Now for some reason or another some high-level cloth armor, such as the Frozen Shadoweave set for mages, are actually much better than Tier 5 Epic armor. Unfortunately, with itemization woes across the board for all classes, Blizzard hasn't come round to fulfilling their promised balance fixes.

So it comes to mind that after spotting that the Shadoweave set actually allows DPS Mages to stack higher on the damage side, an interested Mage would have to fulfill the equipment set's required "Shadoweave Tailoring" skills. In fact, according to Mearis, it's downright mandatory.

Just into the first expansion (and capped out at level 70), players already have to max out their crafting skills just to gain leverage against actual Tier 5 Raid masters. But before mages would like to invest the time and trouble to going through with tailoring, it's common that they'd want to weigh the pros and cons of doing so.

For a game that encourages crafting and trade skills, there is no possible consequence that could arise from the time invested - well, except if Blizzard actually goes through with the balancing act on the next major patch. If changes do arise, then some players might find that the time spent on hiking up the tailoring path was just a waste.

Whether you like to play it cool and wait for the actual fix or would like to branch out your main character to multiple crafting horizons, there is no actual downside to either. Look at it from the brighter side: instead of thinking that Blizzard might tone down tailored armor, expect Blizzard to hike up the tiered ones. After all, just as a mage had said, "[Tailored armor aren't] overpowered -- the T4-T5 sets are just weak."