Available to: Human, Dwarf, Undead, Troll, Gnome Best For: Human, Undead Primary Attributes: Intelligence, Spirit Skills Require... Mana Allowable Armor: Cloth, Orbs Starting Weapon Skills: Staff, Wands Available Weapon Skills: Daggers, Swords The mage is the most focused spellcaster, capable of dealing the greatest damage is the shortest amount of time. The have the widest array of direct damage spells spread over three schools of magic, but lack the defensive capabilities of other classes.

The mage is an interesting class to play, simply due to the wide range of strategies and spells that forms their arsenal. A mage is capable of dealing tremendous damage over a short period of time, speeding up combat for his allies. Physically, however, they a weak. And in melee combat, they are the second most helpless class (Warlock being the most).

Spells Mechanics:

While conceptually, the mage is most like the Sorceress in Diablo II, there is a number of huge gameplay differences. In Diablo II, a mage would gain spells by assigning skill points to them when he raises a level. This means that a players generally chose to specialise in one of two spells, and thus combat becomes monotonous as you fire one Glacial Spike after another.

In contrast, players purchase spells from Mage Trainers in World of Warcraft, including higher ranked versions of their current spells. This means, a mage can use a wide range of combos instead without penalty. Thus the most successful mage is the one who develops the best spell combo, as opposed to the one who was able to save all skill points and put them all into the most powerful spell.

Spell Types:
There are three major types of spells in world of Warcraft.

Sorcery Spells:
Take time to cast, but have no cool down. They can be used as much as casting time allows. However, if the caster is struck while casting the spell, the casting time increases and the spell may be disrupted altogether. Thus casting sorceries while under attack is questionable. Any sorcery with over 2.5s casting time should not be used in melee. Eg: Fireball, Frostbolt

Instant Spells:
No casting time, but have a cooldown timer. They are great in mid combat as there's no chance they will be disrupted. In addition, you can cast them immediately after a sorcery, or even between two attacks! Their drawback is that you have to wait a while to use them again. Note that, different intant spells have separate cooldown timers, so you can cast two different instant spells one after the other for brutal damage. Eg: Fire Blast, Frost Nova

Channeling Spells:
No casting time, no cooldown, but the caster is disabled for the duration of the spell. If the caster is struck by anything during this time, the spell is disrupted. Channeling spells should never be used when the caster is under attack. They're best used when in a party, or attacking melee characters from far away who're physically constrained in some fashion. Eg: Arcane Missiles

Lower vs Higher Ranked Spells:
In addition, even after a player purchases Rank 2 Fireball, he can still cast Rank 1 Fireball. In fact, some situations will make the Rank 1 fireball preferable. Higher rank spells cost far more mana, and more importantly, often have increased casting times. While they do have a much better damage/mana ratio, players may still find lower ranked skills more useful for a variety of situations.

A Mage has access to four schools of magic. Fire provides the most powerful direct damage spells. Frost includes supporting spells that slows or stops the enemy, or boosts armor upon oneself. Conjuration minimizes downtime by providing food and drink, while Arcane Magic has a variety of useful utility enchantments and also provides powerful direct damage channelling spells. To succeed, a mage should make best use of every school.

The School of Fire:
Fire spells are the staple diet of a mage. They have the best damage/mana ratio, and most are quick enough to cast in melee combat.

	Fire Ball: Cooldown: None Target: Enemy The staple spell for a mage. Hurls a ball of dire at the enemy, dealing direct damage. It's relatively short casting time make it decent for melee combat at lower ranks. Fireball is a great spell for initializing battles, but higher levels, it's increased casting time maks it cumbersome in close combat. Relevant Talents: Improved Fireball (-0.5s Casting Time), Flamethrowing (+6 yrd Range), Critical Mass (+10% Critical Strike), Fire Power (+10% Damage), Impact (10% Chance to Stun for 2s on hit),  Ignite (+50% Damage over 5s from Critical Strikes), Burning Soul (60% Chance not to lost casting time when damaged) With Talents, Fireball becomes the spell with the greatest damage per second in the mages arsenal, but will also drain the mages mana by far the fastest. The decreased casting time makes it viable in general combat, and becomes the backbone attack of Fire Mages. Rank Required Level Cost Mana Casting Time Range Damage Damage/Mana Damage/Sec 1 1 0 30 1.5s 30 yrd 14-22 + 2hp over 4s 0.67 12.7 2 6 1 45 2.0s 35 yrd 31-45 + 3hp over 6s 0.91 19.8 3 12 6 65 2.5s 40 yrd 53-73 +6hp over 6s 1.06 26.4 4 18 22 95 3.0s 40 yrd 84-116 +12hp over 8s 1.18 35.3 5 24 53 140 3.5s 40 yrd 139-187 + 20 over 8s 1.31 49.4 6 30 80 185 3.8s 40 yrd 199-265 +28 over 8s 1.41 64.7 7 36 1 50 220 4.0s 40 yrd 258-338 +32 over 8s 1.50 78.5 8 42 1 50 260 4.0s 40 yrd 328-426 +40 over 8s 1.60 99.3 9 48 3 10 305 4.0s 40 yrd 404-521 +52 over 8s 1.69 122.1 10 56 3 50 350 4.0s 40 yrd 489-627 +60 over 8s 1.77 147.0 11 60 3 90 395 4.0s 40 yrd 578-736 +76 over 8s 1.86 173.8
	Fire Blast: -Instant Casting Time: Instant Fireblast is the first instant direct damage spell you'll get. It's great for dealing that extra damage in melee combat, or directly after a fireball for combo damage. While it does not have a good damage and mana ratio, it is essential in action combat. Always use it when cooldown allows. It is one of the few spells that the mage can cast without fear of disruption when in melee, and is thus, invaluable. Relevant Talents: Improved Fireblast  (-3s Cooldown)  Flamethrowing (+6 yrd Range), Critical Mass (+10% Critical Strike), Fire Power (+10% Damage), Impact (10% Chance to Stun for 2s on hit),  Ignite (+50% Damage over 5s from Critical Strikes), The decreased cooldown time makes Fireblast exceptional lethal, though again has the potential to completely drain the mages mana. In critical situations, Fire Blast can spammed to destroy the opponent in alarmingly short times.   Rank Required Level Cost Mana Cooldown Range Damage  Damage/Mana 1 6 1 40 8s 20 yrd 24-32 0.73 2 14 9 80 8s 20 yrd 64-80 0.90 3 22 42 120 8s 20 yrd 112-139 1.04 4 30 65 165 8s 20 yrd 168-202 1.14 5 38 1 20 220 8s 20 yrd 249-299 1.26 6 46 3 70 280 8s 20 yrd 342-406 1.34 7 54 3 50 340 8s 20 yrd 444-524 1.43
	Flamestrike: -Sorcery Cooldown: 0 Warcraft 3 Spell of the same name. Launches a huge column of fire at the enemy that deals large instant damage, followed by significant damage over time. The long casting time and potential to aggravate all monsters limits the use of this spell mostly to party situations, where a Warrior has already taunted all monsters off  the player. Cast Frost Nova before Flamestrike to make sure  all enemies stay in the area for the duration of the spell. One will note that this spell, when chain casted, has a higher DPS than fireball, however, doing so on a single target will be very mana inefficient. Relevant Talents:  Improved Flamestrike (+15% Chance to Critical Strike) Flamethrowing (+6 yrd Range), Critical Mass (+10% Critical Strike), Fire Power (+10% Damage), Critical Mass (10% Chance to Stun for 2s on hit),  , Burning Soul (60% Chance not to lost casting time when damaged), Rank Required Level Cost Mana Casting Time Range Damage Damage/Mana Damage/Sec 1 16 18 195 3.0s 30 yd 52-68 + 48hp over 8s 0.55 36 2 24 53 330 3.0s 30 yd 96-122 + 88hp over 8s 0.60 66 3 32 1 10 490 3.0s 30 yd 154-192 + 140hp over 8s 0.64 73 4 40 1 10 650 3.0s 30 yd 227-280 + 200hp over 8s 0.68 110 5 40 3 10 815 3.0s 30 yd 300-370 + 272hp over 8s 0.72 146 6 56 4 80 990 3.0s 30 yd 386-473 + 352hp over 8s 0.76 187
	Fire Ward: -Instant Casting Time: Instant Duration: 1 Minute Target: Self One of the only defensive skills in the School of Fire. Fire Shield protects the caster from a set amount of fire damage. Against fire wielding mobs of equal level, it general absorbs the damage of just over one attack, against players, fireball of equal levels does around about 20% more damage than the shield absorbs. The shield is cheap to cast, so use it whenever possible against a fire wielding opponent. Relevant Talents: Improved Fire Shield (15% of Damage Returned to Caster) Spending talent points on this spell is not essential, due to the fact that the spell itself is very situational. However, reflecting damage onto the opponent is lethal against the Shaman's Searing Totem, as well as great in PVP against unwary mages. Rank Required Level Cost Mana Cooldown Fire Damage Absorbtion 1 20 42 85 30s 105hp 2 30 42 135 30s 185hp 3 40 1 10s 195 30s 200hp 4 50 2 80s 255 30s 430hp 5 60 3 90s 320 30s 585hp
	Scorch: Cooldown: None Scorch is a higher level direct damage spell that complements Fireball. While Scorch has a slight worse damage to mana ratio, it is over twice as fast to cast and is thus much more plausible in close combat. Typically, a player will use Fireball to knock someone out of sleep or initiate combat, and Scorch once the enemy starts to retaliate. Scorch, when coupled with talents has a far great damage per mana than fireball, and when coupled with gear that adds additional damage, does far greater DPS than fireball, and is thus should be the fire mages general purpose attack spell. Relevant Talents: Improved Scorch (Burns Target for Extra 50% Damage over 5s), Flamethrowing (+6 yrd Range), Critical Mass (+10% Critical Strike), Fire Power (+10% Damage), Critical Mass (10% Chance to Stun for 2s on hit),  , Burning Soul (60% Chance not to lost casting time when damaged), Rank Required Level Cost Mana Casting Time Range Damage Damage/Mana Damage/Sec 1 22 42 50 1.5s 30 yrd 53-65 1.18 39.3 2 28 81 65 1.5s 30 yrd 77-93 1.31 56.7 3 28 1 80 80 1.5s 30 yrd 100-120 1.38 73.3 4 40 1 10 100 1.5s 30 yrd 137-164 1.38 100.3 5 46 3 70 115 1.5s 30 yrd 167-198 1.54 121.1 6 52 4 135 1.5s 30 yrd 206-246 1.63 150.6 7 58 5 30 150 1.5s 30 yrd 240-283 1.69 174.3

Arcane Magic:
Arcane Magic contains a wide series of useful enchantments as well a mixed dose of counter spells and channelling direct damage spells. While players won't find it especially useful at the start, Arcane Magic becomes very powerful later on. It's spells are not designed to be used on their own, but are great in mixed combos.

	Arcane Intellect: -Instant Range: 30 yards Target: Self or Friendly Increases the intelligence of the target. Intelligence is always useful for a spellcaster. It's long duration means that the casting cost is irrelevant. Always have this enchantment on. Allied casters will also love this spell. Relevant Talents: Improved Arcane Intellect (+50% Intelligence Boost) Maxing the talents for this spell is essential. Rank Required Level Cost Mana Cooldown Duration Effect 1 1 10 60 1s 30 min +3 Int 2 14 13 185 1s 30 min +8 Int 3 28 81 520 1s 30 min +20 Int 4 42 1 50 945 1s 30 min +48 Int 5 54 4 80 1510 1s 30 min +66 Int
	Polymorph -Sorcery Cooldown: None Target: Enemy Instantly takes one enemy out of battle by turning it into a sheep. The spell mat end early and will be disrupted if the target suffers any damage. The target also regenerates health at extremely quick rate. Polymorph should be used in emergencies where a player engages more mobs than they can handle, however, beware, sheeped opponents may wander and call for help. Use sheep on snared opponents and ranged opponents to give you breather, and against enemy players when you initialize combat so that you can get that first spell off.   Rank Required Level Cost Mana Casting Time Range Duration 1 8 2 60 1.5s 30 yrd 20s 2 20 19 90 1.5s 30 yrd 30s 3 40 1 10 120 1.5s 30 yrd 40s 4 60 3 90 150 1.5s 30 yrd 50s
	Arcane Missiles: -Channeling Target: Enemy Arcane Missiles is like a mini-starfall. The caster launches his hand up in the air and calls forth a shooting star every second to strike the target. If the caster is hit at any time during the spell's duration, the spell will be disrupted. Talent points spent on Arcane Missiles will eliminate this chance of disruption, and make Arcane Missiles a good general purpose spell. While the spell does less damage than fireball and is less mana efficient than frost bolt, there are no units in the game that are resistant or immune to arcane magic. This versatility makes the spell essential against mana end game bosses.  Arcane Missiles will be the staple attack of any mage specced in Arcane. Howveer, without the effects of no interruption granted by talents, the use of this spell is limited. Relevant Talents: Improved Arcane Missiles (No Chance of Disruption), Arcane Subtlety (-20% threat generated), Arcane Focus (-10% chance for enemy to resist) Rank Required Level Cost Mana Range Damage Damage/Mana Damage/Sec 1 8 1 50 80 30 yrds 24hp/s for 3s 0.94 24 2 16 18 140 30 yrds 36hp/s for 4s 1.03 36 3 24 53 235 30 yrds 56hp/s for 5s 1.19 56 4 32 53 320 30 yrds 83hp/s for 5s 1.30 83 5 32 1 10 410 30 yrds 115hp/s for 5s 1.40 115 6 48 3 10 500 30 yrds 151hp/s for 5s 1.51 151 7 56 4 80 595 30 yrds 192hp/s for 5s 1.61 192
	Blink: -Blink -Sorcery Cooldown: None The mage teleports to a target location up to 20 yards away. This spell is useful when the player is slowed or trapped in some fashion, and helps the mage flee from battle slightly more quickly. It really shines in PVP, where a quick teleport behind a tree or the enemy player will confound and confuse him for a few seconds, enough for you to get off a powerful spell. Relevant Talents: Improved Blink Rank Required Level Cost Mana Casting Time Range Damage Damage/Mana Damage/Sec 1 20 19 75 1.5s 10 yrd 32-36 0.45 22.7 2 22 44 120 1.5s 10 yrd 57-63 0.50 40.0 2 30 65 185 1.5s 10 yrd 97-105 0.55 67.3 3 38 1 20 250 1.5s 10 yrd 140-153 0.58 97.7 3 46 3 70 315 1.5s 10 yrd 192-208 0.64 133.3 5 54 3 50 390 1.5s 10 yrd 250-271 0.67 173.7
	Dampen Magic: -Instant Range: 30 yards Cooldown: None The first anti-caster spell available to the mage. Dampen magic reduces the damage that a friendly player takes from enemy spells. As a side effect, it also reduces the effectiveness of healing spells on the target you. Without talents, the spell is ineffective except against specialised mobs such as Water Elementals, with low damage elemental attacks. It becomes moderately useful when coupled with talents. Relevant Talents: Improved Dampen Magic  (Absorbs 50% more Damage) Rank Required Level Cost Mana Range 1 12 19 75 20 yrd
	Arcane Explosion: -Sorcery Cooldown: None The mage launches a large explosion of magic centered on himself. The spell deals significant damage to everyone within 10 yards of the caster. This spell is rather situational, as it's only useful when against multiple opponents, and yet if a mage is being attacked but multiple opponents, he can't get this spell off. The spell counts as physical damage, and is the only AOE is that you can be sure will work. However, due to the fact the caster must stay very close to mobs to cast this spell, he rarely has a chance to launch the spell multiple times before being clobbered to death. Talents do help in this, however. Relevant Talents: Improved Arcane Explosion (Instant Cast), Arcane Subtlety (-60% threat generated), Spending 3 Talents points removes the casting time of Explosion Entirely, making it the AOE with the greatest damage per second. However, it is still very mana-intensive, and should thus be limited to emergency situations. Using extra plus to damage equipment also makes this spell immensely effective. Rank Required Level Cost Mana Casting Time Range Damage Damage/Mana Damage/Sec 1 14 9 75 1.5s 10 yrd 32-36 0.45 22.7 2 22 44 120 1.5s 10 yrd 57-63 0.50 40.0 2 30 65 185 1.5s 10 yrd 97-105 0.55 67.3 3 38 1 20 250 1.5s 10 yrd 140-153 0.58 97.7 3 46 3 70 315 1.5s 10 yrd 192-208 0.64 133.3 5 54 3 50 390 1.5s 10 yrd 250-271 0.67 173.7
	Detect Magic: -Instant Range: 30 yards Cooldown: None Displays all beneficial magical effects on the target. This is a divination spell that can be used whenever fighting a caster mob you haven't met before, just so that you know what you're up against. Rank Required Level Cost Mana Duration 1 16 18 35 2 min
	Amplify Magic: -Instant Target: Friendly Unit Range: 30 yards Cooldown: None Increases the effectiveness of healing spells on the target unit, with he side effect of making him more vulnerable to enemy spells. This spell is situational at best, and if probably most effective in conjunction with the Shaman's Healing Ward. Most of the time though, it's not worth the bother. Rank Required Level Cost Mana Duration Spell Damage Increase Healing Increase 1 18 21 80 3 min 15hp 30hp 2 30 65 180 3 min 25hp 50hp 3 42 1 40 24 0 3 min 35hp 70hp 4