Even if mages are often jestingly reduced to portal providers, it is an important task to reduce travel times for the whole group. In this context Dalaran is the Shattrath of Northrend: Almost every player wants to return to this city after he has completed a dungeon in wrath of the lich king. At one hand because all important trainers can be found here and on the other hand because of its central position within Northrend which makes journeys to other dungeons easier. Additionally, banks, inns and several traders with interesting gear can be found here. In the alliance- or horde-only areas you can find portals in the other capitals like Shattrath, as well as entrances to all battle grounds.

Another portal is opened there approximately every 2 hours by a NPC which teleports the players to a new pvp zone called Lake Wintergrasp. Here the players of the two opposing factions can decide in an epic battle who will control the area for the next hours and thus hold also control over the raid dungeon of Wintergrasp.

To be able to enjoy all these advantages they need a portal to Dalaran. A newborn mage cannot, however, provide one since he learns the portal very late in the game. Reaching level 71 he can complete a quest to learn the portal to Dalaran. This portal is only for the mage himself, so he needs to learn the group version of the spell from a portal trainer in Dalaran when he reaches level 74. Naturally, he needs a portal rune for the spell, just as he does for any other portal.