Epic

Epic is the level of item quality in between and. Epic quality items can be found in end-game instances, from various professions, world drops, and reputation purchases.

Although Legendary is one step higher, Epic may often be considered the best in the game. This is due to three reasons: first of all, given how most players will hardly ever see, much less wield a item, Epic items will comprise the "normal" BiS-items a player may acquire. Secondly, due to the rare frequency of implementation of Legendary items, many Epic items will often be better than the game's current best Legendary. Third, it is impossible to dress up a character in only Legendary items. This is partly because of the low number of Legendary items in the game, and partly because most of them are weapons. For example, the boots and gloves of a end-game character will always be Epic, no matter how hardcore the player may be, because there never has and likely will never be any Legendary gloves and boots.

Many Epics are part of the Armor Sets, which are coordinated sets of class-specific armor that provide excellent bonuses. These are frequently referred to as Tier 0, Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, etc. In addition, there are quite a few non-raid items, sometimes called "Epics for casuals" (Epics for casual players pre-Burning Crusade, Epics for casual players in Burning Crusade, or Epics for casual players in Wrath of the Lich King), that are available.

Additional notes

 * In a 1337-style manner, "Epic" or "Epics" are sometimes referred to as "Epix".
 * The names of Epic quality items will appear in purple, and are thus sometimes referred to "Purples ," or playfully termed "Purplz ."
 * Equippable items of Epic quality always have one or more attributes bonuses or procs.
 * Few ingredient items are of Epic quality.
 * Mounts can be Rare, ' or '. In general, players ride an epic mount, as there is currently only one Legendary mount in the game, the no-longer-obtainable.
 * Most epic mounts (acquired at Level 40) can be purchased by any player for or less (in addition to faction discounts), whereas riding training costs much more but only needs to be purchased once.
 * Standard mounts (acquired at Level 20) can be purchased at or less (disregarding faction discounts).
 * There are a few Epic class items that drop randomly in the world, such as the . These are commonly referred to as "BoE (Bind on Equip) Epics."
 * The web color code for epic itemlinks is #b048f8.
 * Most Classic raid bosses and all Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King raid bosses drop Epic items. Post-Patch 4.1 dungeon bosses in Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub also drop Epic quality items.
 * "Regular" heroics in Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King have end bosses that drop one Epic item. In the more challenging heroics (Magister's Terrace, Trial of the Champion, and the Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons), every boss drops Epic items. Pre-Patch 4.1 Cataclysm heroics do not drop Epic items.
 * Craftable items of Epic quality usually require an item that only drops in heroic or raid instances.
 * All max-level PvP gear rewards past the introductory sets are epic.

Épique Epic