Choosing gear

Before choosing the gear you need, decide what you want to do. Are you a tank, dps or healer? Are you a hybrid? Do you prefer PvE or PvP? Do you need to raid?

Read forums and other resources on the web concerning your choice. Learn to understand what stat your race, class, role needs most. There are general rules of course. For example, healing priests need spirit; tanks need stamina; Rogues need agility. There will also be an ordered set of statistics which your race, class, role depend. As an example, I need +healing, +intelect, +Mp5 in that order.

When you have decided, make a gear plan. What items do I really need now? What items are nice to have? What items would help me with this stat or that role. Use the many many resources available on the web to determine what you need. I use Kalibans loot-list for pre-kara gear decisions. My Kaliban's Healadin gear was very useful to me pre-Kara - especially the sample builds section near the bottom. Use whatever you feel comfortable with. Some general tips...

• Aim to have all blue or better gear as soon as you can
  
• Do not buy gear from the AH. Why buy it when it is easily available as quest or rep rewards, guild crafted, or instance drops
• Do not ask "Is this green item better than this blue item?". It almost always is - certainly when you get to 70. The exceptions are pre TBC blues and low level outland greens
• Always install all gems. Even cheap gems are better than no gems at all
• Always enchant your blue and better gear. Again, cheap enchants are better than none at all

An addon that can help you is Atlas Loot (Enhanced). This addon allows you to check the loot a boss drops when you are in or before you enter an instance. The only disadvantage is that if your loot does not drop or you lose the roll, you will be disappointed. But hey! That is part of the game This addon can be used alone but does work best with Atlas.