Mage Leveling Guide

Hi everyone, and welcome to my World of Warcraft Mage Leveling Guide! We’ll be exploring a variety of leveling-related topics here, and the one that’s on the menu for today is choosing a race for your Alliance Mage.  We’ll go over the pluses and minuses of each race with regard to both PVE and PVP.  I think it is worth mentioning that you’re going to have to look at this character for the rest of his or her existence, so above all you should make sure that you are building a character that you like to look at.  If you are relatively indifferent, then my guide will point you in the right direction for making the most powerful Alliance Mage possible.

Alliance Mage Races

Human - Humans have received significant buffs to their racial abilities since Wrath of the Lich King came out.  Alliance-side, they are pretty much the perfect choice for PVP for any class, and Mages are no exception to this.  Humans get a free ability that mimics the PVP trinket (on a shared cooldown with the trinket) leaving them a free slot for another offensive trinket, increased passive stealth detection, a bonus to all reputation gains earned, and a slight Spirit boost.

Verdict: Humans are completely and totally dominant as far as racials go.  Their racial abilities are great for both PVP and solo / small group PVE.  If you’re looking to roll a Mage with stacked racials, Human is the way to go.

Gnome - Gnomes get a decent bag of tricks as well.  They are able to escape roots and snares on demand with Escape Artist, which, unlike the human racial, is on a separate cooldown from the PVP trinket.  They get a bonus to Intellect, as well as a bonus to Engineering, which is an awesome profession for a Mage.  They’re not quite as awesome as humans are, but there’s definitely something about playing a Gnome Mage that shoots fireballs bigger than him.

Verdict: Gnomes are a solid choice, but not necessarily the best of the pack.  They make a good choice overall, and if you like the look of them, then the decent racials are just icing on the cake.

Draenei - Draenei are pretty much a tie with Gnomes in terms of the benefit that their racials provide.  The big one is obviously Gift of the Naaru.  Given that the only major drawback that a Mage has is their inability to heal themselves, it’s hard to say no to this.  I’d say it’s got a much larger benefit in PVE than PVP, but it is definitely handy.  In addition, you get a bonus to Jewelcrafting and some Shadow Resist, plus a 1% hit aura, which comes in handy.

Verdict: Also a good choice.  The blueberries do very decently in the racials department, and look awesome as mages to boot.

Conclusion: It’s pretty hard to go wrong with any of the Alliance races as far as Mages are concerned.  As far as I am concerned, Humans are the best choice, but the difference is not to the point that I would choose them over a race that I liked the look of better.  Draenei and Gnomes both make very good Mages as well, so if you’re not a min/maxer I’d say go with whatever you like best.  For those of you who are straight-up number crunchers, the clear cut answer you are looking for is simple:  Roll a Human.

In the next Mage Leveling Guide post, we’ll cover choosing a race for Horde players.  If you’re a die-hard Alliance player, don’t worry, we’ll be back to content that helps both sides shortly.

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