The art of magical mail enhancement, or "Pimp My Armor"

No, not with blue pills....note the spelling of the noun in the title.

One of the most interesting aspects of WoW raiding is that raids are in and of themselves, not all that lucrative in terms of gold. Raids really pay off in gear looted. Most gear you get in raids cannot be obtained any other way.

However, once you haul home that Tier 9 chest token and trade it in on the armor piece you want, the question becomes "How to make this nifty piece of gear better?"

WoW has two professions that let you do just that: enchanting and jewel cutting. Just about every piece of gear can be gemmed, enchanted, or both.

Of course, the chants, gems and gem cuts require skill and materials. Materials can be bought or "farmed." Enchanters "farm" most of their own materials by disenchanting unneeded magic items -- a kind of recycling. Gem cuters prospect raw ores for gems.

If you are in a guild, you cn usually find a guildie who can be persuaded / bribed / browbeaten into chanting the gear or cutting that gem if provided the materials without charge. Many chanters will do this for free just to get skill increases; these folks advertise their availability in the Trade channel, WoW's global answer to Mos Eisley Spaceport.

Yes. Trust me. Trade chat is devoted to kids hassling one another. Or to things that belong in other channels, like Looking for Group.

If you are not in a guild, or your guild lacks a chanter or JC, and you prefer to not have brain cells leak out your eyes as you read the drivel in Trade (I always /leave Trade, never stay in it. If I want this level of inane drivel in my downtime fun I'd watch reality TV or pro wrestling), you can pony up gold in the Auction House and buy one use scrolls with the chant or the gem cut you need. Of course, that's a bit spendy -- epic gems run 200-300 gold a pop and top end chants are 200 gold or more each. Figure an average of six gems and eight to eleven gear slots (depending on class) that need chants (head arcanum, shoulder enscription, chest, cloak, pants, boots, bracers, gloves, melee weapon, shield / offhand weapon, ranged weapon).

Expensive? yes. But the other day I saw a guy (not me) get raid-kicked despite having decent base gear -- Tier 7.5 range, not bad stuff, really, but no gems and no chants. Without mail enhancement, you get raid-kicked. Skinny-kid orcs start kick sand in your face and steal your date. Even gnomes look down on you. Gnomes!

Is my gear pimped? Does Kel'Thuzad (the end boss in Naxx) love his kitty cat, Mr. Bigglesworth?

Epic gems...1500 gold. Enchantments, 2000 gold, One shotting Kel'Thurzad? Priceless

Fortunately gold can be gotten. I am one of the engines on the realm's economy. I gather raw materials -- leather from slain beasts and herbs I find in my travels -- and sell them on the auction house to crafters. I then buy crafter's wares, completing the circle. I also do several daily quests every time I log on, each nets me about 14 gold each.

I made about 3k gold this weekend. That's about normal for me.