WoW Classic Single-Target Frost Mage Leveling Talent Build from 1 to 60

Last updated on Feb 28, 2021 at 15:03 by Seksixeny 49 comments

On this page, you will find our Level by Level Single Target Frost Mage leveling guide for WoW Classic. Make sure to use the slider to make the guide adapt to your level. Single Target Frost specializes in pulling, controlling and killing single enemies efficiently with Frostbolt Icon Frostbolt. It can also use area of effect attacks on dungeons or when warranted, but not to the extent of the AoE Grinding Frost Mage. Because it is a very safe, stable spec when leveling, you can expect to make steady progress through Azeroth, even when contested and entering PvP situations regularly. Feel free to also try leveling as an versatile Arcane Mage or as an powerful Fire Mage with our sister guides! 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 Frost Mage Single-Target leveling guide.

1.

Single-Target Frost 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 for leveling up as a Single-Target Frost Mage

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, you can consider putting some points into Winter's Chill Icon Winter's Chill instead of going so deep into the Arcane tree.

Frost Single-Target Mage Talents Level 10 to 19
Frost Single-Target Mage Talents Level 10 to 19
Frost Single-Target Mage Talents Level 20 to 29
Frost Single-Target Mage Talents Level 20 to 29
Frost Single-Target Mage Talents Level 30 to 39
Frost Single-Target Mage Talents Level 30 to 39
Frost Single-Target Mage Talents Level 40 to 49
Frost Single-Target Mage Talents Level 40 to 49
Frost Single-Target Mage Talents Level 50 to 60
Frost Single-Target Mage Talents Level 50 to 60
  1. Levels 10 to 12 — 3 points in Elemental Precision Icon Elemental Precision
  2. Levels 13 & 14 — 2 points in Improved Frostbolt Icon Improved Frostbolt
  3. Levels 15 to 17 — 3 points in Frostbite Icon Frostbite
  4. Levels 18 & 19 — 2 points in Ice Shards Icon Ice Shards

Elemental Precision Icon Elemental Precision allows you hit enemies much more reliably, which will increase your damage output and reduce your melee damage taken, as it is more likely enemies will get chilled by Frostbolt Icon Frostbolt. Improved Frostbolt Icon Improved Frostbolt is a good damage increase with Frostbolt, although it comes at the cost of Mana. Frostbite Icon Frostbite will allow you to sometimes freeze enemies instead of rooting them, which has great synergy with Shatter Icon Shatter later on. Ice Shards Icon Ice Shards is also picked for its Shatter Icon Shatter synergy later on.

  1. Levels 20 to 22 — 3 points in Ice Shards Icon Ice Shards
  2. Levels 23 & 24 — 2 points in Improved Frost Nova Icon Improved Frost Nova
  3. Levels 25 to 29 — 5 points in Shatter Icon Shatter

Finish maximizing Ice Shards Icon Ice Shards and get Improved Frost Nova Icon Improved Frost Nova in preparation for the big damage increase of Shatter Icon Shatter!

  1. Level 30 — 1 point in Ice Block Icon Ice Block
  2. Level 31 — 1 point in Cold Snap Icon Cold Snap
  3. Levels 32 to 34 — 3 points in Improved Frostbolt Icon Improved Frostbolt
  4. Levels 35 to 37 — 3 points in Frost Channeling Icon Frost Channeling
  5. Levels 38 & 39 — 2 points in Piercing Ice Icon Piercing Ice

Ice Block Icon Ice Block allows you to easily survive deadly situations by standing in the block until Blink Icon Blink is available. Cold Snap Icon Cold Snap allows you to reset Ice Block and other frost abilities, thus providing a second lease on life when needed. Finish maximizing Improved Frostbolt Icon Improved Frostbolt and get Frost Channeling Icon Frost Channeling for the Mana efficiency gain. Finally, get some points in Piercing Ice Icon Piercing Ice for a good damage increase.

  1. Level 40 — 1 point in Ice Barrier Icon Ice Barrier
  2. Level 41 — 1 point in Piercing Ice Icon Piercing Ice
  3. Levels 42 & 43 — 2 points in Arctic Reach Icon Arctic Reach
  4. Levels 44 & 45 — 2 points in Arcane Subtlety Icon Arcane Subtlety
  5. Levels 46 to 48 — 3 points in Arcane Focus Icon Arcane Focus
  6. Level 49 — 1 point in Arcane Concentration Icon Arcane Concentration

Ice Barrier Icon Ice Barrier is a great way to prevent damage and you should aim to always have it up while fighting. Get the final point into Piercing Ice Icon Piercing Ice for even more damage, and some points into Arctic Reach Icon Arctic Reach for the added range on frost spells, which allows you to pull from far away. Arcane Subtlety Icon Arcane Subtlety reduces the (frost) resistances of any enemy that happens to have them, and Arcane Focus Icon Arcane Focus reduces the likelihood your Polymorph Icon Polymorph and other arcane spells will be resisted. Finally, get one point into Arcane Concentration Icon Arcane Concentration for its Mana-saving properties.

  1. Levels 50 to 53 — 4 points in Arcane Concentration Icon Arcane Concentration
  2. Level 54 — 1 point in Arcane Resilience Icon Arcane Resilience
  3. Levels 55 & 56 — 2 points in Wand Specialization Icon Wand Specialization
  4. Levels 57 & 58 — 2 points in Improved Arcane Explosion Icon Improved Arcane Explosion
  5. Levels 59 & 60 — 2 points in Arcane Meditation Icon Arcane Meditation

Get the remaining points in Arcane Concentration Icon Arcane Concentration to maximize its Mana gain, Arcane Resilience Icon Arcane Resilience for whenever you are caught by physical attacks, Wand Specialization Icon Wand Specialization for when you are finishing enemies off with your Wand, Improved Arcane Explosion Icon Improved Arcane Explosion to improve Arcane Explosion Icon Arcane Explosion as a finisher and, as your last two talents before 60, Arcane Meditation Icon Arcane Meditation for the minor Mana regeneration.

1.2.

Rotation for leveling up as a Single-Target Frost Mage

  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, Frost Armor Icon Frost Armor and Mana Shield Icon Mana Shield if you miss their buffs.
  3. Cast Arcane Intellect Icon Arcane Intellect, Ice Armor Icon Ice Armor and Mana Shield Icon Mana Shield if you miss their buffs.
  4. Cast Arcane Intellect Icon Arcane Intellect, Mage Armor Icon Mage Armor and Mana Shield Icon Mana Shield if you miss their buffs.
  5. Cast Arcane Intellect Icon Arcane Intellect, Mage Armor Icon Mage Armor, Ice Barrier Icon Ice Barrier and Mana Shield Icon Mana Shield if you miss their buffs.
  6. Cast Fireball Icon Fireball as your main attack.
  7. Cast Frostbolt Icon Frostbolt as your main attack. We will be skipping Fireball Icon Fireball ranks to save gold, as their damage contribution to your rotation is not worth the investment, on a first character.

Shield skills, such as Mana Shield Icon Mana Shield, should be kept up as much as possible during battle, in order to minimize the cast time lost to enemy attacks, thus allowing you to finish them faster.

Utility skills, such as Frost Nova Icon Frost Nova, and AoE skills, such as Arcane Explosion Icon Arcane Explosion should 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 for Single-Target Frost Mage

2.

Single-Target Frost 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 Single-Target Frost Mage Macros and Addons guide in the link below for the full list.

3.

Single-Target Frost Mage Quests and Weapons

While leveling, you will find or procure many weapon upgrades. You will also have a few class specific quests to complete, mostly for new gear. In order to get you well on your way with both of those aspects of the game, we have prepared two dedicated guides.

4.

Single-Target Frost 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, which contains the PvE oriented builds for DPS Mages. The best ones for Molten Core and Blackwing Lair rely heavily on Frost talents, as enemies are Fire resistant or immune;
  • 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.
  • 02 Jan. 2020: Added Mana Shield and tips on when to use it.
  • 09 Dec. 2019: General guide updates and many small typo fixes.
  • 25 Sep. 2019: Page added.
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