1. #1

    How are mages leveling 85+?

    Mage is next on my list!

    Seems some classes either shrug off quests (DK, warrior etc), or can be a hair pulling experience. How are mages 85+? What spec would be ideal?

  2. #2
    I was fully geared when I started at 85.. And it was pretty ok first 3-4 levels, I mean I couldnt keep up with many classes, but it was ok.. and then I hit 89 and went to Dread Wastes and everything just slowed so much, first I thought it was the quest pacing or something, but the next day I did the same on my warrior and the time taken was cut by 4 or 5 hours and my warrior was like 380 geared at cata.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Schmittay View Post
    How are mages 85+? What spec would be ideal?
    Any spec you like.

  4. #4
    Any spec can work but frost was better for me: many snares, pet freeze, frozen orb for aoe packs, many ranged instants (ice lances on frozen targets, brain freezes).

    Also, take frost bomb for additional snare and 100% BF proc on explode.

  5. #5
    ideally, frost>fire>arcane imo
    frost can burst more often and kite better with ranged nova/shatters
    fire can also set up some nice burst with shatters and spreading combustion
    arcane is a bit meh

    I'm leveling my second mage atm as fire so I get some practice in. I recommend playing the spec you want to play at 90.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by jpr729 View Post
    ideally, frost>fire>arcane imo
    frost can burst more often and kite better with ranged nova/shatters
    fire can also set up some nice burst with shatters and spreading combustion
    arcane is a bit meh

    I'm leveling my second mage atm as fire so I get some practice in. I recommend playing the spec you want to play at 90.
    Leveling doesn't train you for raiding rotations, because your playstyle is so determined by the level 90 talents, and because killing tons of weak quest mobs is completely different from fighting a boss.

    Just play frost, enjoy the combination of slowing/freezing and burst from frozen orb and pet freeze/fingers of frost. Arcane and fire are so much more awkward to level with by comparison.

  7. #7
    Frost is probably going to be easiest. If you got pretty comfortable with a spec doing dailies or quests at max level during Cataclysm, you're probably going to be best off using that spec. Fire and Frost can both have good mobility. You won't be able to take much punishment while leveling, and you'll probably die a few times just from pulling too many mobs, or getting in to a situation where mobs are respawning too quickly.

    One thing to keep in mind is your position relative to mobs that you *don't* want to pull. Mages are champions of kiting, but it works best when you're only dealing with 2-3 mobs. Make good use of your snares and freezes. One of the things that makes leveling a Mage tough is that they are balanced around having the level 90 regen talents. Before you get that, you're going to have a decent amount of downtime. As far as questing goes, your life will become so much easier once you get Invocation.

  8. #8
    Deleted
    I leveled as Fire but had DS bis and could blow up groups of mobs in seconds. If you're not so well geared I'd suggest going Frost for sure.

  9. #9
    i levelled my Mage as Arcane recently, and to be honest, i had pretty pants gear when i started... In all fairness though, you'll be squishy as hell if you pull more than 2 mobs. So you really need to be careful.

    Levelling time for 89-90 took me about 4-5 hours of just questing.. but then, i dont think i was much quicker on my Monk or DK either.

  10. #10
    It's not too bad. I leveled as fire. Since mages are pretty gear dependent, I found that it was a whole lot easier as fire bc it was easy to stack crit. I also find that fire has plenty of snares and I did way more damage. Just make sure u always keep your ice barrier up.

    Also, I agree with everyone else about dread waste. It absolutely sucks being a mage in dread wastes. You're already pretty squishy, and dread wastes seems to be setup to always have mobs attack you. It almost impossible to only pull one. I ended up leveling in lower level zones from 89-90 bc I got to frustrated in dread wastes. I just found that I leveled quicker by finishing questing in lower level zones bc I didn't die.

    My best suggestion is get flasks and elixirs if u can, and get some food to provide u with another good buff. Also, I race changed my mage to a panda for the food and leveling buff. And max your rest xp. It really does help

  11. #11
    On the contrary.. i didnt have a single problem in Dread Wastes... and nobody else should either while levelling... if you're aware of your surroundings you'll only pull what you want to pull... granted you cant turn away from getting a mob or two at once here and there... but i have one answer for that... Polymorph.

    It works on everything but the Sha manifestation type mobs, since those are elemental... but even then, you have plenty of tools in your kit to survive anything but a 4-5 mob pull as a mage.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by r3d3mpt10n View Post
    On the contrary.. i didnt have a single problem in Dread Wastes... and nobody else should either while levelling... if you're aware of your surroundings you'll only pull what you want to pull... granted you cant turn away from getting a mob or two at once here and there... but i have one answer for that... Polymorph.

    It works on everything but the Sha manifestation type mobs, since those are elemental... but even then, you have plenty of tools in your kit to survive anything but a 4-5 mob pull as a mage.
    It aint abt having problems, but at least when I levelled the first day... It was slow to kill things.. and the next day I went on my warrior as arms and just facerolled through the mobs

  13. #13
    My mage was around 390 ilvl when i picked him up to lvl, but it was a pleasure to lvl as frost (ability to just easily destroy groups of ~10 mobs is just too good). And i think it was the fastest / easiest lvling experience out of all 4 lvl 90's that i've had so far.

  14. #14
    I did:

    http://www.wowhead.com/talent#mxm<|dGM

    Single target, open with frostfire bolt, then frost bomb, frostjaw, inferno blast, frostfire until dead, scorch if need be to kite. Pyro procs take care of the rest.

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