Games - Mage

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	Games - Mage

Mages in World of Warcraft are spell-casting characters designed to deal damage, while also preventing monsters from dealing damage and providing utility for the rest of their party. In return for their ability to deal large amounts of ranged damage, although with an overall smaller DPS than Rogue, mages are very poor at physical combat, they wear the weakest of all armor types, and they have no ability to heal themselves. Races available for mages are: Humans, Gnomes, Undead, and Trolls.

Class strengths

Excellent single-target burst damage dealer.
Ability to damage multiple opponents simultaneously with Area of Effect Spells.
Ability to even out fights with polymorph.
Ability to conjure food and water (which can restore health and mana when not in combat).
Ability to nearly instantly teleport themselves and party members to major cities.

Class weaknesses

Practically nonexistent physical combat abilities.
Dependent on a mana pool, limiting ability to perform over long periods of time.
Weak armor and lack of any ability to heal.
Their ability to deal single-target damage is now overshadowed by the melee-oriented classes in endgame.
Poor caster item customization marks little improvement in terms of damage and survivability.
Cannot sustain its damage dealing over time as well as other damage dealing classes.

Mage spells

Mages are defined by their ability to cast various spells. Each of these spells costs 'mana' which can be replenished by resting, drinking drinks (spring water, milk, juice), or drinking mana restoration potions; Potions can be drunk at any time, but food and drink can only be used while the mage is out of combat. During long fights, mages can easily run out of mana and as a result will be unable to contribute to their group because they will not be able to cast any of their spells. Fortunately, mages are given the ability to conjure water, meaning they do not have to spend money to purchase water from vendors.

Mage spells fit into three categories: Fire, Frost, and Arcane. Fire spells are mostly pure damage spells. They allow the mage to deliver quick bursts of heavy damage, although some are not very mana efficient. An example would be fireball; at its highest level, this spell deals on the order of 700 damage to a target instantly, and another 50 or so over the course of several seconds. Frost spells are somewhat more defensive in nature; most deal damage but also slow enemy monster's movement, or even root them in place. An example would be frostbolt, a spell that does around 500 damage but also slows the movement of the target for several seconds. Arcane spells are mostly utility spells, although the two damage dealing spells in the arcane school are quite useful. An example of a utility or Crowd Control would be polymorph. This spell turns the mage's target into a sheep. While in this form, the opponent cannot attack or use any abilities, although its health is regenerated very rapidly. Arcane missiles is a damage-dealing arcane school spell, which is widely use by mages. It is a channeled spell which forbids the user from any other activities while the spell is channeling.

Damage dealing

A mage's primary role in a party is to deal damage to monsters in the game world. Mages can blast a single monster with fire spells to quickly kill it, or 'kite' the monster, using frost spells to deal damage to it and slow it down, allowing the mage to keep distance between himself and the monster. Mages possess an unparalleled ability to deal damage to multiple targets at the same time, through the use of 'area of effect' spells, which deal damage to multiple targets in a geographical area.

Crowd Control

In addition to dealing damage, mages have the ability to remove monsters (or other players) from a fight, preventing them from dealing damage or using abilities. The spells in the frost tree can slow monsters' movement, or even keep them rooted in place. Mages can even 'kite' monsters, by running away from them while they use slowing spells and deal damage to the monster with frost spells. The monster will chase after the mage, but will never reach because its movement is impaired. A mage can also remove one monster from a fight altogether by turning it into a sheep, allowing the mage and his party to focus on a single target instead of two.

Utility

Outside the battlefield, mages possess handy abilities. They can conjure food and water, saving money for themselves and their party members. They can teleport themselves and members of their party to major cities, saving potentially enormous amounts of time and money.

Mage Class Review

In patch 1.11, mages are schedualed to recieve a class review. The developers will look at what needs to be improved with the class, and after testing, put the patch (1.11) onto public realms. As of now, Blizzard has released the following: Tseric: "Mage Community Concerns/Desires Overview-

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