Frostfire wears the Fire mage's pre-raid set. Our gear search started from it, in the pool of items with published Forever stats that you can reach before the first raid, and kept nearly every piece: spell damage, hit and crit decide the slots, and Fire damage counts for the bolt as much as for your Fire spells. The set averages item level 62.3.

Pre-raid gear

Under each slot are the runners-up and what wearing one instead costs on this fight. A gap marked "level" is under 2 DPS, inside the simulator's noise, so wear whichever you have.

Weapons

Sageblade holds the main hand on every fight. The Blacksmithing sword carries 94 spell damage and 1 % hit, and it binds on equip, so you can buy one. For a Human it also switches on Sword Specialization's 2 % spell crit, so leaving it for Sageclaw costs the Alliance 19.2 DPS.

Tome of Fiery Arcana, sold by a vendor, carries 40 Fire damage, which our simulator gives the bolt in full. The next off hand, Therazane's Touch, costs 5.8 DPS.

Pyric Caduceus is there for its stats, since no wand is ever fired in our simulation.

Chest and hands

Only tailors wear Robe of the Archmage, because the craft binds when picked up. It brings 40 spell damage and 1 % crit, and its use returns 375 to 625 mana once every five minutes. A mage without Tailoring falls back to Robes of Fiery Devastation, 17.8 DPS behind. Belt of the Archmage is a Tailoring craft too, but it binds on equip and turns up for sale.

Gloves of Spell Mastery add 2 % crit, and on one boss the search puts Minor Haste on them, 1 % casting speed. Wowhead marks the enchant PTR only, so check it exists before you plan around it. The Fire set puts its armor kit there instead. The next gloves, Inferno Gloves, cost 3.0 DPS.

Trinkets

Talisman of Ascendance is a quest reward. Once a minute its use builds up to 200 spell damage over your next five spells, and the next trinket costs 25.2 DPS.

Weakness Analyzer is sold by Pix Xizzix in Stranglethorn Vale and wins on 22 spell damage. Its use, 5 % crit until your next crit every 90 seconds, isn't in our simulator, so it is worth a little more than shown. Serenity Field is next, at 4.8 DPS.

Cloak, rings and legs

Arcanoweave Cloak comes from Pix Xizzix's stock too, with 1 % hit, and the next cloak costs 7.4 DPS.

The rings are Blessed Band of Light, another Pix Xizzix item with 1 % hit, and Brilliant Watcher's Signet from The Watchers at Exalted. Until you reach Exalted, the Revered signet is next (level).

Both factions' leggings are battleground rewards: Sentinel's Silk Leggings from the Silverwing Sentinels and Outrider's Silk Leggings from the Warsong Outriders.

Enchants

• Head: Arcanum of Focus. Legs: Arcanum of Focus.
• Chest: Mystic Rugged Armor Kit. Feet: Mystic Rugged Armor Kit, the Forever armor kit (6 spell power, 40 armor) that chest, legs and hands can also take.
• Wrist: Healing Power.
• Neck: Spell Power, 6 spell damage on a slot Classic never let you enchant.
• Weapon: none, since the main hand takes Brilliant Wizard Oil.

Arcanum of Focus adds 8 spell damage. Healing Power's 8 spell damage, alongside its 24 healing, is what wins the wrist, and its formula needs Revered with the Argent Dawn.

Consumables

The always-bring list: Flask of Supreme Power (12.1 %), Brilliant Wizard Oil (3.9 %), Greater Arcane Elixir (2.8 %) and, on every fight but one boss for one minute, Major Mana Potion (5.2 % on three minutes). Demonic Rune has a cooldown apart from potions and gems and adds 5.1 % on two minutes, for 600 to 1,000 health a use.

The rest are small: Elixir of Fire Power 0.8 %, Cerebral Cortex Compound 0.4 %, Runn Tum Tuber Surprise 0.2 % and Mageblood Elixir 0.1 %. On a one-minute single-boss fight the mana items do nothing, because you never run dry there.