[Druid] The bear T7 list - pre and post 3.0.4, part 1.

The link to the second part of the gear list - jewelry, idols and weapons.

Here's the first installment of the gear list for bears. It's very large, so I decided to break it up into leather and non-leather items. This is all about the leather. I'll provide a link back when I do the non leather later today.

As you might have noticed from recent posts, I've been favoring agility over stamina stacking. Why? Because while stamina does help time to live and does give your healers a buffer for healing you, after a certain point it simply isn't useful. If you never dip below 30% health, that 30% health is basically wasted itemization. Sure, it looks great when you do LFG and it's nice to impress the n00bs with that 55k survival instincts/defender's code proc. But it doesn't really help with, ya know, tanking.

Agility, however, is always good no matter what. While dodge is subject to diminishing returns, each point of agility provides the same survivability no matter what. This is the same principle as armor; while armor doesn't give the same value for each point in terms of percentage reduction, each point gives a linear reduction of damage from the next. If you think of it that way, you can see why stacking agility makes sense. Agility also provides the most avoidance per point (raid buffed or not), crit, and a bit of armor. It is the only stat that gives mitigation, avoidance, and threat for a druid.

So here's the deal: you should have a good amount of health. That good amount is entirely based on your raid setup. I can't tell you how much you need. But here are some benchmarks to consider:
Patchwerk-25 hits the offtank for about 22k if you're a heroic-geared druid. 20k if you're naxx-geared.
Malygos-25 has a breath attack that can do 30k, plus a quick melee attack that does another 4k.
Sartharion-25 + 3 adds can (depending on the debuffs) hit for 35-39k.

Personally, I'm aiming for 42k raid buffed. That's enough to eat two hateful strikes with only HoTs rolling - and in practice that will not happen due to the other tank having more health at that point. It's enough to take on all other bosses. But again, this is entirely depending on what your situation is. And I won't cry all that much if I end up with only 40k.

Because of this change in philosophy, I've changed the rankings to favor agility heavily over stamina. This does alter the pre-naxx list, which is why I've kept these separate. I still think the pre-naxx gear list is correct because gearing up for naxx, you do want stamina aplenty. However, once you start collecting pieces that goes a bit lower in priority.

Threat and damage is still not a consideration in this list. I can understand why it might be - and if there's enough interest, I'll go back and revisit what I think the best threat stats are for a bear and how to optimize for it - but for normal tanking, at least right now, threat is simply not important.

The rating system I use is based on wowhead, and this is the weight:
Agility 110
Dodge 75
Stam 70
Defense 65
Armor 50
Expertise 22

That's for the leather pieces only. The nonleather pieces will have their own separate ranking system.

A big, special note here: this will be applicable and weighted for 3.0.4 changes. When there is a significant difference, I will list the values pre and post-nerf. Note that this only really affects jewelry and to a lesser extent a couple of leather pieces (the 226 ilvl pieces vs the 187 blues, if you're wondering) In general, there are very few pieces with no armor that also have good druid stats. In any case, the pre-3.0.4 change will be blisted in parenthesis.

A quick look into this reveals that if you're going to keep T6 gear for some reason (threat, perhaps?), the best pieces to keep are the bracers and belt. The worst are the legs and head.

Onto the rankings.



Chest

1. Valorous Dreamwalker Rainments - 127.02 Heroic Gluth, Heroic 4 Horsemen, Archavon the Stone Reaper
2. Deadly Gladiator's Dragonhide Robes -126.81. Arena rating, arena points.
3. Chestpiece of Suspicion - 122.32. Heroic Instructor Razuvius, Heroic Gluth.
4. Tunic of Dislocation - 119.92. Normal Gothik the Harvester, normal Gluth.
5. Hateful Gladiator's Dragonhide Robes - 119.80. Arena rating, arena points
6. Heroes' Dreamwalker Rainments - 119.72. 80 emblems of heroism, normal Gluth, normal 4 horsemen
   
7. Tunic of Indulgence - 119.64. Normal Grobbulus, Normal Gluth
8. Chestguard of the Recluse - 119.35. Heroic Malygos
9. Polar Vest - 117.37. *Leatherworking BoE.
   
10. Blade-Scarred Tunic - 113.47. Normal Sartharion.
11. Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide Robes - 111.97. honor
12. Harness of Carnal Instinct - 109.59. Sunwell Plateau
13. Darkheart Chestguard - 108.60. Exalted with Knights of the Ebon Blade
14. Crystal-Infused Tunic - 104.80. Heroic Nexus
15. Exotic Leather Tunic - 101.55. quest in Utgarde Pinnacle
16. Eviscerator's Chestguard - 98.90. Leatherworking BoE.
    
17. Thunderheart Chestguard -94.31. Black Temple

-The Valorous gear wins! Just barely. The Polar Vest is included because, honestly, it's not that bad and would be a good starting piece if you didn't have T6 or a quest reward. I'd still take the Exotic Leather over it for starting due to the expertise and AP, but I can see a reasonable disagreement - especially if you used it for stamina here. Still, it will quickly become outpaced by anything in Naxx. Also note how close things are to each other here - upgrades aren't big until you get to the top few.

Feet

1. Footwraps of Vile Deceit - 89.31. Heroic Loatheb, Heroic Gluth.
2. Deadly Gladiator's Boots of Triumph - 89.23. Arena rating, arena points.
   
3. Hateful Gladiator's Boots of Triumph - 83.83. Arena rating, honor points
4. Polar Boots* - 82.78. Leatherworking BoE.
5. Boots of the Worshipper - 76.76. Normal Faerlina, normal Gluth.
   
6. Slag Footguards - 76.38. Heroic Halls of Lightning
7. Boots of Captain Ellis - 76.33. 40 emblems of valor.
8. Dawnwalkers - 74.97. Heroic Anub'Rekhan, Heroic Gluth.
9. Boots of the Whirling Mist - 74.29. Heroic Halls of Stone.
   
10. Boots of the Neverending Path - 72.55. Exalted with Argent Crusade.
    
11. Gorloc Muddy Footwraps - 72.47. Heroic Gundrak
12. Jormscale Footpads - 70.25. Leatherworking BoE
13. Thunderheart Treads - 67.82. Sunwell Plateau
14. Rhino Hide Kneeboots - 64.59. Quest in Gundrak
15. Shadowmaster's Boots - 63.09. Black Temple
    

- The boot slot has so little, it's not funny. The Polar boots are actually pretty good largely because of how little there is and the ratio between agility and stamina compared to the next best thing; if you must get one polar piece, this is the best one to get. The difference between the three heroic drops is very small, so don't kill yourself to get one if you've already gotten another.

Gloves

1. Deadly Gladiator's Dragonhide Gloves - 84.64. Arena rating, arena points.
   
2. Handwraps of Preserved History - 81.68. Quest in CoT Strat
3. Valorous Dreamwalker Handgrips - 80.61. Heroic Archavon, Heroic Sartharion
4. Gloves of Fast Reactions - 80.61. Heroic Sapphrion
5. Hateful Gladiator's Dragonhide Gloves - 79.36. Arena Rating, arena points
6. Rapid Attack Gloves - 77.82. Normal Razuvious, normal Gluth.
7. Dislocating Handguards - 77.13. Heroic Faerlina.
8. Frosted Adroit Handgrips - 75.33. Heroic Malygos.
   
9. Heroes' Dreamwalker Handgrips - 75.33. 60 emblems of heroism.
   
10. Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide Gloves - 73.80. honor
11. Gloves of the Forest Drifter - 66.35. Sunwell Plateau
12. Eviscerator's Gauntlets - 65.38. Leatherworking BoE.
13. Seafoam Gauntlets - 65.15. Leatherworking BoE
14. Gloves of Immortal Dusk - 63.09. Leatherworking BoE (requires sunmotes)
    
15. Discarded Slaughterhouse Gloves - 57.83. Quest in icecrown
16. Thunderheart Gauntlets - 58.65. Mount Hyjal

-Even with a higher weight on base armor, even with the agility changes, the Handwraps of Preserved History remain the best PvE bear tanking gloves. The gap is pretty small between this and the Valorous, so I'd recommend the Valorous to get the 4-piece bonus.

Head

1. Hood of the Exodus - 116.40. Heroic Gothik or Gluth.
   
2. Deadly Gladiator's Dragonhide Helm - 114.44. Arena rating, arena points
   
3. Hateful Gladiator's Dragonhide Helm - 107.68. Arena rating, arena points
4. Valorous Dreamwalker Headguard - 107.07. Heroic Kel'Thuzad.
   
5. Weakness Spectralizers - 105.36. Engineering BoE (requires engineering rating)
6. Helm of the Vast Legions - 103.49. Normal Sapphiron.
7. Heroes Dreamwalker Headguard - 101.71. Normal Kel'Thuzad.
8. Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide Helm - 100.36. honor
9. Mask of the Watcher - 92.25. Heroic Oculus
10. Shroud of Darkness - 90.92. Heroic Violet Hold
11. Mask of the Fury Hunter - 86.43. Sunwell Plateau
12. Thunderheart Cover - 79.90. Mount Hyjal
13. Cover of Silence* - 95.79. Heroic Thadius or Gluth.
    
14. Headguard of Retaliation* - 87.35. quest in Utgarde Pinnacle
15. Eviscerator's Facemask *- 86.28. leatherworking BoE

- Hood of the Exodus is a superb bear piece, and better than the T7. This should likely be the thing you go for over KT's head if at all possible. Note that the pieces with *s do not have metagems, and this ranking does not quite do the metagem system correctly. You should always, always have the Austere Earthsiege Diamond. Always.

Legs

1. Valorous Dreamwalker Legguards - 117.94. Heroic Archavon, 75 emblems of valor, Heroic Thaddius.
2. Deadly Gladiator's Dragonhide Legguards - 117.63. Arena points, arena honor, heroic Archavon.
3. Leggings of the Honored - 116.25. Heroic Sartharion + 2 adds.
   
4. Hateful Gladiator's Dragonhide Legs - 110.87. Arena rating, arena points
5. Heroes' Dreamwalker Legguards - 110.62. Normal Thaddius
6. Leggings of Fleeting Moments - 110.46. Heroic Gothik.
   
7. Gored Hide Legguards - 105.13. Heroic Gundrak.
8. Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide Legs - 103.29. honor
9. Leggings of Discord - 103.20. Normal Maexxna.
   
10. Mind-expanding Leggings - 102.66. Revered with Kirin Tor
11. Infectious Skitterer Leggings - 101.68. Heroic Maexxna.
    
12. Ravenous Leggings of the Furbolg - 101.15. heroic utgarde pinnacle
13. Chain Gang Legguards - 97.17. BoE from Violet Hold
    
14. Leggings of the Immortal Beast - 93.78. Sunwell Plateau
15. Eviscerator's Legguards - 90.48. Leatherworking BoE.
16. Constellation Leggings - 90.28. Normal Halls of Stone.
17. Tameless Breeches - 80.38. Badges.
    
18. Tattooed Deerskin Leggings - 80.00. Quest in Violet Hold
19. Thunderheart Leggings - 78.98. Black Temple
    

- Leggings of the Honored may deserve to be #1 here - they have a ton of stamina and a lot of armor due to their being level 226. They just don't have the agility that the Valorous or Deadly legs do, and if you're going for your 4-piece it's not worth it to remove this and have to get your T7 head. Per commenter Tygrathel, the Gored Hide leggings are really strong going into Naxx, and are better than a few options from there (thanks Tygrathel!) though I'd still recommend something with more stam when starting out.

Shoulders

1. Valorous Dreamwalker Shoulderpads - 93.83. Heroic Loatheb, 60 emblems of valor.
   
2. Deadly Gladiator's Dragonhide Spaulders - 93.83. Arena rating, arena points
3. Trollwoven shoulders - 89.84. Leatherworking BoE
4. Heroes' Dreamwalker Shoulderpads - 88.29. Normal Loatheb.
   
5. Hateful Gladiator's Dragonhide Spaulders - 88.29. arena rating, arena points
6. Concealment Shoulderpads - 87.23. Heroic Sartharion.
   
7. Spaulders of the Careless Thief - 83.83. Heroic Nexus
8. Spaulders of Egotism - 82.78. Heroic Razuvious.
   
9. Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide Spaulders - 82.47. honor
10. Spaulders of Resumed Battle - 79.75. Normal Noth.
    
11. Sprinting Shoulderpads - 79.32. Heroic Ahn'kahet
12. Demontooth Shoulderpads - 74.13. Sunwell Plateau
13. Eviscerator's Shoulderpads - 73.80. Leatherworking BoE.
    
14. Thunderheart Pauldrons - 70.15. Black Temple

- The trollwoven shoulders remain very strong and should be a high priority pre-Naxx. Note how small an upgrade the T7 are over the Trollwoven; these should be a low priority to get until other gear has been achieved, and should be one of the later emblem purchases.

Belt

1. Deadly Gladiator's Belt of Triumph - 79.92. Arena rating, honor
   
2. Hateful Gladiator's Belt of Triumph - 74.77. arena rating, honor
3. Trollwoven Girdle - 73.94. Leatherworking BoE
4. Polar Cord* - 73.47. Leatherworking BoE.
   
5. Sharp-Barbed Leather belt - 73.36. heroic utgarde keep
6. Stalk-skin Belt - 71.13. Heroic Heigan.
   
7. Belt of the Tortured - 69.72. Heroic Patchwerk.
   
8. Jorach's Crocolisk Skin Belt - 69.17. Emblems of Heroism
9. Blistered Belt of Decay - 69.13. Normal Grobbulus.
   
10. Ley-whelphide belt - 65.94. normal and Oculus
11. Glitterscale Wrap - 62.78. Revered with Oracles
12. Eviscerator's Waistguard - 61.17. Leatherworking BoE.
13. Thunderheart Waistguard - 56.30. Sunwell Plateau
    
14. Don Alejandro's Money Belt - 55.48. Mount Hyjal
15. Waistguard of the Great Beast - 52.40. 60 Badges.
16. Belt of Natural Power - 52.30. Leatherworking BoE

- The belt availability for bears is horrible. Just atrocious. At least that makes it easy. If you get lucky and get the belt from UK, go with that. Otherwise, make a trollwoven girdle and be done. The deadly belt is a big upgrade and is likely worth grinding honor for, whenever it comes out.

Wrist

1. Thrusting Bands - 60.30. Heroic Noth.
   
2. Deadly Gladiator's Armwraps of Triumph - 59.77. Arena rating, honor
   
3. Sinner's Bindings - 57.25. Heroic Maexxna.
   
4. Hateful Gladiator's Armwraps of Triumph - 55.71. arena rating, honor
5. Wristwraps of the Cutthroat - 52.76. BoE, 60 emblems of valor.
   
6. Bindings of the Tunneler - 52.55. Heroic Utgarde Keep
7. Dragonfriend Bracers - 52.04. Exalted with Wyrmrest Accord
8. Cuffs of Dark Shadows - 50.92. Heroic Heigan.
   
9. Drake-champion's Bracers - 50.05. Heroic Oculus
10. Thunderheart Wristguards - 46.23. Sunwell Plateau
11. Eviscerator's Bindings - 47.07. Leatherworking BoE
12. Njorndar Furywraps - 46.45. Quest in Icecrown
13. Vindicator's Dragonhide Bindings - 45.94. BC PvP honor
    
14. Band of the Swift Paw - 38.78. badges

- The thrusting bands, thanks to their balance of stam, agi, and expertise come out very strong here, just barely edging out the PvP bracers. The badge wristwraps are an okay alternative, but I would spend this after you've gotten basically everything else you might want, as heroics and pvp and vendor items are close to it, and 60 emblems is quite a bit.