Arcane Blast: a level-20 goal
Arcane Blast is new, in Arcane row three with no prerequisite. Ten earlier Arcane points plus its own make 11 Arcane points: level 20, the whole budget at that level. Each 1.5-second cast adds 15% of your Intellect as spell damage and raises the spell's own mana cost by 175%, stacking up to four times.
Arcane Wrath follows in row four and requires Arcane Blast: 16 Arcane points, level 25.
What changed from Classic
| Tree | Talents | New | Changed | Row changed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcane | 19 | 4 | 12 | 3 |
| Fire | 17 | 1 | 12 | 3 |
| Frost | 18 | 2 | 11 | 3 |
- Three new spells. Arcane Blast and Ice Lance are in row three of Arcane and Frost (level 20), Arcane Wrath in Arcane row four. Ice Lance is instant and deals 200% more damage to Frozen targets.
- Ice Block comes five levels earlier: Frost row four (level 25), not row five (level 30).
- Cold Snap comes ten levels later: Frost row five (level 30), not row three (level 20). Ice Barrier now requires Cold Snap, not Ice Block.
- Heating Up is new in Fire row four and requires Pyroblast: critical strikes with Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Fire Blast and Scorch each cut the next Pyroblast's cast time by 25%, up to three stacks.
- Arcane Power now requires Presence of Mind, not Arcane Instability.
Abilities and the level you can take them
| Ability | Tree and row | Points | Earliest level | Prerequisite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcane Blast | Arcane, row 3 | 11 | 20 | — |
| Pyroblast | Fire, row 3 | 11 | 20 | — |
| Ice Lance | Frost, row 3 | 11 | 20 | — |
| Arcane Wrath | Arcane, row 4 | 16 | 25 | Arcane Blast |
| Ice Block | Frost, row 4 | 16 | 25 | — |
| Presence of Mind | Arcane, row 5 | 21 | 30 | — |
| Cold Snap | Frost, row 5 | 21 | 30 | — |
| Arcane Power | Arcane, row 7 | 31 | 40 | Presence of Mind |
| Combustion | Fire, row 7 | 31 | 40 | Critical Mass |
| Ice Barrier | Frost, row 7 | 31 | 40 | Cold Snap |
Blast Wave, the eleventh, is in Fire row five (21 points, level 30) and no longer requires Pyroblast.
What fits in 51 points
- One row-seven ability. Arcane Power, Combustion and Ice Barrier each need 31 points in their own tree; any two would need 62.
- 31 Arcane leaves 20. In Frost that reaches Ice Lance (point 11) and Ice Block (point 16), not Cold Snap (point 21).
- Ice Barrier with Arcane Wrath fits: 31 + 16 = 47, four to spare. Ice Barrier with Presence of Mind does not: 31 + 21 = 52, one over.
- At level 30, Presence of Mind, Blast Wave or Cold Snap takes all 21 points; Arcane Wrath leaves five.
Since launch
On November 6, Arcane Blast's duration was fixed to 18 seconds. On November 9, Arcane Concentration began splitting its chance across the cast and each bolt. Both are in the hotfix list.
Continue planning
Build the path in the Mage talent calculator, compare each talent with Classic in the class comparison, and check costs and cast times in the Mage spellbook.
Mage race options are Human, Gnome and Skyborne (High Order) for the Alliance, and Orc, Undead and Troll for the Horde.