Mage Leveling Guide From 1 to 70 for TBC Classic (2024)

This guide will aim to provide you with a clear skill and gear path to maxlevel as a Mage in TBC Classic. We will focus on talents, skills to buy andspell rotation, as well as leveling gear and the class-specific quests you willfind along the way.

Providing non-Hunter leveling advice is outside the scope of this article and iscovered in our general TBC leveling guide.

Mages have three talent trees: Arcane, Fire and Frost

Frost is the recommended leveling build due to its consistency and flexibilitywhen dealing with World PvP, as well as the strong defensive power of Frost'schill and freeze effects which will render most enemies unable to fight back.Other strong points in Frost's are the Summon Water Elemental andIcy Veins abilities, both introduced in The Burning Crusade.These abilities further enhance the already-great Frost Mage capabilities.

Frost can be played with a focus on single-targeting enemies one by one,which is maybe one of the easiest specializations to play in TBC Classic andextremely safe. The main downside, however, is that it can be slow to level withrelative to the alternative.

You can also throw caution to the wind and specialize in pulling and killing5+ enemies at once. In order to do this you will require a specialized talenttree focused on Improved Blizzard and a lot of skill toconsistently pull it off. It will also be required that you farm relativelyuncontested spots, as otherwise you will not have enough enemies to pull inorder to make the AoE Grinding worth it. Contrary to not having enough enemiesto pull, the AoE cap introduced in TBC will also make your AoE spells deal amaximum amount of damage which means you can also pull too many mobs and dealless damage to them.

Another advantage of leveling as Frost is that it gets you acquainted with thespells and talents you will be using during the first raids of TBC Classic:Karazhan, Gruul's Lair and Magtheridon's Lair. Frost also maximizes yourability to control enemies in 5-man dungeons and deliversSummon Water Elemental as a great burst-damage tool. In addition toall that, Frost is the most Mana efficient spec for leveling, raiding anddungeons. Later on, when you have farmed your pre-raid gear and already havesome raid pieces, you will be able to easily switch to Fire or Arcane spec ifyou choose.

Compared to single target leveling, AoE leveling will always be faster.The new TBC talents make this task much easier than it was before in Classicwith Icy Veins and Summon Water Elemental being thetwo main reasons. After reaching Level 70, at the most optimal pace, the AoEspec will only be useful for farming and 5-man dungeons. If you plan to doanything beyond that, respeccing to a proper Arcane,Fire or Frost raiding spec isrecommended.

If you are especially fond of it, Arcane has a flexible, strong, all-roundertree which starts off slow but quickly grows in power once you approach Level 40and beyond. Once you hit 70, the Arcane spec we recommend for leveling will have tobe changed into a raiding spec.

Finally, Fire is a very powerful single-target leveling spec, having some ofthe best damage-increasing talents in the game on its tree. Once you hit 70you will be optimized for Level 70 dungeons, and if you have some Mana supportlike a Shadow Priest, you may also go into raids with this spec. However, arespec to a Fire raiding spec is recommended and generally Frost will beless-dependent on support.

The ultimate way to speed level in TBC Classic is through Mage AoEgrinding. Because you need Blizzard and Improved Blizzardin order to do it consistently, begin with this Fire-focused build. It willmake questing and single targeting enemies up until Level 22, where you willget the two talents above, safer and easier.

At this point, you should be able to immediately begin grinding likea pro with our AoE grinding guide:

A nice bonus of this approach is that by the time you are near Level 70, thismethod of leveling will have made you quite rich from the items the mobs you farmdrop. While doing this AoE grinding method, it is recommended to set yourhearthstone to a nearby inn and have a bank alt you can send all your loot toquickly.

To get an impression of how AoE grinding for Levels 1 to 60 is done, watchthis guide by Stretta.For Levels 60 to 70, we recommend taking a look at the Slave Pens methodby Fp, demonstratedin this impressive video.

Leveling with a premade group in dungeons is extremely fast in TBC Classic,and you can maximize your experience-per-hour by pulling big groups usingImproved Blizzard-based kiting strategies such as the ones we listin the Mage AoE grinding strategy guide.

While leveling the following way will not be for everyone, as it requires a group ofpeople of specific classes doing specific pulls for maximum efficiency, feelfree to give it a try with your friends. If doing so, we recommendDevilin's Prot Video!

Even though this video is with a Paladin, you can also farm dungeons in asimilar fashion and make even bigger pulls with five Mages, taking turns onIce Blocking pulls and using your Water Elementals andaggro-ping-pong strategies to kill bosses. There are no limits to your creativitywhen using this method.

Learning professions early on is very useful, as you can naturally levelthem as you go and avoid extra work at max level. However, leveling professionsduring leveling also decreases your leveling speed because you will not killmobs during that time and gain no experience. It is a decision you have tomake on your own on whether you want to have maxed out professions when you hitLevel 70 or not; the time investment stays regardless. Gathering professions,however, are great to level during your journey from 1-70, since they oftenincrease with your natural progress through the different zones of World ofWarcraft.

We recommend that you learn First Aid as soon as possible for easyself-healing. Skinning, Herbalism, and Miningare great primary professions for a leveling Mage, allowing you to make extragold or accumulate materials that you can use to level crafting professionslater. There is also a case to be made for leveling Engineeringearly on since its crafts, such as Iron Grenade, can make your levelingmuch easier

While Mages are quite gear-independent while leveling. However, you shouldstill aim to gather items with as much Intellect as possible, making your Manapool last longer before you have to drink or wait for regeneration. Intellectfurther allows you to cast more spells against enemies before you are runningoom, which is especially important for AoE grinding.

Spirit is also a useful stat for leveling, as it increases your Health andMana regeneration rates, but keep in mind you can only regenerate Healthoutside combat unless you are a Troll and Mana will not regenerate if you casta spell in the past 5 seconds unless you use Mage Armor, making thisstat mostly useful while traveling and eating/drinking, which you will do a lot.

Spell Damage will be very useful at maximum level, but its impact on thespells you will be using while leveling is low, and it has no effect whatsoeveron wand damage which you will be using often to finish enemies off; do notgo out of your way to get it on your gear for the lower levels. During higherlevels past Level 50, and if you do a lot of single-target farming, the valueof Spell Damage greatly increases, as it is free damage that does not cost youany Mana.

Stamina allows you to live for longer and can be useful in PvP situationsand when gathering enemies up for AoE grinding, but for the most part youshould aim to kill enemies from a distance, taking little damage in return.

By the time you hit level 70 and want to learn how to play in PvE content,we recommend you to use the other Mage articles for guidance. Raid spots forMages in TBC are more rare than in other expansions of WoW, so gainingadditional knowledge over your competition will help you getting in.