10 minute timer on this quest. Pulling one or two at a time is quite easy. Decent rewards for completing this also. Using Dampen Magic on yourself can help mitigate some of the elemental damage they inflict!

Not sure if this has been changed by Blizzard, but my 38 fire mage is being destroyed by these things trying to do the aoe farm trick. They shock, have lightning bolts, and just dish out way too much damage for me to handle.

Zattais, I didnt do this quest yet, but I think you should wait 2 more lvls, cause its already hard to AoE mobs of same or lower lvl, and ull have better skills by then.I dont know your build, but I think your better at single target damage.
and If they cast frost damage, use the frost ward shield =)

If you're not 40, don't bother trying to do this trick, it's near impossible below 40. Anyway, I tried doing the trick at 40 both fire and frost specced and I have to say, frost is way better than fire in this case. Why? Mainly because Ice Barrier is a lifesaver. Though Blast Wave does some nice damage, it's mainly protection you need for this trick (imo) so Ice Barrier is best.

+dmg gear is better than +int gear here, but +sta is also very usefull. I've got +83dmg atm and my cone of cold crits for 650, which takes away roughly 60/70% of their life.

The best way to do these guys is the way topsub described (flamestrike > immediately blink > frost nova > cone of cold > arcane explosion til dead)

Speed is also very important during these fights, if you slack you WILL die (unless you're lvl 42+ maybe). These guys can use instant shocks and from what I see, it doesnt seem to be on cooldown, cause one time I actually got hit by 2 shocks in a row from one mob (the rest was dead, so I'm sure it was just one mob).

Also, should you be AoE'ing and a new mob spawns while you're killing them, it would be wise to AoE the rest and then run. The best way to run is southwest across the water, since there are practically no mobs there. Just a little hint.

At lvl 40 they give 245 exp each, so 490 rested. If you aoe 1 group of 5 mobs while rested, that's nearly 2500 exp... need I say more? This trick is the best ever, I levelled from 40 to 43 in one day without being rested.

ps. these mobs use either lightning shock, lightning bolt or melee, so there's no point in using wards. Just get a friendly priest to buff you and you'll be fine.

This quest is really easy when being a frost-mage and the use of nature protection potions. My alt mage is alchemist, so I made a couple of nature-pots since each one of the Mana Surges cast lightning-bolt.
Wait until 6 mobs had spawned, pop a nature-potion (+ dampen magic & manashield in case the naturepot runs out), and use Blizzard until the mobs are dead. Wait for cooldown of another nature-pot and use it, then repeat this with the rest of the mobs. Childsplay.

Trying to grind these for XP at L43... frost mage using the above method.

I'm having trouble with the 5-groups. The ones of 4 and below I can kill (admittedly usually have 100 life or less at the end). Most of my gear is +frost damage stuff.

First great idea for killer xp/hr, but I wonder if you abandoned the quest can you still re-accept the quest later to get the rewards or does the whole chain need to be recompleted?

what really helps for grinding these are https://vanillawowdb.com/?item=6052 https://vanillawowdb.com/?item=6052 helps alot :D

They don't get aggro if you kill their mates ;) So.. You can kill one by one if that's an easier and faster way for you. In my case it worked much better than AOEing.
You can just stand in a distance, kill some individually until you run out or short of mana, then sit down, drink, eat, stand up and do the same until you kill 12. :) Simple as that.

My strategy for a level 40 ish frost mage:

Works on all packs including 5 pulls.
#1: From behind the house, cast Flamestrike
#2: Run into them, CoC
#3: Stay there, wait for GCD and FN
#4: Quickly run behind the corner of the house, just out of LoS
#5: Recast Ice Barrier, strafe, and Blizzard
#6: Once Ice Barrier goes down, run back to the corner of the house, and wait for them to path towards
#7: CoC and AE (should be 1 of each) to drop them

Notes:
#1: If done right, this will retain about 500 life, and about 1000 mana, setting up for the next 5 pull nicely
#2: I have very very little spell damage

Easy soloable, i'm arcane specced lvl 42. Just use Arcane Explotion with arcane power and Presence of mind with firebolt if u want to. I used mage armor, arcane int and 1 mana pot. I pulled all on once... when she opened the crack all twelve or more aggroed me. so i had no chance but to do this.

Using thhis method I managed to get over 32 xp/hour at lvl 48!!!! (half a lvl in 50 minutes!!)
Be sure not to be lvl 49 though... thats when they turn grey.

They pull one at a time! Very easy to solo them even without AoE. As fire, just stand out of range and 3-shot each one. TONS of xp.

Very simple quest. No doubt about that, however there is a small bug with this quest that I encountered..

If you're doing this quest and someone starts https://vanillawowdb.com/?quest=1955 The Exocism, Tabetha will cast https://vanillawowdb.com/?spell=10187 Blizzard aggroing every single mob from both quests. For such a highly regarded mage (or witch), she has NO idea how to control aggro. She will die; you fail the quest. Even if you've already racked up 12 kills and are just grinding AoE - you will fail the quest and have to start all over. This will be even more of a pain because the player questing The Exorcism having falied as well, will be running their quest again, and Tabetha will again display her http://www.wowwiki.com/Leeroy_Jenkins Leeroy Jenkins Complex. /smack Tabetha

Buffs: Arcane Intellect, Dampen Magic, Mage Armor, and apply Mana Shield right before starting to AOE
As Frost spec: Start with Flamestrike and then keep hitting Blizzard until they're dead.
I found that with the big groups, it's essential to do a Flamestrike first, otherwise I died before they did.