Leveling a mage

[Recompence]

Okay I haven't played a mage in forever, used to have a belf frost mage, pre wotlk.

I have a gnome mage I started leveling and I am not sure what to spec. I've heard on the WoW forums that frost has been gimped for pvp? Is it still worth leveling as frost or am I better off leveling arcane/fire?

[aquifer]

Frost is still the way to go imo but it really depends on how you like to play,

arcane does decent damage but ooms fast and isnt very survivable till you get slow, then it is rather good for leveling,

fire does the most damage of the 3 specs but is the least survivable unless you spec for knockback and dragon breath, then its not too bad.

frost is by far the most survivable with 2 shields on you and a snare on your main nuke mobs should not be getting to you, and the damage is fine imo.

which ever spec you choose get a glyph of evocate as soon as you learn evocate from a trainer at level 20. and then ice barrier later on when you get your second glyph spot if you go frost, I guess arcane blast for arcane and fireball for fire at this point tho at 60 you might want to get Living bomb for fire if thats possible? I don't remember the exact levels that slots open.

[Recompence]

thanks, I'll probably level as frost and switch off after outlands.

[Zodiak]

1-58 Frost

59-68 fire

69+ arcane definitely, mobs will be dead before they reach you.

or there is frost all the way, definitely helps when the other faction tries to kill you by surprise.

[Deleted]

At this point pretty much everything is quite viable, so you should play what you enjoy more. That's why I suggest you to try various specs during the long ride to 80.

Frost has an edge on survivability but personally I don't like the play style that much.

To play a serious Arcane build I strongly suggest to wait at least until lvl 64, when you get Arcane Blast. I levelled as Arcane from that level on and it was great: fast pace and big numbers...

[Boater]

Actually before ~40-50, frost isn't that great imo. You don't get the 2 shields as aquifer mentioned, and without shatter/ice shards your damage is down quite a bit. Fire is probably faster for lower levels. You get more damage and range. So even if they aren't snared you still have better reach. Arcane isn't recommended because of going oom. Afterwards frost seems to be the better choice, 2 min water elementals help.

[aquifer]

Actually before ~40-50, frost isn't that great imo. You don't get the 2 shields as aquifer mentioned, and without shatter/ice shards your damage is down quite a bit. Fire is probably faster for lower levels. You get more damage and range. So even if they aren't snared you still have better reach. Arcane isn't recommended because of going oom. Afterwards frost seems to be the better choice, 2 min water elementals help.

you rarely if ever need the shield the snare on frost bolt is invaluable, you will almost always kill a mob before it reaches you reguardless of spec, the difference is as frost if a mob gets too close you can blink away and they will still be slowed for more attacks. the difference is 40 onward frost will deal with adds alot better, up until that point they are around the same, I've leveled 3 mages (yea really, A gnome to 32~, a troll to 29, and my undead to 80)

i tried arcane on the gnome, and enjoyed it but it was considerably harder and gave no real benefit that i couldn't have gotten from another spec. the troll was frost till around 24 then i went fire to try it out from 24-29, didn't really like it, it did decent damage but personally i prefer control, which really is all it comes down to in the end, how a person likes to play.

as for the arguement of oom, yes arcane ooms faster, but mages make water for a reason.....sadly as all 3 specs we drink ALOT while leveling.

[Vorfie]

i start off with saying im not realy biggest fan of caster since mana breaks but im actualy leveling a mage atm (currently 52) and i must say i love frost for all so far for one big reason lower lvl u got low crit aka the 50% from freeze from frost is nice when u get that so imo its better dmg for lvl as u crit way more often than fire and arcane is a no go for me at least yet since no arcane blast at my lvl.

also ppl seems to focus that frost is good for the reason u survive good and yea thats true but the biggest reason i love frost as lvl spec is that its AWESOME for aoe grind as u just need to pull as many mobs u can without dying (pref no ranged mobs) and u frost nova and blizzard and they are dead without hitting u other than when u pulled =) and now with the pet from frost since im lvl 52 i got a ranged frost nova aswell for another blizzard if they dont die to the first one =)

[Recompence]

Thanks for the feed back. I've done frost before, i have a belf mage at lvl 56. I'd like to level as pyro, however the mana and survivability was poor from what i recall. I think if it weren't for shatter frost would suck, however the 100% crit damage bonus is great in my opinion.

[Töasty]

Leveling frost is awesome, you can AoE packs of mobs at a time, kill x of these guys quests are a breeze.

[aquifer]

Thanks for the feed back. I've done frost before, i have a belf mage at lvl 56. I'd like to level as pyro, however the mana and survivability was poor from what i recall. I think if it weren't for shatter frost would suck, however the 100% crit damage bonus is great in my opinion.

yea well frost has shatter so go for it

as for the mana concern as i've said before, mages oom after 2-3 pulls reguardless, just frost can aoe 2 lots of mobs, so around 8-10 mobs between drinking