TBC Classic Frost Mage Phase 3 / 4 Gear and Best in Slot

This page contains a list of gear which is considered to be the best in each slot.

The list below is following the stat priority of Spell Hit until cap > Spell Haste >= Spell Damage > Spell Crit > Intellect and assumes no Hit Chance raid buffs. You can see an explanation for this priority on our stats page for Frost Mage below. During Black Temple, you may also have need of additional gear devoted to maximizing your Shadow Resistance stat. Should this be the case, we recommend consulting our guide dedicated to acquiring pieces with this stat as necessary.

If you are starting out as a freshly-leveled Frost Mage, our pre-raid best in slot list is meant to give you an idea of non-raid items you can chase as a solo / pug player in preparation for raids.

Do note that items from Heroic dungeons or that require Primal Nethers (which are obtained from Heroics) can be harder to get than raid items due to their daily lockout. Some Heroic dungeons are also harder than most of Karazhan.

To check out our recommended Pre-Raid best in slot gear, head over to its list below. If your character is still progressing through the content of older tiers, then you may wish to consult their best in slot lists instead.

The items on the following list for Phase 3/4 come from TBC dungeons, raids, and reputation rewards. It also uses only crafted gems, as these are easier to come by.

This gear set is the absolute best you can get in Phase 3/4. It is built for maximum performance on trash and bosses. During trash, especially on AoE, Haste rating is much more valuable than Spell Damage and Spell Crit, as Mages are often AoE-capped by Spell Power and AoEing many targets simultaneously. This means that with additional Haste you can cast more spells in the same time, whereas with additional Spell Damage, your Arcane Explosion would not hit harder due to the AoE cap. Therefore the Ashtongue Deathsworn Exalted trinket Ashtongue Talisman of Insight and Mind Quickening Gem from Vaelastrasz the Corrupt in Blackwing Lair are very strong options for AoE fights.

If you have access to an Elemental Shaman's Totem of Wrath, dropping Hit rating will be hard with this set, as most of the irreplaceable pieces have Hit on them.

Hex Shrunken Head sims within 2 DPS of Quagmirran's Eye and is not worth to be taken from other classes for this small of an upgrade.

If you have further questions about gemming and enchanting these items, our Frost Mage Enchants and Gems page below provides more information.