Level 60 gear guide: how to gear up your hero and raise your item level

Level 60 gear is what the endgame of any MMORPG revolves around: levelling is over, and from here on your hero grows stronger through items rather than levels. In Zarhold, the power of your gear is measured by a single number — Item Level, or ilvl. Let’s go through what it means, what every kind of item is worth on the scale, where to get gear at level 60 and in what order to climb from your first blues to 232 epics and legendaries.

Every number below comes straight from the game: the same scale appears in item tooltips, the comparison table, the auction and the Armory.

What item level (ilvl) is

Item Level is a single number on a scale up to 280 that every item has. Three things make it up: the level the item was made for, its rarity and where it came from. Below level 60 the number grows with the item’s level: an epic made for level 49 is 163, a level 60 epic is 200.

Don’t confuse it with the “requires level N” line in the tooltip: that’s the hero level you can wear the item from. Item Level tells you something else — how strong the item is.

Stats grow with the number. For epics, every point of item level above 200 adds 0.5% to all stats: a 226 epic is 13% stronger than a 200 epic in the same slot, and a 232 epic is 16% stronger.

Your hero’s average item level is the average across equipped items. Empty slots don’t drag it down — only items you’re wearing count — and the shirt, the tabard and turquoise items are left out. You can see the number in your hero’s profile in the Armory, where heroes can also be sorted by gear. The full table is in the Item level reference.

The scale at level 60: what each item is worth

• 161 and 174 — a grey and a green level 60 item: at endgame, they belong with the vendor.
• 187 — a blue item from the open world, quests, crafting and the PvP shop. An heirloom is 187 at level 60 too: it grows with your hero and is counted at your level.
• 200 — an epic from the open world, crafting and the PvP shop, epics from dungeon bosses and blue items from level 60 dungeon bosses. Those blues have 92% of the stats of a 200 epic in the same slot.
• 226 — epics from raids and world bosses in normal mode.
• 232 — epics from heroic raids and heroic world bosses, plus Tier 1 set pieces.
• 260 — turquoise (unique) items; they don’t count towards your average item level.
• 280 — every legendary item, at any level. That’s the top of the scale.

Personal items: what you can and can’t pass on

Gear of green quality and above becomes personal as soon as you get it, wherever it came from: a boss, a quest, the PvP shop, a vendor or the auction.

• You can: equip and unequip it, sell it to a vendor (and buy it back within a day), disenchant it, delete it, put it in your own Hero Bank.
• You can’t: trade it, list it on the auction, mail it — not even to your own hero — put it in the guild bank or stake it in a duel.

This has two consequences for gearing. First, crafted items become personal only when equipped — until then they can be sold on the auction, gifted and mailed. That’s why most of the gear you’ll find on the auction is crafted. Second, an item you win in a roll in a group of live players can be traded for another 2 hours to any member of the same run who took part in the roll — handy if a friend needs it more. More in Personal items.

Heirloom and turquoise items follow their own rules: they belong to your account and move between your heroes by mail.

Where to get gear at level 60

Dungeons: 200 blues and epics

The last dungeons are built for heroes of levels 58–60, and a party is three strong: a tank, a healer and a damage dealer. Each boss drops two or three items for the party, and from level 55 at least one of them is epic. An item’s level equals the boss’s level, so it’s the level 60 bosses that give 200: a level 58 item is already 193. The big advantage of dungeons is that items drop on every run — only experience and gold go down, to 100, 50 and 0% within a day’s window. That makes them the main source you can farm without limits.

Crafting: 200 epics to order

Professions make level 60 gear: 187 blues and 200 epics. Epic recipes don’t unlock on their own — you learn them from scrolls dropped by certain dungeon bosses (a 6% chance), and you can craft the item at skill 240–300. The nice thing about crafting is that the item only becomes personal when equipped, so you can buy an epic on the auction or order one from a crafter. What each profession makes is on the Crafting tab of the Item Atlas; scrolls are covered in Scrolls and rare recipes.

The PvP shop: 200 with Resilience

For Arena Points and Honor the PvP shop sells blue (187) and epic (200) items. A PvP item has more Health (×1.4 compared with a regular item), slightly less Power (×0.85) and adds Resilience — protection against damage from other players that does nothing against monsters. It’s the best choice for the arena and battlegrounds, while for dungeons and raids players usually keep such items in a separate set. You can earn up to 1,000 Arena Points and 5,000 Honor a week: Arena Points and Honor.

Normal raids: 226 epics

Raids and world bosses open at level 60, with a party of five. They drop only epics and better, three to five items per boss, and the epics are item level 226. Loot comes once a day: your first run of the day to each location gives everything, a repeat run is just helping friends, with no loot. The raid screen shows the recommended item level — 220 — next to your party’s average. Details: Raids and world bosses.

Heroic and Tier 1: 232

In heroic mode every enemy is exactly twice as strong and twice as tough, and boss epics are 232. The recommended item level is 232; the party average here counts every fighter, but leaves heirlooms out. Heroic is also the only place where regalia drop — Halvard the Unseeing forges them into Tier 1 set pieces, also 232, with set bonuses at 2, 4, 6 and 8 pieces. More in Tier sets in an MMORPG.

Legendary and turquoise items

A legendary item is 280, the top of the scale: its stats are 1.8 times those of a blue of the same level (an epic’s are 1.35 times). Legendaries are guarded by the final bosses of five raids (a separate 0.8% roll per kill), occasionally dropped by Zone Bosses of level 30 and above (0.4% on each of two rolls), and four relics with special properties come from achievements, crafting and the Battle Pass. Turquoise items are 260: arena season rewards and named rewards. Their stats are modest (+1 to each), the arena brands have a special combat button, and turquoise items don’t count towards your average item level. More in Legendary and unique items.

Enchants and sharpening

Any wearable item — from a weapon to a trinket, of any quality and from any source — can be upgraded in two ways, and both live on the item at the same time.

• Enchants. Enchant scrolls come from Enchanting; on a weapon they add Power, on armor and accessories Health or Resilience. Any player can apply a finished scroll, even without the profession. An item holds one enchant: a new one replaces the old.
• Sharpening. It’s made by the blacksmith (whetstones for weapons and plating for plate and mail), the leatherworker and the tailor — kits for their own armor material. Accessories take any armor kit.

Being personal doesn’t stop enchants or sharpening. An enchanted item has a green ✦ on its icon, a sharpened one an amber ⚒. Enchants and sharpening are permanent bonuses, so upgrade the items you’ll keep the longest first: your weapon and raid epics. Details: Enchants and sharpening.

How to compare items

Before you put an item on, compare it with what you’re wearing. On a computer, hover over it — an “Equipped” card appears next to it with ▲ and ▼ differences; on a phone, tap the item and its menu shows a table with this item, the equipped one and the difference. In your bag, a green ▲ on an icon means “better than what you wear”, a red ▼ means “worse”.

A few subtleties:

• rings and trinkets are compared with the weaker of the two you wear;
• a two-handed weapon is compared with your main hand and off-hand together: it will remove both;
• item level isn’t the whole story: a 200 PvP item has less Power than a regular 200 epic, and at level 60 an heirloom falls short of an epic of the same level.

The game sums up the comparison in one line — from “better in every stat” to “worse in every stat”. More in Comparing items and item level.

Equipment sets: change gear with one click

Once your hero has both PvE and PvP gear, equipment sets come in handy (not to be confused with Tier 1 sets) — up to three saved selections of what you wear. They live on the Character Sheet (the C key), in the Equipment panel: put the items on, press “Save set” and give it a name of up to 24 characters.

The Equip button moves extra items to your bag and puts the saved ones on. If an item is gone, the game equips the rest and tells you what was missing; if there isn’t enough bag space for what comes off, nothing changes at all. You can’t change during a fight or while queued, but you can between fights inside a dungeon. Details: Equipment sets.

From 60 to the best gear: a step-by-step plan

1. Replace your levelling gear. Heirlooms and quest rewards are great on the way to 60, but at 60 a blue from a dungeon boss (200) or any 200 epic is already stronger.
2. Farm the last dungeons. Items drop on every run; look for level 60 bosses — their items are 200. Aim to have every slot at 200.
3. Fill the gaps with crafting. A 200 epic from the auction or a crafter covers the slot you just can’t get lucky with.
4. Upgrade your gear with enchants and sharpening — weapon first.
5. Head into normal raids. The recommended 220 is advice, not a gate: people run their first raids in 200 gear, and every 226 piece lifts the average. To go from 200 to 220 you need 226 items in roughly three quarters of your slots.
6. Build a PvP set if you play the arena, and save it as an equipment set.
7. Move on to heroic once your party gets close to 232: 232 epics and Tier 1 regalia drop only there.
8. Keep legendaries in mind. The odds are small, but each one is an instant 280 in its slot.

How to fit all this into group play is covered in Dungeons and raids, and how to earn with crafting in MMORPG professions.

Level 60 gear FAQ

What is ilvl and where can I see it?

It’s Item Level — a number on a scale up to 280 that shows how strong an item is. You’ll find it in every item’s tooltip, the comparison table, the auction and the Armory; your hero’s average item level is shown in their Armory profile.

What item level do I need for raids?

The recommendation is 220 in normal mode and 232 in heroic. It’s only advice: the raid screen shows it next to your party’s average, but it doesn’t change how strong the enemies are.

Why is a dungeon blue 200 while a shop blue is 187?

Item level depends on the source. Blues from level 60 dungeon bosses are upgraded: they have 92% of the stats of a 200 epic in the same slot. Blues from the open world, quests, crafting and the PvP shop stay at 187.

Can I buy raid gear from other players?

No: boss gear is personal and never reaches the auction. Most of the gear on the auction is crafted — it becomes personal only when equipped. Loot you win in a group can be passed to a member of the same run within 2 hours.

Should I replace my heirlooms at level 60?

As a rule, yes: at level 60 an heirloom is 187, like a blue, and an epic of the same level is stronger. Compare before you swap: the game shows the difference in every stat.

The bottom line

Level 60 gear in Zarhold is a ladder with clear rungs: 187 and 200 from dungeons, crafting and the PvP shop, 226 from normal raids, 232 from heroic and Tier 1, and legendary 280s at the very top. Watch the item level, but compare the stats, upgrade what you’ll wear for a long time and keep a separate set for the arena. The Item Atlas will tell you where the item you need drops. Jump into the game — your first epic is waiting in the nearest dungeon.