What are the best professions for Mages in WoW Forever? Tailoring and Enchanting - that part hasn't changed since 2004. What has changed is why. WoW Forever gives Tailors a whole family of new cloth gear for your 40s and 50s, Enchanters three Binds when picked up items that top the Mage lists, and the Robe of the Archmage is still the best crafted chest a Mage can wear - and only a Tailor can wear it.
We went through our Arcane, Fire and Frost Mage BiS lists - at level 40, level 50, in pre-raid gear at 60 and in raid gear - and counted every crafted item: which profession makes it, and whether it's Binds when picked up (only the crafter can use it) or Binds when equipped (anyone can sell it to you). Here's what that tells us about Mage professions in WoW Forever, and when it's worth changing them.
Best professions for Mages in WoW Forever: the short answer
- Best professions for Mages overall: Tailoring + Enchanting. Together they make 12 of the 13 crafted items in every Mage pre-raid list at 60, and all 21 at level 50.
- Tailoring's prize: the Robe of the Archmage - Binds when picked up, the top pre-raid chest for Arcane, Fire and Frost, and still on all three Raid lists.
- Enchanting's prizes: the BoP Brilliant Wand (top wand at 60), Radiant Staff (top staff at 50) and Truesilver Conduit.
- Once you raid: keep Tailoring for the robe and swap Enchanting for Herbalism or Alchemy - Mages run on mana, and Alchemy makes it.
- For dungeon farming: some players take Engineering + Mining for grenades alongside Blizzard and Arcane Explosion.
- Every Mage: First Aid (it now makes Healing Potions) and Cooking (it builds the campfire).
How we picked the best professions for Mages
Every Mage spec on our site has a BiS list with up to four ranked picks per slot - armor, weapons, off-hands and wands - for level 40, level 50, pre-raid gear at 60 and raid gear at 60. The lists come from the WoW Forever game files (build 1.60.1.70532) and each spec's own stat weights. All three Mage specs value mana regeneration, hit and spell power first; Arcane adds Arcane damage and Intellect, Fire adds Fire damage and crit, and Frost adds Frost damage.
For this guide we took every crafted item in those lists and checked which profession makes it and how it binds. A Binds when equipped (BoE) item can be made by anyone and sold on the auction house. A Binds when picked up (BoP) item is soulbound to the crafter. Only a profession that makes BoP gear for your spec gives you something gold can't buy.
The three Mage specs have almost identical crafted picks - 15 at level 40, 21 at level 50, 13 at 60 and 5 in raid gear - because they all want the same cloth: Intellect, spell power, crit and hit. So the best professions for Mages in WoW Forever are the same for Arcane, Fire and Frost. What changes from spec to spec is which version of some pieces to make, as we'll see below.
Tailoring: the best profession for Mages in WoW Forever
WoW Forever Tailoring has 471 recipes in the current game files and makes most of the crafted gear in every Mage list: 13 entries at level 40, 19 at level 50 and 9 at 60. And because cloth drops from humanoids you kill while questing, Tailoring is one of the cheapest professions to level - you never need to stop and gather.
Levels 40 to 55: the new cloth families
WoW Forever adds several families of BoP cloth gear for casters in their 40s and 50s. Each piece comes in versions that share the same Intellect, Stamina and Spirit but use a different special material:
- Nether shoulders and cuffs (skill 210-220) - Netherflame, Netherfroth, Netherlight, Netherpearl, Nethershine and Nethergeld. The Netherflame Shoulders and Netherflame Cuffs are the top shoulders and bracers in all three Mage level 50 lists.
- Cords, waistcords, slippers, sandals, gloves and handwraps (skill 145-250) - Black, Fiery, Frothing and Golden versions, made with Black Pearl, Heart of Fire, Globe of Water or Golden Pearl.
- Leggings at skill 125 - Flame, Pearly and Shadow Leggings, all in our level 40 lists.
Every one of these pieces in our lists is BoP, so this is where Tailoring pays off most while levelling.
One detail our data can't settle yet: each version carries one extra stat tied to its special material - Heart of Fire for the Fiery and Netherflame pieces, Globe of Water for the Frothing and Netherfroth ones - and our game data shows it only as an unnamed stat number. The names point to one spell school each, which would make the Fiery and Netherflame versions better for Fire Mages and the Frothing and Netherfroth versions better for Frost. Our lists can't score that stat, so they treat the versions as equal. Check the tooltip in game before you buy the materials.
Level 60: the Robe of the Archmage
The Robe of the Archmage is the reason every Mage should consider Tailoring. It has +12 Intellect, up to 40 spell power and +14 Critical Strike Rating at item level 62, and it's the top pre-raid chest for Arcane, Fire and Frost. It's Binds when picked up, so as Kami Labs puts it, "a Mage without a tailor will never have the robe, even by paying for it."
It's also the only crafted Mage item that's still in all three Raid lists and can't be bought. Your pre-raid Tailoring gear will be replaced; the robe sticks around.
The good news: it doesn't need Mooncloth or Felcloth. The recipe (skill 310) takes 12 Bolts of Runecloth, 8 each of Essence of Fire, Air, Earth and Water, 10 Viridian Dye and 2 Rune Thread. The 32 elemental essences are the expensive part.
Level 60: the Mooncloth pieces
The rest of the best Mage Tailoring at 60 is BoE, and most of it needs Mooncloth:
- Belt of the Archmage - +16 Intellect, +10 Stamina, up to 20 spell power and +14 Critical Strike Rating; the top pre-raid belt for all three specs.
- Gloves of Spell Mastery - +10 Intellect, up to 9 spell power and +28 Critical Strike Rating; the top pre-raid gloves for all three.
- Mantle of the Timbermaw - +13 Intellect, up to 17 spell power and +14 Critical Strike Rating; the top shoulders for all three.
- Dreamweave Circlet - +12 Spirit, +10 Intellect and up to 21 spell power; the top pre-raid helm for Fire and Frost.
Further down the lists you'll also find the Argent Shoulders, Sylvan Crown and Venomspew Footpads - all BoE, and all good backups if a dungeon drop doesn't come.
Mooncloth is made by Tailors from 2 Felcloth, and the game files give it a 95-hour cooldown - about four days per Mooncloth.
The Belt of the Archmage and Gloves of Spell Mastery need 8 Mooncloth each - about a month of cooldowns for one Tailor - and the Mantle needs 5. All three together is 21 Mooncloth, more than 80 days. These will be some of the most expensive cloth items at launch, and Mooncloth itself will sell well. Start your cooldown the day you reach skill 270.
Enchanting: three BoP items Mages want
Enchanting has 261 recipes in the current game files - most of them enchants rather than items - so it makes fewer Mage items than Tailoring. But the items it does make are the ones you can't buy. Three of them are Binds when picked up:
- Brilliant Wand (skill 320) - +10 Intellect and up to 12 spell power; the top pre-raid wand for all three specs at 60.
- Radiant Staff (skill 225) - +19 Intellect and +19 Stamina; the top staff in all three level 50 lists.
- Truesilver Conduit (skill 225) - +8 Intellect, +8 Stamina and up to 10 spell power; the second-best pre-raid off-hand at 60.
None of them are expensive. The Brilliant Wand takes one Greater Eternal Essence, 3 Illusion Dust, 2 Large Brilliant Shards and a Star Wood; the Radiant Staff and Truesilver Conduit use Radiant Shards, Star Wood, Greater Nether Essence, Dream Dust and dyes.
Enchanting also pairs perfectly with Tailoring. Every piece of cloth you make while levelling Tailoring can be disenchanted into Enchanting materials, so the two professions level each other. You can enchant your own gear - including the Spell Power necklace enchant, which Kami Labs lists for Mages - and its camp feature, the Enchanted Lute, adds Armor to everyone nearby, which a cloth wearer will appreciate.
Blacksmithing: one sword you can buy
The only Blacksmithing item in our Mage lists is the Sageblade: +14 Stamina, +6 Intellect and +10 Hit Rating. It's the top pre-raid main-hand for all three specs and stays on the Raid lists, but it's Binds when equipped. Kami Labs makes the same call we do: keep Enchanting rather than Blacksmithing, which only adds one weapon. Buy the Sageblade.
Arcane Mage professions
Our Arcane Mage BiS list has 13 crafted entries at 60, and crafted gear is the top pick in six slots: the Mantle of the Timbermaw, Robe of the Archmage, Gloves of Spell Mastery, Belt of the Archmage, Sageblade and Brilliant Wand.
Arcane is the Mage spec that cares most about mana and Intellect. In WoW Forever each Arcane Blast stack turns 15% of your Intellect into spell damage, and Arcane Wrath gains 5% of your maximum mana as spell damage. Our Arcane weights put mana regeneration highest of any stat. That makes the caster camp buffs - Herbalism's Incense Candle (2 to 25 Intellect) and Alchemy's Mana Well (10 to 29 mana every 5 seconds) - especially useful for Arcane.
Our pick: Tailoring + Enchanting while levelling and gearing up, then Tailoring + Alchemy or Herbalism once you raid.
Fire Mage professions
Our Fire Mage BiS list has crafted gear as the top pick in seven slots at 60 - the same six as Arcane plus the Dreamweave Circlet. Fire weights crit almost as highly as spell power, so the Gloves of Spell Mastery (+28 Critical Strike Rating), Belt of the Archmage and Mantle of the Timbermaw (+14 each) and the Robe of the Archmage (+14) fit it perfectly.
At level 50, the Fiery and Netherflame cloth pieces are the ones to watch if their extra stat is confirmed as Fire spell power. Our pick: Tailoring + Enchanting, then Tailoring + Herbalism for raiding.
Frost Mage professions
Our Frost Mage BiS list is the same as Fire's at 60 - seven crafted top picks - and Frost is the most mana-friendly Mage spec, according to our class guide. At level 50, the Frothing and Netherfroth pieces, made with Globe of Water, are likely the Frost versions.
Our pick: Tailoring + Enchanting, then Tailoring + Herbalism once you raid.
See every crafted item in your Mage BiS listOur Arcane, Fire and Frost BiS lists show where each item comes from - crafted, quest or dungeon - with links to every recipe.Open Mage BiSEngineering + Mining: the dungeon farming option
Gfinity suggests a different pair for some Mages: Engineering + Mining for "Dungeon AoE / Speedrunning". Their reasoning: "Mages use Engineering grenades alongside Blizzard and Arcane Explosion" to lock down large pulls.
Our BiS lists don't include any Engineering items for Mages, and we haven't simulated grenades, so we can't put a number on it. But if your plan at 60 is farming dungeons for gold rather than raiding, it's a reasonable choice - Mining makes gold, and grenades give you extra control on big pulls. For most Mages, Tailoring + Enchanting is still the better start.
Mage vs Warlock: same professions, different robe
Mages and Warlocks end up with the same best professions in WoW Forever - Kami Labs calls the Warlock "Same profile as the Mage" - but a few details differ:
- The robe: the Mage's Robe of the Archmage needs 32 elemental essences; the Warlock's Robe of the Void needs 40 Felcloth and 20 Demonic Runes instead. Both are BoP and both stay on their class's Raid lists.
- The off-hand: the Truesilver Conduit is the top pre-raid off-hand for Warlocks but only second for Mages.
- Bags: Warlocks get soul bags from Tailoring; Mages don't need them.
If you play both classes, one Tailor can make the Mooncloth pieces for both. See our Warlock professions guide for the Warlock side.
Raiding: what's still worth crafting
Our Mage Raid lists have five crafted items each: the Robe of the Archmage, Gloves of Spell Mastery, Belt of the Archmage, Flarecore Leggings and Sageblade. Only the robe is BoP. The Flarecore Leggings are the one new addition at raid level - they need 8 Mooncloth plus 5 Fiery Cores and 3 Lava Cores, so a Tailor in a raiding guild will be asked to make them.
That's why we'd keep Tailoring when you start raiding and drop Enchanting. Enchanting's three BoP items are all pre-raid gear, and the enchants it makes can be applied by any Enchanter. Herbalism or Alchemy saves more gold in a raid week: a Flask of Supreme Power takes 30 Dreamfoil, 10 Mountain Silversage and a Black Lotus, and Mages use Major Mana Potions in long fights.
When each Mage profession pays off
- Levels 20-40: Tailoring. Our level 40 lists already have 13 Tailoring entries, from the Dreamweave Vest and Gloves to the Flame, Pearly and Shadow Leggings - most of them BoP.
- Levels 45-55: Tailoring and Enchanting together. The Nether, cord and sandal families from Tailoring and the Radiant Staff and Truesilver Conduit from Enchanting fill most of your gear - all BoP.
- Level 60, pre-raid: the Robe of the Archmage (Tailoring) and Brilliant Wand (Enchanting) are the BoP pieces to make.
- Raiding: Tailoring for the robe and Mooncloth, plus Herbalism or Alchemy for flasks and mana potions.
Do Mages need a gathering profession?
Not while levelling. Tailoring uses cloth you loot from humanoids, and Enchanting uses materials from disenchanting - so a Mage can level both while questing without ever stopping to gather. That's a big part of why the pair works so well.
At 60 it's different. Gold matters more once you raid, for flasks, repairs and Mooncloth materials, and Herbalism is the gathering profession that helps a Mage most: it feeds the flasks and potions you'll use, and its Incense Candle gives Intellect at camp.
First Aid and Cooking: free picks for every Mage
- First Aid now makes Healing Potions - from the basic one up to Major Healing Potion at skill 290 - so you don't need Alchemy for those. Its First Aid Kit camp feature gives 3 to 56 Stamina - useful for a class in cloth.
- Cooking builds the campfire every camp starts with.
- Fishing feeds Cooking, and its Fish Bowl camp feature gives 8% to all stats.
Making gold as a Mage
Tailoring + Enchanting is one of the best gold pairs for a caster. The items to watch:
- Mooncloth pieces: Belt of the Archmage, Gloves of Spell Mastery and Mantle of the Timbermaw - BoE, wanted by every cloth caster, and slow to make.
- Mooncloth itself - every Tailor needs it, and the cooldown keeps supply low.
- Enchants - once you have the formulas, other players will pay to have their gear enchanted.
Best professions for Mages in WoW Forever: FAQ
- What are the best professions for Mages in WoW Forever? Tailoring + Enchanting while levelling and gearing up, then Tailoring + Herbalism (or Alchemy) once you raid.
- Is Tailoring worth it for Mages? Yes. It makes most of the crafted gear in every Mage list, and the Robe of the Archmage is BoP, the top pre-raid chest for all three specs, and still on the Raid lists.
- Is Enchanting worth it for Mages? Yes, before raiding. The Brilliant Wand, Radiant Staff and Truesilver Conduit are BoP top picks, and Enchanting levels well alongside Tailoring.
- If I can only pick one, Tailoring or Enchanting? Tailoring. It makes far more Mage gear at every level, and the Robe of the Archmage lasts into raids. Enchanting's BoP items are all pre-raid.
- Should a Mage take Engineering? Only if you plan to farm dungeons rather than raid - our lists have no Engineering items for Mages.
- Do Mages need Blacksmithing? No. The Sageblade is its only item in our lists, and it's BoE.
- Do gathering professions give passive bonuses in WoW Forever? Blizzard hasn't confirmed any. Lists of Herbalism or Mining perks have been traced to an AI-generated post - see our professions guide.
More Mage guides: best race for Mages in WoW Forever, the best DPS class in WoW Forever, and every camp feature in WoW Forever.
Sources
- Forever Upgrades Mage BiS lists (Arcane, Fire and Frost, levels 40, 50 and 60, Pre-Raid and Raid), and recipes, materials, cooldowns and item binding from the WoW: Forever game files, build 1.60.1.70532, on our Professions pages (October 28, 2026)
- Gather Around the Campfire in World of Warcraft: Forever (Blizzard, October 21, 2026)
- WoW Forever Professions: Camp Buffs, Changes and Best Picks (Gamer Guides, updated October 18, 2026)
- The Best Profession Pairings for Every Class in World of Warcraft: Forever (Gfinity Esports, October 6, 2026)
- WoW Forever Professions by Class: My BiS List Picks (Kami Labs, October 25, 2026)