Mage is still one of the fastest classes to level in WoW Forever, but the old shortcut is gone. Blizzard slows less, mobs walk through it faster, and dungeon mobs give far less experience than in Classic, so farming one dungeon from 40 to 52 is unlikely to work. Mages who reach 60 first will quest with Frostbolt and grind packs of mobs only at the spots worth it, starting with Arcane Explosion at 14 and Blizzard at 20.
This guide covers levels 1 to 30 as tested on the beta, and 31 to 60 as planned for the November 4 launch; the late levels will be updated once the full game is out. You will find Frost talent builds for questing and for AoE farming in our talent calculator, the new AoE rotation built around two Frost Novas, the best race for each faction, a route for Horde and Alliance, and the tips that save you the most time.
Frost is the best leveling spec for most players. Frostbolt slows every target, Frostbite turns that slow into a freeze, and the new Ice Lance talent deals 300% more damage to frozen targets. Mobs rarely reach you, so you lose less time to eating and drinking. Frost also has the whole AoE kit: Frost Nova, Blizzard and Cone of Cold.
Fire and Arcane are fine choices for the first 20 levels. Many experienced Mages quest with Fireball only, because it has 35 yards of range and good damage per mana, and switch to Frost at 21–23 when the AoE spells come online. If you do not plan to grind packs at all, staying Fire is also fine, but Frost is safer and the talent points never need a respec.
You can play Frost two ways, and the builds below cover both:
Until level 10 you have no talents, so just keep Arcane Intellect and Frost Armor up and use your wand to finish low-health mobs. Every build below is ready to open in our talent calculator; points from the Talented Legacy talent are not included.
Mage Leveling Builds
Pick a build to open it in the talent calculator
Questing Frost Build to Level 30
To level 30 · One mob at a time
This build makes Frostbolt faster first, then builds toward frozen targets and big Ice Lance crits:
Questing Frost Mage, level 30
If you fight a lot of mobs above your level, swap Improved Frostbolt for 5/5 Elemental Precision: a resisted Frostbolt costs mana, damage and the slow.
AoE Frost Build to Level 30
To level 30 · Packs of 5–10 mobs
For AoE farming, safety and hit matter more than single-target damage. This build takes 5/5 Elemental Precision so Frost Nova does not miss, 2/2 Improved Frost Nova to bring the second Nova back faster, 3/3 Permafrost and 3/3 Improved Blizzard for longer, stronger slows, 2/3 Frost Channeling for cheaper spells, 3/3 Shatter for the Flamestrike and Cone of Cold finish, Ice Block for pulls that go wrong, and 2/2 Arctic Reach for a bigger Blizzard, Frost Nova and Cone of Cold.
AoE Frost Mage, level 30
Frost Build to Level 60
Full Frost with Fire talents · Updated after launch
After 30, keep filling the Frost tree. Improved Cone of Cold and Cold Snap come at 31–35, and Ice Barrier arrives at 40 and makes big pulls much safer. The last 13 points go into Fire for 3/3 Improved Flamestrike, plus extra range, a stun chance and a faster Fireball. This build will be updated after launch.
Frost Mage, level 60
Our WoW Forever Mage talents guide explains every talent in all three trees.
The two leveling styles need different rotations. Questing is simple and safe; AoE farming changed the most in Forever and takes some practice.
Keep Arcane Intellect and Frost Armor up, then fight each mob like this:
Always use your highest Frostbolt rank. Since the October 1 beta build, low-rank spells have a much lower chance to trigger effects like Frostbite, so the old trick of spamming rank 1 Frostbolt for cheap freezes no longer works.
You can start AoE farming at 14 with Arcane Explosion. Pull three or four mobs, gather them on you, Frost Nova, step back, Flamestrike the frozen pack, then Cone of Cold and Arcane Explosion to finish. This short rotation stays the most reliable even later for packs of up to seven mobs.
From 20, Blizzard lets you pull 8–10 mobs, but in Forever it slows less and you only get one full Blizzard per pull. A pull goes like this:
A few rules keep you alive:
Stat priority depends on how you level. For questing, spell power comes first, then Intellect, Spirit and Stamina. Caster weapons in Forever carry real spell power, so a staff or dagger upgrade is a damage upgrade. For AoE farming, Intellect and Stamina come first: AoE spells gain little from spell power, while more mana and health let you pull more. Items "of the Eagle" and "of the Sorcerer" are the best green finds for both styles.
Get a wand as early as you can. Since the September 24 beta build, wands no longer gain damage from spell power, but they still finish mobs without spending mana and let mana regenerate. Enchanters can make a Lesser Magic Wand at level 5 and a Greater Magic Wand at 13.
Mage has the best travel kit in the game, and it saves real leveling time:
Forever opens Mage to two new options: Orcs on the Horde side and the High Order branch of the new Skyborne race on the Alliance side. For leveling, the best picks are still Gnome for Alliance and Troll or Undead for Horde, but the gap is small, so play the race you like.
| Race | Faction | Why it works for a Mage |
|---|---|---|
| Gnome | Alliance | Expansive Mind adds 5% maximum mana; Eureka! makes your next three spells cost 10% less mana and deal 10% more damage; Escape Artist breaks roots and slows |
| Human | Alliance | The Human Spirit adds 5% Spirit; Sword Specialization gives 2% spell crit with a sword; Will to Survive breaks stuns |
| Skyborne (High Order) | Alliance | Read Ley Line doubles health and mana regeneration; Wind Blessed adds 1% Haste |
| Troll | Horde | Berserking adds 10% casting speed; Beast Slaying helps against the many beasts in Durotar and the Barrens; Rapid Regeneration restores half your health out of combat |
| Undead | Horde | Touch of the Grave sometimes drains health from your target; Cannibalize restores health and mana; Will of the Forsaken breaks fears |
| Orc | Horde | Blood Fury adds 10% Spell Power; Shatter Curse and Hardiness add defense |
One thing to know for AoE as an Undead: a Touch of the Grave drain can break Frost Nova, so plan Nova windows with that in mind. Our WoW Forever Skyborne race guide covers the new race in detail.
Forever keeps the Classic experience curve but pushes players into the open world. Since the October 1 beta build, dungeon quests give half their old bonus experience, and dungeon mobs give far less than in Classic even after the 20% increase on October 8. Low-level mobs were trimmed on purpose too, so once a zone turns green, move on. The fastest Mages mix questing with AoE grinding at dense camps, and the table lists both.
The levels from 30 to 60 follow the Classic flow and will be updated after the November 4 launch. On the way to 30, the dungeons worth a clear are Ragefire Chasm or The Deadmines, the new Ruins of Lordaeron, Wailing Caverns, Shadowfang Keep, Blackfathom Deeps, and the new Excavation Site and City of Dalaran. Our WoW Forever dungeons overview lists every dungeon with its level range.
If you would rather skip the climb, our WoW Forever leveling service can take a Mage to 60 while you focus on the endgame.
Mages kill a lot of humanoids, so cloth is never a problem. Every crafting profession also awards a Legacy point at 150, 225 and 300 skill.
Our WoW Forever professions guide covers every recipe path from 1 to 300.
Thrill of Adventure is the best first pick: at 5/5 every non-trivial kill outside dungeons, raids and battlegrounds restores 5% of your health and mana over 10 seconds, which means less drinking between pulls. On an alt, Talented gives five extra talent points early and gets you to Ice Lance or Shatter sooner.
We explain where every Legacy point comes from in our WoW Forever Legacy Points guide.
In a group you are damage, crowd control and the free water for everyone. A few habits make dungeons go smoothly:
These habits save the most time on a Mage:
These are the questions players ask most often about leveling a Mage in Forever.
What is the best Mage spec for leveling in WoW Forever? Frost. It slows and freezes mobs before they reach you, Ice Lance hits frozen targets for 300% more damage, and it has the whole AoE kit.
Can Mages still AoE farm in WoW Forever? Yes, but it is harder than in Classic. Blizzard slows less and you get one full Blizzard per pull, so the rotation relies on two Frost Novas, Cone of Cold and Flamestrike.
When can a Mage start AoE farming? At 14, with Arcane Explosion and Frost Nova on packs of three or four mobs. Blizzard at 20 opens bigger pulls.
Is Ice Lance a talent or a trained spell? It is a Frost talent available from level 20 and needs 10 points in the Frost tree first.
Do wands scale with spell power in WoW Forever? No. Since the September 24 beta build, wands no longer gain damage from spell power, but they are still the cheapest way to finish a mob.
Once you reach 60, these guides take your Mage further:
