Our gear search tried every pre-raid item with published Forever stats, from dungeons, quests, crafts, reputations and vendors. The set it kept averages item level 60.7. Spell damage and Shadow damage decide almost every slot. Tailoring makes six of the pieces, and both points of hit come from one vendor, Pix Xizzix.

Pre-raid gear

Each pick has its three nearest rivals beside it, with the damage a swap would cost. "Level" marks a swap too small to measure.

Trinkets

No slot matters more than the first trinket. Talisman of Ascendance, from a quest in the Eastern Plaguelands, is 17.9 DPS ahead of the next one. Once used, every spell you land adds a 40 spell damage stack, up to five, and the stacks lift your dot ticks as well. Our simulator keeps the stacks for the full 20 seconds, though the item says it ends after six spells, so its lead is larger here than it will be in game. Weakness Analyzer comes from Pix Xizzix in Stranglethorn Vale. The sim counts its spell damage but not its crit on use, so expect it to do slightly better in game.

Staff

Ironbark Staff is the Arathi Basin reward at Exalted, from The Defilers for the Horde and The League of Arathor for the Alliance. It binds when picked up and carries 2 % crit with its spell damage. Until you have the reputation, Crackling Staff from a vendor costs you 7.8 DPS.

Tailoring crafts

Head, shoulders, chest, hands, waist and feet are Tailoring crafts, and all six bind when equipped, so a non-tailor can buy every one. Felcloth Hood and Robe of Winter Night carry Shadow damage, which is worth as much to you as spell damage. The robe is the hardest piece to replace: the next chest costs 7.9 DPS. Earthen Silk Slippers, an item for level 31, still wins its slot, but Omnicast Boots is level with it, so wear either.

Reputation and vendor pieces

• Legs: the Warsong Gulch reward, Outrider's Silk Leggings from the Warsong Outriders or Sentinel's Silk Leggings from the Silverwing Sentinels. Felcloth Pants is the next best (2.0 DPS).
• Wrist: Dryad's Wrist Bindings, sold in Ashenvale and The Barrens. The next bracers cost 4.3 DPS.
• Rings: Brilliant Watcher's Signet needs The Watchers at Exalted, but the Revered version is nearly as good (level). Blessed Band of Light from Pix Xizzix is one of your two hit items.
• Back: Arcanoweave Cloak, also from Pix Xizzix, is the other 1 % hit. Fel Cape, a Tailoring craft with crit and Shadow damage in its place, is close (level).
• Neck: Chains of the Lich drops from Balzaphon in Stratholme. Amulet of the Dawn, a quest reward, is the fallback (level).

Wand

Brilliant Wand is made by enchanters and binds to whoever picks it up, so only an enchanter can wear it. Greater Eternal Wand binds when equipped and does the same job (level). The sim has no wand attack and Forever wands no longer gain from spell damage, so a wand counts for its stats alone.

Enchants

• Weapon: Mighty Spell Power.
• Head and legs: Arcanum of Focus on both.
• Neck: Spell Power, one of Forever's new necklace enchants.
• Chest and feet: Mystic Rugged Armor Kit, Forever's armor kit that also adds 6 spell damage.
• Wrist: Healing Power, for its 8 spell damage.
• Hands: Minor Haste or the armor kit. The search picks each on different fights, and they are level.

Consumables

Use these on every pull: Flask of Supreme Power (9.1 %), Brilliant Wizard Oil on your staff (2.9 %), Elixir of Shadow Power (2.4 %) and Greater Arcane Elixir (2.1 %). In the simulator the flask and both elixirs stack.

Cerebral Cortex Compound (0.4 %) and Runn Tum Tuber Surprise (0.2 %) add a little through Intellect. The mana items add nothing on one boss: Major Mana Potion, Demonic Rune and Mageblood Elixir all measure as zero. The one exception in our fights is a Troll on three bosses for three minutes, for whom the potion is worth 2.5 %, a result we are still checking.