7. Equipment Picks

Finding the right equipment is important to all classes. Mages need to care 
about their equipment too, however, mages don't need to swap equipment as 
often as many classes. Melee classes must constantly update their weapons so
that they can do their damage to the fullest. Even priests and warlocks need 
to make sure that they have the best wand possible for their level since they 
use wands so much. Fortunately for mages, they don't need to update their 
items as often as such classes, however it is important to have gear that is 
suitable for your level.

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Armor

When looking for armor, the primary attributes are intellect, spirit, 
stamina, and additions to spell damage. Defense skill bonuses, armor, 
strength, and agility are secondary. In fact, attributes such as strength are 
not required. 

When looking for items that add spell damage, always check to see if there 
are other versions of that item that provide huge bonuses to your stats. For
example, chest armor provide high statistical bonuses, so it may be better to 
look for one that adds stamina/spirit/intellect rather than one that adds 
spell damage. On the other hand, back armor generally provide little bonuses 
to stats. For this reason, it may be a better idea to invest in back armor 
that add spell damage. 

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Weapons

When looking for weapons, always get those that add to your stats, or to 
spell damage. The only exception to this are wands since they are quite 
important for dishing out light damage if the enemy is dying, or if you are
running out of mana.

There is a debate as to whether it is better to use a main-hand weapon and an
off-hand weapon or a staff. The fact is, both of them are really good. However
with main-hand/off-hand combo, you can generally expect more variety than with 
a single 2-H staff. With main/off, you can literally customize some of the
stats, while with a staff, you have to stick with whatever stats it already
has. Generally, the stats staves come with aren't too bad.

When looking for a wand, look for ones that deal a high amount of damage. Also
look for those that add spell damage since wands generally provide low bonuses
to stats, at least during the lower levels. Some of the higher level wands
provide very nice bonuses to stats, and these may be more desirable.

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