TBC Classic Mage Weapons Guide

Mages can use Daggers, One-Handed Swords, Staves, Wands, and Off-Hands. Contrary to other classes who use their weapons to attack, Mages use their weapons mostly as "stat sticks", with the exception of Wands, which are used to attack with during leveling, and in some rare exceptions such as Blade of Eternal Darkness.

Mages know how to use Staves and Wands by default. The Dagger and One-Handed Sword skills can be learned from the Weapon Masters in each faction's major cities.

Wands are very important for Mages who are leveling, as they can always be used to deal damage to enemies when out of Mana, or simply to finish them off and save some Mana. In the early levels, before roughly level 35, Wands also provide good damage compared to your spells and can be a main part of your rotation.

Staves are powerful Two-Handed weapons which you can use from your character's creation. Staves are usually preferred for leveling, as finding a good Off-Hand for a Dagger or a Sword is usually more time-consuming. Later on, they have some of the best caster stats you can find on weapons, and do not require a compatible Off-Hand to be used, making them easy to use options.

Contrary to World of Warcraft Classic, TBC offers a broader variety of useful daggers for Mages, ranging from pre-BiS level Daggers like Runesong Dagger, to BiS weapons, such as Nathrezim Mindblade.

Mages cannot use Maces.

There are several great DPS ( Talisman of Kalecgos) Off-Hands available for Mages.

Throughout all of TBC, Swords are usually the best weapons Mages can get, if combined with a proper Off-Hand. They can be pre-raid BiS, such as Greatsword of Horrid Dreams and raid BiS, such as Bloodmaw Magus-Blade.

Mages cannot use Fist Weapons.

Mages cannot use Idols.

Mages cannot use Axes.

Mages cannot use Polearms.

Mages cannot use Crossbows.

Mages cannot use Bows.

Mages cannot use Guns.

Mages cannot use Thrown Weapons.

Mages cannot use Shields.

Look for weapons that have good stats for your specialization: Intellect and Stamina (later also Spirit) for Frost AoE leveling, Spell/Frost/Fire/Arcane damage and Intellect/Stamina/Spirit for the single-target leveling builds. You can often find decent weapons in the auction house, however, you do not want to spend too much gold on a weapon you will replace only a few levels later. Training skills from your Mage trainer or saving gold for your Riding Skill speeds up your leveling by a far greater amount than having a small stat increase.

Below, we will list a few of the most notable weapons you can get while leveling. This list will not contain One-Handed weapons, as for every weapon you get, you need an Off-Hand. Staves are either better or only marginally worse, but often easier to obtain.

• Ley Staff / Arcane Staff from various quests, offered by Mage trainers at Level 10;
• Crescent Staff (Horde-only) is a quest reward from Leaders of the Fang, which can be done in Wailing Caverns;
• Living Root from Wailing Caverns;
• Icicle Rod (Alliance-only) from the quest Return the Statuette;
• Nimboya's Mystical Staff (Horde-only) from the quest Saving Yenniku in Stranglethorn Vale;
• Celestial Stave from the Mage quest Celestial Power in Dustwallow Marsh. This staff can be used until Outland;
• Illusionary Rod from Scarlet Monastery: Library;
• Zum'rah's Vexing Cane from Zul'Farrak, which is usually quite easy to obtain and lasts until Outland.

• Lesser Magic Wand from Enchanting is your first obtainable Wand and has very high DPS and lasts very long;
• Greater Magic Wand from Enchanting offers the same strengths as the Wand above;
• Gravestone Scepter from the Blackfathom Villainy (Blackfathom Villainy / Blackfathom Villainy) quest in Blackfathom Deeps, also an extremely high DPS Wand;
• Dancing Flame (Horde-only) from the Final Passage quest in Thousand Needles has very high DPS;
• +9 Fire/Frost/Arcane damage Wand from the Mage's Wand Mage quest in Dustwallow Marsh will last very long and the upgrades that come until the next wand are not very big;
• Noxious Shooter from Noxxion in Maraudon is the next easily obtainable and notable upgrade from the previous Wand;
• Wand of Biting Cold from the Hero of the Stormpike (Alliance) / Hero of the Frostwolf (Horde) quests will last you until Outland Wands.

• The Staff of Twin Worlds is obtained in one of your first Outland quests and can be replaced by Crystalfire Staff from Hellfire Ramparts;
• Battle Mage's Baton from the Ring of Blood quest chain in Nagrand is the next big stave upgrade and will be replaced with Ameer's Impulse Taser from the Nexus-King Salhadaar quest in Netherstorm. This is a very good staff, considering that you can get it outside of dungeons;
• Nesingwary Safari Stick comes from the last step of the Nagrand Safari quest chain, The Ultimate Bloodsport and will last you until you get your pre-raid BiS Wands.

For more leveling information, please refer to our leveling guide for Mages.

The ideal end game weapons for Mages depend on your specialization and the current phase of TBC Classic. We keep this information updated on our gearing guides listed down below: