WotLK Classic Arcane Mage Pre-Raid Gear

For your pre raid bis, you have so many options that it is nearly impossible to determine the best possible combination. Catchup raids, such as Trial of the Crusader, offer a lot of gear that is better than the pre raid options, even on 10-man normal difficulty. For that reason, any pre-BIS item will be replaced rather quickly. Therefore, this list will not focus on the absolutely perfect pre raid BIS, but more on important items you can use for a long time, access easily, or that will not be replaced by easy-to-obtain raid items very fast. The list will still contain decent items, but it will not make you run dungeons for 4 weeks straight. The ultimate goal is to get you raid ready asap!

This list aims for the T10 4-piece set, which you will be using later for upgrading the set parts from T10 to T10.25, and from there to T10.5 (your full BIS tier items). Further, the 4-set T10 alone is a 1000 dps upgrade from the P3 pre BIS and should be the only thing you spend Emblem of Frost on. Until you have your T10 set, you should use the T9-set pieces for Emblem of Triumph and Trophy of the Crusade. Tailoring continues to provide decent easy-access items. There are also a few Emblem of Triumph items in the mix, as they drop naturally from Titanrune: Gamma dungeons, where you will also get Defiler's Scourgestone (the new Sidereal Essence equivalent) for Reign of the Dead/ Reign of the Unliving and Flare of the Heavens. Reign will stay strong for a long time, until Arcane Mages replace it with the Heroic version of itself (see the Arcane Mage Best in Slot list). The faction specific emblem/gear vendors can be found in Dalaran, next to your faction specific inn. Rueben Lauren in Dalaran sells the Tier 10 pieces.

Further, it uses epic gems, such as Runed Cardinal Ruby. The raw gems can now be bought with Emblem of Heroism or Honor points, but of course the rare gems are also okay to use, just worse. Make sure to use two Purified Dreadstones in a Blue Socket or a Red Socket in order to activate your Chaotic Skyflare Diamond Meta Gem.

This list uses a the T8 2-set bonus and the T9 2-set bonus, as both bonuses are pretty decent and relatively easy to get. Apart from Ulduar 10 Heroic gear, which is sold by Animated Constellation for Sidereal Essence from Heroic++ (Titan Rune) dungeons, the items in this list come from Tailoring and Heroic++ dungeons. The tailoring items will require Runed Orbs and Crusader Orbs, which can both be bought from the Auction House or with Emblem of Conquest/ Emblem of Triumph. The latter two badges are used for items in this list as well (in more detail below). Further, it uses epic gems, such as Runed Cardinal Ruby. The raw gems can now be bought with Emblem of Heroism or Honor points, but of course the rare gems are also okay to use. Make sure to use two Purified Dreadstones in a Blue Socket or a Red Socket in order to activate your Chaotic Skyflare Diamond Meta Gem.

The faction specific emblem/gear vendors can be found in Dalaran, next to your faction specific inn. Here you can also buy the T8 head token and trade it in for the set item at Paldesse in Dalaran. The T9 vendors can be found at the Argent Tournament stage in north-east Icecrown, where Valiant Bressia and Valiant Laradia stand ready to trade your Emblem of Triumph for tier 9 gear.

Getting the 4-set bonus of T7 is a huge power boost. In phase 2, Greatstaff of the Nexus drops from heroic dungeons and it might be better replace it with Titansteel Spellblade and Ward of the Violet Citadel, if it does not drop. If you need more hit, you might also want to replace Evoker's Charm with Chain of Latent Energies. For more of options for each slot, check out the T7 Pre-Raid BiS list.

This list is built so you can access Raids as quickly as possible with decent gear. The Emblem items and Runed Orbs can be bought from Harold Winston, Arcanist Ivrenne + Arcanist Firael (Alliance), and Magistrix Lambriesse + Magister Sarien (Horde) in Dalaran. Make sure to use two Purified Twilight Opals in a Blue Socket or a Red Socket in order to activate your Chaotic Skyflare Diamond Meta Gem. If you are ever Hit-capped from using a Hit gear piece or from Heroic Presence, you can also use either Reckless Monarch Topaz or Reckless Monarch Topaz in Yellow Sockets. Further, this BiS list is built for 17% hit, so you might want to add a few points hit rating through Veiled Monarch Topaz, if you do not have Heroic Presence.

Please note that getting Heroes' Frostfire Robe and Heroes' Frostfire Gloves is also a preparation for getting the 4-set bonus of this set faster in Raids and it is worth focusing on these two pieces. Further, in many slots you can also just use the TBC pieces from Sunwell Plateau, as many of them are still kind of decent; some are even Pre-Raid BiS. The Emblem of Heroism items can be bought from Harold Winston, Arcanist Ivrenne (Alliance), and Magistrix Lambriesse (Horde) in Dalaran. This list will also give the best 2-3 options per slot (first option is best, etc.), in case you cannot get the best item or already have the second best. Make sure to use two Purified Twilight Opals in a Blue Socket or a Red Socket in order to activate your Chaotic Skyflare Diamond Meta Gem. Using Cowl of Tirisfal and Mantle of Tirisfal can slightly outperform the other options in single-target fights, but they are worse overall.