WotLK Classic Frost Mage Gear and Best in Slot

This is a list of gear that is considered to be the best in each slot. The list below is following the stat priority of Hit until cap > Spell Power ≥ Haste rating; > Crit > Spirit > Intellect > Stamina; > MP5. It assumes 3% Hit from the standard Frost Mage spec, 3% hit from either a Balance Druid's Improved Faerie Fire or from a Shadow Priest's Misery and no Heroic Presence. You can see an explanation for this priority on our stats page for Frost Mage below.

If you are starting out as a freshly-leveled Frost Mage, our pre-raid best in slot list is meant to give you an idea of non-raid items you can chase as a solo / pug player in preparation for raids.

Do note that items from Heroic dungeons or that require Frozen Orbs (which are obtained from Heroics) can be hard to get due to their daily lockout.

The items on the following list for Tier 7 come from WotLK Raids and Emblem of Valor-Vendors Harold Winston, Arcanist Adurin (Alliance), and Magister Brasael (Horde) in Dalaran. 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.

* Note for the T7 set-pieces: It is most important that you reach the 4-set bonus, which can also be achieved by using the 10-Man pieces from Naxxramas, such as Heroes' Frostfire Circlet or from Emblem of Heroism, such as Heroes' Frostfire Robe. Further, you can replace one of the T7-pieces, as long as you keep the 4-set bonus.

This is a list of gear that is considered to be the best in each slot. The list below is following the stat priority of Hit until cap > Spell Power ≥ Haste rating; > Crit > Spirit > Intellect > Stamina; > MP5. It assumes 3% Hit from the standard Frost Mage spec, 3% hit from either a Balance Druid's Improved Faerie Fire or from a Shadow Priest's Misery and Heroic Presence. You can see an explanation for this priority on our stats page for Frost Mage below.

If you are starting out as a freshly-leveled Frost Mage, our pre-raid best in slot list is meant to give you an idea of non-raid items you can chase as a solo / pug player in preparation for raids.

Do note that items from Heroic dungeons or that require Frozen Orbs (which are obtained from Heroics) can be hard to get due to their daily lockout.

The items in the list below are considered to be best in slot for Frost Mages in Phase 2 / Tier 8. Thanks to the Mage Discord for gathering this information. Many of the items in this list will drop from rather difficult Hardmodes of Ulduar 25-man. The power gap between these items and their alternatives is rather big, which is why they are extremely sought-after by other caster classes in your raid. This combination of rather difficult Hardmodes and the popularity of these items, will make it unlikely for you to obtain the Best in Slot gear before the end of Phase 2. When gearing, make sure to utilize the T7 set bonuses before breaking them for a single item.

Another problem, when talking about bis lists, is that there are 17 equipment slots and about 1 to 5 "reasonable" items you could wear on each equipment slot. This very quickly leads to a astronomically high amount of possible gear combinations, which means presenting alternatives for the BiS is always prone to errors. In addition to that, almost every player is wearing different gear (different from Phase 1 BiS), so the best upgrade for player A could be not be the best upgrade for player B.

The easiest and most practical solution to this issue is to simply work towards the BiS from the gear you already have. We recommend to use Osthyvel's Mage Simulation, plug in your gear and enchants, as well as your raid buffs and consumables and to sim which item is the strongest next upgrade for you.

The items on the following list for Tier 8 come from WotLK Ulduar. The Tier 8 armor is sold by Paldesse in Dalaran for tokens from Ulduar. The abbreviation HM refers to the Hardmode of an encounter. 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. How to get the Runed Stormjewel is explained in more detail in the Gems section of the Frost Mage PvE Enchants page. Please note that the value of Runed Scarlet Ruby and Reckless Monarch Topaz/ Potent Monarch Topaz can be very close.

*Please note that using 4-set T8 is not the best option for Frost (unless you lack hit rating), since Frost already gains 3% hit from Precision and the set comes with a lot of hit rating. However, it is somewhat okay, considering that the Tier 8 Head ( Conqueror's Kirin Tor Hood from Thorim 25-Man) and Legs ( Conqueror's Kirin Tor Leggings from Freya 25-Man) combo costs you "only" around 150 DPS for Alliance and about 100 DPS for Horde, compared to full BIS. Using Staff of Endless Winter as a weapon is about 100 more DPS loss for both Alliance and Horde players. The 4-set T8 for hit rating and Staff of Endless Winter is a combined dps loss of a bout 200-250 dps in full BiS, depending on your faction.

If you have further questions about gemming and enchanting these items, our Frost Mage enchants and gems page below provides more information.