Mage Talent Builds in WoW Forever
Arcane, Fire and Frost builds for the WoW Forever Mage, each laid out on the talent trees with a breakdown of what its talents add. Pick one for DPS, PvP or leveling and load it into the talent builder to move its points around.
Mage talent builder
Load one of our talent builds onto the trees, or switch on Build planner and spend the points yourself. Mage talent trees
Arcane
18 talents
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0/1Fire
17 talents
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0/1Frost
18 talents
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1/1What the talents add16 of 20 talents
Leveling order
Mage leveling, PvP and endgame builds
Each card is one build and the trees it spends in. The small trees show every talent it takes.
Arcane Mage DPS Build
- Arcane Power macro
- Heating Up
- Precision
Read the build: Arcane Mage DPS Build
Stacked Arcane Blasts carry the damage, and a short Fire detour turns Fire Blast into quicker Pyroblasts.
- Ranged DPS
- Mana management
- Pyroblast burst
What the talents add 14 of 19 talents
Attributes
- +10% Intellect
- +6% hit chance with spells
Defense
- Gives your Arcane Missiles spell a 100% chance and your Arcane Blast and Arcane Wrath spells a 70% chance to not lose casting time when you take damage
- Reduces your target's resistance to all your spells by 15
- 30% less threat from Arcane spells
Damage
- 10% chance of entering a Clearcasting state after any damage spell hits a target. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%
- +6% critical strike chance on Arcane spells
- +100% critical strike damage bonus on Arcane spells
- Increases the damage done by your spells by 3% and your critical strike chance by 3%
- +10% critical strike chance on Fire Blast, Ice Lance, Arcane Blast, and Scorch spells
- Your critical strikes from Fire damage spells cause the target to burn for an additional 40% of your spell's damage over 4 sec
- Non-periodic critical strikes with Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Fire Blast, and Scorch reduce the cast time of your next Pyroblast cast within 20 sec by 25%, stacking up to 3 times
- Fire Blast grants an additional stack every time it deals damage
Mana
- Gives your Arcane Blast spell a 40% chance, and your Arcane Wrath, Fireball, Frostbolt, and Frostfire Bolt spells a 20% chance to reduce the channeled duration of your next Arcane Missiles spell by 50%, reduce the Mana cost by 100%, and missiles fire every 0.5 sec
- 50% Mana regeneration while casting
Other
- 0.2 sec faster cast on Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, and Arcane Wrath spells
- Reduces the cooldown of your Fire Blast spell by 2 sec and increases its range by 15 yards
From 14 of 19 talents. Left out: 5 buttons.
How this build is meant to be played
This build keeps Arcane Blast at the center and borrows just enough Fire for a second gear. Each Blast adds a capped stack that turns part of your Intellect into spell damage and raises your next Blast's mana cost, and Arcane Mind raises that Intellect along with the bonus your Arcane crits deal. Missile Barrage can make your next Arcane Missiles quick and free. The Fire points exist for Pyroblast, a heavy boulder that keeps burning: Fire Blast builds Heating Up stacks, up to a cap, that shorten a Pyroblast cast soon after, and Ignite burns on every Fire crit. Hold Arcane Power for big moments, since spells hit harder and cost more while it runs.
Closest build 35 of 51 points shared
Only in Fire DPS 16 points
Fire Mage DPS Build
- Combustion macro
- Arcane Meditation
- Precision
Read the build: Fire Mage DPS Build
A Fireball caster that cashes its crits into burns, mana refunds and quicker Pyroblasts, with Combustion held for burst.
- Ranged DPS
- Crit chains
- Burst cooldown
What the talents add 15 of 18 talents
Attributes
- +6% hit chance with spells
Defense
- Gives your Arcane Missiles spell a 100% chance and your Arcane Blast and Arcane Wrath spells a 70% chance to not lose casting time when you take damage
- Reduces your target's resistance to all your spells by 15
- 30% less threat from Arcane spells
Damage
- 10% chance of entering a Clearcasting state after any damage spell hits a target. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%
- +10% critical strike chance on Fire Blast, Ice Lance, Arcane Blast, and Scorch spells
- Your critical strikes from Fire damage spells cause the target to burn for an additional 40% of your spell's damage over 4 sec
- Your Scorch spell has a 100% chance to cause your target to be vulnerable to Fire damage. This vulnerability increases all Fire damage you deal to your target by 3% and lasts 30 sec, stacking up to 5 times
- Non-periodic critical strikes with Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Fire Blast, and Scorch reduce the cast time of your next Pyroblast cast within 20 sec by 25%, stacking up to 3 times
- Fire Blast grants an additional stack every time it deals damage
- +6% critical strike chance on Fire spells
- Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 3% per your Fire effects on the target, up to a maximum increase of 12%
Mana
- Gives your Arcane Blast spell a 40% chance, and your Arcane Wrath, Fireball, Frostbolt, and Frostfire Bolt spells a 20% chance to reduce the channeled duration of your next Arcane Missiles spell by 50%, reduce the Mana cost by 100%, and missiles fire every 0.5 sec
- 17% Mana regeneration while casting
- Your Fire and Frost critical strikes will refund 30% of their base mana cost
Other
- 0.5 sec faster cast on Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, and Arcane Wrath spells
- Reduces the cooldown of your Fire Blast spell by 2 sec and increases its range by 15 yards
- Effects which mix multiple schools of magic do not qualify
From 15 of 18 talents. Left out: 3 buttons.
How this build is meant to be played
Critical strikes, the hits that land for extra damage, fuel this build. Critical Mass makes Fire spells crit more often, and Ignite leaves a burn behind on each Fire crit. Heating Up turns direct crits from Fireball, Scorch and Fire Blast into capped stacks for a quicker Pyroblast, while Accelerant trims the cast of Fireball itself. Fire Power makes your Fire spells hit harder for each of your pure Fire effects on the target, up to a cap, and Master of Elements refunds part of the base mana cost of your Fire and Frost crits, so long fights stay affordable. Combustion is the burst cooldown: each Fire hit raises your Fire crit chance until enough direct Fire crits land.
Closest build 35 of 51 points shared
Only in Arcane DPS 16 points
- and 2 more talents
Frost Mage Leveling Build
- Ice Barrier macro
- Arcane Concentration
Read the build: Frost Mage Leveling Build
Solo leveling that keeps whole pulls slowed and frozen in place, so you kill faster and stop to recover mana less often.
- Questing
- Kiting
- Low downtime
What the talents add 16 of 20 talents
Defense
- Gives your Arcane Missiles spell a 20% chance and your Arcane Blast and Arcane Wrath spells a 14% chance to not lose casting time when you take damage
- Armor equal to 50% of your Intellect
- 30% less threat from Frost spells
Damage
- +25% damage with Wands
- 10% chance of entering a Clearcasting state after any damage spell hits a target. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%
- +100% critical strike damage bonus on Frost spells
- +50% critical strike chance on spells against Frozen targets
- +35% damage on Cone of Cold
Mana
- 15% cheaper Frost spells
Control
- Chill effects: 15% chance to Freeze the target for 5 sec
- +33% duration on Chill effects
- Adds a Chill effect to your Blizzard spell. This effect lowers the target's movement speed by 40% for 1.5 sec
- Chill effects: 15% chance to grant you the Fingers of Frost effect, which treats your next 2 spells cast as if the target were Frozen. Lasts 15 sec
- Frostbolt and Fingers of Frost empowered Ice Lance spells: 60% chance to apply Winter's Chill, increasing the target's damage taken from your next Cone of Cold by 20% and it gains an additional 7% of your spell damage, stacking up to 5 times
Other
- 0.5 sec faster cast on Frostbolt
- 4 sec shorter cooldown on Frost Nova
- Reduces the target's speed by an additional 10%
- +20% range on Frostbolt, Ice Lance, and Blizzard spells and the radius of your Frost Nova and Cone of Cold spells
From 16 of 20 talents. Left out: 4 buttons.
How this build is meant to be played
Leveling alone is mostly a question of how rarely you have to stop, and this build is shaped around that. Improved Blizzard adds a Chill, which is a slow, to Blizzard, so a group you pull keeps crawling through the storm, and Permafrost makes each Chill last longer and cut speed further. Frostbite gives those Chills a chance to Freeze an enemy in place, which is when Ice Lance and Shatter turn a stuck target into a quick kill. Frost Channeling trims the mana cost of your Frost spells, and Arcane Concentration sometimes makes your next damage spell free. No point here improves hit with Frost spells, a deliberate trade for fewer breaks.
Closest build 38 of 51 points shared
Only in Frost PvP 13 points
Frost Mage DPS Build
- Winter's Chill
- Arcane Meditation
Read the build: Frost Mage DPS Build
Group damage built on Frostbolt, one dependable spell you repeat from the pull to the kill.
- Ranged DPS
- Low threat
- Mana efficient
What the talents add 16 of 17 talents
Attributes
- +6% hit chance with spells
Defense
- Gives your Arcane Missiles spell a 80% chance and your Arcane Blast and Arcane Wrath spells a 56% chance to not lose casting time when you take damage
- Armor equal to 25% of your Intellect
- Reduces your target's resistance to all your spells by 15
- 30% less threat from Arcane spells
- 30% less threat from Frost spells
Damage
- 10% chance of entering a Clearcasting state after any damage spell hits a target. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%
- +6% critical strike chance on Arcane spells
- +100% critical strike damage bonus on Frost spells
- +50% critical strike chance on spells against Frozen targets
- +35% damage on Cone of Cold
Mana
- Gives your Arcane Blast spell a 20% chance, and your Arcane Wrath, Fireball, Frostbolt, and Frostfire Bolt spells a 10% chance to reduce the channeled duration of your next Arcane Missiles spell by 50%, reduce the Mana cost by 100%, and missiles fire every 0.5 sec
- 50% Mana regeneration while casting
- 15% cheaper Frost spells
Control
- Chill effects: 15% chance to grant you the Fingers of Frost effect, which treats your next 2 spells cast as if the target were Frozen. Lasts 15 sec
- Frostbolt and Fingers of Frost empowered Ice Lance spells: 100% chance to apply Winter's Chill, increasing the target's damage taken from your next Cone of Cold by 20% and it gains an additional 7% of your spell damage, stacking up to 5 times
Other
- 0.5 sec faster cast on Frostbolt
- +20% range on Frostbolt, Ice Lance, and Blizzard spells and the radius of your Frost Nova and Cone of Cold spells
From 16 of 17 talents. Left out: 1 button.
How this build is meant to be played
Frostbolt does the heavy lifting in this build, and most of the Frost points make that bolt faster, cheaper, more accurate or more dangerous. Improved Frostbolt trims its cast time and Precision makes the bolt miss less often. Winter's Chill stacks on the target with each Frostbolt so your next Cone of Cold hurts it more, and Ice Shards makes Frostbolt and Ice Lance crits land much harder. Missile Barrage adds an occasional bonus, since Frostbolt can make your next Arcane Missiles fast and free. Frost Channeling lowers both the mana cost of your Frost spells and the threat they cause, the measure of whom an enemy chooses to attack, so the fight stays pointed away from you.
Closest build 34 of 51 points shared
Only in Frost Leveling 17 points
- and 4 more talents
Frost Mage PvP Build
- Ice Barrier macro
- Improved Counterspell
Read the build: Frost Mage PvP Build
Control for fights against players: freeze them in place, land your heaviest hits while they are stuck, and keep a shield ready.
- PvP
- Kiting
- Survival
What the talents add 18 of 22 talents
Attributes
- +6% hit chance with spells
Defense
- Gives your Arcane Missiles spell a 20% chance and your Arcane Blast and Arcane Wrath spells a 14% chance to not lose casting time when you take damage
- Armor equal to 50% of your Intellect
- Reduces your target's resistance to all your spells by 15
- 30% less threat from Arcane spells
- +10 all resistances
- +30% Armor and resistances granted on Frost Armor and Ice Armor spells
Healing
- +20% amount absorbed on Ice Barrier and Frost Ward
Damage
- +25% damage with Wands
- 8% chance of entering a Clearcasting state after any damage spell hits a target. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%
- Frost Ward: 20% chance to negate the warded damage spell
- +100% critical strike damage bonus on Frost spells
- +50% critical strike chance on spells against Frozen targets
Mana
- Causes all spells you fully resist to restore 2% of your total mana. Cannot trigger more often than 1 time per sec
Control
- Your Counterspell also Silences the target for 4 sec
- Chill effects: 15% chance to Freeze the target for 5 sec
- +33% duration on Chill effects
- Chill effects: 15% chance to grant you the Fingers of Frost effect, which treats your next 2 spells cast as if the target were Frozen. Lasts 15 sec
Other
- +6 yards range on Arcane spells
- 0.5 sec faster cast on Frostbolt
- 4 sec shorter cooldown on Frost Nova
- Reduces the target's speed by an additional 10%
- +20% range on Frostbolt, Ice Lance, and Blizzard spells and the radius of your Frost Nova and Cone of Cold spells
From 18 of 22 talents. Left out: 4 buttons.
How this build is meant to be played
Against another player, the fight goes to whoever controls movement and casting. Frostbite gives your Chill effects a chance to Freeze the target, turning a slow into a stop, and Improved Frost Nova brings back the spell that freezes every enemy around you sooner. While a target is Frozen, Shatter raises your critical strike chance against it and Ice Lance hits far harder. Improved Counterspell makes Counterspell Silence the target too, on top of locking out the school they were casting. Precision makes Frost Nova and Frostbolt less likely to miss. When it goes wrong, Ice Block seals you away from every attack and spell. Ice Barrier's shield absorbs damage, and Frost Warding makes it absorb more.
Closest build 38 of 51 points shared
Only in Frost Leveling 13 points