Spellsteal

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Spellsteal
Spellsteal Level 64 mage ability 40 yd range 21% of base mana Instant cast Steals a beneficial magic effect from the target. This effect lasts a maximum of 2 min.
Usable by
Class	Mage
Properties
Type	Utility
School	Arcane
Cooldown	None/Global Cooldown
Other information
Level learned	64
Modified by	[Glyph of Spellsteal]

Rogues aren't the only thieves in Azeroth.^[1]

Spellsteal is a Mage spell that steals a magic buff from a single target. The stolen buff will benefit the mage for up to two minutes, but never more than the duration remaining on the target from which it was stolen.

Improvements

Glyph of Spellsteal
Major Glyph
Use: Permanently teaches you this glyph.

Spellsteal now also heals you for 3% of your maximum health when it successfully steals a spell.
Classes: Mage
Requires Level 25
Sell Price: 1

Notes

Spellsteal uses the dispel mechanic and is affected by dispel resistance. There is no known pattern to which buff Spellsteal will target. It attempts to steal a random buff every time. If a buff can be stolen, it will have a yellow border. Otherwise, you will get an error message, after attempting to steal it.
Spellsteal was a Spell Breaker ability in Warcraft 3
Spellsteal has a base mana cost of 7% for Arcane mages. The cost in the tooltip is for Fire and Frost mages.

Tips and tactics

See also: List of magic effects

Sometimes a buff appears to have no practical use and is not worth stealing. However, if your party has no Priest or Shaman to dispel the buff, spellsteal accomplishes the same thing.

Often overlooked, this spell can be extremely useful. For example, Valkyrion Aspirants in Valkyrion have a buff called Metanoia, which increases your damage output a lot, especially if you are a Fire mage.

Patches and hotfixes

Patch 5.1.0 (2012-11-27): The mana cost of Spellsteal has been increased to 21% of base mana for Fire and Frost mages, up from 7%.
Hotfix (2011-07-06): "When using Spellsteal on a shaman, [Lava Flows] will no longer be given to the mage as a buff. The buff, however, will be removed from the shaman."
Patch 4.2.0 (2011-06-28): Mana cost has been increased by 100%.
Hotfix (2009-04-17): "The paladin ability Vengeance can no longer be spellstolen."
Patch 2.4.0 (2008-03-25): [Blink], [Slow], and Spellsteal have all had their mana cost reduced, and Spellsteal will no longer overwrite a longer duration buff.
Patch 2.3.0 (2007-11-13): It is no longer possible via this spell to get two Forbearance debuffs at the same time.
Patch 2.2.0 (2007-09-25): Spellsteal now awards the correct amount of points for stacked auras that are stolen.
Patch 2.1.0 (2007-05-22): Stolen buffs that affect specific spells from the original target's class will no longer have any effect for the mage.
Patch 2.0.1 (2006-12-05): Added.