Leveling a Mage to 20

How to level a Mage from 1 to the level 20 beta cap in WoW Forever: which race, every spell and when you get it, the published Frost, Fire and Arcane leveling builds, what to press, mana and conjured water, kiting, class quests and what Forever changed.

Written for the WoW Forever beta, where the level cap is 20 (30 is expected in mid-October 2026). Spells, ranks, tooltips and talents come from the Forever beta client. Class quests come from Classic's data and are labelled as such.

The Mage in a nutshell

A Mage is a spellcaster who fights from range with Fire, Frost and Arcane magic. Your role is damage, often called DPS (damage per second): you kill things, and you keep them away from you while you do it. Most of your attacks reach 30 yards or more in the client, so you start every fight before the mob (a computer-controlled monster) can touch you.

Your resource is mana. Every spell costs some, and when it runs out you sit down and drink. You wear cloth, the lightest armor, and the client lets Mages use staves, daggers, one-handed swords and wands. A wand is a small ranged weapon you shoot without spending mana.

Good at while leveling

• Killing mobs before they reach you.
• Control: slowing, freezing and turning enemies into sheep, so you can handle a second mob that joins the fight.
• Looking after yourself: you make your own water from level 4 and your own food from level 6, and you can share both.
• Getting around: at level 20 you learn to teleport to your faction's capital cities.

Weak at while leveling

• Taking hits. Cloth armor and low health make melee (close combat) dangerous for you.
• Long chains of fights. You run out of mana and have to stop and drink, which players call downtime.
• Healing. Mages have no healing spells; you eat to get health back.

Tip: At the Deep Dive panel Blizzard said an ordinary creature should take roughly 10–15 seconds to kill when you're solo. If your fights take much longer, check that you've trained your latest ranks and that your gear isn't far behind your level.

Choosing a race

Six races can be Mages in Forever: Human, Gnome and High Order Skyborne for the Alliance, and Orc, Undead and Troll for the Horde. Orc Mages are new in Forever. There's no best race: racials (race abilities) are small next to your spells and talents, so pick the faction your friends play and the look you like. Here's what each race brings to a Mage.

Racials from the Forever client. Starting zones for the original races are Classic data; the Skyborne start on Zephras Isle comes from Blizzard's Meet the New Skyborne post, which also says Read Ley Line is the High Order's own racial.

More on every race is in races, classes and racials and meet the Skyborne.

Your spells, level by level

You learn spells, and stronger ranks of spells you already have, from a Mage trainer in your starting area and in the capital cities. The client has something new for Mages at level 1 and at every even level from 4 to 20, so visit a trainer each time you reach an even level. A new rank hits harder and costs more mana. Here's everything the trainer teaches up to 20:

Everything a Mage learns from the class trainer up to level 20, from the Forever client.

The spells that matter, in the order you get them

• Level 1. Fireball is your first attack, a Fire spell with a short cast. Frost Armor adds Armor, and enemies who hit you may be slowed by 30% and attack 25% slower for 5 sec; keep it on at all times. Arcane Intellect raises Intellect, which means a bigger mana pool, for 1 hour: cast it on yourself and on anyone in your group who uses mana.
• Level 4. Frostbolt deals Frost damage and slows the target's movement by 40% for 5 sec, so a mob takes longer to reach you. Conjure Water conjures water, your free drinks from now on.
• Level 6. Fire Blast is instant, so you can cast it on the move or to finish a mob, but it has a cooldown (a wait before you can use it again). Conjure Food conjures food. Fireball is your first rank upgrade.
• Level 8. Polymorph turns a Beast, Humanoid or Critter into a sheep for up to 20 sec. The sheep can't attack, but any damage turns it back, so you use it on a second mob while you kill the first. Arcane Missiles is a channeled spell: you stand still and it hits the target each second for 3 sec.
• Level 10. Frost Nova is your most important defensive spell: it freezes every enemy next to you in place for up to 8 sec. Your first talent point also arrives at level 10 (see below).
• Level 12. Slow Fall slows your fall for 30 sec, which saves you from deadly drops. Dampen Magic makes a party member take less damage from spells but also receive less healing, so you'll rarely need it while leveling.
• Level 14. Arcane Explosion damages every enemy within 10 yards of you. It's your first area-of-effect (AoE) spell, one that hits several enemies at once.
• Level 16. Flamestrike drops a pillar of fire on an area that keeps burning for 8 sec. Its long cast makes it more of a group spell than a solo one.
• Level 18. Remove Lesser Curse removes a Curse or a Bane from a friendly target, yourself included. Amplify Magic does the opposite of Dampen Magic.
• Level 20 is the big one: see the next section.

Level 20: the big level

Level 20 brings more new spells than any level before it, including two that are new in Forever. Put some money aside for the trainer as you get close.

• Arcane Blast is new in Forever. Each cast makes your other spells deal 10% more damage and makes the next Arcane Blast cost 175% more mana; the effect stacks up to 4 times and lasts 8 sec or until you cast another damage spell.
• Ice Lance is also new: an instant Frost spell that deals 300% more damage to Frozen targets, such as a mob held by Frost Nova.
• Blink teleports you 20 yards forward and frees you from stuns and immobilizing effects.
• Evocation: while you channel it, your mana regeneration is active and 1500% higher, for 8 sec. It has a long cooldown, so save it for emergencies.
• Blizzard rains ice on an area for 8 sec. It's your big pack spell, and an expensive one.
• Mana Shield soaks up physical damage by draining 2 mana per point absorbed, which buys time when a fight goes wrong.
• Polymorph holds a sheep for up to 30 sec.
• Teleports to your faction's capitals: Teleport: Stormwind and Teleport: Ironforge for the Alliance, Teleport: Orgrimmar and Teleport: Undercity for the Horde.
• New ranks too: Frostbolt, Frost Armor, Conjure Water and Fire Ward, which absorbs Fire damage.

Coming by level 30

These arrive when the cap rises to 30, expected in mid-October. They're in the client now, but you can't train them in the beta yet.

• Scorch at level 22: a quick Fire spell with a short cast.
• Counterspell at level 24: your first interrupt. It stops a spell and locks that school of magic for 10 sec.
• Cone of Cold at level 26: instant Frost damage in a cone in front of you, and a 40% slow for 6 sec.
• Conjure Mana Agate at level 28: a gem you can use in a fight to get mana back instantly.
• Ice Armor at level 30 replaces Frost Armor with more Armor and some Frost resistance.

Talents: which spec to level

Your first talent point arrives at level 10 and you get one more every level, so you have 11 points at 20. Mage talents sit in three trees, Arcane, Fire and Frost, and your spec (specialization) is the tree you put most points in. The first row of a tree is open from level 10, the second from 15 and the third from 20.

ForeverDB publishes a leveling build for each tree at 20, and the same build carried on to 30, on the Mage builds page. You can try them in the talent calculator. Here's what the level 20 leveling builds take:

The published level 20 leveling builds. The builds page explains every point and has the level 30 versions.

Our pick for a first Mage is Frost. Frostbolt's slow and Frost Nova buy you time on every pull, and at 20 Ice Lance turns each freeze into fast damage. Fire and Arcane both level well too, but they have fewer tools for when a pull goes wrong, and the Arcane build is built around Arcane Blast, which you only get at level 20.

Most Mage talents only describe rank 1 in the client. Where a build puts extra points into a talent, that's the likeliest choice rather than a confirmed one, and the builds page says so for each point.

Tip: Changing your mind is cheap in the beta. Blizzard's September 24 notes set a talent reset to 1 silver if you haven't reset recently; after a reset the next one costs much more, and the price drops back to 1 silver after an hour. Blizzard says this is for the beta only.

What to press

Your rotation is the order you use your spells in. This is the level 20 leveling rotation from the builds page, in plain words. A pull is how you start a fight, and a mob that's attacking you is said to have aggro on you.

Frost, one enemy

1. Target the mob from as far away as your spells reach and cast Frostbolt. That's your pull.
2. Keep casting Frostbolt. Its slow means the mob walks to you slowly, so you often land several casts before it arrives.
3. When it reaches you, cast Frost Nova to freeze it in place.
4. While it's Frozen, throw Ice Lance two or three times: it's instant and deals 300% more damage to a Frozen target. Or walk out of melee range and go back to Frostbolt.
5. Damage can break the freeze early, so throw the Lances right away. If Frost Nova is on cooldown and you need another, Cold Snap resets it.
6. Finish a nearly dead mob with Fire Blast or your wand rather than a full Frostbolt.

Before level 20 you don't have Ice Lance yet. From 10 to 19 the plan is Frostbolt, Frost Nova when the mob arrives, walk away, and Frostbolt again. Before 10 it's Frostbolt or Fireball from range, then Fire Blast or your wand to finish.

Several enemies

• Pull one mob at a time. If a second one joins, Polymorph it (if it's a Beast or a Humanoid) and kill the first.
• If a group reaches you, Frost Nova freezes all of them. Walk away, then use Blizzard on the group or pick them off with Ice Lance while they're Frozen.
• Blizzard is expensive: rank 1 costs 320 mana in the client, so save it for real packs.
• Arcane Explosion hits everything around you. It's good for finishing a group of weak mobs, but it means standing close.
• Never use area spells next to a sheep. Any damage breaks Polymorph.

Fire and Arcane

Fire: open with Pyroblast from as far away as you can (its long cast is fine while the mob hasn't noticed you), then cast Fireball. Use Fire Blast whenever it's ready, especially right after a kill: Wake of Fire makes your next Fire Blast within 30 sec much more likely to crit. When a mob reaches you, Frost Nova and step back, or Ice Lance it while it's Frozen.

Arcane: cast Arcane Blast once or twice from range, then spend the stacks on Arcane Missiles. Each stack makes the next Blast cost 175% more mana, so two stacks is the usual limit at this level. Any other damage spell ends the stacks, and that includes Frost Nova and Fire Blast, so pick your finisher before you start stacking.

The builds page has the full rotation for each spec, for one enemy and for groups.

Mana, food and water

Mana is your real limit. Plan each fight so you finish it with some mana left, and drink after every fight or two. You never need to buy water: you make it.

• Conjure Water (level 4) conjures Conjured Water. Conjure Water (level 10) makes Conjured Fresh Water, and Conjure Water (level 20) makes Conjured Purified Water.
• In the client, Conjured Water restores 42 mana over 18 sec, Conjured Fresh Water 104 mana over 21 sec and Conjured Purified Water 174 mana over 24 sec, as long as you stay seated.
• Food works the same way: Conjure Food (level 6) conjures Conjured Muffin, and Conjure Food (level 12) conjures Conjured Bread.
• Each cast makes 2 items, and conjured items disappear if you're logged out for more than 15 minutes, so make a fresh stack each time you play.
• Eat and drink at the same time. Both work while you sit, so you get health and mana back together.
• Your wand costs no mana. Use it to finish mobs that are almost dead. Blizzard's September 24 notes say wands no longer gain damage from your spell damage, so only the wand's own damage counts.
• Keep Arcane Intellect up: a bigger mana pool means more spells per drink. Spirit on your gear also speeds up mana regeneration between fights.
• Forever adds campfires: sit by one for a few moments to get rested and pick up one-hour buffs. The Deep Dive recap explains how they work.
• At 20, Evocation refills a big share of your mana in a fight that's going badly. It has a long cooldown, so don't use it on an ordinary pull.

Watch out: Blizzard's known issues say the short wind-up before a wand shot is currently much shorter than intended, and a fix is coming. Wanding may feel slower once it's fixed.

Staying alive: kiting and control

Kiting means keeping a mob at a distance while you damage it: you slow or freeze it, walk away, turn and cast. It's the core Mage survival skill, and Frost Nova is the heart of it.

1. A mob reaches you. Cast Frost Nova and it's frozen in place for up to 8 sec.
2. Turn and walk away until you're back at casting range. Walking backwards is slower than turning and running.
3. Turn around and cast Frostbolt, or Ice Lance while the mob is still Frozen.
4. If it reaches you again with Frost Nova on cooldown, finish it with Fire Blast or your wand, or use Blink to get away.

• Polymorph: sheep one mob while you fight another. Only one target can be a sheep at a time, and it regenerates very quickly while it's a sheep.
• Blink (level 20): jump 20 yards away instantly, breaking stuns and roots.
• Mana Shield (level 20): physical damage drains your mana instead of your health, 2 mana per point absorbed. Use it when you're about to die, not all the time.
• Run early. If a pull goes wrong and your spells are on cooldown, run back the way you came; mobs give up the chase after a while.

Watch out: Don't fight in melee range. Being hit also delays your casts (players call this pushback), so a Mage who stands and trades blows usually loses. Freeze, walk away, then cast.

Tip: Blizzard's September 24 notes changed Arcane Missiles: it now checks line of sight once, when the channel starts, so a caster that steps behind a pillar mid-channel still takes every missile.

Class quests up to 20

Mages have a few class quests before 20. The details below come from Classic's data: quest names, who gives them, where they stand and what they rewarded in Classic. The Forever client still has these quests, but Blizzard may have changed them. In Classic they went to Human and Gnome Mages (Alliance) and Undead and Troll Mages (Horde), so Orc and Skyborne Mages, which didn't exist in Classic, may get their own versions.

Classic data (CMaNGOS classic-db) for class quests the Forever client has. Map pins use Classic positions placed on Forever's maps.

• The level 10 rewards are a staff or an off-hand orb. The Forever client lists Ley Orb and Arcane Orb as Mage-only off-hands you can also use to restore 80 to 240 mana.
• In Classic's data, both Gathering Materials quests ask for 10 Linen Cloth plus quest items, so keep some Linen Cloth from humanoid mobs as you approach 15.
• The robes are Mage-only in the client too, which suggests the quests are still meant for Mages.

Speculation: Whether Forever kept these quests exactly as in Classic, and who gets them, isn't confirmed yet. Treat the givers, places and rewards above as Classic's version until someone sees them in Forever.

Gear, weapons and professions

You wear cloth. Look for Intellect (a bigger mana pool), Spirit (faster mana regeneration between fights), Stamina (more health) and spell power, which makes every spell hit harder. Blizzard's Deep Dive says Forever combines spell, melee and ranged hit into one stat and crit into another, and that caster weapons now give spell damage, so staves and daggers with spell power are real upgrades while you level.

The gear planner scores every item for your spec and level, and the gear lists on the Mage PvE page show the best items for each slot at 20 and where they come from. Some highlights from those lists:

• Tailoring makes much of the best cloth at 20. For Frost that's Silky Circlet (level 20), Filigreed Silky Gown (level 15) and Filigreed Silky Leggings (level 20); Fire and Arcane have matching Flame and Pearly pieces. Spidersilk Boots (level 20) is on every Mage list.
• Dungeons: Classic's loot tables put Mindthrust Bracers in Shadowfang Keep.
• Wands: Enchanters make Novice's Practice Wand (level 1), Lesser Magic Wand (level 5) and Greater Magic Wand (level 13), so a friend who enchants, or the auction house, can get you a wand early. In Classic's data, quests reward wands such as Sable Wand (Underground Assault) and Sizzle Stick (Deviate Eradication).

Professions that suit a Mage: Tailoring, because you loot plenty of cloth from humanoid mobs and it makes your gear and bags, and Enchanting, which makes wands and breaks down green items you don't need into enchanting materials. If you'd rather make money, pick two gathering professions (Herbalism, Mining or Skinning) instead. The professions guide explains how each one works in Forever.

Grouping and your first dungeon

In a group your job is damage and control. The tank (a sturdy player who holds the mobs' attention) starts each fight, the healer keeps everyone alive, and you kill whatever the tank is hitting. Let the tank hit a mob a few times before you start: your damage builds threat, and if your threat passes the tank's, the mob turns on you.

• Buff the group with Arcane Intellect and hand out conjured water before the first pull.
• Polymorph one dangerous Humanoid or Beast at the start of a big pull, and keep area spells away from it.
• Remove Lesser Curse clears a Curse or a Bane from the tank or the healer.
• You have no interrupt until Counterspell at level 24, so Polymorph dangerous casters instead.
• If a mob runs at the healer, Frost Nova it where it stands so the tank can pick it back up.

The first dungeon guide walks you through your first run. The dungeon list has every instance with its bosses and quests, and the Mage PvE page has a dungeon build for each spec.

Common beginner mistakes

• Skipping the trainer. New ranks are big upgrades; check in at every even level.
• Pulling too much. Fight one mob at a time until you know your tools, and look around for wandering mobs before you pull.
• Standing in melee. Frost Nova, walk away, then cast.
• Breaking your own sheep with Arcane Explosion, Blizzard or Flamestrike.
• Casting Blizzard on one mob. It's a pack spell; a single mob is a Frostbolt job.
• Stacking Arcane Blast too far. Each stack raises the next Blast's cost; stop at one or two when your mana is low.
• Forgetting your buffs. Keep Frost Armor and Arcane Intellect up.
• Using Fire Blast from your normal spot. Its range is only 20 yards in the client (26 with Flame Throwing), shorter than your other attacks.
• Logging out on a bag of water. Conjured food and water vanish after 15 minutes offline.

What Forever changed for Mages

• Two new spells at 20: Arcane Blast and Ice Lance, both former Season of Discovery runes that are now trainer spells.
• Talents that use them: Improved Channeling now also protects Arcane Blast casts, and Incineration raises the crit chance of Fire Blast, Ice Lance, Arcane Blast and Scorch.
• Wake of Fire, a Fire talent, takes 2 sec off Fire Blast's cooldown and makes your first Fire Blast after a kill much more likely to crit. Blizzard lengthened that window from 20 to 30 seconds on September 24.
• Stronger first ranks: Frostbite's freeze chance, Impact's stun chance, Improved Frost Nova and Flame Throwing all do more at rank 1 than in Classic, going by the client's old and new tooltips.
• Spells scale better with gear: the client gives early ranks of Fireball, Frostbolt and Fire Blast a much bigger share of your spell power than Classic did; Fireball rank 1 goes from 0.123 to 0.429.
• Longer buffs, wider cleansing: Arcane Intellect lasts 1 hour (30 min in Classic), and Remove Lesser Curse also removes Banes, a new debuff type used by Warlocks.
• Arcane Missiles checks line of sight only when the channel starts.
• New race options: Orc Mages, and High Order Skyborne Mages for the Alliance.
• Cooldown Manager: Mages can test Blizzard's new Cooldown Manager (Options, Gameplay Enhancement). The known issues say Arcane Blast can't be tracked yet.

Wake of Fire was difficult to make proper use of while leveling, due to the Mage needing to restore mana between combat. The increased duration should help smooth out the experience. Blizzard, WoW Forever Beta Development Notes – Updated September 24

Every change we've found is on the Mage changes page, and our Mage outlook covers what's coming after 20.

Checked against WoW Forever beta build 1.60.1.70009.