PvE Arcane Mage Best in Slot (BiS) & Pre-Raid Gear

Fresh 80

While the best possible weapons for a Arcane Mage in this phase of the expansion will be a Main-Hand & Off-Hand combination, you can also use Staves as viable options as long as you tweak the rest of your gear slots.

The best possible option that you can acquire as a Fresh 80 will be the Icecore Staff as it grants a very high amount of Haste Rating and a decent amount of Critical Strike Chance through its baseline Spirit. You will also be able to use this option as one of the best options during the Pre-Toc gearing phase!

As for the next-best alternatives to the Icecore Staff, you may use either one of Devotion or Pillar of Fortitude as viable alternatives since they fit the same stats pattern. While their overall stat yields are considerably lower, they will still result in a decent damage output.

However, if you require Hit Rating instead of items with Critical Strike Chance/Haste Rating, the best possible option will be the Unraveling Reach. It is closely followed up by the Greatstaff of the Nexus. While their stat yields are fairly different with one option granting Haste Rating while the other grants Critical Strike Chance through Spirit, their respective damage outputs are fairly similar.

The best possible option for a Fresh 80 Character when it comes to your Main-Hand Weapon will be entirely dependent on the rest of your current gear slots. Your main options will vary depending on whether you already have plenty of Hit Rating or if you still require more in order to reach the minimum 8% Hit Rating. You will have access to three main Hit Rating options while the rest of the possible items focus on increasing your overall Critical Strike Chance & Haste Rating.

The best possible option for increasing your Hit Rating will be the Fusion Blade. It is closely followed by the Firesoul as its next-best alternative. While both items grant different types of stat yields, their general damage output is extremely similar. It all depends on whether or not you currently managed to amass a decent amount of Haste Rating or not.

You may also use The Soulblade as a viable Hit Rating item, however, since its stat yield is the lowest among the Hit Rating options, you will want to swap it as fast as possible.

As for items that specifically increase your Critical Strike Chance or Haste Rating, the best possible option will be the Plasma Foil, closely followed up by the Stormtip and Spectral Kris.

The Grieving Spellblade and the Blade of Dormant Memories are also viable alternatives that fit the same pattern. However, since their overall stat yields are considerably lower, with Spell Power being heavily reduced, their damage output will be considerably weaker. You should treat those two items as initial options that you can confidently utilize until you come across a potent upgrade.

The best Off-Hand for a Fresh 80 Character depends entirely on the rest of your current items. Among the most powerful items, you may use the Igniter Rod if you have plenty of Hit Rating or the Watchful Eye if you still require more Hit Rating.

You can use the Handbook of Obscure Remedies as an alternative to the Igniter Rod, however, since it costs 25 Emblems of Heroism it will be considerably harder to acquire.

The Ward of the Violet Citadel actually provides more Hit Rating than the Watchful Eye, however, it will be harder to acquire since you will need to buy it for 25 Emblems of Heroism. Since the Watchful Eye can be acquired in the new Heroic + Dungeons, it will be easier for you to use it as a viable alternative until you can get a far stronger upgrade.

Pre-ToC/Onyxia’s Lair

Just as mentioned previously, you have the option of using Staves as your BiS Weapon as long as you tweak the rest of your set to match the minimum requirement of 8% Hit Rating.

The best possible option for the Pre-Toc gearing phase will be the Staff of Endless Winter due to the massive amount of Critical Strike Chance it offers. It is closely followed by the Icecore Staff in terms of pure damage output. Even if both items have a fairly different stat yield, their respective outputs are quite close, with only a ~100-150 DPS difference.

While not as strong as our two main options, you may use Rapture to achieve a similar result. However, since its Stat Yield is considerably lower while also not having any Gem Socket, its damage output will also be considerably lesser than the other two options.

There is one other viable option that you may use for this slot which is viable in our current set without changing any of the other BiS options. You can use Intensity to massively boost your Hit Rating, however, it will result in a lower damage output than the damage output generated by a Main-Hand Weapon & Off-Hand.

The best possible option for your Main Hand will depend on the rest of your gear slots, more specifically, it will depend on whether you chose to fulfill the minimum 14% Hit Rating requirement from your other slots or not. In our current set, the best possible option will be the Starshard Edge as we will want to dedicate this slot to gaining additional Hit Rating.

The next-best alternative will be the Fusion Blade as it basically grants the same types of stats. While it may not directly grant Critical Strike Chance as a secondary stat, it will increase our overall Critical Strike Chance through the Spirit baseline stat that it offers.

If you chose to modify our current set and you already reached the minimum 8% Hit Rating, you will want to use the Soulscribe as your actual BiS due to its amazing stat yield. This option will also be viable while progressing through ToC/ToGC/Onyxia’s Lair as its stats result in a fairly high damage output.

The best possible Off-Hand in our current set for the Pre-Toc gearing phase will be Cosmos. This is due to the massive amounts of Hit Rating and Critical Strike Chance that it offers, with a stat yield so high that it will even be considered one of the best choices towards the end of the third phase.

The next-best alternative for it will be the Leviathan Fueling Manual since it will grant us a decently high amount of Hit Rating. However, its other stats are quite bad in comparison, meaning that you will precisely want to acquire Cosmos.

If you can’t manage to find any of those two options, you will be forced to modify the rest of your gear slots in order to reach a minimum of 14% Hit Rating. As such, you may use either one of the Ironmender or the Igniter Rod as a perfectly valid alternative. The former option will be stronger since it increases our Critical Strike Chance, however, the latter option may be more beneficial if you are completely lacking Haste Rating.

Best-in-Slot

Staff	Source
Clemency Sufferance	Trial of the Crusader – Argent Crusade Tribute Chest (25) Heroic
Enlightenment Illumination	Trial of the Crusader – Eydis Darkbane (10) Heroic
Cold Convergence Perdition	Trial of the Crusader – Anub’arak (10) Heroic
Staff of Endless Winter	Ulduar – Hodir (25) HM
Icecore Staff	Animated Constellation – 50 Sidereal Essence ( Sidereal Essence Vendor)

While Staves are not the best option for an Arcane Mage in this current phase of the expansion, you may still choose to use one if you so desire. The best possible will be Clemency, due to the massive amount of Critical Strike Chance that you can gain. The main issue with the item is that you will lose a considerable amount of Haste Rating while also being forced to tweak the rest of your gear to make up for the lost Hit Rating.

Enlightenment will be the next-best possible alternative that fixes the Haste Rating issue that Clemency. However, its damage output will be weaker since its overall stat yield will be lower. As it also grants no Spirit, it will also reduce your overall Critical Strike Chance gained from your Molten Armor.

Cold Convergence works in the same way as Enlightenment, however, it provides almost identical stats with the only difference being slightly different stat yields and one less Gem Socket.

Until you can find any of those ToC items, if you insist on using a Staff, you may use either one of the Staff of Endless Winter or the Icecore Staff as a valid alternative as they both grant a fairly similar damage output. The damage output difference between the two items is roughly around ~ 30-35 DPS, meaning that it doesn’t necessarily matter which item you choose as long as you have the rest of the BiS options while maintaining the minimum 8% Hit Rating requirement.

Main-Hand	Source
Blade of Tarasque Barb of Tarasque	Trial of the Crusader – Icehowl (25) Heroic
Starshard Edge	Ulduar – Algalon the Observer (25)
Spellstorm Blade Spellharvest	Trial of the Crusader -Argent Crusade Tribute Chest (10) Heroic
Blade of the Unbroken Covenant Mortalis	Trial of the Crusader – Argent Crusade Tribute Chest (25) Heroic
Blade of the Silver Disciple Sunreaver Disciple’s Blade	Trial of the Crusader – Faction Champions (10) Heroic
Soulscribe	Ulduar – Yogg-Saron (25)
Fusion Blade	Animated Constellation – 38 Sidereal Essence ( Sidereal Essence Vendor)

For your Main-Hand options as an Arcane Mage, the best possible options will be either one of the Blade of the Unbroken Covenant or the Blade of Tarasque. This is heavily reliant on the rest of your gear slots and whether or not you have enough Hit Rating to reach the minimum of 8%. The Blade of Tarasque will be the best option for increasing your overall Hit Rating while the Blade of the Unbroken Covenant is the best option if you already have a minimum of 8% Hit Rating.

We will segment this category into items that provide Hit Rating and items that increase your overall Critical Strike Chance & Haste Rating.

Since we want to gain Hit Rating from this slot, we will focus on the Blade of Tarasque as our primary option.

If you focus on Hit Rating items while filling your Hit Rating slots with Critical Strike Chance/Haste Rating items, the next-best alternative to the Blade of Tarasque will be the Starshard Edge, followed up closely by the Spellstorm Blade. The only issue with the former option is the fact that you will lose a medium amount of Haste Rating, however, you will gain an overall higher stat spread than the latter option.

You will want to use the Fusion Blade as a Hit Rating alternative if you chose this path until you can gain any of the ToC items!

If you chose the  Blade of the Unbroken Covenant path, the next-best alternative will be Blade of the Silver Disciple as it grants the most similar damage output while also granting us decently high amounts of Critical Strike Chance/Haste Rating.

If you can’t gain any of those items yet, Soulscribe will provide the next-best damage output as it grants the precise same types of secondary stats. While its stat yields are considerably lower, this item will still help you generate a high damage output.

Off-Hand	Source
Chalice of Benedictus Lightbane Focus	Trial of the Crusader – Eydis Darkbane (10) Heroic
Symbol of Transgression Talisman of Heedless Sins	Trial of the Crusader – Lord Jaraxxus (25) Heroic
Cosmos	Ulduar – Algalon the Observer (25)
Symbol of Transgression Talisman of Heedless Sins	Trial of the Crusader – Lord Jaraxxus (25)
Chalice of Searing Light Mystifying Charm	Trial of the Crusader – Eydis Darkbane (25) Heroic

The best possible Off-Hand option for an Arcane Mage in our current setup will be the Chalice of Benedictus. This is mainly due to the vital amount of Hit Rating that it grants combined with a large amount of Haste Rating. You may choose to use the Chalice of Searing Light instead if you tweaked one of your Critical Strike Chance/Haste Rating items from the rest of your gear slots to gain more Hit Rating.

As for the next-best alternatives for the Chalice of Benedictus you may use the Symbol of Transgression, even if it doesn’t grant any Haste Rating. Sadly for us, the only item that will grant us Haste Rating will be the Chalice of Benedictus, with the rest of the items having a focus on Critical Strike Chance. As a follow up to the Symbol of Transgression, the BiS from the previous phase of the expansion, Cosmos, will bring the highest possible stat yield. It is followed up by the Chalice of Benedictus, with the only difference between the two items being that you will trade Critical Strike Chance for an increased Haste Rating by using this option.

Lastly, you can use the 245 Ilvl version of the Symbol of Transgression, however, it will produce a slightly lower damage output since it doesn’t grant any Gem Socket.