Mage and Shaman: Official Class Deep Dives
Checked: 2026-10-07 · International
Frostfire Bolt and cross-school Mage builds; faster, longer-lasting Shaman totems with preset Call spells.
Published October 7 at 22:00 UTC. Blizzard notes that abilities and talents may still change during the Beta. Talents start at level 10 and keep the 11-, 21- and 31-point milestones, now joined by a 16-point milestone. Change talents, including Legacy talents, at a class trainer in a major city; Dual Specialization opens at 40.
Mages learn Frostfire Bolt at 40: a 3-second Fire and Frost spell whose hit also applies damage over time and a Slow. It uses the better of the Mage’s Fire or Frost spell damage and the lower of the target’s two resistances. Comprehension, a new Mage-only minor tradeskill, deciphers scrolls dropped in the world. Cone of Cold lasts less time to curb kiting farms, and Mage Armor regenerates more Mana from Spirit.
New Mage gold-medal talents include Arcane Blast and Ice Lance at 11 points and Missile Barrage at 16. Ice Block becomes the 16-point Frost medal; Cold Snap moves to 21 points with a 10-minute cooldown. Fire adds Heating Up, which shortens Pyroblast after critical strikes. Ignite becomes a separate debuff for each Mage, and Improved Blizzard now slows by up to 40% rather than 65%. Arcane Concentration, Impact and similar proc talents trigger less often from much lower-rank spells.
Totems have a 1-second global cooldown, and totems with persistent buffs last 5 minutes. A tracker shows active totems and dismisses one with a right-click. Resistance totems cover the whole raid group. Weapon imbues last 60 minutes and stack with stones and oils. Fire Nova becomes a spell that erupts at your Fire totem, Windfury and Flametongue Totems become party buffs, and Tranquil Air Totem is removed.
Totemic Recall (level 20) destroys all totems and refunds part of their Mana; Blizzard says the refund currently fails in the Beta. Totemic Projection (22) moves all totems up to 30 yards. Call of the Elements (20), Call of the Spirits (30) and Call of the Ancestors (40) each summon a preset group of four totems. Lightning Bolt from rank 4 and Chain Lightning cast 0.5 seconds faster with lower coefficients.
New Shaman gold-medal talents include Earthbound and Lava Burst for Elemental Combat, Shamanistic Focus and Rage of the Farseer for Enhancement, and Water Shield and Riptide for Restoration. Stormstrike and Mana Tide Totem move to 16 points, and Maelstrom Weapon can make Lightning Bolt instant.
The site’s 1.60.1.70245 client tables place these gold-medal talents at the announced point thresholds. Talents and the Spellbook show the recorded client values, which may differ from later Beta builds.
Source: Forever Class Deep Dives — Mage and Shaman
A fan-site summary. Dates and test content may change; consult the original announcements.