[Druid] Bear item list and rep list for pre-naxx (UPDATED)

It's getting close to WotLK, and barring some last minute surprises we're pretty close to knowing what to expect on all the armor, weapons, and mechanics for bears. And per the rules of blogging for WoW, at least one blog post every month must be about gear lists.

This one's a bit different though.

I've gone through and listed per slot what I believe the best choice is for a bear that can be obtained before setting foot in Naxxramas. I've left out the Deadly Gladiator gear in this, as it's going to likely be out of most people's reach at first given its rating requirements. The rules, similar to what we had before for the pre-Karazhan cat guide, is as follows:

1. If it costs arena points, list only the best of the arena points
2. If it costs honor, list only the best of the honor
3. List the best heroic drop
4. List the best non-heroic drop
5. List the best craftable
6. List the best quest reward
7. List the best BoE

If (for example) a BoE beats out all non-heroics, I don't bother to list the non-heroics. If a quest reward beats out a heroic I don't bother listing a heroic. Basically, I want to make sure that there is at least one 'easy' option, and if a harder to obtain option is worse than an easier one, there's no point in listing it.

The difference between this list and other lists is that it also lists some BC gear, so you know exactly where things rank and what to strive to get before WotLK comes out. Hopefuly that'll help you prioritize your gear choices before you get to WotLK and what you should roll on. The TLDR version: get a pillar of lol, thunderheart treads and wristguards, a badge of tenacity and then whatever other T6 or Sunwell gear you can get. If a piece of BC gear isn't listed, I thought that it was simply not that good or would be replaced too easily by early quest rewards or rep rewards. All BC gear is italicized.

The ranking has virtually no weight put on threat stats. This is because for Naxx, starting threat for bears is fine. It's better than fine - it's crazy. However, you want to get as much stam and avoidance as you can, and you really want to stack armor like mad. If you feel that threat is more of an important issue for you, I'd recommend taking this with a grain of salt; this is my view on tanking and threat's part of it may not meet yours.

I also strongly recommend using Rawr to determine what's best for you given your actual armor. While loot lists are nice they are glaringly deficient in being able to rank gear against other gear. Rawr does this superbly. Rawr does not support wotlk ranking yet, but it soon will; when it does, use that.

All gem choices are assumed to be basically sane and tend to favor stamina over agility. Yes, that means BC gear with more slots is favored over BC gear with fewer slots. The view is that if you're willing to wear it in Naxx you should be willing to at least regem and re-enchant the stuff.

This also doesn't take into account set bonuses. A quick word on that:
At level 80, the 2 piece Tier Four set bonus does nothing.
The 2 piece Tier 6 bonus (extra mangle threat) is pretty strong for threat.
The 4 piece Tier 6 bonus (extra swipe damage) is not super for boss threat but is great for AoE threat and for grinding.

The main reason I like loot lists is to be able to plan things like my rep grinds, what heroics I want to run always, whether I should bother with a certain quest reward (or even a quest chain), etc. Hopefully this will help you the same way.

Shoulder enchants:

1. Greater Inscription of the Pinnacle - Exalted with Sons of Hodir
2. Greater Inscription of Warding - Exalted with Aldor
3. Lesser Inscription of the Pinnacle - Honored with Sons of Hodir
4. Greater Inscription of the Knight - Exalted with Scryer

-The Aldor and honored Sons enchants are identical, and #4 is only slightly worse.

Head enchants:

1. Arcanum of the Stalwart Protector - revered with Argent Crusade
2. Arcanum of the Defender - revered with Keepers of Time
   
3. Arcanum of the Gladiator - revered with Shattered Sun Offensive

-no surprises here.

Weapon (bear)

1. Enraged Feral Staff - 102.30. Heroic Utgarde Keep
2. Pillar of Ferocity - 65.81. Mount Hyjal
3. Bloodwood Greatstaff - 65.55 BoE
4. Wildfury Greatstaff - 65.30. Serpentshrine Cavern
   
5. Stave of Shrouded Mysteries - 64.50. Revered Kirin Tor

-get used to running Utgarde keep - you'll be running it for a while until the Feral Staff drops. The Stave of Shrouded Mysteries is not hard to get, but with 315 armor it's really a threat/dps weapon.

Idol (bear)

1. Idol of Terror - Badges
2. Idol of the Plainstalker - Quest in Borean Tundra
   
3. Idol of Perspicacious Attacks - Grizzly Hills vendor
4. Idol of the Wastes - Quest in dragonblight

-the idols from Wrath are entirely threat. The Idol of Terror is the best avoidance idol that exists, still. I'm bummed too.

Ring (bear)

1. Keystone Great-Ring - 47.86. Heroic Drak'tharon keep
2. Nerubian Shield Ring - 38.53. Heroic Ahn'katet.
3. Band of Torture - 38.27. Heroic Oculus
4. Titanium Earthguard Ring - 35.53. Jewelcrafting BoE.
5. Ring of the Stalwart Protector - 34.23. badges
6. Ring of Earthen Might - 33.92. Jewelcrafting BoE
7. Iceforged battle-ring - 32.90. quest in storm peaks
8. Violet Signet of the Great Protector - 30.10. Karazhan
   

-I've modified this since the last time to reflect some of the choices that are good without armor on them. Still, Keystone Great-Ring is really stellar, and you should run Drak quite a bit to get it.

Amulet (bear)

1. Titanium Earthguard Chain - 43.44. Jewelcrafting BoE
2. Chained Military Gorget - 32.95. 40 emblems of heroism.
   
3. Amulet of Wills - 32.37. Normal Halls of Stone
4. Torta's Oversized Choker - 28.83. BoE
   

- as of right now, the Earthguard chain simply is crazy good. If you're broke, go for the Amulet of Wills - but it's hardly necessary. The Earthguard chain is second best in slot period - only Boundless Ambition from Kel'Thuzad beats it. If you can't afford that or want something more avoidance-heavy, the Chained Military Gorget is quite good.

Trinket (bear)

1. Offering of Sacrifice - (19.41) Heroic Gundrak
2. Badge of Tenacity - (10.87)BC BoE drop
3. Essence of Gossamer - 32.65. Heroic Azjol-Nerub
4. Darkmoon Card: Greatness - 23.82. Quest for Darkmoon.
5. Valor Medal of the First War - 14.53
   

-Another must-have trinket that you will use throughout Naxx, run Heroic Gundrak until it drops. Essence of Gossamer is a great stamina trinket, but it doesn't make up for that armor at pre-Naxx levels. The numbers in parenthesis are what these will be post-armor change.

Cloak (bear)

1. Durable Nerubhide Cape - (37.22) Leatherworking BoE.
   
2. Flowing Cloak of Command - 35.61. Normal CoT Strat
3. Cloak of Tormented Skies - 31.13. Leatherworking BoE
4. Slikk's Cloak of Placation - 31.10. badges
   

-Slikk's Cloak and Cloak of Tormented Skies are incredibly close to each other. Flowing Cloak of Command is great though.

Chest (bear)

1. Deadly Gladiator's Dragonhide Robes - 86.68. Arena rating, arena points.
2. Hateful Gladiator's Dragonhide Robes - 79.84. Arena rating, arena points
3. Heroes' Dreamwalker Rainments - 79.00. 80 emblems of heroism, normal Gluth, normal 4 Horsemen.
4. Harness of Carnal Instinct - 77.47. Sunwell Plateau
5. Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide Robes - 76.24. honor
6. Crystal-Infused Tunic - 66.21. Heroic Nexus
7. Thunderheart Chestguard -64.82. Black Temple
   
8. Exotic Leather Tunic - 64.39. quest in Utgarde Pinnacle

-And here we get to the 'PvP is the bomb" portion of the night. While it's arguable whether the increased threat from Naxx-level gear is worth the loss of agility and stamina compared to similar PvP gear at the same ilvl, when you're going pre-naxx it's not a contest usually. Because of the three gem slots the Harness of Carnal Instinct comes out over other items from WotLK. The T7.10 chest is the best chest you can get from PvE before Naxx-25.

Feet (bear)

1. Hateful Gladiator's Boots of Triumph - 58.46. Arena rating, honor points
2. Slag Boots - 52.41. Heroic Halls of Lightning
3. Gorloc Muddy Footwraps - 46.97. Heroic Gundrak
   
4. Thunderheart Treads - 45.67. Sunwell Plateau
5. Shadowmaster's Boots - 44.00. Black Temple
   
6. Jormscale Footpads - 43.16. Leatherworking BoE
7. Rhino Hide Kneeboots - 37.00. Quest in Gundrak

- the Slag boots and muddy footwraps aren't that much better than the Thunderheart treads or (thanks to the sockets) Shadowmaster's boots. The Hateful Gladiator gear is really good though, and definitely worth it if you can.

Gloves (bear)

1. Handwraps of Preserved History - 62.49. Quest in CoT Strat
2. Hateful Gladiator's Dragonhide Gloves - 57.22. Arena Rating, arena points
3. Heroes' Dreamwalker Handgrips - 52.16. 60 emblems of heroism.
   
4. Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide Gloves - 51.74. honor
5. Gloves of the Forest Drifter - 47.37. Sunwell Plateau
6. Gloves of Immortal Dusk - 42.78. Leatherworking BoE (requires sunmotes)
   
7. Discarded Slaughterhouse Gloves - 41.69. Quest in icecrown
8. Seafoam Gauntlets - 40.52. Leatherworking BoE
9. Thunderheart Gauntlets - 39.78. Mount Hyjal

-The best gloves by far come from a quest for CoT Stratholme. Huge stamina, agility and expertise make these stellar. Do this early and be set for a while. The T7.10 that are available from badges are really not worth the expense.

Head (bear)

1. Deadly Gladiator's Dragonhide Helm - 85.04. Arena rating, arena points
   
2. Hateful Gladiator's Dragonhide Helm - 78.27. Arena rating, arena points
3. Weakness Spectralizers - 74.93. Engineering BoE (requires engineering rating)
4. Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide Helm - 71.13. honor
5. Mask of the Watcher - 61.08. Heroic Oculus
   
6. Shroud of Darkness - 60.27. Heroic Violet Eye
   
7. Mask of the Fury Hunter - 58.03. Sunwell Plateau
8. Headguard of Retaliation - 54.50. quest in Utgarde Pinnacle
9. Thunderheart Cover - 53.75. Mount Hyjal
   
10. Eviscerator's Facemask - 52.97. leatherworking BoE

Legs (bear)

1. Hateful Gladiator's Dragonhide Legs - 81.17. Arena rating, arena points
2. Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide Legs - 73.84. honor
3. Ravenous Leggings of the Furbolg - 70.31. heroic utgarde pinnacle
4. Gored Hide Legguards - 69.23. Heroic Gundrak.
   
5. Mind-expanding Leggings - 68.26. Revered with Kirin Tor
6. Leggings of the Immortal Beast - 68.15. Sunwell Plateau
7. Constellation Leggings - 55.15. Normal Halls of Stone.
8. Tameless Breeches - 55.05. Badges.
   
9. Eviscerator's Legguards - 54.83. Leatherworking BoE.
10. Tattooed Deerskin Leggings - 47.84. Quest in Violet Hold
    

- Oops! The Ravenous Leggings are from Pinnacle, not UK. So it's a different beast entirely to get them. 3-5 are all very, very close, so pick which you like the most.

Shoulders (bear)

1. Hateful Gladiator's Dragonhide Spaulders - 59.69. arena rating, arena points
2. Trollwoven shoulders - 59.03. Leatherworking BoE
3. Spaulders of the Careless Thief - 54.79. Heroic Nexus
4. Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide Spaulders - 54.14. honor
5. Sprinting Shoulderpads - 51.48. Heroic Ahn'kahet
6. Demontooth Shoulderpads - 48.55. Sunwell Plateau
7. Thunderheart Pauldrons - 46.85. Black Temple

-At last, a good PvE-quality item in the shoulder shot that isn't PvP! And it's leatherworking, which makes it doubly awesome. Considering how hard it'll be to get the hateful glad shoulders, just go for the trollwoven set.

Belt (bear)

1. Hateful Gladiator's Belt of Triumph - 55.95. arena rating, honor
2. Sharp-Barbed Leather belt - 55.00. heroic utgarde keep
3. Trollwoven Girdle - 52.29. Leatherworking BoE
4. Jorach's Crocolisk Skin Belt - 49.23. Emblems of Heroism
5. Ley-whelphide belt - 46.27. normal and heroic occulus
6. Glitterscale Wrap - 41.59. Revered with Oracles
7. Don Alejandro's Money Belt - 41.47. Mount Hyjal
8. Belt of Natural Power - 40.45. Leatherworking BoE
9. Waistguard of the Great Beast - 40.42. 60 Badges.
   

-Yep, yet another item from Heroic Utgarde Keep. Apparently the ancestors of Bear tanks were buried there or something. The Trollwoven Girdle is about *this* close to it too. And the Belt of Natural Power shows up here over Thunderheart because of the two sockets.I'd stay away from getting the badge belt here, unless you really like stamina.

Wrist (bear)

1. Hateful Gladiator's Armwraps of Triumph - 38.72. arena rating, honor
2. Bindings of the Tunneler - 37.97. Heroic Utgarde Keep
   
3. Thunderheart Wristguards - 33.39. Sunwell Plateau
4. Dragonfriend Bracers - 32.87. Exalted with Wyrmrest Accord
5. Drake-champion's Bracers - 32.17. Heroic Oculus
   
6. Njorndar Furywraps - 31.69. Quest in Icecrown
7. Vindicator's Dragonhide Bindings - 30.23. BC PvP honor
   
8. Eviscerator's Bindings - 29.62. Leatherworking BoE
9. Band of the Swift Paw - 28.25. badges

-If you're playing along at home, the best two pieces of T6 to carry into Wrath, all other things being equal, are the boots and bracers. And yes, that's yet another awesome tanking piece from Utgarde Keep.