In addition to the T3 shard armor and jewelry available as drops and molds, for mages there is an additional option for a circlet. These are a way of upgrading the T3 shard headpiece for the mage armor sets. These circlets count as part of the standard set for the mage class but are a little bit more complicated to acquire.

First you need to purchase an Unadorned Steel Circlet. These are available on the Lavastorm docks from Edric Fyrecog, an Elemental Treasure Hunter, who is standing at -167,-120,654 just past the Elemental Jewelry merchant. He will charge you 2 Void Shards for the circlet.

Examining the Unadorned Steel Circlet will show you that it is missing ten jewels. A message will pop up to say that you should fill the sockets with sizeable gems to release the elemental energy of the circlet.

The gems are Crystalized Essences which drop in the 2-group Ward of Elements zone and come in four types: Air, Earth, Fire and Water. The gems are NO-TRADE but they are fairly common drops within the Ward of Elements and only used by mages for these circlets.

The combination of gems required for the circlet is based on class: Coercer, Conjuror, Illusionist, Necromancer, Warlock and Wizard. When you examine the item, one of the options is “But which gems should one use.” Clicking on this text will inform you of the gems you need for your class.

You also need to acquire the T3 shard armor headpiece for your set (that is, you will need to get the dropped mold, purchase a pattern with your Void Shards and exchange it with your T2 shard headpiece to receive the T3 piece). For more information on this, see our guide to T3 Armor (Elite Void Shard).

So: take the appropriate gems for your class and using the right-click menu, insert the gems into the sockets. Once you have the circlet with the sockets filled with the correct gems and the appropriate T3 headpiece in your inventory, right-click on the circlet and you will be given the chance to combine the two.

Posted by Taymar on http://mmorpg-info.org.