Mage Equipment

Mage’s can only wear cloth armor which has an extremely lower armor value. This makes them, defensive wise, very squishy. So with only one armor type and with no need for multiple sets (since Mage’s will always be in a DPS/utility role and nothing else) they will just need two sets. They will need one for Player vs. Player (PvP) and one for Player vs. Environment (PvE).

For leveling up all you need is intellect and stamina. Anything else is just icing on the cake. Every quest reward that grants cloth with intellect and stamina is obviously going to be the better reward if it’s an upgrade. Although, if it’s not an upgrade, seek out the weapons, shields, mail, and plate which will generally sell for more to the vendor than the cloth.

PvE gear at level 70 is simple. You first need spell damage above all else. Your damage must be as high as possible. Spell hit and spell critical strike are also extremely important, but they’ll come with the damage. When raiding spell hit will become more important than damage since you need to HIT the enemy in order for your damage to work in the first place. Stamina is then another stat that you need a lot of. Intellect and Spirit will come with the rest of the gear. The raiding sets give all of the stats you need.

PvP gear at level 70 is also simple. Get the PvP set. It has all of the stats you need for PvP. Which, interestingly enough is resilience followed by stamina, damage, and spell crit.

Since the first expansion gear has been simplified. For PvE you can get the PvE sets which give you all of the attributes you need for PvE. For PvP you can get the PvP sets which give you all of the attributes you need for PvP. Some of the pieces can mix and match, but generally each set is good in one field or the other.

For weapons you’re going to want to follow the above formula, although most weapons are going to be loaded down with spell damage/hit/crit. The PvP weapons are really good for PvP for mages and the PvE weapons can work in PvP too.

Mage's have a few weapon options available to them. They cannot however just pick up anything and fight with it. They can use:

• Staves (two handed)
• One Handed Weapons
• Wands

On all weapons for mages you will be looking for +Intellegence and + Spell Damage as a minimum. These are your most important stats. Besided those two, stamina, spirit and +mana per 5 seconds are nice to have.

Mages are strictly allowed to wear cloth armor, which for the most part is something that needs to be adapted to. Thankfully, there are lots of tailoring players out there who can make good cloth equipment, as well as the occasional good drop of magical cloth items should keep the mage in good stead with his armor. Don’t forget that mages also get a Frost Armor that allows for even more protection than standard cloth armor provides.

Tiered Gear

Each class has a different set of gear that is specifically for them and has some of the best stats in the game. Here are the names of each set and where most of the parts are located. If you’re interested in the details of each set then have a look at our Ten Ton Hammer’s Database where you can search and find any item you’re looking for.

Legend:

• DS: Dungeon Set (Rare to Epic Quality)
  
• Tier: Tiered Set (Epic Quality)
• Arena: PvP Sets

You can find a list of all the items in the set at Blizzards set item site here: High Level Armor Sets .