[Druid] Gear for Cats updated 10/15

I've updated the Cat gearing guide, which now includes pretty much every item from ToC and Onyxia pieces. Go check it out here.

Not a lot to report in terms of changes, honestly. The Onyxia loot isn't that stellar for cats, and you shouldn't be super thrilled to get it.

On a side note, my personal DPS has gone way down compared to others recently. Part of that is the reprioritization of gear that I've done for bear; most of my good pieces have been converted to bear pieces and regemmed appropriately. Part of it is that I'm rusty. But a big part is the hit armor pen took. I'm still doing okay, mind you - but I'd definitely consider not stacking armor pen as the big win unless you have some odd non-ToC pieces around to do so.

[Druid] Vendorstrike==bear strike

Onyxia's back, and this time she's pissed. Okay, she's probably fairly upset, what with her head being mounted in cities for years now, her kids being killed, and her plot to usurp the crown of Stormwind kinda blowing up in her face. But hyperbole aside, she's back.

How hard is she? Reports are that if you're familiar with the old encounter she's not too bad, and only spawns an extra add during Deep Breaths phases. Her loot level is on par with ToC 25, so I'd bet that she's not much harder than anything in normal ToC. Especially since Blizzard wants her to be experienced by a lot of people as part of their anniversary.









In terms of the patch, the biggest affecting thing is the nerf to armor pen, which has been discussed to death here and elsewhere. That's really it; ferals aren't changing significantly otherwise, and things like the infected wounds change and the predatory instincts change are both more geared towards PvP and quality of life. Otherwise, ferals are likely going to remain pretty similar to what they were before, though all ferals will take a slight hit to their dps.

Now, the loot list for her: I have no idea. Blizzard has remained somewhat tight-lipped about the gear. A lot of it was gear that had simply been given a higher ilvl but had exactly the same values as before, and that's clearly not going to work now.

But.

But, if what we've seen holds, bears get a gift. And that gift is Reinforced Thunderstrike:

Reinforced Thunderstrike

Epic

Binds when picked up

Polearm

Two-Hand

Speed 3.10

634 - 951 Damage

(255.6 damage per second)

+89 Agility

+180 Stamina

Durability 120 / 120

Requires Level 80

Item Level 245

Equip: Increases your expertise rating by 71.

Equip: Increases attack power by 190.

Equip: Improves haste rating by 63.

Blasts up to 3 targets for 150 to 250 Nature damage. Each target after the first takes less damage.

This ranks just barely below Twin's Pact (normal) in Rawr, and will be a superb threat weapon due to all that expertise - expertise that is lacking almost everywhere else in ToC land. It will also have some of the highest stamina possible outside of PvP gear and hard mode gear. And the best part? Almost no one will want it. The only other class that might - might - have any interest is a DK, and they'd almost certainly rather have a strength-based weapon.

Now, how do you get it? By getting Reinforced Shadowstrike, I believe. Which happens to also be a decent choice as a weapon, especially for cats:

Reinforced Shadowstrike

Epic

Binds when picked up

Polearm

Two-Hand

Speed 3.10

634 - 951 Damage

(255.6 damage per second)

+120 Agility

+126 Stamina

Durability 120 / 120

Requires Level 80

Item Level 245

Equip: Increases attack power by 157.

Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 73.

Equip: Increases your armor penetration rating by 89.

Summons a new Reinforced Thunderstrike.

Steals 100 to 180 life from target enemy.

I don't know if they're still going to do that mechanic. My hope is not; while it would be awesome to have both a cat and bear weapon that you can swap back and forth with - or even have two weapons from one, essentially - I'm not sure double the enchanting mats are awesome. If you're curious, this ranks slightly below Twin's Pact and Hellion Glaive for cats (from normal mode) and will be a good choice if you can get it.

So keep a look out for those, and for any other wacky items from Ony. As people start trying it and we get an idea of what the 245 table is like, I'll update the cat and bear loot lists too, as well as the LIKE A BOSS list. In the meantime, if you don't already have an awesome weapon - consider rolling on this one.

Incoming comments about how the best itemization for ferals comes from vendor trash in 3, 2, 1...