[Druid] Some highlights of plague wing gear (like a boss)

While I don't think I'll be doing a full Like a Boss type of gear readout, I figured I'd point out some of the gear that is going to be open to everyone tomorrow.

The big one that will interest all druids (and pesky hunters) is Distant Land, which is the best non-heroic weapon for cats and the second best weapon for bears. That drops from Festergut in 25-man, and is the first weapon available from ICC. In 10-man Rotface drops a similarly decent weapon - Shaft of Glacial Ice. This isn't as good as the heroic Twin's Pact, but it's better than virtually anything else and has a nice amount of hit on it.

But those are just the tastiest bits. There's a lot to offer in this wing.

Rotface:

Aldriana's Gloves of Secrecy - Rotface 25 (#4 bear, #5 cat) - note that these are the recommended offset piece for cats, so definitely take a look out for them if you're not planning on getting T10 gloves.

Bile-Encrusted Medallion - Rotface 25 (#2 bear) - the only thing that beats this is the heroic version.

Seal of Many Mouths - Rotface 25 (#12 bear, #7 cat) a decent ring that has expertise on it. Nice for cats to meat their exp cap with T10 legs.

Shaft of Glacial Ice - Rotface 10 (#12 bear, #17 cat) - there are better, but it is likely an upgrade if you don't have Twin's Pact.

Festergut:

Plague-Soaked Leather Leggings - Festergut 10 (#11bear, #14 cat) - a good sidegrade but nothing special

Precious's Putrid Collar - Festergut 10 (# 11 cat) - it does have hit rating on it, which might be nice.

Distant Land - Festergut 25 (#6 bear, #6 cat) - best weapon you can get right now, and best weapon for a while until heroics for cat

Gangrenous Leggings - Festergut 25 (#6 bear, #5 cat) - a surprisingly decent piece, but chances are the rogues are going to want this and not want to upgrade it; you want this until you can get your T10. So pass to them unless you're greedy or there aren't rogues.

Professor Putricide:

2x vanquisher mark of sanctification - Putricide 25. Being able to get 4 of these a week is going to help a lot and make it a bit easier to get the higher 4 piece. By the time the 3rd wing opens chances are good that you'll have at least one of these and hopefully two.

Astrylian's Sutured Cinch - Putricide 25 (#4 bear, #3 cat) Much better for cats than bears here; the ToGC 25 drop is better for bears. But it's still very close, and you definitely want a piece of gear named after the creator of Rawr.

Tiny Abomination in a Jar - Putricide 25 (??? cat) - this is likely much better on a ret pally or 2h DK or warrior, but it might be good on a cat. No one knows a lot about how it works yet.

Discarded Bag of Entrails - Putricide 10 (#12 bear, #8 cat) - surprisingly good for cats, the low stamina hurts it for bears. Might be worth it for a cat if you don't have a T9 piece there or aren't planning on upgrading any time soon.

Unidentified Organ - Putricide 10 (#2ish, bear) - while I don't like the stacking stam buff, the fact is that that's almost gravy; the 2000 armor is worth it for this trinket alone, and adding 270 stamina on stationary fights without phases is very strong. Sadly the number of fights in Icecrown that this works on appears to be kind of small; Festergut looks like it requires tank swapping, Saurfang definitely does, Gunship does, Marrowgar has big spots where it won't work, Deathwhisper does, Sindragosa and Valithiria do...about the only one that doesn't that we know about is Lana'thel, and she doesn't hit that hard. Still, a very good trinket.

[Druid] Icecrown gear list for bears

As promised...err...last week, this is the bear list for drops in Icecrown. Arthas' loot table is still unknown but other than that, it should be good. As I stated before it's likely that Arthas drops a weapon, a neck and a cloak type of item given what we have of the loot tables. So not a lot will change.

From last week, this is the weapon weighing. You can find out more about why these weights changed here.

Similarly, the weighings have changed for the armor slot. You can find them here, or in the sidebar. Some explanations:

• hit and expertise, both being somewhat rare, get some fairly hefty values. This is mostly due to the value of threat at higher levels.
• Armor remains at what it was on the gear; this is simply to emphasize higher values of ilvl on gear more and to emphasize armor on nonleather slots more
• armor pen is given a ranking, albeit a low one
• Feral AP and AP are increased in value, as is strength (again because of threat)

On tier items: the 2p bonus is very good for threat, especially multimob threat. Note that at higher levels this will actually discourage using lacerate for maximum threat (but will still be fine for damage). The 4p bonus is amazing for bears. On average this adds 2% less damage over time (so it's twice as good as the 4pT7 and 4pT9 bonus) but the primary benefit this adds is that it gives bears effectively either the ability to have a cooldown as good as shield wall, except that it's on a 1-minute CD. What this means in practice is that it should be your highest priority to get those 4 pieces, even if others rank higher per slot. Nothing is going to beat the 4 pieces.

And because of the itemization, as stated before - the best bet for you as a bear is to go for 4p + the sack of awesome due to the high expertise and hit rating on it (or the heroic version). You can get other pieces in the meantime, but don't spend those frost emblems on anything other than tier pieces; you want to get them as soon as you humanly can. Nothing else is going to remotely make as big a difference as a 12% CD every minute, and I can guarantee you that it will matter when you try hard modes in a month's time.

For your T10 purchase order: it very much depends on what you have already, but in general try and get the earliest upgrades that you'll actually use at the Lasherweave (base) level. Since there were no 258-level upgrades to gloves, head and shoulders in ToGC for bears outside of the T9 tokens, chances are that most people only have 245-level gear there. For most people that will mean either the shoulders (about a 5 point difference between them and the 245 T9) and the head (same). Since the shoulders cost the least, I'd go with them first, then perhaps the hands to get a quick 2-piece, then the legs or head depending on where you sit on expertise. After your 4PT10, the next purchase should almost certainly be the cloak; only the cloak from heroic Arthas is likely to beat it.

In the meantime - rankings!

Back:

1. Sentinel's Winter Cloak - 50 emblems of Frost. 66.49
2. Royal Crimson Cloak - heroic (25) Blood Princes. 61.84.
3. Shadowvault Slayer's Cloak - heroic (25) Gunship. 57.30
4. Royal Crimson Cloak - normal (25) Blood Princes. 55.47
5. Vereesa's Dexterity/Sylvanas' Cunning - from Tribute (25) chest. 54.75
   
6. Magni's Resolution/Cairne's Endurance - from Tribute (25) chest. 53.33
   
7. Pride of the Eredar/Pride of the Demon Lord - heroic(25) Jaraxxus. 52.35
8. Recovered Scarlet Onslaught Cape - 50 emblems of frost. 52.34
9. Shawl of Nerubian Silk - heroic (10) Marrowgar. 51.90
10. Shadowvault Slayer's Cloak - normal (25) Gunship. 51.55
11. Cloak of Many Skins - heroic (10) Festergut. 49.56
12. Cloak of the Silver Covenant/Cloak of Serrated Blades - Tribute (10) chest. 48.98
    
13. Drape of the untamed Predator/Cloak of the untamed predator - heroic(25) Icehowl. 48.30
14. Cloak of the Unmoving Guardian/Cloak of the Unflinching Guardian - Tribute (10) chest. 47.59
    
15. Shawl of Nerubian Silk - normal (10) Marrowgar. 47.35
16. Pride of the Eredar/Pride of the Demon Lord - normal (25) Jaraxxus. 45.04
17. Titanskin Cloak - 25-man Mimiron (hard) - 42.79
18. Drape of Icy Intent - 25-man Hodir (hard) - 42.59
19. Cloak of Many Skins - normal (10) Festergut. 41.56
20. Cloak of the Shadowed Sun - 25-man Maexxna (among others). 40.87
21. Drape of the Faceless General - 25-man General Vezax (hard).40.25.
22. Drape of the Untamed Predator/Cloak of the Untamed Predator - normal (25) Jaraxxus. 39.76
23. Platinum Mesh Cloak - Dalaran Vendors. 34.11
    

I know, I know - it's hugely tempting to get the Sentinel's cloak. It's a great cloak and will likely only be superceded by an Arthas heroic drop. And you should get it...eventually. Just not before your 4pT10. For me, that's going to be my first purchase I do for tank gear after taking care of my cat stuff.

Chest:

1. Ikfirus's Sack of Wonder - heroic (25) Gunship. 121.14
2. Ikfirus's Sack of Wonder - normal (25) Gunship. 114.86
3. Shadow Seeker's Tunic - 95 emblems of frost. 113.99
4. Sanctified Lasherweave Raiment - heroic (25) token drop (Saurfang, Putricide, Lana'thel, Sindragosa, Arthas). 113.84
5. Sanctified Lasherweave Raiment - normal (25) token drop (Saurfang, Putricide, Lana'thel, Sindragosa, Arthas).103.36
6. Cuirass of Calamitous Fate/Vest of Calamitous Fate - Heroic (25) Jaraxxus. 100.68
7. Malfurion's Rainments of Triumph/Runetotem's Rainments of Triumph - Regalia of the Grand Vanquisher (heroic 25). 95.81
8. Lasherweave Raiment - 95 emblems of frost. 94.24
9. Knightbane Carapace - BoE Leatherworking via Crusader Orbs. 93.95
10. Relentless Gladiator's Dragonhide Robes - arena rating, points, Koralon. 92.91
    
11. Chestguard of the Frigid Noose - heroic (10) Lady Deathwhisper. 91.97
12. Chestguard of the Frigid Noose - normal (10) Lady Deathwhisper. 89.05
13. Armor of Shifting Shadows/Vest of Shifting Shadows - heroic (10) Valkyr. 88.12
14. Embrace of the Gladiator - 25-man Thorim (hard). 88.01
15. 
    
16. Malfurion's Rainments of Triumph/Runetotem's Rainments of Triumph - 75 emblems of triumph + 1 trophy of the crusade. 87.11
17. Cuirass of Calamitous Fate/Vest of Calamitous Fate - normal (25) Jaraxxus. 86.85
18. Conqueror's Nightsong Rainments - 58 emblems of Conquest. 79.64
19. Armor of Shifting Shadows/Vest of Shifting Shadows - normal (10) Valkyr. 79.24
20. Malfurion's Rainments of Conquest/Runetotem's Rainments of Conquest - 50 emblems of triumph. 79.01
21. Choking Hauberk - heroic Marwyn, Halls of Reflection. 75.84

Yep, that's right - the sack of wonder is so awesome that even the normal version is better than the heroic T10. That's also to do with the fact that the T10 piece is itemized weirdly; having fewer sockets than the Sack at normal level hurts. Just a huge gulf here. It's a pity more of the pieces aren't itemized like this; bears would be in love.

Feet:

1. Footpads of Impending Death - BoE craftable from Primordial Saronite. 82.77
2. Frostbitten Fur Boots - heroic (25) Lord Marrowgar. 82.74
3. Icewalker Treads/Treads of the Icewalker - Heroic (25) Faction Champions. 75.11
4. Frostbitten Fur Boots - normal (25) Lord Marrowgar. 74.85
5. Taldaram's Soft Slippers - heroic (10) Blood Princes. 72.58
6. Acidmaw Boots/Acidmaw Treads - Heroic (10) Beasts. 70.13
7. Taldaram's Soft Slippers - normal (10) Blood Princes. 66.17
8. Icewalker Treads/Treads of the Icewalker - Normal(25) Faction Champions. 64.99
9. Relentless Gladiator's Boots of Triumph - arena rating, Koralon. 62.81
10. Acidmaw Boots/Acidmaw Treads - Normal (10) Beasts. 60.38
11. Runed Ironhide Boots - 25-man Iron Council (normal). 58.76
12. Footpads of Silence - BoE craftable from Runed Orbs. 56.86
13. Blighted Leather Footpads - heroic Halls of Reflection ending. 49.14

Interesting that the crafted boots are so close to the heroics. That's something to watch out for; if you need more EH, the heroics are better - but if you want more expertise or threat, the crafted boots are better. Otherwise not a lot of surprises here; the itemization from last tier is better for bears than it is now, so things like Icewalker's show up higher here (with the proviso that you need the hit).

Finger:

1. Devium's Eternally Cold Ring - heroic (25) Valithria Dreamwalker. 71.00
2. Devium's Eternally Cold Ring - normal (25) Valithria Dreamwalker. 63.30
3. Band of the Twin Val'kyr/Loop of the Twin Val'kyr - Heroic(10) Valkyr. 55.66
4. Seal of Many Mouths - heroic (25) Rotface. 55.11
5. Band of the Bone Colossus - heroic (25) Marrowgar. 54.79
6. Ashen Band of Endless Courage - exalted with Ashen Verdict. 52.16
7. Frostbrood Sapphire Ring - heroic (25) Valithria Dreamwalker. 51.85
8. Clutch of Fortification - 35 emblems of triumph. 51.34
9. Abomination's Bloody Ring - heroic (10) Gunship. 50.80
10. Signified Ring of Binding - 25-man Onyxia. 50.60
11. Harbinger's Bone Band - 25-man ICC trash. 50.41
12. Seal of Many Mouths - normal (25) Rotface. 49.18
13. Juggernaut Band - heroic (25) Lady Deathwhisper. 49.15
14. Band of the Bone Colossus - normal (25) Marrowgar. 48.91
15. Ashen Band of Endless Vengeance - exalted with Ashen Verdict. 47.91
16. Frostbrood Sapphire Ring - normal (25) Valithria Dreamwalker. 46.35
17. Abomination's Bloody Ring - normal (10) Gunship. 46.25
18. Band of the Twin Val'kyr/Loop of the Twin Val'kyr - Normal(10) Valkyr. 44.96
19. Juggernaut Band - normal (25) Lady Deathwhisper. 44.58
20. Runed Ring of Binding - 10-man Onyxia. 44.41
21. Band of Callous Aggression/Ring of Callous Aggression - Heroic (25) Faction Champions. 43.28
22. Band of the Traitor King/Signet of the Traitor King - Heroic (25) Anub'arak. 42.35
23. The Leviathan's Coil - 25-man Flame Leviathan (easy). 41.99
24. Planestalker Signet/Planestalker Band - Heroic (10) Jaraxxus. 41.04
25. Fate's Clutch - 25-man Thorim (hard). 40.28
26. Signet of Winter - 10-man Hodir (easy). 38.29
27. Gatekeeper - 25-man Sapphiron. 38.04
28. Keystone Great-Ring - heroic Drak'tharon Keep. 36.86
29. Dexterous Brightstone Ring - 35 emblems of Triumph. 35.14
30. Mark of the Relentless - Heroic Trial of the Champion (first boss). 31.12
    

What's surprising to me is how good the Twin Valkyr hard mode ring is. Maybe I should run that some more. :) Otherwise, not a lot of surprises here; the armor ring from Dreamwalker comes in hugely for first and second, and nothing else really compares. It's interesting that with the emphasis on threat, some of the agility rings actually come into play here. But unless the fights are very different on heroic, you should likely have armor rings.

Hands:

1. Aldriana's Gloves of Secrecy - heroic (25) Rotface. 83.54
2. Sanctified Lasherweave Handgrips - heroic (25) token drop (Saurfang, Putricide, Lana'thel, Sindragosa, Arthas). 80.89
3. Cat Burglar's Grips - 60 emblems of frost. 76.96
4. Aldriana's Gloves of Secrecy - normal (25) Rotface. 75.66
5. Sanctified Lasherweave Handgrips - normal (25) token drop (Saurfang, Putricide, Lana'thel, Sindragosa, Arthas). 73.02
6. Scourge Stranglers - heroic (10) Saurfang. 71.34
7. Malfurion's Handgrips of Triumph/Runetotem's Handgrips of Triumph - Regalia of the Grand Vanquisher (heroic 25). 70.23
8. Lasherweave Handgrips - 60 emblems of frost. 66.45
9. Scourge Stranglers - normal (10) Saurfang. 65.32
10. Relentless Gladiator's Dragonhide Gloves - arena rating, points, Koralon. 64.84
    
11. Malfurion's Handgrips of Triumph/Runetotem's Handgrips of Triumph - 45 emblems of triumph + 1 trophy of the crusade (normal 25, heroic 25, heroic 10). 63.37
12. Gloves of the Silver Assassin/Sunreaver Assassin's Gloves - Heroic (10) Faction Champions. 60.24
13. Malfurion's Handgrips of conquest/Runetotem's Handgrips of Conquest - 30 emblems of triumph. 57.13
14. Gloves of the Endless Dark - 10-man Algalon. 56.61
15. Conqueror's Nightsong Handgrips - 25-man Mimiron (easy). 56.26
16. Furious Gladiator's Dragonhide Gloves - honor and arena points, 50 emblems of triumph. 55.87.

Since you can buy the cheap T9 gloves, I've not expanded the list much more than that. Those are now a fairly decent piece, all told. Aldriana's are good, but they're not so much better than the next selection that you want to off-piece it here unless you get unlucky with drops from the Gunship.

Head:

1. Sanctified Lasherweave Headguard - heroic (25) token drop (Saurfang, Putricide, Lana'thel, Sindragosa, Arthas). 111.70
2. Geistlord's Punishment Sack - heroic (25) Blood Princes. 109.36
3. Sanctified Lasherweave Headguard - normal (25) token drop (Saurfang, Putricide, Lana'thel, Sindragosa, Arthas). 101.37
4. Geistlord's Punishment Sack - normal (25) Blood Princes. 98.43
5. Malfurion's Headguard of Triumph/Runetotem's Headguard of Triumph - Regalia of the Grand Vanquisher (heroic 25). 97.13
6. Lasherweave Headguard - 95 emblems of frost. 92.42
7. Discarded Bag of Entrails - heroic (10) Putricide. 90.24
8. Stormrage Coverlet - 25-man Onyxia. 89.51
9. Relentless Gladiator's Dragonhide Helm - arena rating, points. 89.16
   
10. Malfurion's Headguard of Triumph/Runetotem's Headguard of Triumph - 75 emblems of triumph + 1 trophy of the crusade (normal 25, heroic 10). 87.98
11. Hood of Lethal Intent/Mask of Lethal Intent - 75 emblems of triumph. 87.79
12. Discarded Bag of Entrails - normal (10) Putricide. 81.90
13. Malfurion's Headguard of Conquest/Runetotem's Headguard of Conquest -50 emblems of triumph. 79.52

Again, I've dropped most items that are below the triumph piece; there's no need to worry about how good your Ulduar gear is if you can pick this up for 50 emblems of triumph. For most bears this is going to be their first T10 piece that they buy (or the shoulders) simply because it's going to more often than not be a bigger upgrade. And while the Geistlord has a ton of hit, it doesn't have a ton of agi. The T10 is pretty decently itemized for bears here.

Legs:

1. Sanctified Lasherweave Legguards - heroic (25) token drop (Saurfang, Putricide, Lana'thel, Sindragosa, Arthas). 117.47
2. Gangrenous Leggings - heroic (25) Festergut. 111.90
3. Sanctified Lasherweave Legguards - normal (25) token drop (Saurfang, Putricide, Lana'thel, Sindragosa, Arthas). 106.28
4. Bladeborn Leggings - BoE Leatherworking from Primordial Saronite. 106.22
5. Leggings of the Broken Beast/Legwraps of the Broken Beast - heroic (25) Beasts. 102.23
6. Gangrenous Leggings - normal (25) Festergut. 101.65
7. Plague-Soaked Leather Leggings - heroic (10) Festergut. 100.90
8. Malfurion's Legguards of Triumph/Runetotem's Legguards of Triumph - Regalia of the Grand Vanquisher (heroic 25). 97.51
9. Lasherweave Legguards - 95 emblems of frost. 96.59
10. Ivory-Inlaid Leggings - heroic (10) Blood Queen Lana'thel. 92.26
11. Plague-Soaked Leather Leggings - normal (10) Festergut. 92.25
12. Relentless Gladiator's Dragonhide Legguards - arena rating/points, Koralon. 91.08
    
13. Leggings of the Broken Beast/Legwraps of the Broken Beast - normal(25) Beasts. 89.92
14. Malfurion's Legguards of Triumph/Runetotem's Legguards of Triumph - 75 emblems of triumph + 1 trophy of the crusade (normal 25, heroic 10). 88.45
15. Legguards of Cunning Deception - 25-man Yogg (hard). 85.63
16. Ivory-Inlaid Leggings - normal (10) Blood Queen Lana'thel. 83.60
17. Titan-Forged Leather Legguards of Triumph - 40 wintergrasp marks of honor. 81.83
18. Malfurion's Legguards of Conquest/Runetotem's Legguards of Conquest - 50 emblems of triumph. 80.05

The T10 is also really great here, especially with all that expertise - but from my experience a lot of people have heroic beasts, and thus have access to the 258 legs. It still should be an early priority; I personally would go for this as my first piece and then replace the head, so that I'm not too low on expertise.

Neck:

1. Bile-Encrusted Medallion - heroic (25) Rotface. 71.00
2. Bile-Encrusted Medallion - normal (25) Rotface. 63.30
3. Legionnaire's Gorget/Arbiter's Muse - heroic (25) Valkyr. 59.95
4. Noose of Malachite - heroic (25) Valithria Dreamwalker. 55.69
5. Sindragosa's Cruel Claw - heroic (25) Sindragosa. 52.13
6. Legionnaire's Gorget/Arbiter's Muse - normal (25) Valkyr. 50.94
7. Noose of Malachite - normal (25) Valithria Dreamwalker. 49.56
8. Wodin's Lucky Necklace - 25-man ICC trash. 47.86
9. Sindragosa's Cruel Claw - normal (25) Sindragosa. 46.60
10. Fortitude of the Infernal/Endurance of the Infernal - heroic (10) Jaraxxus. 45.35
11. Precious's Putrid Collar - heroic (10) Festergut. 44.77
12. Rimetooth Pendant - heroic (10) Sindragosa. 44.52
13. Marrowgar's Scratching Choker - heroic (10) Marrowgar. 44.19
14. Charge of the Demon Lord/Charge of the Eredar - heroic (25) Jaraxxus. 42.98
15. Precious's Putrid Collar - normal (10) Festergut. 40.66
16. Marrowgar's Scratching Choker - normal (10) Marrowgar. 40.34
17. Eskhandar's Links - 25-man Onyxia. 40.30
18. Rimetooth Pendant - normal (10) Sindragosa. 40.06
19. Mark of the Unyielding - 10-man Kologarn. 39.28
20. Collar of Unending Torment/Collar of Ceaseless Torment - heroic (10) Beasts. 37.76
21. Pendulum of Infinity - 25-man General Vezax (hard). 36.95
22. Boundless Ambition - 25-man Kel'Thuzad. 36.61
23. Fortitude of the Infernal/Endurance of the Infernal - normal (10) Jaraxxus. 36.26
24. Eskhandar's Choker - 10-man Onyxia. 35.74
25. Lana'thel's Chain of Flagellation - heroic (25) Blood Queen Lana'thel. 35.37
26. Bronze Pendant of the Vanir - 25-man Freya (hard). 35.22
27. Charge of the Demon Lord/Charge of the Eredar - normal(25) Jaraxxus. 34.96
28. Titanium Earthguard Chain - Jewelcrafting BoE. 33.82
29. Shard of the Crystal Forest - 19 emblems of Conquest. 33.52
    

As stated in the cat guide, there's not a lot of options at the top tier for tanks - which makes me think that there's going to be a drop from Arthas at the 10 or 25 level. Otherwise it's a very boring loot table; Rotface has it going on, and that's about it.

Shoulder:

1. Cultist's Bloodsoaked Spaulders - heroic (25) Lady Deathwhisper - 85.81
2. Sanctified Lasherweave Shoulderpads - heroic (25) token drop (Saurfang, Putricide, Lana'thel, Sindragosa, Arthas). 82.97
3. Cultist's Bloodsoaked Spaulders - normal (25) Lady Deathwhisper. 77.85
4. Sanctified Lasherweave Shoulderpads - normal (25) token drop (Saurfang, Putricide, Lana'thel, Sindragosa, Arthas). 75.03
5. Skinned Whelp Shoulders - heroic (10) Valithria Dreamwalker. 71.46
6. Shoulderpads of the Intruder - 25-man Iron Council (hard). 71.42
7. Malfurion's Shoulderpads of Triumph/Runetotem's Shoulderpads of Triumph - Regalia of the Grand Vanquisher (heroic 25). 70.02
8. Lasherweave Shoulderpads - 60 emblems of frost. 68.39
9. Relentless Gladiator's Dragonhide Spaulders - arena points/rating. 67.04
10. Skinned Whelp Shoulders - normal (10) Valithria Dreamwalker. 65.14
11. Spaulders of the Snow Bandit/Shoulderpads of the Snow Bandit - heroic(10) Anub'arak . 64.09
    
12. Malfurion's Shoulderpads of Triumph/Runetotem's Shoulderpads of Triumph - 45 emblems of triumph + 1 trophy of the crusade. 63.39
13. Duskstalker Pauldrons/Duskstalker Shoulderpads - 45 emblems of Triumph. 63.07
14. Furious Gladiator's Dragonhide Spaulders - arena points/honor, 50 emblems of triumph. 58.10
    
15. Malfurion's Shoulderpads of Conquest/Runetotem's Shoulderpads of Conquest - 30 emblems of triumph. 57.30

Another case where the offtier is better than the T10 - but not enough to make a difference And it's almost entirely because of gem slots. One big surprise was the shoulderpads of the intruder - those shot up because of the added value of expertise.

Trinket:

1. Sindragosa's Flawless Fang - heroic (25) Sindragosa.
2. Sindragosa's Flawless Fang - normal (25) Sindragosa.
3. Unidentifiable Organ - heroic (10) Putricide.
4. Unidentifiable Organ - normal (10) Putricide.
5. Corroded Skeleton Key - 60 emblems of frost.
6. Satrina's Impending Scarab/Juggernaut's Vitality - heroic (25) Faction Champions.
7. Satrina's Impending Scarab/Juggernaut's Vitality - normal(25) Faction Champions.
8. Glyph of Indominability - 50 emblems of triumph.
9. The Black Heart - the Black Night (normal 5-man).
10. Darkmoon Card:Greatness - BoE inscription.
11. Heart of Iron - 25-man Ignis.
12. Corpse Tongue Coin - heroic (25) Gunship Armory.
13. Royal Seal of King Llane - 10-man Yogg (easy).
14. Corpse Tongue Coin - normal (25) Gunship Armory.
15. Defender's Code - 25-man Naxxramas.
16. Figurine - Monarch Crab - BoP Jewelcrafting.
17. Essence of Gossamer - heroic Azjol-Nerub.
18. Eitrigg's Oath/Fervor of the Frostborn - heroic (10) Faction Champions.
    
19. Eitrigg's Oath/Fervor of the Frostborn - normal(10) Faction Champions.
    

Something interesting here is that I'm not ranking trinkets any more by score other than with my personal view on which you should try and get. As a tank, you never pass on a trinket - but some are better than others. Heck, Rawr ranks Death's Choice as one of the better trinkets due to the proc. Trinkets always have uses.

That being said - Unidentifiable Organ is stellar in fights that don't require swapping. Sindragosa's Fang is a great piece in general, and the special ability is going to allow wacky shenanigans in fights. If you had both, I'd likely use both as the standard one-two punch trinkets for all encounters.

Waist:

1. Astrylian's Sutured Cinch - heroic (25) Putricide. 80.28
2. Vengeful Noose - 60 emblems of frost. 76.10
3. Belt of the Merciless Killer/Belt of the Pitiless Killer - heroic (25) Valkyr. 72.64
4. Astrylian's Sutured Cinch - normal (25) Putricide. 72.48
5. Soulthief's Braided Belt - heroic (10) Lady Deathwhisper. 70.08
6. Soulthief's Braided Belt - normal (10) Lady Deathwhisper. 63.66
7. Belt of the Merciless Killer/Belt of the Pitiless Killer - normal (25) Valkyr. 62.57
8. Relentless Gladiator's Belt of Triumph - arena rating, Koralon. 61.53
9. Soul-Devouring Cinch - 10-man Yogg (hard). 58.73
10. Death-Warmed Belt - BoE leatherworking from Runed Orbs. 55.87
11. Belt of the Twilight Assassin - 28 emblems of conquest. 53.57

The belt slot is typically kinda boring - but this time it's a bit new. The ToGC belt beats anything that drops in ICC normal mode (which is to say, the ONE belt) and is competitive with the frost emblem belt (which you shouldn't buy!). The Belt of the X killer is a nice way to get some hit without sacrificing too much, at least until Astrylian's belt drops for you in heroic mode.


Wrist:

1. Toskk's Maximized Wristguards - heroic (25) Saurfang. 60.53
2. Armbands of Dark Determination/Bracers of Dark Determination - heroic(25) Anub'arak. 56.96
3. Toskk's Maximized Wristguards - normal (25) Saurfang. 54.66
4. Vambraces of the Frost Wyrm Queen - heroic (10) Sindragosa. 52.94
5. Vambraces of the Frost Wyrm Queen - normal (10) Sindragosa. 48.10
6. Bracers of Swift Death - Leatherworking BoE via Crusader Orbs. 47.18
7. Solar Bindings - 25-man Algalon. 44.82
8. Armbands of Dark Determination/Bracers of Dark Determination - normal(25) Anub'arak. 44.81
9. Relentless Gladiator's Armwraps of Triumph - arena rating, Koralon. 43.22
10. Fluxing Energy Coils - 10-man XT (hard). 41.84
11. Chewed Leather Wristguards - heroic Ick, Pit of Saron. 37.64
12. Furious Gladiator's Armwraps of Triumph - honor, emalon. 37.08
    
13. Titan-Forged Armwraps of Triumph - 15 wintergrasp marks of honor. 37.02
    
14. Mechanist's Bindings - 25-man Flame Leviathan (easy). 36.45
15. Armbands of the Wary Lookout - heroic Eadric in Trial of Champion. 33.93
16. Wristwraps of the Cutthroat - 60 emblems of valor. 29.28

The Bracers of Swift Death are what you should go for if you're not doing raids. If you are doing raids...heroic Anub's bracers are best in slot until we do heroic ICC. That extra socket and the hit rating are what puts them over the top.

Weapons:

1. Bloodfall - heroic (25) Blood Queen Lana'thel. 166.83
2. Distant Land - heroic (25) Festergut. 157.41
3. Bloodfall - normal (25) Blood Queen Lana'thel. 150.69
4. Shaft of Glacial Ice - heroic (10) Rotface. 148.43
5. Relentless Gladiator's Greatstaff - arena rating/points. 147.46
6. Distant Land - normal (25) Festergut. 144.44
7. Archon Glaive/Hellion Glaive - heroic (25) Anub'arak. 139.26
8. Lupine Longstaff/Twin's Pact - heroic (25) Valkyr. 138.98
9. Cryptmaker - heroic (25) Blood Princes. 137.53
10. Hersir's Greatspear - heroic (10) Blood Princes. 134.10
11. Relentless Gladiator's Staff - arena rating/points. 132.24
12. Shaft of Glacial Ice - normal (10) Rotface. 129.26
13. Lightborn Spire - Quel'delar Questline. 129.13
14. Fordragon Blades/Anguish - heroic (10) tribute chest. 126.72
15. Furious Gladiator's Greatstaff - arena rating/points (old). 125.03
16. Cryptmaker - normal (25) Blood Princes. 123.60
17. Oxheart - heroic (10) Valithria Dreamwalker. 123.41
18. Attrition/Paragon's Breadth - heroic (10) tribute chest. 122.83
19. Lupine Longstaff/Twin's Pact - normal(25) Valkyr. 122.40
20. Dark Edge of Depravity - 25-man Yogg(hard). 122.08
21. Hersir's Greatspear - normal (10) Blood Princes. 121.41
22. Archon Glaive/Hellion Glaive - normal (25) Anub'arak. 120.91
23. Catastrophe/Grievance - heroic (25) tribute chest. 118.31
24. Reinforced Thunderstrike - 25-man Onyxia. 118.00
25. Furious Gladiator's Staff - arena rating/points (old). 117.83
26. Dreambinder - 25-man Freya (hard). 114.28
27. Tortured Earth - 10-man Vezax (hard). 111.86
28. Oxheart - normal (10) Valithria Dreamwalker. 111.01
29. Fordragon Blades/Anguish - normal(10) Anub'arak. 104.30
30. Orca-Hunter's harpoon - heroic Marwyn, Halls of Reflection. 107.30
31. Twisted Visage - 25-man XT(normal). 107.14
32. Origin of Nightmares - 25-man Naxxramas. 104.57
33. Reclaimed Thunderstrike - 10-man Onyxia. 103.80
34. Lotrafen, Spear of the Damned - 25-man Vezax (easy). 101.38
35. Marrowstrike - Heroic Paletress in Trial of Champion.96.37
36. Hammer of Crushing Whispers - 10-man Yogg (hard). 94.07
37. Silvery Sylvan Stave/Staff of Feral Furies - 50 champion's seals. 90.44

This list will inevitably change with the new release of the PvP items - more than the other lists by a lot. Even so, Bloodfall will remain fairly good; the high haste makes it a very good threat weapon for bears, and the high general stats helps quite a bit. For pure EH, it's hard to beat Cryptmaker.

[druid]Bear weapon weights updated

In preparation for the bear itemization sheet for Icecrown I've updated my bear weighings for 3.3 for weapons. The notable changes are:

• An increase in value of hit and expertise; the trend for threat to be important continues as DPS scales faster than bear threat does. In addition, hit and expertise remain fairly rare in other pieces of gear.
• A value on armor pen. Not a big one, mind you, but it's slightly less than haste.
• A much lower value on armor on the weapon; this is almost entirely to discount doing things like using Origin of Nightmares any longer.
• A higher value of feral AP and strength. Again, mostly for threat.
• The same value of agility and stamina as posted before. Agility remains one of the strongest stats for a bear - even with icecrown nerfs - and you can't easily discount it.

Not surprisingly, the big winner for weapons for bears is Bloodfall, which has a ton of stamina and agility (at least compared to Distant Land) and is overall just awesome. The heroic version is even more amazing. I would also caution you to not entirely overlook Cryptmaker; this oddly-itemized mace isn't all that desirable for most DPS specs (they'd rather go with shadow's edge or bryntroll) and it's very likely that the only other spec that would want it is a DK tank. It's not as good as Bloodfall due to the loss of agility; missing 5% dodge before DR and almost 400 armor is nothing to shake a stick at by itself. But it does have a ton of stamina, will be a very good threat weapon and may be an easy thing to grab.

The rest of the bear gear will be up later this week. While you're waiting for that, play some PuG bingo! With more here and here. Credit goes to Cruce of Eternal on Scarlet Crusade.

[Druid] The LFG system and being an elitist tank

I'm totally an elitist tank. (or jerk, if you'd like to put it in those terms). Thanks to Dechion for spelling that out. And this goes out to all the DPS who I've kicked from my LFG groups over the last few weeks.

Know this, DPSers: I care only for completing the first daily random quest. That's it. I have almost 300 emblems of triumph, and I have nothing I want to buy with them. I don't care about chain running this for emblems. I only care about those two emblems of frost. To get those, I want to spend about 30 minutes of time in almost perfect silence methodically killing everything that comes our way. If the healer's comfortable, I'll do it in my DPS gear so it goes faster yet.

And anything that impedes this will be kicked. Some notables:

• I don't have patience for DPS that want to go at a different pace than I'm comfortable with. My goal in doing these LFG runs is to make sure that we finish the end boss reasonably quickly without wiping, because I get to do these once a day and that's it. I have about 30 minutes to do that. If you choose to be cute and pull another group and think you're being helpful and you're not a member of my guild, you can honestly go find another tank who will put up with your shenanigans. Enjoy your 15-25 minutes of finding another group.
• I don't honestly care if you're not doing good DPS as long as you don't wipe the raid because you're doing something wrong. I don't really care what your gear is; the only 5-man that your gear might matter on is Halls of Reflection, and there I generally care more about the healer's gear than yours. I'm happy to drag you around with your sub 1k DPS and get you emblems as long as you don't impede me. Because I outgear the stuff we're doing by 4 tiers of content. This stuff is easy. Most of the time this stuff doesn't require a healer if I'm tanking. And that's not egotistical; I'm not some stellar tank. I'm just a stellar-geared tank and can get away with that.
• I don't have patience with loot whores either, but I also don't care that much. There's literally nothing that could drop from these 5-mans that I'd be interested in save the hilt, and I'd only be interested in that so I could sell it. If you roll need on every single item, fine. As long as you keep up and suck only a little bit, that's good. I'd prefer you roll greed so I can DE anything and everything.
• I don't really care if whatever idiotic thing you as a DPS did was successful; if it made me annoyed or mad or wiped us or even threatened to wipe us, I'll vote to kick you. I recognize that it's much harder to find a good tank than a good DPS, and I can find a group instantly; you can take 20 minutes of your time to do the same. Yes, this is unfair. Yes, this means I have more power than I reasonably should. I'll happily abuse that power for my own selfish desires (a fast, efficient run) and if you don't like it, find another group...in 20 minutes.
• I don't really care about doing optional bosses or not, as long as it doesn't take longer than 30 minutes for everything.
• I'm not interested in exploiting a bug to make an encounter easier. It's already pretty easy. If you are, good luck finding that group.
• If you're the DPS and you're worried that my health is too low because it's only 32k in my DPS gear, you can and will be kicked. The only person that should be concerned is the healer, and I've already checked with them to make sure it's cool. Complain about this at your own peril.
• I think you're a piece of shit if you bail on Oculus, CoS, or HoR. Especially Oculus, which is one of the fastest dungeons out there if you know at all what you're doing. But hey, chances are you sucked if you leave anyway, and it's not my 15 minutes of time you're wasting.
• If you die, it's your fault. It's not mine, and it's not the healer's. It's yours. Even when it isn't.
• I don't have patience for people who won't ask questions on how to do things if they don't know. If they do, I'll happily explain or point them to someone who can, as many readers who have rolled an alt on my server to talk to me can attest to. If they don't and then complain if I give them hints or tell them what to do, that's on them, not on me. Especially if you're a feral and doing it wrong.
• If you're not familiar with Oculus, here are two things you can do: pick a bronze drake and always follow me. On that bronze drake, simply shoot the boss until he goes unhittable, then follow me some more. That's it.
• No, I'm not interested in doing some random achievement unless it is really, really easy (like herald Volajz) or something we'd want to do anyway. I don't really want to do 5 bronze drakes on Oculus on a pug. I really don't want to do 100 zombies. I really don't want to not DPS down portals on Nexus. Just collect your purples and move on.
• I am willing to allow you to complete your quests for random heroics as long as you do it in a timely fashion and don't care that we're pulling mobs while you get your silver bars or troll sweat or free slaves or whatever.
• Anything racist will get you kicked.
• Anything sexist will get you kicked.
• Most homophobic stuff will get you kicked. Note that I really don't like the 'that's so gay' phrase, but I recognize that I won't be able to convince everyone about the evils of it so I tend to grin and bear it as part of the stupid stuff people say nowadays. I just tell them to get off my lawn and deal with it.
• And finally - it is not fun time happy stuff to pull a boss while I'm tanking a trash mob, then come running to me and expect me to tank it. Yes, I'm aware that I probably can survive 8 mobs and a boss at once without too much difficulty. You're still not the one who should be pulling.

Now - if you are a good, obedient, and nice DPS who isn't idiotic, you'll get a tank who has 245+ gear in most every slot, is gemmed/enchanted properly, can have 55k health whenever they need to and has done every single heroic multiple times as every single position. And that tank enjoys chain pulling and if a healer needs mana, would rather innervate them and move on. Your run should take no more than half an hour (even the loltastic ones like CoS or Oculus) and I'll happily trade gear you want and I've won back to you if you think you'd like it for some reason.

I do all of these things because I can. Because right now, I have the power. I'm sure in the future I'll be put in my place and be begging for good DPS/interrupters/AoEers to join me, and the joke will be on me, mwahaha.

But for now, it's abuse of power time.