Re-activating your WoW account, or interested in "Trying Before You Buy"?Mage Basics In Instances
Mage's Instance Tips - Before Starting The Instance
It's expected that every member of a dungeon party will cover some absolute basics before heading in:
- Repair your equipment
- Restock your consumables (potions, reagents, ammo)
- Make lots of room in your bags for loot drops
As a Mage, there are some extra things you can do to make your teammate's run a little easier or more cost-effective:
- Offer Conjured Water and Food
- Buff members who benefit from an Int boost
Offering these things without being asked is also a great way to build rapport and make some friends who might be around to team up for harder content as you progress.
Mage's Instance Tips - Managing Threat While Fighting
As a Soloing or PvPing mage, quick-burst DPS with plenty of crits and high calibre pain is the route to success. "Blast 'em down before they have time to get within Melee range" is the general thought, with Frost Nova serving backup right from level 10, and the introduction of Blink at level 20.
A Mage's first goal in party battle is to target attacks upon mobs already occupied by the main or off-tank.
In an 5-person instance party, high DPS with plenty of crits and high calibre pain is also along the path towards success, but with one big difference - instances have tough, elite mobs that can destroy a cloth-wearer in a very short period of time, so DPS needs to be focussed correctly and then slowly ramped in order to allow the tanks to "establish aggro" and gain a lot of "threat" points towards themselves from the targetted mob.
If done correctly, Mages are awesome damage-dealers who have enough control that they DO NOT "steal aggro" from the tank and end up dead on the floor, providing no additional DPS to the fight.
A Mage's primary job is to support the tank while not needing services of the healer. In order to properly support a Tank, those with a DPS role, such as Mages, should be careful when targetting enemies, ensuring the mob they're attacking is being hit upon by one of the party's tanks. Targetting an enemy that a tank is not actively hitting will generally result in "peeling off aggro", with the enemy mob turning its attention towards attacking you!
If you find you're peeling off aggro in party situations even though you're targetting a mob that the main or off-tank is actively beating on, read on for a Mage's second goal in an instancing party situation, regarding keeping alive without needing the Priest to save your clothy ass.
A Mage's second goal in party battle is to temper their attacks, starting small and ramping up as the fight progresses.
Mages are extremely powerful but cannot take the beats. Thus, a Mage's second goal within a dungeon instance, aside from staying in the back of the party instead of up with the melee folk, is to temper their attacks so they still deal quality damage over the fight as a whole, but don't peel off aggro because they have done it by starting small and ramping up the DPS as the fight progresses and the tank and off-tank remain right on top of the Threat meter.
Mage's Instance Tips - Using Lower Level Spells
One key way to "start small and ramp up" involves the strategy of starting with rank 1 and 2 spells instead of the highest level available, and then moving up to the highest rank versions halfway through the fight. A bonus of this strategy is that your attacks launch more quickly because cast times are smaller on the lower-ranked spells.
You'll need to play around with your strategies a little bit while in an Instance Party in order to find the "right" sequence of spell attacks that work with the group you're currently in. Parties with tanks who are not used to grabbing and holding aggro will be more difficult to manage but can also be considered a fertile training ground for learning how to control your own toon in more challenging situations.
Jump in and blast'em out, but spend some quality time learning how to "manage threat" by targetting mobs effectively and starting small and ramping up DPS as the fight progresses.
Good Luck!
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Don't forget sheeping... Some instances are terribly hard without crowd control, and sheeping is a popular one for that.
On my level 63 priest I love having a mage in the group... it means less downtime, and I don't have to burn through expensive water which means I don't mind doing the group:fortitude/spirit that lasts an hour and uses candles that are worth 8-10sp (depending on faction) each.
As a priest a mage can be a lifesaver (hang around mage for the frost nova if you get aggro) or a detriment (if they are the bouncing AOE types that distract you from healing the tank). At level 60+ you usually get decent people to group with, even in PUGs.. assuming that they must have SOME experience to have gotten that far... If not, then there's always /ignore! ;-)
While i agree with Rizzo. I would i have to say sheeping can be bad... If i remember there was a patch or something saying if you sheep they lose agrro from the tank and go straight for you.... But i dont play anymore so i could be wrong :P
If you sheep on the pull, the sheep target doesn't have a chance to get threat from the tank, and will thus head right for you when it breaks, yes.
That's why the Mage should re-sheep every 30-40 seconds until the Sheeped target is the last thing standing. Then the tank breaks CC and has control :)
You know, I stumbled on this site and you've got some really fantastic information for an idiot player like me.
I do a fair bit of PvP with my mage. Any tips for that coming up? Because, let me tell you, it's disturbing how tragically I suck in 2v2 arena.
I have played every tree the mage has to offer and there are these things to consider when a mage is in your group.
these are all general observations that i have come across in pvp, pve, and raiding/bg's.
not all players play like this but its things that you need be aware of.
first; the spec of the mage changes how they react to the group. fire will be ONLY focused on how much damage he can deal. generally the fire mage ignores his threat responsibilities until it is hairlines behind the main tank. this isnt bad; just dangerous. frost mages on the other hand generally wont be able to pile the same ammount of threat; but will be in the fight for the long haul. i found frost to be "steady eddy" when it comes to DPS. arcane however is the blended mix of both, but watch out as the arcane has the burst damage to peel mobs, and sometimes not the backing to get away with your life like frost has.
Mages add many abilities to the mix. i have so many unique spells that i dont have enough slots for them in my action bars. sheep tasks are excellent ways to keep the dps of a mage down, and CC up. this again is not a bad thing. but used in moderation. if you have 2 mages in the group you better assign one to dps; the other to CC. dont ask for both unless they have unique spells. mages can go to azhara and pickup the "polymorph: pig" spell as a quest reward. its fairly easy at any level (as long as you meet requirements... lvl 8 need not apply).
courtesy notes:
- dont ask for a table with out a 2nd person to help summon it. i HATE having to wait for your friend in TB to fly to OGR so i can make you food.
- dont take a port and not tip. it costs money. yes its small, but it adds up!
- understand that most people take a mage so they can lay the smack down. ignoring this is your own fault; tank, healer, or otherwise.
V
great site btw.