A WoW mage leveling guide will also tell you that mages are sometimes called "glass cannons," because they do huge amounts of damage but can't absorb any damage at all without dying. Magical abilities can be disabled, enemy's spells can be stolen and the enemy's water and food can be taken by the mage who also has the ability to Polymorph these enemies and the mage can also bring in a temporary pet to aid in the fight.

Despite this the mage is a necessary class during end-game content thanks to the fact that they can summon food for the whole raid, buff the whole raid with and Intellect buff that any other caster in the group will be thankful for and of course their ability to AoE down everything and anything that needs it. The similarities between the Frost and Fire tree are that they target a solitary object and AoE damage but unlike the Fire tree, foes will be stunned partially or entirely when hit by spells from the Frost tree.This is not completely true because any wow mage leveling guide will state that the mage may do alot of other things in addition to just burning or freezing items.