Equip Overview . To equip ( also known as " equipping " ) is to place ( wear or wield ) an item ( equipment ) in a equipment slot on the player character ' s paper doll . Typically this is done by either dragging the item from the inventory to the paper doll window or ( assuming no vendor or bank window is open ) right - clicking on the item in the inventory . Bag s are equipped by placing them in a bag slot , including in a bank bag slot . Items must be " equippable " to place them in a character , bag , or bank slot . The phrase Bind on Equip refers to items that bind when used in the manner above . Available equip slots . The following slots are available on the Player character ' s paper doll : Equip slot limitations . The equip slots have various limitations : Armor limitations . Item s intended for the Head , Shoulder , Chest , Hands , Wrists , Legs , Waist and Feet slots are considered Armor . You can equip items from your inventory in these slots if your class is allowed to wear that kind of armor : See the Armor entry for more information . The Neck , Back , Finger and Trinket slots are not considered armor and aren ' t limited to certain classes because of their material . However , Back items are always considered to be made of Cloth by the Auction House , which considers Neck , Finger and Trinket items to be Miscellaneous . Weapon Limitations . The Main Hand , Off Hand , Ranged Weapon and Ammunition slots are collectively considered the weapon slots , although the Off Hand slot may be used for weapons , shields , or other miscellaneous items . There are several types of weapon s in World of Warcraft , and each one has a weapon skill associated with it . You can only equip a weapon if you have the weapon skill for its weapon type . Some weapon skills your class will start with ; others can be learned from class trainers or weapon trainers ( possibly requiring you to reach a minimum level before you can learn them ) ; some classes may not be able to learn some weapon skills at all . See Per Class Proficiencies for more information . Some one - handed weapons ' tooltips will say " Main Hand , " meaning that you won ' t be able to equip them in your Off Hand slot , only the Main Hand one . Some weapons ( and other miscellaneous items ) will actually say " Off Hand , " meaning they can ' t be equipped in the Main Hand slot ( although this is rare ) . Most often , one - handed weapons will allow you to equip them in either the Main Hand or Off Hand slot as you wish , although you must have the Dual Wield skill ( available only to hunters , rogues , enhancement shamans , and warriors ) to equip two weapons at once . Two - handed weapons such as staves , polearm s , two - handed mace s and two - handed sword s can be equipped ( given the appropriate weapon skill ) in the Main Hand slot . If you do this , any items you had in either your Main Hand or Off Hand slot will be moved to your bags , because you cannot equip a two - handed weapon and an off - hand item . You may equip a ranged weapon in the Ranged slot if you have the necessary weapon skill - - hunters , rogues , and warriors can learn to use bow s and gun s , while mages , priests and warlocks start out with the ability to use wand s . If you equip a bow or gun , you must also equip a type of ammunition in the Ammunition slot next to the Ranged Weapon slot , or you will be unable to shoot . Wands do not require ammunition . Note that druids , paladins and shamans can never learn to use ranged weapons ; in Patch 1 . 10 these classes will have a Relic slot instead . Shield limitations . If you have the shield proficiency , you can equip a shield in the Off Hand slot . Equipping a shield is just like equipping any other Off Hand item - - if you equip one , you cannot have a two - handed weapon equipped at the same time , and you will be reminded of this if you attempt to equip a shield when you have a two - handed weapon already equipped . Class limitations . Over and above any other limitations , some items are explicitly limited to certain classes . For example , items of each class ' s Tier 0 . 5 armor set and higher cannot be equipped by anyone not of the class for which the item is intended . There are a few other class - limited items as well . Skill limitations . Some items require one of your trade skills to be greater than or equal to a certain level in order to equip an item . The most common examples of this are the various trinkets produced by Engineering , which almost always require some level of Engineering to equip . Rank limitations . The PvP Honor System had a number of items that can be purchased if you reach a certain Rank . Once purchased , you could equip these items if your maximum rank matches or exceeds the rank requirement on the item , even if your rank decays and your current rank is lower than the requirement . Reputation limitations . Certain items require you to have a minimum Reputation with one of the world ' s many faction s in order for you to equip them . Combat . If you are in combat , you cannot equip or unequip armor . Weapons , however , can be equipped or unequipped , causing a global cooldown . Cooldowns . Some equippable items with active effects , especially trinket s , cannot be used immediately after you equip them - - instead , there will be a cooldown ( typically 30 seconds ) before they can be activated .