Kirina's Closet

A major feature of the mail sets I’ve assembled here is that they do not always include items such as helms, bracers, gloves, and shoulders. Working from the idea that these are sets for more casual wear, it seems to me that bulky, awkward items such as helms, shoulderpads and gloves would be the the first things to remove when one comes off-duty. I leave off helmets because especially for casual occasions I like to see my characters’ faces. Since bracers are usually entirely covered by gloves, I’ll use one or the other, but not both. When my model is a Tauren, I generally only include boots if the leggings go all the way down to the ankle; in my opinion, leggings that end at the knee look fine on a Tauren without needing boots to complete the look, but leggings that go down to the ankle look somehow like long underwear if the outfit isn’t finished off with boots. If I have not included boots, boots which match other “set” items are generally a good choice.

Though, as I noted above, I generally ignore helms for casual wear, I do have a favorite mail helm style — a silver crown like the one worn by the night elf Sentinel Spy in the last picture of my leather armor article. The easiest way to get such a helm is to find a mail or heavy armor merchant in a capital city and purchase the Augmented Chain Helm. If you complete the Cenarion Thicket chain in Terrokar forest, you can choose the Cenarion Thicket Helm. A little looking in the auction house will probably also turn up a match of this style.

Let’s start with what a clothie can do to look like she’s wearing mail — get the Initiate’s gear from a level 1 blood elf paladin:

Initiate’s Shirt Initiate’s Pants Initiate’s Boots

Here’s my mage, Kaelinda, pretending to be a Farstrider. Something I particularly like about this gear is the way the chain covers all of the stomach and legs, even on a female character.

For mail/plate wearers – a vendor on Sunstrider Isle sells the Unadorned Chain mail armor set, a striking red version of the Initiate’s set:

Unadorned Chain Vest Unadorned Chain Leggings Unadorned Chain Gloves Unadorned Chain Belt Unadorned Chain Boots

I don’t have any basic silver mail to show, alas. Mithril mail, which Keija can’t make yet, is sort of a darker silver shade. Padded Lamellar mail is a nice green-quality low level set, while high level Azeroth mobs drop grey-quality Laminated Scale armor. The Jazeraint mail set is another handsome option for silver mail, or you can buy the Scalemail and Polished Scale sets from vendors in capital cities.

A low level blacksmith can make some very nice mail sets for casual wear:

The Copper Chain Set with the Battered Jungle Hat

The Runed Cooper Set with the Battered Jungle Hat

The Rough Bronze Set

I really like the green trim on the Copper Chain Set, and the lovely green patina of the Runed Cooper Set. I’m not so fond of the Rough Bronze Set, but perhaps it might suit your taste better.

I picked up a piece of the Burnished Armor Set as a drop, and was so enchanted by its pretty golden color that I sought out the rest of the set on the auction house:

Burnished Tunic Burnished Leggings Brown Linen Shirt Burnished Gloves Burnished Girdle Burnished Boots

The same set only with the Burnished Bracers instead of the gloves, and the Golden Filigreed Doublet instead of the Brown Linen Shirt.

The choices of shirt and of gloves versus bracers will give any outfit a slightly different look. I’d use the first combination shown here for everyday casual type occasions and the second combination for an event where I’d want to be a little more dressed-up.
For that sweaty, dust-covered, freshly off-duty look, use the Deckhand’s Shirt or Captain Sanders’ Shirt.

But perhaps you want something a little more colorful….

The Turtle Scale Set

My very first real set of mail was the Turtle Scale Set that Kamalia made for herself as soon as she reached an appropriate character level and leather-working skill to make it for herself. She farmed all the Turtle Scales for it at Land’s End Beach in Tanaris, which was very boring. So when she made another set for Ketura, she just bought the turtle scales on the auction house! (In truth, the stats on the Turtle Scale Set are more appropriate for a shaman, while the Tough Scorpid Set, also craftable by leatherworkers around level 40, has stats more appropriate for a hunter. But I think the Turtle Scale Setlooks cooler.)

The Turtle Scale Set consists of chestpiece, leggings, bracers, gloves, and helm, as seen in the previous picture. As I mentioned before, for more casual wear I find it appropriate to leave off things like helms, shoulderpads, and gloves… but you might want a green belt and some green boots to make the ensemble seem a little more finished. Here, I’ve borrowed the belt and boots from the all-green Brackwater Mail Set :

The Turtle Scale Set with the substitutions of the Brackwater Girdle and the Brackwater Boots Green Linen Shirt

I’m very fond of how the Turtle Scale Set looks paired with the gloves, belt, and boots from the War Paint Set:

The Turtle Scale Set with the substitutions of the War Paint Gloves, War Paint Waistband, and the War Paint Anklewraps Green Linen Shirt

The War Paint Set is a little interesting in that the graphics for the belt and the leggings are identical — so if you want to wear the full War Paint Set and not have naked legs, I’d suggest wearing only the belt, and finding yourself some Turtle Scale Leggings to wear instead of the actual War Paint Leggings. This trick will only work for RP, though, since the Turtle Scale Set requires level 40 while the War Paint Set is teens-level gear.

If you prefer to use “bloit”, “chak”, “grat”, and “wolsh” instead of other profanities, you’re probably already familar with the Green Iron set. (And if you’re not, you should go watch Oxhorn’s “Inventing Swear Words” machinima series pronto!):

The Green Iron Set Councillor’s Sash

I used the Councillor’s Sash in this outfit, but of course any green or golden belt — or green AND golden belt, such as the Deviate Scale Belt — of your choice would also go well with this set.

Or perhaps you’re a Frost Death Knight looking for a casual outfit to show off your spec — or maybe a troll, night elf, or draenei looking for a dress uniform that will complement your skin tone. You might want to try something like this:

Violet Scale Armor Blue Linen Shirt High Councillor’s Sash Blue Dragonscale Leggings Outrunner’s Gloves Outrunner’s Slippers

I built this outfit around the Violet Scale Armor chestpiece awarded from a Horde quest in the Barrens. The same quest also rewards the dark green Harlequin Robes; since the world drop Conjurer’s Robes have the same appearance as the Harlequin Robes, if you can or will be able to wear mail, you should take the Violet Scale Armor. If you’re Alliance, look for the Outland-level Netherstalker Armor, which is very similar in appearance to the Violet Scale Armor.

The belt is the High Councillor’s Sash, which I was lucky enough to have drop for me while I was doing some quests in the Plaguelands.
The pants are the Blue Dragonscale Leggings, which are a blue-quality item crafted by leatherworkers. The only other pants I’m aware of which have the same appearance as the Blue Dragonscale Leggings are both quest rewards in Outland, the Brood Mother Leggings and Area 52 Defender’s Pants. And the Area 52 Defender’s Pants are from the same quest which rewards the X-52 Pilot’s Leggings…. decisions, decisions!

For gloves and boots, I’ve used the teens-level Outrunner’s Set. The full dark blue Outrunner’s Set has the same style as the green-and-red War Paint Set, except that its belt and leggings do not share a graphic. (A nice shirt to wear with the full Outrunner’s set would be the Blue Workman’s Shirt.)

This version of the outfit uses the Darkmoon Chain Shirt and the Netherstalker Legguards. From the front, the chestpiece looks more like leather than mail.

Darkmoon Chain Shirt Lavender Mageweave Shirt Netherstalker Legguards High Councillor’s Sash Outrunner’s Gloves Outrunner’s Slippers

If red is the color you’re looking for, you could spend some serious time laying the smackdown on the fanatics in the Scarlet Monastery until you’ve gotten the full dark red Chain of the Scarlet Crusade Set . I’m too lazy — and have too many other things I want to do in game — to do that ^_^

Battleforge Armor Scarlet Filigreed Doublet Battleforge Girdle Battleforge Gauntlets Battleforge Boots Raging Berserker Helm Praetorian Pauldrons Hyperion Legplates Haunting Blade

I forget whether I found the bright red, gold, and black Battleforge Armor by looting it while questing or while browsing the auction house. Either way, it was too handsome to pass up. The Battleforge Set is mid-twenties level; the identical Blood Knight Set drops in Outland. Here, I’ve combined the chestpiece, belt, gloves, and boots of the Battleforge Set with Herod’s Raging Berserker Helm from Scarlet Monastery, Praetorian Pauldrons, and Hyperion Legplates (plate).

For this second version I’ve removed the helm, shoulders, gloves, and boots and replaced the chest with the Hyperion Armor (plate):

The same type of outfit, only using the Hyperion Armor

I chose not to use the actual Battleforge Legguards because a) I couldn’t find them on the AH and b) they look like mail short-shorts! This outfit would also look very nice with the leather Sun-Cured Pants, or any other bright red pants of your choice, or a pair of gold-toned chain pants such as the Burnished Leggings shown earlier. I’m using the Scarlet Filigreed Doublet, but any other red shirt would also work. The weapon is the Haunting Blade, a Scarlet Monastery drop.

Not having any characters who wear plate (yet) other than my two death knights, I am not very familiar with plate items. Kirina’s Stormwind City Guard Article shows off the crafted Imperial Plate Set — the classic “Knight in Shining Armor” gear. (I recently spent a fair chunk of change getting the Imperial Plate Chest and Leggings on the auction house, but rather than bind them to one of my DKs now, I think I will save them for when I have a paladin or a warrior leveled up high enough to wear them.)

The vendor-purchased Augmented Chain Set (silver-toned) and the Brigandine Set (bronze-toned) look more like plate than mail to me, as do the blacksmith-crafted Shining Silver and Steel breastplates. The Heavy Mithril Breastplate is the first smithied chestpiece that is plate instead of mail and is a dark, pewter gray color. The Thorium Armor Set is in shades of red and plum, while the Fel Iron Set is light yellow-green. The whole Hyperion Set is a really rather gorgeous red and gold ensemble. There’s an attractive leaf-green Emerald Set which drops in high level Azeroth zones and dungeons. Female warriors, paladins, and death knights who want to show that they’re still girly-girls inside should look for the rose-pink Bloodscale Set, which drops in low-level Outland zones. I really love the Golden Cenarion Greaves Katelyra got as a quest reward in Hellfire Peninsula. And, of course, if I do a search at the auction house, I find a number of nice looking plate chestpieces.

~ Kamalia

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