Mage AoE Farming in WoW Forever and Classic: Talents, Pull Strategy and Spots 

Mage AoE farming in WoW Forever still works, but Blizzard made the classic kite rotation weaker on purpose. Its October 7 Mage and Shaman class article shortened Cone of Cold and capped Improved Blizzard’s slow at 40% instead of 65%, to stop gold farmers and boosters from kiting large numbers of mobs. The October 15 beta notes then gave Cone of Cold an extra 10% slow and 3 more seconds on the first four targets it hits, so small pulls stay easy to control. Forever keeps Classic’s mob spawns in the original zones, so every spot in the table below still exists; pull smaller groups than you would in Classic.

Updated November 5, 2026: now covers WoW Forever, with Blizzard’s Cone of Cold, Improved Blizzard and low-rank spell changes.

Talents & Gear

In Classic, the most basic talent setup for mage AoE farming requires level 22. While you can learn Blizzard at level 20, you don’t have the necessary slow effect to effectively kill large groups of mobs. Once you reach higher levels, you can go deeper into the frost tree. Forever’s Frost tree is different; see the WoW Forever section below.

Just make sure to SKIP the “Frostbite” talent, as it messes with the strategy majorly.

In the early stages of mage AoE farming, you might not have enough mana for it, so it is advisable to prefer gear with intelligence on it. The best green items are the ones with the suffix “of the Eagle“, which have intelligence and stamina on them.

Ideally, you want to be able to cast 1-2x Cone of Cold, 3-4x Blizzard and 1-2x Frost Nova, depending on the mobs. If you do have mana problems, you can always use lower rank spells just to slow the mobs. In WoW Forever, spells cast at ranks far below your level get less from spell power and a lower chance to trigger talents (Blizzard’s October 1 beta notes); whether that weakens a low-rank Blizzard’s chill isn’t documented. For a cheap single-target slow, Forever’s Frost Blast (level 24) replaces the old Rank 1 Frostbolt trick.

AoE farming strategy

• If you have enough mana, start by casting Mana Shield, then pull the mobs and stack them up in a nice bulk.
• Once you have gathered the mobs, cast your first Frost Nova and immediately start getting to max range at a clear spot.
• You should have enough time to get almost 2 full Blizzards off.
• Now you want to slow them again with Cone of Cold and either use Blink to get away, or run if you are low on mana.
• You should be able to get off at least one more Blizzard, and your Frost Nova should be ready again.
• If you have enough mana, you could repeat this process indefinitely, even without getting hit after the initial pull. Repeat until they are dead!

Mage AoE grinding spots

These are the Mage AoE grinding spots that I regularly use, though there are a lot more suitable locations. WoWWiki’s old “Mage area of effect locations” page lists more, though I can’t vouch for its accuracy.

Mage AoE Farming in WoW Forever: What Changed

Mage AoE farming in WoW Forever keeps Frost Nova, Blizzard, Cone of Cold and Blink, and Blizzard’s class article still calls mage area damage “stronger and more varied than any other class”. The changes target the slows that made huge kites safe:

• Improved Blizzard: the slow now caps at 40% instead of 65%. Blizzard says this is meant to stop Frost Mages from AoE farming instances for gold and boosts.
• Cone of Cold: shorter duration (class article, October 7), then from the October 15 build an extra 10% slow and 3 more seconds on the first four targets hit.
• Permafrost: now lengthens chill effects by 11, 22 or 33% instead of 1 to 3 seconds, so it no longer stretches Improved Blizzard as far.
• Low-rank spells: get less from spell power and trigger talents less often; a Rank 1 Frostbolt at level 60 has no chance to trigger Frostbite (October 1 beta notes).
• Arcane: Improved Arcane Explosion is gone; its replacement, Arcane Impact, raises the crit chance of all Arcane spells.
• XP: mobs below your level give 4 to 20% less XP than in Classic, according to a player analysis that Blizzard’s Aidan “Zirene” Moon called intended, while crafted food adds 5% XP from kills. AoE grind mobs at or near your level.

What this means in practice, by our read: AoE farming in WoW Forever favors smaller pulls, about four mobs held by Frost Nova and Cone of Cold, over the very large kites Classic mages ran. Blizzard also raised respawn rates in Hillsbrad Foothills, the Wetlands and Duskwood (October 1 beta notes) and evened out the Wetlands’ Dragonmaw orc and gnoll respawns (October 15), so the gnoll, orc, peasant and worgen spots in the table respawn faster than in Classic.

For a WoW Forever Frost leveling build (Ice Lance, Shatter and Fingers of Frost, with Improved Blizzard from level 41), see our WoW Forever leveling talents guide. The full list of mage changes is in our WoW Forever class changes guide, and the WoW Forever leveling guide has a zone route from 1 to 60.