Mage Basics. Part Two.

So now we've decided what race our new little mage is going to be. Take the time to get a feel for the class in the starting zone. Make sure you train at every even level and vendor everything you can't use. You're going to need the cash.

You will pick up Arcane Intellect soon, which is a good thing. Arcane Intellect is a buff that increases the Intellect of your target by a certain amount. This means you have more mana which means you deal more damage because you can cast longer which means less downtime between mobs which means more experience and gold and chance for good item drops.

At all times when running around, keep your Frost Armor and Arcane Intellect up. Some folks are nice and buff random passers- by with AI, but that's up to you.

Our basic mage weapons are Fireball, Frostbolt and Arcane Missiles. Fireball deals a lot of up- front damage with a DoT (Damage Over Time). Frostbolt deals damage and has a slowing effect. Arcane Missiles deals a lot of damage, but it's spread out into bursts. This is also your first "channeled" spell, which means it deals damage on a timer instead of "charging up" like your fireball and frostbolt.

Your initial spell rotation will depend on you. I always preferred casting Frostbolt first, which slows the enemy, then Fireball and maybe Arcane Missiles. AM (Arcane Missiles) is *very* mana- intensive, so you might want to use it sparingly. Be aware that you will follow your target while casting AM, which can be a good thing.

While you're testing your new mage- ly skills, make sure you check the area you can cast in and get a feel for it. The cone you cast in is rather wide, which means you don't have to be directly facing your target. Some of the spells you learn don't even require your targets to be in front of you. We'll get to those later.

Have fun, kill some mobs and get the basic idea down. Level 10 comes fast, and that gives us new spells and something new entirely: talent points.