Mages are the almighty wielders of magical spells and mystical powers. We can ignite furry creatures with our crackling balls of fire or freeze roaches then smash them into itty bitty pieces with icey bolts of frost, but mages are much more than this, my friends.
1. What is a mage?
Mages are the glass cannon archetype. A single soldier can slice a mage in half with one swing, yet a single mage atop a hill can wreak havoc on an entire army down below. Mages are students of their art and gaining knowledge is their true profession. They are the wise, the learned, the philosophers. They are the ones who say things like, “That which is powerful is weak, and that which is weak is powerful.” For the mage realizes that power comes in many forms. True power is not solid like a stone, but fluid like water. In the words of a famous martial artist, “Be water, my friend.”
2. Three Words: A-O-E
Does raining down icey death upon an entire battalion get you wet? In BGs, mages are the artillery, especially in large scale battles like in AV. When a group of enemies squeezes through a narrow choke point, we try not to drool on our keyboard thinking about the frozen or barbequed (or both) meat fiesta. If we are hidden well enough and our teammates are keeping the enemy distracted, we can dump our entire mana pool into 6 or 7 consecutive Blizzards and enjoy watching all those pretty yellow numbers fill up the screen. Need XP? Gold? Skins? Drops? AOE grinding baby! When running lowbies through instances or quests, mages get it done in spectacular fashion – pull a whole instance at once and finish with a few bursts of trash-disintegrating carnage.
3. “If you can eat good food with somebody you love, what else do you need?”
We never, ever, ever, ever run out of food or water. Grinding for hours? Doing instances back to back? Doesn’t matter. We never have to run to town to get more water. Bags filling up? Dump the conjured food and water with no loss. Conjuring water saves time and money, both expensive commodities in Azeroth. In battle situations with 90% mana and a few seconds of out of combat time, mages can top up without “wasting” any water, which allows us to be more effective more of the time. Some mages complain about feeling like a vendor, constantly being asked to provide food and water. “Nay,” I say. Having a skill that is in high demand is a great opportunity to contribute to the community and help out our fellow denizens. When we all contribute with whatever we can offer, it makes the community as a whole stronger, which benefits each individual in the long run. For the more financially minded mages, people often tip us for the water and food we conjure for free! (Not strictly true that it’s “free” – there is always opportunity cost. But really, you were just going to spam the trade channel with useless banter during the few seconds it takes to conjure anyways, right?)
4. “Beam me up, Scotty!”
Portals have to be the best thing since conjured bread. Travelling is a huge time sink in WoW and portals largely negate it. With ports to all the major cities, plus a strategically placed hearthstone, mages can get anywhere in a matter of minutes. Holiday events often require us to travel all over the world, but it’s never a problem for mages and we never have to worry about our hearthstone cooldown. When helping out lowbies, we can port them to places that would otherwise require a very long hike. Like conjuring food and water, opening portals for people is a wonderful opportunity to help others and build the community.
5. Baah!
Mages are able to turn their foes into a sheep, pig, penguin, cat, rabbit or turtle. One of the cutest (or annoying, depending on perspective) spells in the game and a mage trademark, polymorph is useful in a completely unique way - it heals. Mages often complain about the healing portion of this spell, but I pray to the Blizzard Gods that they do not remove this feature. What? What am I smoking, you say? Allow me to explain. Again, when helping out a lowbie quest, along with all the other utility mages offer, they can also heal their protogé – /duel then polymorph. Mages may actually have the most powerful heal in the game!
I also love helping lowbies of the opposite faction. For example, if I’m in Tanaris taking my revenge on those pesky pirates and come across a Hordie, I’ll let him tag everything, then one-shot the poor quest objectives. If he gets low on health, polymorph time! It will invariably induce a few chuckles and some goodwill to boot. Some may ask why in the world would I want to help somebody of the opposite faction. While I enjoy the challenge of PvP, I also enjoy the challenge of trying to make friends with somebody who is by default an enemy and cautious of my every action. It is a further challenge that we can’t even communicate except through kind acts and limited gestures and emotes. Being able to heal the enemy is a powerful tool in this aspect of the game that only mages can do. Once in a while, a Hordie will think I’m attacking them and fight me. If I were attacking you, you’d be dead by now! Unfortunately, polymorph does not cure stupidity. /facepalm.
6. Ultimate Power
I’m not talking about the power of unpenetrable plate armor or all-penetrating massive two-handed weapons (that probably weigh more than a puntable gnomely goofball). I am talking about the type of power that is idiosyncratic of mages. It is the power that a quille has over a sword, that water has to shape rock, that “weakling” women have over the loins of hulking men, that love has over hatred. We have the ultimate power to help our fellow faction members: we can AOE grind, transport them, feed them and even heal them. And we have unparalleled ability to help members of the opposite faction as well. Mages have both the intelligence and the tools to see beyond the surface and recognize that behind all of us, there is a true self and that at the root of it all, we are all the same. We have the same hopes and dreams, but happen to fall on different sides of a self-erected imaginary fence. Mages have the tools to bridge the gap, even through limited communication and understanding of differences in our background cultures. We can use our traditions as a springboard to propel us into our desired future, rather that use them as a paper shield to hide from our fears. Fellow mages, we have the power to change the world.
