Mage Talent Build

by Tadaah Sawtekk

Grats!
You have just dinged and received your next Talent Point! But where to spend it?

The first row, or tier, of your chosen talent tree has three options available but which talent do you invest your hard earned point in first? What about the next point you receive? Where should that one be spent?

Well don’t panic because we will go through each specialization’s tree covering the order/priority that talent points should be spent for a leveling build focused on survivability.

The talents are numbered in priority sequence so “1. 2/2 Improved Fire Blast” would mean “First, spend 2 points in Improved Fire Blast”, which would be the points awarded at Level 10 and Level 12.

    Arcane

Manipulate arcane energies, playing with the very fabric of Time and Space.
Watch your mana!

1.    3/3 Netherwind Presence
2.    2/3 Arcane Concentration
3.    2/2 Improved Arcane Missiles
4.    3/3 Torment the Weak
5.          Presence of Mind
6.    2/2 Arcane Flows
7.    2/3 Prismatic Cloak
8.          Arcane Tactics
9.    2/2 Incanter’s Absorption
10.   2/2 Improved Arcane Explosion
11.   2/2 Arcane Potency
12.         Slow
13.   2/2 Nether Vortex
14.   2/2 Improved Mana Gem
15.         Focus Magic
16.   2/2 Improved Polymorph
17.         Arcane Power

You are now level 69 and can branch out onto the other trees.

18.   3/3 Piercing Ice – from Frost
19.   2/3 Burning Soul – from Fire

The next talent points are at level 81

20.   3/3 Burning Soul
21.   3/3 Prismatic Cloak

Spend your final points however you want.

    Fire

Ignite enemies with balls of fire and the breath of dragons.
Use Scorch to move and cast.

1.    2/2 Improved Fire Blast
2.    2/2 Master of Elements
3.    1/3 Burning Soul
4.    3/3 Fire Power
5.    2/3 Ignite
6.          Blast Wave
7.          Hot Streak
8.    2/2 Improved Scorch
9.    1/2 Cauterize
10.         Combustion
11.         Firestarter
12.   2/2 Improved Hot Streak
13.   1/2 Blazing Speed
14.         Dragon’s Breath
15.   3/3 Molten Fury
16.   1/2 Improved Flamestrike
17.   3/3 Critical Mass
18.   2/2 Pyromaniac
19.         Living Bomb

You are level 69 and you can now take talents from the other trees.

20.   3/3 Piercing Ice – from Frost
21.   2/3 Netherwind Presence – from Arcane

The next talent points are received at 81+

22.   3/3 Netherwind Presence
23.   3/3 Arcane Concentration – from Arcane
24.   1/2 Improved Blink – from Arcane

    Frost

Freezes enemies in their tracks and shatters them with Frost magic.
The best spec for leveling! Awesome crowd control.

1.    3/3 Piercing Ice
2.    2/2 Shatter
3.    2/2 Improved Cone of Cold
4.    2/2 Piercing Chill
5.    1/3 Permafrost
6.          Icy Veins
7.    3/3 Fingers of Frost
8.    1/3 Improved Freeze
9.          Cold Snap
10.   3/3 Brain Freeze
11.   1/3 Enduring Winter
12.         Ice Barrier
13.   2/2 Shattered Barrier
14.   2/2 Reactive Barrier
15.   2/2 Frostfire Orb
16.   3/3 Improved Freeze
17.   2/3 Enduring Winter
18.         Deep Freeze

You’re level 69 and have spent 31 points. You can now branch out into the other trees.

19.   3/3 Arcane Concentration – from Arcane
20.   3/3 Netherwind Presence – from Arcane
21.   2/2 Improved Blink – from Arcane

And the final 2 points wherever you want.

Remember that for as many people that play World of Warcraft there are just as many talent combinations, talent builds and opinions.

These are just guidelines, what is liked by one person may not be liked by another.

Try them out and see for yourself and don’t be afraid to experiment!

by Tadaah Sawtekk

Cataclysm mages rejoice as there is no better time to be a Glass Cannon!

Thanks to all of the beautiful, number crunching minds of theorycrafters everywhere it has been established that the trees are pretty much equal in regards to dps.

No longer are your specialization (spec) options limited when you want to start raiding.  Mages are proficient ranged damage dealers no matter which talent tree you are specced into.

Play-style and personal preference have now become major deciding factors.

So to help you out in your decision making process let’s take a brief look at the 3 trees of specialization, their roles in a raid, and the basic spell rotations specific to each.

Arcane has the potential for high burst dps and comes with a nice compliment of utility talents but in order to play this spec effectively you have to pay extra attention to mana consumption.

Role: Single Target DPS.
Although you may be told to switch to Fire spec for a raid you can now be secure in your choice as Arcane has proven to be a viable alternative.

Rotation:
• Spam Arcane Blast or Arcane Blast (x3), Arcane Missiles.
• Use Evocation to replenish mana. 30 seconds before Evocation comes off cooldown use all available cooldowns.
• Evocation.
• Rinse and Repeat.

Fire has long been the undisputed king of damage but since Cataclysm’s release its rule over dps, although still marginally greater, is being encroached upon by the other two trees.

Role: Single/Multiple Target DPS.
Fire is all about getting crits and piling on the damage with instants, Damage over Time(DoT) spells, and enjoying passive talent procs such a Flashburn which ups periodic damage by an additional 20%.

Rotation: *watch your procs and timers*
• Open with Pyroblast at start of fight
• Spam Fireball (greatest dps) or Frostfire Bolt (less dps) for the rest of the fight. Replace Fireball with Scorch when moving or low on mana.
• Keep Living Bomb up all the time on targets
• Use Hot Streak procs as they come up
• Keep Flame Orb on cooldown!

Frost mages and their Water Elemental pets are quite proficient in dealing damage but are a powerhouse with a well cast Mirror Image! Freeze your targets and deal an extra 20% in damage with the passive talent ability Frostburn. Frost can handle its own when it comes to DPS!

Role: Single Target DPS and Crowd Control / AoE Crowd Control.
Sounds like a daunting task but is quite easy. Damage against single targets, especially frozen ones is low threat although not as devastating as Fire’s. Frost has always been the king of Crowd Control and retains this title in Cataclysm.

Rotation: *This rotation may sound confusing but it is a matter of paying attention to cooldowns and watch for when your action bar spell icons are highlighted*
• Frostfire Orb
• Deep Freeze if Fingers of Frost is active
• Frostfire Bolt when Brain Freeze, Fingers of Frost are active
• Ice Lance when Finger of Frost is active
• Freeze, if cooldown is up, Deep Freeze cooldown is up, and Finger of Frost is not active.
• Spam Frostbolt.

As for PvP, Frost remains the overall spec of choice with the same spell rotation as above.

This barely scratches the surface of the wonderful world of the Mage.

For more in depth info I encourage you to check out these sites:
  http://www.wowwiki.com/Mage_Theorycraft
  http://elitistjerks.com/f75/
  http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/1012760/
  http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/02/19/arcane-brilliance-which-mage-spec-should-you-be-raiding-with/

Mages are not the easiest class to play… it is said that anyone can play a mage, but few play them well. Mages are great additions to groups in both PvE and PvP, are excellent for AoE grinding, have powerful DPS, and are coveted for crowd control in instances. Your main strength in having a good mage talent build will be your ability to generate a ton of casting damage. The three talent trees available to mages are Frost, Fire, and Arcane. Each tree has talents dedicated to increasing damage and making mages more potent and destructive foes.

There are a lot of variations to keep in mind for a successful mage talent build in Cataclysm. If you have a mage talent build suited to PvP play, some of the talents you decide to use will not be the same talents you choose for a raid running mage.  There will be advantages and trade-offs for both types of mage talent builds that you create. 

Arcane was only slightly underpowered in Beta and is set to be buffed in a future patch, although still quite usable for leveling, with Fire being the best for mobility and multi-target damage. Frost can match or exceed Fire’s single target damage and bring superior burst and survivability. It is typically recommended to dual spec Fire/Frost and switch as needed. 

Pros and Cons

Fire

+ High Single Target DPS
+ Great mobility due to Firestarter
+ Many AoE capabilities, “AoE burst” with Combustion
+ Good survivability (Cauterize)
+ 5% Crit Debuff
-  Overly Reliant on Crits

Frost

+ High Single Target DPS/Burst Capabilities
+ AoE Snares
+ High Survivability (Ice Barrier)
+ Replenishment, Enduring Winter
~ Some mobility because of instants in the usual rotation
-  Short Range

Arcane

+ High Burst Damage
+ 3% Raid Dmg Buff (Arcane Tactics)
+ Good Threat Management
~ Average Single Target DPS
-  Below Average AoE
-  Low Mobility
-  Inconsistent DPS Output

Frost Mage Talent Build

The Frost mage has good control and survivability talents, and slightly less single-target DPS in exchange for more powerful snares. For control and longevity in battle it is the most utilized mage talent build for PvP.

Generally you may want a Frost mage talent build if you are soloing, because if it is your first mage or you are in the starting areas this will be much easier for you.  Frost talents are quite simple and basic for leveling a mage, although if you are more experienced there is more in the Arcane talent tree which can also be quite effective for PvP.

Fire Mage Talent Build

When you begin to look at a mage talent build geared toward raiding, you will see Fire talents dominate or at least become more predominant. Fire spells traditionally deal more damage to single targets. The Fire tree focuses more toward DPS talents although it does have some good survival abilities.

Arcane Mage Talent Build

Utility is emphasized in Arcane talents such as those for mana restoration, talents which offer more resilience, and provides buffs to spells found in other talent trees. Arcane talents provide high burst and sustained damage in PvE and PvP but at a significant loss of mobility.

Advantages and weaknesses are rated in the chart below on a scale of 0-5.

Your selection of which talent build choices to make will be a personal decision by the time you get to higher levels.  Everyone has their own style, and the mage certainly deals a lot of damage if you learn to play it effectively.  As you decide on a mage talent build remember to take note of casting times and cool-down times of your spells.  The idea is to balance your talents with these two criteria in mind and also be aware of the mana cost of each one.  If you find that something isn’t working with your current mage talent build, then just get some gold and re-spec.  There are a lot of mage talent builds and quite a few different possibilities, but some are much more effective than others. You will know you have it right when other players have difficulty trying to beating you in PvP. 

Your focus should be in selecting talents which complement each other and talents which are best used in combination.  Remember you will almost always want your mage talent build to have points in at least two of the three talent trees, but you still want your main focus to be in only one talent tree for maximum benefit. If you choose a synergistic combination of talents you will be able to decide which ones have the greatest benefit, and choose other talents to minimize possible weaknesses you may have.

If you don’t want to use your time scouring the web for mage talent builds or alt-tabbing to read them on a website then you should check out Zygor’s Leveling Guides like I did. It’s the only in-game leveling guide that I use now, and it is pretty amazing. It’s powerful enough to be used by top tiered players and professional power levelers, yet so simple and intuitive that absolute beginners can jump right in with ease. You can spend more time PLAYING and less time READING!

Click Here to Visit the Zygor Guides Official Website.

  http://elitistjerks.com/f75/t106009-cataclysm_mage_resources/
  http://elitistjerks.com/f75/t110345-mage_pve_cataclysmic_changes/