While all Mage Specs are strong, what they excel at varies.

The question of which spec to play is always an ongoing on question for all players. The real joy of Mage in Battle for Azeroth is that all three specs are perfectly fine for whatever the player wants to do. While numbers show that some are favored in certain game modes, all specs are present throughout the modes.

Fire Mage: Best Spec for Cleave

Blizzard Entertainment

Fire Mages are currently ranked in the middle in regard to its DPS among the mage specs. Even then it is still in the upper half of the other DPS classes. Fire Mages are the most common Mage in PvP, however, no doubt due to their instant and high damage output.

Fire has Cleave damage from spells such as Flamestrike, Phoenix’s Flames, and Meteor.
Great Mobility, like all Mage Specs
Has massive damage for when a lot of damage needs to be done quickly.
Has a forgiving rotation that doesn’t punish slip ups too harshly
Great for both raids and mythic plus.

Much like actual fire, the biggest draw back to Fire Mages is the uncontrolled cleave. When you need to ease back on damage, or not hit a mob that is being crowd controlled, you may want to consider brining a different mage spec.

owever for fights where there are mobs that need to be take down, such as the Apetagonizer 3000 during Grong or during mythic plus trash pulls, the massive amounts of cleave damage are a complete win.

A High Level Fire Mage: https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-gb/character/eu/aegwynn/al%C3%A8c

Frost Mage: Best Spec for Open World

Blizzard Entertainment

Cool and collected, Frost Mages are the lowest ranked mage spec on DPS in single target damage, but also the most represented in PvE according to World of Wargraphs. This is in part, probably, to the more relaxed play style of Frost compared to the more chaotic Fire and punishing Arcane.

Most Frost Spells slow enemies, making them the best for kiting enemies in the open world.
Frost has high damage output and is more consistent than its peers.
Frost Mage has access to great AoE Spells like Blizzard that are more controlled than Fire’s chaotic cleave.
There is a level of luck in Frost, and if certain spells don’t active due to bad luck, the spec suffers
Frost lacks consistent cleave

Frost is the perfect spec for open world actives. Being able to pull all the required quest mobs and kite them around before nuking them down with a Blizzard and Frozen Orb is one of the best feelings in the game. And the spec is not lacking in its abilities in other game modes. It’s fun to play and not overly complicated, so for those looking for a spec that can perform well all the time, Frost is for you.

A High Level Frost Mage: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/Thrall/Xachi/advanced

Arcane Mage: Best Spec for AoE and Single Target

Blizzard Entertainment

In pure damage output, Arcane Mage is ranked at the very top for Mage Specs as well as the 5th highest period, as of patch 8.1.5. The spec has options for both single target damage and AoE, but suffers heavily from it’s own mechanics. Messing up an Arcane Mages rotation punishes hard, and as such Arcane Mages are underrepresented as a result. As it is with all Mage specs, it can still be used in any content well but be wary.

Great AoE and Single damage, Arcane Mages don’t trade one for the other
Even better mobility than the other Mage Specs due to Shimmer giving a second Blink
While punishing if you mess it up, Arcane offers a completely different play experience than Fire and Frost
However, Arcane is a spec that can be dead in the water than others, due to Evocation stopping if you move for mechanics, leaving you without mana for 3 minutes
Highest Single Target Mage Spec, when it’s working

Arcane Mage is a bit of gamble. It’s harder to play than the others but can also result in better results, on paper. In practice, the mechanics of Battle for Azeroth’s Mythic Plus Dungeons and Raids seem to work against it. You can make it work, but more work will go into it than making Fire and Frost Work. However, for encounters that call for high damage, like Fetid Devourer did, this spec certainly pulls its weight.

A High Level Arcane Mage: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/Hyjal/Scryix/advanced

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Mages harness magic, but which school is the best?

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GAMERS DECIDE - Arcane

WoW Best Mage Spec for BFA

Fire Mage: Best Spec for Cleave

Frost Mage: Best Spec for Open World

Arcane Mage: Best Spec for AoE and Single Target

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