WoW Forever spell ranks and level requirements

Fireball rank 2 lists a level 6 requirement: 32 to 46 Fire damage, another 3 Fire damage over 6 seconds, 45 mana, 35 yard range, 2 second cast. Open Fireball and read that rank. The next rank has its own level requirement and values. A level match does not confirm that your character has already learned the spell.

Which rank fits your level?

Fireball rank 1 requires level 1 and deals 16 to 24 Fire damage plus 2 over 4 seconds. Rank 2 requires level 6. Rank 3 requires level 12 and deals 48 to 64 plus 6 over 6 seconds. Without an explicitly selected rank, the spellbook shows the highest listed rank whose level requirement is at or below yours. At level 6 that is rank 2. At level 5 it is still rank 1. It does not blend rank 1 and rank 3 to describe a level in between.

You can open a later rank before you reach it. A blank effect stays blank. The spellbook does not copy the previous rank's damage forward or the next rank's damage backward. Fireball's last rank is level 60, and other spells use other levels. Arcane Blast is ranked at 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60. Polymorph lasts 20 seconds at level 8, 30 at level 20, 40 at level 40 and 50 at level 60.

Which talent has to come first?

Arcane Blast is a one-rank talent with no effect sentence on the talent row. The spell carries the numbers, starting at level 20 with 57 to 65 Arcane damage. The talent also requires 10 points already spent in the preceding Arcane talents. A level 20 Mage has 11 talent points, so the points exist, and they have to be in those Arcane talents rather than in Fire or Frost.

Fireball has no linked talent requirement in this spellbook, and rank 1 lists level 1. Arcane Meditation does not change the damage printed on Fireball. Read that talent's own ranks in the talent point guide when the question is the talent, and return from the spell to the talent when the spell names one. The allocation you already made stays with you.

What do you compare before you respec?

Read the one rank your level selects, then the next rank's level. For Fireball, level 6 is the step from rank 1's 16 to 24 plus 2 over 4 seconds to rank 2's 32 to 46 plus 3 over 6 seconds, with rank 2's 45 mana and 2 second cast. Rank 3 waits for level 12. Do not plan as though rank 2 already includes rank 3.

For a talent point gate, use talent points, levels and prerequisites.