New to mage, need tactical advice

[Werefox]

My mage is fresh level 20. I was trying Bingles quest in Loch Modan. There are packs of 5 level 16ish mobs, one of them healer. How do you deal with these?

[Liatris]

As a level 35 mage, I will say the most important thing is to make sure you learn spells from all specs. I made the mistake of trying to go only frost and missed out on some pretty helpful spells for the first 20 levels.

For a group like that, my first instinct would be to Polymorph the healer. With the healing mob polymorphed, you can switch your focus to the other 4 mobs. Frost Nova -> Flamestrike -> Blizzard is a rotation of spells that has served me well when dealing with groups of mobs. Assuming the other mobs are melee and not casters, you'll want to hit them with the frost nova to immobilize them and keep them out of hitting range. Then use Flamestrike and Blizzard for aoe damage on all of the mobs.

Once the mobs break out of Frost Nova, hit them with a cone of cold to slow them down. You want to stay out of hitting range, hitting them with Arcane blasts until you can use Frost Nova again. Make sure to keep the healer polymorphed until the other mobs are down, as well. Polymorph fades after about 20 seconds.

I'm still learning a bit as well, though. So take all that with a grain of salt and adjust as needed. I hope this helps! ^^