Mage Leveling for Cataclysm

Fire Talents

1. 2/2 Improved Fire Blast – more range and more crits, all in one.
2. 2/2 Master of Elements – your crits refund mana
3. 1/3 Burning Soul – reduces the casting time lost from attacks against you.
4. 3/3 Fire power – A bit more fire damage and an exploding orb
5. 2/3 Ignite – Your crits cause the target to burn for a short time
6. Blastwave – Area Effect burnination
7. Hot Streak– spell crits have a chance to make yor next Pyroblast instant and free.
8. 2/2 Improved Scorch – Eliminates the mana cost of Scorch
9. 1/2 Cauterize – shots that would kill you, don’t. But you burn.
10. Combustion – Consumes all of the periodic effects on your target, blows them up, and reapplies another periodic effect.
11. 2/2 Improved Hot streak – any time you crit twice in a row with your non-periodic spells you have a chance to trigger Hot Streak
12. Firestarter – Your Molten Armor spell allows you to cast scorch while moving
13. 2/2 Cauterize – Finishing off #9
14. Dragon’s Breath – Shoots flames in a cone and stuns targets, further damage to those targets will revive them.
15. 3/3 Molten Fury – increases damage against low health targets
16. 1/2 Improved Flamestrike – Reduces Flamestrike casting time and give Blastwave a chance to trigger Flamestrike
17. 3/3 Critical Mass – Living Bomb and Flame Orb do more damage, Pyroblast and Scorch cause your opponent to become a bit more vulnerable to spell damage
18. 2/2 Pyromaniac – Increases spell haste by a small amount if three or more targets are suffering from your periodic damage
19. Living Bomb – Your target takes periodic damage, then explodes, damaging up to three nearby targets
20. You are level 69 and you can now take talents from the other trees
21. 3/3 Burning Soul – reduces the casting time lost from attacks against you. Finishing off #3.
22. 2/2 Impact – Gives your damaging spells a 10% chance to reset the cooldown on Fire Blast and to cause the next Fire Blast you cast to stun the target for 2 sec and spread any Fire damage over time effects to nearby enemy targets within 12 yards.
23. 2/2 Improved Flamestrike – Finishing off #16
24. 3/3 Piercing Ice – Increases crit chance of spells by 3%
25. 2/3 Netherwind Presence – increases spell haste by 3%

Glyphs:

You get one each of Prime, Major, and Minor at levels 25, 50, and 75, for nine total. Glyphs are permanently learned. You buy your glyph, right click it, and you’ve learned it. It’s added to your glyph list. This means that you can swap glyphs depending on the situation or what you want to experiment with.

You need Vanishing Dust to swap glyphs (if you’re level 80 or less) and you can get that from your Inscription Supplies vendor.Glyphs are nice, but not essential for leveling. If they’re overpriced for your available gold stash then don’t worry about them. Level 81+ requires Dust of Disappearance, level 86+ requires Tome of the Clear Mind. 

Speaking of gold, if you need more than check our gold guide for some tips that should help increase your character’s cash flow.

Level 25:

• Glyph of Pyroblast – Increases the critical strike chance of your Pyroblast spell by 5%..
• Glyph of Frost Nova – Your Frost Nova targets can take an additional 20% damage before the Frost Nova effect automatically breaks.
• Glyph of Armors – Increases the duration of your Armor spells by 30 min. This is a level 34 glyph, but is the best of the minors.

Level 50:

• Glyph of Fireball – Increases the critical strike chance of your Fireball spell by 5%.
• Glyph of Ice Block – Your Frost Nova cooldown is now reset every time you use Ice Block.
• Glyph of the Monkey – Your Polymorph: Sheep spell polymorphs the target into a monkey instead.

Level 75:

• Glyph of Molten Armor – Your Molten Armor grants an additional 2% spell critical strike chance.
• Glyph of Polymorph – Your Polymorph spell also removes all damage over time effects from the target.
• Glyph of Arcane Brilliance – Reduces the mana cost of your Arcane Brilliance spell by 50%.

Frost Talents

1. Piercing Ice – Rank 3/3 – Increases the critical strike chance of your spells by 3%.
2. Early Frost – Rank 2/2 – Reduces the cast time of your Frostbolt spell by 0.6 secs. This effect becomes inactive for 15 sec after use.
3. Improved Cone of Cold – Rank 2/2 – Your Cone of Cold also freezes targets for 4 sec.
4. Piercing Chill – Rank 2/2 – Your Frostbolt criticals apply the chill effect to 2 additional nearby targets.
5. Permafrost – Rank 1/3 – Your Chill effects reduce the target’s speed by an additional 4%, and the target’s healing received. In addition, whenever you deal spell damage, your Water Elemental is healed for 5% of the amount dealt.
6. Fingers of Frost – Rank 3/3 – Gives your offensive Chill effects a 20% chance to grant you the Fingers of Frost effect, which causes your next Ice Lance or Deep Freeze spell to act as if your target were frozen and increases Ice Lance damage by 25%. Fingers of Frost can accumulate up to 2 charges and lasts 15 sec.
7. Icy Veins – Rank 1/1 – Hastens your spellcasting, increasing spell casting speed by 20% and reduces the pushback suffered from damaging attacks while casting by 100%. Lasts 20 sec.
8. Improved Freeze – Rank 1/3 – Gives your Water Elemental’s Freeze spell a 33% chance to grant 2 charges of Fingers of Frost when it strikes enemy targets.
9. Cold Snap – Rank 1/1 – When activated, this spell finishes the cooldown on all Frost spells you recently cast.
10. Brain Freeze – Rank 3/3 – Your spells no longer trigger Arcane Missiles. Instead, your Frost damage spells with chilling effects have a 15% chance to cause your next Fireball or Frostfire Bolt spell to be instant cast and cost no mana. When Frostfire Bolt is instant, it can benefit from Fingers of Frost. Brain Freeze cannot be triggered by Frostfire Bolt.
11. Enduring Winter – Rank 1/3 – Reduces the mana cost of all spells by 3%. In addition, your Frostbolt spell has a 33% chance to grant up to 10 party or raid members mana regeneration equal to 1% of their maximum mana over 10 sec.
12. Ice Barrier – Rank 1/1 – Instantly shields you, absorbing damage. Lasts 1 min. While the shield holds, spellcasting will not be delayed by damage.
13. Shatter – Rank 2/2 – Multiplies the critical strike chance of all your spells against frozen targets by 3, and increases the damage done by Frostbolt against frozen targets by 20%.
14. Ice Floes – Rank 2/3 – Reduces the cooldown of your Frost Nova, Cone of Cold, Ice Block, Cold Snap, Ice Barrier, and Icy Veins spells by 14%.
15. Frostfire Orb – Rank 2/2 – Your Frostfire Orb gains a chill effect, slowing targets damaged by the Frostfire Orb by 40% for 2 sec. In addition, reduces the speed of targets slowed by your Frostfire Bolt’s chill effect by an additional 20%.
16. Ice Floes – Rank 3/3 – Finishing off #14
17. Improved Freeze – Rank 3/3 – Finishing off #8.
18. Frostfire Orb – Rank 2/2 – Your Frostfire Orb gains a chill effect, slowing targets damaged by the Frostfire Orb by 40% for 2 sec. In addition, reduces the speed of targets slowed by your Frostfire Bolt’s chill effect by an additional 20%.
19. Deep Freeze – Rank 1/1 – Stuns the target for 5 sec. Only usable on Frozen targets. Deals damage to targets that are permanently immune to stuns.
20. You’re level 69 and have spent 31 points. You can now branch out into the other trees.
21. Ice Shards – Rank 2/2 – Adds a chill effect to your Blizzard spell. This effect lowers the target’s movement speed by 40%. Lasts 2 sec. In addition, increases the range of your Ice Lance spell by 5 yards.
22. Master of Elements – Rank 2/2 – Your spell criticals will refund 30% of their base mana cost.
23. Netherwind Presence – Rank 3/3 – Increases your spell haste by 3%.
24. Burning Soul – Rank 3/3 – Reduces the casting time lost from taking damaging attacks by 70%.

Glyphs:

You get one each of Prime, Major, and Minor at levels 25, 50, and 75, for nine total. Glyphs are permanently learned. You buy your glyph, right click it, and you’ve learned it. It’s added to your glyph list. This means that you can swap glyphs depending on the situation or what you want to experiment with.

You need Vanishing Dust to swap glyphs (if you’re level 80 or less) and you can get that from your Inscription Supplies vendor.Glyphs are nice, but not essential for leveling. If they’re overpriced for your available gold stash then don’t worry about them. Level 81+ requires Dust of Disappearance, level 86+ requires Tome of the Clear Mind. 

Speaking of gold, if you need more than check our gold guide for some tips that should help increase your character’s cash flow.

Level 25:

• Glyph of Frostbolt – Increases the critical strike chance of your Frostbolt spell by 5%.
• Glyph of Frost Armor – Your Frost Armor also causes you to regenerate 2% of your maximum mana every 5 sec.
• Glyph of Slow Fall – Your Slow Fall spell no longer requires a reagent.

Level 50:

• Glyph of Ice Lance – Increases the damage of your Ice Lance spell by 5%.
• Glyph of Polymorph – Your Polymorph spell also removes all damage over time effects from the target.
• Glyph of Armors – Increases the duration of your Armor spells by 30 min.

Level 75:

• Glyph of Frostfire – Increases the damage done by your Frostfire Bolt by 15% and your Frostfire Bolt now deals 3% additional damage over 12 sec, stacking up to 3 times, but no longer reduces the victim’s movement speed.
• Glyph of Ice Barrier – Increases the amount of damage absorbed by your Ice Barrier by 30%.
• Glyph of Conjuring – Reduces the mana cost of your Conjuring spells by 50%.

Arcane Talents

1. 3/3 Netherwind Presence – Increases spell casting speed by a small amount.
2. 2/3 Arcane Concentration – Chance for your next spell to cost 0 mana.
3. 2/2 Improved Arcane Missiles – More missiles
4. 3/3 Torment the Weak – More damage to your snared/slowed targets
5. Presence of Mind: When activated your next spell becomes instant. Put this in a macro with any of your “workhorse” spells.
6. 2/2 Arcane Flows – Reduces the cooldowns of Presence of Mind, Arcane Power, Invisibility, and Evocation
7. 2/3 Prismatic Cloak – Reduces damage taken by a small amount and reduces the fade time of Invisibility
8. Arcane Tactics – Increases the damage of the entire party or raid by 3%
9. 2/2 Incanter’s Absorbtion – Damage taken to your shields increases your own damage. In addition, nearby enemies are knocked back when the shield is destroyed.
10. 2/2 Improved Arcane Explosion – faster cooldown, less mana used, and a lot less threat
11. 2/2 Arcane Potency – 15% greater crit chance for your next two damage spells after gaining Clearcasting or Presence of Mind
12. Slow – slows movement speed, ranged attack speed, and casting speed.
13. 2/2 Nether Vortex – (requires Slow) Your Arcane Blast now applies Slow if no other target is already slowed.
14. 2/2 Improved Mana Gem – Use of Mana Gem also increases Spell Power
15. 2/2 Missile Barrage – faster missiles
16. 1/2 Improved Blink – Move faster after Blinking.
17. Arcane Power – more damage at a higher mana cost.
18. You are now level 69 and can branch out onto the other trees.
19. 3/3 Piercing Ice – chance to crit with spells is increased by 3%
20. 2/2 Master of Elements – Your crits refund some mana
21. 3/3 Burning Soul – reduces the time lost (when casting) from damaging attacks by 70%
22. 2/2 Invocation – More spellpower after interrupting a spell.

Glyphs

Buy all that you might need and swap them in appropriate situations. This is just an example list. If you have one you like better then use it.

All glyphs will change with Mists of Pandaria.

Prime Glyphs

1. Glyph of Arcane Missiles – Increases the critical strike chance of your Arcane Missiles spell by 5%.
2. Glyph of Arcane Blast – Increases the damage from your Arcane Blast buff by 3%.
3. Glyph of Mage Armor – Your Mage Armor regenerates 20% more mana.

Major Glyphs

1. Glyph of Arcane Power – While Arcane Power is active the global cooldown of your Blink, Mana Shield, and Mirror Image is reduced to zero.
2. Glyph of Evocation – Your Evocation ability also causes you to regain 40% of your health over its duration.
3. Glyph of Polymorph – Your Polymorph spell also removes all damage over time effects from the target. This one is great in group situations (including PvP) where targets might have DoTs on them that will break the Poly. It’s less useful when solo.

Minor Glyphs

1. Glyph of Mirror Image – Your Mirror Images cast Arcane Blast or Fireball instead of Frostbolt depending on your primary talent tree.
2. Glyph of Conjuring – Reduces the mana cost of your Conjuring spells by 50%.
3. Glyph of Armors – Increases the duration of your Armor spells by 30 min.