Mages received quite a bit of love in WoW Classic: Season of Discovery. They can get their hands on an absurdly powerful Rune in the starting area, they’re prettygood DPS, andthey can become healersnow to boot. And all of that is in spite of the fact that Mages were a very solid class to begin with.
If you ever wanted to roll a Mage in World of Warcraft Classic, now is as good a time as any. This is a class that has a lot to offer to both newcomers and returning players alike, especially if you’re looking to play as a DPS. Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about playing as a Mage in World of Warcraft Classic: Season of Discovery.
RacesRunesRotationStat PriorityProfessionsTalentsBiS GearConsumables
Best Races For Mage DPS In Season Of Discovery
Alliance players have two options to choose from when it comes to playing a Mage, one of which is clearly better than the other. Gnomes have always been one of the best races for Mages, and that hasn’t changed in Season of Discovery. Expansive Mind is the big selling point here as this passive Racial increases a Mage’s Intelligence by 5%. That may not sound like much, but every little bit of extra Int helps a ton in Season of Discovery. Escape Artist is the other Racial worth mentioning, though this one is more helpful in PvP than PvE.
Humans are the only other Alliance race that can become Mages, but they don’t have anything particularly interesting to offer aside from The Human Spirit. This Racial works similarly to Expansive Mind, only instead of Intelligence you get a 5% extra Spirit. Extra Spirit means extra mana regeneration, however, the regen only becomes active after you’ve stopped casting spells for a few seconds. In other words, it’s not very useful in combat. The other Human Racials can largely be ignored when playing as a Mage DPS.
Horde players also get access to two races that can become Mages and, once again, one of them is better than the other for the role. In this case, Trolls are the recommended race thanks to Berserking, a Racial that increases casting speed by anywhere between 10 and 30% for 10 seconds. The caveat is that you need to be on low health to take full advantage of the Racial, which is not ideal. Regeneration is another Racial that can come in handy from time to time, especially as a Mage DPS.
Undead is your only other option and while they have some neat utilitarian Racials, they don’t provide any bonuses to Mages. Cannibalize, Water Breathing, and Will of the Forsaken are all nice to have, but they’re tailored more toward leveling or PvP than group content PvE. Shadow Resistance is the only Racial that will help you in Blackfathom Deeps, however, this ability loses its usefulness in later phases of Season of Discovery, for the most part.
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Blackfathom Deeps Raid Loot | WoW Classic: SOD
Every piece of loot in the 25-man BFD for WoW Season of Discovery
Best Runes For Mage DPS In Season Of Discovery
Mage DPS players get access to some very powerful Runes during Phase 1 of Season of Discovery. While Frost has always been the go-to spec in WoW Classic, Fire and Arcane have now become overall better choices thanks to these Runes. That said, at this stage we recommend focusing on Fire rather than Arcane if you want to maximize your DPS. Fire is more mana-intensive, but it’s also slightly stronger both in terms of burst damage and damage over time.
Burnout is the obvious choice for the Chest slot if you’re playing a Fire Mage, however, it does come with a little downside. Despite increasing your Critical Strike chance by a significant amount, the Rune also drains some of your mana in the process. Fire Mages struggle the most with mana management, so consider using Burnout only once you’re confident that you have enough mana. Otherwise, you’ll want to go with Enlightenment. This Rune increases your DPS while also enabling a portion of your mana to regenerate during combat. Burnout is better for short and intensive bursts of DPS, but Enlightenment is better for prolonged engagements.
Living Flame is one of the first Runes you acquire while playing as a Mage and it’s ridiculously powerful while leveling. The Rune starts to become a little weaker once you tackle end-game content, but it still remains your best bet for the Legs slot. The biggest advantage of Living Flame is that it can inflict a significant amount of AoE damage for comparatively little mana. There is a little downside in that the spell relies on good positioning to inflict maximum damage, though.
Living Bomb is an iconic spell that was originally introduced during Wrath of the Lich King, however, Mages can already use it in Season of Discovery thanks to the Rune Engraving system. The spell works just like before and provides Mages with a powerful DoT that also inflicts AoE damage if Living Bomb sticks to the target for its full duration. Combined with Flamestrike, Living Bomb gives Fire Mages solid AoE damage without having to resort to spells from other schools of magic, such as Blizzard or Arcane Explosion.
All Mage Runes and Locations | WoW Classic: SOD
Discover where to find all the new Mage Runes in Season of Discovery!
Mage DPS Rotation In Season Of Discovery
The Mage DPS rotation in WoW Classic used to revolve almost exclusively around Frostbolt, but Season of Discovery made things a bit more interesting. The DPS rotation is still extremely straightforward, however, you do have several more spells to work with in this case. This is especially true if you’re playing as a Fire Mage, which is the build we’re focusing on in this guide.
You’ll want to start every fight by applying the usual buffs along with either Dampen Magic or Amplify Magic depending on the situation. Those last two buffs come with some downsides, so think carefully before applying them to yourself, and always ask before applying them to teammates. Feel free to apply Arcane Intellect to all other mana users.
Whenever you’re fighting a boss or another high-value target, you’ll always want to start by applying Living Flame and Living Bomb, your two most important DoTs. Living Flame comes with a 1-minute cooldown, so it’s important not to waste it on low-value targets unless you’re in a situation that requires a lot of AoE damage. Use single-target spells like Fireball and Scorch until you need to reapply your DoTs again. Evocation is the only spell that can replenish your mana during combat, but it’s on an 8-minute cooldown. Mix things up by using your wand attacks so you don’t run out of mana too quickly.
Fire Blast should only be used towards the end of the fight to finish off enemies. Meanwhile, Pyroblast is a more powerful version of Fireball that should only be cast if you have mana to spare and can afford to wait 6 seconds for the spell to cast. It’s fairly situational, but can come in handy if you need an additional DoT. The last spell you’ll want to incorporate in your rotation is Flamestrike, however, this should only be used when fighting groups of mobs. More often than not, you’ll only want to cast it once because it’s quite expensive.
Stat Priority For Mage DPS In Season Of Discovery
Fire spells are very mana-intensive, so it’s important to get as much mana as possible via Intellect. However, you also need to focus on Spell Hit Chance to ensure that you don’t miss any spells and waste valuable mana in the process. Stats that increase your overall damage are obviously very important as well. The more damage you do, the fewer spells you’ll need to kill an enemy.
Spell Hit Chance
Importance:Spell Hit Chance is perhaps your most important stat in Season of Discovery where every bit of mana counts. Increasing this stat lowers the chance that you’ll miss with spells, especially against higher-level enemies.
Notes:You only need 5% Spell Hit Chance to successfully hit most enemies in the game, with the only exception being raid bosses. You won’t find a lot of gear that increases Spell Hit Chance in Phase 1 of SoD, but you may reach that cap simply by speccing into the Elemental Precision talent.
Importance:Intellect is a primary stat that increases your mana pool and your Critical Strike Chance with spells. While you can get extra Crit via other means, mana is a bit trickier. There are only a couple of items in Phase 1 that come with the highly sought-after MP5 stat, meaning you’ll have to rely almost entirely on Intellect for mana.
Notes:Mages gain 15 points of mana for each point of Intellect they have. Meanwhile, they also get 1% Critical Strike Chance with spells for every 60 points of Intellect.
Spell Power
Importance:Spell Power increases the damage you do with spells by a flat amount. Keep in mind that pieces of gear can have either generic Spell Power or Elemental Spell Power as a stat. As a Fire Mage, you’ll obviously want to focus on gear that increases Fire damage, in particular.
Notes:This stat will likely become even more important in later phases, but you don’t want to focus too much on it for the time being. Most pieces of gear that increase your Spell Power don’t have Intellect, meaning you’ll lose out on some mana by equipping one of these items. Having a couple of those items is fine, but you’ll still want to prioritize Intellect over Spell Power/Fire Damage.
Critical Strike Chance
Importance:This stat increases your chances of scoring a Critical Strike with spells. Critical Strikes deal 150% of a spell’s normal damage. You’ll automatically raise your Critical Strike Chance by investing heavily into Intellect.
Notes:Intellect aside, you can also increase your Crit Chance via gear and talents like Incinerate and Improved Flamestrike. Meanwhile, increasing your Crit Chance also causes talents like Ignite to proc more often.
Importance:Spirit is a primary stat that increases both your health regen and your mana regen. Mana regen is very important for Mages, however, you don’t want to focus too much on this stat because the regeneration from Spirit becomes active only after you’ve stopped casting spells for at least 5 seconds.
Notes:The only spell that benefits from having more Spirit is Evocation. Starting with Phase 2, the stat will become more important as it will also provide benefits to Mage Armor, which becomes available at level 34.
Best Professions For Mage DPS In Season Of Discovery
Tailoring, Enchanting, and Alchemy are all good professions to pick up if you’re playing as a Mage DPS. Engineering can also provide some benefits, but they’re quite insignificant at this stage of Season of Discovery, especially in PvE. Alchemy can be a bit tricky to level up since it requires Herbalism, though you may buy all the mats you need from the auction house if you have the gold. Here are some of the main benefits you get from each profession:
Enchanting
Tailoring is a fantastic profession to have while leveling up, and you won’t be sorry for having picked it up at max level either. The new Extraplanar Spidersilk Boots are BiS for DPS Mages in Phase 1. Meanwhile, you may also craft a few more solid items like the Phoenix Bindings and the Robes of Arcana.
Enchanting gives you easy access to wands and Oils, including the Blackfathom Mana Oil. Meanwhile, you can also enchant gear for yourself and others. The stat increases from Enchanting are very small at this stage, but even +3 Int or Stamina can sometimes make a difference during Phase 1.
Everybody needs consumables, so you’re able to look at Alchemy as a great money-making profession. Of course, you can also craft Potions and Elixirs for yourself and only sell your surplus on the auction house. Just keep in mind that you’ll need to invest money into materials to level up Alchemy if you don’t have Herbalism.
Best Talent Spec For Mage DPS In Season Of Discovery
Fire is the go-to DPS spec at the moment, especially once you’ve managed to get your hands on a few pieces of endgame gear. If you have a good amount of Intellect from gear, you can mitigate the fact that Fire builds are very mana-intensive, at least to some extent. Fire Mages still need to be very careful about managing their resources regardless of their gear, though, so ensure you have a good wand to fall back on when you inevitably run out of mana during prolonged fights.
BIS Gear For Mage DPS In Season Of Discovery
We are currently working on BiS lists for all classes and specializations in Phase 1 of Season of Discovery. Stay tuned as we will provide a link here when we have it complete.
Best Raid Consumables For Mage DPS In Season Of Discovery
Blackfathom Deeps is the only raid you can tackle in Season Of Discovery Phase 1. Stocking up on consumables before any raid is highly recommended, and this one is no exception. BFD may be an entry-level raid, but it still pays to go in well-prepared. Make sure to grab some of the consumables below before you jump in.
Offensive Consumables
Defensive Consumables
Warrior PvE DPS Guide | WoW Classic Season Of Discovery
Warrior players can look forward to exciting changes in Season of Discovery. This guide will teach you everything you need to know about them.
