Mage Talent Builds

If you’re looking for the best mage talent builds then you’ve come to the right place. This mage spec guide will be continually updated to reflect the current best arcane, fire, frost and hybrid builds for pvp, pve, leveling and more! With that said, let’s get to the good stuff!

PvP Mage Specs
When we consider mage pvp builds their are a variety of factors we must consider. The first, and most important is the purpose of the build. We basically have two types of pvp builds, those builds for arena, and those builds not for arena.

For the purpose of arena we really have to be concerned with the longevity of the build. So we’re going deep in the front tree. Frost mage spec - 17/0/44, this is pretty much our baseline for mage frost builds. It’s got great survivability, longevity, and of course the addition of improved counter spell. A spell that if you’re comfortable managing, can be extremely powerful.

Next we have, frost mage build - 0/5/56. This build doesn’t require you to be as clutch with your CS, and also allows for even greater survivability, control, and longevity over it’s 17/0/44 counterpart. With this type of build you essentially are a kiting master.

Master of Frost, frost mage build - 0/0/61. A build like this is anything but orthodox. It lakes some of the utility we find in traditional frost specs, but even so many mages have used this spec to great success. Needless to say this spec will allow you maximum survivability and maximum kiting ability.

If you’re looking for additional information on pvp and arena, head over here, mage pvp specs guide.

The following pvp specs are great for battlegrounds and world PvP, though I don’t consider them optimal for arena. That said, if you have the right type of team they could work. Fire mage build - 33/28/0.

Ah yes, the time honored 3 minute mage build. Not much to say here, it’s hilarious for BGs, and even more so in the right arena matrix. I’ve seen this build used by a variety of gib teams in arena.

Fire mage build - 17/44/0. This is pretty much your baseline fire build. You’ve got imp. CS, great damage, and at least some ability to live beyond your PoM that comes with the 33/28/0 build. Strong build, lacks of the survivability of an full frost build, but great if you love fire.

PvE Mage Specs
The one thing I really love about raiding as a mage is the wide variety of potential specs you can choose to raid with. Arcane mage build - 40/0/21, this is the most fundamental of all arcane PvE raiding builds. Your basic rotation will be spamming arcane blast until you are low / out of mana, then use frost bolts to recover. Great spec that serves most all raid scenarios quite well.

For all you fire fans out there I suggest going with 2/48/11 fire mage build. It’s got the best overall damage of any fire spec and will optimize your DPS with rolling ignites. You should note that there are 3 free points in this build, I’ve chosen to put 1 in pyro, 1 in improved flamestrike, and 1 in blastwave. You could toss those 3 in really any talents of your choice.

This next build is not the greatest DPS build. However, for guild’s working on 10 man progression or other instances that require excessive kiting and survivability it may work well for you. Frost mage spec - 10/0/51.

Mage Leveling Build
For leveling purposes this is my absolute favorite mage leveling build - 13/0/48. In the past I’ve had great success using a variety of deep frost builds for leveling, but this one takes the cake. In addition to have great mana longevity and strong control, it also comes with the right combination of talents of AoE grinding.

I don’t know about you, but the reason I made a mage was so I could round up a big ass pack of mobs and just slay em down. This is a great spec for that purpose and I know you’ll have great success with it. You should note, that while this build does have strong AoE it isn’t the 100% best for AoE.

A friend of mine recommended this build, mage grinding build. You basically don’t waste any points in this build, and have maximum AoE grinding talents. While it is strong, I still prefer the first one. As it offers strong AoE while not sacrificing any single target damage.

And if you’re on a PvP server you know how having strong single target damage and survivability can be key. Additionally, if you’re looking for a kick ass guide to help you power through your levels check out this, level 1-70 in 6 days 5 hours. I’ve personally used this guide myself and let me tell you, it’s got an awesome in-game mod that guides you the whole way!

Mage Macro Guide

Let’s face it, in World of Warcraft you’re only as good as your macros. This isn’t to say that you should let your macro play for you, but you can certainly help take your game to a new level by using just a few simple macros.

So let’s check out some popular macros mages should consider. One quick note, if you’re looking for focus macros, head over here, mage focus macros.

Rank 1 Arcane Explosion + Arcane Explosion Max Rank
#showtooltip Arcane Explosion
/cast [nocombat] Arcane Explosion(Rank 1); Arcane Explosion

*This macro will cast rank 1 arcane explosion when you are not in combat, great for catching stealth targets, then cast max rank arcane explosion when you are in combat.

Add trinket(s) and icey veins to main spell
/use 13
/use 14
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()
/cast Icy Veins
/stopcasting
/cast Frostbolt

*Very simple macro, this will use your top trinket first, then bottom trinket. Also, it will suppress errors you might get when your trinkets are not up. Finally, it casts frostbolt (change this to what ever your main spell is). Also, you’ll only add Ice Veins if you are frost.

3 Minute Mage Bomb
#showtooltip Pyroblast
/cast Presence of Mind
/cast Arcane Power
/stopcasting
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Pyroblast

*One button macro to drop all your cooldowns as an AP / PoM / Pyro mage.

Spam-able Arcane Missiles
/cast [nochanneling:Arcane Missiles] Arcane Missiles

*Allows you to spam arcane missiles button without canceling a channel already in progress.

Fast Counterspell
#showtooltip Counterspell
/stopcasting
/cast Counterspell

*cancels your current spell in progress then casts counter spell, much better than having to wait for a spell to finish or hit escape

Fast Ice Barrier
#showtooltip Ice Barrier
/stopcasting
/cast Ice Barrier

*same as fast counter spell, except for ice barrier

Fast Ice lance
/stopcasting
/cast Ice Lance

*stops your current cast then casts ice lance, nice macro to have to quickly snipe totems or finish a target at low health.

One Button Frostbolts
/cast [mod:alt] Frostbolt(rank 1); Frostbolt

*Another button consolidation macro, simply alt + hotkey for a rank 1 frost bolt, or just hit your regular hotkey for a max rank. Nice for kiting purposes. Also, you can change alt to shift or control, what ever your preference is.

Cast Random Polymorph
/castrandom Polymorph, Polymorph: Pig, Polymorph: Turtle

*Not exactly “necessary” macro, but kind of fun if you have the different versions of poly

Polymorph with party warning
/cast [harm] Polymorph
/stopmacro [noharm]
/p Sheeping %t! Don’t Break!

*This will cast polymorph, if it goes off it will then warn your party not to break the sheep.

Summon pet and attack
/cast [nopet] Summon Water Elemental
/stopmacro [target=pettarget, exists]
/petattack

*Summons your water elemental then commands it to attack your target.

Pet shatter bomb
/stopcasting
/cast [pet] Freeze
/cast Frostbolt

*Casts your pet’s nova then queues up your own frostbolt, perfect for timing shatter combos.

Arcane Brilliance / Arcane Intellect
/cast [group:party] Arcane Brilliance; Arcane Intellect

*Just a action bar consolidation macro. Will cast arcane brilliance if you are in a group, or arcane intellect if you are not.

Conjure All Mana Gems
/castsequence reset=45 Conjure Mana Emerald, Conjure Mana Ruby, Conjure Mana Citrine, Conjure Mana Jade, Conjure Mana Agate

*Instead of having to list out every conjurable mana gem simple have them all on one macro.

Curse Removal
/targetparty
/cast Remove Lesser Curse

*Pretty simple macro, targets party members starting with the closest and will remove any curses from them. You can also use this macro for raids, simply change /targetparty to /targetraid.