An Overview of the Mage Class in WoW
Mages, or magi, are casters that specialize in burst damage and area of effect spells. Their primary role in a group at lower levels is damage dealing and crowd control through the use of Polymorph, temporarily changing humanoids and beasts into harmless critters. At end-game levels, the role of the magi expands into utility, as many encounters in the game are difficult to finish without Counterspell, Detect Magic, Remove Lesser Curse and Spellsteal. The mages’ utility spells also include conjuring food and drink, and the ability to teleport to major cities and open portals for party members. In PvP combat, magi deal ranged damage while using escape skills to avoid taking damage during combat. Their primary stats are intellect, stamina, spell damage, spell critical strike rating, and spirit (the order of importance varies with the player’s role).
Background
Mages, the most common of arcanists, are found all over Azeroth. They focus on magic that creates and that changes things, most often with the purpose of damaging their enemies and boosting the power of their allies.WoWRPG 59 Such being can obtain a familiar, which is a normal animal that gains new powers and becomes a magical beast when summoned to service by a mageWoWRPG 59, while others choose to become focused mages.APG 17 Mages also understand the workings of arcane energy so well that they can counter most magic with great effectiveness. An adept mage who has dedication to and natural predilection for one of the schools of specialization becomes more entrenched. At this point the mage chooses either evocation or transmutation as a preferred school, and casts spells from his/her chosen school. The mages of the Kirin Tor first mastered the arts of casting spells using the elements of ice and fire. Mages are also known for being able to summon elementals, usually water elementals, but can also summon air, earth and fire elementals as well.WoWRPG 59,60
The first known mages on Azeroth were night elves, who lived on the shores of the Well of Eternity and wielded its powers.
Origins
Early Kaldorei civilization was defined by direct manipulation of magic drawn from the Well of Eternity to create and sustain their society. The constant use of the well attracted attention from Sargeras and the Burning Legion, and their coming resulted in a massive war known as the War of the Ancients. The war had grave consequences, for even though the combined might of Azeroth’s mortal races were victorious, the continent of Kalimdor was shattered, and a swirling, raging miasma of seastorms flowed into the vacant area where the Well of Eternity use to reside. This Great Sundering caused the Well’s waters to be permeated into the atmosphere and spread magic all over the world.
This event convinced the majority of night elves to reject arcane magic and embrace Malfurion Stormrage’s call for druidism. Many of the Highborne refused this lifestyle, and left in self-imposed exile to Lordaeron where they eventually founded their kingdom of Quel’Thalas and became the High Elves. When their kingdom came under siege by the trolls of Zul’Aman the high elves agreed to teach one hundred humans the arts of magic in exchange for military aid from the human nation of Arathor. From these two races, the arcane arts have spread to various races all over Azeroth.
Dalaran
The most powerful mages of the Eastern Kingdoms were perhaps the Archmagi of Dalaran, until the city was destroyed by Archimonde during the Second Invasion of the Burning Legion. Without Dalaran and thus without a centralized, ruling body of mages, exploration into the arcane arts has largely been experimental and an individualistic endeavor, as the old regulations and standardized teaching methods espoused by the Kirin Tor – for the most part – do not apply any longer. There is much more emphasis between the master-apprentice relationship than there is to a student-curriculum relationship. There have been both benefits and drawbacks to this. With a general nonexistence of rules the arcane arts have enjoyed a great degree of advancement during the events of World of Warcraft. However, without the authority of the Kirin Tor to fear, the number of warlocks has grown disturbingly high. Many are former mages, and most live openly and declare their study into the forbidden arts publicly.
Races
The Mage class can be played by the following races:
Alliance
Gnomes
Humans
Draenei
Horde
Undead
Trolls
Blood Elves
Weapons and armor
When first created, a mage is only able to wield staves and wands; one can later learn how to use daggers and one-handed swords from weapon masters in Stormwind, Darnassus and the Exodar for the Alliance, Undercity and Silvermoon for the Horde. Wands go in the ranged slot and have the autoshoot ability. A mage can only wear cloth armor.
Spells
Mages have a wide variety of spells which fall in to three schools of magic: Arcane, Fire or Frost. Fire and Frost are elemental schools, and most spells in these schools do damage. Arcane is the school of pure mana energy, and while it has a few damage-dealing spells, most spells are of a utility nature.
Fire spells are primarily damage-dealing spells, including direct single-target damage and area of effect (AoE) damage. With Fire comes other side-effects such as damage over time, and for fire-specializing mages, stun, disorient and daze effects. Fire spells typically have a higher damage output potential than Frost or Arcane spells.
Frost spells are primarily single-target and area of effect damage-dealing spells, but with more emphasis on chilling effects. Nearly every frost spell has a chill or freeze effect that fully or partially immobilizes an enemy. This includes freezing it in place (called a root) or slowing its movement speed (called a snare). Frost specialized mages can further improve these chilling effects and increase frost damage output to respectable levels. Frost spells help the mage use kiting as a combat tactic.
Arcane spells are primarily utility spells, though there are several useful direct-damage arcane spells, including the very useful area of effect spell Arcane Explosion. Arcane spells allow the mage to remove curses, provide crowd control, absorb damage, teleport himself or others to major capital cities, Slow Fall, Counterspell, buff players’ intellect stat, save mana for later use in the form of mana gems, conjure food and water for himself or others, and perform many other useful roles that give the mage class its perks.
All information used with permission from WoWWiki, for more great WoW information, click here:WoWWiki – Mage Guide
World of Warcraft Gametime and Account Registration Codes
Want to know about the other classes in World of Warcraft to see if another one might suit you better? Here is the basics of the different classes in WoW to help you determine which one is best for you.
Tags: how to play a mage, mage, mage basics, mage class, MMO, mmorpg, World Of Warcraft, WoW, wowwiki
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