Mage talent tree

[Bbigbob]

I wanted to know what the best spec is for a mage in raiding and also the best spec for a mage in pvp. Ive heard that Fire mages were good in raiding and Frost mages were good for pvp. Can some one tell me if this is right or not? And also whatever talent tree i should pick for pvp and raiding can you tell me what in that talent tree would be worth putting points into and what would not?
Thanks.

[Jeesk]

For ARENA...

If you want to do Arena, frost mage is really the only viable spec. Fire and arcane aren't bad, but you will never get the same results you would as a frost mage, with the pet and the extra survivability they can't be beat (I was arc/fire since launch, but recently changed to frost because they just can't compete in Arena).

For arena the most common mage spec is deep frost + imp counterspell (17/0/44)

Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

A variant that has also started to become popular is deep frost + impact (0/5/56)

Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

But the trade-off of course is you lose improved counterspell. Some people are also using a full frost (0/0/61) build for arena too but it seems a bit unnecessary. Personally I'd recommend a 17/0/44 build (first link).


For BATTLEGROUNDS...

If you just want to do Battlegrounds PVP and don't care about Arena, simply choose whatever spec you think is the most fun. It's not as cut-throat as Arena, so my honest advice would be to pick whatever tree you think is the most fun.

Any of the frost or arcane/frost specs above are fine, also you could go with

Elementalist (frost and fire, (0/30/31)

Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

Or a fire/arcane (18/43/0)

Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

Or arcane/fire (40/21/0)

Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft


Now, for RAIDING...

You can pretty much take your pick, but keep in mind that arcane builds aren't very mana-efficient, which means if you don't have a big mana pool you'll often run low during raids if you don't play it right or have good gear. Fire is a bit more mana efficient, and then frost even more so. Again, as with BG, I would recommend just choosing the tree you like the most. Here's some builds:

Arcane with some fire (40/21/0)
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

Arcane with some frost (40/0/21)
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

Fire (10/45/3) and (2/45/11) - spend the last 3 pts wherever you want
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

Frost (10/0/49) - spend the last 2 pts wherever you want
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

Alternative frost (18/0/43)
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft




Basically, to put it bluntly - if you want to arena, you need to go deep frost (41+ points) if you want to get a good rating. If you're not worried about getting a good arena rating, just play whatever tree you want. As long as you choose sensible talents, you can play either Frost, Fire or Arcane (or any combo thereof) for BGs or raiding. Just beware of mana efficiency for raiding, as I said above.

You can find more info here: Mage builds - WoWWiki - Your guide to the World of Warcraft



As for my PERSONAL opinion - I used 40/21/0 (Arc/Fire) when I was raiding. Now that I do Arena and pretty much nothing else except some BGs, I'm 17/0/44 (Frost).

[billonis]

raiding.imba crits
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft
pvp-full frost
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

[Jadedknight]

This was so useful thank you +Rep jeesk

[Jeesk]

no problem glad to help

[[M]agz]

WOah thanks for that too

[shortyboy395]

thanks, im frost and i love it XD

[Jeesk]

no problem!

[Blinky]

11/47/3 is the best specc for raids IMO
Here's my armory The World of Warcraft Armory

You like it, don't ya? ;p

WootWoot

[Hrwking]

for endgame raiding best specs are 2/45/11 +3 for bt and 2/6 swp for later swp 0/40/21 is very nice due to the double icy veins especially on bosses like mu'ru as well as double iceblock for phase 2

[Gorr]

agree with 11/47/3 for raiding. personally i like 17/0/44 best for pvp for imp cs, but skipping winters chill for arctic winds 5/5.

[Surrounder]

I personally use 2/48/11 for icy veins works very well in raids.

2/48/11