Mage: The 1-80 Experience

I started my mage some time last year on a whim. These things happen quite often; I get in moods where I don't feel like being productive, so I start a new character just to have fun in the starting zones. Almost as often, these characters crawl their way up into the mid-30s and 40s where they lie stagnant for a long, long time. Well, my mage was able to burst through the 30s and 40s with the advent of the Dungeon Finder, and quickly hit 58. From there, it was a couple of weeks until 80.

Because my mage is already 80, I can't document the 1-80 experience as I go. Instead, I will try my best to give an overview of the experience as a whole, and what I learned about being a mage during this time.