WoW Forever Mage Talent Calculator & Build Planner

How to use this Mage talent calculator

Use the planner to test a build before you spend gold or commit to a leveling, dungeon, raid or PvP role. You can explore every tree without creating an account.

Is Mage a good fit for you?

Players who enjoy strong spell damage, kiting, crowd control and useful travel tools. Cloth armor and mana make mistakes visible, so slows and defensive play are part of your damage plan.

What changed from Classic for Mage?

This calculator uses the current Forever beta snapshot rather than assuming the Classic tree is unchanged. For Mage, the current data contains 6 new talents, 31 changed talents and 3 moved talents.

• NEW means the talent was not present in the Classic comparison tree.
• CHANGED means the name or position may look familiar, but its effect or rank wording differs.
• MOVED means the talent is in a different row or location, which can change how quickly you reach it.

Turn on Compare to Classic in the calculator for a quick check, then open the Mage class changes page for the broader explanation.

Inside the Mage trees

Every Mage talent, in tree order. A rank is one level of a talent, and each rank makes the effect stronger. Click any talent for the full rank-by-rank wording, straight from the beta client.

✦ Arcane (18 talents)

Mana control, burst windows, and free casts. A glass cannon with a spreadsheet. Key picks: Arcane Blast, Missile Barrage, Presence of Mind, Arcane Power. New in Forever: Arcane Geometry, Arcane Blast, Missile Barrage.

Talent	Ranks	Row	Effect
✦ Wand Specialization MOVED	2	1	Increases your damage with Wands by 25%.
✦ Arcane Focus CHANGED	5	1	Improves your chance to hit with Arcane spells by 5%.
✦ Improved Channeling CHANGED	5	1	Gives you a 100% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while channeling Arcane Missiles and a 70% chance while casting Arcane Blast.
✦ Arcane Subtlety CHANGED	2	2	Reduces your target's resistance to all your spells by 15 and reduces the threat caused by your Arcane spells by 30%.
✦ Magic Absorption CHANGED	2	2	Increases all your resistances by 10 and causes all spells you fully resist to restore 2% of your total mana. Cannot trigger more often than 1 time per sec.
✦ Arcane Concentration	5	2	Gives you a 10% chance of entering a Clearcasting state after any damage spell hits a target. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%.
✦ Arcane Resilience CHANGED	2	2	Increases your Armor by an amount equal to 50% of your Intellect.
✦ Arcane Geometry NEW	2	3	Increases the range of your Arcane spells by 6 yards.
✦ Arcane Impact CHANGED	3	3	Increases the critical strike chance of your Arcane spells by 6%.
✦ Arcane Blast NEW	1	3	Blasts the target with energy, dealing 57 to 65 Arcane damage. Each time you cast Arcane Blast, the damage of all your other spells is increased by 10% and the mana cost of Arcane Blast is increased by 175%. Effect stacks up to 4 times and lasts 8 sec or until any other damage spell is cast.
✦ Arcane Shielding CHANGED	2	4	Decreases the Mana lost per point of damage taken when your Mana Shield spell is active by 33% and increases the resistances granted by your Mage Armor spell by 50%.
✦ Improved Counterspell CHANGED	2	4	Your Counterspell also Silences the target for 4 sec.
✦ Arcane Meditation CHANGED	3	4	Allows 50% of your Mana regeneration to continue while casting.
✦ Missile Barrage NEW	1	4	Gives your Arcane Blast spell a 40% chance, and your Fireball, Frostbolt, and Frostfire Bolt spells a 20% chance to reduce the channeled duration of your next Arcane Missiles spell by 50%, reduce the Mana cost by 100%, and missiles fire every 0.5 sec.
✦ Presence of Mind	1	5	When activated, your next Mage spell with a casting time less than 10 sec becomes an instant cast spell.
✦ Arcane Mind CHANGED	5	5	Increases your Intellect by 10% and increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Arcane spells by 100%.
✦ Arcane Instability CHANGED	3	6	Increases the damage done by your spells by 3% and your critical strike chance by 3%.
✦ Arcane Power CHANGED	1	7	For the next 15 sec, your spells deal 30% more damage while costing 30% more mana to cast.

✦ Fire (17 talents)

Burning damage over time for top raid numbers. Also: explosions. Big ones. Key picks: Pyroblast, Hot Streak, Blast Wave, Combustion. New in Forever: Hot Streak.

Talent	Ranks	Row	Effect
✦ Wake of Fire CHANGED	2	1	Reduces the cooldown of your Fire Blast spell by 2 sec. Killing a non-trivial target increases the critical strike chance of your next Fire Blast cast within 20 sec by 50%.
✦ Incineration CHANGED	3	1	Increases the critical strike chance of your Fire Blast, Ice Lance, Arcane Blast, and Scorch spells by 6%.
✦ Improved Fireball CHANGED	5	1	Reduces the casting time of your Fireball and Frostfire Bolt spells by 0.5 sec.
✦ Ignite	5	2	Your critical strikes from Fire damage spells cause the target to burn for an additional 40% of your spell's damage over 4 sec.
✦ Flame Throwing	2	2	Increases the range of your Fire spells by 6 yards.
✦ Impact CHANGED	3	2	Gives your Fire spells a 10% chance to stun the target for 2 sec.
✦ Burning Soul CHANGED	3	3	Gives your Fire spells a 70% chance to not lose casting time when you take damage and reduces the threat caused by your Fire spells by 30%.
✦ Improved Flamestrike	3	3	Increases the critical strike chance of your Flamestrike spell by 15%.
✦ Pyroblast CHANGED	1	3	Hurls an immense fiery boulder that causes 101 to 131 Fire damage and an additional 44 Fire damage over 12 sec.
✦ Improved Scorch CHANGED	3	4	Your Scorch spell has a 100% chance to cause your target to be vulnerable to Fire damage. This vulnerability increases all Fire damage you deal to your target by 3% and lasts 30 sec, stacking up to 5 times.
✦ Improved Fire Ward	2	4	Causes your Fire Ward to have a 20% chance to reflect Fire spells while active.
✦ Hot Streak NEW	1	4	Your non-periodic critical strikes with Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Fire Blast, and Scorch grant Hot Streak for 15 sec. Hot Streak reduces the cast time of Pyroblast by 25%, stacking up to 3 times.
✦ Master of Elements CHANGED	3	4	Your Fire and Frost critical strikes will refund 30% of their base mana cost.
✦ Critical Mass	3	5	Increases the critical strike chance of your Fire spells by 6%.
✦ Blast Wave CHANGED	1	5	A wave of flame radiates outward from the caster, damaging all enemies caught within the blast for 154 to 184 Fire damage, and Dazing them for 50% reduced movement speed for 6 sec.
✦ Fire Power	5	6	Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 10%.
✦ Combustion CHANGED	1	7	When activated, this spell causes each of your Fire damage spell hits to increase your critical strike chance with Fire damage spells by 10%. This effect lasts until you have caused 4 non-periodic critical strikes with Fire spells.

✦ Frost (19 talents)

Slows and freezes that keep enemies off you. The safest way to level a mage. Key picks: Ice Lance, Ice Block, Cold Snap, Ice Barrier. New in Forever: Ice Lance, Fingers of Frost.

Talent	Ranks	Row	Effect
✦ Frost Warding CHANGED	2	1	Increases the Armor and resistance given by your Frost Armor and Ice Armor spells by 30%. In addition, gives your Frost Ward a 20% chance to reflect Frost spells and effects while active.
✦ Improved Frostbolt	5	1	Reduces the casting time of your Frostbolt spell by 0.5 sec.
✦ Elemental Precision CHANGED	5	1	Improves your chance to hit with Frost and Fire spells by 5%.
✦ Ice Shards	5	2	Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Frost spells by 100%.
✦ Permafrost CHANGED	3	2	Increases the duration of your Chill effects by 33% and reduces the target's speed by an additional 10%.
✦ Improved Frost Nova	2	2	Reduces the cooldown of your Frost Nova spell by 4 sec.
✦ Frostbite	3	2	Gives your Chill effects a 15% chance to Freeze the target for 5 sec.
✦ Piercing Ice	3	3	Increases the damage done by your Frost spells by 6%.
✦ Frost Channeling MOVED	3	3	Reduces the mana cost of your Frost spells by 15% and reduces the threat caused by your Frost spells by 30%.
✦ Ice Lance NEW	1	3	Deals 28 to 32 Frost damage to an enemy target. Deals 300% increased damage to Frozen targets.
✦ Improved Blizzard CHANGED	3	3	Adds a Chill effect to your Blizzard spell. This effect lowers the target's movement speed by 40% for 1.5 sec.
✦ Arctic Reach	2	4	Increases the range of your Frostbolt and Blizzard spells and the radius of your Frost Nova and Cone of Cold spells by 20%.
✦ Ice Block MOVED	1	4	You become encased in a block of ice, protecting you from all physical attacks and spells for 10 sec, but during that time you cannot attack, move, or cast spells.
✦ Shatter CHANGED	3	4	Increases the critical strike chance of all your spells against Frozen targets by 50%.
✦ Improved Cone of Cold CHANGED	3	5	Increases the damage dealt by your Cone of Cold spell by 35%.
✦ Cold Snap CHANGED	1	5	Finishes the remaining cooldown on all your other Frost spells.
✦ Fingers of Frost NEW	2	5	Gives your Chill effects a 15% chance to grant you the Fingers of Frost effect, which treats your next 2 spells cast as if the target were Frozen. Lasts 15 sec.
✦ Winter's Chill CHANGED	5	6	Gives your Frost damage spells a 100% chance to apply the Winter's Chill effect, which increases the chance your Ice Lance and Frostbolt spells will critically hit the target by 2% for 15 sec. Stacks up to 5 times.
✦ Ice Barrier CHANGED	1	7	Instantly shields you, absorbing 447 damage. Lasts 1 min. While the shield holds, your spellcasts will not be interrupted or delayed from taking damage.

Want the exact numbers? The full Mage talent reference lists every rank word-for-word from the beta client. And if you're wondering what Blizzard shuffled, every Mage change vs Classic sits on one page.

Quick checklist before you lock in points

• Check the level slider before judging a build. A deep talent may be a level-60 plan, not a level-20 plan.
• Read the prerequisite path, not just the final talent. Five points in a tree unlock the next row.
• Use the class guide to compare roles, then use build comparison when two versions look similar.
• Save or copy the link after testing. The current snapshot page explains how shared links behave when beta data changes.

Best races for Mage

Human · Gnome · Undead · Troll · Orc (new in Forever) · Skyborne (Alliance)

Gnomes get more mana and can escape roots. Undead ignore most fear effects. Compare every racial passive side by side on the races page.