[Frost] Mage Leveling Guide 1 to 100!

[Oltier 474]

Please note, that there have been some heirloom changes in WoD, which has not been added to the guide yet!

Table of Contents

• 0.0 The fastest was of leveling!
• 1. Preliminary mentions
• 1.1 Specialization Choice
• 1.2 Questing
• 1.3 Dungeons
• 1.4 Professions
• 1.5 Races
• 1.6 Loot
• 1.7 PvP
• 1.8 Heirloom Items
• 1.9 Extra Experience
• Mana
• 2. Levels 1 to 9
• 3. Levels 10 to 19
• 4. Levels 20 to 29
• 5. Levels 30 to 39
• 6. Levels 40 to 49
• 7. Levels 50 to 59
• 8-11. Levels 60 to 100

 

 

0.0 The fastest way of leveling!

Unarguably the fastest way of leveling is though the Level 90 character boost service provided by Blizzard for 50€, which can be purchased in the in-game shop. For further information about the service, please visit: https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/level-90-character-boost .

For further information about the in-game shop, please visit: https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/world-of-warcraft-shop

 

1. Preliminary Mentions

This guide is not meant to be a questing guide (although it will contain some suggestions). It will explain to you, in detail, how to play your Mage as you level it up: how to spend your talent points, what abilities to use, etc.

 

1.1. Specialization Choice

Since Mage is a pure DPS class all of the three specializations are viable in terms of DPS however, one specialization has slightly higher crowd control abilities, which are very useful for classes that cannot allow themselves to stand in fire (like Mages).

Because of this, the Frost specialization is the best choice for leveling up your Mage. It provides you with the ability to dispose of many enemies, with very little or no down-time and will also be strong in early LFRs. This guide will only focus on leveling as a Frost mage.

 

1.2. Questing

The choice between Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms is not very relevant, so you can choose where you wish to level based on personal preference.

When you reach Level 80, you will have the choice between two Cataclysm areas: Vash'jir and Mount Hyjal. We would suggest Mount Hyjal, because you can use your flying mount in that area, speeding the pace of leveling up significantly.

In capital cities, at certain levels, you have a Hero's Call Board, which offers quests and redirects you to questing areas of your level.

If you want to finish and see the whole story of the zone you are in at the moment, that is completely fine as well, and if you have never done it before we strongly suggest! The guide's suggestions are not set in stone in a way that you HAVE to do what we say. We however, intend to provide you with the fastest way of leveling.

As a Mage, you should avoid trying to complete quests designed for 3 or more players alone, unless you are very good at kiting mini-bosses.

In general, as you are a ranged, under-armored character, you should keep a distance from melee mobs. Kiting them and controlling them is essential if you want to survive.

 

1.3. Dungeons

Doing dungeons repeatedly is not an efficient way of leveling. Only do a dungeon once, after you have finished all quests in it. For most dungeons you can take all the related quests just inside the dungeon, near its entrance. There is no need to gather the quests before entering.

 

1.4. Professions

If this is your first character on a server, you should take two gathering professions Herbalism and Mining. It enables you to gather mats and use them for a crafting profession once you have reached Level 90. If you are worried about running out of bag space, you can simply make an alt character, send all your mats to it and leave them in the mailbox until you need them.

If you take gathering professions, doing dungeons is really bad because it makes you level up without any chance to do any gathering.

If you are leveling Mage as a future raiding character and you already have an alt with gathering profession, you can choose any of the other professions. Their benefits in raids are similar, thus choose the one you like the most!

 

1.5. Races

You can choose whichever race you like the most, but some races will be better than the others for certain specs. Races received a revamp for their racial abilities in Patch 6.0.2.

Horde

• Troll
  • Berserking - A decent cooldown for burst damage.
  • Beast Slaying - Increases the experience gained from killing Beasts by 20%.
• Goblin
  • Time is Money - Provides you with 1% extra haste.
  • Pack Hobgoblin - Access your bank in the middle of nowhere.
• Blood Elf
  • Arcane Acuity is a new racial passive ability that increases Critical Strike rating by 1%, which is the best secondary stat for Fire spec.
  • Arcane Torrent now restores 3% mana for Magi, which can be minor benefit for Arcane spec.
• Orc
  • Command increases pet damage by 1%, which can be beneficial for Frost spec's Water Elemental.
  • Hardiness reduces the duration of Stun effects by 10%, which can be beneficial in PvP, and occasionally in PvE or raids.
• Tauren
  • Brawn is a new racial passive that increases Critical Strike bonus damage by 2%.
• Undead
  • Undead can now breathe underwater indefinitely, which is decent for leveling.

Alliance

• Worgen
  • Darkflight - Speed boost for faster questing at low levels.
  • Viciousness - Extra crit will give you more DPS, especially if you choose fire specialization at maximum level.
  • Running Wild - Gives you a free "mount".
• Human
  • Diplomacy - Faster reputation gains.
  • Every Man for Himself - Break out of stun effects, however Blink does the same for you. In fact, it might be on CD..
• Draenei
  • Gift of the Naaru is a nice self heal while questing. It heals you for 20% of you maximum health over 5 seconds.
  • Heroic Presence increases your Intellect by 1%, which is beneficial for every spec.
• Dwarf
  • Might of the Mountain is a new racial passive ability that increases Critical Strike bonus damage dealt by 2%, which is beneficial for Fire.
  • Stoneform removes magic, curse, poison, disease, bleed effects and also reduces physical damage taken by 10% for 8 seconds, which can be beneficial in dungeons and while leveling as a self-sustain ability.
• Gnome
  • Expansive Mind increases your maximum mana by 5%.
  • Escape Artist is great to free yourself from movement impairing effects.
  • Nimble Fingers increases your Haste by 1%.
• Night Elf
  • Quickness increases your movement speed by 2% while you are alive. Additionally, you also move faster when you are dead just like a Wisp. But just don't die.
  • Touch of Elune increases Haste by 1% at night, and Critical Strike chance by 1% during day, which can be beneficial for fire spec... During the days.

Both

• Pandaren
  • Bouncy - Fall from higher, take less damage!
  • Epicurean - Double intellect gain from food buff. (600 instead of 300 at max level)
  • Inner Peace - Bonus experience!

 

1.6. Loot

As a Mage, you can either use a Staff, or you can use Wands, Daggers and One-Handed Swords in your main hand with an Off-Hand item with Intellect on it.

You will want to only use Cloth items with Intellect as their main statistic, without Spirit secondary statistic (those are healer items). Generally, the best secondary statistic for Frost Magi is Multistrike. However, such items only exist in Draenor, consequently during the leveling we are going to prioritize Haste+Crit as secondary stats.

 

1.7. PvP

Even on PvP servers, actual PvP fights while leveling up are quite rare. For this reason, we do not insist on PvP-oriented abilities and focus only on PvE-oriented abilities so that you can quest as fast as possible.

 

1.8. Heirloom Items

If you already have a Level 90 character, you can purchase Heirloom items. These items are bound to your account and you can freely send them from one character to another, even across realms by typing for example: Oltier-Moonglade. The stats that these items give scale with your level and approximately match the items you would get by questing. They also make you gain more experience and the bonus each item gives stacks with the bonus given by your other Heirloom items.

Some heirlooms can be obtained by buying them with gold from a Guild Vendor in a capital city, however you need to reach enough reputation with the guild first.. Some others can be purchased with Darkmoon Prize Tickets on the Darkmoon Island at the beginning of every month or by Champion's Seal at the Trial of the Crusader quarter masters.

The heirlooms bought from the guild vendor is going to work until level 85. Other ones, will only work until you reach Level 80. However, since Patch 5.3 for extra Darkmoon Prize Tickets, you can upgrade them at the Heirloom Vendor and will work until Level 85.

Heirloom vendors provide the following items of interest to Mage (you should remove them as soon as you reach level 80/85):

• Tattered Dreadmist Mantle - 110 DPT (Darkmoon Prize Ticket) or 60 CS (Champion's Seal), +44 DPT to upgrade;
• Tattered Dreadmist Robe - 110 DPT or 60 CS, +44 DPT to upgrade;
• Dignified Headmaster's Charge - 160 DPT or 95 CS, +64 DPT to upgrade;
• Discerning Eye of the Beast - 130 DPT or 75 CS, +60 DPT to upgrade. You should get two of these.
• Dread Pirate Ring - Quest reward from the weekly Fishing Derby for Grand Prize. This item cannot be upgraded, replace it at level 80.

Guild vendors provide the following items of interest to a Mage (you should remove them as soon as you reach Level 85):

• Tattered Dreadmist Mask - 1500 Gold;
• Ancient Bloodmoon Cloak - 1200 Gold;
• Tattered Dreadmist Leggings - 1750 Gold.

In Siege of Orgrimmar raid on Heroic and Mythic difficulties, you can get Hellscream's War Staff which is an excellent staff to level up with from level 90 to 100 and its drop is guaranteed until the release of Warlords of Draenor.

1.8.1. Heirloom Enchantments

• All permanent item enhancements provided by Enchanting, Engineering, Leatherworking, Tailoring, and various vendors and quests are now able to be applied to items of any level. This means all enchantments can now be applied to heirloom items.
• High level enhancements applied to items equipped by low level players have their power scaled down to be similar to enhancements intended for that level range.
• Low level enhancements applied to items equipped by high level players do not grow further in power beyond their intended level range.

What enchantments you should use?

Slot	Item	Enchantment
Shoulder	Tattered Dreadmist Mantle	Greater Crane Wing Inscription Crane Wing Inscription (cheaper)
Chest	Tattered Dreadmist Robe	Enchant Chest - Glorious Stats
Main hand	Dignified Headmaster's Charge	Enchant Weapon - Jade Spirit Enchant Weapon - Windsong (cheaper)
Back	Ancient Bloodmoon Cloak	Enchant Cloak - Superior Intellect
Legs	Tattered Dreadmist Leggings	Greater Cerulean Spellthread Cerulean Spellthread (cheaper)

 

 

 

 

 

1.9. How to gain extra experience?

1.9.1. Rested Bonus

Always log out in inns or major cities. While you are in there, you gain Rested Bonus.

One bubble of rested XP (5% of your current level) is earned for every 8 hours spent resting. A maximum of 30 bubbles (150% of your current level) may be earned. In other words, you can leave your character resting in an inn or capital city for up to 10 days (without gaining experience).

You will earn double XP from killing monsters, mining ore nodes, gathering herbs, collecting archaeology fragments, and opening chests while rested until your XP bar fills to the notch.

1.9.2. Darkmoon Faire

Every first Sunday of each month, you can attend the Darkmoon Faire from the portals nearby the main cities.

On the island, you will find the Darkmoon Carousel. Standing on the carousel grants you a buff. The more you use it, the longer the duration of your buff will become (the maximum is 60 minutes).

The buff is named WHEE! and increases experience and reputation gains by 10%. It's very fast to build up, and you don't actually have to ride the carousel itself to gain the buff, just be near to it. If you want to stand on it but not mount one of the carousel mounts, that is just fine too.

To access the Carousel, you will need at least one Darkmoon Ride Ticket in your inventory. Fortunately, these can be bought 5 at a time in books from Kae Ti for 1/5 tickets. The NPC in the tent through which you enter the Carousel. If you have a Darkmoon Ride Ticket in your inventory already, one will simply be subtracted from your total as you walk into the Carousel area.

This buff fades, in case you die. You can, however, buy a Darkmoon Top Hat for 10 Darkmoon Ride Ticket (or actually get one from the Darkmoon Island dailies) that you can use to gain experience bonus without visiting the island. The buff granted by the hat will also last 60 minutes long and will fade if you die.

1.9.3. Elixir of Ancient Knowledge

If you already have a level 90 character, this item can be farmed from Krol the Blade.

The buff disappears if you die, so use it wisely. I would suggest using it in zones that you hate the most and you want to get over quickly.

Also, here is a trick for you. Ask a mage for a portal to the Vale of Eternal Blossoms and park your character next to Sara Finkleswitch / Gentle San who gives the Beasts of Fable I, II, III daily quests. Do the quest on your main character, log over to your toon and just turn in the quests as quickly as possible. The potion persists through log out, thus with minimum effort and patience you can level up by almost doing nothing.

1.9.4. World Events

Every year, between June 21st and July 5th, during the Midsummer Fire Festival you can visit many major and minor towns and dance near dancing poles for 10% experience bonus that lasts maximum of 60 minutes long.

 

Between the 18th October and 1st November, during the Hallow's End you can obtain Unburdened / Grim Visage and is easily gotten--just use the ashes on the ignited Wickerman bonfire outside Stormwind or Undercity. Unfortunately, the experience bonus works on mob kills only, but the reputation bonus works on everything. If the ashes are not available, wait for someone to finish A Time to Build Up or an NPC to rekindle it.

 

1.9.5. Recruit-a-friend

Recruit a friend

• Recruit and veteran characters can summon one another to each other's locations.
• While adventuring with your linked friend or family member, you will each gain triple experience while partied up to level 80, as long as your characters are within 4 levels of each other.
• For every two levels the recruit's characters earn, one grantable level is gained. Recruit characters may then grant these levels to the veteran player's character as long as the character is lower in level than the level granting character.

For further information, please visit: https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/recruit-a-friend-faq

 

1.9.6. Join a guild

There are many leveling guilds in the game, who offer good company while leveling and also a 10% experience bonus through guild perks. If you are in a major town, try typing "/2 LF leveling guild". You will get lots of whispers. Join one of the guilds and enjoy the increased experience gains along with other perks.

Mana

All your abilities require Mana to be spent. For WoD, the class has been designed in a way, that it should not have any issues like running out of mana.

 

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2. Levels 1 to 9

You should start questing in your race's starting zone. Just follow the quest line and eventually you will get directed to one of your faction's main cities.

 

At Level 1 and 2, all you can do is use Frostfire Bolt to damage targets. This slows the target by 40%, so if you accidentally pull more than one mob, you can keep this up on both and keep distance from them.

 

At Level 3 you gain Frost Nova. If mobs gets close to you, use this to root them in a place and you get time to gain distance from them.

 

At Level 5 you gain a new ability Fire Blast. Only use it, if you can kill an opponent faster with it than casting a new Frostfire Bolt. At level 22 Fire Blast will be replaced by another ability.

 

At Level 7 you gain Blink. This is very useful for moving around, and you should make extensive use of it. You can combine it with Frost Nova: Root the mobs, Blink away.

 

At Level 8 you gain Counterspell. You should use this to prevent caster opponents from casting, ideally interrupt their healing spells or very damaging attacks.

 

At Level 9:

 

New questing zones:You can pick up these quests in any major cities and you should start questing in either of these zones.

• Alliance
  • Hero's Call: Bloodmyst Isle!
  • Hero's Call: Darkshore!
  • Hero's Call: Loch Modan!
  • Hero's Call: Westfall!
• Horde
  • Warchief's Command: Azshara!
  • Warchief's Command: Ghostlands!
  • Warchief's Command: Silverpine Forest!

 

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3. Levels 10-19

So far, your gameplay consists of spamming Frostfire Bolt on targets.

You should also be making extensive use of Blink and Frost Nova.

 

At Level 10 you can choose your specialization. You should choose Frost. This will grant you a new ability:

 

Summon Water Elemental will summon a pet fighting on your side.

• The Water Elemental will spam Waterbolts at your target if you set its stance to Assist.
• If you set it to Defensive Stance, the elemental will only attack the opponents with Waterbolt that hit you.
• If you set it to Passive Stance, the elemental will just follow you around.

The Water Elemental also have an additional ability Freeze, which is like Frost Nova, but you can use it from distance and later on, it will generate charges of Fingers of Frost equal to the opponents hit by Freeze (but maximum 3).

 

At Level 12 you gain Frostbolt. You should replace Frostfire Bolt with this (but don't throw it away, we will still need it later!). This ability will slow your opponents down by 50%.

 

At Level 14 you gain Polymorph. This is a Crowd Control ability that you can use to prevent your opponents from doing anything. Thus, you can easily run away from them. Keep in mind that Polymorph will heal the target to maximum health and most bosses are Immune to this ability.

 

New questing zone:You can pick up this quest in any major cities and you should start questing in this zone, if it is nearby you.

• Alliance
  • Hero's Call: Redridge Mountains!

At Level 15 you gain a new talent point. We recommend Blazing Speed, for the extra mobility and you should use it extensively just like Blink. Ice Floes is also a decent choice, but it doesn't give you a speed increase. Evanesce can give you 3 seconds avoidance, which can give you some time to finish off an opponent, however compared to the other talent choices, this one is rather weak.

 

New ability: you gain Ice Block, which is an excellent survival cooldown. It will make you immune to any damage for 10 seconds and also removes any debuffs from you. However, you cannot move or act while you are inside the block. Be prepared to spam Blink when it is about to expire, if you are planning to run away from your opponents.

Alternatively, you can use Ice Block to jump down from heights that would otherwise kill you, you will take no damage.

 

New dungeons:

• Ragefire Chasm
• The Deadmines

At Level 16 you gain a passive ability Shatter. This will be very useful now and later on especially. You can use your Elemental's Freeze or your Frost Nova on your opponent, then use a Frostbolt on them, making it to be a critical strike most of the times.

 

At Level 17 you gain your Teleport abilities.

 

Horde

• Teleport: Silvermoon
• Teleport: Undercity
• Teleport: Thunder Bluff
• Teleport: Orgrimmar

Alliance

• Teleport: Exodar
• Teleport: Stormwind
• Teleport: Ironforge
• Teleport: Darnassus
• Teleport: Theramore

You can set your Hearthstone to any inns (ideally in the zone where you are questing at the moment, and then use your Teleport spells from anywhere if you need to repair etc. Then, you will always be able to get back to your questing zone without spending hours on flight paths.

 

New dungeon:

• Wailing Caverns

At Level 18:

 

New dungeon:

• Shadowfang Keep

At Level 19:

New questing zones:You can pick up these quests in any major cities and you should start questing in either of these zones.

• Alliance
  • Hero's Call: Ashenvale!
  • Hero's Call: Duskwood!
  • Hero's Call: Wetlands!
• Horde
  • Warchief's Command: Ashenvale!
  • Warchief's Command: Hillsbrad Foothills!

 

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4. Levels 20 to 29

So far, your gameplay should be as follows:

• Make sure that your Water Elemental is summoned. If it is not, use Summon Water Elemental.
• Use your Water Elemental's Freeze or Frost Nova, followed up by a Frostbolt that will hit your target for an increase critical hit chance.
• Spam Frostbolt.
• You should also be making frequent use of Blink and Blazing Speed to move around.

At Level 20 you can learn Apprentice Riding in every major city for 4. You can also buy your first mount for 1 in the same town. This ability will allow you to ride mounts, increasing your movement speed by 60%. Worgens are automatically granted Apprentice Riding at Level 20, as well, due to their racial ability Running Wild.

 

At Level 22 you gain Ice Lance that will be useful at later levels and it replaces Fire Blast.

 

New dungeons:

• Blackfathom Deeps
• The Stockade

At Level 24 you gain Fingers of Frost. This is a passive ability. Your successful Frostbolt casts have a 15% chance to trigger a Fingers of Frost charge, up to the maximum of 3. You should always use these charges with Ice Lance, but you should never use Ice Lance without these.

 

New questing zones: You can pick up a Hero's Call/Warchief's Command pointer quest to these zones in any major cities of your faction and you should start questing in either of these zones.

• Arathi Highlands
• Northern Stranglethorn Vale
• Stonetalon Mountains

At Level 25 you unlock a Major and Minor glyph slot.

• We suggest taking Glyph of Momentum as a Minor glyph. This allows you to Blink in the direction that you are moving, instead of where you are facing.
• As a Major glyph, you should take Glyph of Splitting Ice which will cause your Ice Lances to hit an additional target for 50% damage, allowing you to kill multiple mobs faster.

At Level 26:

 

New dungeon:

• Gnomeregan

At Level 28 you gain Cone of Cold. This spell reduces the movement speed of every enemy target by 60%, in front of you for 6 seconds. Use this, to move away from opponents.

 

New Dungeon:

• Scarlet Halls

At Level 29 you gain Remove Curse. Use it on yourself or on your Elemental if you get a Curse debuff.

 

New questing zones:You can pick up a Hero's Call/Warchief's Command pointer quest to these zones in any major cities of your faction and you should start questing in either of these zones.

• Desolace
• Southern Barrens
• The Cape of Stranglethorn
• The Hinterlands

 

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5. Levels 30 to 39

So far, your gameplay should be as follows:

• Use your Water Elemental's Freeze to generate Fingers of Frost charges or Frost Nova, followed up by a Frostbolt that will hit your target for an increase critical hit chance.
• Use Ice Lances with Fingers of Frost charges.
• Spam Frostbolt.
• You should also be making frequent use of Blink and Blazing Speed to move around and Cone of Cold to slow your Enemies down.
• Make sure that your Water Elemental is summoned. If it is not, use Summon Water Elemental.

At Level 30 you gain a new talent point. We recommend Ice Barrier and you should always keep it up. Flameglow is a passive defensive ability, but its absorption amount is capped. The worst choice for leveling is Alter Time, but it will be the best in raids.

 

New dungeon:

• Scarlet Monastery

At Level 32 you gain Slow Fall. This is a pretty straightforward ability.Use it to avoid taking fall damage.

 

New dungeon:

• Razorfen Kraul

At Level 34:

 

New questing zones:You can pick up a Hero's Call/Warchief's Command pointer quest to these zones in any major cities of your faction and you should start questing in either these zones.

• Dusthallow Marsh
• Feralas
• Western Plaguelands

At Level 36 you gain Icy Veins. This is a DPS cooldown and should be used when you want to kill your opponents faster, than they kill you. In dungeons, you should use this ability on cooldown, preferably on bosses.

 

New dungeon:

• Maraudon

At Level 37:

 

New dungeon:

• Uldaman

At Level 38 you gain Conjure Refreshment. This conjures a stack of mana food that restores your Health and Mana while eating it. The food (like any other food) can only be used while being out of combat.

 

At Level 39:

 

New questing zones:You can pick up a Hero's Call/Warchief's Command pointer quest to these zones in any major cities of your faction and you should start questing in either of these zones.

• Eastern Plaguelands
• Thousand Needless

 

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6. Levels 40 to 49

So far, your gameplay should be as follows:

• Use your Water Elemental's Freeze to generate Fingers of Frost charges or Frost Nova, followed up by a Frostbolt that will hit your target for an increase critical hit chance.
• Use Ice Lances with Fingers of Frost charges.
• Keep Ice Barrier up.
• Use Icy Veins if you have to kill opponents quickly.
• Spam Frostbolt.
• You should also be making frequent use of Blink and Blazing Speed to move around and Cone of Cold to slow your Enemies down.
• Make sure that your Water Elemental is summoned. If it is not, use Summon Water Elemental.

At Level 40 will have the possibility to purchase Journeyman Riding for 50 in any major cities. This will allow you to ride mounts, with 100% movement speed increase.

 

New dungeon:

• Scholomance

At Level 42 you gain your Portal spells. This will allow you to open portals to your faction's cities. The portal can be used by you and your party members.

 

Horde

• Portal: Orgrimmar
• Portal: Undercity
• Portal: Thunder Bluff
• Portal: Silvermoon

Alliance

• Portal: Darnassus
• Portal: Exodar
• Portal: Ironforge
• Portal: Stormwind
• Portal: Theramore

New dungeon:

• Razorfen Downs

At Level 44:

 

New questing zones:You can pick up a Hero's Call/Warchief's Command pointer quest to these zones in any major cities of your faction and you should start questing in either of these zones.

• Badlands
• Felwood
• Tanaris

New dungeon:

• Diremaul

At Level 45 you gain a new talent point. We recommend Ice Ward. You should use it on yourself to Freeze your enemies in place, then use the Shatter combo just like with Frost Nova and your Elemental's Freeze. Frostjaw is rather a PvP talent, while Ring of Frost will not benefit from Shatter combos.

 

At Level 46:

 

New dungeon:

• Zul'Farrak

At Level 47:

 

New questing zone:You can pick up a Hero's Call/Warchief's Command pointer quest to this zone in any major cities of your faction and you should start questing this zone if you are in Eastern Kingdoms.

• Searing Gorge

At Level 48:

 

New dungeon:

• Stratholme

At Level 49:

 

New questing zones:You can pick up a Hero's Call/Warchief's Command pointer quest to these zones in any major cities of your faction and you should start questing in either of these zones.

• Burning Steppes
• Un'Goro Crater

 

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7. Levels 50 to 59

So far, your gameplay should be as follows:

• Use your Water Elemental's Freeze to generate Fingers of Frost charges or Frost Nova, followed up by a Frostbolt that will hit your target for an increase critical hit chance.
• Use Ice Lances with Fingers of Frost charges.
• Keep Ice Barrier and Ice Ward up on you.
• Use glyphed Cone of Cold on cooldown (new glyph slot is unlocked at Level 50) in AoE situations.
  Before using this ability, try to freeze the targets, so you can benefit from Shatter.
• Spam Frostbolt.
• You should also be making frequent use of Blink and Blazing Speed to move around.
• Make sure that your Water Elemental is summoned. If it is not, use Summon Water Elemental.

At Level 50 you gain Wizardry. This increases your Intellect by 5%. Additionally, at level 50, you unlock one new Major and Minor Glyph slots. We recommend using Glyph of Cone of Cold to burst down your enemies. There are no minor glyphs that we recommend for this, but you are free to browse your own glyphs and choose something that you like.

 

At Level 51:

 

New questing zone:You can pick up a Hero's Call/Warchief's Command pointer quest to this zone in any major cities of your faction and you should start questing in this zone, if you are in Eastern Kingdoms.

• Swamp of Sorrows

At Level 52 you gain Blizzard. This ability if one of your main AoE abilities.

Horde characters will also gain Teleport: Stonard and Portal: Stonard abilities that work like any other teleport and portal abilities mentioned above.

 

New dungeon:

• Sunken Temple

At Level 53:

 

New dungeon:

• Blackrock Depths

At Level 54 you gain a new passive Frost Armor.  This armor has a chance to slow your enemies down when they hit you. Making escaping and kiting easier. It also increases your Multistrike rating, which is extremely useful to Frost Mages.

 

New questing zones:You can pick up a Hero's Call/Warchief's Command pointer quest to these zones in any major cities of your faction and you should start questing in either of these zones.

• Blasted Lands
• Silithus

 

At Level 56 you gain Invisibility. Use it to disappear from the sight of mobs, making you able to get out of combat. Alternatively, you can use it to sneak into heavily guarded areas. Keep in mind that some NPCs will have a bluish eye above their heads. If you go near these, they will see through your Invisibility and will attack you.

 

At Level 58 you gain Arcane Brilliance. It increases your, and your party members' Spell Power and Critical Hit Chance for one hour. Keep this up always.

 

New questing zone:You can pick up a Hero's Call/Warchief's Command pointer quest to this zone in any major cities of your faction and you should start questing in this zone.

• Outland

New dungeon:

• Blackrock Spire

At Level 59:

 

New dungeon:The dungeon itself is available 2 levels earlier, but you will not be able to pick up the quests at that level.

• Hellfire Citadel: Hellfire Ramparts

[Oltier 474]

Changelog:

2013. August 09.: Fixed formatting errors

2013. July 14.: Several typo fixes, and some clarifications.

2013. Sept 29.: Fixed confusion about recruit a friend and scroll of resurrection. Added Ring of blood quests.

2013. Oct 12.: Corrected mastery to reflect 5.4 changes.

2013. Nov 21.: Corrected Frostbolt healing Water Elemental at level 13 instead of 55.

2014. July 19.: Fixed several BC dungeons' quest level.

2014. Oct 23.: Edited the Races section to reflect 6.0.2 changes.

2014. Oct 29.: Updated the guide up to level 60 to reflect 6.0.2. changes.

2014. Oct 31.: The guide has been updated completely for patch 6.0.3.

2014. Nov 12.: Added levels 90-100.

2014. Dec 11.: Changed Mirror Image as suggested talent at level 90.

2015. Feb 16.: Fixed level 65 Nagrand pointer quest.

Edited February 16, 2015 by Oltier

[Ghanjo 37]

This guide is awesome. A few notes:

You should only do this dungeon once, until you finish the quests in it.

You should probably mention here that almost all dungeon quests are found inside the dungeon, there is no need to gather quests before doing the dungeon anymore.

Heirloom Enchantments (5.4 patch changes)

Some people who are in need of a leveling guilde might not know that we are only at patch 5.3 now, so you might want to spell out that this is only possible when patch 5.4 arrives later this year.

You should only do this dungeon once, until you finish the quests in it.

You should write this in the beginning in 1.3. Then there should be no need to repeat it every single time you mention a new dungeon. Keep the info about quests in the Outlands dungeons.

You can pick up a Hero's Call/Warchief's Command pointer quest to these zones in any major cities of your faction and you should start questing in either of these zones.

Same, you should put this in 1.2, instead of writing it every single time a new zone is available.

And, maybe a note for new players that it is a good idea to finish a zone if they want to see the end of the story line for that area, and possibly get a blue item, instead of just rushing on to the next zone as soon as it is available.

You can also use Alter Time Icon Alter Time to increase the duration of Time Warp IconTime Warp by 6 seconds.

This sentence needs fixing :)

Just a few thoughts and suggestions, but all in all, this guide is great.

[Oltier 474]

Thanks for the feedback! This is exactly what I would like to see here! I will make the editions once I have a bit of time. :)

[Elro 47]

Very well done guide, Oltier! You are just a boss, clearly.

[Ghanjo 37]

Btw, you might want to mention the class quests at 20 and 50 (and recommend that people don't do the dungeon with the quest items until they have the class quest), and the Ring of Blood and other arena quests for their weapons, if people don't have the heirlooms.

[trapper33 3]

I truly appreciate this guide :), I've been looking to start playing a mage but wasn't entirely sure where to start. And as this guide has helped me greatly already, I thought i'd create an account to express my thanks. Great job Oltier.

[Oltier 474]

I truly appreciate this guide , I've been looking to start playing a mage but wasn't entirely sure where to start. And as this guide has helped me greatly already, I thought i'd create an account to express my thanks. Great job Oltier.

I am so happy that I made you happy! : D

Btw, you might want to mention the class quests at 20 and 50 (and recommend that people don't do the dungeon with the quest items until they have the class quest), and the Ring of Blood and other arena quests for their weapons, if people don't have the heirlooms.

Good suggestion, although I don't think there are any benefits of those class quests any longer in the game. I am not sure if it is worth mentioning.

But the ring of blood is definitely a good idea. Those are big DPS boosts.

[Ghanjo 37]

Good suggestion, although I don't think there are any benefits of those class quests any longer in the game. I am not sure if it is worth mentioning.

But the ring of blood is definitely a good idea. Those are big DPS boosts.

If you do Shadowfang Keep below level 20, you can do the four in-dungeon quests starting with this one. The XP from these quests with no guild and heirloom bonuses will be 1000+1100+1150+1250 = 4500 XP.

If you wait until level 20 and get the class quest, it will give you an extra 3100 XP.

I think that extra chunk of XP makes it worth mentioning the class quests in the guide.

[MarleysGhost 1]

This looks like a great guide, but I can't read much past the leveling 1-9 section.  The problem is an indentation that shifts the text to the right, past the border.

 

Of course this may be my computer setup.  An iMac running OS 10.8.4--although I have the same problem on my iPad.

[D4n13le 2]

The layout of the forum pages has been changed recently, i think that's the issue.

Edited August 1, 2013 by D4n13le

[Oltier 474]

The topic should be fixed!

 

Enjoy it once again, soon I will update it with the suggestions made here. Now let us be glad that it's readable. :P

[Ghanjo 37]

I'm leveling a gnome mage atm. At level 17 I only got Teleport: Ironforge. I had to visit the portal trainer in IF and pay to learn the other teleports. Old school.

[Oltier 474]

I'm leveling a gnome mage atm. At level 17 I only got Teleport: Ironforge. I had to visit the portal trainer in IF and pay to learn the other teleports. Old school.

It can be any other portal trainer as well. (At least I have never been to IF as human mage)

Thanks for the report

[Oltier 474]

I believe you have confused the benefits of Recruit a Friend with those of Scroll of Resurrection.  

 

Recruit-A-Friend: your recruited friend can grant you 1 level for every 2 levels they progress.  

Scroll of Resurrection: only the recipient of a scroll can boost one character to level 80 instantly.  

Thank you for drawing my attention to this. I'll fix it right now.

[Ghanjo 37]

Heya, just a reminder to change the frost mastery at lvl 80 from Frostburn to Icicles.

[Oltier 474]

Heya, just a reminder to change the frost mastery at lvl 80 from Frostburn to Icicles.

thank you, editing it now :)

[Havoccc 0]

Great piece.

 

May I ask why Blizzard is not used in aoe rotation?

[Oltier 474]

Great piece.

 

May I ask why Blizzard is not used in aoe rotation?

It forces you to stand still. That is not something what you want to do while pulling lots of mobs. :)

[Andwari 0]

I rolled a mage following this guide (he is currently level 63) and here are some things that I'd like to share so far:

 

-I know most of the guys heard this a hundred thimes, but go with the race that you actually like (unless you are hellbent on min/maxing your character). Personally, I went with dwarf because the other mage races are too mainstream. Plus, they have awesome beards.

 

-Pay attention to your surroundings. Pulling additional (neutral) mobs with frost nova or blinking blindly can easily kill you. You need some space to maneuver and to kite mobs.

 

-Even when you have two gathering professions and you are mostly leveling by questing, I advise you to use the dungeon browser every once in a while. A blue item or two make things a lot easier if you don't have access to heirlooms.

 

-I personally found skilling first aid useful as the mage's healing ability is next to non-existant.

 

-If this is your first character, unless you are prepared to spend countless hours and unfathomable amounts of gold to get your hands on metric tons of silk/frostweave and to produce worthless stuff until very high skill levels, DO WHAT OLTIER TELLS YOU AND SKILL THE GATHERING PROFESSIONS. It makes you rich and it will prevent you from falling into a spiralling depression. Gathering nodes also provides a little extra experience.

 

-You get a dungeon quest from the mage class trainer in SW (don't know the horde equivalent) at levels 20 and 40 that provide a nice weapon/headpiece.

 

-Glyph of Cone of Cold is very, very useful in dungeons.

 

-You can even freeze critters to trigger Fingers of Frost.

 

-When you get the teleport/portal spells of your faction's capitals, you only get the one of your own race for free. You have to buy the others from the portal teacher.

 

This guide rocks and I can advise any new mage to read it.

 

Edit: I have forgotten the most important point: Screaming 'FRAAAAASTUUUUUU BOOOOOOLLLTUUUUU!' from the top of your lungs at every occasion increases your damage by 3000%. I swear.

Edited February 8, 2014 by Andwari

[Letholdrus 5]

Hi, thanks so much for this guide. I just got to 85 on my mage following this guide and so far this is one of the most fun characters I have played. I am able to keep up in DPS with the OP tanks at lower levels (using either CoC glyped with AE or later once you get the amazing FO spell)

 

The Frost Mage spec always feel like their are options available, which I love. Most other specs in the game is much more whack-a-mole style play when compared to this spec.

 

I can choose to use my pet's Freeze to get procs, use FO to get procs, use Nova to get procs, or just put a bomb on them and freeze them with Blizzard when I can stand still.

 

Extremely fun spec and great guide!

[Lovestorybro 4]

The recommendation for lvl 25 glyphs: "Glyph of Ice Lance" does not exist, but the same effect is given by "Glyph of Splitting Ice".  Not sure when this was changed, but it tripped me up for a few minutes.

[Berlinia 168]

Oltier what is this?
WHAT IS THIS?!

 

The recommendation for lvl 25 glyphs: "Glyph of Ice Lance" does not exist, but the same effect is given by "Glyph of Splitting Ice".  Not sure when this was changed, but it tripped me up for a few minutes.

[Oltier 474]

Oltier what is this?

WHAT IS THIS?!

Maaaa-maaa-ma-ma-ma-mamaaaadnessssss!

 

Thanks for the feedback, I am going to fix it ASAP. Updating this topic is on my queue list for a long time now. Unfortunately university doesn't want me to bring it forward. :\

 

EDIT: I realized that I DID edit the spell ID according to wowDB. However, while the spell description etc has been updated in WoWDB, it still inserted its old name here.

 

Weird...

[Albert 1]

I've really enjoyed using this guide while learning my Frost Mage. Thanks! One small detail: I wasn't able to pick up the quests in Slave Pens until level 62.