Every mage tree in Forever gets a proper rotation. Arcane stacks Arcane Blast and cashes it in with Missile Barrage, Fire turns crits into faster Pyroblasts with Heating Up, and Frost gets Ice Lance and Fingers of Frost for shatter combos against any target. Frostfire Bolt and a teleport to Dalaran join the trainer, and Orcs and the High Order Skyborne can now be mages.
At a glance
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
| Role | Ranged damage |
| Resource | Mana |
| Armor | Cloth |
| Races | Human, Gnome, Undead, Troll, and new in Forever, Orc and High Order Skyborne |
| New on the trainer |  Frostfire Bolt at 40,  Teleport: Dalaran at 50 |
| Moved to the trainer |  Magic Attunement |
What changed from Classic
- Arcane Blast is the new Arcane talent spell. Each cast adds 10% damage to your other spells and makes the next Arcane Blast cost 175% more, stacking four times. The stacks last 8 seconds or until you cast a different damage spell.
- Missile Barrage gives Arcane Blast a 40% chance, and Fireball, Frostbolt or Frostfire Bolt a 20% chance, to make your next Arcane Missiles free, twice as fast and half as long.
- Heating Up makes Pyroblast part of the Fire rotation: crits from Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Fire Blast and Scorch take 25% off your next Pyroblast's cast time, stacking three times.
- Ice Lance and Fingers of Frost. Ice Lance deals 300% more damage to Frozen targets, and Fingers of Frost gives your Chill effects a 15% chance to treat your next two spells as if the target were Frozen, which works on bosses that cannot actually be frozen.
- Shatter now adds 50% crit against Frozen targets at three ranks.
- Improved Scorch and Winter's Chill are personal. Improved Scorch raises the Fire damage *you* deal to the target, and Winter's Chill raises the crit chance of your own Frostbolt and Ice Lance. Neither buffs other mages any more.
- Frostfire Bolt is a trainer spell at 40: Frostfire damage, a 40% slow, and a short damage-over-time effect.
Improved Fireball speeds it up as well. - Removed: Improved Arcane Explosion, Improved Arcane Missiles, Improved Mana Shield, Improved Fire Blast and Incinerate. Magic Attunement is a trainer spell now.
Arcane
Arcane Blast stacks into Missile Barrage procs; Arcane Power trades 30% more mana for 30% more damage over 15 seconds.
Arcane trades mana for damage. 
Arcane Blast arrives at 34, 
Missile Barrage at 38 and 
Arcane Power at 50.
Single target:
- Cast Arcane Blast three or four times. Each stack adds 10% damage to your next different spell and costs more mana.
- Cash the stacks in with Arcane Missiles, ideally on a Missile Barrage proc when it is free and fires twice as fast.
- Repeat. Drop to fewer Arcane Blasts per cycle when your mana gets low.
- Arcane Power and Presence of Mind together for burst: 30% more damage for 15 seconds, at 30% more mana.
Improved Channeling stops damage from interrupting Arcane Missiles and gives Arcane Blast a 70% chance to resist pushback. 
Arcane Mind adds 10% Intellect and doubles the critical damage bonus of Arcane spells, and 
Arcane Impact adds 6% Arcane crit. Clearcasting from 
Arcane Concentration is a free Arcane Blast at four stacks.
The Frost points take 
Frost Warding, three ranks of Improved Frostbolt, 
Permafrost and Improved Frost Nova.
Fire
Heating Up makes Pyroblast a real rotational spell: crits from Fireball, Fire Blast and Scorch cut its cast time by 25% a stack.
Fire is the crit spec. 
Heating Up arrives at 30 and 
Combustion at 46.
Single target:
- Build five stacks of
Improved Scorch on the target, 15% more Fire damage from you, and refresh it before it falls off. - Fireball as the filler.
- Fire Blast on cooldown, 2 seconds shorter with
Wake of Fire. - Pyroblast whenever Heating Up has stacked. At three stacks the cast is 75% shorter.
- Combustion for burst: each Fire hit adds 10% crit until you land three critical strikes.
Ignite burns for 40% of every Fire crit, 
Master of Elements refunds 30% of a crit's base mana cost, and 
Critical Mass adds 6% crit. 
Incineration adds 6% crit to Fire Blast and Scorch. Fire's only hit talent is 
Elemental Precision in Frost, so the build always spends five points there.
Frost
Fingers of Frost and Ice Lance give Frost a burst window even against bosses that cannot be frozen.
Frost is the steady spec and the best one for leveling. 
Ice Lance arrives at 31 and 
Fingers of Frost at 37.
Single target:
- Frostbolt as the main spell. Each one stacks
Winter's Chill, up to 10% crit for your Frostbolt and Ice Lance. - When Fingers of Frost procs, cast Ice Lance twice. Each counts as hitting a Frozen target: 300% more damage and 50% more crit from
Shatter. - Cold Snap to reset Ice Barrier, Ice Block or Frost Nova.
Ice Shards doubles the critical damage bonus of Frost spells and 
Piercing Ice adds 6% Frost damage. 
Ice Barrier lets you keep casting through damage while it holds. From Arcane, the build takes Arcane Concentration for free Frostbolts and 
Magic Absorption for resistances.
Stat priorities
Forever converts 10 Hit Rating to 1% hit and 14 Critical Strike Rating to 1% crit. Blizzard has not published the spell hit cap against Forever's raid bosses; in Classic it was 16%. Arcane Focus covers 5% of that for Arcane, and Elemental Precision 5% for Fire and Frost.
| Spec | Priority |
|---|---|
| Arcane | Hit, spell power, Critical Strike, Haste, Intellect, Spirit |
| Fire | Hit, spell power, Critical Strike, Haste, Intellect |
| Frost | Hit, spell power, Critical Strike, Haste, Intellect |
Every mage tree now rewards crit more than in Classic: Arcane Mind and Ice Shards double crit damage, and Fire feeds Ignite, Heating Up and Master of Elements. Arcane needs more Intellect and Spirit than the others to keep up with Arcane Blast's cost. Plan a set in the gear planner.
Leveling
Level as Frost. Frostbolt slows everything you hit, and the tree's early points cut its cast time and crit damage.
- Frostbolt until the target reaches you, Frost Nova, step back, and finish with Frostbolt or Fire Blast.
- From 31, Ice Lance on a Frost Nova'd target is a huge hit. Fingers of Frost turns any Frostbolt into that setup.
- Blizzard with Frost Nova and Cone of Cold handles packs once you are comfortable kiting.
- Frostfire Bolt at 40 works in any spec and slows by 40%.
- Teleport: Dalaran at 50 adds a new home port.
- With the Talented Legacy perk, Ice Lance comes at 26.
Races
- Human:
Sword Specialization adds 2% crit to all spells while you hold a sword, which makes a one-handed sword the default weapon for a Human mage. 
The Human Spirit adds Spirit. - Gnome:
Escape Artist breaks roots and snares. - Undead:
Will of the Forsaken breaks fear, charm and sleep. - Troll:
Berserking adds 10% casting speed for 10 seconds. - Orc: new to the class.
Blood Fury adds 10% spell power for 15 seconds, and 
Shatter Curse removes curses and reduces magic damage taken by 15% for 8 seconds. - High Order Skyborne: new to the class.
Read Ley Line doubles health and mana regeneration, and 
Wind Blessed adds 1% haste.