Mage in WoW Classic
The Mage is a ranged caster class that deals elemental magic damage. On the Vanilla WoW Classic X5 realm (1.12.1, x5 rates) the Mage is valued for high damage, Polymorph control, portals and unique AoE farming for gold and experience.
Talents and roles
In Vanilla the Mage has three talent trees.
- Arcane — buffs and utility, support for the other trees.
- Fire — high damage and powerful AoE in raids.
- Frost — control, survivability and the best choice for solo leveling.
Group role
The Mage supplies the group with water, food and Intellect 
Arcane Intellect, opens portals and controls dangerous targets with Polymorph Polymorph. In raids Mages deal huge area Blizzard and boss damage and remove magic effects.
Leveling on x5
x5 rates speed up the path to level 60 by 4–5x. Level in Frost for safe ranged damage Frostbolt, and pick up AoE farming at higher levels. The zone route is in the 1–60 leveling guide.
FAQ
Which tree should a Mage level in on x5?
For solo leveling the best pick is Frost: slows and control let you deal damage from range while taking little in return. Later, Mages go AoE farming with a Frost-fire build for fast gold and experience.
Why is the Mage useful in a group?
The Mage provides conjured water and food, group Intellect, portals between cities, dispels magic and controls a target with Polymorph. In raids it is one of the main sources of area and single-target damage.