WoW Vanilla Class Guide - Mage

Here's the 2nd installment of my class guide series of WoW Vanilla. This time we're gonna talk about the mage and what options you have for both leveling and endgame. Enjoy!
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[@seppwurzel8212]

Fire leveling: - pyro blast: During the 6s cast time you get 6 + spell travel time more seconds out of combat mana reg, which is gold! - ignite: you will most likely never have much more than 5-7% crit during leveling, so ignite is at most a 0.042% (yep, not even remotely 1%) average damage increase. get other talents first while leveling (e.g. 10% chance for stun) - 70% pushback protection - high fire resist of many mobs starting at around the mid 20s Frost leveling: - recommended after the mid 20s. Raiding: - Arcane frost until ZG. - From ZG on and any higher tier dungeons: spec fire. - Get hit capped over anything else - If you're not sure whether to get more crit or more spell dmg, remember that aoe spells benefit very badly from spell damage. most of the time in dungeons you will fight trash, so if you look at the overall damage done, trash dps will have the highest portion to your total dps - most crucial thing to improve your dps after being hit capped: move as little as possible and hit the target with as many spells as possible (e.g. moving 1 second is 1/2,5 of a whole frostbolt or 1/3 of a whole fireball) - use trinkets and cooldowns only when all debuffs are up on the target - fire: do not steal ignite with fire blast. only fire blast to finish a low hp mob. fire blast is generally a bad spell. - fire: more mages in the raid increases the chance for ignite to stay on the mob much more than stacking crit. best to do both. 8+ mages are the way to go. - spirit, arcane meditation talent and mage armor are highly underestimated. in long fights the regen from spirit can give you many extra spells to cast. get as much spirit as you can get from buffs. - fire: on trash or bosses with high resistance use spell penetration gear if warlocks slack on curse of elements. it will increase your damage A LOT. There are addons to track your partial resists and if you have partial resists higher than 25% of the spell's total damage, warlock curse was not up or the boss has high resistances. - fire: blast wave and spamming the two highest ranks of (talented!!! for much more ignite!!!) flame strike is very strong. be careful to not pull aggro with that combo. - bind drinking and drink as soon as you're out of combat to have less downtimes. - sheep - only ask for Power Infusion when stacking ignite with all your trinkets up and if you get Power Infusion, make a macro so the priest knows when to PI you. - the trinket from vael in BWL is super OP. 33% more damage per fireball cast (from cast time reduction). compare 33% of your average fireball to xyz spell damage per cast from any other trinket. - always have all four gems and mana pots ready. on boss fights use them asap (mana pot first, then gem) - give your tank enough time to have aggro safely. If you pull aggro too early, you force every dps in the raid to wait xyz seconds until the boss is under control again. that is a bigger dps loss for the raid than your shitty 10 dps increase you gain from starting dpsing too early.

[@Aj9Livess]

you are a God amongst men

[@fallentosky]

Sepp Wurzel omg, I found the best mage guide ever in comment section...

[@Adrian-bv8wr]

Thanks for the guides, I am completely new to vanilla so this will work awesomely.

[@Goldhorn1000]

Awesome! Love this series. Looking forward to the next one, and keep up the great work.

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

Thanks!

[@TatsuyaWow]

thank you! for the very good guide to my favorite classe! mage are so fun! you have the best vanilla guide ever!

[@Kurupt-Seven-Six]

Thanks for the guide. Just what i was looking for.

[@Dungeonjay]

Great guide man. Very informative! :)

[@nonanimeprofilepic]

im gonna start with a fire mage in classic wow when it launches next week, very helpful video

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

Good luck with your journey!

[@chroniclesofparenthood7806]

Cool video. Looking forward to your Warlock Guide.

[@drsolarii]

You know what would be awesome? More vanilla class guides. :)

[@christopher-wk]

Thanks for the guide mate!

[@amigowowclassic3193]

Good Guide Man) im see your video all time when change my spec talents :D

[@ramzesmoi]

Amazing guide and talent suggestions awesome. Can you do such videos for other classes as well? [interested in hunter] and rogues

[@MrMaxenen11]

Great video. Keep it up!

[@isteinfryett8644]

Favourite words.. without further ado :D

[@ioStux]

Hey, maybe a little Suggestion. When talking about the Specs, you could use the Background that the Talent Trees have ingame!

[@Jobbazz]

Great vid! Looking forward to the Hunter Guide :)

[@petterskoglund2228]

Apply tranq and afk ;)

[@Jobbazz]

Great insight! Thanks man

[@kevinsheppard7517]

Thanks dude. I think I'm going to roll with a frost/fire mage and then a balance/resto druid on the new pvp server. :)

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

Awesome man! See you there!

[@DrNomad-mu4ol]

Hey Hamsterwheel, I accidentally dropped my keys into a storm drain. My neighbor went into the sewer to see if she could find them. I heard screams and now I think the bitch is dead. Could you help me tape some hangers together so we could use it to reach my keys?

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

Totally! I think I still have a coathanger laying around that my nephew used for her wife's abortion so we'll use that!

[@darkynhalvos]

I lol'd so hard at that :P

[@raven-kg2nc]

*nephew* used for *her* wife's abortion plot hole

[@khalidboy1]

Awsome video , thank you

[@Frostadamus]

Great guide, thanks. How did you render models with fire background? Is there a program ?

[@ecMonify]

there's a program called "wow model viewer" where you can view all races (choose hairstyle, skin color, face etc) and choose between all items in the game

[@Frostadamus]

thanks, I saw it on the recent released video.

[@jakubcebula3349]

hamster,don't care about unlikes you are doing great job !

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

Will do!

[@naciabell7903]

Could you do paladin? Not many talk about vanilla paladin and i think it would be interesting to see you show case its potential and its place in the game back then.

[@DanAlmenar]

Great how to video, yet should've had put some links for the builds. Great work anyway!

[@mr-rosh]

Nostalrius in the title for that sweet, sweet clickbat. lol Great video as always!

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

Ofcourse! To be fair tho, I made this guide and aimed it towards the launch of Nostalrius, hence why I mention not being able to raid as fire and not being able to get your hands on Bloodvine gear, cause with the fresh server that's coming out I don't feel like recommending gear that you can't even get.

[@mr-rosh]

No problem man. Love you!

[@epjones366]

Where else would you play vanilla?...I mean really. lol Nost or nothing.

[@hoffyc.h393]

Please do a Guide for Rogue or Hunter.

[@snuffsan]

Elemental PVP is the most fun spec imo

[@Jackaroo.]

Yeah I'm planning to make an Elemental Shaman as my PVP alt.

[@catag3866]

@@Jackaroo. he is talking about elemental pvp spec for mages , lol.

[@pm801991]

Which is the best build for leveling? I never played on Nostalrius, should i wait for the fresh server to be released or should i play the "old" servers right away?

[@andddreass]

A hunter guide would be real nice.

[@urek2872]

Hey Hamster nice video, what addon are you usign for your ui to look black ?

[@mathy3028]

Just started playing on Kronos

[@l.k3352]

10-0-41 is way better in my opinion, it focus on single target destruction and it improves frost really good

[@HeldigHenrik]

Will there be a warrior guide out before Nostalrius launches?

[@17xWalker]

great video , make a warlock guide for the next one !

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

If I can get around to obtaining enough knowledge for that class, as I barely have any raiding experience in vanilla with a Warlock

[@amelio5720]

Hamsterwheel warlock would be great

[@Kavou]

Hello friend.I would like to ask you if would be interested to make a warlock guide anytime soon?

[@Rorschachqp]

The role of a mage in raids and dungeons is to first DPS but second is to keep aggro off the healer who is keeping the main tank up.

[@t.kruger6488]

would a pvp spec like full frost be viable for leveling and raidings aswell? Im new to WoW and I heard respeccing is expensive so I try to get a build that lets me do all 3 things. Would really appreciate any advice you can give me

[@jpdi]

what level spells do u use as ur leveling? just the highest level ones or?

[@singledie]

Are you going to do one for rogue or just casters?

[@dudlecore7358]

I can't wait for blizz classic servers so I decided to roll on a private server. >:D I'm so damn hyped

[@rhyslucas8219]

Great vid hamster, what server are you playing the most atm?:)

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

Still Primal WoW

[@westkoastdogg6680]

Sounded like: Hey guys, Hamster wee here lol

[@zilvis1140]

shaman next pls

[@undertyped1]

-Fire is terrible, you won't be getting past 5% crit chance until you get critical mass, and your talents rely on you critting. Abysmal -Frost is just great, you can do no wrong even if you randomly add points into that tree, though i would get frostbite shatter and ice shards as early as humanly possible. Easy to run through mob packs, and frostbite makes rogues and warriors want to cry. and has amazing synergy all around. There is a reason they nerfed frostbite from 5 to 3 seconds duration in the expansions. -Arcane is only useful for pom pyroblast later on with good gear, because arcane missles is laughable.

[@MikeHunt-wl4ye]

porn pyroblast? The fuck?

[@DavidBarryOfficial]

What level do mages learn portals in vanilla wow? I tried to google and couldn't find the answer.

[@zilvis1140]

Dave Banner 40

[@zilvis1140]

Dave Banner if i remember good since i played on Nostalrius

[@mrtruthsayer7872]

I believe you get your Race's Home city portal at lvl 40 then all the other ones at lvl 50

[@ZanathKariashi]

40: Org, UC, SW, IF 50: TB, Darn

[@1MoreTurn]

When will the paladin guide come? Great vids btw.

[@neojack333]

paladin in PVE is just about flash heal and buffs (wich lasts 5 min)

[@TapTwoCounterspell]

Can we expect a warlock guide

[@Sanoskesagara]

you forgot to mention aoe grinding for leveling. was there a reason you didn't mention it?

[@yeet6876]

Hey hamster how is the new nostalrius?

[@AlexandreUirapuru]

Do Shaman guide please

[@tubsen32]

Make a warlock guide pls!

[@Gabbdez]

Ayy Hamsterwheel. I'm curious to hear which server and faction you will be playing on :D

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

Probably on the fresh PVP server and I will go either undead mage or undead rogue

[@Gabbdez]

Hamsterwheel Same, but I'm gonna go undead warlock as my first character. See you in Azeroth ^^

[@koseku3]

why use frostbolt when u go arcane, isnt arcane missles good?

[@benrice8257]

could I have the backround picture for fire please?

[@ShadebloomQR]

can you please make a guide to hunters? :3

[@shivur5073]

Why would I care if bloodfang was available or not when I'm playing a mage

[@niep02wm48]

"Hey can I join the Raid as a retribution Paladin?" "ha.... haha....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

[@xxxswaggod420xxx3]

when is nostalrius out?

[@Arkanthas]

rogue guide pls

[@AllStarProductionINC]

nice

[@sheldonjessup]

what level do they learn teleport?

[@Terlin1466]

ice barrier was in classic? .... WHAT.... i guess ive forgotten I do remember frost being the intentional raiding spec for MC for obvious reasons Fire is weak to frost it makes sense.

[@TheBigBadGRIM]

3 minute mages ruled! Screw the haters! AP PoM Pyro and double trinkets, baby!!!

[@helmutzemo9041]

Winter's Chill - Stacks up 15001 times.

[@mrtruthsayer7872]

if only :P

[@DivineMoment]

How do I win hunters with mage?

[@chesusjrist9733]

I want to make a mage... my first character ever was an undead warrior... but I want to make an undead rogue for the meme... What should my mage's race be?

[@Cal97g]

Undead errything

[@Dominator775]

please do a priest guide!!!!!

[@maltelarsen5189]

How can you talk about arcane leveling but not frost aoe grinding? (Im disappointed) Still a nice video tho :)

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

Because looking at the insane amount of players that the servers are gonna have you're probably not gonna be able to AOE frost grind cause everyone will be tagging mobs like a mad man

[@maltelarsen5189]

Still super relevant imo, grinding especially on the pve server will be a lot faster than questing

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

I have my doubts with that, if zones are gonna be filled with players like old Nostalrius you're gonna have trouble finding just one single mob to tag. I hope for both of us that I am completely wrong on this one though :)

[@maltelarsen5189]

Dec 2015 I had no trouble leveling a gnome on the pve server :)

[@ZanathKariashi]

Grinding was NEVER faster than questing unless you're just a terrible player (and there's no excuses in this day and age as there are plenty of resources for finding an efficient questing path even if you aren't familiar with vanilla questing), and it never will be (also grinding is most prevelant on PvP servers, not PvE, because gankers can deny you entire zones to level in and you're forced to go somewhere else and make up the difference via grinding).

[@codymativa7647]

Can you do a shaman guide for Nostalrius?

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

I can't guarantee anything but it might be the next one on my list :)

[@Jaminwaffle_art]

That would be great!!

[@suomilaava371]

is mage better than wlocK?

[@teuska351]

Shaman next!

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

Probably :)

[@JustynHill-Hand]

>Winter's chill stacks up to 15,001 times.

[@thecringekid5744]

Cannot w8 4 vanilla

[@duelinventorx6014]

You forgot 21/0/30 PvP mage build. Pom FROST with coldsnap/Iceblock.

[@maxrb67]

can you do a paladin one?

[@Suamere]

Max Rubio Hey bro. Sorry your dad lost the Primary.

[@toaonua523]

Three-minute mages :DD

[@TheRagingAce]

Warlock coming up soon?

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

I barely have any raiding experience as a Warlock in vanilla so I can't guarantee anything when it comes to that class

[@nostepsnek1776]

meditation over precision or the mana refund from critting? I would rather take the warding talents over that. taking the armor talent over hit chance or other talents (spell pen iirc?) Not a bad guide for noobies, but triggering to an OG mage.

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

YOYOYO mynaem i didnt skip precision in pve so i dont know what you're talking about

[@nostepsnek1776]

I can't remember the exact miss chance in pvp but it was there iirc

[@taylenday]

Wat een goeie video.

[@jorndenessen2991]

ja he?

[@o0TraceuR0o]

do a pvp mage builds and maybe some macros

[@matiks4974]

o0TraceuR0o agreed, that'd help a lot.

[@cinderan7033]

there other pvp builds outside pom+pyro?

[@Relhio]

Someone actually made a guide for Vanilla WoW? For what, to teach players how to properly use the only 3 spells they have?

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

If you think mages use nothing but 3 spells then you know nothing about mages

[@ecMonify]

it's funny you say that when in reality it's the other way around. blizzard has stripped all of the classes of most of their abilities. now almost all of the classes are exactly the same, with energy bars instead of mana, combo points, self heal and 3 abilities to use. whereas in vanilla there were tons of spells to use and the classes played very differently from eachother

[@dilligafzilla]

that pom pyro talent tree... why take improved fireball instead of having chance to stun if you use scorch as spam spell? I completely ignored fireball back when used this build and I did well. that's 5 points wasted. also, burning soul is a waste. if you have hunter shooting your pom pyro mage you are pretty much dead already unless you somehow manage to escape, and if it's melee attacking you you WONT just stand and keep casting while he's striking you with 1k+ hits. thats two more points wasted

[@asambi69]

You spelt Food and Drink vendor wrong...It doesn't begin with M.

[@niep02wm48]

"Hey can I join the Raid as a feral Druid?" "ha.... haha....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

[@kevinrex7414]

Ugh that gear looks atrocious. Thanks for the vid. I never played in vanilla. Started in cata and switched to my main mage in mop.

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

Gear >>>> looks tho :)

[@duppy4tv]

When it comes to PVP isn't arcane a really good choice? If you combine Arcane power, Presence of mind and Pyroblast? it's an insta cast with 30% more dmg and if you have set bonus you even get loads more dmg. You also get loads of extra dmg from passives. This is the talent tree I've done wowsamurai.mygamesonline.org/talentcalculator/?talent=11215875_8_8251055c122015310532d12h203o

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

That's literally what I said, and what about when all that stuff is on cooldown? Then what?

[@duppy4tv]

Hamsterwheel Sorry, i'm retarded, didn't hear you say that but when it comes to Cooldown u just have to do some other spells while waiting :p I was just going for a big burst at start tbh. But again sorry that I didn't hear when u said that xd

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

No problem, no offense taken!

[@MassDonfel]

3:50 cone of colt can broke a frost nova. But your frostbolt is already on the move. so it doest matter. And i dont understand why you are not using elemental precision for PVP specs, we are always makes a fun of pvp mages without that talent, because a lot of times they dies for badluck. resist Fnova = dead. rogue is close to you hurry up use cone of cold. resist = dead . Or force you to waste some of your cd..Not mention instant pyro resist :D

[@deandimov2076]

Nope you still have arcane-fire spec

[@Oliver-nt8pw]

I would not call this a guide, you dont tell anything at all about leveling. How about starting with some arcane talents (wand spec), than going for frost when aoe griding becomes possible, around 30 maybe? Or starting with fire, as frostbolt damage is maybe lower? Im disapointed

[@belstar1128]

Why so many dislikes?.

[@multiestonian]

betarage Legion players

[@belstar1128]

multiestonian Im a "legion player" i also play warth and soon vanilla and hopefully tbc.

[@multiestonian]

betarage You know what i mean. The legion players who think that, legion is superior and people who want to play earlier expansion should die a slow death.

[@belstar1128]

***** It had 20 dislikes 20 likes when i made this comment.

[@matt2244]

Forgot about having 5 mages rolling combustion will do crazy damage since you can roll combustion from mage to mage and all mages get the crit chance.

[@HamsterWheelGaming]

Uhm what?

[@matt2244]

Hamsterwheel In Naxx 40 myself and 4 other mages had combustion build and you could each use it for more damage and before it would run out for one mage another would cast it. So constant combustion on a boss rolling between 5 mages.

[@ZanathKariashi]

combustion is a self buff that increases your crit chance by 10% for 3 crits. It is not placed on a boss and no one else can benefit from it. You're probably thinking of Ignite which doesn't effect crit at all and is simply a infinitely stacking dot that refreshes and gains damage every time an Ignite mage crits .

[@vlizion]

10 minute cooldown cold snap. LOL

[@arcanemage3947]

Hamsterwheel my fellow enthusiast I would like your input on my thread it's a work in progress but that's why I want your input if you're interested.

[@mr.whistler6114]

Arcane is sad :(

[@zamai5784]

I've never heard Elemental spec and hard in the same sentence, its easy as SHIT lmfao.

[@crusadersnake4159]

are privet sever free?

[@matiks4974]

Mr.creeper Play world of Warcraft yes

[@crusadersnake4159]

thank u

[@davidgrong7098]

Mr.creeper Play world of Warcraft yes.

[@n0xx295]

Fire mage leveling = Man Mode.

[@omribar-maor8211]

Never take this ....

[@Dedrohauf]

AoE leveling :D

[@Toukan808]

without even watching the video i can tell you how its gonna go...cast conjure refreshment/food 3 times then drink to replenish mana, rinse and repeat for 30 minutes until you finally have a stack of each. then logout cause youre bored after making your food/water. log on in an hour and do it all over again

[@zeratulrus142]

Arcane does more damage than frost pre-60, so arcane leveling is pretty good.