You just hit level 85 after hours of completing quests. So, now what? Well, upgrading those quest greens is a great way to start. Gearing in a new expansion can be very confusing, but if you know what you are going for it can be quite simple. Which gear you are going for depends on your spec, what comp you are running, and whether you are focusing on BGs or arena. Decide what stats are most important for what you are doing and then find the items that help you the most.

Crafted Gear

To start off, there is ilvl 339 gear that is crafted by a tailor. Also, there are 2 sets so you will have some variety of stats you can choose from. One set is called Emberfire, which has mostly haste and no crit. The other set is called Fireweave, which has a mix of crit, mastery and haste.

[Emberfire Belt] [Bolt of Embersilk Cloth]x10[Volatile Water]x4[Volatile Fire]x4

[Emberfire Boots] [Bolt of Embersilk Cloth]x10[Volatile Water]x4[Volatile Fire]x4

[Emberfire Bracers] [Bolt of Embersilk Cloth]x6[Volatile Water]x4[Volatile Fire]x4

[Emberfire Cowl] [Bolt of Embersilk Cloth]x10[Volatile Water]x4[Volatile Fire]x4

[Emberfire Gloves] [Bolt of Embersilk Cloth]x10[Volatile Water]x4[Volatile Fire]x4

[Emberfire Pants] [Bolt of Embersilk Cloth]x10[Volatile Water]x4[Volatile Fire]x4

[Emberfire Robe] [Bolt of Embersilk Cloth]x10[Volatile Water]x4[Volatile Fire]x4

[Emberfire Shoulders][Bolt of Embersilk Cloth]x6[Volatile Water]x3[Volatile Fire]x3

[Fireweave Belt] [Bolt of Embersilk Cloth]x6[Volatile Fire]x3[Volatile Air]x3

[Fireweave Boots] [Bolt of Embersilk Cloth]x10[Volatile Fire]x4[Volatile Air]x4

[Fireweave Bracers] [Bolt of Embersilk Cloth]x6[Volatile Fire]x3[Volatile Air]x3

[Fireweave Cowl] [Bolt of Embersilk Cloth]x10[Volatile Fire]x4[Volatile Air]x4

[Fireweave Gloves] [Bolt of Embersilk Cloth]x10[Volatile Fire]x4[Volatile Air]x4

[Fireweave Pants] [Bolt of Embersilk Cloth]x10[Volatile Fire]x4[Volatile Air]x4

[Fireweave Robe] [Bolt of Embersilk Cloth]x8[Volatile Fire]x4[Volatile Air]x4

[Fireweave Shoulders] [Bolt of Embersilk Cloth]x10[Volatile Fire]x4[Volatile Air]x4

Blacksmithing: [Elementium Spellblade] [Hardened Elementium Bar]x4 [Truegold]x6 [Chaos Orb]x3

Inscription: [Battle Tome] [Resilient Parchment]x10 [Inferno Ink]x8 [Volatile Life]x24 [Volatile Fire]x6

Fireweave seems to be more for mages since it has a mix of all three stats that we need, but if you want to go for more haste you may want to consider the Emberfire set.

Weapons

After you reach an average gearscore of 329 you will be able to queue for heroics. There are a variety of weapons you can get from heroics and vendors, here is a list of some weapons and where to get them.

Staves:

[Staff of Siphoned Essences] - Instance: Heroic Grim Batol – Boss: Erudax

[Cerith Spire Staff] - Instance: Heroic Throne of the Tides - Boss: Commander Ulthok

[Insidious Staff] – Sold by: Tol Barad Quartermaster - Requirement: Revered

One Handers:

[Blade of the Burning Sun] - Instance: Heroic Halls of Origination - Boss: Rajh

[Biting Wind] - Instance: Heroic Vortex Pinnacle - Boss: Grand Vizier Ertan

[Modgud's Blade] - Instance: Heroic Grim Batol - Boss: General Umbriss

Offhands:

[Battle Tome] – Made by: Inscripionist, check the AH.

[Beauty's Favorite Bone] - Instance: Heroic Blackrock Caverns - Boss: Beauty

[Hermit's Lamp] – Sold by: Justice Badge Vendor – Requirements: 950 Justice Points

Wands:

[Cookie's Stirring Rod] - Instance: Heroic Deadmines - Boss: “Captain” Cookie

[Corla's Baton] - Instance: Heroic Blackrock Caverns - Boss: Corla, Herald of Twilight

Honor Gear

After you farm enough honor to buy your first piece, it is important that you obtain 4% hit for pvp. Also, keep in mind that since they removed all of the miss talents and racials, you do not need to go higher. So, the pvp hit cap for level 85 is 410 hit rating. Another thing you should know is that, while spell penetration was changed to only reduce damage of spells, as a frost mage you can still get full resists on frostbolt as well as polymorph and counterspell. To avoid this, it is important to get around 250 spell penetration. This is easily obtainable with [Bloodthirsty Gladiator's Pendant of Diffusion] and a few gems or [Enchant Cloak - Greater Spell Piercing]. And remember, you can always reforge your gear if you need to alter your stats.

What else?

Lastly, I want to mention some of the trinkets that are available. Blizzard has finally given us a variety of trinkets that you can buy with honor points. Hopefully they will continue to offer upgraded versions of these each season.

[Bloodthirsty Gladiator's Insignia of Dominance]

[Bloodthirsty Gladiator's Badge of Dominance]

[Bloodthirsty Gladiator's Emblem of Cruelty]

[Bloodthirsty Gladiator's Emblem of Tenacity]

Enchants

Here are some enchants I recommend using.

Belt – [Ebonsteel Belt Buckle]
Boots – [Enchant Boots - Lavawalker]
Bracers – [Enchant Bracer - Greater Critical Strike]
Chest – [Enchant Chest - Mighty Resilience]
Cloak – [Enchant Cloak - Greater Critical Strike]
Gloves – [Enchant Gloves - Greater Mastery]
Helm – [Arcanum of Hyjal]
Main Hand – [Enchant Weapon - Hurricane]
Off Hand – [Enchant Off-Hand - Superior Intellect]
Pants –  [Powerful Enchanted Spellthread]
Shoulders –  [Greater Inscription of Charged Lodestone]

Start farming!

I suggest you find a group of 5 people to do heroics and/or farm honor with as it is always more efficient to be with a group. So good luck and get out there and start farming!