WoW Forever beta Mage build for level 20: Frost for safe, fast kills

Overview

Levels 10–20 · Frost Mage, solo questing and grinding.

Guide sites rank Mage among the top three leveling classes, and Frost remains the safest way to level one. Few players have posted about beta Mages yet, so this build keeps to the proven Frost core. Improved Frostbolt shortens your main spell’s cast time. Ice Shards doubles the critical strike bonus of your Frost spells. With 10 points in Frost, Piercing Ice adds 6% damage to everything you cast. Written for the first beta phase: level cap 20, client build 1.60.1.69913. Talents and tuning will change before the level 30 phase and again before launch on November 4.

Why this build

• Kiting. Frostbolt’s slow and Frost Nova mean melee mobs rarely reach you.
• Fast kills. Faster Frostbolts and bigger crits end fights quickly.
• Conjured food and water. No vendor trips for drinks.

Weak spots

• Fragile. Cloth armor and low health mean a bad pull can go wrong fast.
• Mana breaks. You drink more often than a Hunter or Paladin.
• Little beta data yet. Expect this build to be refined as testers post more.

Talent order by level

One point per level from level 10 to 20. The talent tree above shows the finished level 20 build; use the level slider to see it at any level.

• Levels 10–14 · Improved Frostbolt 5/5 — Frostbolt casts 0.5 sec faster at 5 points: more casts per fight.
• Levels 15–19 · Ice Shards 5/5 — +100% critical strike bonus on Frost spells at 5 points.
• Level 20 · Piercing Ice 1/3 — +6% Frost damage at 3 points; one point here is 2%. Unlocked by 10 points in Frost.

Key levels

• Level 10 · Improved Frostbolt first.
• Level 15 · Start Ice Shards for bigger Frost crits.
• Level 20 · Piercing Ice completes the build.

How to pull and kill

1. Frostbolt from max range, then keep casting as the slowed mob walks in.
2. Frost Nova when it reaches you, step back and keep Frostbolting.
3. Fire Blast to finish a mob at low health.
4. Drink between pulls with conjured water.

Leveling tips

• Arcane Missiles has a known bug where damage taken fires a full bolt. Do not build around it; it will be fixed.
• Wands help early when you are low on mana.
• Conjure water before quest trips so you never buy drinks.
• Save Blizzard for groups after the cap rises.

After level 20

When the cap rises, continue with the Frost Shatter Mage leveling guide.

Sources

The talent path and leveling advice adapt these Classic guides to the WoW Forever talent trees; talents that are new or changed in Forever are chosen from this site’s talent data.

• WoW Forever Builds: beta class report (level 20)
• Icy Veins: Choosing your main in WoW Forever