What should you drool over for your
Mage when it comes to gear in World of
Warcraft? There are a lot of pretty purples swimming around the
pool that is endgame raiding. When it comes to what’s hot and what’s
not you’ll find yourself banging your head against the table trying
to crunch the numbers and figure out what’s going on. Well let’s
keep you from doing that and help out when it comes to figuring everything
out.

Goals

A lot of spell power, critical strike
rating, and a good bit of haste. Everything else that follows is gravy
when you’re gearing up a Mage. Stamina (for health), Intellect (for
damage/mana), and Spirit (which can beef up Molten Armor as of 3.1)
come along with those stats, but don’t neglect to calculate Intellect
for its value in boosting your damage.

Progressive Raiding

When you’re progressing through the
game you’re going to want to upgrade your low-purps and high-end blues
(probably the stuff from this guide). It then becomes a battle of morality
(what to take when you have plans of replacing it) and of stats. Let’s
get a few basics out of the way.

The best in slot items pre-ulduar and
the stuff that drops from various bosses are going to be close, but
not the best. Most best in slot items will come from Kel’Thuzad, Malygos,
Sartharion, Archavon, Ulduar, etc. So there isn’t a lot of reason
to worry about getting something and then the best in slot being a slight
upgrade.

Now for a general guide of what to
look for in regards to loot while you progress through dungeons. There
are two kinds of cloth drops and they lean one way or the other. Healing
cloth and damage cloth. Mages only need damage cloth which is heavy
on things that affect damage (critical strike, spell power, haste, Intellect,
and Stamina). Healing cloth is similar, but focuses more on spell power,
haste, and MP5 and is also loaded down with Spirit. So it basically
comes down to wanting more damage and less mana regeneration.

Oh let’s not forget Hit Rating. You’ll
need to maintain enough to cap out, but our previous guide goes into
more detail on that (click here to read it). Healers never need Hit
Rating except for their damage sets.

That doesn’t mean a piece of gear
with MP5 shouldn’t be picked up if you’re progressing and it’s
an upgrade, but anything with a heavy focus on mana regeneration should
go to the healers. Everything else is fair game for the Mage.

Some good items to look for while progressing
are Robes of Mutation from Noth, Faerlina's Madness from (no duh!) Faerlina,
Gloves of the Fallen Wizard from Noth, Boots of Forlorn Wishes from
Instructor Razuvious, and well you get the idea. A lot of the “lesser”
bosses drop most of the progression gear. As for non-heroic Naxxramas?
It’s all fair game, you’ll find a lot of good items drop but none
of them will come close to the heroic purples as far as bang for your
slot buck.

Best In Slot

Telling you what’s best for you is
hard because when you get to gear with just a few points of difference
you’re going to get a headache figuring out where your spec gets the
most bang for its buck. In general there are a few pieces that can out
and out be heralded as the best gear out there for patch 3.1.

The entire Tier 8.5 set is best in
slot. When you have all four going you not only get the massive stats
but the set bonus of being able to cast two really fast Arcane Missiles,
two instant Pyroblasts, or two instant Fireballs all depending on your
spec. That’s pretty major in itself, but the stats are where they
shine. So if you’re looking for the best right now then set sights
on Tier 8.5.

Staff of Endless Winter is the highest
item level staff in the game right now and probably best weapon in slot
when combined with Greater Spellpower (81 spell power anyone?).

Boots of Fiery Resolution is the highest
item level shoe in the game which beats out Arcanic Tramplers (from
Heroic Malygos) which is best in slot pre-ulduar.

Pendent of Fiery Havoc from hard mode
Flame Leviathan might be near impossible to get, but it’s the current
DPS caster best in slot for neck.

Drape of Mortal Downfall is the highest
item level for a cloak and drops from the Iron Council in hard mode.
Another very, very, very hard to get item but it’s the best you can
shove there. However, argument stands for the Pennant Cloak from Sartharion
as being best in slot. Either one will not get frowns from anyone if
you keep it there.

For a belt you’re going to aim at
Sash of Ancient Power from Tailoring. Expensive but whatever, it’s
something craftable. If you can’t get crafted Ulduar gear then the
Plush Sash of Guzbah is probably your best bet. It’s from Emblems
of Heroism.

Flare of the Heavens, Scale of Fates,
and Eye of the Broodmother are the trinkets you’ll be craving after.
Both drop in hard mode Ulduar. Of course, if near best in slot is good
enough for you then you’ll want Dying Curse which is really good no
matter what.

A wand you say? Well, the finest wand
in WoW right now is the Petrified Ivy Spring from Ignis.

For hands you might want to save tier
8.5 for the head and go for some Grasps of Reason which come from Ulduar.

In general when you think best in slot
you’ll want to think who is the hardest, baddest, most difficult boss
in the game and that’s where the gear will come from. Of course, things
like Dying Curse can or were best in slot and drop from the easier boss.
Remember that you spec also will play a key role. These examples may
not play directly into how you’re building your character and research
is the most valuable thing you can do.