Bringing Up Magey
Posted by 
Amatera on Monday, June 1, 2009 - 30 Comments Tags: Frost, Mage, grinding, leveling, troll
Amatera on Monday, June 1, 2009 - 30 Comments Tags: Frost, Mage, grinding, leveling, troll 
Whew, long walk! Glad I brought some snacks!I was recently told by our readers (several times, and with gusto), that if I'm so damn tired of raid content, why don't I go try out one of the other multitude of things to do in WoW? Well, I'll have you know that leveling alts, as banal as it can be at times, is one of my hobbies, and this post is proof positive! Allow me to take you on the mystical journey of a mage's life from a mana-limp bolt-slinger to face-wrecking powerhouse. Geez, that's a lot of hyphens.
Now, let me throw out a couple warnings before I continue. I know I'm new around these parts, and there's a good chance this stuff has been covered before, but I do hope you enjoy my, er... unique slant on things. The other issue, which stems from the same basic problem, is that my mage is actually already level 38. Ideally, I would've liked to start this article at square one, but I'm not about to reverse all my progress just for that.
So what I want to do is talk about what I've learned so far.
I started off, like all Trolls, in the Valley of Trials. I tend to play a Troll whenever I get the chance; they're pretty awesome, and since they're the least played race in the game, I'm always up for increasing the server population. Drawback? Lack of shoes. I'll never have cool-looking kicks.
The beginning levels were easy enough, especially since I suited Forcekin (yes, that's his name) up with a couple heirloom pieces:
[Tattered Dreadmist Mantle]
[Discerning Eye of the Beast]
But even with the buffs these items provided, it was evident early on that mana would be a problem. I'd always heard that about mages and dreaded dealing with it myself. At 38, I'm happy to admit that things are improving, but prepare to grind out your first thirty-or-so levels like a sloth on Sunday.
Taking a time-out to drink and eat after every pull or two really put a damper on my motivation (and its even more annoying when you have to stock up every time you log on), but I kept reminding myself that one day I'd be popping crits like a bag of Orville Redenbacher and destroying mobs before they even get within spitting range.
A pleasant surprise came from how well my mage was able to take his lumps (when the enemies do manage to close in on you). Ice Armor, Mana Shield, Elemental Wards, and even Dampen Magic can take you far when spells like Polymorph and Frost Nova fail to keep the baddies at bay. And, of course, there's always Blink for getting your keister just out of harm's way.
Indeed, the mage's repertoire of mitigation and avoidance skills is first-class.
I chose to level as Frost spec in order to take advantage of the slow-down effects, and they've served me well so far, but I was initially disappointed in the lack of damage being dealt. For me, leveling an alt is a race to the top, so I often don't bother with group quests or dungeon runs unless it happens to be with a fellow guildie or I find myself in the right place at the right time.
So, aside from the heirloom equipment, I've had very little to increase my crit chance -- no blues, no enchants, and I haven't even slotted any glyphs yet. But in my early 30s, I decided to go back and look at what Frost had to offer and found a magic combination I'm surprised I didn't see at first. I specced out of Cold Snap (boy was that a mistake at this level) and put a few points into the first-tier talent Frostbite. Combine that with Shatter, and you've got a 15% chance to increase your crit against a target by a full 50% when both talents are maxed out! This also applies to any other time a mob might be frozen, as with Frost Nova. Really nothing like flash freezing a bunch of mobs as you proceed to rain down some icy armageddon in the form of Blizzard.
This probably seems like grade school for any mage in the know, but things really started picking up for me at that point. It even helped with my chronic mana problems! More crits per point of mana = less mana spent. Math is not my strong point, but even I can dig that brand of algebra.
So, I'd have to say I'm in a pretty good spot with my frosty mage wonder. Being able to skirt around hapless mobs whilst nuking them in the face is getting to be pretty enjoyable.
Unfortunately, I'm at that part of the game where, at least for a Horde player, there's a lot of running around to do. I have yet to make the long journey to Badlands or Swamp of Sorrows and I've still got a boatload of quests in Stranglethorn to complete. Not to mention that Tanaris, Hinterlands, and Feralas are all on the horizon. And all my mage trainers want me to hotfoot it to Duskwallow Marsh for some reason!
But, hey, that's where a Mage truly shines. Portals anyone?
I'd like to continue updating everyone on my progress, if you'll have me, but in the meantime, I'm curious as to what kinds of experiences Project Lore readers have had leveling their own mages. Did you make any of the same stupid mistakes I did? Attempt to level as a different spec? Find the constant picnicking too much of a hassle or did the crazy damage co-efficients see you through to the end?
Reader Comments (30)
Go Frost way more mana efficent
oops nm i didnt read all of it
Good post! I've leveled my mage only on private server, but I made a stupid mistake even on it(as I think). My mage was frost-specced(I don't know the right spelling), because before rolling as a mage I saw a vid with HUGE crits with frostbolt and I thought "OW! Damn, this guy is awesome, I have to make a frost mage". as u understand I was on hunt for crits, and after levelling and buying T6 gear(it is private server) and socketing I made an attempt to make a HUGE crits on wolves in Ellwyn Forest. There were no crits, low crit chance and some other bad things with my guy. I was yelling that mages suck6 my friend was laughing on me that time. Now I now that Fros is a bit of PVP spec because of it's emprovement of durability of life, and Fire and Arcane specs are for DPS. I know it sounds stupid, but this is my ONLY mage expirience.
I've got a mage alt that's been sitting at lvl. 7 for quite a long while now, so unfortunately I can't particularly offer any advice or experiences as one. My twin's main is a troll mage, like yours, though. I think she never bothered with the frost spec because she liked burning stuff better. Obviously, it also took longer to hit the level cap...
I've never played a mage past lvl 12 but I really like their PvP spells.... perhaps I'll make a twink...
My mage has been resting at lvl 50 for about a year now, I guess I prefer melee.
i have Level 80 human mage and i must say that every time i go raiding mana is not a problem now with are mana gems and evocation CD now shorter any time i go oom i can get full mana and Nuke away again and top dps :)
I have a lvl 46 mage specced as fire and i toss big crits all over the place. there is a talent that when you put points it replenishes mana when you crit with fire spells. i so like roasting mobs and face burning them,lol. my toon pulls aggro, but i can frost nova and get distance, tanks whine when i do, but hey when a crit hits it hits, not in my control,lol. i also never buy mana drinks, i have a stack of 20 for my level for when i forget to make, but when you can conjure, why buy,lol.
I JUST power leveled my frost mage to 60 using RAF =) I'm a whiz at spamming frostbolt, but I tend to forget about the other tricks.
When I first created my mage I was really in to the whole portals and casting spells idea.
Now he is lvl33 and sitting in IF as my bank waiting for some skins and fish to drop in the mailbox.
Might pick him up again sometime though ;)
Great post btw.
Take note on the trinket they are not unique. You can have two of those plus your mantle plus your weapon. Meaning every time you level you don't have to worry about stats dropping to much, usually they will increase. I leveled up a holy priest to 80 in about 4 weeks clad in heirloom items it made it a breeze. I only wish you could get more of those items.
Haha, i've never had too much inclination to start a mage. Partly because i don't get to play the game nearly as much as i'd like to. So leveling 1 alt is taking longer than it should.
Whenever i CAN log on, i always do my dailys first on my level 80 Hunter. That's Priority number Uno on my list. More gold means more i can do. I sometimes will send a percent of the days profits over to my alt to make life for him more easy and less stressful.
It's served me pretty well so far. Im building up a Priest on the side, speccing in Shadow for the increased damage benefits. He's only level 34, another half hour of game time should see him hit 35 though :)
I've chosen to go Enchanting with him and it's helped out bunches. As a Blood Elf i get those extra few Enchanting levels too. I'd really like to see more articles like this on the Priest. Im absolutly loving the class. If i could log on just a little bit longer these days he'd probably be making his way through Outlands right now.
If i'd rolled the priest when i first started the game i'd probably have not stuck with it. Wanted to do DAMAGE when i started. Obviously i made a good choice in rolling the Hunter. But now that i have a better understanding in the mechanics of the game and the purpose of each class, im proud to say im leveling my Priest the best way i can and i think it shows. My heals, for a level 34 are ELITE! Already do 1k+ heals.
my main is a mage, and i've played it for almost 4 and a half years now. It has always been my favorite class.
Advantages: the amazing automatic food/water, and the portals. I take advantage of this so much, and wonder how any of my alts can live without it.
Disadvantages: the BIGGEST PROBLEM with mages is leveling 1-60. You are forced to drink after every 2 or 3 pulls, and it feels extremely tedious. Also, if you are faced with 2 or 3 un-CC'able bad guys its easy to die with your relatively low health pool.
60 on, however, life was a lot easier. At 80, going OOM is a joke; if its ever a problem, you have 2minute CD Evocation. Yes, the difference is big. With the gear in Outland and Northrend, the frostbolt that took 7% of your maximum mana now takes 2%.
A suggestion i'd like to make - level 1 to 64 as Frost. Frostbolt is the most mana efficient damaging spell while leveling, and ice barrier helps a lot. Past 64, level Arcane. Arcane Blast costs around <100 mana (comparing that to the 300 mana cost on many other spells) and with full mana regen and the right rotation you never go OOM. Besides, slow is a God in pvp and people ganking you.
Another tip - always offer free portals (or portals at regeant price so your not losing money). People will end up tipping, and overtipping for your kindness. It has gotten me good business.
If on a pvp server, get glyph of Evocation asap.
With arcane intellect, great AoE damage, and food/water, mages are generally wanted in groups at higher levels. Its a smart choice to pass the hard moments of the Old World and venture towards the Lich King.
When i was leveling my death knight i was straight off of watching Dorkins, or Bigwang in this case, spec blood in his great but misinforming (just on talents imo) videos. I found that unholy is the best leveling talent and a great source of mass pulling. The amount healed with death strike is increased by much more than blood could do with its worms and such. Unholy also has 3 of my 4 favorite talents: permanent ghoul pets, anti-magic zone, and mount speed increase, my fourth being in my main spec frosts tree; the one that turns stuff into ice blocks. My only quarrel is that there are no mobs so i cannot have fun with making hordes of fake ice blocks for my raid to decipher in the 10 or so seconds they have.
My mage is my main and my only real character (only one above lvl 20) and i can't see myself playing any other character... i love raids and hate PvP. Maybe because i'm Fire/Frost and not full frost... i don't care... i love it... totally addicted to WoW.
I recruited a friend and got him to give me level points to level 45 to get past the duldrums. I know people'll hate me on that, as I didn't "earn" the toon to that point, but I don't care. I am leveling it from that point on to learn class, but not before. I like melee, and I am leveling this toon to help be adaptable for my guild with raid selection. I'm finding it fun at this point, but before I couldn't get past level 12.
I first lvled a priest all the way to 80..got bored made a mage got him to 80 and ive never gone back to my priest since... Also if your a frost mage and looking for a good challenge i would suggest going to the scarlet cursade quest area in dragonblight. When you go down to the beach area you will see a large amount of scarlet cursade npcs a boat( the way this is meant to be done is you set the boat on fire
To distract them) i took all of these npcs on my first try..best moment while lvling ever...........btw Troll mages FTW.
Level 80 mage, and I had a ton of fun leveling. Despite the fact that I was ganked all the way to 70 and that I had no idea how to play the class until about level 50, I stuck with it. Just watch out if you happen to be on a PvP server-pretty much every other class seems to have a passion for killing the poor squishy.
The first toon i ever made was a mage and i didn't make another toon till i was almost 30, by which i had mage armor, evocation and mana gems. I specced fire which didn't help at all leveling. Frost is definetly the way to go till your in outlands and can kill mobs before they get to you. Right now im 80 and frostfire specced. I never have to drink anymore in pve, usually i don't even bother conjuring strudel when i log in.
i have an 80 frost ghome mage he is one of my favorites and one of my oldest my mage was the third cahracter i ever made i believe ever since the ni was on and of my amge i was ignorant thdidnt know how to spec are gear him and then wondered why he sucks mages are all about patience and i just didt have taht thats why it took me 3 years to get to whear my mage is now when starting my mage and gettin my first talent point i was fire then switched ti frost at 30 and then back to fire then frost again up untilll about 50 when i stratened him out and he really started to shape nicely on 60 i tryed arcane it really didnt call to me like fire and frost but i see the other aracnae mages and boy are they awsome currently i am frost my geared is mainly made of quest rewards and reg instances i jsut started doing heriocs my crit rating is 7% and i still crit half the time 90% if the target is frozen a good crit can hit for 5k FB 4k ice lance really makes a big diffrence when you get it and a 3k cone of cold then theirs my mirror image and my water minion which i love i cant wait till i get my crit rating back to what it used to be in my 60s so i can get some use out of frost fire bolt i have teh money for a dual spec but i dont know weather to go fire or arcne for my other spec i pwned the dps metter on fire when i was 70 be cool to see what i can do on 80 i have arcane only once and completly unexperinced i am torn between the 2 ioh andi dont wanto ruin it for you ametera but the quest line in dustwellow whear you have to all serts of stuff for taht women is really annoying an ts not even worth it that women sends you all over azeroth i had a hell of a time just finding the place then again i did it over 2 years ago lot has changed since then the game is atleast 2 as easier as it was back then and QH can help with finding the stuff she wants you to do but the desertion of original places in wow broughtmany times may make hard to find a grop for the group quest to this day when leveling an alt i try and stay away from that place unless i am aboslutly reguired to go their
the mana never should be a problem for a mage because of the ability to conguar food easy enough when i solo i usaly dont need to drink it its in instances that burn my mana especialy the boss fights mostly in heriocs
Only think i really know about the mage is that their Mana buff, Arcan Intellect, is awesome.
Oh, and portals too. Those are awesome.
Luv the article. And I appreciate the advice. I started my 1st mage a few weeks ago and now, at lvl 18, I'm really enjoying it. I am looking forward to some AoE but really loving the sheep (the main reason I picked a mage). =) I'm spec'd for fire right now, the fireball really takes the mobs down...by the time they get to me a few hits with the wand, or a quick fire blast, and they are gone. So far my mage is my favorite squishy. =) Keep up the articles; thnx.
Damn, I wish I had two heirloom pieces on my mage! :P I've been leveling a mage up since I reactivated my account a few weeks ago, and I went Frost from the outset because I knew that it's easier to control lots of guys and easier on your mana pool. The trade-off is that you really don't start kicking the butts of lots of mobs until you get to 50 and get your Water Elemental.
Still, though, PVPing against a hunter 3 levels below me and getting pwned is a little disheartening, although that hunter did have like 800 HP more than me and had a pet with Bestial Wrath - I bet she had heirloom pieces or something too, lolz. *sigh* I really need to practice my mage PvP.
I actually am on my way to 2 mages (an 80 Belf and a 74 Human), and love seeing other people learn to love the class.
My tips for you:
1) I know making your own food and water is a huge perk, but BUY WATER when you hit levels that end in 5. You don't get new water until levels that end in 0's, so for 5 levels at a time you will be using lower quality water if you stick to your own brand of juice.
2) Don't miss dustwallow! It was lonely and barren of quests for most of the alts I've leveled, but since its BC revamp it is actually a fantastic zone to augment leveling in STV and other Zones for late 30's/early 40's.