Mage at level 60: Fire damage
In the original game most raiding mages played Fire. Forever reworked Frost (
Ice Barrier now raises Frost damage, 
Winter’s Chill works with Ice Lance and Fingers of Frost), so it is open which tree is stronger. This page gives a Fire build as a starting point; we will add a Frost raid build once there are Forever raid results. Leveling first? See the Frost leveling guide.
Build
| Talent split | Arcane 20 / Fire 31 |
| Weapon | A staff or a one-hand with spell damage and an off-hand, plus a wand |
| Calculator | Open this build in the talent calculator |
| Tree | Talent | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Arcane |  Arcane Subtlety |
2/2 |
| Arcane |  Arcane Focus |
3/5 |
| Arcane |  Magic Absorption |
5/5 |
| Arcane |  Arcane Concentration |
5/5 |
| Arcane |  Improved Counterspell |
2/2 |
| Arcane |  Arcane Meditation |
3/3 |
| Fire |  Accelerant |
5/5 |
| Fire |  Ignite |
5/5 |
| Fire |  Flame Throwing |
2/2 |
| Fire |  Incineration |
2/2 |
| Fire |  Pyroblast |
1/1 |
| Fire |  Burning Soul |
1/2 |
| Fire |  Improved Scorch |
3/3 |
| Fire |  Master of Elements |
3/3 |
| Fire |  Critical Mass |
3/3 |
| Fire |  Fire Power |
5/5 |
| Fire |  Combustion |
1/1 |
Key talents. Accelerant is new in Forever and shortens Fireball (and Frostfire Bolt). Ignite adds damage over time to every Fire critical strike. Improved Scorch makes targets take more Fire damage, Master of Elements refunds mana on critical strikes, Critical Mass adds Fire crit. In Forever, Fire Power grows with the number of your Fire effects on the target, so keeping Ignite and the Scorch debuff up matters. Combustion stacks Fire crit for burst. From Arcane, Arcane Concentration gives free spells, Magic Absorption adds resistances and mana, and Arcane Meditation keeps mana coming while you cast.
Priority
- Keep the Improved Scorch debuff at five stacks (one mage in the raid is usually assigned).
- Fireball as your main spell.
- Fire Blast while moving, Combustion with trinkets.
- Watch threat; stop casting before you pull the boss off the tank.
Stats
Spell damage and hit chance first, until you stop missing, then spell critical strike, Intellect for mana.
In the group
Your jobs are damage, Polymorph on assigned targets, Arcane Intellect on casters, food and water, and Remove Lesser Curse when asked. Evocation and mana gems keep you going in long fights.
The build is checked against the Forever client files (build 1.60.1.70790); priorities and stats follow the original game and will be revised with Forever raid results.