Enhancements for Casters

Permanent Enhancements

Permanent enhancements are exclusive. You can have a glyph on your helm, an inscription on your shoulders, and an enchantment on your gloves, for instance, but only one enhancement (glyph, inscription, enchantment, leg armor, or armor kit) can be applied to each slot. You can change enhancements, but any new enhancement will overwrite any previous enhancement in that slot.

Slots are shown in their usual order. Alternatives are shown in order of preference, with the best choice given first. Your preferences may vary; your circumstances may differ; and in some cases the best choice may be unavailable or too expensive. It's your character, and you can do what you want. I'm just trying to help.

Suggested Enhancements (Permanent) for Spellcasters

Notes:

1. Resilience enhancements are for hardcore PvPers only.
2. Subtlety is only useful in PvE play. If you PvP a lot, get Spell Penetration, Major Armor, or two cloaks.
3. Despite confused and confusing comments on many sites, Spell Penetration has little value outside of PvP. If you avoid PvP, choose a different enhancement.
4. Most casters should get Restore Mana Prime, but Major Spirit is a reasonable choice for Shadow Priests.
5. For Warlocks, Exceptional Health is the top choice here. See also the following note.
6. If you are considering an armor kit, mana regeneration is more directly related to spellcasting than extra stamina is. On the other hand, a dead caster does no damage. If you run out of mana far more often than you take damage, take a Magister's Armor Kit. If your mana regeneration seems adequate, you're tired of being one-shotted, you're a Warlock, or you PvP, you get more bang for your buck with the less expensive Heavy Knothide Armor Kit.
7. Soulfrost is only appropriate for Frost Mages, Shadow Priests, and Affliction Warlocks.
8. Sunfire is only appropriate for Arcane/Fire Mages and Destruction Warlocks.
9. Over time, on average, Spellsurge seems roughly equivalent to about 5 mp5 (mana per 5 seconds) for everyone in the group. In a group with a healer and another mana-user (even a Hunter), this would be better for the group than Major Intellect or even Major Spellpower. If you are playing solo or in a group with meleers, this little-used and rather expensive enchantment doesn't measure up to the alternatives.
10. The note above on armor kits applies here, too. Take Major Stamina for more health or Intellect for more mana.

Related Links:

• Horde Help home page
• Enhancements
• DPS Enhancements
• Enhancements for Casters
• Enhancements for Healers
• Enhancements for Tanks
• Gems: A User's Guide
• Resistance Enhancements