As more and more guilds are working their way through both normal and heroic Naxxramas, many find themselves nose-to-nose with the frostwyrm himself: Sapphiron. The fight itself is relatively straight forward, however, preparing yourself for it is less so.

Now, with the exception of Molten Core, most of the guilds I’ve ever been in have largely scoffed at resistance gear in favor of sustaining DPS/Healing performance. However, as a member of Conquest, I have been asked to build a Frost Resist set for the Sapphiron fight and have no intention of going against the grain. If, like me, you find yourself in need of gear to guard you from the frigid temperatures of the Sapphiron fight, then read on.

There are only three pieces of Mail Frost Resistance gear that can be crafted (at least that are appropriate for Wotlk), all of which can be made by a Leatherworker (of 420 skill or higher) and are BoE. You won’t need every piece, but a piece or two should be fine. Remember, the key to resist gear is balance. You’re sacrificing stats for every resist piece you equip, so don’t go overboard or you’ll completely gimp your DPS. Replace items that provide the lowest net bonus to your stats first, and move on from there.

That having been said, let’s see what our options are!

The Icy Scale Belt gives you 86 Frost Resist. The only other stats on the belt are 129 Stamina, and red and yellow gem slots (that give an additional 9 Stamina as a socket bonus).

Remember, the sockets are there only to help you recoup any losses to normal combat stats you’ll have from swapping this piece in. Choose your gems wisely to give you the most bang for your buck here, since there are no “On Equip” stats for this belt. Also remember that this is an item you’re only wearing for one specific fight, so if you’re short on funds, go with cheaper gems to get you by.

Also worth noting, if you purchase a belt buckle for this, you’ll gain an additional socket to further increase your stats. If you’ve got cash to spare, it’s well worth the expense.

To craft this belt, the following materials are required:

• 8x Heavy Borean Leather
• 2x Eternal Fire
• 2x Eternal Water
• 4x Icy Dragonscale
• 1x Frozen Orb

Next, we have the Icy Scale Boots. These boots also provide 86 Frost Resist, 129 Stamina, and red and yellow sockets (and an additional 9 Stamina as a socket bonus).

Once again, you’ll want to choose your gems carefully here because there are no “On Equip” stats for these boots to help increase your normal combat stats.

You may want to consider a raw Attack Power gem for the red slot if you normally favor Agility, just because you may have a lot to make up for by swapping in this piece, so you’ll want to do so as effectively as possible. Also, many boots provide +Hit, so you may be losing some Hit Rating by swapping these in. If that’s the case, go for an Attack Power and Hit Rating gem to help you out.

As before, if you’re short on funds, go with cheaper gems and enchants since you’re only using these for one fight.

To craft these boots, you’ll need the following:

• 8x Heavy Borean Leather
• 2x Eternal Fire
• 2x Eternal Water
• 4x Icy Dragonscale
• 1x Frozen Orb

And last but not least, we have the Icy Scale Chestguard. This chestguard provides 115 Frost Resist in addition to 169 Stamina, and red, yellow and blue sockets (with an additional 12 Stamina as a socket bonus).

You’ll notice that this item provides more FrR than the other two, and thus may be more appealing. However, keep in mind that chest-slot items are usually very stat-heavy, so consider what you’re replacing before you have this item crafted.

The advantage to this item, aside from it’s higher resist value, is that you’ve also got an additional socket to help you recoup your losses. Again, you’ll want to choose “big-bang” gems to beef up your stats.

Again, if you’re low on funds (especially if you had to buy all the mats to craft these pieces, or purchase them outright from the AH), go for cheaper gems and enchants since you’re only using this for one fight.

To craft this item, you’ll need the following:

• 10x Heavy Borean Leather
• 3x Eternal Fire
• 3x Eternal Water
• 8x Icy Dragonscale
• 1x Frozen Orb

Any way you cut it, the materials can be pricey. Don’t try to get all three crafted! You won’t need all three, and you’ll likely be moving on to other content soon enough, so don’t waste too many mats on items you’ll only use a few times, for one fight. Furthermore, equipping all three items will likely gimp your DPS too much, even with the best gems and enchants, and won’t be worth it during the fight. If you’re feeling paranoid, get two pieces crafted, but no more than that.

One piece will yield 86-115 Frost Resist. Two pieces will yield 172-201 Frost Resist. With all three, you’ll have 287 Frost Resist. Typically, 100 FrR is considered enough for this fight, though I haven’t seen any “hard and fast” ruling on that for DPS classes. But, for 100 FrR, one or two pieces is sufficient. Three shouldn’t be necessary, unless your healers are really struggling.

Leatherworkers, all three of these patterns can be purchased from Braeg Stoutbeard in Dalaran.  All three patterns each cost 3 Heavy Borean Leather, and should be easily attainable if your skill level is 420 or higher.

For everyone else, check with your guild Leatherworkers to see if they have these patterns. If they don’t, tell them where to find them (and possibly offer to help foot the bill?).

If your Leatherworkers’ skill levels aren’t high enough (or you just don’t know any), check the Auction House for these items pre-made. They’re “orange” at 420 skill level (they turn green at 440), so there’s a chance that Leatherworkers may be crafting them to level up. Because they’re a resist item and not a normal stat item, they may sell for cheaper than the raw materials on the AH, depending on your server’s economy.

With these items crafted (and the wings of Naxxramas cleared), you’ll be ready to face Sapphiron! Good luck, and happy hunting!