WoW Forever Mage changes, new talents and adjustments

In short

Filter by tree (Baseline, Arcane, Fire, Frost) and by change type, or search by name.
Filters live in the URL, so you can share exactly what you are looking at.
Each card separates the official change from our reading of it (“What it means”) and shows when it was last updated.

How to use the explorer

Tree: “Baseline” covers changes for every Mage (spells, armours and systems). Arcane, Fire and Frost are the talents of each tree.
Type: New, Redesigned (does something different), Renamed, Moved (changes row), Adjusted (same effect, different values or cost), Prerequisite (changes what you need first) and Now baseline (no longer a talent).
Text: search by name or by concept (crit, mana, slow…).

Cards marked Updated changed during a weekly review; the link takes you to the changelog entry that explains it.

Change explorer

Showing 43 of 43 changes

New baseline spell learned at level 40. Counts as both Fire and Frost: 3 s cast, a large upfront hit (like Fireball) and a damage-over-time debuff with a movement slow.

Uses the higher of your Fire or Frost spell damage bonus and the lower of the target's Fire or Frost resistance.
Official example: with Ignite and Ice Shards a critical strike deals 200%, plus 40% of that as Ignite: 280% in total.
According to Blizzard, most talents that affect either Fire or Frost also benefit it.

What it means

Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.Because it benefits from talents in both trees, it is the centrepiece of hybrid Fire/Frost builds. Work out the multiplier under Tools.
Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.Against enemies that strongly resist one of the two schools (e.g. fire elementals) it should outperform Fireball or Frostbolt.

New Mage-only minor tradeskill to read and decipher scrolls dropped by creatures. Used through Comprehend Scroll in the General tab of the spellbook.

Blizzard has not detailed the rewards and leaves them for players to discover.
Scrolls received another balance pass and can no longer be cast while moving (1 October build).

Duration reduced as part of the changes against kiting and mass farming.

Blizzard explains it aims to make it harder for people chasing fast gold and experience to pull huge packs of creatures with repetitive, low-risk mechanics.

What it means

Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.Together with the Improved Blizzard change, Classic-style large-pack farming will be less effective.

Increased Spirit-based mana regeneration.

Checks line of sight only once, at the start of the channel: if the target moves out of sight during the channel, the missiles keep firing.

Ranks 1–3 were rebalanced on 8 October so every new rank is always an upgrade.

Ranks far below your level get less benefit from spell damage and a lower chance to trigger class abilities and talents.

Official example: Rank 1 Frostbolt at level 60 has a 0% chance to trigger Frostbite. You choose between a cheap, quick slow and a spell that can trigger the talent.
On 8 October the low ranks of Frostbolt and Fireball (1–5) and Arcane Missiles (1–3) were rebalanced so every new rank is always an upgrade.

What it means

Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.Downranking to save mana is still possible but loses much of its appeal, especially for Fire and Frost, which rely on procs.

No longer an Arcane talent; it is now part of the baseline class.

Now costs 2 points for the same effect.

Redesigned: increases your chance to hit with Arcane spells.

Formerly Improved Arcane Missiles. Now also protects Arcane Blast from damage-based interruption.

Moved from row 1 to row 2. Its resistance-ignoring effect is slightly stronger and its threat reduction slightly weaker.

Its effect now has a 1 s cooldown.

Lower trigger chance when casting spells of a significantly lower rank.

What it means

Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.Penalises the classic trick of using low ranks to fish for free procs cheaply.

Moved from row 3 to row 2, no longer a milestone talent, and now costs 2 points for the same effect.

New row 3 talent: increases the range of Arcane spells.

Formerly Improved Arcane Explosion. Now increases the critical strike chance of all Arcane spells.

New 11-point milestone talent (a new version of the spell). 2.5 s cast with immediate damage. Increases the damage of your other Mage spells and its own mana cost.

Stacks up to 4 times and lasts 8 s or until another spell is cast.

What it means

Official: Published by Blizzard in a source we have read.Blizzard frames it like this: older versions encouraged casting only Arcane Blast; this one wants you to use other spells after building stacks. The rising mana cost limits how far you can chain it.
Pending: No reliable information yet.No official values for damage, cost or per-stack bonus yet.

Formerly Improved Mana Shield. Improves Mana Shield's mana cost reduction further and also increases the resistances granted by Mage Armor.

At 1 point, Counterspell always applies a shorter Silence instead of a 50% chance to Silence.

What it means

Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.Makes the control reliable rather than random: more valuable in PvP and in dungeons with dangerous casters.

Increased Spirit mana regeneration while casting. Now requires Arcane Concentration.

New 16-point milestone talent. Arcane Blast, Fireball, Frostbolt and Frostfire Bolt have a chance to make your next Arcane Missiles channel twice as fast and cost no mana.

The chance is doubled for Arcane Blast.

What it means

Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.It triggers from spells of all three schools, so it fits both pure Arcane and hybrid builds.

Redesigned: increases Intellect instead of maximum mana, and also Arcane spell critical strike damage. No longer requires Arcane Resilience.

No longer requires Presence of Mind.

Now requires Presence of Mind.

Formerly Improved Fire Blast. Moved from row 2 to row 1 and reduces Fire Blast's cooldown further. Each non-trivial kill greatly increases the critical strike chance of your next Fire Blast.

Its buff lasts 30 s (raised from 20 s in the beta on 24 September). According to the developers it was hard to use while leveling, because Mages need to restore mana between fights.

What it means

Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.Rewards chaining mobs while leveling: the near-guaranteed Fire Blast after a kill finishes or opens the next fight.

Formerly Incinerate. Moved from row 3 to row 1. Besides Fire Blast and Scorch, it now also increases the critical strike chance of Ice Lance and Arcane Blast.

What it means

Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.A cheap, early talent that boosts spells from the other two trees: a clear nod to mixed builds.

Now also reduces the cast time of Frostfire Bolt.

Each Mage now applies their own Ignite instead of sharing one. Damage is no longer lost when critical strikes land close together.

No longer double dips on percentage damage modifiers (24 September build).

What it means

Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.Several Fire Mages in the same group no longer get in each other's way with Ignite.

Casting low-rank spells lowers its trigger chance.

Now costs 3 points for the same effect.

Its debuff now only benefits the casting Mage.

Its Fire Vulnerability no longer makes a second resist roll (1 October build).

What it means

Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.A single Mage can no longer maintain Fire vulnerability for the whole group.

New row 4 talent that requires Pyroblast. Non-periodic critical strikes from Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Fire Blast and Scorch reduce your next Pyroblast's cast time by 25%, stacking up to 3 times.

At 3 stacks, Pyroblast casts in 1.5 s.
The buff lasts 20 s (raised from 15 s in the beta on 24 September).
It was called Hot Streak in the beta until 1 October; Blizzard renamed it because it no longer depends on a streak of crits.

What it means

Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.Turns Pyroblast from a slow opener into a crit-window payoff: build stacks with your fillers and cast it at 3.

No longer requires Pyroblast.

Now increases your chance to hit with Fire and Frost spells instead of reducing the target's chance to resist them.

Increases Chill durations by 11/22/33% instead of a flat 1/2/3 s, so it no longer over-extends Improved Blizzard.

Moved from row 4 to row 3.

New 11-point milestone talent. Instant cast with low damage, increased by 300% against Frozen targets (or targets treated as Frozen by Fingers of Frost).

What it means

Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.Only worth it on a Frozen target: after Frost Nova or with Fingers of Frost charges. Otherwise it is a movement filler.

Slows less: the maximum goes from 65% to 40%.

According to Blizzard, it reduces the power of Frost Mage AoE farming, which was used for fast gold and experience and disrupted the economy.

What it means

Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.Together with Cone of Cold, it weakens the classic kite-and-farm AoE grinding.

Moved from row 5 to row 4 and is now the 16-point milestone talent.

No longer requires Improved Frost Nova.

Moved from row 3 to row 5, becomes the 21-point milestone talent, and its cooldown rises from 5 to 10 minutes.

New row 5 talent. Your Chill effects have a chance to grant 1/2 charges of Fingers of Frost. Each charge makes your spells treat the target as if it were Frozen.

The official text calls it “Pre-requisite of Ice Lance”. Since Ice Lance is an 11-point milestone (row 3), Fingers of Frost most likely requires Ice Lance rather than the reverse. Awaiting confirmation.

What it means

Analysis: Our reading of official mechanics. Not tested in game.This is what makes Ice Lance playable outside Frost Nova: apply Chill with Frostbolt and spend charges on Ice Lance.

Only benefits the casting Mage, and its critical strike chance increase now applies only to Frostbolt and Ice Lance.

Its application no longer rolls a separate resist: the original spell hitting is enough (1 October build).

Known discrepancies

Fingers of Frost and Ice Lance: the official text calls Fingers of Frost a “Pre-requisite of Ice Lance”, but Ice Lance is an 11-point milestone (row 3) while Fingers of Frost sits in row 5. The consistent reading is that Fingers of Frost requires Ice Lance. We will mark it confirmed once it can be checked in game.
Magic Attunement: some sites list it as “removed”. According to Blizzard it becomes a baseline ability.

Sources for this page

Source:World of Warcraft: Forever Class Deep Dives — Mage & Shaman WoW Forever Beta Development Notes Warcraft Tavern Zockify