Post by Raineigh Dravenholdt on Apr 4, 2008 10:45:18 GMT -5
What can I say? My WoW is being fubar at the moment (2 FPS, ftl) and I've gotten the urge to write up my own Mage character guide since we've gained a few people who're still a bit green to the game and then our 70s who've ventured in making alts.
Mages are pretty simple and when I made Raineigh, I was coming over to just look for a release from healbotting on Dragonmaw and babysetting the little one. My friend had a Gnome Mage over there and I thought Arcane Explosion had to be the coolest looking thing besides his Evocation. So... admittedly... I never actually had any plans of keeping Rain...
And now she is my first and only 70.
So that has to say something there.
Mages are the primary ranged spell-slingers of WoW, thus with our awesome crowd controlling abilities and conjuring capabilities, we're a pretty sought after part of the team. However, we're squishy as hell, have low hit points, no healing abilities, and depending on what spec you take... our shields don't last out long (and some take your mana in exchange for hit points!).
To compensate for our squishiness, we've been given a multitude of things to keep as much distance as possible between us and our attackers. Frost Nova, Cone of Cold, Blink, Polymorph... all these save for the last are instant cast with the latter being a pretty good thing to toss off if you can catch someone off guard or have the time to get away and cast it. (( Or... for the lucky few with Presence of Mind (PoM) you can get one off instantly! ))
However, with that said, I suppose I should really start tackling these subjects one at a time so I don't blow up your heads with my rambling thoughts...
There are many good reasons to be a Mage and plenty of bad ones to level them out. First, I honestly want to put out there that if you're going to be a Mage, make sure you take up First Aid the second you have a chance. You can't heal, and unless you've got 30 points in Frost Talents, you're going to have a weak shield that doesn't hold much off and what damage it does hold off depletes your mana for half its worth. I'm level 70 and I -just- learned Heavy Mageweave Bandages last night.
Mmm... Refreshments.
A good thing is, for those fights you survive, you can conjure both food and water to replenish you pretty quickly. This ability in itself is handy and you'll be sure to be an asset to a group who'll undoubtedly start asking for water and food once you join ((see vending machine)). A good point to this is that you can make some decent money with people who see you out and forgot to pick up supplies last time they were in town. Trust me, I make a good couple gold selling my left over Manna Biscuits. The bad point is, once you've finished making goods for your group, you're out of mana and they're ready to head out.
And I've been in many a PuG who don't wait for you to gain your mana back before starting.
Also, your last talents in Conjure Food and Water (( Food Rank: 8 and Water Rank: 9)) can only be learned from Tomes that are random World Drops or bought off the AH for a ridiculous amount of gold. Without these, you will not be able to learn Ritual of Refreshment from your Mage trainer.
Crowd Controls FTW
Another awesome thing about Mages that make us so useful are our Crowd Controls (CC). There are times when you're in a dungeon and there's no other option than to pull more than you can handle without horribly depleting your healers mana pool. For those times, we were given Polymorph. Learn this, love it, swear by it. Its a handy thing to have when you're out soloing quest and you attract one too many mobs. Turn them into a nice little sheep (or once you're level 60 a cute little piggy!) and deal with them when you can.
I never ran into this problem until I started PuGing heroic dungeons with other guilds, but a LOT of Paladin tanks do not use Mage CC's when they pull. They just toss Avenger Shield, Consecrate, and wack away. The reason for this is, any damage done to the CC will cause it to break. With Consecrate, if they touch any of it, the CC is broken and they rush straight for the tank whose in the middle of it all. Thus.. its next to impossible to get them back under control by then.
Grouping with Nastin, I've learned to time my sheeps just right so I catch them outside the Consecration and we can have our simple pulls without worry. Granted it doesn't always work out that way, but I try. A tip for that is, have casting bars turned on. When you see their Avenger's Shield cast bar start, start casting your Polymorph. In the time that it takes for the shield to hit and for them to start walking back (most of the mobs are dazed as well) you can get your polymorph off and out of the way.
Also, it not entirely unheard of for the Mage to actually pull a group of mobs with their polymorph. It does no damage and its easy for the Tank to pick up the aggro from it.
Another helpful thing is our Counterspell ability. With a 24 second cooldown, its something that you want to time just right, but when used correctly it can make all the difference. Extremely helpful when you're in dungeons where you have spell casters in the pull and a long way to go to pull the Line of Sight trick to get them to run. Just Counterspell them and 9 times out of 10, they'll come running where you want them.
Your Job in Parties/Raids
Its pretty simple deal as a mage. Watch your crowd control, make sure it doesn't break early and reapply as needed. Let loose with your ranged spells on the specified target (please... make sure you're targeting your tank's target unless told otherwise.)
A problem we DPS'ers begin to have at higher levels is the fact that we do damage fast and therefore can sometimes easily steal the aggro away from our Tank. This is where Omen is very, very handy (unless your tank doesn't have Omen and then you're just guess and checking). It monitors and shows a moving bar graph of everyones threat generated.
If you don't believe in Mods or your tank doesn't have one, let him gather the mobs and wack on them for a couple seconds. Once he's got a little bit of threat built up with them, then unleash with your spells.
Class Specs
I've tried a couple out, but I've settled for now on a Hybrid one that allows me to have my strong Fire Spells with the sanctity of my Frost Shield. I'll post up a copy of what my spec tree looks like when I get a little more time.
Frost Mages are good for soloing because they have their Frost Shield that holds off a good amount of damage more than Mana Shield and doesn't expend your mana in exchange. You get an awesome Water Elemental that saved my butt more than once when I was a pure Frost Mage.
Depending on how you distribute your points, you can have stackable debuffs that raise your chance to crit that target, increase your damage against frozen targets and increase your chance to freeze said targets to allow those first two things to happen easier and more often. Also, with Frost spec, you get that awesome effect where it slows them down enough for you to get off a couple good Frostbolts before they reach your (( and a good deal more if you take the Icy Veins talent. ))
Fire Mages deal a lot more damage at one time than Frost Mages, but their attacks take a little more time. Fireballs are a 3 second cast while Frostbolts are only 2.5 (( given that you've taken the proper skills for each )). With flame you get Pyroblast which deals a huge amount of damage but with a cast that seems to take an eternity (( watch these when you're in dungeons. Don't open with them as your first attack because it can at times pull aggro away with just one hit or move you up pretty far on the threat meter )).
Fire Mages also get the Combustion ability which is a stackable buff that increases your crit chance in increasing amounts until you've successfully fired 3 critting Fire spells. With points in Improved Scorch, you can get a stackable debuff ((up to 5 times)) that increases the fire damage dealt to that opponent. There's actually a talent pretty high in the tree that will give your fire spell the chance to pretty much knock your target stupid for a couple seconds.
Blast Wave is a high damage dealing AoE with a bit of a cooldown, but it comes equipped with the chance to daze your enemies when you cast it. And it being an instant cast AoE is very nice as well.
I don't know much about Arcane Mages, or I'd write about specifics for them, but as far as Hybrid Mages like Arcane/Frost or Arcane/Fire I know a little about.
The most common case is the Arcane/Fire ((normally specced PoM Pyro)). These guys usually go down the Arcane tree far enough to get Presence of Mind and then finish up the points in fire making them a force to be reckoned with. With Presence of Mind activated, any spell that takes 10 seconds or less becomes instant cast, turning your Pyroblast spell into an instant wonder.
A lot of people take this in PvP... though I'm not too sure if I would. Beyond that first pop, you're stuck relying on what normal mages do throughout the entire fight.
Arcane/Frost really has nothing to it either... when I was that spec I would just use the Presence of Mind to polymorph quick in dungeons. You've also got a spell that increases your spell haste and you can fire off some really fast Frostbolts (( i think mine was like 1.5 seconds when activated with Icy Veins as well. Maybe shorter... it was awhile ago)).
Pretty much, I leveled Frost. When I got to 70, I began researching raid specs because as much as I love and miss being Frost, I wanted to be useful in Raids. Its not to say they're not, but I'm dealing more damage now which makes me happy!
Professions?
Tailoring I would like to say isn't a must but will honestly give you some very VERY good gear in your later levels. Not to mention its a money maker with the bags you'll be making... but depending what spec you take you can make some very handy equipment.
Frozen Shadoweave tailoring and Spellfire tailoring give you awesome gear. The only problem is, you'll be farming for primals from things that are immune to your strongest spells... so be forwarned!!!
Enchanting is nice because you can always disenchant what you make and enchant whatever stats you're lacking at the time.
And then there's always alchemy/herbalism for the sweet buffs you can make from the potions. ((Elixir of Major Firepower ftw! ))
Anyways, that's what I have to say for my class and if anyone has questions, things they'd like to add, or correct me, go ahead. This was my first mage I ever made, so I could very well be lacking in areas!
Mages are pretty simple and when I made Raineigh, I was coming over to just look for a release from healbotting on Dragonmaw and babysetting the little one. My friend had a Gnome Mage over there and I thought Arcane Explosion had to be the coolest looking thing besides his Evocation. So... admittedly... I never actually had any plans of keeping Rain...
And now she is my first and only 70.
So that has to say something there.Mages are the primary ranged spell-slingers of WoW, thus with our awesome crowd controlling abilities and conjuring capabilities, we're a pretty sought after part of the team. However, we're squishy as hell, have low hit points, no healing abilities, and depending on what spec you take... our shields don't last out long (and some take your mana in exchange for hit points!).
To compensate for our squishiness, we've been given a multitude of things to keep as much distance as possible between us and our attackers. Frost Nova, Cone of Cold, Blink, Polymorph... all these save for the last are instant cast with the latter being a pretty good thing to toss off if you can catch someone off guard or have the time to get away and cast it. (( Or... for the lucky few with Presence of Mind (PoM) you can get one off instantly! ))
However, with that said, I suppose I should really start tackling these subjects one at a time so I don't blow up your heads with my rambling thoughts...
There are many good reasons to be a Mage and plenty of bad ones to level them out. First, I honestly want to put out there that if you're going to be a Mage, make sure you take up First Aid the second you have a chance. You can't heal, and unless you've got 30 points in Frost Talents, you're going to have a weak shield that doesn't hold much off and what damage it does hold off depletes your mana for half its worth. I'm level 70 and I -just- learned Heavy Mageweave Bandages last night.
Mmm... Refreshments.
A good thing is, for those fights you survive, you can conjure both food and water to replenish you pretty quickly. This ability in itself is handy and you'll be sure to be an asset to a group who'll undoubtedly start asking for water and food once you join ((see vending machine)). A good point to this is that you can make some decent money with people who see you out and forgot to pick up supplies last time they were in town. Trust me, I make a good couple gold selling my left over Manna Biscuits. The bad point is, once you've finished making goods for your group, you're out of mana and they're ready to head out.
And I've been in many a PuG who don't wait for you to gain your mana back before starting.
Also, your last talents in Conjure Food and Water (( Food Rank: 8 and Water Rank: 9)) can only be learned from Tomes that are random World Drops or bought off the AH for a ridiculous amount of gold. Without these, you will not be able to learn Ritual of Refreshment from your Mage trainer.
Crowd Controls FTW
Another awesome thing about Mages that make us so useful are our Crowd Controls (CC). There are times when you're in a dungeon and there's no other option than to pull more than you can handle without horribly depleting your healers mana pool. For those times, we were given Polymorph. Learn this, love it, swear by it. Its a handy thing to have when you're out soloing quest and you attract one too many mobs. Turn them into a nice little sheep (or once you're level 60 a cute little piggy!) and deal with them when you can.
I never ran into this problem until I started PuGing heroic dungeons with other guilds, but a LOT of Paladin tanks do not use Mage CC's when they pull. They just toss Avenger Shield, Consecrate, and wack away. The reason for this is, any damage done to the CC will cause it to break. With Consecrate, if they touch any of it, the CC is broken and they rush straight for the tank whose in the middle of it all. Thus.. its next to impossible to get them back under control by then.
Grouping with Nastin, I've learned to time my sheeps just right so I catch them outside the Consecration and we can have our simple pulls without worry. Granted it doesn't always work out that way, but I try. A tip for that is, have casting bars turned on. When you see their Avenger's Shield cast bar start, start casting your Polymorph. In the time that it takes for the shield to hit and for them to start walking back (most of the mobs are dazed as well) you can get your polymorph off and out of the way.
Also, it not entirely unheard of for the Mage to actually pull a group of mobs with their polymorph. It does no damage and its easy for the Tank to pick up the aggro from it.
Another helpful thing is our Counterspell ability. With a 24 second cooldown, its something that you want to time just right, but when used correctly it can make all the difference. Extremely helpful when you're in dungeons where you have spell casters in the pull and a long way to go to pull the Line of Sight trick to get them to run. Just Counterspell them and 9 times out of 10, they'll come running where you want them.
Your Job in Parties/Raids
Its pretty simple deal as a mage. Watch your crowd control, make sure it doesn't break early and reapply as needed. Let loose with your ranged spells on the specified target (please... make sure you're targeting your tank's target unless told otherwise.)
A problem we DPS'ers begin to have at higher levels is the fact that we do damage fast and therefore can sometimes easily steal the aggro away from our Tank. This is where Omen is very, very handy (unless your tank doesn't have Omen and then you're just guess and checking). It monitors and shows a moving bar graph of everyones threat generated.
If you don't believe in Mods or your tank doesn't have one, let him gather the mobs and wack on them for a couple seconds. Once he's got a little bit of threat built up with them, then unleash with your spells.
Class Specs
I've tried a couple out, but I've settled for now on a Hybrid one that allows me to have my strong Fire Spells with the sanctity of my Frost Shield. I'll post up a copy of what my spec tree looks like when I get a little more time.
Frost Mages are good for soloing because they have their Frost Shield that holds off a good amount of damage more than Mana Shield and doesn't expend your mana in exchange. You get an awesome Water Elemental that saved my butt more than once when I was a pure Frost Mage.
Depending on how you distribute your points, you can have stackable debuffs that raise your chance to crit that target, increase your damage against frozen targets and increase your chance to freeze said targets to allow those first two things to happen easier and more often. Also, with Frost spec, you get that awesome effect where it slows them down enough for you to get off a couple good Frostbolts before they reach your (( and a good deal more if you take the Icy Veins talent. ))
Fire Mages deal a lot more damage at one time than Frost Mages, but their attacks take a little more time. Fireballs are a 3 second cast while Frostbolts are only 2.5 (( given that you've taken the proper skills for each )). With flame you get Pyroblast which deals a huge amount of damage but with a cast that seems to take an eternity (( watch these when you're in dungeons. Don't open with them as your first attack because it can at times pull aggro away with just one hit or move you up pretty far on the threat meter )).
Fire Mages also get the Combustion ability which is a stackable buff that increases your crit chance in increasing amounts until you've successfully fired 3 critting Fire spells. With points in Improved Scorch, you can get a stackable debuff ((up to 5 times)) that increases the fire damage dealt to that opponent. There's actually a talent pretty high in the tree that will give your fire spell the chance to pretty much knock your target stupid for a couple seconds.
Blast Wave is a high damage dealing AoE with a bit of a cooldown, but it comes equipped with the chance to daze your enemies when you cast it. And it being an instant cast AoE is very nice as well.
I don't know much about Arcane Mages, or I'd write about specifics for them, but as far as Hybrid Mages like Arcane/Frost or Arcane/Fire I know a little about.
The most common case is the Arcane/Fire ((normally specced PoM Pyro)). These guys usually go down the Arcane tree far enough to get Presence of Mind and then finish up the points in fire making them a force to be reckoned with. With Presence of Mind activated, any spell that takes 10 seconds or less becomes instant cast, turning your Pyroblast spell into an instant wonder.
A lot of people take this in PvP... though I'm not too sure if I would. Beyond that first pop, you're stuck relying on what normal mages do throughout the entire fight.
Arcane/Frost really has nothing to it either... when I was that spec I would just use the Presence of Mind to polymorph quick in dungeons. You've also got a spell that increases your spell haste and you can fire off some really fast Frostbolts (( i think mine was like 1.5 seconds when activated with Icy Veins as well. Maybe shorter... it was awhile ago)).
Pretty much, I leveled Frost. When I got to 70, I began researching raid specs because as much as I love and miss being Frost, I wanted to be useful in Raids. Its not to say they're not, but I'm dealing more damage now which makes me happy!
Professions?
Tailoring I would like to say isn't a must but will honestly give you some very VERY good gear in your later levels. Not to mention its a money maker with the bags you'll be making... but depending what spec you take you can make some very handy equipment.
Frozen Shadoweave tailoring and Spellfire tailoring give you awesome gear. The only problem is, you'll be farming for primals from things that are immune to your strongest spells... so be forwarned!!!
Enchanting is nice because you can always disenchant what you make and enchant whatever stats you're lacking at the time.
And then there's always alchemy/herbalism for the sweet buffs you can make from the potions. ((Elixir of Major Firepower ftw! ))
Anyways, that's what I have to say for my class and if anyone has questions, things they'd like to add, or correct me, go ahead. This was my first mage I ever made, so I could very well be lacking in areas!