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Mage is one of WoW Classic Hardcore’s most powerful classes when it comes to soloing. They can create food/drink for themselves, teleport to a variety of regions, and deal amazing AOE damage. They have plenty of escape tools and defensive options. However, not all the talents in this class are worth picking up. We’ll go over the best talents, races, and more for World of Warcraft’s most powerful ranged caster on the Classic servers.
When it comes to WoW Classic Hardcore, Mage is easily the best class to level as. You have plenty of ranged damage to slay enemies far before they get to you. You can either AOE grind or single-target, and both are efficient.
Here’s what you need to know to master the arcane:
What race is best for Mage on Horde and Alliance in WoW Classic Hardcore?
On a personal level, my favorite race for a Mage is Undead, but that doesn’t make it the most optimal choice. While you can play whichever race you want for WoW Classic Hardcore, there are better choices regardless of faction.
- Alliance: Gnome
- Horde: Troll
Before you dive into the game, you need to have a character. Gnomes are far and away the best race pick for the Alliance. The Mana Pool bonus and Critical bonus to spellcasting are nothing to sneeze at.
If you’re going to play on the Horde side, you want to pick a Troll as the best race for this class.
This is primarily due to Berserkering, which increases your casting and attacking speed. I will probably still play an Undead, as it gives me closer access to good leveling areas, but Trolls are the most optimal pick.
What is the best Mage specialization in WoW Classic Hardcore?
One of the best things about Mages in WoW Classic Hardcore is that they can single-target and AOE powerlevel.
Regardless of single-target or AOE builds, you’re still going to want to go Frost as the best Hardcore specialization.
The access to defensive abilities, crowd control moves, and slowing effects all come together in a nice, safe package.
Frostbolt is going to get a handy slow, for example, and at maximum range, you can defeat foes before they get to you.
The above build features the most optimal build you can have for playing this class as you level up in Azeroth, but it’s not the only way to go.
For example, if you’re going to play an AOE build, you want to squeeze in Improved Blizzard, and Winter’s Chill allows you to play safe and smart.
Below, you can see the order in which you'll want to take your talent points, from levels 10–59.
Skills in order for Frost:
- Elemental Precision (10, 11)
- Improved Frost Bolt (12-16)
- Arcane Subtlety (15, 16)
- Arcane Focus (19-21)
- Arcane Concentration (22-26)
- Ice Shards (27-31)
- Frostbite (32-34)
- Improved Frost Nova (35, 36)
- Permafrost (37-39)
- Piercing Ice (40-42)
- Cold Snap (43)
- Arctic Reach (44, 45), Frost Channeling (46-48)
- Ice Block (49)
- Ice Barrier (50)
- Arcane Resilience (51)
- Magic Absorption (52-36)
- Elemental Precision (57)
- Shatter (58, 59)
Tips for playing a Mage in WoW Classic Hardcore
While this class is wildly powerful in World of Warcraft Classic, you aren’t invulnerable. You have Invisibility, Blink, and Polymorph as some of your best escape tools.
However, they won’t always work, and this doesn’t mean you can just safely run into high-level areas with impunity.
I don’t recommend the kite/AOE method of leveling unless you’re a skilled, experienced mage.
It’s fun to throw on Ice Barrier and Frost Nova/Blizzard your enemies until they’re dead, but if you aren’t ready to do it, don’t practice it on the Hardcore servers. Practice on the regular Classic Era server first.
You also want to take the time to learn the Portal/Teleport spells. Yes, the reagents are expensive, but it gives you the opportunity to explore the world and go to other, safer areas of the world to level up. You don’t have to wait like other classes do.
Another important thing is that, while yes, you have a ton of utility for escaping dangerous situations, always look where you’re going.
There’s nothing worse than popping Frost Nova and then Blink, only to find that you’ve found even stronger enemies.
Mage was my favorite class in the Vanilla era of World of Warcraft, so I’m glad to see it so popular as a WoW Classic Hardcore option. If you want to know some quests to avoid, we’ve got you covered.
