I'm very new and I don't want to feel completely lost when Classic actually launches. I'm pretty set on rolling alliance (so human or gnome?) and I'm super casual, not a min/maxer. Is the only benefit of gnome the +5int? Any reason to go Human Mage?
What is the proper leveling spec for a Mage (pve is my concern no PVP interest).
I'm really looking for a comprehensive guide that will tell me what optimal skills to choose while leveling and go over professions.
Should I go skinning/tailoring? Do I even need to worry about leveling either of these professions until endgame? Do either of these compliment First Aid?
Also, is there by chance a weapon progression guide etc for weapons while leveling? I found a great guide about swords/daggers for rogues that are easily obtainable from vendors while leveling. I'd like something similar for Mage if possible
Thanks, and sorry for the word vomit. I just feel lost.
Skinning = the biggest moneymaker during that first week or two of the game when nobody can buy anything from you because nobody has any money and so we'll all be vendoring skins instead
Tailoring = mandatory for cloth-wearers during that time because you will need to make bags as you level up
Neither profession has any synergy with first aid, and in fact Tailoring will compete with it for cloth.
Racials aren't a game-breaker but a human's bonus with swords will go to waste on a mage.
If you are casual I would say human > gnome. Human reputation bonus is going to matter a lot more when your playtime is limited. The int only really matters for min-maxers but the reputation bonus is much, much more noticeable. Primary concern should always be aesthetics though. Go with the race you like looking at the most.
Professions... tailoring gives nice gear @ 60. While levelling I would suggest skinning + herb or mining, decent money. Tailoring interferes with First Aid because they both use cloth, so if you pick that be prepared to grind additional humanoids for cloth or buy extra cloth from the AH.
Playstyle is very easy. I would highly recommend single target route if you're a beginner Mage, AoE is kind of difficult to pull off if you're new. Spec is Frost. Fire can be done but Frost just gives that much more survivability and utility with all the slows, roots and Ice Barrier + Ice Block.
This will be your baseline talent build:
https://classic.wowhead.com/talent-calc/mage/--03253203102351001
Strategy: target a mob, Frostbolt it until it reaches you. If it's low health Wand it down, if it's not that low Frost Nova, run backwards a bit, and Frostbolt it to death. If a mob is hitting you always Wand instead of Frostbolting (unless your Wand is really old), the spell pushback will make Frostbolt deal less DPS than Wanding. Go for the crit talents when possible to max them ASAP, take the mana reduction talent after that, it's OP (6% more Frost damage roughly means 6% more mobs killed with your mana before having to drink, while 15% mana reduction on Frostbolt means 15% more mobs killed with your mana before having to drink).
Don't train more than rank 1 Frost Nova. You only use Frost Nova for the root, not the damage, but the higher ranks cost a lot more mana. Not worth it (even at 60).
As you can see, if you want to be efficient and level quickly you have to think about your mana management. Frostbolt is very, very mana efficient. Fireblast is very mana inefficient. That's why I always recommend to Wand mobs down, don't use Fireblast. Fireblast just costs WAY too much mana to be worth it, you're going to lose the time you can from faster killing by having to drink that much more.
I don't want to go more in-depth but this should give you a good idea.
I'm doing Alchemy/Herbalism on my mage, leveling with skinning to start. Spending my points in the frost tree, except for wand in Arcane. Want to get talents for AOE farming & lots of slows/CC. Can't wait for Monday.
As for builds, I suggest going with this build. It's a single target build based off of Frostbite, it literally destroys mobs. Extremely efficient and strong. Just fish for mobs and you'll have the easiest time of your life.
Go for 3/3 Elemental Precision > 2/5 Improved Frostbolt > 3/3 Frosbite > 2/2 Improved Nova > 5/5 Ice Shards > 5/5 Shatter > Iceblock > 3/3 Frost Channeling > 2/2 Arctic Reach > Ice Barrier. Then put some points into Arcane with the following, as you can see on the calculator then back into Frost with the remaining 7 points.
As for professions, as it seems like you're not interested in PVP, Tailoring is your go-to profession because of certain necessities such as the Bloodvine set and Robe of the Archmage. Enchanting obviously compliments Tailoring like no other profession as you'll be disenchanting most of the things you create with Tailoring. Alchemy is solid, will be a hardcore money maker and your guildmates will love you for your transmuting, though I would still prefer going T and E.
You'll have a hard time leveling both Tailoring and First Aid because they share the same materials they require after the point where you get to Silk Cloth so I strongly advise against leveling them both. This is arguable, but I'd also advise leveling First Aid then sell the leftover cloth you don't need anymore on the AH so you can make some extra gold that'll be put towards your first mount.
Good luck!
I am confused with people not maxing out improved Frostbolt first, or at all. It's a 3.4% damage increase. Potentially more since that half second can mean less pushback, or another spell, so on.
I am confused with people not maxing out improved Frostbolt first, or at all. It's a 3.4% damage increase. Potentially more since that half second can mean less pushback, or another spell, so on.
The entire build is based off of Frostbite so you literally destroy frozen targets and you want to get Frostbite as soon as possible, which means you'll have to skip out on certain talents, in this case Improved Frostbolt. The extra 0.3 seconds are useless compared to the other talents you're spending your early points on.
- Elemental Precision is one of the most important talents as resisting a Frostbolt can end up getting you killed.
- Frost Nova is a key ability and reducing its cooldown by 4 seconds is huge.
- 5 points in Ice Shards increases the critical damage damage bonus of Frostbolt by 100%, also huge and compliments your 5 points in Shatter which increases your critical chance by 50% against Frozen targets, which then compliments your 3 points in Frostbite.
- Ice Block, another key ability for Mages.
Having that said, there are other builds such as an AOE based one which is probably the best one for leveling overall, but the single target one I posted is very good for new players. Super easy to understand.
Frost spec will enable you to AOE farm at higher levels, It's very useful for levelling and getting out of danger.
Frost is necessary for MC, I have never bothered with Arcane.
Gnomes have increased int and Escape artist which is very useful in PVP, but sadly they don't get the 10%+ rep like humans do.
Anything your mage can make use of is a good profession. If you want extra income, go skinning. if you want potions, go herb and alchemy.
I will be going Engi and Alchemy, and my alts will be the gatherers.
I am confused with people not maxing out improved Frostbolt first, or at all. It's a 3.4% damage increase. Potentially more since that half second can mean less pushback, or another spell, so on.
The entire build is based off of Frostbite so you literally destroy frozen targets and you want to get Frostbite as soon as possible, which means you'll have to skip out on certain talents, in this case Improved Frostbolt. The extra 0.3 seconds are useless compared to the other talents you're spending your early points on.
- Elemental Precision is one of the most important talents as resisting a Frostbolt can end up getting you killed.
- Frost Nova is a key ability and reducing its cooldown by 4 seconds is huge.
- 5 points in Ice Shards increases the critical damage damage bonus of Frostbolt by 100%, also huge and compliments your 5 points in Shatter which increases your critical chance by 50% against Frozen targets, which then compliments your 3 points in Frostbite.
- Ice Block, another key ability for Mages.
Do the math. This is like recommending a priest not take wand spec so they can get Darkness sooner.
I am confused with people not maxing out improved Frostbolt first, or at all. It's a 3.4% damage increase. Potentially more since that half second can mean less pushback, or another spell, so on.
The entire build is based off of Frostbite so you literally destroy frozen targets and you want to get Frostbite as soon as possible, which means you'll have to skip out on certain talents, in this case Improved Frostbolt. The extra 0.3 seconds are useless compared to the other talents you're spending your early points on.
- Elemental Precision is one of the most important talents as resisting a Frostbolt can end up getting you killed.
- Frost Nova is a key ability and reducing its cooldown by 4 seconds is huge.
- 5 points in Ice Shards increases the critical damage damage bonus of Frostbolt by 100%, also huge and compliments your 5 points in Shatter which increases your critical chance by 50% against Frozen targets, which then compliments your 3 points in Frostbite.
- Ice Block, another key ability for Mages.
Do the math. This is like recommending a priest not take wand spec so they can get Darkness sooner.
I mean, you're the one who should consider doing the math, my guy. If you want to torture yourself to level 33 before you get the most important part of your build because you want to cast less than half a second faster then feel free to do so, the "3,4%" damage increase must truly be something significant.
I'm very new and I don't want to feel completely lost when Classic actually launches. I'm pretty set on rolling alliance (so human or gnome?) and I'm super casual, not a min/maxer. Is the only benefit of gnome the +5int? Any reason to go Human Mage?
What is the proper leveling spec for a Mage (pve is my concern no PVP interest).
I'm really looking for a comprehensive guide that will tell me what optimal skills to choose while leveling and go over professions.
Should I go skinning/tailoring? Do I even need to worry about leveling either of these professions until endgame? Do either of these compliment First Aid?
Also, is there by chance a weapon progression guide etc for weapons while leveling? I found a great guide about swords/daggers for rogues that are easily obtainable from vendors while leveling. I'd like something similar for Mage if possible
Thanks, and sorry for the word vomit. I just feel lost.
You are casual so the race wont matter. From a min/max perspective, gnome is better but the difference is fairly negligible. If people ask what is "best", the answer is gnome. If people say they are casual, that answer is meaningless because they are casual so they should just choose whatever is prettiest to them. You are literally asking other people to decide what shapes and colors you find most appealing - dont do this, it doesnt make any sense. Just choose the shapes and colors that make you happy on the character creation screen.
Proper leveling spec depends on your preferred leveling style. It will be frost, but depending on how you are leveling (solo, dungeons, aoe grinding) you spend your points differently.
"I'm really looking for a comprehensive guide that will tell me what optimal skills to choose while leveling and go over professions." There are soooooo many of these with a quick google search. So, so, soooooo many.
As for professions everyone should take first aid. There is no reason not to. It is a secondary profession and a very strong one. Skinning is good for leveling, especially for an AoE grind mage. But no, you dont need to "worry" about any professions until 60.
Weapon progression is less important for casters. There are some weapons that are valuable, but id spend more time ensuring that you have a good wand guide. Again, this can be googled within a few short minutes.
I'm having a flashback, wtf O_O
https://barrens.chat/viewtopic.php?p=25297#p25297
Leveling a profession with your character can be very beneficial and satisfying in Classic. You can actually make armor that is useful when you make it. Green and blues don't drop nearly as frequently as in retail and greens don't turn into blues and purples when you get them like the lame world of retail. I always did tailoring and skinning with my squishies and will again. The skinning will benefit you with some tailoring patterns, tailoring also allows you to make bags which are slow to come by in Classic. You will have plenty of leather you can sell on the AH.
My perspective comes from having played the game in the early days as a casual player who gladly sold things in the AH but never ever wasted any money on buying anything from it that wasn't needed for my professions that I couldn't get otherwise. I don't get the speed leveling mentality of leaving things until 60 to do them and really missing out on a good part of the game. Man I take my time, explore, and once I hit 60 it's time to reroll and I already have a squishie to make bags for my alt. I don't do BG's, Raids, and this time no dungeons. Good luck and have fun.