Mage tactics General Notes . Some general considerations about the mage : . PvE Tactics . Single - target Tactics . Deciding which tree to use . Tree choices are largely a matter of personal preference . In general : While leveling initially ( prior to any significant talent investments in the Fire or Frost trees ) , it is best to simply use the highest rank of whichever spell you learned most recently . Multi - Target Tactics . In order to do this little combo you will need a Priest with you . This works best with a discipline priest who has improvements to Power Word : Shield . Solo Frost AoE Grinding ( SFAEG ) is the most entertaining play experience I ' ve had . Nothing beats watching 8 - 12 even - level mobs drop down dead at the same time , except for maybe the look on other character ' s faces when they see you do it . Once you understand the spawns at a particular location , you can grind continuously . Exp from AoE grinding is far better than questing and far more exciting than solo grinding . Don ' t try to SFAEG until at least 26 . At level 26 , mages learn Cone of Cold and a new rank of Frost Nova , which are integral to this tactic . Frost talents need to work in tandem with each other . This is why it makes most sense to switch once you have enough talent points , but not worth it to build up to it . The key frost talents in this build work to slow mobs down to a crawl while they take damage . Blizzard - based Solo Frost AoE Grinding . At level 26 , you should begin SFAEG with this build . Eventually , move toward having these talents , which form the core of your SFAEG abilities . Some notable talent choices here are : You need to know your location and spawns down cold to do this successfully . The paths of wandering patrols and the precise number of spawns must be understood . Also , you will need to know how far a mob will chase you before it runs away . You should SFAEG mobs that are between 2 level above you and 3 levels below you ( Green or Yellow difficulty , never Orange ) . And you need to make sure there are no casters or shooters in the camp , or that you have eliminated them before hand . Nothing ever goes perfectly . These are tactics for overcoming the common problems that occur with SFAEG . Get " of the Eagle " equipment whenever possible . Spell power gear has little impact on Blizzard ( + 150 damage will add 24 extra damage to a 780 damage Blizzard " [ this may be based on pre - 2 . 0 formulas and no longer accurate , see the ] " ) , so you ' re better off with more stamina to take damage and mana to cast an extra CoC or Blizzard . The mana efficiency of Cone of Cold when combined with Mage Armor allows mages to kite mobs with high hp , which Blizzard - based tactics cannot kill before leaving the mage stranded with no mana . Some examples of elite mobs that can be soloed with this tactic are Zul ' Gurub crocolisks and tigers and Silithus bugs . See the Frost Control build for key talents . It is absolutely critical that mages take at most 2 / 3 points in Improved Blizzard , because any more and the Blizzard debuff will overwrite the CoC debuff , generally resulting in the demise of the mage . Nothing ever goes entirely to plan , especially in the probability - based combat system that governs video games . Here are some common special circumstances , and how to handle them . To start , put ALL 61 points into the Frost Tree , avoiding Empowered Frostbolt . Frost Kiting . This spec will allow you to kite , but not kill elite mobs . Its harder if the target can cast , but doable . Start by applying Icy Veins Follow by spamming Frostbolt If you ' re kiting a caster , use your Counterspell When the target gets closer , back away , or blink behind it and run a short distance before continuing with frost bolt . If you back up , spam instants like Ice Lance or Fire Blast . This spec is mostly for raiding . It can help with the Moroes fight if one of the warrior adds are up . Also in Slave Pens , its recommended to have a frost mage for this so as to keep the Defenders from killing the tank . PvP Tactics . Elementalist Talent Builds . In PvP realms , the principal threat to the mage class is not mobs , but rather human players , who unlike monsters are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the mage class . In PvP , the significance of the arcane talent tree is reduced , because against human players the key to survival is to inflict as much damage as possible in as short a span of time as possible , while taking as few hits as possible , as many melee weapons in high level PvP combat can match a mage for DPS because melee attacks prevent mages from reaching their potential DPS . One approach to addressing this situation is the elementalist build , which consists of talents from the frost and fire trees . An example elementalist build invests in frost up to Shatter , and fire up to Fire Power , which when using Fire Blast against a frozen target results in a 60 % crit increase , combined with a 10 % increase in damage , and an additional 40 % in DoT damage . The final talent point remaining in can be used to obtain Combustion for even further increases in crits , or for Ice Barrier . World PvP . Keep your buffs on at all times and keep a Mana - restoring gem with you . You never know when you might need it . If you get attacked then try to sheep them . It ' ll give you time to either run away or re - start the battle on your own terms . Frost Nova and Blink are also some ways to get out of sticky situations . If you initiate the fight , or you attack your recently sheeped opponent , use a long - cast high - damage spell such as Pyroblast . Battlegrounds . Warsong Gulch . Whether you get the flag or someone else does and you support them , your strategy is still relatively the same . If you have only one chaser and have time , then sheep them and run away . Blink is useful for getting some extra distance ; don ' t use it unless you need it though , because when you really do need it , it might still be on its cooldown . Frost Nova , Cone of Cold and even a Frostbolt can be used to slow down enemies who are chasing you . Other than that , spamming Arcane Explosion is a good way to deal damage while running , but it eats your mana really fast . Improved Blizzard is a nice talent to have in this battleground as there are many bottlenecks where a well placed cast will stop an entire group in its tracks . Even better , you can target it in such a way that the healers are separated from the flag runner , making him / her easier to kill . Mages are also a vital component in breaking flag turtles because they can crowd control and otherwise disable up to two healers at a time , buying them time to launch massive amounts of burst damage at the flag carrier . For Arcane mages there is a talent called Slow , which is an instant cast with no cooldown ( apart from the global ) . This reduces cast time and movement speed to 50 percent . The best tactic is to use Frost Nova and then apply Slow or just Slow . This is very handy against Druids in their feral forms . To Catch an Enemy Flag Carrier . Frost Mage : Frostbolt > Frost Nova > Cone of Cold Arcane Mage : Slow > Frost Nova > Presence of Mind > Arcane Power > Fire Ball > Counter spell ( if a EFC is a caster ) > Arcane Missiles . " I have found that Slow annoys easily . It is a new talent and many people do not know how to debuff it . " Every single spell up to Arcane missiles is instant ( fire ball is instant due to Presence of Mind ) . You can deal A LOT of damage . You can knock out a weak EFC or severely damage a tank class . Also , if you are level 70 , with the new spell " Spell Steal " , you are able to debuff the flag carrier of beneficial buffs such as " Blessing of Freedom " or " Power Word : Shield " , also at the same time granting yourself extra buffs . To Protect a Friendly Flag Carrier . Frost Mage : Frost Nova the big group of Enemies and apply blizzard . Arcane Mage : Frost Nova the big group > Sheep the Warlock ( or any high DPS ) > apply slow to the Mage > Counter Spell another caster . Warlocks apply DoTs spells , which can kill a FFC even before he can get out of the opposition ' s base . If you apply a slow to a mage it doubles their cast time . This gives the FFC time to get out of range . Mass PvP . In mass PvP Blizzard with talents can be devastating . The Improved Blizzard talent ( although it ' s wise to spend just one talent point in this talent ) slows enemies down to 35 % movement speed . Frostbite will also give a 15 % chance to freeze the enemies instead of just slowing them . Finally , Frost Channeling will reduce the mana cost by 15 % , making it a very mana efficient AoE . Arcane Explosion tends to put you in suicide mode since you run into the fray of melee fighting , but it can be worth it with the great DPS . No other class can spam an instant cast AoE - apart from Priests with Holy Nova , but its DPS and DPM isn ' t very good . Blast Wave also requires you to get up close , but it also dazes the enemies giving you some chance to get away . With the Impact talent it has a 10 % chance to stun those enemies , and when combined with Combustion it ' s a very devastating move . If you can find other mages willing to go into suicide mode with you , it ' s much more effective , because then the enemy will have to deal with two or more mages ( getting heals from their own faction , hopefully ) dishing out absolutely staggering amounts of AoE damage . Arcane / Fire Mages are particularly effective at the " suicidal mage " strategy . The ideal build for this would include Impact , Ignite , Improved Flamestrike , Presence of Mind and Blast Wave . Arcane Power or Combustion could be figured as well in depending on which tree you spec deeper in . Basically , you would activate Arcane Power or Combustion , and then Flamestrike the enemy . Just this initial Flamestrike is almost guaranteed to have Ignited / Stunned at least one target , while also dealing substantial damage , and it ' s just the beginning . Quickly follow it up with a Presence of Mind / Flamestrike combo while rushing into the crowd . Once in the crowd , hit Blast Wave , Cone of Cold , and then spam Arcane Explosion until death takes you . You can also work Frost Nova into this to prevent the enemy from escaping the spam of instants early , or as a parting gift right before death . The combination of dual Flamestrikes and Blast Wave in such a short span WILL have critted and stunned several enemies . It is also possible that one enemy will get crit by all three , resulting in a deadly triple stacked Ignite . In AV it can prove a worthwhile graveyard defense tactic to throw fully talented blizzard directly on the flag until you are too low on mana , or are killed . If you are low on mana , blink or run in and spam a frost nova and a few AoEs ( nova even if you don ' t have shatter , immobilize is evil , it might keep you alive for an extra cast , and if nothing else an 8 second immobilize makes a nice parting gift ) . Dying and being resurrected is as fast or faster ( if you release just a few seconds before the rez goes out ) than drinking for the full duration , and you provide an extra distraction ( 4 or 5 people have will turn around and kill you , preventing them from killing one of your guys who might have more reason to live than you ) , and a little last act of defiance . The ideal situation is that your faction mates have the enemy distracted , and you are preventing them from capping and slowing them to a horrific speed ( allowing your buddies to kite to their hearts content ) . Permafrost plus Improved Blizzard is 5 % slower than Crippling Rank 2 . Be aware you will draw attention , Iceblock if you like , it makes the enemy deal with you a second time . Try to time your deaths to be right before mass resurrections . Another interesting tactic in AV for fire mages ( if you have the flame throwing talent , which increases your Fireball and Pyroblast spell ranges to a whopping 41 yards ) is to simply hang back and nuke the heck out of the opposing factions . A 36 - yard Scorch isn ' t too shabby , either . The additional benefits of using Scorch over Fireball is that the former has better DPM efficiency : over the same amount of time , you ' ll use a lot more mana chain casting Fireballs instead of Scorches . Fireballs also have the added disadvantage of having very obvious ' exhaust tails ' . They ' ll know which bugger is pounding the targets , and enemy Hunters ( who may also have a 41 - yard range ) can pick you off rather easily . However , in a mage ' s arsenal of spells , nothing beats the single shot DPS potential of a Fireball . Another cool thing is when enemy Warriors and Rogues rush forward and come really close . True , the former will probably be getting loads of heals , but taking out about half of his health bar in one shot is quite exciting . For the latter , you ' ll probably only see them once they ' ve cheap shotted you or somebody else , so not as fun . I ' ve found that using Frost Nova in WSG is a really effective tactic . If you ' re defending the flag carrier , and the opposing faction has caught up with you and are pounding the FC , pop a frost nova ( or a blast wave . Better yet , use both ! one after the other , of course ) and suddenly you ' re running free with the opposition stuck behind you . For 8 seconds . AoE snares are worth more than their weight in Void Crystals ( okay , maybe not ) . If you ' re attacking the enemy FC , frost nova works , too . Most of the time you ' ll be up against druids or shamans in travel and ghost wolf forms respectively . In this case , interception becomes a lot tougher , especially because frost nova and blast wave only work around you . Blink comes in especially handy , and it helps if you can accurately predict how you can intercept them . Finally , studying relative velocity and all that jazz can be useful . An interesting thing to note is that the shaman ability " Ghost Wolf " is able to be stolen with spell steal , allowing the mage to catch up to the now slowed down Flag carrier . One of the most irritating things of all is that a druid ' s shapeshift frees the caster from ALL movement impairing and root effect . Still , if you ' re specced for it , a combination of Frost Nova , Cone of Cold and Blast Wave will deter any FC and buy the rest of your forces time to catch up with him and pound him into the ground ( hopefully ) .