Mage professions

[Marcemil]

Hey. wich professions is best to a mage?

[Darchow]

I am rolling with Tailoring and Enchanting.

[Lightcaller]

It is a bit hard to say which professions is best, since all have some more or less useful perks. I got Tailoring and Enchanting on mine, as that seemed good, but it doesn't matter that much.

[The Troll Rogue]

I went Herbalism/Tailoring until I hit 85 then farmed all the herbs I needed to power level alchemy and switched herbalism to alchemy. The extra INT from flasks and 2 more hours is really nice, along with the flask of enhancement for dungeons/raids without flasks.

[Dariela]

Engineering/Tailoring is likely to produce the highest results, at least for a non-arcane mage.

---------- Post added 2011-05-31 at 05:40 AM ----------

I went Herbalism/Tailoring until I hit 85 then farmed all the herbs I needed to power level alchemy and switched herbalism to alchemy. The extra INT from flasks and 2 more hours is really nice, along with the flask of enhancement for dungeons/raids without flasks.

Not trying to burst your bubble or anything, but the stats on flasks from mixology/flask of enhancement equal the stat bonuses of most other non-gathering tradeskills.

Engineering provides roughly the same bonus if you use it on cooldown and then math out its overall effect, but you get the ability to control when to use it, and it becomes a strong burst cooldown.

Tailoring cloak enchant provides a larger stat bonus when mathed out over time, but its a proc, so you don't get much control.

I don't know how it works for arcane mages. I was talking to a mage friend of mine who said because of arcane's mechanics, when his power torrent procced in his arcane spec, his damage actually went down, because his mana pool increased without being filled. If this is the case, I would hate to see what happened if he proced lightweave, synapse springs, and power torrent all at the same time. That being said, he isn't really an arcane mage, and was just toying with the spec. You would have to talk to an arcane mage to know for sure.

[Deleted]

I was talking to a mage friend of mine who said because of arcane's mechanics, when his power torrent procced in his arcane spec, his damage actually went down, because his mana pool increased without being filled. If this is the case, I would hate to see what happened if he proced lightweave, synapse springs, and power torrent all at the same time. That being said, he isn't really an arcane mage, and was just toying with the spec. You would have to talk to an arcane mage to know for sure.

Your friend is wrong, the Int boost from all these procs is far more better than the mastery lost.

[Deleted]

I am rolling with Tailoring and Enchanting.

Eeyup.
Plus leveling Enchanting's a lot easier if you have the greens and stuff you create with tailoring.

[Dariela]

Your friend is wrong, the Int boost from all these procs is far more better than the mastery lost.

Good to know, thank you. Again, he was only dabling with arcane on a lark. It made little sense to me that Blizzard would make such a glaring oversite.

[Litterbox]

Every profession has it's benefits.
But I'd recommend getting two crafting professions if you have a gathering alt to get you the materials.

I got enchanting (for the ring enchants) and inscription (for the shoulder enchant) - And I love it, especially now where I can make my own glyphs for alts instead of buying them on the AH for 500+ gold each.

[ErrantBlood]

Enchanting & Tailoring is a great combination because you can make your own bags as well as your own gear. Obviously that gear will be replaced in the proper raid setting but having a head start on all the others will do wonders for you.

Alchemy & Herbalism would also be great simply because you can create your own potions, flasks, etc. which are doubled in their effectiveness later down the road. The self-heal from Herbalism isn't exactly tremendous BUT it does provide you with a nice Haste Rating boost.

Engineering & Mining is more of a PvP type thing but it does have some PvE benefits. The stamina boost from Mining is kind of nice but it's highly doubtful that you'll find it to be extraordinary. Lots of interesting toys you can create as well (through Engineering).

Jewelcrafting & Mining has some nice profession-only items that could help your DPS both in PvE and in PvP. Plus there's a couple of neat things you can make if you like to role-play.

Inscription & Herbalism is great if you can't afford the ridiculous glyph prices. I know there's a shoulder enchantment you can only get from taking that as well which will really help you out as a mage. If nothing else, the glyphs (or herbs used to make the glyphs) can be sold for quite a profit.