conjured bread does not count, so carry a few cooked meals.
- Log out in an inn. Rested experience doubles what you earn from kills, and the Legacy perk Well Rested makes it build faster.
Stats to Prioritize
- Spell Power — more damage on every cast. It shows up on low-level gear more often in Forever than it did in Classic, and it is worth taking wherever you find it.
- Intellect — a larger mana pool and some spell critical strike chance. This is the stat you will see most, and it sets how many enemies you kill between drinks.
- Spirit — faster mana regeneration while you are not casting, so shorter breaks. Better than it looks at low level, when fights are short.
- Stamina — a safety margin. Do not chase it, but do not walk around with none either.
Gear tips
- Get a wand as early as you can and replace it often. An enchanter can craft one for you from level 5 (Lesser Magic Wand) and again from level 13 (Greater Magic Wand). Until around level 20 it is a real share of your damage.
- Weapon damage does not matter. Choose a staff, dagger or sword for its stats only.
- Professions. Tailoring turns the cloth you loot into armor and bags, and Enchanting gives you wands and uses up quest rewards you do not need. Herbalism with Alchemy is the alternative if you would rather have mana potions.
Tips & Tricks
- Use low ranks for control. When you only want the root or the slow, a rank 1 Frost Nova or Frostbolt does the same job for a fraction of the mana.
- Spend money where your tree is. A Frost Mage can leave Scorch and the later Fireball ranks at the trainer, and a Fire Mage does not need every Blizzard rank.
- Fight at range, always. Start every pull at the edge of your reach. Each Frostbolt cast before the enemy arrives is one it never gets to answer.
- Rooted enemies still hit. A Frozen enemy attacks whoever is in reach, so step out of melee range before you resume casting.
- Polymorph is also a heal for the enemy. Sheep regenerate very fast: use it on the enemy you have not touched yet, not on the one you have half killed.
- Counterspell (level 24) wins caster fights. It locks the school for 10 seconds, and a caster that cannot cast walks into your Frost Nova.
- Mana Shield is a last resort. It drains 2 mana per point of damage absorbed, so it only makes sense when the alternative is dying.
Dungeon & Group Tips
Groups like Mages for three reasons: area damage, Polymorph and free water. Between levels 13 and 30 you can run Ragefire Chasm, The Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron, Wailing Caverns, the Deadmines, Shadowfang Keep, the Stockade, Excavation Site: Wetlands and Blackfathom Deeps. The dungeon guide lists level ranges and quests.
- Hand out water and Arcane Intellect before the first pull, and again after a wipe.
- Agree on a sheep target. Polymorph breaks on any damage, so mark it and keep area spells away from it.
- Give the tank a few seconds before Blizzard, Flamestrike or Arcane Explosion. Area damage on a fresh pack pulls everything onto you.
- Think before Frost Nova. Rooted enemies attack the nearest player, and enemies frozen away from the tank are enemies the tank cannot hold. Use it to save the healer, not as part of your rotation.
- Counterspell the healers and the dangerous casts from level 24. Be aware that it generates a lot of threat.
- Remove Lesser Curse (level 18) is your job in groups without a Druid.
- Watch your threat on bosses. Frost and Arcane have talents that reduce it; either way, a short pause costs less than a dead Mage.
Macros
Water and food
One button for both conjures: the first press makes water, the second makes food.
#showtooltip /castsequence reset=4 Conjure Water, Conjure Food
Self buffs
Left click casts Arcane Intellect on yourself, right click casts Frost Armor. Replace it with Ice Armor at level 30.
#showtooltip /cast [button:2] Frost Armor; [@player] Arcane Intellect
Stop casting + Counterspell
Interrupts your own cast so Counterspell goes off at once, even in the middle of a Frostbolt.
#showtooltip Counterspell /stopcasting /cast Counterspell
Mouseover Polymorph
Sheeps the enemy under your cursor without changing your target, or your current target if you are not pointing at anything.
#showtooltip Polymorph /cast [@mouseover,harm,nodead][] Polymorph
Wand
Starts wanding and does not switch it off if you press the key twice.
#showtooltip Shoot /cast !Shoot