Class: Mage, Talent Builds

[Walorin]

I'm looking for either a discussion on mage talent builds or a database that someone knows of that already covers this subject. As of now I'm level 39 and every last talent point has been spent in the fire tree of talents. However, I am not totally set on being Mr. Fireball and would like to at least hear some other ideas.

Thanks in advance.

[Narsica]

Even though I am a priest, I do have a 60 mage alliance side(I continuously was top damage on raids in MC with him too =D)

33 Frost/18 Arcane Talent

Basically with shatter I have a 50% chance crit rate on frozen targets, combined with the frostbite talent, I crit often. My mage had the following gear: Tarun's Gear. Notice though that this was for an MC raid where he needed the fire resist gear- normally his wand is +19 frost, his other trinket is Burst of knowledge(not the faire card), and his gloves are the Sandworm gloves from the Silithus questline. Basically he does ~850ish frostbolts, with ~1000ish with his Talisman activated and he gets up to 2250 on crits. Very good solo spec, and helps with easily taking out one mob at a time rather quickly(He solo's elites very easily, and because his frostbolts only cost 221 mana, he rarely if ever goes out).

[Walorin]

Thanks Narsica. I've always noticed that frost spells seemed to be cheaper with a bit less damage. However, I have liked the other added effects (slowing, freezing in place, etc.). I already respeced my talents once, but I'm strongly considering trying out the frost tree. Thanks for the info.

[Maube]

I personally am a frost mage. I have enough points in Arcane to give me disruption free Arcane Missle and Evocation

the rest is in frost. Iceblock has saved my life many times, often with double digit hitpoints left and ice shield is very good for when you are soloing or farming large groups.

Firetree does seem to net more damage, but the slowing effects of Ice let me stay alive longer, provided the level 5 cow doesnt resist the frostbolt three times in a row

[Narsica]

Firetree does seem to net more damage, but the slowing effects of Ice let me stay alive longer, provided the level 5 cow doesnt resist the frostbolt three times in a row

Yeah I think that's more of a "over time" kinda thing thanks to the crit ignite hits adding more dot damage. Hence why I think frost is the better- it's way more defensive, you'll live longer, and with shatter- you don't have to waste gear slots with getting +crit gear; rather, just go for +damage(whereas fire mages seem to have to balance for both +crit and +damage).

[Qiris]

It's no secret I am Maube's apprentice frost/arcane mage! My build is much like Narsica's alliance mage (33/18) and it's served me well. Normally Tainish and I duo, and my build helped me even when he was still 10 levels higher than me.

Not going to bead the ice block/ice shield horse to death, but much has been posted here already those are true life-savers.

I love being a frosty glass cannon

[Walorin]

Ok, I think you've all easily convinced me and told me what I pretty much wanted to hear. I'll be respecing very soon as an arcane / frost mage.

Another question. Do you arcane / frost mages still learn the fire spells? If I'll have no use for them whatsoever I'd hate to spend the coin on them. Especially since the cost is getting so high. It's about 1g 50s per spell right now.

Thanks again.

[Waldonnis]

Yes, definitely learn the fire spells. There are quite a few encounters where you'll run into mobs that are immune or highly resistant to frost, such as Ras in Scholomance and some of the ghouls in WPL. Fire and arcane will be your best spells in these situations, so it helps greatly to keep them around and fully upgraded.

Once you respec to frost/arcane, you'll find that you don't do nearly as much damage with fire compared to before, but you'll definitely notice how much more efficient frostbolts are, both in terms of mana and cast time.

I've often thought of going back to a more fire-centric build for the raw damage output, but still haven't found a reason to since I don't PvP often (where fire really shines) and like the lower mana cost of frost. I've chosen instead to focus on tweaking my frost/arcane build a little more...which admittedly is a bit different than Maube's or Xiris' (and very different from the normal frost/arcane build). If you look at Verissi's talents on the roster page, you'll see what I mean.

Also, I somewhat disagree with Narsica about balancing +crit and +dmg being less important for a frosty (but respect the position...it's a personal choice, after all). The lackluster damage output from frostbolts almost begs for more crit chance to be effective in DPS fights. Adding +dmg is a no-brainer and almost required as well. The only bad thing about having as much +crit gear as I usually have on is that it's not as easy to control your aggro in an instance/raid situation. In the end, though, it's a matter of style and making sure to use your head crit-wise when you're not soloing (a string of crits can have some nasty consequences in a raid).

[Narsica]

Also, I somewhat disagree with Narsica about balancing +crit and +dmg being less important for a frosty (but respect the position...it's a personal choice, after all). The lackluster damage output from frostbolts almost begs for more crit chance to be effective in DPS fights. Adding +dmg is a no-brainer and almost required as well. The only bad thing about having as much +crit gear as I usually have on is that it's not as easy to control your aggro in an instance/raid situation. In the end, though, it's a matter of style and making sure to use your head crit-wise when you're not soloing (a string of crits can have some nasty consequences in a raid).

True, I just never needed the crit though. You get a baseline 50% chance to crit(shatter/frostbite combo) that's already a 1 per 2 frostbolts chance of critting. Combine that with your intellect(certain amount of int = 1% chance to crit) and the fact that most of the really good +damage comes with a +1% crit, you'll have a good baseline 60ish % chance to crit. My alliance mage the ogre magi rod, the mana igniting cord, robe of the archmage, etc items that gave some more crit. Overall though- with my trinkets(Talisman of Ephemral power and Burst of knowledge), my frostbolts go from 221 mana to 121 mana with ~1000ish damage, 2000+ crits. Very mana efficient, very decent steady heavy damage(doesnt' rely on the trinket or arcane power, rather rely's on the crits from shatter). Worked very well for me!

[Waldonnis]

True, I just never needed the crit though. You get a baseline 50% chance to crit(shatter/frostbite combo) that's already a 1 per 2 frostbolts chance of critting. Combine that with your intellect(certain amount of int = 1% chance to crit) and the fact that most of the really good +damage comes with a +1% crit, you'll have a good baseline 60ish % chance to crit. My alliance mage the ogre magi rod, the mana igniting cord, robe of the archmage, etc items that gave some more crit. Overall though- with my trinkets(Talisman of Ephemral power and Burst of knowledge), my frostbolts go from 221 mana to 121 mana with ~1000ish damage, 2000+ crits. Very mana efficient, very decent steady heavy damage(doesnt' rely on the trinket or arcane power, rather rely's on the crits from shatter). Worked very well for me!

Actually, you only get the 50% baseline crit chance when rooted (frostbite's chances are even slimmer), so it's much less than half in normal practice. As for the rest...well, I can only wish to have gear like that right now, so it's like comparing apples to oranges. The spec may be the same (or similar), but my damage output is half of that right now and makes frost/arcane lackluster for damage and efficiency.

Heh, take that gear on a fire mage and a frosty would seem very weak. If I could've lived with more downtime, I'd probably have respec'ed back to fire by now...

[Chrysalia]

Heres my build, it suits me well for pvp and pve, I pwn most other mages in pvp except for fire mages that went up to Blast Wave.

26/12/11

http://www.clanskullcrusher.com/roster/Chrysalia.htm

So far I like it, and it seems to work, regardless if it doesnt fit any mold.

My last 2 points are going into Arcane Instability

Edited March 21, 2006 by Chrysalia

[Narsica]

Actually, you only get the 50% baseline crit chance when rooted (frostbite's chances are even slimmer), so it's much less than half in normal practice. As for the rest...well, I can only wish to have gear like that right now, so it's like comparing apples to oranges. The spec may be the same (or similar), but my damage output is half of that right now and makes frost/arcane lackluster for damage and efficiency.

Heh, take that gear on a fire mage and a frosty would seem very weak. If I could've lived with more downtime, I'd probably have respec'ed back to fire by now...

Hence why I said shatter/frostbite combo(shatter is 50% on a frozen target, be it because of frost nova or the shatter effect). The 15% chance from frostbite may not seem much on paper- but it procs QUITE frequently for me. I mean heck, the rogue that hits you 10 times in ~2 seconds....that's alot of 15% chances.

Not saying it is best, just saying it's worked for me(It's what I was since I made my mage the night the game landed ). Combine all that damage with the great defensive powers of ice block(removes ANY negative effect, be it a curse, viper sting, bleed, slowing, scatter shotted, blinded, etc) and ice barrier(extra 825ish health that while up allows you not to be interrupted in spellcasting..), you're golden. And there's alot of excellent blues out there that you can get outside of MC/BWL/AQ/ZG etc.

Shivery Handwraps, Briarwood reed, Burial Shawl, Burst of Knowledge, Crimson Felt Hat, Crystalline Threaded Cape, Dragonrider Boots, Thuzadin Sash, Sublime Wristguards, Sandworm Skin Gloves, Sacred Cloth Leggings, Robe Of Everlasting Night, Spellshock Leggings, Skyshroud Leggings, etc.

All of these drop in either UBRS,LBRS, Scholo, Strath, Silithus Questline loot bags, DM Bosses, ZF Bosses, or are made(Robe Of Everlasting Night) or are random world drops(Sacred Cloth Leggings).

To be honest, I'd personally just rather see a mage do steady constant DPS, rather then an OMGZORS one time every 2-5 mins Trinkets/Arcane Power/Combustion/POM/Pyroblast arcane/fire mages.