[Feral] Cloud9's Pre-Raid Feral Tank Gear Guide

Hello fellow Druids. People are now reaching lvl 80 and getting ready to start raiding, but when am I good to go people ask? In this guide I have added the best items you can get before you start raiding, not only the best for each slot, but also various ways attaining these items whether you like doing Heroics, crafting your own gear or doing PvP.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Head
3. Neck
4. Shoulders
5. Back
6. Chest
7. Wrist
8. Hands
9. Waist
10. Legs
11. Feet
12. Rings
13. Trinkets
14. Weapon
15. Gems
16. Enchants

Introduction - How to use thise guide Finding good tanking gear can be difficult sometimes, thats why i have tried to give the best options pre-raiding. The guide is built up like this:

Heroic reward: This item can be found inside a Heroic instance, either dropping from a boss or found in a chest.

Quest reward: Item reward from a quest. Quest links are added.

Crafted item: This item can be crafted, all items here are BoE.

Vendor item: Some items can be bought from having a certain amount of reputation with a faction.

PvP item: These items can be bought from honor points and arena points. I have not added the best arena gear because this is a pre-raid guide, i am not asuming you are PvP'ing like madness

I recommend: This will be the item i recommend, either from being the most easy to obtain and the bets item statwise out of the options given.

Now, lets get started!

Head:

Heroic reward: Mask of the Watcher. Found in Cache of Eregos after lass boss in color=#33cc00]The Oculus[/].
Quest reward: Headguard of Retaliation. Reward from [80]Vengeance Be Mine!, requires you to kill the last boss in Utgarde Pinnacle.
Crafted item: Eviscerator's Facemask. Pattern sold by Braeg Stoutbeard in Dalaran.
PvP item: Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide Helm. Sold by Morgan Day in Wintergrasp for 12,000 Honor p and 350 Arena p.

I recommend: Headguard of Retaliation is easy to get, the stats are nice and it will last you long enough to keep your head cold in raids.

Neck:

Normal reward: Amulet of Wills. Drops from Sjonnir The Ironshaper in Halls of Stone.
Heroic reward: Shadowseeker's Pendant. Drops from Jedoga Shadowseeker in Ahn'kahet.
Quest reward: Reinforced Titanium Neckguard. Reward from [=color=#cc9933]The Admiral Revealed[/].
Crafted item: Titanium Impact Choker. Pattern sold by Tiffany Cartier in Dalaran.

I recommend: Amulet of Wills is the best and easiest to get, no discussion.

Shoulders:

Heroic reward: Spaulders of the Careless Thief. Drops from Grand Magus Telestra in The Nexus.
Quest reward: Charred Leather Shoulderguards. Reward from [80]Diametrically Opposed, requires you to kill the second boss in Halls of Lightning.
Crafted item: Trollwoven Spaulders. Pattern sold by Braeg Stoutbeard in Dalaran.
Honor item: Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide Spaulders. Sold by Morgan Day in Wintergrasp for 9,600 Honor p and 275 Arena p.

I recommend:Trollwoven Spaulders are some of the best shoulders you can get in Wotlk, so these will last you long. The mats can be difficult to grind, but I recommend getting them.

Back:

Heroic reward: Cloak of the Gushing Wound. Drops from Erekem in The Violet Hold.
Quest reward: Bloodbane Cloak. Reward from [80]The Fate of Bloodbane.
Crafted item: Durable Nerubhide Cape. Taught by various leatherworking trainers.
Vendor item: Cloak of Holy Extermination. Sold by Veteran Crusader Aliocha Segard in Icecrown.

I recommend: Cloak of the Gushing Wound has a not so bad drop rate and the stats are not so bad either. Durable Nerubhide Cape is also good, but the mats can be a bit difficult to get.

Chest:

Heroic reward: Crystal-Infused Tunic. Drops from Keristrasza in The Nexus.
Quest reward: Exotic Leather Tunic. Reward from [80]Junk in My Trunk, requires you to find a lot of items in Utgarde Pinnacle.
Crafted item: Polar Vest. Pattern sold by Braeg Stoutbeard in Dalaran.
Vendor item: Darkheart Chestguard. Sold by Duchess Mynx in Icecrown.
Honor item: Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide Robes. Sold by Morgan Day in Wintergrasp for 12,000 Honor p and 350 Arena p.

I recommend: Polar Vest. The mats can be a pain to acquire, but just look at the Stamina the chest gives! Put some nice gems in this chest and you can hold on to this baby for a long time.

Wrist:

Heroic reward: Bindings of the Tunneler. Drops from Skarvald the Constructor in Utgarde Keep.
Quest reward: Njorndar Furywraps. Reward from [80]Not-So-Honorable Combat, requires you to kill Iskalder.
Vendor item: Dragonfriend Bracers. Sold by Cielstrasza in Dragonblight.
Honor item: Hateful Gladiator's Armwraps of Triumph. Sold by Travis Day in Wintergrasp for 15,800 Honor p.

I recommend: Bindings of the Tunneler are the best bracers, the drop rate is not to bad either. Give it a good enchant to, and these are going to last you for a while.

Hands:

Heroic reward: Charged-Bolt Grips. Dropped by Ionar in Halls of Lightning.
Quest reward: Handwraps of Preserved History. Reward from [80]A Royal Escort, requires you to escort Arthas through The Culling of Stratholme and defeat Mal'Ganis.
Honor item: Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide Gloves. Sold by Morgan Day in Wintergrasp for 7,200 Honor p and 200 Arena p.

I recommend: Handwraps of Preserved History are not only the best gloves, they are also the easiest to obtain from the ones I have listed. With these gloves, you don’t need to get new ones for a looong time.

Waist:

Heroic reward: Sharp-Barbed Leather Belt. Drops from Ingvar the Plunderer in Utgarde Keep.
Crafted item: Trollwoven Girdle. Pattern sold by Braeg Stoutbeard in Dalaran.
Arema item: Hateful Gladiator's Belt of Triumph. Sold by Travis Day in Wintergrasp for 24,800 Honor p.

I recommend: Trollwoven Girdle is an easy choice. The mats can be boring to grind, but they are not too difficult to acquire.

Legs:

Heroic reward: Gored Hide Legguards. Drops from Gal'darah in Gundrak.
Crafted item: Eviscerator's Legguards. Pattern sold by Braeg Stoutbeard in Dalaran.
Vendor item: Mind-Expanding Leggings. Sold by Archmage Alvareaux in Dalaran.
Honor item: Savage Gladiator's Dragonhide LegguardsSold by Morgan Day in Wintergrasp for 12,000 Honor p and 350 Arena p.

I recommend: Mind-Expanding Leggings would be my choice. Give it a nice gem and it should be very good, grinding reputation to Revered is not to difficult either.

Feet:

Heroic reward: Slag Footguards. Drops from Volkhan in Halls of Lightning.
Crafted item: Polar Boots. Pattern sold by Braeg Stoutbeard in Dalaran.
Vendor item: Boots of the Neverending Path. Sold by Veteran Crusader Aliocha Segard in Icecrown.
Arema item: Hateful Gladiator's Boots of Triumph. Sold by Travis Day in Wintergrasp for 24,800 Honor p

I recommend: Polar Boots has some nice stats, even better when you add gems. The mats could be a bit difficult to acquire, but can be grinded.

Ring:

Heroic reward: Keystone Great-Ring. Drops from The Prophet Tharon'ja in Drak'Tharon Keep.
Quest reward: Iceforged Battle Ring. Reward from [80]The Brothers Bronzebeard (A) or [80]Forging the Keystone (H).
Crafted item: Titanium Earthguard Ring. Pattern sold by Tiffany Cartier in Dalaran.

I recommend: Keystone Great-Ring is the best you can get without raiding. There are not many more rings you can get pre-raiding, so I would basically use any one you have acquired from previous quests or instances.

Trinket:

Heroic reward: Essence of Gossamer. Drops from Hadronox in Azjol-Nerub.

I recommend: There are not many good trinkets you can get without raiding. Any good lvl 70 trinket will be fine, but also any other trinket acquired from quest will be okay. Many professions have trinkets available to craft, so this should be top priority, if you don’t have any profession, I recommend sticking to anything you already got.

Weapon:

Heroic reward: Enraged Feral Staff. Drops from Ingvar the Plunderer in Utgarde Keep.
Quest reward: Staff of the Sorrowful Chieftain. Reward from [75]Wanted: Ragemane's Flipper, requires you to kill Ragemane, an elite mob.
Vendor item: Stave of Shrouded Mysteries. Sold by Archmage Alvareaux in Dalaran.
Honor item: Deadly Gladiator's Staff. Sold by Travis Day in Wintergrasp for 24,000 Honor p and 700 Arena p.

I recommend: Enraged Feral Staff is clearly the best weapon. Better start grinding Utgarde Keep.

Gems:

For tanking gear, i wouldn't recommend aiming for the gem bonus for socketing with the right color gems, it is much better going for pure stats therefore, i have only chosen a few gems to socket your gear with.

Blue: Solid Sky Sapphire. I would basically spam these unntill you feel you have enough Stamina to endure long fights.

Red: Delicate Scarlet Ruby. I recommend these if you need more armor, dodge and threat.

Purple: Shifting Twilight Opal. If you dont know which stats to aim for, or you feel got got a balanced set of stats, go for this gem.

Meta: Austere Earthsiege Diamond. Not to difficult to aquire the requirments.

So that was my guide. Tell me what you think about it, all comments are appreciated. Note: This guide is not finished yet, i will add more numbers, gems, enchants and more items when more things come in the future.