Does solo content / open world as mage get better?

[Sageless]

I have to agree with Omedon. But as the original question was if solo / open world content gets better, then yes it does.

It still is miles away from how easy some other classes are. As an example: a Demon hunter will have an easier time than a mage doing anything solo / open world related. And most things they will have an easier time being significantly worse geared.

Also anyone mentioning kiting / rooting / etc as a tactic to make it easier:
- Yes, this makes some things doable as a mage
- Also, most other classes can do the same thing without having to kite / root / etc

Overall, mage is one of the worst solo / open world classes in WoW.
It's designed around being in group content.

[Aphrel]

yes and no.
Ofc everything gets easier with gear and level, but as a mage you will never destroy multiple low to medium hp mobs with the ease of say a demonhunter.

Frost is probobly the best spec for dealing with multiple enemies. However frost has a really obnoxious singletarget dps where your only significant dmg comes from glacial spike wich requires you to cast 5 fucking frostbolts to do...

[Kalisandra]

Leveling as Frost felt really easy to me. Pop Frozen Orb, Blizzard and Frost Nova and mobs shatter away in seconds. You can 1-shot 2 mobs at a time mobs with Glacial Spike and Freeze/Ice Flurry procs. Fire is a bit weaker 110-120 as you don't have any spammable big hitters like Frost and Arcane. Arcane was fine too. While leveling you don't really have mana issues so you can go all out.

I levelled my Mage as Arcane, and it wasn't a major issue. Frost Nova, Blink, and Slow were enough to control extra mobs (assuming sheep wasn't an option), Arcane Explosion could usually deal with groups before they could eat through shield and health. Against single targets Arcane Blast spam was more than powerful enough, and the Charged Up talent meant no ramp-up time. At L120 it was a pain to start, but once WQs started giving decent gear it became easy, and while WQ gear is often junk now, there are other places to get decent starting gear now.

Also, Arcane handles basic dungeons really well as nothing lasts long enough to force you out of burn mode unless you really spam Arcane Explosion hard.

[NoiseTank13]

I'm late to the thread but try leveling as Arcane. Leveling from 110-114 as Fire was awful, Pyroblast felt so weak. 114-116 I leveled as Frost which was considerably better for kiting and killing, but 116-120 I was kicking myself leveling Arcane because it became so. Much. Easier. You smash mobs quickly, and the only drawback is you have to drink, mitigated by your own conjure food. You may have some problems soloing some 'boss' mobs, but dump your cooldowns on them, including Time Warp.

Also does anyone else think that some enemy DoT's hurt a lot leveling?

Go Arcane.

[Sageless]

Also does anyone else think that some enemy DoT's hurt a lot leveling?

The reason you notice the dots hurting is because mage has zero self healing.
A lot of the other classes have self heals (I believe every melee class has one) that means they don't care as much about them as they can just heal up while fighting the next mob.

[Marrilaife]

The reason you notice the dots hurting is because mage has zero self healing.

Every class except mage has "self heal", some have longer cooldown on it (rogue's crimson vial), some have to lose dps to use it (warlock's drain life, shaman / priest using globals to cast healing spells), some have it completely passive (dh's leech, warrior's bloodthirst), but mage is the only class that has completely 0 healing, not counting cross class abilities (impassive visage trait etc.)

[Echeyakee]

Yes, just try leveling a shadow priest, and suddenly mage experience gets much better.

But in all seriousness, it's a real problem. Casters that do not have a pet to tank get shafted when leveling, big time. And even if you do have a pet, you waste a bunch of time healing it up, breaking the flow of leveling, which is not a thing for any melee in the game. It's been like that for a while, but last 2 expansions really ramped up the difference in experience.

The only ̶e̶n̶j̶o̶y̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ bearable way to level a caster in bfa is to deck yourself out in enchanted BoAs and to either chain dungeons/island expeditions (preferably while getting boosted by 120) or to do quests in 1 hour bursts with the invasion and island expeditions buffs active.

[Maljinwo]

Fire bursts down anything with enough ilvl
And can cast while moving

[xenogear3]

I played a rogue for Withered Army Training and an elemental shaman for Horrific Visions.
There is no question that Warlock is 100 times easier.

I have to wait 5 minutes for the Earth Elemental cooldown to tank the boss.

[Kyriani]

As an arcane mage when BfA first launched, until I hit ilvl 330+ I needed the Mirror Image and Mana Shield talents to comfortably solo some things out in the world. After 330+ I didn't feel that need anymore and could swap talents to more optimal things

[DarkAmbient]

I had most fun with arcane mage. Basically just stayed at 4 charges most of the time and blew things up with arcane blast. Chrono Shift to help with kiting and Overpowered for tougher enemies or if I'm getting ganked by mobs and need to spam explosion.

[Dropakeg]

OP, if you're 115 I assume you're in full looms.

They have far less Stam than comparable azerite pieces, for example, which will make you feel far more squishy than normal. It'll get better at 120 with real gear.

[Azerox]

Scaling on that level is just stupid.
You feel weak after 114.
Just push trough it to 120, get gear, rip faces.

[Yhcti]

Gets better at 120 for sure with gear. Fire mages can blow up rares insanely fast with gear

[kamuimac]

I'm sorry but for those talking about "oh yeah I rock in the open world as a mage, it's easy" you've clearly never played a tank or pet class (warlock or hunter. Shaman doesn't count unless you wanna wait a couple minutes between... doing anything).

OP, I'm sorry, but yes WoW does bake in "difficulty levels" for classes in the open world or soloing, and mages are among the hardest. Yes, they're all doable depending on skill, but you will NEED that skill far more for some classes than others.

As someone who hates unnecessary difficulty, I lead every expansion with a tank or pet class. Their lives are just objectively, unquestionably easier for anything where you're on your own or in role agnostic groupings.

It gets better, soloing as a "harder solo class," but with the same effort, time and gear saturation, where the mage becomes "closer to sane," tanks and pet classes are running the open world over.

Anyone telling you that mage is ideal or effortless in the open world a) are taking their own skill for granted/humblebragging or b) have never applied their skills to an "overworld intended" class like a tank or pet class.




Edit, To be clear, as the above rant is pretty harsh and reflects what I feel about this disparity that I strongly dislike: It absolutely gets easier with gear and skill to solo as a mage, but don't let anyone fool you into some idea that you will catch up to tanks and pet classes. By their very nature, they will always be better at this sort of thing. That doesn't mean you can't stick to your guns in this regard and play the class you like!

for so many years i really cannot understand why mage is only class with pet that cannot tank for him . yes its only in frost by why water eleemntal doesnt have skilsl like void walker.

seems so strange to me

[Lollis]

for so many years i really cannot understand why mage is only class with pet that cannot tank for him . yes its only in frost by why water eleemntal doesnt have skilsl like void walker.

seems so strange to me

And they even removed our ability to heal it, so if it does get aggro (which usually happens when you icelance pull a bunch of stuff) then you have to resummon him to heal.

Only class in the game without a heal : Evocation heal (and Alter Time I suppose) have been removed.
Only class in the game that cannot heal its pet : Frostbolt to heal has been removed.
Only class in the game without a stun : Impact has been removed.

Cauterizing blink shouldn't be an azerite trait, it should be a mage passive.

[Trumpcat]

The Mage requires a very different "slippery glass cannon" playstyle and a broad use of your utilities. As a Mage I always pull as many as I can, and delete them before they can touch me. Sheep one ranged, interrupt another caster, corner pull them. Freeze, blink away, aoe the hell down.

It is experience you need, gear comes automatically.

[Ealyssa]

for so many years i really cannot understand why mage is only class with pet that cannot tank for him . yes its only in frost by why water eleemntal doesnt have skilsl like void walker.

seems so strange to me

Unholy dk says hi...

[Demeia]

I'm sorry but for those talking about "oh yeah I rock in the open world as a mage, it's easy" you've clearly never played a tank or pet class (warlock or hunter. Shaman doesn't count unless you wanna wait a couple minutes between... doing anything).

OP, I'm sorry, but yes WoW does bake in "difficulty levels" for classes in the open world or soloing, and mages are among the hardest. Yes, they're all doable depending on skill, but you will NEED that skill far more for some classes than others.

As someone who hates unnecessary difficulty, I lead every expansion with a tank or pet class. Their lives are just objectively, unquestionably easier for anything where you're on your own or in role agnostic groupings.

It gets better, soloing as a "harder solo class," but with the same effort, time and gear saturation, where the mage becomes "closer to sane," tanks and pet classes are running the open world over.

Anyone telling you that mage is ideal or effortless in the open world a) are taking their own skill for granted/humblebragging or b) have never applied their skills to an "overworld intended" class like a tank or pet class.




Edit, To be clear, as the above rant is pretty harsh and reflects what I feel about this disparity that I strongly dislike: It absolutely gets easier with gear and skill to solo as a mage, but don't let anyone fool you into some idea that you will catch up to tanks and pet classes. By their very nature, they will always be better at this sort of thing. That doesn't mean you can't stick to your guns in this regard and play the class you like!

Someone mentioned rogues were bad which I, as a rogue main, find hilarious. I'm fine on my rogue but the mage was horrible.

The class just desperately need self-healing. Really hard to see why warlocks generally do more damage and are better outdoors than mages.

Glass cannon stopped making sense when they decided everyone should do the same dps. Mages are paying for an advantage they simply don't have anymore.

[Omedon]

Someone mentioned rogues were bad which I, as a rogue main, find hilarious. I'm fine on my rogue but the mage was horrible.

The class just desperately need self-healing. Really hard to see why warlocks generally do more damage and are better outdoors than mages.

Glass cannon stopped making sense when they decided everyone should do the same dps. Mages are paying for an advantage they simply don't have anymore.

In a perfect world, rogues would be the hardest hitting class in the game, on purpose and always because a) they have to get into melee, b) are "not intended to get hit," and c) have no option to address A or B with other specs.

Mages should be right behind them.

But of course that can't happen because NUMBERS ARE EVERYTHING BLAAAH.

Mages do need to be thrown a bone though, seriously.