Best Leveling Spec?

[Kareth00]

Starting a mage wondering what the best spec for solo/questing leveling. I want to be fire seems like it would be fun. What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance!

[Scy]

Its a mage... all three are dps specs, all three are viable. Comes down to personal preference. I like fire but frost is pretty badass now that the elemental is permanent.

[Winni]

Just started a mage, I'm leveling arcane. Really enjoying it, and flying through the levels.

[Klur]

+1 fire.
Frost is pretty cool (lol, pun) once you get ice lance, fingers of frost and shatter. Then it's crit central. And ice barrier is waaaaaay better than mana shield.

Arcane is really boring compared to the other too. Aside from Arcane Blast none of the spells have any of the oomph of pyroblast or a nice shatter combo.

[UFTimmy]

At very low levels, Arcane is one shotting on a crit and always two shotting. Frost was taking a couple more spells.

[phenom588]

Frost seems pretty good, especially once you can start getting those shatter crits. Then you just go around dominating people.

Arcane seems pretty good for dungeons as frost runs out of mana real fast and although arcane does the same, evocation is on a 2 minute cd so you regain mana faster.

I personally haven't tried fire myself but I will be soon.

[Whisperawr]

Frost and Arcane were great for leveling after 4.0.3a. I never liked Fire because it was a bit boring. Although, I never tried Fire after level 71 (Living Bomb).

Arcane was almost always a 2 shot on kills. (Arcane Blast->Arcane Blast)

Frost was nice too. (Frostfire Bolt/Frostbolt->Frostbolt Cast->Frost Nova(pet) after the first cast hit->Ice Lance)

[Auro]

Frost got a HUGE buff in 4.0.3a when it comes to single target leveling.

You can 1-3 shot virtually everything, especially with ice lance and fingers of frost and the free fireball procs. I also find it having the most survivability with ice barrier AND mana shield. (or just ice barrier usually)

Its surprising how nice the new frost is. If you really dont like having a pet (water elemental) then try the other specs.

I havent leveled with fire or arcane since 4.0.3 came out so I'm not positive they're great, but I can tell you frost is a very very solid choice and one of the fastest leveling specs across most classes.

And I NEVER ran below like 80% mana while soloing on frost from 70-80 post 4.0.3. Its amazing how fast I was able to go.

[iceberg265]

Fire imo. Especially if you happen to have a healer leveling with you like me. I'll be running around living bombing everything in site.

[Bitmap]

I've been leveling a Fire mage. Only level 30 atm, but that's only about 6 hours of leveling. Currently it's going ridiculously fast (spent time leveling cooking to 350, and mining/herbing up). I've yet to find a mob i can't two shot, and now that iv'e got blast wave i can AoE like frost mages used to. Plus, doing 200+ DPS sub 30 in instances is really nice Arcane looks ok, but I'd be worried about mana. As it is, i can go pretty much forever without any mana dips.

Note: Heirloom staff/chest/shoulder/2xtrinkets.

[Deleted]

Hi Kareth


10-28: I've just recently started a Troll make (called Tróld, danish for troll, original I know ) and what I did was to go Arcane from lvl 10-28. You're basically 1-3 shotting mobs throughout these lvls with your instant Arcane Barrage (I think it's called?) and Fireblast. In the late 20s it gets a little tougher, but nothing the spec can't handle properly.

28-80: After level 28, I went frost, and it felt so much more smoother than Arcane. It's mana efficient, and it hurts like hell. Not to mention, instead of Arcane Barrage, you know get Ice Lance, which basicly also just one shots/two shots mobs ^_^ and the more you level up, the more AoE-pull friendly it becomes.

My mage is now lvl 68, and yesterday when I was lvl 65 I pulled no less than 13 birdies in Outland (for some feathers for a Q) at the same time with ease. You've got so much control of your mobs, that you can keep them at a distance 24/7, Ice Lancing them one after one - and with 2x BoA trinkets, your mana never drops. I haven't used my own conjured items for mana needs, but rather health if it got too tough

I've had dual spec since lvl 40, and I chose Fire. It's a good spec as well, but it's very mana heavy, and you'll have to drink a lot. Besides, Mana Shield < Ice Barrier, so if (which is possible as well!) you want to pull multiple adds with this spec, it gets tougher than Frost, but I actually found out that I could kill them faster as Fire (by a margin) but it was more difficult staying in range without getting hit.

For instances I've been Fire all the time though. As soon as you get Dragon's Breath and instant Flamestrike, you'll be an aggro magnet, and be able to pull 1.2-1.6k consistent DPS in an instance from 60-68 (Ohboi I'm looking forward to Living Bomb! )

I wanted to link you some talent specs, but since I'm a new user, it won't allow me to, so

I hope that you've got some inspiration out of, so GL with your mage You should be lvling your mage pretty fast, since they're a really good class to lvl. I did 1-60 in 1 day and 19 hrs myself (BoA items + 2x trinkets) and I enjoyed it a lot.

[Deleted]

I'm leveling a mage right now at lvl 44 atm and been leveling in fire which imo is the most fun specc. And I have never gone oom while leveling and once you get the improved scorch talent you can spam scorch 24/7 without loosing mana and with the insta pyroblast talent it's pretty much a walk in the park leveling

[chaosreign]

You can level in whatever spec your heart desires, but Frost provides a lot more survivability than all the other specs. In addition, you won't come across many mana issues in any spec (now at least), but its very difficult to come across them as frost.
Pros: Ice Barrier, Pet, Movement Speed Reduction, Replenishment, Icy Veins, Shatter Barrier, Blizzard, Stun

What more could you want?

[Goliethlol]

To sum up this question, as it has been discussed to death on these boards (and not just this thread), I'll answer with this:

Frost is the 'best' leveling spec due to its insane burst with shatter, its ridiculous control, and its defensive capabilities which are leaps and bounds better than fire or arcane.

Arcane is a 'fun' spec with really big numbers.

Fire is a 'fun' instant cast / cast while moving / dot the target while I run around spec.

In terms of leveling, if you want the 'best' spec, then level as frost. If you simply want to level with whatever spec is the most fun, then its subjective, and this isn't the way to determine which is the most fun to you. Go play each of the specs, and see which you prefer.

[nwo]

Overall... frost...

You can level 1-60 as any of the 3 specs, but once you hit 60, you will need a bit more survivability and once you hit northrend, you won't be 1 shotting mobs with every big crit. Therefore, frost is the best because it has good damage output, procs are nice, infinite mana, pet, and the most survivability. You can pull with 1-2 frostbolts and if the mob doesn't die, which it most likely will unless you are soloing a group quest, you can just ice lance spam.

I haven't leveled any toons since 4.0 came out, but I did finish leveling a mage to 80 a few weeks ago.

[Ninurta]

started my dwarf mage at lvl 40 now havent had to drink yet hes fire

[Lupiz]

I don't know what people are talking about with fire...it isn't mana intensive at all? Pyroblast, scorch, scorch, scorch, fire blast and dead. All for pretty much 0 mana.

[wowplayer]

been running around as fire (around 30 now) and its not bad. i usually open with a frostbolt to slow them and then scorch followed by a couple of fireballs. most mobs will go down by then. if not if they still got more health than my fireblast can deal, i frost nova and move back to cast another fireball. and when hot streak procs, i throw in a pyroblast. no mana probs at all. i will prob dual and use arcane soon as that will more than likely be the raiding spec i use later on. of course this all can change since cata will likely change top dps.

[Zerakou]

If you have BoA's and enchants, I'd go arcane but if not I would go frost. The water elemental just makes it much easier to now.

[Boyiee]

If you have BoA's and enchants, I'd go arcane but if not I would go frost. The water elemental just makes it much easier to now.

I also just started a new mage, but I some questions in regards to leveling.

I'm refer a friending with a druid (shes feral currently) and we are 24. We are blowing through levels so fast (one every 15-30min, about 3hours played so far)that our gear is getting left behind... I finally upgraded from my starter zone stuff at 23 for example... as well as our new skills and such getting left behind since we aren't training as often.

I've been arcane so far, and it works well, I know that both frost and arcane are both really viable for solo leveling, but which one do you think is better with the method we are using. We have NO boa gear at all, so arcane might not hit as hard. Slowing mobs with frost might be a big bonus, because with my crappy gear, I get hit like a truck if touched. Frost is starting to seem like the way to go, am I right in assuming that? Or should I wait a few more levels before respeccing?