The main question for every new player in World of Warcraft is “which specialization is the best to level up?” When leveling a mage the decision is a bit easier as fire is the least viable to level. Both Arcane and Frost have points for and against. I’ll give you my perspective on what the best spec is.
Arcane
Arcane is the best spec to level up if you’re going to be doing a lot of single pulls. The spec is very mana friendly and is highly viable as early as level 15 when you can max Arcane Stability. Arcane Stability simply allows you to cast your Arcane Missiles spell without being interrupted or having your cast rejected, so you are guaranteed to fire 5 sets of missiles if your target lives long enough to survive.
Many Arcane specs will switch to Fire early on for Pyroblast to give them a high-impact spell. This also has the benefit of giving the build a bit more survivability later on when you gain the Presence of Mind (PoM) talent, which makes your next spell an instant cast. You can activate PoM and cast an instant cast Pyroblast to dish out quite a bit of instant damage to a target if the going gets tough.
This spec will start with a Frostbolt (or Pyroblast if you spec Fire), and then follow up with another Frostbolt or fireball. From there you have a few options depending on your goal. I used to like Frost Nova my target, jump back and start throwing Arcane Missiles until the target is dead. If the target is about to die, they can simply start casting Arcane Missiles after the second nuke. As long as you attack one mob at a time, your mana should last at least a few fights.
Frost
Frost spec is all about AoE grinding. No doubt anyone who has leveled a character in WoW has come across an AoE mage leveling at some point or another. It’s an amazing sight to see, but also frustrating to know that you’ll probably need to find another area to grind.
This spec will look a lot like a fire spec from the start, except you’ll be using Frostbolt to keep the distance between you and your target. You get a lot of survivability later on to help keep you alive. Best of all, the juicy AoE talents are kept in this tree. Single target kill is slow like this spec, just like a fire spec.
The true strength of a Frost build is in its AoE grinding ability. A combination of talents like Enhanced Blizzard and Permafrost keep your targets slowed down combined with Frost Nova if your victims get too close.
If you can grind AoE well, Frost is the fastest spec. The downside is that you really need to bring a priest with you to level up the shield and heal to keep things going. Deaths while leveling up will greatly reduce your experience per hour and should be avoided at all costs. Avoiding death while AoE shredding is a tricky dance that not everyone can master (I admit I didn’t), so keep that in mind.
