Mage builds

A safe Frost build for questing to 60. Frostbolt slows and sets up freezes, and Ice Lance with Fingers of Frost and Shatter turns those freezes into burst. Ice Block, Cold Snap and Ice Barrier give you a way out of bad pulls, and the Arcane points add armor, wand damage and free casts.

• Ice Lance does much more damage to frozen targets; Fingers of Frost and Frostbite create those freezes from your chill effects.
• Shatter adds crit against frozen targets and Ice Shards raises Frost crit damage.
• Improved Frost Nova, Permafrost and Improved Cone of Cold help with kiting and small multi-mob pulls.
• Frost Channeling lowers mana cost, so you drink less between fights.
• Arcane: Arcane Resilience for armor, Wand Specialization for low-mana finishes, Arcane Concentration for free spells.

Forever shortened Cone of Cold and weakened Improved Blizzard, so large AoE pulls are harder than in Classic.

A crit-based Fire build for raids and dungeons at 60. Fireball and Scorch crits stack Heating Up, which speeds up the next Pyroblast, while Improved Scorch, Ignite and Fire Power build up damage on the target. The Arcane points add Missile Barrage procs and free casts, and Frost adds spell hit.

• Heating Up reduces Pyroblast cast time after Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Fire Blast and Scorch crits, so crit chance drives the rotation.
• Incineration, Critical Mass and Combustion all raise Fire crit chance; Ignite adds a burn on each crit.
• Improved Scorch makes the target take more Fire damage from you, and Fire Power rewards having several Fire effects on it.
• Accelerant shortens Fireball and Frostfire Bolt casts; Burning Soul lowers pushback and threat.
• Missile Barrage gives Fireball a chance to make the next Arcane Missiles faster and free; Precision in Frost adds hit.

Ignite and Improved Scorch now only benefit the Mage who applied them, so several Fire Mages no longer share one debuff.

A deep Arcane build around the new Arcane Blast, Arcane Wrath and Missile Barrage. Arcane Blast stacks up spell damage and its own mana cost, Missile Barrage turns procs into fast free Arcane Missiles, and Arcane Power plus Presence of Mind give burst. The Fire points add crit to Arcane Blast and shorter Arcane Wrath casts.

• Arcane Blast builds stacks that add spell damage but raise its mana cost, so you need to manage mana and not spam it forever.
• Missile Barrage gives Arcane Blast and Arcane Wrath a chance to make the next Arcane Missiles faster and free.
• Arcane Impact, Arcane Mind and Arcane Instability raise Arcane crit chance, crit damage and overall spell damage.
• Arcane Concentration and Arcane Meditation help with mana; Arcane Power is the main burst cooldown.
• Fire: Incineration adds Arcane Blast crit and Accelerant shortens Arcane Wrath; Frost: Precision adds hit.

Arcane in Forever is a new design with less community testing than Fire and Frost, so treat this as a starting point to adjust.

A control build for battlegrounds and world PvP. Frost goes to Ice Barrier with every slow and freeze talent, so you can lock a target down and burst it with Ice Lance and Shatter. The Arcane side adds a silencing Counterspell, armor and a stronger Mana Shield.

• Frostbite, Improved Frost Nova and Permafrost give more and longer freezes and slows.
• Ice Lance with Fingers of Frost and Shatter turns a frozen target into crit burst.
• Ice Block, Cold Snap and Ice Barrier are the defensive core; Ice Barrier also stops pushback while it holds.
• Arctic Reach extends Frostbolt range and the Frost Nova and Cone of Cold radius.
• Arcane: Improved Counterspell silences the target, Arcane Resilience adds armor and Arcane Shielding makes Mana Shield cheaper.