WoW Classic Arcane Mage Leveling Talent Build from 1 to 60

Last updated Yesterday at 23:36 by Wrdlbrmpft 49 comments

On this page, you will find our Level by Level Arcane Mage leveling guide for WoW Classic. Make sure to use the slider to make the guide adapt to your level. Arcane is a versatile tree, and by going deep into it you will be able to use all kinds of spells with a good degree of effectiveness. The trade-off is that most of your damage potential will only be realized once you obtain Arcane Power Icon Arcane Power and start putting points into the other trees. You will be able to deal good AoE damage with Arcane Explosion Icon Arcane Explosion, but because of its limited range and lack of slowing capabilities, doing so will put your life at considerable risk (especially when compared with the AoE Grinding Frost Mage).

Make sure to also browse our Frost Single Target and Fire Mage Single Target playstyle leveling guides. Finally, for more general leveling information, please refer to our Mage leveling guide.

If you were looking for TBC Classic advice, please refer to our TBC Classic Arcane Mage leveling guide.

1.

Single Target Arcane Mage Level by Level Rotation, Talents and Trainer Skills

Move the slider below to make the guide update to your level!

Level: 60
1.1.

Talent Tree

Your first talent unlocks at Level 10.

Your talents should roughly look like this, but keep in mind there are plenty of individual points that can be swapped around based on preference. For example, feel free to place a point into Cold Snap Icon Cold Snap if you wish, we skip it due to the low impact of the talent in a build without Ice Block Icon Ice Block and Ice Barrier Icon Ice Barrier.

Arcane Mage Talents Level 10 to 19
Arcane Mage Talents Level 10 to 19
Arcane Mage Talents Level 20 to 29
Arcane Mage Talents Level 20 to 29
Arcane Mage Talents Level 30 to 39
Arcane Mage Talents Level 30 to 39
Arcane Mage Talents Level 40 to 49
Arcane Mage Talents Level 40 to 49
Arcane Mage Talents Level 50 to 60
Arcane Mage Talents Level 50 to 60
  1. Levels 10 & 11 — 2 points in Arcane Focus Icon Arcane Focus
  2. Levels 12 to 14 — 3 points in Improved Arcane Missiles Icon Improved Arcane Missiles
  3. Levels 15 & 16 — 2 points in Wand Specialization Icon Wand Specialization
  4. Levels 17 & 18 — 2 points in Improved Arcane Missiles Icon Improved Arcane Missiles
  5. Level 19 — 1 point in Arcane Concentration Icon Arcane Concentration

Begin by getting two points into Arcane Focus Icon Arcane Focus, so that your arcane spells are not often resisted against similar level enemies. Afterwards, maximize Improved Arcane Missiles Icon Improved Arcane Missiles and Wand Specialization Icon Wand Specialization, which will allow you to cast Arcane Missiles Icon Arcane Missiles uninterrupted when enemies get close and finish them off with your Wand while regenerating Mana. Finally, get started on Arcane Concentration Icon Arcane Concentration.

  1. Level 20 — 1 point in Arcane Resilience Icon Arcane Resilience
  2. Levels 21 to 23 — 3 points in Improved Arcane Explosion Icon Improved Arcane Explosion
  3. Levels 24 to 27 — 4 points in Arcane Concentration Icon Arcane Concentration
  4. Levels 28 & 29 — 2 points in Arcane Meditation Icon Arcane Meditation

Grab Arcane Resilience Icon Arcane Resilience for a survivability boost, maximize Improved Arcane Explosion Icon Improved Arcane Explosion to get your area of effect damage capabilities rolling and finish Arcane Concentration Icon Arcane Concentration / start Arcane Meditation Icon Arcane Meditation to improve your Mana management.

  1. Level 30 — 1 point in Presence of Mind Icon Presence of Mind
  2. Level 31 — 1 point in Arcane Meditation Icon Arcane Meditation
  3. Levels 32 to 34 — 3 points in Arcane Mind Icon Arcane Mind
  4. Levels 35 to 37 — 3 points in Arcane Instability Icon Arcane Instability
  5. Levels 38 & 39 — 2 points in Arcane Mind Icon Arcane Mind

Presence of Mind Icon Presence of Mind will provide you with a versatile cooldown that makes your next spell instant cast. You can use with for burst, with Fireball Icon Fireball, or for utility, with Polymorph Icon Polymorph, for example. Proceed by putting the final point into Arcane Meditation Icon Arcane Meditation and grabbing both Arcane Mind Icon Arcane Mind and Arcane Instability Icon Arcane Instability to increase your Mana and damage potential, respectively.

  1. Level 40 — 1 point in Arcane Power Icon Arcane Power
  2. Levels 41 & 42 — 2 points in Elemental Precision Icon Elemental Precision
  3. Levels 43 to 47 — 5 points in Improved Frostbolt Icon Improved Frostbolt
  4. Levels 48 & 49 — 2 points in Ice Shards Icon Ice Shards

Arcane Power Icon Arcane Power will be your main DPS cooldown, allowing you to increase your damage (and Mana costs) significantly for a short period. Elemental Precision Icon Elemental Precision will be your first non-Arcane talent and grants you a damage boost with Frostbolt Icon Frostbolt, which you will improve further with Improved Frostbolt Icon Improved Frostbolt and Ice Shards Icon Ice Shards.

  1. Level 50 — 1 point in Ice Shards Icon Ice Shards
  2. Levels 51 to 53 — 3 points in Piercing Ice Icon Piercing Ice
  3. Levels 54 & 55 — 2 points in Ice Shards Icon Ice Shards
  4. Levels 56 to 58 — 3 points in Frost Channeling Icon Frost Channeling
  5. Level 59 — 1 point in Arctic Reach Icon Arctic Reach
  6. Level 60 — 1 point in Elemental Precision Icon Elemental Precision

Begin by accumulating even more Frost damage with Ice Shards Icon Ice Shards and Piercing Ice Icon Piercing Ice, followed by Frost Mana efficiency through Frost Channeling Icon Frost Channeling. Finish your build by using one point into Arctic Reach Icon Arctic Reach, and maximize Elemental Precision Icon Elemental Precision just in time for raiding!

1.2.

Leveling Rotation

  1. Cast Arcane Intellect Icon Arcane Intellect and Frost Armor Icon Frost Armor if you miss their buffs.
  2. Cast Arcane Intellect Icon Arcane Intellect and Ice Armor Icon Ice Armor if you miss their buffs.
  3. Cast Arcane Intellect Icon Arcane Intellect and Mage Armor Icon Mage Armor if you miss their buffs.
  4. Cast Fireball Icon Fireball as your main attack.
  5. Cast Fireball Icon Fireball or Frostbolt Icon Frostbolt (depending on which rank you have gotten more recently) as your main attack. Arcane Missiles Icon Arcane Missiles is also a good option, especially if you are being hit, as it will not be interrupted once you maximize Improved Arcane Missiles Icon Improved Arcane Missiles. Frostbolt will be the preferred spell once you finish maximizing Improved Frostbolt Icon Improved Frostbolt.
  6. Cast Frostbolt Icon Frostbolt as your main attack.

Utility skills, such as Frost Nova Icon Frost Nova, and AoE skills, such as Arcane Explosion Icon Arcane Explosionshould be used to keep enemies away from you or finish off packs of enemies, as required.

Since you can make your own food and water with Conjure Food Icon Conjure Food and Conjure Water Icon Conjure Water,you will be able to more than make up the gold spent on these skills, by saving on vendor food and water. It is also possible to gain some gold on the side by selling your conjured supplies to other players.

1.3.

Summary of Trainer Skills

2.

Mage Macros and Addons

By setting yourself up with an upgraded user interface and macros from the get go, you will make your leveling process much easier. Check out our Arcane Mage Macros and Addons guide in the link below for the full list.

3.

Arcane Mage Quests

While leveling, there are some class specific quests to complete, mostly for new gear but also for the best water rank. All of these are outlined in the guide below.

4.

Arcane Mage Level 60 Guides

Now that you arrived at Level 60, check out our DPS Mage Guide, which covers how to play at maximum level in detail.

We would especially recommend you to browse the following pages.

  • The DPS Mage Talent builds guide, contains the PvE oriented builds for DPS Mages. The build you reach at 60 when following this guide has the perk of being one of the best raiding builds for Molten Core and Blackwing Lair;
  • Our PvP Mage guide is where you can find the recommended PvP talents for Mages, as well as various tricks and tips to help you win against against other players;
  • Goldmaking Guide for DPS Mages explains various techniques that you can employ to farm gold quickly at level 60, and even before! Mages are one of the very best classes for farming in the game, and can solo farm a lot of gold quickly in Dire Maul East. They are also great for solo farming Maraudon and Zul'Farrak;
  • In DPS Mage Rotation guide, you will find various tips and tricks on how to perform some of the more advanced Mage tricks, to compensate for the raiding rotation mostly being a one-button spam;
  • Our DPS Mage Stats guide has a lot of information on WoW Classic Mage stats and their relative meaning towards your damage dealing potential;
  • Finally, browse the Gear guide for DPS Mages to learn which are your best pieces of gear in WoW Classic (updated every phase), and where you can farm them in order to optimize your damage.
5.

Changelog

  • 28 Feb. 2021: Changed the slider starting point to maximum level.
  • 05 Jan. 2020: Added a Macros and Addons section.
  • 04 Nov. 2019: Page added.
Show more
Show less