Guide to the WoW Mage Talent Tree

The Fire Branch

The fire branch of the mage talent tree is all about doing as much damage as possible in a single blast.. Players who choose to have their character specialize in fire spells will find that they have a character who does well in both player versus player combat and player versus environment combat.

The tree lacks the utility of the other two branches, but for World of Warcraft players who want a character who does nothing else but nuke, a fire mage is the best option.

The Frost Branch

The frost branch of the mage talent tree boosts the mage's frost spells. While the sheep spell will be the primary crowd control tool used by a mage in World of Warcraft, frost nova will hold monsters in place.

Abilities such as the increased slow on frost bolt and the cool down time on frost nova help the mage do crowd control, but characters who specialize in the frost branch of the mage talent tree will excel at player versus player combat.

The Arcane Branch

The arcane branch provides the most utility of all mage talent tree branches. The talents can provide a decent boost to a character's damage per second rating.. The abilities that slow a mob's attack speed rather than his movement are useful to raids and groups, and the mana management tools available on this branch keep the mage able to cast his spells for a longer periods of time.

Wand Specializatian, a talent in the arcane branch allows a player to do increased damage with wands. This makes the character less dependent upon his mana pool.

Combining Talents from Different Branches

It is possible to combine talents from different branches of the same talent tree to customize a World of Warcraft character. Experimenting in game is not recommended as it costs a character one gold to relearn his talents and the costs increases each time a character uses this option.