WotLK Classic Mage Leveling Guide

Frost is indeed the best path for levelling, and the most fun !
Here is the path I used on every mages I levelled up (I will explain why I go this way) :

https://www.warcrafttavern.com/wotlk/tools/talent-calculator/mage?t=C1111166677aaa79ccdddh000emmmeepqqqqttuuqwww88EEEEE8444iiiB0011166644444&g=l-413

First of all, we want to reduce the time of casting of our most used spell, so we naturally take Improved Frostbolt. Of course, we want to hit with it and every other spells so we take Precision (with the extra reduced cost). Then we can put 2 points in Permafrost, increasing the time our target needs to come to us.
At level 20, we unlock our great aoe blizzard so we put 3/3 on Improved Blizzard to give us an incredibly powerful aoe, allowing us to take down 3+ enemies if placed correctly. To increase again the slow effects value, we then put the final point in Permafrost, and we can now grab Icy Veins : chaining frostbolt on 1 or 2 strong enemies with more speed is amazing, and no pushback with our Blizzard against 3+ of them is just insane early on.
With a frost mage, you want to increase at maximum the time it takes to the enemy to come to you : Arctic Reach is the right tool for that, since you want to frostbolt at max range. You also put 3/3 on Frost Chanelling, because why not save 10% mana on every spell ? The reduced threat is also great in dungeons !
We now unlocked Cold Snap : we take it. It’s a great way to cast two frost nova if you need to leave an area without trouble, or two cone of cold if you face multiple targets with low health. It’s also super effective if you need to ice block again shortly after your first one.
Okay, we reduced by a lot the probability of an enemy to hit you at melee range with the slow effects, but we can do better : 3/3 on Frostbite will block the opponents for now, and will later increase or damage output. Now that we can effectively freeze without our frost nova, put 1 point in Shatter to unlock the next row and give us an extra boost against frozen targets. Winter’s Chill is a nice addition to our collection, increasing the damage potential of our frostbolt. Complete 3/3 Shatter to unlock the next row and to give us an amazing +50% chance to crit against frozen targets !
Ice Barrier is a miraculous defensive tool, take it next : we can cast our Blizzard even if we are surrounded by opponents without pushback as long as the barrier holds (like Icy Veins) and without damage ! 4/5 Arctic Winds is the next step : a good increase for all of our damage and a good defensive ability.
We now put 2/2 on Empowered Frostbolt and 2/2 on Fingers of Frost, wichever order you want (I prefer Empowered Frostbolt because we gain time on our casting, so we gain time on our levelling), and complete 5/5 Arctic Winds.
3/3 Brain Freeze gives us free fireball from time to time, a great way to save mana and casting time ! I personally don’t like Water Elemental because I don’t think of summoning it, so why bother take the talent (again, it’s personal). We can now put 2/3 in Piercing Ice. We would have liked to put points there earlier, but every other talents were more efficient for our play style so we simply couldn’t.
We unlocked Chill to the Bones, again a superb addition which reduce even more the speed of the enemies : we are now almost untouchable ! 5/5 in it.
If you level up more in solo contents than in dungeons, Deep Freeze is just not a good talent : frozen targets don’t need to be stunned, and we don’t encounter many targets immune to stun, so I skip the talent.
We take the final point of Piercing Ice, increasing our damage again.
Now that we are in Outlands and at level 61, we probably found good gear with a bit of critical chance on it : we can finally go 3/3 Ice Shards ! BUT WHY DON’T YOU TAKE IT EARLIER, THAT’S JUST DUMB ? Simple : we don’t have enough crit for it to be effective. Yes, we have our Shatter ability to increase by 50% the chances on frozen targets, but keep in mind that Fingers of Frost and Frostbite have 15% each to proc, so not that often… Generally, you will kill your enemies with one or two spells max with these procs, so we don’t need extra damage YET. However, in Outlands and later in Northrend, enemies have more resistance and this extra 100% damage from crit will be superb. These are the areas where you will find gear with critical chance on them.
At level 62 you will also have Molten Armor available. A great spell to increase your damage, however you will have to drink from time to time to keep your mana up. You can also stay with the Mage Armor : you won’t ever need to drink but you will do a little bit less damage. Choice is yours !
We are now level 63 with our main talents active, congratulations !
You have now 16 levels to go before respec (17 if you count level 80). If you want to go for the Arcane Tree like on the guide for Torment the Weak, go for it (you will have to sacrifice talents from the Frost Tree). However, it is almost the only reason you go on the Arcane Tree and it will only be available at level 78, it seems too far away… Arcane Concentration may be a good talent along the way but we don’t need it : with our Evocation spell and the experience you now have of the spells, you shouldn’t have mana issues especially if you choose to keep Mage Armor up instead of Molten Armor.
For this 16 talents left, I go this way : 3/3 on Improved Cone of Cold because facing 2 or more opponents, the cone finish the job nicely.
2/2 on Improved Fire Blast : it gives more mobility, if I have to move I can still do damage more often.
3/3 Incineration : more damage potential from cone of cold and fire blast.
3/3 World in Flames : more damage potential from blizzard and arcane explosion.
If you know you’re going to respec for a Frostfire Mage build at level 80, buy the Glyph of Frostfire : it will increase your damage output, thus reducing the time you spend leveling.
Finally we reach level 75 and can now replace our fireball by our frostfire ball, which will benefit from our frost talents. From 75 to 79, I take 5/5 Ignite simply to increase the damage of our critical frostfire ball : if you see your opponent’s health drop drastically after a critical frostfire ball, why should you cast a spell on him again ? Ignite will kill him for you so you can now target another enemy and gain time !
At level 80, respec !

I hope you liked this version (again it’s my personal opinion after levelling a few mages), let me know your thoughts (without trash talk if possible)

Sorry for my english if I wrote something wrong, that’s not my mother tongue 🙂