Showing posts with label gear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gear. Show all posts

Friday, April 22, 2011

[Bear] The flood of bear gear in 4.1

You've probably seen a bunch of posts on the great set of gear you can get from ZA/ZG when 4.1 hits - how there's finally some bracers that aren't blue, or another shot to get a weapon when malevolence hates you. Or heck, how to get twice as much VP per week from heroics as you could before.

All of that is true.

But that's not the real source of awesome. The real source of awesome comes from this little gem:

Conquest Points are now purchasable from the Valor Quartermasters at 250 Conquest Points per 250 Valor Points.

What does this mean? It means that you can now get any pvp item that doesn't require any rating no matter who you are, provided that you have the VP for it. Which turns out to be a fairly substantial list of gear. So hey, no more pvping for pve gear! You can now pve for pvp gear instead. Which...I guess you'd probably use for pve.

Here's the comparison with gear obtainable outside of pvp. Some interesting highlights:

  • The PvP helm, with mastery, is a great bear helm and better than anything non-heroic. This is a hard spot for a lot of people to get anything, and that it beats anything you can get until really rare drops makes it pretty nice. At 2200 conquest points - the same, essentially as legs and chest - this is a good deal, especially considering that the best alternatives come from drops from heroic Nef and Cho'gall (and Al'akir, kinda) Note that if you have Tsanga's Helm the difference is probably not worth getting it.
  • Similarly the PvP shoulders are a pretty nice deal and better than anything but heroic gear. If you get the head and the shoulders you also get 70 agility, which is a nice little bonus. It doesn't make it better than getting heroic pieces, but it should salve having two pieces of PvP gear. This isn't quite as great a deal as the helm given that you can get good shoulders off of Omnotron, but it's still pretty good - especially if you're not doing a lot of heroic raiding. The difference here is actually higher than the helm for the comparable nonheroic piece, so still reasonable to consider. They're also a huge upgrade from the troll drop.
  • The pvp chest is interesting; it's a very big jump between it and the normal tier chest (which is pretty badly itemized for bears) - bigger than the jump between the normal pieces and the pvp pieces in the head and shoulder slots combined. At the same time, you already likely have the tier chestpiece. Still, consider it; it's a nice piece of gear that is priced to move.
  • The PvP gloves are about as 'better' as the 359 best gloves as the helm is - so it's a decent upgrade. The big advantage is the energy/rage cost reduction of skull bash, which is great if you're the interrupter. Thus, these are a pretty good buy at some point even if you're just replacing Liar's Handwraps.
  • The pvp bracers are actually worse than the normal drop, but they're also very easy to get. And they are significantly better (about 5%) than the troll drop.
  • Fasc gets his own boots, but they're significantly worse than the BoE valor boots and much much MUCH worse than the PvP boots. Somehow, I think Fasc would have wanted it that way - to be beaten by pvp gear.
  • The pvp weapon is about as good for a bear as the troll weapon due to the lower ilvl on it and the wasted resilience. Of course, the real win here is the BoE Mobius' Halberd, which drops from the rare worldspawn and is just slightly worse than Malevolence
  • Finally, the relic slot is actually best in slot now for bears in pvp land. The haste on the other relic is essentially worthless, and the slight gain in agility and stamina make up for the lost stat otherwise.
Most everything else is a slight upgrade in the slot - the boots, belt, gloves are all slight upgrades and the legs are basically a wash. But that should give you plenty of things to consider spending your valor points on for a while, especially if you're working on some hard hitting content like Nef and want some easy upgrades for tanking.

As to cats? It's not quite as simple. Every troll piece beats the corresponding PvP piece as far as a cat is concerned. And honestly, most of the time it's not even close. All that wasted secondary stat really hurts. Even on the wrists, though it's close. So unless you're very unlucky or sitting on a lot of valor points, getting this stuff isn't as good as just going to troll town.
Posted by Kalon at 6:03 PM 15 comments
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Monday, December 13, 2010

[Cat] Cataclysm heroic drops by slot and by dungeon

This is a quick and dirty list of all the drops that come from the heroic dungeons. I did this mostly for me to be able to see where I should queue if I have a choice of doing only one or two dungeons a day. Note that there's almost no difference between pieces on this list and other pieces at the same ilvl, so don't worry too much about getting the best piece.

The list used.

Back:
Cloak of Thredd - Deadmines
Kaleki Cloak - Lost City

While there are a lot of options here, there are almost as many options outside of dungeons. There's the Revered Earthen Ring cloak and a cheap LW pattern cloak that are just as good, and one that's even better from Valor points. So don't run things just for this - it's a nice thing if it drops.

Chest:
Hieroglyphic Vest - Halls of Origination

Another embarassment of riches here. The justice piece is also good, there's a great LW crafted piece and an even better T11 piece. There's even a reasonably competitive 333 piece from honored Hyjal. So don't bother running dungeons for just this slot.

Feet:
Crafty's Gaiters - Lost City
VanCleef's Boots - Deadmines

These have much fewer rivals. There's only one vendor piece, and it's a valor cost. The next best thing is off of a long quest chain for Halls of Origination - and it's normal. This is a good one to go for if you want to go for something.

Finger:
Nautilus Ring - Throne of Tides
Ring of Dun Alguz - Grim Batol

Rings are always in short supply early on. While there's a good ring for exalted with Earthen Ring that's only one thing - and as you'll see you'll want to get exalted with Dragonmaw first. One of the best rings is a JC recipe, but those are going to be hard to get early on since they cost 4 chimera's eyes to make and 5 to acquire. A better choice is Therazane's revered ring, which you'll be going for rep-wise anyway (unless you're a scribe). So do try to get one of these and get the Therazane rep ring, with the aim to go for Earthen Ring later.

Hands:
Gloves of Haze - Vortex Pinnacle

Ouch. The best comes from Dragonmaw Exalted rep, but that might take a while. The next best is a justice point drop. Vortex Pinnacle doesn't have much, and I'd really aim for getting exalted with Dragonmaw - but if you're unlucky the JP purchase might be the best way to go. Hopefully you get lucky :)

Head

Double ouch. The other option is a justice point drop. Well, or a trash drop from a raid, but chances are you won't be getting that any time soon. Stonecore is a good instance to run for this and for the weapon, so try to get this early. Otherwise it should be one of your earliest justice point purchases as it won't be wasted any time soon.

Legs:

Another low-drop slot with even less competition than the head - the only other piece is the justice point legs. Note that there are a lot of good 333-level quest rewards for legs and helm, so this might not be as huge an upgrade for you as other slots (notably the hands) - but this will not be wasted. Also BRC doesn't have that much to offer, making this even better.

Neck:

Not many dungeon drops, but all sorts of weird options abound. There are world drops that are super expensive but awesome, JC recipes (which are also expensive), a Guardians of Hyjal Revered purchase, a justice point purchase and another random BoE. While GoH doesn't have much going for it to get to revered, you might already be close to it if you did Hyjal - so consider doing that. Otherwise go to Stonecore.

Relic:

Forgot this category in the prior list...oops. So this makes BRC and SFK even tastier. The options you have are an inscription crafted item or the eventual valor purchase. This isn't a crucial slot, so I'd recommend just trying to get it as it comes in one of the two above dungeons.

Shoulders:

Another set of short options. The justice point vendor is good for this if you don't get lucky, and there's almost nothing else. This might be a good thing to buy early since chances are you won't have a good set of shoulders from questing, though a decent entry level piece comes from a quest out of Lost City.

Trinket:
Skardyn's Grace - Grim Batol
Tia's Grace - Lost City

The first two are certainly awesome. I'll go more into trinkets when we move into raids, but there's good reason to first go for the quest in Uldum and then go for BRC or Grim Batol.

Weapon
Darkling Staff - Stonecore
Seliza's Staff - Lost City

Ah, the real reason to do Stonecore - just like you did Violet Hold last expansion. There is a BoE that drops from a world boss, but it's likely that you won't be killing him any time soon. There's also a revered weapon from the Tol Barad dailies, but that will take a while to get just because of the daily limits. Finally, there's an absurdly expensive weapon from blacksmithing, but don't bother unless you really are loaded and want something now now now.

Waist:
Red Beam Cord - HoO

Yeah, not a lot of drops. HoO is good because of the sheer amount of bosses in it (and thus JP). But there are a lot of options for belts. There's the epic LW belt which will compete until you get to heroic raids. There's a JP belt as well. I'd personally go for the revered Ramkahen belt, since you want revered with Ramkahen to get your head enchant for cats anyway. Finally, there is a BoE belt from random guys in Uldum, but chances of this being around are rare.

Wrist:

This slot has almost no options. One of the 'best' is the PvP bracers from LW. Another is the normal version of Halls of Origination, but that's painful to do just for this (even if it drops from the first boss). So running SFK and HoO should be something of a priority until these drop.

In terms of dungeons, here's how I'd rank the priority of doing them.

Blackrock Caverns:

Legs with no other drop competition, a weapon, a trinket and a ring? Awesome. Number one for me. Heck, it even drops the best relic!


A weapon, a neck, a helm without a drop replacement and a trinket make this a really high choice for me.

Lost City:
Kaleki Cloak - Lost City
Crafty's Gaiters - Lost City
Seliza's Staff - Lost City
Tia's Grace - Lost City

Boots, a decent trinket and a weapon are good reasons to do this one. This gets the nod over HoO simply because of the importance of getting a weapon.

Halls of Origination:
Hieroglyphic Vest - Halls of Origination

So much stuff! There's nothing insane here, but there's a ring, bracers, an okay trinket, and a belt if you don't get the rep one.

SFK:

Boots and bracers are both hard to come by replacements. The shoulders aren't bad either. Not amazingly great, but definitely good. The relic doesn't hurt matters either.

Deadmines:
Cloak of Thredd - Deadmines
VanCleef's Boots - Deadmines

While cloaks and chests are easy to come by, boots are not. Plus this is a fun, fun dungeon. Still, it does take a while and is a beast to pug.

Grim Batol:
Ring of Dun Alguz - Grim Batol
Skardyn's Grace - Grim Batol

The trinket is the only super awesome piece here.

Throne of the Tides:
Nautilus Ring - Throne of Tides

I wanted to be excited about this because it's a great instance, but honestly? Skip it. It takes a while and there just isn't that much stuff there.

Vortex Pinnacle:
Gloves of Haze - Vortex Pinnacle

While gloves are hard to get a replacement for, that there's only one drop at all is bothersome. It's a somewhat fast dungeon but not very pug-friendly.


Posted by Kalon at 11:57 AM 15 comments
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Wednesday, January 6, 2010

[Druid, general] Deathbringer's Will now 33% more awesome

Earlier this week Blizzard had this to say about Deathbringer's Will:
We are concerned about proc’ing a stat that can be readily capped especially on an item that provides a rather large passive armor pen bonus already. It could end up just never being attractive enough. Right now we are strongly considering just having it proc base-stat (strength, agility, etc.), haste, or crit depending on spec. We’ll be sure to let you know if we make this change.

Apparently they weren't kidding. Reports are that the new procs are agi, strength...and haste. Which is much better than arpen since chances are you're either soft-capped or close to being hard-capped.

Whereas haste just makes you more awesome. And there's no real danger of hitting the hard cap any time soon.

So if you were at all in doubt about whether or not you should get this trinket: you should get this trinket. It's going to be significantly better than anything else save what perhaps Arthas drops, all three stats are going to be a huge boost to DPS by themselves, and all three are very valued by druids. Point of fact, this might make a good argument for DBW going to ferals first; with this, even assuming best in slot trinkets DBW should be about a 200 DPS upgrade over the next best thing. Currently the stat value itself is worth around 300 DPS by itself; the proc is another 250. This will increase the DPS value of the proc by about 33%, making it close to a 650 DPS trinket - and that's the normal mode.

I know that rogues don't care about it nearly as much (they don't care about arpen as much); neither do enhancement shamen. I would imagine that it's going to be arms warriors and DKs, basically.

And you can bat your eyelashes and say how lovely it would be if you'd get it. :)

Also, this makes it the premiere threat trinket for bears. 600 haste is a lot of extra mauls.
Posted by Kalon at 2:05 PM 20 comments
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Monday, January 4, 2010

[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.

Posted by Kalon at 12:13 PM 8 comments
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[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

  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.
Posted by Kalon at 8:16 AM 33 comments
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