Bringin' More Than Just the Boom, pt 1

It's 6:25pm, and you're feeling the itch.

That's right. You need to go light some massive fires, freeze a few feet to the floor, and maybe add a couple of fluffy widdle sheepies to the wilds of Azeroth. You don't want just any old in-game murderfest; no, not for a mage of your caliber. You want to hit the Elites and burn your way through an instance. You want a meatshield to take the hits, a healer to keep your fragile little form alive, and maybe a minion or two to add their own paltry efforts to your explosions. In short, you're ready find a party and join a dungeon run.

You, however, are a mage. You may be awesomesauce in a wrapping of highly colorful cloth, but the fact is that mages just aren’t the lynchpins of a group. We are too smart to stand there and gleefully let the mobs beat on us, tank-style (blame Arcane Intellect for that) and too interested in furthering the cause of devastation to cast something pansy like a heal. Thus, the rest of the game lumps us into this nebulous ‘class’ called DPS. They weigh us off against rogues, warlocks, hunters and hybrids when they consider who to bring and who to leave chillin’ in Shattrath City.

So, how do we make sure that we’re the ones getting the invites while the lesser beings get left behind? We tip the scales with some facts. Let’s make sure that everyone understands just what mages bring to a party.

Part 1: The Basics

1. DPS – You’re rolling your eyes, right? I know. Yes, the mage class, the ones that Blizzard says will "introduce monsters to a world of pain", does a healthy chunk of damage per second. Debatable though it is, I firmly believe that this is and will always be the foundation of our class. Everything else is icing and details.
   


2. 
   
   Smarts for Everyone – Mages bring Intellect to the group. (Well, to the toons, at least. Sorry, but we can’t always say the same for the players.) Arcane Intellect and Arcane Brilliance give us the ability to make our fellow mana-users happier and longer-casting. All the better to heal us with, my dears.
   


3. Crowd Control – Polymorph and Frost Nova are how we keep a respectful distance from those who would like to maim us. The other classes call this ‘Crowd Control’; me, I just call it smart. We wear cloth, my friends. It’s like bringing a paper umbrella to a sword fight: it quickly teaches us that the wise mage keeps her distance!
   
   Fire mages enjoy the effects of Blast Wave with its 6 second daze and Dragon’s Breath with its 3 second disorient. For the cold-inclined among us, it’s all about Frostbyte and Permafrost combined with some great cooldown-shortening talents like Cold Snap and Improved Frost Nova. Arcane mages aren’t left out, either. They get Presence of Mind to turn an angry enemy into an insta-Sheep as well as Slow, which affects not only the enemy’s legs but his sword arm, as well.
   


4. 
   
   Free Meds – Water. Food. Our new, much-loved banquet tables. You, my dear mage, bring your group freebies that they would otherwise have to buy. You’re the anti-gold-farmer, earning money for your friends by dint of your generosity! Are they kissing your feet, yet? Turn them into pigs if they don’t at least say ‘thank you’.
   


5. 
   
   Portals – Mages, probably because we spent so much time atrophying in the library while learning our weapons of massive destruction, don’t like to walk. Instead, we use teleportation to let us insta-blink to our favorite cities. Halfway across Azeroth? Hey, that’s easy. Other side of the inter-dimensional, time-space-spanning evil portal that destroyed a world by its very creation?! Psh. Give us ten seconds, and we’re there. We can even let our party members tag along or send them off to repair, restock, or buy us presents.
   

It’s not a bad start, huh? The basics are already pretty impressive. It’s only half of the list, though. If the group leader is still eyeballing Joe Rogue for your spot, then I guess we'll just have to whip out the Advanced Mage list! Let’s see who gets left in Shattrath, then.

... but I'm betting your eyes are tired. Let's save the Advanced class for next post. Until then!