2.2.0 patch nerf:

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Q u o t e:
Blizzard: This spell is now affected by area damage caps.

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I think our aoe grind adventure end. Thank you Bangy for guide.

Isn't that only for 10+ mobs?

Anyway I don't think it would be severe enough to 'end aoe grind' as it is, to my knowledge. Unless there is some severe damage capping here all it means surely is 1 more blizzard per run?

/shrug I have no idea.

If not already noted; Bloodfen Burrow in Dustwallow Marsh for lvl 40-42 raptors. A LOT of them. Watch out for their knockdown though. Easily soloed as lvl 39 mage when you get the pulls right.

Very nice guide to find out what to do, I use this just to find the mobs to kill :)

However, it is possible to AoE Grind using the spec I have ( clicky my portrait ) Without using Blizzard at all and using CoC, AE ( As finishers ) and water Elemental.

To add flavor in I had the use of grenades or bombs so I can freeze them all up, Frostbolt + CoC the group, Grenade Frostbolt another random mob + fireblast, water elemental freeze, frostbolt + CoC again. Then spam AE ( until Nova + CoC comes off Cooldown, helps if they come off at the same time ) that generally works, albeit its much more risky and alot of work.

God forbid when I get frost grenades FREE FROST NOVA!

Yep, as i said, there are many variations to frost aoe grinding, such as using CoC as the primary spell, or even throwing in some fire spells.
However from my experience Blizzard AoE grinding is the most efficient, easy and reliable way, and once you've got the hang of it you'll never get it wrong (well usually).

Maybe such grinding mages are not good against instance bosses, but with such mage you can kill instance trash mobs faster. You can pull in large groups and AoE them. If you have more mages and warlocks in group it works even better/ -75% speed for 4.5 sec is enough to give your tank enough time to regain aggro before they come close to you. This way we finished SM Armory in less than 30 minutes.

bump

Hello, i am using my lvl 42 draenei mage to aoe grind, and folows your guide, its awsome! thanks
BUT as i kill theese murlocs in swamp of sorows, i come across something very strange... I ride around, gather up mods, then dismounting and do some lvl 1 AE to stop the mods from evading away, and then i iceblock, wait to ice block ends and then frost nova the murlocks. BUT, as soon as i frost nova, all the murlocs (only the murlocs, the crabs get frozen and folow the normal... thing for mods to do) break the frost nova, and run away, evading when i try to shoot them.
This is very strange, since it only happends on one of the most southern murloc camps in swamp of sorows, and it is only the murlocs, and they run away as soon as i cast frost nova.

Anyone... know anything about this?


AoE grinding pwwnsss!

Its a bad idea to start AoE when you are level 21-ish and have below 1600 mana..

I have about 1300 mana now, and i need to pull without mana shield.

Then i manage to do 2 Blizzards, cooldown is still on frost nova, so i run away strafed and throw dynamite at the pack to keep them aggroed & nova them again + finish it with last blizzard.

But it fails more then it succeeds, so i need to get some better gear first.

Edit: Oh yeah, it helps if you dont start on a not-so-old server.. greens of the eagle are all priced for twinks on my server, 2-3g for one item. :(

Thankyou.. this really helped me in AOE grinding. Just started doing it in sorrow hill. :)

Also i must say, having engineering is really a big plus!

I use it at pulling now and i dont need mana shield. I just stand as close to the mobs as possible without taking aggroe. Then i throw the dynamite at the mob furthest away and run back a bit, here they come.. :)

I will use mana shield soon, as its much easier/less work, but because my mana pool was gimped i had to find a way around it and this seemed to work for me.

Cheers!

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Q u o t e:
After the stickies were deleted, there weren’t any guides to Mage AoE grinding, which is a very big part of the class. A lot of people have been asking questions about AoE grinding, so I thought I might write my own little guide, sticky or not. This guide does not have technical analysis or big calculations, but is what I hope to be a friendly guide to those new mages who have no idea in what the heck AoE grinding is, or how to do it.

If you like it, please request for some gloo!

Edit: Yay, I'm a sticky! Thanks all for your great support! Especially Yianee for sticking around, and those who posted insightful comments!

My views are over 9000!

Before reading this guide, check out this excellent video - http://www.warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=44168
Basically sums up my guide in a much better visual way. Watch it! Or I'll come and get you.

THIS GUIDE IS NOT THE BIBLE TO AOE GRINDING. I ONLY WANT TO GIVE SUGGESTIONS AND ADVICE. FEEL FREE TO CUSTOMISE IT TO YOUR OWN PREFERENCES!

AoE grinding

In case you’ve been living in a hole, AoE grinding is a very famous type of grinding only available to mages, and sometimes good protection paladins.
It’s famous due to its insanely fast xp gained, as you can kill 10+ mobs in almost the time it takes to kill 1, so you get 10x the xp.
It’s also incredibly fun – the sight of seeing your ungodly destruction on 10 mobs, or watching other people’s reactions when you utterly omgwtfpwn them is amazing.
However, it’s not easy, and it does require fast reactions, quick thinking and lots of training.


Here is what's in my little guide.

1) Pros and cons of AoE grinding, why it's good or bad.
2) What kind of talents you need!
3) How to do it.
4) Notes on (3)
5) Some good places to try it out!
6) Other things, such as gear.
7) Tauren meat.

So I’ll start with the pros and cons.

Advantages:
- It’s fun, and fast, boosting you through the horrible grind between 55-60, or if you want, your entire journey between 1-60. I haven’t tried doing 55-60 as fast as I can, but I’ve seen friends level ridiculously fast.
- Much better than normal single-target grinding.
- Gives a lot of gold, and cloth (you’ll be generally grinding on humanoids or undead)
- Also the advantages of grinding, as opposed to questing.

Disadvantages
- It’s hard, and you’ll often die, especially in the beginning. You’ll look like an idiot, rounding 10 mobs and then just dying >.<
- You need to spec to a certain AoE spec, which essentially wipes out your single-target DPS.
- You might have to miss out talents which you may really like.
- Also the disadvantages of grinding, as opposed to questing.

So firstly, we come to the talents. Generally we pick the frost tree due to Blizzard and CoC.
Flamestrike and Blast Wave IS possible, but that’s IMO harder to do, so I’ll focus on the frost spells.

I also prefer Blizzard AoEing than CoC kiting AoEing, as it’s easier to do. However, if you do want to do CoC kiting, these talents are still more or less valid, but you’ll want more +crit, and less imp blizzard.

Teh epix spec - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=RZZMhMIsf0sro
You can either fill in the rest of the frost tree, or spec somewhere in arcane.

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Q u o t e:

30-35
Witherbark Village. Arathi Highlands. The trolls are great to grind on, but watch out for ranged. There are quests for here too in AH. Look out for runners.

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I don't get it. I'm 31 atm and I just started with AOE griding. But these mobs are impossible since they all seems to throw knives:( Can u recomend any other good spot?

Well, I havent started AoE grinding and I'm willing to go for it at lv22 since I'll have Imp. Frost Nova, Permafrost and Imp. Blizzard.. What I wanted to ask is, why are you recommending 2 points invested in Imp. Frostbolt? Isnt Frost Warding a better option? I mean, it looks like the only thing that are used in this AoE grinding method is Blizzard, CoC.. Frostbolt isn't included in this rotation.

Second question is a bit related to the first one.. I've watched the movie "In Frost We Trust" and although you aren't recommending Frost/Ice Armor, the creator of that movie is recommending using the armor and thinks it works better in his/her point of view.. Although he/she thinks best would be trying both and figuring out which works butter but my idea is if we spend 2 points in Frost Warding and use Frost/Ice armor, it may create a huge advantage against hard hitting mobs.

Any idea containing constructivity is welcomed.. Thx in advance :>

i might try this but is it the fastest way to lvl up or should i stick with questing?

Regarding the Swamp of Sorrows murlocs - The evading is because you aggro one of the two Tower guards on the beach. These cant be pulled, and always evades. If you pull them together with a group, well.. they all evade. :/

Apart from that, I can't really recommend this place. not enough close located mobs, imo.

But your guide is brilliant, Bangy, thank's alot. :)