I wonder in lore, mage seems far supperior in strength then a simple shaman.
Who do you think would win in a battle ? A elemental Shaman vs A fire based mage in lore?
Purely theoretically, a shaman of sufficient power could command all the elements of an entire world, essentially turning the elemental forces of an entire planet against their opponent.
But I think mages get the upper hand, given that they are wielding the very stuff that the multiverse is made out of, especially if we count a âmageâ as any person or creature that wields arcane magic and all its different shapes and form, even fel. This would also include Sargeras, whoâs power could destroy worlds.
Although if we donât think of what would be strictly possible in the most extreme of circumstances in the limits of the warcraft universe and rather think about whatâs ârealisticâ to expect of individuals, I would agree that the mage still edges out.
First, because your average mage tend to learn their craft in great schools and academies, with multiple mentors and drawing from a huge written litterature; as opposed to shamans who generally have to make do with smaller tribal communities, less resources and a limited number of mentors.
And secondly, because mages tend towards specializing in raw arcane power, whereas many shamans switch or broaden into aspects like healing.
Shamans are definitely useful in their own circumstances, but in a straight up spell-slinging fight, Iâd bet on the mage.
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This is very hard to pin down, beacause a Shaman is very different in his/her spellcasting than a Mage is.
A Shaman uses the fifth element which is Spirit to commune and act as a conduit for the other four elements, Spirit acts as a soothing and balancing element for the others and calmns the usualy raging forces.
The more Spirit a Shaman can call on, the more likely it is for the elements to answer in kind and the greater the Shamanâs destructive potential becomes, but it is always up to the elements to answer or not. But a sufficiantly powerful Shaman can call on tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, massive landslides and gigantic storms.
I would say that a Fire Mage is better in a one on one fight than a Elemental Shaman, but a Shaman is very dangerous in a large engagement.
Fel is literally the opposite of Arcane by the way. Itâs on the cosmology chart.
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This is indeed the case, the lore having undergone a change to move Fel from being the purest, most corrupting form of Arcane into its polar opposite as Chaos magic to Arcaneâs Order and having one interfere with the other.
Iâm just throwing a guess, but Iâd say mage, actually.
As far as I know, if they are the same âpower levelâ in equivalent, the mage is just way more flexible in their variety of spells.
Shamans canât blink around the place or polymorph their opponent, for example.
Itâd still be close but that might be what gives the mage the very slight edge that lets them win.
Am I wrong to think character and story carry more weight here than class alone? 
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Simple.
The one with the more plot armour at the time.
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Neither/both. Which is the answer for pretty much all the class vs class questions.
It depends entiredly on the individuals in question and the situation/story.
All classes got their own strengths and weaknesses, with the capability to win over another if the conditions are in their favour. There is none that can be considered vastly more âpowerfulâ than the other.
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They can hex thoughâŠ
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Pretty much. It all boils down to many various conditions, and itâs hard to say from the synthetic point of view.
Lots of good posts here. I would just like to add that I think we are both capable of significant destruction, if we are relatively skilled within our class (and not restoration speccedâŠ), but for some reason (lore-wise) I picture magi as ⊠quicker - which might give them an advantage.
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