Gnome is the best Mage race on the Alliance in WoW Forever, with High Order Skyborne right next to it, and Orc is the best on the Horde for raids while Undead wins PvP. Six races can be Mages, Orc among them for the first time. Mages deal almost all of their damage with direct casts, so Eureka! works at full strength here, while the same racial barely helps a Warlock. Below, we compare all six races for Fire, Frost and Arcane, for PvP and for leveling, and show how to line up each racial with your cooldowns.
A Mage gets the most from racials that boost direct spells, add Haste or crit, or give more Mana to spend. PvP adds a fourth need: a way out of stuns, fears or roots, since a Mage that cannot move or cast dies fast.
The table grades each race on a simple scale: S is the top pick, A is close behind, B gives up a little more. The damage gap between the top races is a percent or two.
| Race | Faction | Key racials for a Mage | PvE | PvP | Leveling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gnome | Alliance | Eureka!, Expansive Mind, Escape Artist | S | S | B |
| High Order Skyborne | Alliance | Wind Blessed, Read Leyline | S | B | A |
| Human | Alliance | Ruthless, The Human Spirit, Will to Survive | A | A | B |
| Orc | Horde | Blood Fury, Hardiness | S | A | B |
| Troll | Horde | Berserking, Rapid Regeneration, Regeneration | A | B | A |
| Undead | Horde | Will of the Forsaken, Touch of the Grave, Cannibalize | A | S | S |
Every race and class combination is in our WoW Forever races and classes chart.
Three Alliance races can play a Mage: Gnome, High Order Skyborne and Human. Gnome is the most common choice, High Order Skyborne matches it in raids and leans toward Fire, and Human is a safe third.
Gnome is the Mage race most players settle on. Eureka! makes your spells cost 10% less Mana and deal 10% more damage for 8 seconds every 2 minutes. It does not affect damage over time, but almost all Mage damage comes from direct casts like Fireball, Frostbolt and Arcane Blast, so it works at full strength. Expansive Mind adds 5% maximum Mana, and Escape Artist breaks every root and slow and makes you immune to them for 3 seconds, which is huge in PvP.
High Order Skyborne matches Gnome in raids. Wind Blessed adds 2% Haste to every cast all the time, and Fire uses Haste better than the other specs. Read Leyline raises Mana regeneration by 50% for 15 seconds, more if you cast it at a leyline, but it cannot be used while Innervate is on you. In PvP the race has no defensive button. It also needs the Skyborne Heroic Pack or a higher edition.
Both Skyborne branches are covered in our WoW Forever Skyborne race guide.
Human is a safe third. Ruthless adds 1% crit to every spell, The Human Spirit adds 10% Spirit for more Mana regeneration, and Will to Survive removes every stun once per 3 minutes. It does nothing badly, but Gnome and Skyborne each do one thing better.
On the Horde side, the Mage races are Orc, Undead and Troll. Orc leads for raid damage, Undead for PvP and leveling, and Troll sits between the two.
Orc Mage is new in Forever and the Horde pick for raid damage. Blood Fury adds 10% Spell Power for 15 seconds, and since October 27 it is back on a 2-minute cooldown, so you can press it with every Arcane Power or Combustion. Orcs lost Savage, their crit passive, on October 26, and Command does nothing for a Mage, so the race leans fully on Blood Fury. Hardiness shortens stuns by 20% in PvP.
Undead is the PvP and leveling pick. Will of the Forsaken breaks fear, charm and sleep, the main control of Warlocks and Priests, which are a Mage's hardest fights. Touch of the Grave gives your spells a 30% chance to drain Health from the target, at most once every 15 seconds since October 27. While leveling, Cannibalize restores Health and Mana on humanoid and undead corpses, so you drink less.
Troll sits between the two. Berserking adds 10% casting speed for 15 seconds, up from 10 seconds since October 27, but it does not speed up channels like Arcane Missiles. Rapid Regeneration heals 50% of your Health over 6 seconds after a fight, and some PvP Mages like it for resetting between duels.
The best Mage race shifts with your spec. This section sums up the picks, so you can go straight to your own plan.
High Order Skyborne and Gnome lead the Alliance: Fire gains the most from the Haste of Wind Blessed, and Eureka! fits a Combustion window with Pyroblast casts. On the Horde, Orc lines up Blood Fury with Combustion. Human's 1% crit from Ruthless also helps Fire more than the other specs.
Gnome is the best Frost Mage, since Frostbolt and Ice Lance are direct casts that get the full Eureka! bonus. On the Horde, Orc and Undead are close. Frost is also the PvP spec, where Gnome and Undead shine.
Gnome is the Arcane pick: Expansive Mind adds Mana to burn, and Eureka! makes Arcane Blast cheaper during your burst. On the Horde, Orc stacks Blood Fury with Arcane Power for the strongest burst of any Mage.
Gnome leads the Alliance with Escape Artist against Frost Nova and Hamstring, and Human follows with Will to Survive against stuns. On the Horde, Undead wins with Will of the Forsaken, and Orc is next with Hardiness.
Undead levels fastest thanks to Cannibalize, and Troll and High Order Skyborne save time with Rapid Regeneration and Read Leyline. Mages level fast with any race, since area-of-effect pulls carry the class.
The fastest route to 60 is in our WoW Forever Mage leveling guide.
Blizzard reworked every race in the October 15 beta build and made a final pass on October 26, with cooldown changes added on October 27. These are the changes that moved the Mage rankings.
No racial changed in the class hotfixes of October 30 and 31, but Mage talents did: Ice Lance now deals 300% more damage to frozen targets on an 8-second cooldown, and Elemental Precision became Precision, which adds hit to all your spells. Every racial with exact numbers is in the tool below.
All class and racial changes are collected on our WoW Forever patch notes page.
A racial is worth the most when it lands on the right casts. These habits make the difference.
Mage Scrolls add more spells to your book: our WoW Forever Mage Scrolls guide explains how to find them.
These guides cover the rest of the Mage class and race choice for every class.
These are the questions players ask most about choosing a Mage race.
Gnome on the Alliance, with High Order Skyborne equal in raids, and Orc on the Horde for raids, with Undead for PvP.
Orc for raids, because Blood Fury adds Spell Power on a 2-minute cooldown. Undead for PvP, because Will of the Forsaken breaks fear and charm.
Yes. Orc Mage is one of the six new race and class combinations in Forever.
Only on the Alliance. High Order Skyborne can be Mages, Windshaper Skyborne on the Horde cannot.
Yes. It does not affect damage over time, but Mages deal almost all of their damage with direct casts, so Eureka! gives its full 10% bonus.
No. The gap between the top races is a percent or two, far less than gear, talents and how well you use your cooldowns.
