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Mage and Shaman changes in WoW Forever

What Blizzard's class deep dive changes for Mages and Shaman in WoW Forever. Frostfire Bolt, Arcane Blast, totems and talents of World of Warcraft: Forever.

Checked
2026-10-08
Blizzard material is © Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

How talents work now

  • Talents start at level 10 and keep the familiar layout: milestones at 11, 21 and 31 points, plus a new milestone at 16 points.
  • Talents, Legacy talents included, are changed at a class trainer in a major city.
  • Dual Specialization unlocks at level 40.

Everything below comes from Blizzard’s deep dive, Class Deep Dives: Mage and Shaman (opens in a new tab), rewritten in our own words and kept in its order. Blizzard says abilities and talents may still change during the beta.

Mage

Each spell school asks for more decisions in the moment: Arcane sets up and empowers follow-up casts, Fire rewards critical strikes and timing, and Frost keeps its control while interacting more with the rest of the class.

Baseline abilities

  • Comprehension. A new minor tradeskill only Mages have. It reads and deciphers scrolls dropped by creatures, which give assorted benefits. The ability is Comprehend Scroll, in the General tab of the spellbook.
  • Cone of Cold. Its duration is shorter, part of a wider fix against farmers who kite big groups of creatures.
  • Frostfire Bolt. New at level 40 and counted as both Fire and Frost, so most talents of either school apply. It has a 3 second cast, hits hard up front like Fireball and leaves a damage over time effect with a slow. It uses the higher of your Fire and Frost spell damage bonuses and the lower of the target's Fire and Frost resistances. Blizzard's example: Ignite with Ice Shards makes a critical strike deal 200%, plus 40% of that as Ignite, for 280% in total.
  • Mage Armor. Gives more mana regeneration from Spirit.

Talents

Arcane

  • Wand Specialization. Needs only 2 points for the same benefit.
  • Arcane Focus. Redesigned: more chance to hit with Arcane spells.
  • Improved Channeling. Was Improved Arcane Missiles. Arcane Blast can no longer be pushed back by damage while casting.
  • Arcane Subtlety. Moves from row 1 to row 2. It ignores more resistance and cuts less threat.
  • Magic Absorption. Its trigger now has a 1 second cooldown.
  • Arcane Concentration. Triggers less often when you cast spells of much lower rank. Other classes' free-cast talents get the same penalty.
  • Arcane Resilience. Moves from row 3 to row 2, is no longer a gold medal talent and costs 2 points for the same effect.
  • Arcane Geometry. New in row 3: Arcane spells reach farther.
  • Arcane Impact. Was Improved Arcane Explosion. Raises the critical strike chance of all Arcane spells.
  • Arcane Blast. New 11 point gold medal talent with a redesigned spell. It is a 2.5 second cast that hits immediately, then raises the damage of your other Mage spells and its own mana cost. It stacks 4 times and lasts 8 seconds, or until you cast another spell.
  • Arcane Shielding. Was Improved Mana Shield. Mana Shield costs less and Mage Armor gives more resistance.
  • Improved Counterspell. Redesigned: at 1 point you always get a shorter Silence, instead of a 50% chance of a normal one.
  • Arcane Meditation. More mana regeneration from Spirit while casting. Needs Arcane Concentration.
  • Missile Barrage. New 16 point gold medal talent. Arcane Blast, Fireball, Frostbolt and Frostfire Bolt can make your next Arcane Missiles channel twice as fast for no mana, and the chance is doubled for Arcane Blast.
  • Arcane Mind. Redesigned: it raises Intellect instead of maximum mana and boosts the critical damage of Arcane spells. It no longer needs Arcane Resilience.
  • Arcane Instability. No longer needs Presence of Mind.
  • Arcane Power. Now needs Presence of Mind.

Moved to baseline: Magic Attunement.

Fire

  • Wake of Fire. Was Improved Fire Blast, moved from row 2 to row 1. Cuts the Fire Blast cooldown further, and killing a non-trivial target gives your next Fire Blast a big critical strike bonus.
  • Incineration. Was Incinerate, moved from row 3 to row 1. It now also raises the critical strike chance of Ice Lance and Arcane Blast, on top of Fire Blast and Scorch.
  • Improved Fireball. Also shortens the cast time of Frostfire Bolt.
  • Ignite. Every Mage now has their own debuff instead of sharing one, and damage is no longer lost when critical strikes land close together.
  • Impact. Triggers less often with low rank spells.
  • Burning Soul. Needs 3 points for the same effect.
  • Improved Scorch. The debuff only helps the Mage who applied it.
  • Heating Up. New in row 4, needs Pyroblast. Non-periodic critical strikes from Fireball, Frostfire Bolt, Fire Blast or Scorch cut the next Pyroblast cast time by 25%, up to 3 stacks. At 3 stacks Pyroblast takes 1.5 seconds.
  • Blast Wave. No longer needs Pyroblast.

Removed: None.

Frost

  • Elemental Precision. Now raises hit chance with Fire and Frost spells instead of lowering the target's chance to resist.
  • Permafrost. Redesigned: chill lasts 11%, 22% or 33% longer instead of a flat 1, 2 or 3 seconds, so it cannot stretch Improved Blizzard too far.
  • Frost Channeling. Moves from row 4 to row 3.
  • Ice Lance. New 11 point gold medal talent. An instant, low damage cast that deals 300% more to Frozen targets, including targets treated as Frozen by Fingers of Frost.
  • Improved Blizzard. Slows less: at most 40% instead of 65%, which tones down Frost AoE farming in instances.
  • Ice Block. Moves from row 5 to row 4 and becomes the 16 point gold medal talent.
  • Shatter. No longer needs Improved Frost Nova.
  • Cold Snap. Moves from row 3 to row 5 as the 21 point gold medal talent. Its cooldown goes from 5 to 10 minutes.
  • Fingers of Frost. New in row 5 and required for Ice Lance. Chill effects can grant 1 or 2 charges, and each charge makes your spells treat the target as Frozen.
  • Winter's Chill. Only helps the casting Mage, and the critical strike bonus applies only to Frostbolt and Ice Lance.

Removed: None.

Changed in later beta builds

Blizzard changed these after the deep dive, in the 15 October build (beta development notes (opens in a new tab)):

  • Frost Blast. New spell learned at level 24: a 1.5 second cast that deals low Frost damage and slows. It replaces what Rank 1 Frostbolt used to do for down-ranking, costs more mana and hits a little harder, and every talent that helps Frostbolt helps it too.
  • Arcane Blast. Redesigned again: a 1.5 second cast that gives you 15% of your Intellect as Spell Damage for 15 seconds from the first stack, still up to 4 stacks and a rising mana cost. Its own damage and coefficients fell by 40%.
  • Arcane Wrath. New 16 point gold medal talent: a 3.5 second cast with Fireball-like base damage plus damage as if you had extra Spell Power equal to 5% of your maximum mana, on a 6 second cooldown.
  • Missile Barrage. Moved to row 1 as a 2 point talent, and Arcane Missiles hits can now trigger it too.
  • Fire. Fire Power is down to 3 points (1, 2 or 3% per Fire effect on the target, up to 12%), Critical Mass takes 5 points for 10%, and Wake of Fire is back to Improved Fire Blast with more range. Heating Up also gains a charge from Fire Blast.
  • Frost. Ice Lance does 200% more damage to frozen targets (was 300%). Cone of Cold slows its first four targets more and for longer, and Winter's Chill now boosts the next Cone of Cold instead of critical chance.

Mages stay strong ranged damage dealers with good control, Polymorph above all, and are fragile in melee. The school you pick sets your role. They also bring raid and party buffs, food and water, and strong single target and AoE damage.

Browse the beta data for the Mage class page, its talent calculator and spellbook.

Shaman

Shaman power moves toward active choices in an encounter. Totems are easier to summon, track, dismiss and reposition, and weapon imbues and new talent paths give Elemental, Enhancement and Restoration more to do.

Baseline abilities

  • Totems. The global cooldown drops from 1.5 to 1.0 seconds. Totems with lasting buffs now last 5 minutes instead of 2, while shorter ones are unchanged. A new tracking UI shows your active totems and their time left, and right-clicking one dismisses it at once. Resistance Totems now cover the whole raid group.
  • Weapon imbues. Frostbrand, Flametongue, Rockbiter and Windfury Weapon last 60 minutes instead of 5, and can now run alongside temporary enchantments such as Sharpening Stones, Weight Stones and Wizard Oil.
  • Fire Nova. Fire Nova Totem is gone. The new Fire Nova spell deals fire damage at the position of your current Fire Totem, and you can repeat it without placing a new totem.
  • Windfury Totem. No longer a weapon enchant but a party-wide buff. A Shaman wearing Windfury Weapon cannot benefit from it, and it cannot run with Grace of Air or Flametongue Totem.
  • Flametongue Totem. Also a party-wide buff now. A Shaman with Flametongue Weapon cannot benefit, and it cannot run with Windfury Totem.
  • Tranquil Air Totem. Removed.
  • Totemic Projection. Learned at level 22. Teleports all your totems to a new spot within 30 yards, with a 1 minute cooldown and a cost of 25% of base mana.
  • Totemic Recall. Learned at level 20. Instantly destroys all your totems and returns 25% of their mana cost. A beta bug currently stops the refund.
  • Call of the Elements. Learned at level 20. Unlocks the totem bar, where you preset 4 totems, one per element. The spell puts all four down after a 3 second cast for the combined mana cost.
  • Call of the Spirits and Call of the Ancestors. Learned at levels 30 and 40. Each adds another preset set of 4 totems.
  • Lightning Bolt. Ranks 4 and up cast in 2.5 seconds instead of 3, with a matching lower spell power coefficient.
  • Chain Lightning. All ranks cast in 2 seconds instead of 2.5, with a matching lower coefficient.

Talents

Elemental Combat

  • Convection. Also lowers the mana cost of Lava Burst.
  • Concussion. No longer applies to Frost Shock or Flame Shock.
  • Reverberation. Moves from row 3 to row 2.
  • Call of Flame. Also raises the damage of Flame Shock, Fire Nova and Lava Burst.
  • Elemental Devastation. Moves from row 4 to row 2, so Enhancement Shaman reach it more easily.
  • Elemental Focus. Triggers less often with low rank spells.
  • Elemental Alacrity. Was Lightning Mastery, moved from row 6 to row 3 and max rank needs only 3 points. At max rank it cuts the cast time of Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning by 0.5 seconds and also shortens Lava Burst. It is weaker than before because of spell power scaling.
  • Improved Fire Nova. Was Improved Fire Totems, redesigned: Fire Nova hits harder and has a shorter cooldown.
  • Eye of the Storm. Redesigned: casting Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning or Lava Burst resists pushback from damage. Before, it only worked after a critical strike.
  • Call of Thunder. Moves from row 3 to row 4, needs Elemental Alacrity and becomes the 16 point gold medal talent, giving Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning 3% more critical strike chance.
  • Elemental Reach. Fire Nova and Lava Burst reach up to 6 yards farther, and Flame Shock up to 15 yards.
  • Lightning Overload. New in row 5. Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning can instantly cast a second copy for no mana, at half damage and no threat.
  • Earthbound. New 21 point gold medal talent. Placing an Earthbind Totem roots nearby targets for 5 seconds.
  • Elemental Fury. Moves from row 5 to row 6 and needs Call of Thunder.
  • Lava Burst. New 31 point gold medal talent that grants the spell: a 2.5 second Fire cast, 20% stronger if the target has your Flame Shock, with a 10 second cooldown.

Removed: Elemental Mastery. Blizzard says it was a signature Elemental talent, mostly for PvP, that could not be balanced for PvE without overpowering PvP. Elemental Shaman get new spells instead.

Enhancement

  • Earth's Grasp. Moves from Elemental to row 1 of Enhancement.
  • Thundering Strikes. Moves from row 2 to row 1 and now raises the critical strike chance of all spells and attacks, not only weapon attacks.
  • Ancestral Knowledge. Raises Intellect instead of maximum mana.
  • Mental Dexterity. New in row 2: Attack Power rises by a percentage of your Intellect.
  • Improved Ghost Wolf. Rank 1 lets Ghost Wolf work indoors and cuts its cast time by 1 second. Rank 2 makes it instant.
  • Elemental Weapons. Moves from row 5 to row 3.
  • Shamanistic Focus. New 11 point gold medal talent that greatly lowers the mana cost of Shocks and Lightning Shield.
  • Anticipation. Gives twice the Dodge chance.
  • Toughness. No longer raises Armor and raises Stamina by a percentage instead.
  • Flurry. Attack speed rises 5% per point, up to 25% (it was 30%), and it now needs Mental Dexterity instead of Thundering Strikes.
  • Stormstrike. Moves from the 31 point to the 16 point gold medal slot and its cooldown falls from 20 to 8 seconds. It now boosts your next Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning or Earth Shock by 20%, where it used to boost the next 2 Nature attacks from any attacker.
  • Spirit Weapons. Was Parry. A 21 point talent that lowers threat while you are not using Rockbiter Weapon and raises it while you are.
  • Mental Quickness. New in row 5: spell damage and healing rise by a percentage of your Intellect.
  • Improved Stormstrike. New in row 5 and needs Stormstrike. It can trigger mana regeneration while casting, and can reset the Stormstrike cooldown when you Dodge or Parry.
  • Maelstrom Weapon. New in row 6. Melee attacks can stack Maelstrom charges that shorten Lightning Bolt, which becomes instant with enough ranks and charges.
  • Rage of the Farseer. New 31 point gold medal talent: a 3 minute cooldown that raises attack speed by 30% for 25 seconds, like a personal Heroism or Bloodlust.

Removed: Shield Specialization.

Moved to baseline: Enhancing Totems, Two-Handed Axes and Maces, Weapon Mastery and Improved Weapon Totems.

Restoration

  • Totemic Focus. Moves from row 2 to row 1 and also discounts Totemic Projection and the Call spells.
  • Mindfulness. New in row 2: you regenerate mana from Spirit while casting. It sits where Elemental Shaman can reach it.
  • Natural Grace. Was Healing Grace, moved from row 3 to row 2 and now lowers all threat from spells.
  • Tidal Focus. Also gives more chance to hit with all spells and attacks.
  • Improved Reincarnation. Also raises maximum health by a percentage.
  • Ancestral Healing. Moves from row 2 to row 3.
  • Healing Focus. Full effect with 3 points instead of 5.
  • Water Shield. New 11 point gold medal talent that grants a Shield ability, with only one shield active at a time. Its 3 globes give mana when you are hit or when one of your heals critically strikes.
  • Tidal Mastery. No longer affects Lightning spells.
  • Restorative Totems. The Healing Stream Totem bonus is doubled.
  • Mana Tide Totem. Becomes the 16 point gold medal talent, down from 31.
  • Healing Way. Redesigned: Healing Wave heals a percentage more.
  • Riptide. New 31 point gold medal talent, needs Healing Way. An instant heal followed by a heal over 15 seconds, and Chain Heal is 25% stronger on targets with your Riptide. 6 second cooldown.

Removed: Nature's Guidance.

Changed in later beta builds

Blizzard changed these after the deep dive, in the 15 October build (beta development notes (opens in a new tab)):

  • Elemental Mastery. Back as the new 31 point gold medal talent: Lightning Bolt and Lava Burst cast 0.5 seconds faster and Chain Lightning loses its cooldown for 15 seconds, on a 3 minute cooldown. It needs Lava Burst.
  • Lava Burst. Moved from row 7 to row 5 as the 21 point gold medal talent, with a new rank 4 and no prerequisite.
  • Talent tree. Call of Thunder is gone, Earthbound is now a row 4 gold medal talent, Elemental Alacrity and Elemental Warding swapped rows 2 and 3, and Tidal Focus and Totemic Focus swapped places.
  • Spells. Chain Lightning costs about 35% less mana, Fire Nova hits much weaker and costs much less, and Grace of Air, Strength of Earth, Windfury and Flametongue totems are raid wide. Grace of Air no longer excludes the other two.
  • Restoration. Mana Tide Totem gains a rank at level 38, and Water Shield can trigger from any critical spell.

Shaman are totem masters who buff, heal and solve problems for the group. They have chaining spells, can fight in melee or at range, and are sturdy in Mail and shields. They have no strong crowd control and lean on their allies.

Browse the beta data for the Shaman class page, its talent calculator and spellbook.

Explore the numbers

See every talent and spell difference against Classic on the changes page. Blizzard’s article lists no racial changes for these classes.