Classic Mage DPS Guide

Mages are, arguably, the best ranged DPS class in WoW Classic. Sporting impressive PvE DPS from the start, due to strong talents such as Elemental Precision, Mages are also full of tricks, such as Polymorph, Blink and Ice Block, which are useful in PvE and unrivaled for PvP, when in the hands of a master. Finally, they have great convenience tools, such as Teleport: Stormwind, or the group version Portal: Stormwind, and Conjure Water or Conjure Food.

Although the Season of Mastery brings with it a number of changes to how you may experience the content of WoW Classic, these tweaks do not include any adjustments to how you play Mage. As such, this guide will cover all you need to know regardless of which version of Classic you wish to play.

However, due to certain pieces of content from later Phases now being available at an earlier date, gearing recommendations for Mage will be different. Because of this, we have created additional pages detailing your best in slot items for both pre-raid gear and the current raids available.

• Highest ranged damage potential in the game, all the way from the start as a Frost Mage (roughly tied with Hunters in early Molten Core parses), down to the finish as Fire Mage (unrivaled ranged damage in Naxxramas).
• Has tools for every type of situation and convenience, as well as the best Crowd Control tools in the game.
• One of the classes where your skill matters the most, ahead of every other aspect.

• Squishiest class in the game. If you are caught off-guard you can die in the blink of an eye, watch out for Ambush!
• Very Mana hungry, especially while leveling, which forces you to rest and drink often.
• For most high-end PvE content, you will be stuck spamming either Frostbolt or Fireball, which can get boring after a while.

While racials are important, look and feel is even more important for many players. These should be your main consideration when picking a race!

Gnome is the best race for PvE and PvP. Human has inferior perks for Mages, but feel free to roll it if you prefer its looks! You can read more details on each race below.

• Expansive Mind increases your Intellect by 5%.
• Escape Artist is a 1-minute cooldown that lets you escape any root, snare, or slow when used.
• Engineering Specialization increases your Engineering skill by 15.
• Arcane Resistance increases your arcane resistance by 10.

Gnome is the best race for Alliance Mages, due to Expansive Mind, which increases Intellect by 5%, leading to a larger Mana pool and higher critical strike chance. Their racial ability, Escape Artist, is also a deal breaker in PvP, where being caught means death. Finally, they also have Engineering Specialization, which is quite useful in WoW Classic, due to the power of Engineering.

• The Human Spirit increases your Spirit by 5%.
• Diplomacy increases your reputation earned by 10%.
• Sword Specialization increases your skill with Swords by 5.
• Mace Specialization increases your skill with Maces by 5.
• Perception is a 3-minute cooldown that greatly increases your Stealth detection for 20 seconds when used.

Human is weaker than Gnome in every aspect, but racials are not as huge as skill and gear, so we would recommend you to play it if you really enjoy their look and feel compared to Gnome's.

Troll is the best race for PvE and Undead is, arguably, the best race for PvP. You can read more details on why below.

• Beast Slaying gives a 5% damage bonus against Beasts.
• Berserking is a 3-minute cooldown that gives you between 10-30% increased attack and casting speed depending on your health, with the effect being greater the more hurt you are.
• Bow Specialization increases your skill with Bows by 5, which increases your chance to hit with a bow.
• Regeneration gives +10% passive health regeneration and allows you to regenerate 10% of your total health regeneration during combat.

Troll is the best PvE race for Horde Mages, due to Berserking's DPS increase. Beast Slaying is also a nice boost whenever you are fighting beasts.

• Will of the Forsaken is a 2-minute cooldown that makes your immune to all Fear, Sleep, and Charm effects for 5 seconds. This will also break you out of any current effects.
• Cannibalize is a 2-minute cooldown that lets you channel to consume a nearby corpse, regenerating 7% of your total health every 2 seconds for 10 seconds for a total of 35% health.
• Underwater Breathing allows you to breath underwater for 300% longer than normal.
• Shadow Resistance increases your shadow resistance by 10.

Undead is, arguably, the best PvP race for Horde Mages, as Will of the Forsaken provides a way to break out of dangerous crowd control effects, which can otherwise spell your doom.

Mages can do insane DPS, especially in later WoW Classic, when geared and in Fire specialization. Engineering is the best profession for improving your damage, as its bombs and sapper charges deal a ton of area of effect damage. Combine these with Arcane Explosion and watch the honor kills rack up!

If you enjoy traveling the world, get Mining so that you can mine what Engineering needs yourself. Otherwise, Tailoring is great for Mages due to Robe of the Archmage, one of the best pre-raid chests. Also, you can get easy gold from Mooncloth and wand / bag selling!

We would recommend reading our profession guides for the full briefing on the different professions WoW Classic has to offer.