Classic Mage DPS Guide

Mages are, arguably, the best ranged DPS class in WoW Classic. Sporting impressive PvE DPS from the start, due to strong talents such as Elemental Precision, Mages are also full of tricks, such as Polymorph, Blink and Ice Block, which are useful in PvE and unrivaled for PvP, when in the hands of a master. Finally, they have great convenience tools, such as Teleport: Stormwind, or the group version Portal: Stormwind, and Conjure Water or Conjure Food.

Strengths

• Highest ranged damage potential in the game, all the way from the start as a Frost Mage (roughly tied with Hunter in early Molten Core parses), down to the finish as Fire Mage (unrivaled ranged damage in Naxxramas).
• Has tools for every type of situation and convenience, as well as the best Crowd Control tools in the game.
• One of the classes where your skill matters the most, ahead of every other aspect.

Weaknesses

• Squishiest class in the game. If you are caught off-guard you can die in the blink of an eye; watch out for Ambush!
• Very Mana hungry, especially while leveling, which forces you to rest and drink often.
• For most high-end PvE content, you will be stuck spamming either Frostbolt or Fireball, which can get boring after a while.

Mages are considered strong in World of Warcraft Classic due to their versatility, high damage output, and utility. Their ability to deal consistent and powerful AoE (Area of Effect) damage makes them effective in dungeons and raids, while their crowd control abilities (like Polymorph, Improved Blizzard and Frost Nova) help manage enemies in both PvE and PvP. Additionally, Mages have strong survivability with tools like Ice Block, Frost Nova and Blink, and their ability to conjure food and water reduces the need for downtime. Finally, their decursing abilities are highly sought after in end-game raids, and their role as one of the best ranged DPS classes gives them consistent value in group content.

In PVE content Mages use the self-buff Mage Armor. Mage Armor provides you with 30% mana regeneration while casting and additional magic resistance to all schools of magic, which reduces/resists incoming magical damage. This can be improved further through the Magic Absorption talent, allowing you to regenerate mana. The mana regeneration from Mage Armor is very useful, as being out of mana means you won't be able to deal damage. Ice Armor is barely used in PVE group content, with the exception of farming gold. Ice Armor provides you with additional armor against physical attacks, slowing the attacker's movement and attack speed. It also gives you as much frost resistance as Mage Armor, which can be slightly improved with the Frost Warding talent in the Frost talent tree. Therefore Ice Armor is something mages use in PVP content, as a Mage's strongest opponents in PVP are physical attackers. Ice Armor also has a chance to proc Frostbite, freezing enemies in place for 5 seconds, allowing you to retreat, and opens windows for you to Polymorph your foe, or to Shatter-combo the enemy with a Frostbolt followed by a Cone of Cold or a Fire Blast.

Mage weapons consist of One-Handed Swords, Daggers, Staves, and Wands. The weapon masters to learn the skill for each weapon can be found in the locations mentioned in the table below.

Mages can do insane DPS, especially in later WoW Classic, when geared and in Fire specialization. Engineering is the best profession for improving your damage, as its bombs and Goblin Sapper Charges deal a ton of area of effect damage. Combine these with Arcane Explosion and watch the honor kills rack up!

If you enjoy traveling the world, get Mining so that you can mine what Engineering needs yourself. Otherwise, Tailoring is great for Mages due to Robe of the Archmage, the best chest until Ahn'Qiraji, and because of the Bloodvine set from Zul'Gurub. If you are a Tailor, the set provides 2% additional critical strike chance. Another benefit from Tailoring is, that you can get easy gold from Mooncloth and bag selling!

Tailoring is great, however, if you want to learn another profession, you can drop the Tailoring under three circumstances:

1. You have crafted Robe of the Archmage and reached PVP Rank 10, using the 2-set bonus (shoulders and boots are optimal).
2. You have broken the Bloodvine set for the Ahn'Qiraji chest, legs and boots (see our BiS lists for that).
3. You simply want to drop tailoring, because you want to enjoy WoW in a different way.

We would recommend reading our profession guides for the full briefing on the different professions WoW Classic has to offer.

By the end of Vanilla, dropping Tailoring for Enchanting as a preparation for The Burning Crusade can be a smart move, because Engineering and Enchanting are the best professions in TBC.

Find our new guides for Mage in WoW Classic Season of Discovery below! The new game mode will have players find and utilize Runes that can then be engraved onto their gear to provide them special bonuses that augment already existing abilities or allow the class to use entirely new spells.

With the introduction of new Runes in Season of Discovery, not only will old builds be increased in power, but Mage now has the option of being played as a Healer.