WoW Classic 39 Mage Twink Guide

Wow Classic 39 Mage Twink Guide
  • Author: OrinDac
  • Date: November 24, 2019
  • Updated: October 12, 2020
  • Expansion: WoW Classic

At level 39, Mages are among the most devastating damage dealers in the entire game of World of Warcraft.  Their ability to throw damage at a distance is surpassed occasionally by Hunters, who are able to also do damage at greater range.   For PvP, the best course is for a Frost Mage, focusing on Crowd Control (CC). A Mage speced for fire can do a lot more damage than one who is not, but one speced for frost is one of the most devastating CC classes in the game, just because of the sheer number of ways in which they can hinder movement.

While still possessing the Polymorph, as all Mages do, Frost Mages also have a number of talents that make some of their CC Frost spells far more effective.  They also have access to Ice Armor since level 30 and so are more durable and survivable.

Mages gain access to their teleport to Darnassus and Thunder Bluff at level 30, making travel to and from Kalimdor much easier.

Contents

  • Races: Which races can play as Mages and which of those make the best PvP Mages?
  • Professions: Which professions are useful to a mage and which recipes and formulas are the best fro PvP?
  • Spells and Abilities: What spells does a Mage have access to at level 39 and how best can those spells be employed in PvP?
  • Talents: Which talent builds suite a PvP Mage most and which spec is best for Twinking?
  • Gear: What is the Best in Slot gear for a level 39 Twink Mage and how can it be acquired?
  • Enchantments: Which enchantments benefit a Mage most and which are the most useful in PvP?
  • Buffs: What scrolls, potions, elixirs and other consumables are available to a Mage at this level and how best can they be employed in PvP.

Races

While not having as many choices for races as some other classes do, Mages have more of a balance in their roster.  Each faction has two races, one of which is great for PvP and the other which is sort of so-so, but all are definitely viable.

You are going to want to select your race very carefully, as you will be stuck with whatever race you choose for the life of your character.  So read the following entries carefully, and weigh the benefits of the traits each race offers based on its usefulness and merits.

Or make a sexy troll purple hair, tusk rings.  No one’s here to judge.

Alliance

  • Gnome: Every one of the racial traits that the gnome possesses is of direct benefit to any mage, but in particular one engaging in PvP.  This is an aspect not shared by any of the other races available to the class.  Arcane Resistance, like any magical resistance, is valuable to any class and will protect you from many of the abilities of other Mages, Caster Druids and Hunters.  All Twinks will benefit from Engineering Specialization, though not as much at this level, except to raise it faster, as it can be capped out at 39.  Every class engaging in any kind of PvP will make liberal use of Escape Artist to break out of physical CC effects.  Lastly, Expansive Mind might be the best racial trait to be had for a Mage, or any caster that wants to do more damage.
  • Human: Of the five traits that humans offer, only three are of any value to a mage and even these are minor benefits to the class.  There is an indirect benefit to Diplomacy as it allows you to get some of your BiS items from Battleground vendors more easily.  Perception and The Human Spirit are the most obvious boons to a Twink Mage.  The former, for the increased ability to spot Rogues, Druids and Hunter pets that are in stealth, and the latter for the Mana and health regen, but mostly the health.

Horde

  • Troll: Trolls have few racial traits which are directly beneficial to any Mage, even a Twink.  There is some situational usefulness to Beast Slaying when you are fighting a Druid in animal form, or a Hunter’s pet and not much else.  Berserking offers a nice speed increase to your spell casting, which can help to drop some foes more quickly.  Regeneration is the only other trait that is useful to a Mage, though it is also quite potent.  In a long, protracted battle, you will just outlast other Mages, especially if you use potions to augment your natural healing ability.
  • Undead: Shadow Resistance proves, once again, that everyone benefits from magical resistance in any form.  Cannibalize is a neat extra heal between battles, but leaves you vulnerable while in use.  Will of the Forsaken, almost the mirror of the Gnome’s Escape artist, allows you to cast off mental CC effects.

Unlike a lot of other classes in WoW, there is a clear winner for Mages when it comes to race and that is the Gnome.  There’s just too many benefits here to ignore, and some of them offer bonuses that you just can’t find in other aspects of the game.  If you’re Main is a Hordie, then go for the Undead, because in PvP, escape from CC trumps almost anything.

Seriously though, if you want to play a sexy troll, go for it.  It is a videogame, after all.

Professions

There are a lot of professions to choose from, which can make deciding which ones to go with hard.  Fortunately, one of the coolest professions is also an absolute necessity for a Twink of any class.  Engineering.  There are a plethora of gadgets, devices and bombs that are extremely useful within Battlegrounds and you won’t want to miss out on them.

While Engineering is a necessity, you’re other Profession is also important.  Which ones you’ll be interested in will largely depend on your class.

What follows is a description of each of the Professions that should be of interest to a level 39 Twink Mage and why.

Engineering

For Twinks of any class, this profession is an absolute must-have.  Along with all of the engineering gadgets and doodads you get before reaching 230 in engineering, there are some seriously fantastic items at this level that are of extreme use in PvP.  Make sure you get all of them.

The Major Recombobulator is especially useful for countering the Crowd Control (CC) effects of Polymorph, while also doling them out.  You’ll be the one that saved the day if you carry the Goblin Jumper Cables XL and can rez the Healer when your whole team gets ganked.  Other items of note are the  Alarm-O-Bot, which can help in detecting Rogues and Feral Druids and the Dark Iron Bomb, which is the absolute best bomb in early Classic WoW, with the most damage and longest CC duration.  There are also three energy reflectors; Gyrofreeze Ice Reflector, Hyper-Radiant Flame Reflector and Ultra-Flash Shadow Reflector, which all reflect their type of damage for 5 seconds.  This is extremely useful and can quickly turn the tables on any caster in the game.  Finally, there is the Arcane Bomb, which absorbs mana and does half of what is absorbed as damage to anyone in range.

Casters in particular benefit from Engineering, as they still have access to Spellpower Goggles Xtreme Plus, as they did in the last bracket, which is still a contender for BiS head slot item, but can also acquire the Green Lens, which is better.  They can also gain use from Catseye Ultra Goggles , especially humans with their perception trait.

All of these items are incredibly useful in PvP and are the best engineering has to offer at this level.  Not to mention all of the fun fireworks and pet companions you can make.

Enchanting

Enchanting is probably the best choice for players who are not supporting their Twink with another character.  It has few expensive reagents that must be truly gathered, most being products of disenchanting items you are already likely to pick up.  It also offers lucrative selling opportunities with the many materials you will acquire from breaking down all of the Green and Blue items you do not need.  It can also offset the cost of getting your own enchantments some, as higher level enchanters are sometimes on the lookout for lower level materials.  Not to mention that at this level, if you can acquire the recipes and mats, you can max out enchanting to 300 and perform the enchant yourself.

Alchemy

If you are being supplied herbs and reagents by another character, then Alchemy can be an extremely useful Profession to endeavor upon.  The ability to simply create the many potions and elixirs that offer decided advantages in PvP at this bracket, instead of having to go shop for them, almost pays for itself.  Alchemy can also be a great way to make money, especially if the reagents and materials can be acquired cheaply.

Other Professions

The only other professions even worth considering are Tailoring and Mining.  Tailoring for obvious leveling and Pre BiS gear and Mining as a means to support Engineering.  Everything else is a waste of time and energy.

Another use for for Alchemy, Leatherworking and Tailoring is to sell the various high level components and transmutes that only these Professions can craft.  Alchemists can transmute metals with recipes like Recipe: Transmute Arcanite, Leatherworkers can craft the Cured Rugged Hide and Tailors can use Pattern: Mooncloth to purify Felcloth.

Secondary Skills

  • CookingCooking has but one benefit to any Twink at any level bracket.  The Well Fed Buff.  The food that offers the highest possible Well Fed bonus at this level is Spider Sausage, the recipe for which can be purchased from virtually any standard Cooking trainer.  Another fun and useful food the cooks can make at this level is Dragonbreath Chili, the recipe for which can be purchased from Helenia Olden (Alliance) or Ogg’marr (Horde) in Duskwallow Marsh.  It can also be purchased from Super-Seller 680 in Desolace.
  • First Aid:  The only thing to worry about here is to get your First Aid maxed as high as it will go, so that you can use the Heavy Runecloth Bandage, which can heal you almost completely full with just one bandage.  To do this, you will need the three books Expert First Aid – Under WrapsManual: Heavy Silk Bandage and Manual: Mageweave Bandage.  The only trouble is that, because you still can’t get your Secondary Skills up to 300 yet, you’ll have to find someone to craft the bandages for you.  Alternatively, you could simply purchase them off of the AH.
  • Fishing:  This skill is not as important at this level bracket, but it’s still a great way to increase your income, especially while you’re bored and waiting around near some water.  Take any opportunity you can to fish, because each time you fish is a chance to catch a rare fish that can earn you some good money.  It’s also not a bad way to get Cooking and Alchemy reagents to increase those skills.

Spells and Abilities

A Mage’s spellbook is full of marvelous and useful spells that range from being able to transport one’s self to another location somewhere else in the world instantaneously, to being able to conjure muffins and spring water out of thin air.  All of the Mage’s spells can be broken down into three groups:  Fire, Frost and Arcane.  Fire and Frost are largely those spells that burn, or freeze, obviously, but there are some exceptions.  Arcane spells, while sometimes the damaging type, are more often of a practical and utilitarian nature.  These are all of the spells available to a Mage of level 39.

  • Conjure Mana Jade: If you have this spell, always cast it before you even enter a dangerous area. The Mana Jade is basically a free, cheap Mana Potion. Replaces Mana Agate.
  • Arcane Explosion: This is a great spell for when you get surrounded. It’s also invaluable in PvP where you can use rank 1 to catch people who are in stealth and nearby, if of course, you know that they are there. It’s also great for chasing people down who are at low health, without the risk of being interrupted.
  • Mana Shield: This spell makes physical damage drain mana instead of health. Use it when you need a shield, as it’s great for preventing insta-death from burst damage classes.
  • Dampen Magic: Another oddball buff, only use this spell on an ally when they haven’t taken any damage at all and never use this on the healer. Ever. Though you can use it if you don’t have a healer. You can also use the rank 1 version of it as a protection against dispel.
  • Mage Armor: While this spell may be even better than Ice Armor for what it can do while in combat, the truth is that it should only be used over Ice Armor if you are facing off against another caster. If it’s a melee class you’re fighting, make sure to switch to Ice Armor. It’s often a good idea to make sure you know who you are fighting and to cast the appropriate armor spell beforehand.
  • Conjure Food / Conjure Water: These two are awesome in a pinch. No Well Fed bonus here, but always having mana and health restoring food and water is an amazing boon. At different levels it conjures different types of food. This level it’s Pumpernickel Bread and…Spring…water. Oh, boy!
  • Arcane Missiles: One of your better damaging spells, since few enemies have Arcane resistance. Not Frostbolt, so you’re not going to be slowing anyone down, but you might just kill ‘em. So there’s that. Also, Arcane Missiles can travel around corners. Keep this in mind when you are chasing down an opponent with low health. It’s also a decent way to interrupt the spells of other casters.
  • Amplify Magic: Like Dampen Magic, this can be used as a means of countering dispelling, but it’s also an amazing buff to use if your opposing team is comprised of exclusively melee classes.
  • Teleport: Whether you are going to Darnassus, Thunder Bluff, Stormwind, Orgrimmar, Undercity, or Iron Forge, this is a fantastic spell that never stops being useful.
  • Blink: The first of many powerful teleport spells, Blink is a fantastic tactical ability in almost any situation. Not only does it let you instantly disappear and reappear 20 yards in front of you, it also frees you from a number of CC effects. This spell isn’t just good for a tactical retreat, as it makes the Mage one of the better Flag Carriers (FC) at this level.
  • Counterspell: Use this against enemy spell casters to prevent them from using their best abilities for a time. Veryeffective against Healers.
  • Detect Magic: Allows you to see what buffs an opponent has. This is invaluable as a protection against any Priest allies accidentally dispelling your CC. Cast it immediately on any opponent you use any CC effects on, like polymorph.
  • Evocation: This spell is an amazing way to increase your mana regen for when you’re completely out of Mana and just need a regen boost mid fight.
  • Remove Lesser Curse: Good for countering some of the abilities of the Priest and Warlock. Pretty straight forward.
  • Polymorph: Maybe the best and most useful spell in the Arcane category next to Arcane Intellect and your most important CC effect. SHEEPED!
  • Slow Fall: This is a great spell for when you’ve had a misstep. Make sure to carry a Light Feather!
  • Fireball: One of your two mainstays, Fireball is one of your most damaging spells. It’s especially effective at preventing rogues from vanishing. Should you find yourself in a situation where you think a Rogue will use vanish, Polymorph them, then Fireball – then hit them with a rank 1 Frostbolt to slow them and keep the DoTs coming.
  • Fire Blast: A bit of a mana hog, but an instant cast, so not bad at all.
  • Blast Wave: This ability is extremely valuable in PvP, especially in Capture the Flag, when you can use it to snag Flag Carriers so they can’t get away. This is great, as it gives even more CC to the Mage. Not that they needed it. Oh, also it does massive instant AoE right in front of you. So there’s that.
  • Pyroblast: Another highly damaging fire spell. Has the longest casting time of spells at this level, but the damage is worth it.
  • Scorch: Not a ton of damage, but a shorter casting time. It’s also a great way to quickly do damage without starting a global cooldown that locks out your Arcane and Frost spells, which are the most important for CC and interrupt.
  • Flamestrike: This one is fantastic for setting people on fire…way over there! Great against groups, but not much else. Most other spells at your disposal do more damage.
  • Fire Ward: Somewhat situational, but when you need it, and have it, you will be happy that you do.
  • Frostbolt: This is your absolute go-to, work horse spell. When you are not actively casting any other spells, be casting this. With the increased efficacy from talents, this spell will be responsible for most of the CC effects you produce. Even if they aren’t the best ones.
  • Blizzard: Your absolute best frost damage Area of Effect (AoE) spell, also, one of your most damaging ones.
  • Cone of Cold: A great source of AoE damage and CC. Kind of like Blast Wave, but with ice and cold. Hmmm…or is Blast Wave like Cone of Cold…?
  • Frost Ward: Good for protecting against enemy Mages and not a lot else. Still, good to have when you are fighting another Mage.
  • Ice Armor: This one is absolutely amazing for CTF, or when you are just running away from someone, or someones. It may be wise to switch between this and Arcane Armor tactically, depending on the situation. If all is well, use arcane for the Mana Regen, if it’s getting dicey, switch the Ice Armor for the added protection and passive CC.
  • Frost Nova: The second of your best CC abilities, Frost Nova can trap multiple enemies at once, allowing your comrades to move in for the kill. With talents, the length of your freezing can be increased, leaving a longer window of opportunity for you and your allies to seize the day.

You’re main advantage in PvP, over pure damage, is CC and keeping your enemies off balance and at bay, so that your allies can move in for the kill.  Use Frostbolt liberally, as it is the simplest method of doing this and with talents, very effective.  Always look for opportunities to use Polymorph and Frost Nova, or anything else that can hinder your foes.  Even fire spells like Blast Wave.

Talents

In PvP Frost Mages absolutely overwhelm, not because of the massive amounts of damage they do, though there damage is nothing to ignore at all, but their ability to control the movement and cadence of a fight.  CC is where PvP Mages are the most valuable and to get the best CC that the Mage has to offer, one need look no further than the Frost Talent Tree.  Polymorph is very exacting, but frost has so many ways to slow, or stop enemies in their tracks, it’s almost foolhardy to do any other build.

This spec excels at CCing and bursting frozen targets. Ice Block is good if you are carrying the flag in WSG as you can Ice Block out of CC, instantly cancel it using a macro, and then pick up the flag again immediately.  Also, the 2 points you spend here in Elemental Precision translates to 4% spell hit, which is the caster hit cap in pvp.

Wow Classic Twink Talent Build Images Mage Deep Frost

 

 

There is a school of thought that raw damage is better than an over taciturn approach and that a Fire Mage build might be better for PvP.  If that’s your thing, check out this spec.  It focuses on raw damage output with a little AoE from Blast Wave.

Wow Classic Twink Talent Build Images Mage Deep Fire

If you want to see what else the Mage’s talents have to offer, check out the mage talent calculator and see what you can come up with.

BiS Gear

Enchantments

The enchantments for your gear are almost as important as the gear itself.  Make sure to get all of the best enchantments for each gear slot item that can be enchanted.  If your Main is not an enchanter, then acquiring these enchantments will be expensive, so keep that in mind.  Here are all of the best enchantments for a level 39 Twink Mage.

Buffs

There are a plethora of buffs to be had at this level and some of them are incredibly useful.  If you’ve taken Alchemy, you’ll be able to acquire most of these, fairly easily.  Otherwise, you can get them through other players who are Alchemists, or simply from the AH. Some of them are often sold by vendors in a limited quantity as well.

Elixirs

Remember that only one Battle and one Guardian Elixir can be active at a time.

Battle Elixirs

  • Elixir of Frost Power:  Translates to about +15 more Frost Damage.  This is uniquely useful to the Mage and even more useful to a Twink Mage in PvP
  • Arcane Elixir:  Gives a massive boost in spell damage and finally there is a decent Battle Elixir for casters!

Guardian Elixirs

  • Elixir of Greater Intellect: A very good choice if you can get it, as it offers an even higher bonus to Intellect than Arcane Intellect at this level.
  • Elixir of Fortitude:  Not a single character in all of WoW has ever complained about having more health.  You shouldn’t either.
  • Mighty Troll’s Blood Potion:  This one is great to pop right before a long fight.  It helps mitigate damage to you and let’s your Healer take it a bit easier.
  • Elixir of Greater Defense:  More armor is always a good thing, especially in these quantities.
  • Gift of Arthas: Hard to come by and somewhat situational with respect to the resistance, but definitely worth the defensive proc.  Being able to disease opponents is very useful in PvP.
  • Elixir of Water Walking This one might only be useful when running away from something, but when you can walk on water and your opponents can’t you’ll be glad you bought this.

Potions

  • Lesser Stoneshield Potion: One thousand extra armor?  Yes, you can easily find a situation where this is useful.
  • Invisibility Potion: Makes you invisible.  What’s not to love?
  • Swiftness Potion: No matter what bracket you’re in, no matter what class you play, this potion will never not be useful in some way in PvP and in CTF it is invaluable.
  • Restorative Potion: Expensive, but worth the price and extremely utilitarian.  You can just keep this in your back pocket just in case and rest easy, knowing you have an answer for almost every debuff.
  • Jungle Remedy: You might have to spend a lot of time farming these, or a bit of gold buying them, but they are worth it.
  • Magic Resistance Potion:   If 50 resistance in all schools of magic doesn’t seem like enough to you, you are wrong.  This potion is perfect for when every caster on the field is flinging different colored light at each other.
  • Dreamless Sleep Potion:  Makes you vulnerable for a awhile but pretty much completely restores your health and mana.  Good to use right after a some kind of mass CC has just occurred, like Psychic Scream, or Fear.
  • Wildvine Potion:  Kind of a gamble, but might be worth having for when things are really down and out.
  • Superior Healing Potion:  The healing potion is a staple of adventurers everywhere.  Use it in good health.  Heheh.
  • Superior Healing Draught:  Not as effective as the above, but plentiful and cheap.  You can only use them in BGs though.
  • Greater Mana Potion: An absolute must have for all casters.  Make sure you have at least a couple of these before ever even heading out.

Scrolls

Use all of them if you are alone, because they are cheap and why not?

Team Buffs

Arcane Intellect should always be on, end of story.  All classes want Power Word: Fortitude and the health it gives.  Mark of the Wild raises all of your stats a little and stacks with most buffs.  Blessing of Kings does kind of the same thing as Mark of the Wild, only a bit better and only for Alliance players.

Other Consumables

  • Rumsey Rum Black Label: Being a little tipsy is a small price to pay for an extra 15 Stamina.
  • Minor Wizard Oil:  These things are great, because imbues will stack with weapon enchantments. So if you’re a caster, get this on your weapon.
  • Dragonbreath Chili: As stated above, this is a great little added boon that you can get easily if you cooking skill is high enough.
  • Spider Sausage: Again, make sure you have some of this sausage before heading out there.  The well fed buff shouldn’t be ignored.

You made it to the end!  In doing so, have acquired all of the knowledge you require to make the perfect level 39 Twink Mage.  Use this newfound wisdom to bring honor to your name, victory to your allies and woe to your enemies.  Let them taste the cold bight of your Frost, the searing flames of your Fire and the uh…magical…mystery…of your arcane!  Have fun!

 

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OrinDac

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