- Author: Zephan
- Date: June 28, 2022
- Updated: September 27, 2023
- Expansion: WotLK Classic
Equipment will be the main source of your character’s power, contributing the biggest bulk of your stats. It is therefore very important that you choose the correct equipment for each slot — commonly referred to as “best in slot” equipment – in order to maximize your power.
This guide will help you choose the best equipment possible for each phase, but also the best equipment you can find outside of raids, known as “pre-raid” gear or “pre-BiS”.
Open accordions to see alternative options that are listed in order of upgrade!
T4 4P Information
The bonus from our four pieces of tier four provides us with an extra 300 Spirit whenever we use life tap for 10 seconds. This translates to an extra 150 amount of spell power through Fel Armor and glyph of life tap. This raises the question if you should be using Life Tap more often to increase our total amount of Spell Power. The answer to this is relatively simple, Life Tap incurs a global cooldown, this means we lose roughly 1.5s of cast time every 10 seconds or approximately 15% (depending on our cast speed) of our DPS, there is no way that the additional 150 spell power results in an overall DPS increase that is bigger than this. What can be worthwhile is using life tap earlier if you can make the buff align with other cooldowns, this doesn’t increase the total amount of global cooldowns spent on Life Tap, but instead shifts when we use it.
In short whilst the four-piece bonus of Plagueheart Garb provides us with extra spell power we should not be seeking 100% uptime on the buff, rather we should keep on using life tap as we normally would during our rotation for mana and upkeeping glyph of life tap.
Pre-Raid
Before ever setting foot inside a raid we can already start collecting a bunch of great items to get us going. This includes raid drops from the previous 10-man raids in the form of Heroic+ Dungeons, Items brought through Heroism Emblems (quests and normal heroics), Valor Badges (Heroic+), and even a couple of items through Emblems of Conquest thanks to the daily Heroic Dungeon quest (provides 2 emblems every day). Those with heavy purses can even buy their way up the meters by getting the various raid drop Bind on Equipe items and the latest crafted pieces. On top of that those who do not shun player-versus-player interaction can get a bunch of great items for honor too. As you can see the list of sources for catch-up gear is incredibly long, here we will go in-depth about each and every worthwhile piece and who/ why you should consider it.
Best in Slot
When it comes to our best in slot gear, most of the items will be coming from 25-man Hard Mode bosses. The issue with this is that according to the following blue post, most Hard Mode bosses will only drop 1 additional top item. In other words, it will take a good while until all items drop, and 252 item-level items are highly sought after. As such it is important to keep this in mind when considering gearing options and loot distribution, do not hold out for an item that might take months to even see drop (if you can clear the Hard Modes to begin with). Each slot has a detailed description of the best items to consider and the reasons behind them. For more personal details you will have to simulate your gear setups using wowsims.
Information
Ideally, we want to make use of 2-pieces of Tier 8 for the set bonus that it provides. We can also make use of four pieces until we get our hands on the 25-man Hard Mode items. The best slot to use Tier 8 and loss out the least amount of stats is the chest slot. It is nearly as strong as the best possible alternatives. The next item(s) will depend on the Hard-Mode items you can get. You will be wanting to trade the following items:
So you will likely use 1 or more of these items to get your set bonus or use the tier item until you get the Hard-Mode pieces. The easiest Hard Mode item to get from this list likely is Amice of Inconceivable Horror, as this drops in 10-man content while the rest drops in 25-man content.
Pre-Raid
Before ever setting foot inside a raid we can already start collecting a bunch of great items to get us going. This includes raid drops from the previous 10-man raids in the form of Heroic++ Dungeons, Items brought through Heroism Emblems (quests and normal heroics), Valor Badges (Heroic+), Emblems of Conquest (Heroic++) and even a couple of items through Emblems of Triumph thanks to the daily Heroic Dungeon quest (provides 2 emblems every day). You can also get Ulduar 10-man Hardmode loot from the Animated Constellation. This vendor will exchange items from Ulduar 10-player Hard Mode for the new Sidereal Essence currency. Those with heavy purses can even buy their way up the meters by getting the various raid drop Bind on Equipe items and the latest crafted pieces. On top of that those who do not shun player-versus-player interaction can get a bunch of great items for honor too. As you can see the list of sources for catch-up gear is incredibly long, here we will go in-depth about each and every worthwhile piece and who/ why you should consider it.
Best in Slot
When it comes to our best in slot gear, most of the items will be coming from 25-man Heroic and Hard Mode bosses. Expect most of these high item-level items to be highly sought after. As such it is important to keep this in mind when considering gearing options and loot distribution, do not hold out for an item that might take months to even see drop (if you can clear the Hard Modes and Heroics to begin with). Each slot has a detailed description of the best items to consider and the reasons behind them. For more personal details you will have to simulate your gear setups using Wowsims.
Information
Ideally, we want to make use of 4-pieces of Tier 9 for the set bonus that it provides. We can also make use of of only the two-piece bonus combined with stronger off-pieces until we eventually can get the full bonus of the four-piece set. Ideally we want to make use of the head, the alternatives are the biggest set back compared to tier 9. On the otherhand the best possible alternative is Skyweaver Vestments for the chest slot. The following are each slot best alternatives (context dependent on your hit rating, etc). As you can see plenty of the Ulduar Hard mode items keep being top performers for the slots (ignoring set bonus), expect this to be a theme throughout the guide.
Helm | |
Shoulder | |
Chest |  Skyweaver Vestments Skyweaver RobesOR Flowing Robes of Ascent (hit option) Flowing Vestments of Ascent (hit option) |
Gloves | |
Legs |
Pre-Raid
Best-In-Slot
This phase we can choose which pieces of tier gear we get first, we can buy them with either of the Grand Conqueror or Trophy of the Crusade combined with Emblem of Triumph. Depending on the gear that you already have coming into Trail of the Crusader and the first drops that you see, we are most likely to first replace your helm or legs for the tier equivalent instead of any other slot. Reason for this being that these on their own benefit from providing the best stats for these slots as well.
Those already heading out with Crown of Luminescence from phase 2 can expect to hold on to them for a little longer. You can first replace other slots and postpone updating this one until you need to meet your four-piece bonus. As always this will highly be dependent on the rest of your gear and the drops that you see in raid, ideally you simulate your situation to come to a more personalized answer.
Pre-Raid
Best-In-Slot
Most of the Necklaces from Ulduar hold up great, we can easily keep using either Sapphire Amulet of Renewal or Pendant of Fiery Havoc for a long time, until eventually replacing it with Cry of the Val’kyr.
Those looking for catch up gear, we can get our hands on either Watchful Eye of Fate or Pendant of the Shallow Grave with the introduction of Sidereal Essence from the new Heroic++ protocol for dungeons.
Pre-Raid
Ulduar (10) Zone Drop (0.5%) |
Best-in-Slot
There are not a lot of exciting choices when it comes to choosing shoulders. Similar too those rocking the best helm in phase 2, those that have Amice of Inconceivable Horror can postpone upgrading their shoulders but will eventually have too in order to achieve the four-piece bonus. Whilst there are also other shoulders available for Emblem of Triumph, they cost well… Emblem of Triumph. Ideally, we want to spend these on our tier gear instead of on non-tier shoulder pieces. Especially considering that we eventually want to upgrade to a version of tier 9.
Pre-Raid
Ulduar (10) Zone Drop (0.5%) | |
Best-In-Slot
Completing Heroic Trail of the Crusader rewards you with additional items based on the number of attempts that it took you to clear the content. The more attempts left the bigger the number of items and the better. If you complete the challenge with zero wipes (in other words 50 out of 50 attempts left) extra cloaks drop along with other goodies. It should come as no surprise that these cloaks in turn end up being the best available there are for the back slot. These include Aethas’ Intensity and Lady Liadrin’s Conviction and their Alliance equivalents for the 25-man version of Trail of the Crusader. The 10-man versions namely. Drape of the Sunreavers and Shawl of Fervent Crusader closely follow these in terms of overall value.
Faction Champions Trial of the Crusader (25) (Heroic) | |
Pre-Raid
Best-In-Slot
The chest slot is another place where we got to choose between going for tier 9, our set bonus or using an alternative off piece which ideally is high in terms of attributes that it provides. Affliction Warlocks want ideally to make use of the four-piece set bonus, increasing the damage from two of our main abilities is an easy decision, and gives us a lot of value in return. This means that out of the five slots that we can use tier 9 we already have to make use of four, leaving us only with one alternative slot to equipe something else. Whilst we can choose any slot for this as most actually have alternative items which outperform tier 9 when we only look at the stats that it provides (or at least are awfully close) the chest slot is one of the better options. This thanks too Skyweaver Vestments, this piece is the best alternative we can use out of all the slots (if you can get your hands on it of course). Note that other slots also have good alternative options or you could also make use of Flowing Robes of Ascent as an alternative item. If you make use of an alternative item in another slot it should go without saying that you want to make use of Gul’dan’s Robe of Triumph to reach your four-piece bonus.
Pattern: Merlin’s Robe Tailoring | |
Pattern: Royal Moonshroud Robe Tailoring |
Pre-Raid
Best-In-Slot
As is the case with most 25-man Hard mode items from Ulduar Grasps of Reason stays being a relative top performer. It is only beaten by the new Bindings of the Ashen Saint which in turn comes from Heroic 25 man Trail of the Crusader. Alternatively if you don’t have Grasps of Reason and aren’t going to be able to your hands on a raid drop anytime soon but have a heavy purse you could consider getting Bejeweled Wizard’s Bracers. It performs equal, does not depend on RNG for you getting it (aside from someone seeing the recipe drop on your server) though it will cost a fair penny as it requires Crusader Orb, the new raid related material to craft.
Pattern: Bejeweled Wizard’s Bracers Tailoring | |
Pattern: Royal Moonshroud Bracers Tailoring | |
Pre-Raid
28 Emblems of Conquest | |
Best-In-Slot
This is one of the slots where we got to choose whether we go for tier 9 or if we favor an off-piece item. The Heroic version of tier 9 will provide us with he most bang for our Trophy of the Crusade buck. This frees up another slot to make use of an alternative item (for example the chest slot to make use of Skyweaver Vestments). Alternatively Pharos Gloves also keeps performing well similar to the new Handwraps of the Lifeless Touch. Do note that this is assuming you meet your four-piece tier 9 set bonus.
Pre-Raid
28 Emblems of Conquest | |
Best-In-Slot
Starwatcher’s Binding is a little bit of an exception on the list of Hard mode 25-man Ulduar items, whilst it is a great item the new heroic belts introduced this phase tend to be a noticeable step up in performance. Most notable of these belts are Belt of the Tenebrous Mist and Icehowl Binding based on your hit rating requirements.
Champions’ Cache Trial of the Crusader (25) (Heroic) | |
Tailoring Ulduar | |
Champions’ Cache Trial of the Crusader (25) | |
Tailoring Ulduar |
Pre-Raid
Best-In-Slot
Our tier 9 legs are really strong, making it somewhat a no brainer to opt to spend our Trophy of the Crusade on it. On the other hand if you don’t want to make use of tier 9 legs (for example due to loot competition or preferences etc.) you could opt for either Pants of the Soothing or Pants of the Deepening Void depending on your hit rating requirements. Note that in an ideal world you opt to make use of tier 9 for your legs to activate your four-set bonus.
Pre-Raid
40 Emblems of Valor | |
Best-In-Slot
I am here once again to talk about how good the previous phase 25-man Hard mode non-tier items are. This time Boots of Fiery Resolution from Flame Leviathan are up for debate. We will be running around in these until we can eventually replace them with either of the Heroic 25-man Trail of the Crusader boots, namely Sandals of the Mourning Widow or Boots of the Icy Floe depending on your hit rating requirements and what you see drop.
Champions’ Cache Trial of the Crusader (25) (Heroic) | |
Champions’ Cache Trial of the Crusader (25) | |
Champions’ Cache Trial of the Crusader (10) (Heroic) | |
Pre-Raid
Best-In-Slot
Conductive Seal stays the best available ring and should be slightly easier to obtain as it now also drops from 10-man Ulduar instead of only dropping from 10-man. Another phase 2 ring that holds up great and is easier to obtain is Nebula Band, seeing as it now can also be bought for 19 Sidereal Essence rewarded from the new Heroic++ modes.
From all the new rings Lurid Manifestation from Heroic Anub’arak is the best of the bunch. With the second being Circle of the Darkmender though ideally you leave these up for healers, seeing as how the easier to get Ulduar rings listed before perform better.
Pre-Raid
Best-In-Slot
Haste rating is the stat when it comes to Affliction Warlocks now that our Corruption scales with it due to Glyph of Quick Decay, and our Drain Soul being such an important finisher. So it should be no surprise that Flare of the Heavens and Scale of Fates from phase 2 keep being the top performers for Affliction Warlocks. Note that whilst you will still need to clear the Hard mode 25-man version for Flare, Scale of Fate should be slightly more common to get thanks to now also dropping in the 10-man version of Ulduar.
When it comes to the new trinkets dropping from Trail of the Crusader, they are not too powerful compared to what is already previously available. The best of the bunch is Heroic Reign of the Dead however, this trinket sees greater use and utility for Destruction or other classes and should ideally be skipped in favor for them.
Pre-Raid
25 Emblems of Heroism | |
Best-In-Slot
The staves here are listed for completionism and especially for Kralnor, but sadly overall they underperform in comparison to mainhand and off hand combinations.
Argent Crusade Tribute Chest Trial of the Crusader (25) (Heroic) | |
4250 Arena Points 2200 rating | |
Where Hard modes from Ulduar are top performers for a lot of the slots such as for our wand and trinkets, the Starshard Edge does get beaten out. Both Barb of Tarasque and Mortalis are superb choices. If you can get your hands on either you should, you can play around enough in other slots with hit rating to make either work. Both perform equal if you match for the hit rating.
Starshard Edge from Hard mode Algalon in Ulduar will outperform any of the normal 25-man Trail of the Crusader items and the 10-man heroic versions, such as Spellharvest and Barb of Tarasque.
Argent Crusade Tribute Chest Trial of the Crusader (25) (Heroic) | |
3585 Arena Points 2200 rating | |
3585 Arena Points 2200 rating | |
Argent Crusade Tribute Chest Trial of the Crusader (10) (Heroic) | |
Champions’ Cache Trial of the Crusader (10) (Heroic) | |
Most of the new off hands perform really well and even outperform Cosmos though it also holds its own. The best two options are Lightbane Focus and Talisman of Heedless Sins. Depending on how much hit rating you already have in other slots Mystifying Charm is also a good option to keep in mind to use.
Pre-Raid
25 Emblems of Triumph | |
Best-In-Slot
Petrified Ivy Sprig from 10-man Hard mode Freya in Ulduar keeps being the top contender when it comes to wands, it is now also available for 15 Sidereal Essence. The closest contender is Scepter of Imprisoned Souls from Heroic 10-man Icehowl in Trail of the Crusader. Based on your hit rating requirements you will want to play around with these two.
Pre-Raid
Before ever setting foot inside a raid we can already start collecting a bunch of great items to get us going. This includes raid drops from the previous raids in the form of Heroic++ Dungeons, Items brought through Heroism Emblems (quests and normal heroics), Valor Badges (Heroic+), Emblems of Conquest (Heroic++), and even a couple of items through Emblems of Triumph thanks to the daily Heroic Dungeon quest. You also receive Sidereal Essence and Scourge Stone from Heroic++ which can be used to buy various strong items. Those with heavy purses can even buy their way up the meters by getting the various raid drop Bind on Equipe items and the latest crafted pieces. On top of that those who do not shun player-versus-player interaction can get a bunch of great items for honor too. As you can see the list of sources for catch-up gear is incredibly long, here we will go in-depth about every worthwhile piece and who/ why you should consider it.
Best in Slot
When it comes to our best in slot gear, most of the items will be coming from 25-man Heroic and Hard Mode bosses. Expect most of these high-item-level items to be highly sought after. As such it is important to keep this in mind when considering gearing options and loot distribution, do not hold out for an item that might take months to even see drop (if you can clear the Hard Modes and Heroics to begin with). Each slot has a detailed description of the best items to consider and the reasons behind them. For more personal details you will have to simulate your gear setups using Wowsims.
Information
Ideally, we want to make use of 4-pieces of Tier 10 for the set bonus that it provides. We can also make use of only the two-piece bonus combined with stronger off-pieces until we eventually can get the full bonus of the four-piece set. Ideally, we want to make use of the head, the alternatives are the biggest setback compared to Tier 10. On the other hand, the best possible alternatives are Sanguine Silk Robes for the chest, Plaguebringer’s Stained Pants for the legs, and Gunship Captain’s Mittens for the gloves. You can get a lot more information about the relative performance of setups compared to the absolute Best in Slot setup over at the Warlock Simulation Competition.
Due to how Tier 10 works you need to buy it first with Emblem of Frost (which is locked behind Heroics, Raid and Weekly quests) after which they are upgraded with Conqueror’s Mark of Sanctification (and the Heroic version) which drops in raids you will be limited in how fast you can get the full four-piece.
Pre-Raid
Best-In-Slot
In an ideal world, you want to get Sanctified Dark Coven Hood for your head, it provides us with some of the best stats of all the helmets plus it contributes towards our Tier set.
Pre-Raid
Best-In-Slot
Blood Queen’s Crimson Choker is the best-performing necklace if you do not need hit rating. Amulet of the Silent Eulogy is pretty much its counterpart if you can make full use of all the hit rating that it provides.
Pre-Raid
Best-in-Slot
There are not a lot of exciting choices when it comes to choosing shoulders. Similar to those rocking the best helm in phase 4, you want to eventually get Dark Coven Shoulderpads which can be further upgraded through Conqueror’s Mark of Sanctification. All this to acquire your two and four-piece set bonus.
Pre-Raid
Best-In-Slot
There are a lot of great cloak options, all of which are listed below in order of their overall value. Notable the 25-man Heroic Trial of the Crusader cloaks hold up well compared to the 25-man Heroic Icecrown Citadel. This is because they are only 5 item levels behind each other.
Faction Champions Trial of the Crusader (25) (Heroic) |
Pre-Raid
Best-In-Slot
The chest slot is another place where we got to choose between going for Tier 10, our set bonus, or using an alternative off piece which ideally is high in terms of attributes that it provides. If you opt to use Sanctified Dark Coven Robe you will be able to make use of an off-piece for your pants, namely Plaguebringer’s Stained Pants. The other option is to make use of Sanguine Silk Robes and go for Sanctified Dark Coven Leggings for pants. What you want to do will depend on loot availability in your raid and the overall upgrade path, I recommend using Wowsims to make your decision.
Pre-Raid
Best-In-Slot
There are three great Wrist options in this phase. The Lady’s Brittle Bracers is the best from a pure raw stat perspective if you do not need hit rating, on the other end we have Death Surgeon’s Sleeves and Ether-Soaked Bracers for those that do need hit rating. Ether-Soaked Bracers has a tad bit less hit rating but most likely will be easier to get around your wrist seeing as it drop from 10-man Heroic Rotface instead of the 25-man version.
Pre-Raid
Best-In-Slot
This is one of the slots where we got to choose whether we go for Tier 10 or if we favor an off-piece item. The Heroic version of tier 10 will provide us with the most bang for our Conqueror’s Mark of Sanctification buck. This frees up another slot to use an alternative item (for example, the chest slot to use Plaguebringer’s Stained Pants or Sanguine Silk Robes). Alternatively, you can use San’layn Ritualist Gloves, but this means you will need to make use of both Tier 10 for your chest and legs.