Mage Leveling Guide 70 to 80 for WotLK Classic

The Mage class is one of the original classes in the World of Warcraft game which has always been playable by both factions. Mages are known for their high damage-output and excellent damage-dealing utilities that frequently place one of their three specs in the top of damage meters both in PvP and PvE.

The Mage takes on a traditional wizard-like approach as found in many other Mages in other roleplaying games – using various spells from Frost, Fire and Arcane schools of teaching to deliver devastating spell damage to foes.

In WoW, Mages also excel at other useful aspects such as having the ability to create portals for themselves and allies, the ability to conjure consumable water and food out of thing air, and other classic abilities such as being able to polymorph enemy targets.

In WoW Classic: Wrath of the Lich King, and most other iterations of the game, Mages can be leveled very easily thanks to the classes good damage output, survivability, and utility throughout all levels of the game. Each of the three specs can be leveled efficiently in solo leveling playstyles.

Mages are also one of the few classes that can effectively power level uniquely by pulling large groups of mobs at once and then proceeding to AoE them down, as the class has the best AoE damage in the game after a certain level. This has resulted in many speed leveling records being played by Mages. Although, this type of leveling is not easy and requires a deep understanding of the game and class.

The following article is a beginner friendly guide that will go over some important decisions and tips that players of the class can follow to improve their leveling experience. This guide will be class specific and will focus on giving advice on how best to level as a Mage, and so will not be relevant to other classes of the game, nor will it be relevant to other expansions of the game other than WoW Classic: Wrath of the Lich King. Furthermore, this guide will not seek to provide a quest-per-quest guide as this is beyond the scope of the article.

10 Tips for Leveling a Mage 70 to 80

Leveling a mage from 70 to 80 can be a challenging task, but with the right tips and strategies, you can make the process much smoother. Here are some tips to help you level up your mage quickly and efficiently:

1. Focus on questing: Questing is one of the fastest ways to level up your mage. Look for quests that offer high experience rewards and prioritize completing them.

2. Utilize dungeon runs: Dungeons can provide a significant amount of experience points, especially if you have a good group. Take advantage of dungeon runs to level up your mage faster.

3. Use heirloom gear: Heirloom gear provides a boost to experience gained, making it an excellent investment for leveling up your mage. Look for heirloom gear that is suitable for your mage's specialization.

4. Take advantage of rested experience: Rested experience is a bonus experience that accumulates when you log out in an inn or a capital city. Make sure to log out in these locations to maximize your leveling efficiency.

5. Join a leveling guild: Joining a guild that focuses on leveling can provide you with additional resources and support. Look for a guild that has experienced players who can offer guidance and assistance.

6. Optimize your talent build: Make sure to choose talents that are optimized for leveling. Look for talents that provide increased damage or survivability to help you level up more efficiently.

7. Use consumables: Consumables such as potions and food can provide temporary buffs that can significantly increase your leveling speed. Stock up on these items and use them strategically.

8. Take breaks and rest: Leveling can be a grind, so make sure to take breaks and rest when needed. Burning yourself out can lead to decreased efficiency and enjoyment.

9. Explore different zones: Don't stick to one zone exclusively. Explore different zones and quest hubs to keep the leveling experience fresh and exciting.

10. Stay focused and motivated: Leveling from 70 to 80 can be a long journey, so it's essential to stay focused and motivated. Set goals for yourself and celebrate each milestone reached. By following these tips, you'll be able to level up your mage from 70 to 80 in no time. Good luck on your leveling journey!

General Mage Leveling Tips

The following are some general Mage leveling tips that can be followed alongside the rest of this article to improve your leveling experience.

• Due to the high speed at which the class can kill targets compared to others, you should kill any enemy you encounter when appropriate to increase your experience gain per minute. Killing each appropriately leveled target you encounter will be a better use of your time when travelling between areas of the game world, to minimize downtime. 
• Since the class is not gear dependent but instead relies on abilities, make sure you visit your class trainer often to rank up abilities and learn new ones that will increase your leveling speed as higher ranked abilities will deal more damage, and acquiring new abilities will also add utility to the classes kit.
• Once you have acquired your main AoE abilities past level 20, Mages can begin fighting more than one enemy at a time very comfortably. For this reason, past level 20 it is advised to get familiar with killing groups of 3 mobs or more (if you are comfortable doing so) and begin doing so often when questing to increase the speed at which you can complete quests that involve killing certain amounts of a mob.
• Whenever you solo grinding mobs, if for instance your guide recommends it or if you have run out of quests to do at a certain level, solo AoE grinding is much better than grouping with others. As a mage, you should be comfortably able to take on groups of enemies at once as stated above, and you do not need a healer or tank as the class’s kit and utilities allow it to survive these sorts of situations well. Solo grinding will provide much more experience than if you were grouped.
• To reduce downtime, always make sure you have stacks of conjured food and water in your inventory. You should not wait until you have run out of mana or health to then conjure food or water, as this can increase downtime. Therefore, always making sure to have at least 10 of each in your inventory at all times and being sure to replenish these when you are not in combat is a smart idea.
• Although you shouldn’t be running out of mana at all as you should be using your conjured water in between fights, if you do run out of mana, having a good wand can help kill low enemies. Mages do not require wands unlike other caster classes; however it is still a good item to keep upgraded whilst leveling as it can get you out of sticky situations.

Best Mage Leveling Spec

Mages have three playable specs that each are only able to deal damage under one of the different Mage schools in the game’s lore – Frost, Fire, and Arcane. Each talent tree has pros and cons for different scenarios, and each performs differently in various aspects of the game.

The Frost Mage specialization is the recommended spec to take for leveling, and allows players to focus on either exceptional single-target damage and takedown speed, as well as the best AoE abilities in the game out of any other damage class and spec.

Experienced players are able to capitalize on the specs unique ability to take on over 5 targets at once and kill them with ease, lending the spec to be seen as the faster to level if you choose to build an AoE leveling build. For new players to the game and class, an easier and safer option is to level as an ordinary Frost Mage, but as mentioned in the game tips, to routinely take on at least 3 targets at once to maximize your efficiency at clearing quest objectives.

Arcane is also a very flexible spec to level, however, does not have as strong of an AoE leveling experience as Frost Mages, and so can start to pick up a bit later on in the game (level 40 ish, as opposed to Frost Mages who begin to be able to rapidly progress through areas at level 20). This is another great spec to choose for leveling, however is definitely not as good or fast as Frost Mages.

The final of the three Mage specs is the Fire spec. Fire has great single target damage and has AoE damage output that is roughly in between the Arcane and Frost Mage. This spec is the preferred endgame PvE spec, and so if you wish to choose it whilst leveling it can be good as you can get familiar with the spec so that when you reach endgame you can use it then. However, this spec is still not able to AoE farm as well as Frost Mages.

Dungeons vs Questing

Due to the exceptional ability to AoE targets, Mages can be quite strong in dungeon leveling and can provide a very fast leveling experience when focusing on dungeons. Dungeon grinding, when done under the right conditions, provides a very efficient way to speed level in Wrath of the Lich King, however if you are in a slow group, it is not as efficient as solo questing if you are playing a class that is able to solo quest effectively.

Mages on the other hand, especially when in a Frost AoE build, can make dungeon progression very fast which makes the spec reliable and efficient for this leveling strategy. As a Mage, you will easily find a dungeon, as in WoW Classic, Blizzard removed the LFG finder and so instead you have to rely on finding dungeon groups through communicating with other players; and Mages are highly preferred as DPS choices for these dungeons.

If you are able to do so, dungeon leveling with multiple Frost AoE mages is an exceptionally fast leveling strategy that you can level very fast in doing so. This method however is quite hard, and new players of the class and game will struggle to do this as effectively as experienced players who know more about the game than others.

Alternatively, solo questing as any of the Mage specs is decently fast anyway, and so you may just prefer to focus on quests instead as you will be in control of your leveling experience instead of having to rely on other players. Furthermore, with the Frost Mages exceptional AoE abilities, questing becomes a breeze as you can pull groups of mobs at a time and down them easily even in a solo configuration.

The benefit of the Frost Mage class however, is that you can be built for AoE, whilst being effective at both dungeon and solo leveling, so you can mix and match your playstyle accordingly. This means that unlike some classes that you may ‘lock yourself in’ to a specific leveling strategy, such as if you are playing a healer spec to get faster dungeon spots, as a Frost Mage you will be able to both run dungeons effectively and solo quest effectively.

Mage Professions

There are a few professions that come in handy for Mages whilst leveling and can improve and accelerate your leveling experience. The first most essential profession to take is without a doubt First Aid, as Mages have no self-heals unlike other damage classes. First Aid can significantly reduce downtime and can increase your sustainability in combat.

Furthermore, with abilities like Polymorph and Frost Nova, you can effectively CC your enemies allowing yourself to build distance between them so that you can bandage yourself up, as First Aid crafted healing items can be used in combat – however if you take damage the ability will be cancelled. First Aid is also a very easy profession to level up and can be done passively as you level.

Gathering professions are always welcome additions to leveling, as they can provide you with a decent amount of gold and take relatively little work to maintain. In Wrath of the Lich King, they also provide unique profession-specific bonuses that can be very useful and effective for Mages.

For instance, Herbalism provides a unique profession-specific ability called Lifeblood which provides healing on effect over 5 seconds, that scales with your maximum HP. As a Mage, this can come in handy in sticky situations when you have accidentally pulled too many mobs for instance, as the class has no self-healing abilities. Herbalism also plays itself well if you wish to choose Alchemy as one of your endgame crafting professions, as you can then create elixirs and potions that can benefit the Mage’s playstyle a lot.

Another relatively easy to maintain profession is Skinning, that gives players the Master of Anatomy passive which increases your critical strike chance and progressively increases as you level up the profession. This is very beneficial for Mages, as the extra critical hit strike chance can benefit you tremendously when AoE farming or in any other leveling strategy, as Mages play well with critical strikes. This is not a spec that you should really care about keeping at max level however, as the materials required are only good to be sold, as Mages are locked into wearing Cloth Armor.

Important Class Quests

Mage’s do not have class quests that are essential to the class, unlike other classes in Wrath of the Lich King whereby certain essential abilities are the rewards of class-specific quests. However, some of the Mage quests provide decent gear that can be utilized for leveling, although most of the time it is sub-par at best and will quickly be replaced. However, there are still a few semi-decent quests that you can do alongside questing and dungeon grinding.

• The Mage’s Wand quest chain is one that is worth your time, beginning after level 30, and rewards Mages with the choice between three rare/blue wands, that likely will be kept until level 50-60. The wands that you will be able to choose from are Icefury Wand, Nether Force Wand, and Ragefire Wand. Although Mages are not as mana hungry as other caster classes that rely on wands for their playstyle, it is still nice to have a good wand to use to finish off mobs.
• Similarly, the Return to the Marsh quest chain that can be picked up from Mage trainers after level 35 can reward you with two further rare/blue items, Celestial Orb or Celestial Stave. Again, these are good items that can be used until late Classic WoW.
• As with all classes in Wrath of the Lich King, Mage’s also receive some good items from the Sunken Temple quest. The two standout items rewarded from this quest chain for Mages are the Arcane Crystal Pendant, which is a neck piece that provides intellect on equip as well as increase spell power on equip. Which will likely serve you a long time until well into TBC content; as The Burning Crusade does not have very many good neck items that are dropped during leveling. Furthermore, Fire Ruby is a Trinket that can also be a great choice, mostly for Fire Mages, as its effect on use increases Fire Spell damage as well as providing Mana. However, the Mana it provides can also be useful for other specs.

Once you have reached max level, you will want to focus on which endgame content you wish to do; either PvE or PvP. With this choice made you can then choose which spec you wish to play at endgame and should then learn as much about your spec and how best to play it at max level. But, most importantly, make sure to have fun!