Our gear search built this set from what you can collect before the first raids open on 9 December, using only items whose Forever stats are published. Its average item level is 62.4. Spell damage drives it, so several slots are cloth or leather caster pieces, and the weapon is a fast two-handed sword.

Pre-raid gear

Under each slot are the runners-up and what wearing one instead costs on this fight. "Level" means the gap is inside the simulation's noise.

Weapons

Blade of Hanna is the weapon on every fight: a 2.10-second two-handed sword with 11 of each stat, a world drop that binds on equip, so you can buy it. A fast weapon wins because Seal of Righteousness adds the same share of your spell damage to every hit, whatever the weapon's speed. Humans get Sword Specialization on top. The next weapon costs 24.4 DPS. For the Undead on three minutes, The Unstoppable Force and the sword are level, because a slow weapon makes twisting worth more.

Pull with the Manual Crowd Pummeler, use it straight away and swap to your sword when its 30 seconds of 50 % attack speed run out. The note under the gear table shows what the swap adds on this fight. It binds on pickup, so you have to fetch it yourself.

Trinkets

Talisman of Ascendance is a quest reward, and the next trinket costs 23.9 DPS. Treat that lead as an upper bound. The tooltip ends its stacks after six spells, while our simulator lets every Holy Strike, Judgement and Seal of Command hit add a stack and never ends them early.

Adaptive Combat Assistant is sold by Pix Xizzix, as is its rival. Adaptive Combat Assistant's 2 % expertise wins on one boss, Weakness Analyzer's spell damage on three, and the two are close on most fights. Neither trinket's on-use effect is in our simulation.

Caster pieces

Belt of the Archmage, Dryad's Wrist Bindings, Arcanoweave Cloak and Mantle of the Timbermaw are cloth. Armor counts for nothing in our fights, because the boss never hits you, so spell damage and crit decide each slot. After the weapon and the first trinket, the cloak has the widest gap: the next one costs 9.6 DPS.

Head, legs and hands

Stalwart Helm and Ironfeather Leggings are crafts that bind on equip. The next helm, Lionheart Helm, costs 5.5 DPS. On one boss the gloves are Storm Gauntlets, a mail craft with 1 % hit, 18 spell damage and 3 Lightning damage on every swing. On three bosses the search picks Soulforge Gauntlets, a quest reward, and the next gloves are level with it.

Rings and relic

Don Julio's Band is a vendor ring. On one boss the other ring is Brilliant Watcher's Signet, from The Watchers at Exalted, the slowest piece to collect, yet the next ring is level with it. Libram of Law adds 4 % to Judgement of Righteousness. The other librams cost 5.7 DPS.

Enchants

• Weapon: Mighty Spell Power, 55 spell damage.
• Head and legs: an Arcanum on each, here Arcanum of Focus on the helm and Arcanum of Focus on the legs. Arcanum of Focus gives 8 spell damage, Arcanum of Rapidity 1 % haste, and the fights split between them.
• Chest: Greater Stats. The three-boss sets take Major Intellect, the one-boss sets Greater Stats.
• Wrists: Healing Power, for its 8 spell damage.
• Hands: Superior Agility. Wowhead marks Minor Haste, the one-boss three-minute set's pick, "PTR Only", so it may not exist at launch. The other sets take Superior Agility.
• Back, feet and neck: Lesser Agility, Mystic Rugged Armor Kit and Spell Power. Forever lets you enchant necklaces.

Consumables

The always-bring list: Flask of Supreme Power (9.5 %), Elixir of Holy Power (2.4 %), Greater Arcane Elixir (2.2 %), Elixir of the Mongoose (2.5 %), a Brilliant Wizard Oil on your weapon (2.4 %) and Dragonbreath Chili (2.9 %). The chili scales with your full spell damage, so each burp hits far harder than its 57 to 73 Fire.

It also hits every enemy near you, so against three bosses it is worth 7.8 %.

The rest are smaller. Juju Power is worth 1.0 %, R.O.I.D.S. 0.8 % and Juju Might 0.6 %. Blessed Sunfruit (0.3 %) needs Argent Dawn at Revered. The mana items count mostly on long single-boss fights: Major Mana Potion is worth 1.5 % on one boss for two minutes and 0.0 % for one, and Demonic Rune 0.0 % here. The benchmark build carries no Goblin Sapper Charge.