- Author: Passion
- Date: August 6, 2022
- 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.
It is important to remember that Best in Slot lists are not one size fits all, that just isn’t how the game works. The best set for a guild that kills a boss in 70 seconds will be different from the list for a guild that kills a boss in 120 seconds. An Alliance player and a Horde player will have different priorities and buffs. Your mileage will vary always.
This guide is divided into two sections. The first section is three basic lists, providing you full sets for a fresh level 80 pre-raid, a level 80 preparing for their first foray into Ulduar, and an example of ideal gear to aspire to from Ulduar. The second section provides more alternatives for each slot, giving an example of gear progression between these three areas of gearing.
Note: This list may change over time with patches or new information. This list is an educated guess based on information available at the time of writing.
Best-in-Slot
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be your best option for this slot.
If you don’t want to spend your Emblems here, you can instead opt for the Heroes’ Mantle from Heroic+
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be your best option for this slot.
If you don’t want to spend your Emblems here, you can instead opt for the Heroes’ Mantle from Heroic+
This will be your best option for this slot.
This combination of rings will be your best option.
If you are lacking hit or don’t want to spend your Emblems, Mark of the War Prisoner is a very solid alternative piece.
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be your best option for this slot.
As these are Bind on Equip you may struggle to actually get them from a raid and will instead have to purchase them. If this sounds unappealing, Naxxramas has a few alternatives.
This combination of rings will be your best option.
Both of these are highly contested, but they are also both absolutely amazing. If you are only able to get one of the two, you would want it to be Dying Curse for the Hit.
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be your best option for this slot.
This will be the best option for this slot.
Depending on your other gear and if you are Alliance with the extra 1% hit buff, you may want to swap between Sapphire Amulet or Pendant of Fiery Havoc.
This will be the best option for this slot.
Depending on your other gear and if you are Alliance with the extra 1% hit buff, you may want to swap between Drape or Sunglimmer.
This will be the best option for this slot.
This will be the best option for this slot.
This will be the best option for this slot.
This will be the best option for this slot.
This will be the best option for this slot.
This will be the best option for this slot.
This will be the best option for this slot.
This will be the best option for this slot.
This will be the best option for this slot.
Progressive Best-in Slot
Fresh 80
Item | Source |
Heroic+ | |
Heroic+ | |
Heroic+ |
While regular Heroic dungeons do provide plenty of decent Head items, the ones from Heroic+ will typically knock them out of the water, especially if they allow you to have a Meta gem where you wouldn’t otherwise.
Pre-Ulduar
Item | Source |
As our Tier 7 just doesn’t give any valuable set bonuses, we generally want to steer clear of it, instead opting for the higher item level hood-of-rationality if possible. If you do get your hands on a Tier token for this slot, I recommend grabbing the Healer helmet instead of the DPS one, it has better stats for us.
Phase 2 Best-in-Slot
Item | Source |
ulduar – razorscale (25) |
In different contrast to Tier 7, our Tier 8 gives us fantastic set bonuses that are very much worth aiming towards. The helmet is one of the key components to reaching the 4-piece bonus, so make sure you grab it as early as you can.
Fresh 80
Item | Source |
Heroic+ | |
Heroic+ | |
Heroic+ | |
naxxramas – Trash BoE |
Players wanting a quick start can grab chain-of-latent-energies off the Auction House, but it generally won’t be worth the money for most. Instead I recommend just doing Heroic+ and grabbing one of the many potential neck items.
Pre-Ulduar
Item | Source |
naxxramas – Shared Drop |
None of the Heroic+ options last through this far, but wyrmrest-necklace-of-power is a guaranteed drop each run of Naxxramas, allowing you to potentially scoop one up early, especially if you are doing Soft Reserve runs.
Phase 2 Best-in-Slot
Item | Source |
ulduar – The Iron Assembly (25) | |
ulduar – flame-leviathan (25) |
While both sapphire-amulet-of-renewal and pendant-of-fiery-havoc are fantastic items, they are also item level 252 gear from Hard Modes, making them highly contested between all casters. You’re going to have to pick and choose which 252 gear is your priority from Ulduar because you are very unlikely to end the Phase with all the options you’re after.
Fresh 80
Item | Source |
Heroic+ | |
Heroic+ |
Before ever stepping foot in a raid, you may be able to buy valorous-mantle-of-faith for emblem-of-valor, but 60 Valor is a pretty steep ask, so you’ll be better off settling for a Heroic+ option and grabbing an upgrade in Naxxramas later.
Pre-Ulduar
Item | Source |
naxxramas – The Four Horsemen |
mantle-of-dissemination being item level 226 lands it clearly above the other options, but any of these three will be sufficient for getting into Ulduar.
Phase 2 Best-in-Slot
Item | Source |
ulduar – yogg-saron (25) | |
ulduar – yogg-saron (10) |
Another slot occupied very simply with a Tier piece for us. Seeing as we want the 4-piece bonus, it’ll be hard to skip this slot.
Fresh 80
Item | Source |
Sold for 25 emblem-of-valor | |
Tailoring BoE | |
Heroic+ | |
Heroic+ |
The Tailoring cloaks such as deathchill-cloak are very easy grabs for most players, and if you’re lucky you may be able to get your hands on one fairly cheap at this point. Outside of spending money, disguise-of-the-kumiho only costs 25 Valor, making it an easy, guaranteed item if you don’t get anything out of Heroic+.
Pre-Ulduar
Item | Source |
naxxramas – Shared Drop |
Item level 226 remains at the top here, with either of the two choices being very solid options.
Phase 2 Best-in-Slot
Item | Source |
ulduar – Assembly of Iron (25) | |
ulduar – algalon-the-observer (25) | |
ulduar – algalon-the-observer (25) |
Another slot absolutely crowded by Hard Mode exclusive options, but given the amount of good Hard Mode options available for this slot, you should have less competition to worry about.
Fresh 80
Item | Source |
Heroic+ | |
Heroic+ |
Heroic+ offers quite a few different options here, but the two options listed above are both solid pickups, offering a large chunk of Hit that you likely will be missing in early gearing.
Pre-Ulduar
Item | Source |
naxxramas – The Four Horsemen | |
If you got gown-of-the-spell-weaver from Heroic+ you could easily keep wearing that into Ulduar, especially if you are struggling with Hit in other slots.
Phase 2 Best-in-Slot
Item | Source |
Surely surprising no one by now, you’ll want to grab the Tier Chest to make sure you can get your 4-piece bonus.
Fresh 80
Item | Source |
Sold for 60 emblem-of-valor | |
Heroic+ | |
Heroic+ |
If you have been unlucky doing Heroic+ you can buy wraps-of-the-astral-traveler for 60 Valor, but if you do manage to get another option I would recommend not spending your Valor here. Alternatively, wraps-of-the-astral-traveler are also Bind on Equip, so you can buy them on the Auction House, or even buy them on another character and send them over if you have Valor to spare.
Pre-Ulduar
Item | Source |
In almost every slot if an item level 226 option exists, it’ll be your best bet before Ulduar. If you can’t get your hands on unsullied-cuffs, there are plenty of solid options from Naxxramas.
Your Pre-Raid options will often be defined by the BiS items from the previous raid tiers, and any other new dungeons that arrive with the new phase. The best possible choice is to buy itemName for 60 emblems as it grants the highest possible offensive stats, however, you may find itemName almost as equally strong.
Phase 2 Best-in-Slot
Item | Source |
ulduar – xt-002-deconstructor (25) | |
ulduar – razorscale (25) | |
The Hard Mode option is of course the best choice, but there are so many other solid pairs of bracers in Ulduar that I wouldn’t fuss over them.
Fresh 80
Item | Source |
Heroic+ | |
Heroic+ | |
Heroic The Nexus – Keristrasza |
There aren’t any stand out gloves pre-raid, so just grab what you can get from Heroic+.
Pre-Ulduar
Item | Source |
Tier 7 Gloves are solid, but if you want to grab some extra Hit you will want to look towards the Naxxramas options.
Phase 2 Best-in-Slot
Item | Source |
ulduar – algalon-the-observer (25) | |
ulduar – algalon-the-observer (10) |
Oh look, more Hard Mode. pulsar-gloves will be the easier option for most, with 10-man Algalon being significantly more accessible for the average player, as well as having a lot less competition than 25-man.
Fresh 80
Item | Source |
Sold for 40 emblem-of-heroism | |
Heroic+ | |
Heroic+ |
Any Heroic+ belt will likely be just fine, but if you want to guarantee getting one you can spend 25 Emblems on plush-sash-of-guzbah.
Pre-Ulduar
Item | Source |
If you can get your hands on leash-of-heedless-magic you’lll absolutely be set. If not, Naxxramas has plenty of great belts.
Phase 2 Best-in-Slot
Item | Source |
ulduar – algalon-the-observer (25) | |
Tailoring BoE | |
Tailoring BoE | |
Sold for 28 emblem-of-conquest |
Hard Mode, Auction House, or Emblems. Pick your poison, no matter what there is a way to get a solid belt.
Fresh 80
Item | Source |
Heroic+ | |
Heroic+ |
valorous-pants-of-faith can be grabbed before ever stepping foot into Naxxramas, making them a very solid option. Unfortunately, 75 Emblems is a steep ask, and they can be replaced once you get into raiding, so I would opt for a Heroic+ option instead.
Pre-Ulduar
Item | Source |
Item level 226 reigns supreme, but you’ll be fine entering Ulduar without it.
Phase 2 Best-in-Slot
Item | Source |
We love our Tier 8 and these fashionable pants are a solid piece of the 4-set puzzle.
Fresh 80
Item | Source |
Sold for 40 emblem-of-valor | |
Wyrmrest Accord Exalted | |
Heroic+ |
xintors-expeditionary-boots is one of my preferred pieces to spend Valor on, having a solid amount of Hit and avoiding a potentially pricey alternative from Phase 1 raids. If you have other plans for your Emblems, sandals-of-crimson-fury are a great, guaranteed item from reputation.
Pre-Ulduar
Item | Source |
Both arcanic-tramplers and boots-of-impetuous-ideals are Bind on Equip, making them purchasable options but also potentially very expensive options, and if you are looking to drop some gold, I would look towards spellslingers-slippers that were added in Phase 2.
Phase 2 Best-in-Slot
Item | Source |
ulduar – flame-leviathan (25) | |
ulduar – yogg-saron (25) | |
ulduar – algalon-the-observer (10) | |
Tailoring BoE |
Plenty of solid Hard Mode options available here. If you aren’t interested in picking any of those up, spellslingers-slippers can be crafted or bought for a not-so-small sum.
Fresh 80
Item | Source |
Sold for 25 emblem-of-valor | |
Heroic+ | |
Heroic+ | |
Jewelcrafting BoE |
Grabbing band-of-channeled-magic for your Emblems is a very solid choice. Alongside that, signet-of-the-malevolent can be found in Heroic+ and is a very strong option.
Pre-Ulduar
Item | Source |
naxxramas – Shared Drop |
Any of the options available from Phase 1 raids are solid, but you can easily get away with the same rings as the Fresh 80 list.
Phase 2 Best-in-Slot
Item | Source |
ulduar – algalon-the-observer (10) | |
ulduar – ignis-the-furnace-master (25) | |
ulduar – yogg-saron (10) |
Surely you didn’t think we were done with the Hard Mode options. Outside of them, there are a few alright options, and if you have the gold you can get the upgraded kirin-tor-signet.
Fresh 80
Item | Source |
Heroic+ | |
Sold for 40 emblem-of-heroism | |
Heroic The Violet Hold – Cyanigosa | |
Heroic The Oculus – Mage-Lord Urom |
mark-of-the-war-prisoner is an outstanding way to get Hit rating, alongside a rare on-use effect. If you can grab embrace-of-the-spider from Heroic+ it is a great temporary option, but you’ll want to replace it as you progress.
Pre-Ulduar
Item | Source |
naxxramas – Shared Drop | |
Both of these Trinkets are absolutely outstanding, and if you can grab either of them you should. They will definitely last you through a lot of Ulduar.
Phase 2 Best-in-Slot
Item | Source |
ulduar – general-vezax (25) | |
ulduar – razorscale (10) | |
ulduar – razorscale (25) |
Trinkets in Ulduar are highly contested, as well as being limited. eye-of-the-broodmother is effectively an upgraded illustration-of-the-dragon-soul, living-flame is an upgraded mark-of-the-war-prisoner. flare-of-the-heavens is obviously your best option, but it is contested to match.
Fresh 80
Item | Source |
Heroic+ | |
Heroic+ | |
Heroic+ | |
Heroic+ |
Any of these are going to be a great upgrade for a Fresh 80, and you can easily bring any of them into Ulduar.
Pre-Ulduar
Getting your hands on torch-of-holy-fire will be a solid upgrade, but there are plenty of weapons available in Ulduar so I wouldn’t lose sleep over it.
Phase 2 Best-in-Slot
Item | Source |
ulduar (25) | |
ulduar – algalon-the-observer (25) | |
ulduar – general-vezax (10) | |
ulduar – yogg-saron (25) | |
Here it is. The worst possible slot in Phase 2. The absolute best option is valanyr-hammer-of-ancient-kings and it isn’t even close. Unfortunately, this is very unlikely to go to a Shadow Priest. The obvious next choice is starshard-edge, but this is the clear winner caster weapon for every caster DPS, so getting it is going to be rough.
Fresh 80
Item | Source |
Sold for 25 emblem-of-heroism | |
Heroic+ |
Either of these will be a great compliment to your one-hander, especially with the hit available on them.
Pre-Ulduar
Item | Source |
There aren’t many off-hand upgrades available in Naxxramas, but surplus-limb will likely be a direct upgrade from what you came in with.
Phase 2 Best-in-Slot
Item | Source |
ulduar – algalon-the-observer (25) | |
ulduar – ignis-the-furnace-master (10) | |
Any of these are solid, but cosmos absolutely outclasses the competition.
Fresh 80
Item | Source |
Heroic+ | |
Heroic Azjol-Nerub – anub’arak |
wand-of-the-archlich from Heroic+ is arguably equal to Plague Igniter from Naxxramas, so if you do manage to get your hands on it I wouldn’t stress about finding a replacement.
Pre-Ulduar
Item | Source |
If you are missing Hit gemmed-wand-of-the-nerubians can be a solid grab, otherwise either plague-igniter or wand-of-the-archlich will be great items to get you into Ulduar.
Phase 2 Best-in-Slot
Item | Source |
ulduar – ignis-the-furnace-master (25) | |
ulduar – general-vezax (25) | |
ulduar – xt-002-deconstructor (25) |
Somehow the best option is from 10-man Ulduar, making it a lot more obtainable for most players. Of course there are quite a few 25-man options available as well, but the hit from petrified-ivy-sprig is invaluable.
Hey if any chance to add bis for Phase 2 ? thank you
The epic staff from Oculus is a better choice for staff – for glove you can opt into spellweave and wyrmrest temple rep boots are the same as listed, just with higher stats, Guile ssme story the same as listed but with better stats same with the exalted ring from Argent Crusade and that ring from Utgarde Keep Guzbar’s is far better from Bane, it even has an extra socket plus haste instead of spirit
Why did you change everything of gnarlyguides?
Where are the tier gear suggestions?
why is darkmoon card death there and not egg of mortal essence ?
Neither are the play