The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Trial of the Champion Loot Part 2

Yes, technically that's a screenshot from last night's Ulduar alt PuG. Since there's a Marrowstrike and several other pieces of TotC gear in it, as well as a female draenei warrior (how often do you see that?) I'm gonna let it go. Draenei women hold polearms really weird, in my opinion.

Last week we covered weapons, trinkets and rings from both heroic and normal Trial of the Champion. This week, we'll cover plate drops, capes and neck pieces. We may actually be able to get it all in, although there's a decent amount of plate in this instance. I'm actually surprised at how expansive the loot table (for a 3 encounter instance) TotC has managed to support. For the short duration there's a lot of gear in here.

Also, I can confirm that Marrowstrike and Edge of Ruin are 212 DPS weapons now. (That's cause I'm using one in the back there.)

Normal

So what drops in the normal version of the instance, you may ask? What are the drops you could reasonably expect to farm for in a day or two if you were so inclined? Yes, I've done it myself. Here in no particular order are the various options.

Boots of Heartfelt Repentance - I don't know what these boots are repenting... what could boots possibly have done in the way of sin? But they're very solid tanking boots for an iLevel 200 drop, with strength, stamina, defense, dodge and expertise as well as a red socket. Anything that lets you get all of that on one item to prepare for raiding is a pretty solid drop all around. Compared to the Tempered Titansteel (which are the same iLevel) these shine in their total stat allocation. Eadric the Pure leaves these behind when he runs away.

Breastplate of the Imperial Joust - This is a pretty solidly itemized DPS chest for a warrior, with hit, armor pen, and two sockets. Compared to the Chestplate of the Risen Soldier from Naxx 10, you see that it trades off the Risen Soldier's crit and haste with ArP, Hit, and two sockets, making this (in my opinion) the superior option for the iLevel. It's fair to point out that it is effectively a scaled down version of this Ulduar 10 drop. Both Eadric and Paletress leave this behind in their caches.

Drape of the Undefeated - You get this by defeating the Black Knight, which makes sense, really: since you defeat him, he's not worthy of it anymore. With strength, stamina, crit rating and haste it's a fairly solidly itemized DPS cloak for a warrior, although I'd have prefered hit or ArP as a secondary stat over haste. Still, you're really not going to find another Str/Stam cloak itemized for DPS at this iLevel.

Gauntlets of the Stouthearted Crusader - These gloves vex me. Compared to the gloves dropped by Patchwerk in 10 man Naxxramas, you're trading off 35 stamina for 11 strength, a socket and 46 crit for ArP and less haste on the TotC gloves than the Naxx ones. I'm not 100% sure these are actually superior, but I do know for sure that these drop in a normal instance while you can only kill Patchwerk 10 once a week. By itself that makes these an attractive option for a warrior new to 80. Eadric also has a chance to leave these behind.

Girdle of Arrogant Downfall - In the case of this belt, there's a heroic drop from the Nexus that's probably the most suitable comparison. The Flame-Bathed has 2 less Str, both have a socket (but the Girdle of Arrogant Downfall has a red socket, which is the color of Str and ArP gems) and the Black Knight's belt has haste and ArP while the Flame-Bathed has a solid amount of crit. I'd ultimately give it to the Flame-Bathed, but again, not only does it depend on how much ArP you have or are looking for (if you're at the soft cap and have an ArP trinket like Mjolnir Runestone or Grim Toll you're probably not comparing ilevel 200 belts) and frankly you might as well pick one of these up, since you'll be in there anyway.

Helm of the Violent Fray - Comparison of this helm with the Spiked Titansteel results in a 'too close to call' situation for me. As a kneejerk response I'd aim this hat at Arms looking to stack ArP and the Spiked Titansteel at Fury looking to get to 263 hit rating, but they're very close. Neither has an ideal socket for a DPS helm (although the Violent Fray's yellow socket at least allows a hit gem or crit gem if you felt that was necessary) but the Meta and high STR on each makes them both contenders. In part it comes down to if you want to farm for a drop or just get a hat made. The Black Knight drops this hat.

Girdle of the Pallid Knight - I have to say, while the DPS itemization on plate in TotC normal is kind of hit or miss (with the exception of the BotIJ which is solid enough) the tanking gear so far is very well itemized. Comparing the Girdle of the Pallid Knight with the Ancient Aligned Girdle from heroic AN, you're trading the heroic drop's 12 extra defense and 66 dodge for 10 str, 44 parry, 24 hit rating and a red socket. You can assume you'll add an Eternal Belt Buckle to each belt, of course. Frankly, the Girdle is very well itemized for both threat and avoidance while the Ancient Aligned is more solidly an avoidance oriented drop with dodge and higher base defense. The Black Knight drops this excellent multi-purpose belt.

Legguards of Abandoned Fealty - Yet another example of a really very well itemized tanking drop in normal TotC. They compare very favorably to the tanking legs from Heroic Violet Hold. I think I'd prefer the higher stam, dodge and expertise over the slightly higher defense and hit but there's no reason you can't get both, and these are again much easier to farm than an instance that you can only run once a day. Dropped by the Black Knight.

Mercy's Hold - Continuing the trend for normal TotC tanking drops to be very widely itemized, these are very nice tanking options. While they have lower defense than their heroic and reputation reward rivals, they stack up very well with the sheer breadth of what they offer a tank. The Fireproven offer defense and dodge, the Horn-Tipped defense and expertise, but these offer all three and a socket (red for threat stats). And again, rather than wearing a tabard for days of heroic runs or running H Gundrak once a day, you can run normal TotC until your eyes bleed and Paletress finally leaves these behind for you.

Our next items are not so farmable as these, but they are of raid level (Roughly as good as Ulduar 10, as you pointed out in the comments) quality and until most raids, you can run the instance every day, still making them farmable by comparison.

Heroic

Ancient Pendant of Arathor - This is a very nice neckpiece, especially for arms with the high crit from the Agi and Crit Rating, the ArP and the solid amount of attack power. (You lose less from Strength of Arms than a Fury Warrior relying on Improved Berserker Stance by using an AP neck) - I'd even be willing to use it as Fury with its rather excellent stat spread. I would say it's comparable to, if slightly inferior in the comparison, the Broach of Wailing Night. Since the Broach costs 19 Emblems of Conquest and this comes from a boss who also drops said emblems (both Confessor and Eadric) you might as well pick one up when it drops.

The Warlord's Depravity - First off, as many Wowhead commenters pointed out, this piece has Block Value (104 to be exact) on live. With that in mind, it's still kind of a weird drop. It's certainly heads and shoulders above any tanking neck that drops in a five man, and is probably better for warrior tanks than the Chained Military Gorget (especially if you're wearing a lot of gear out of TotC already since that tends to have a lot of hit/expertise) since that 104 block value is probably going to contribute more threat than 21 hit. Still, I'm not in love with this neck. Still, if it drops it's itemized for warrior/paladin tanks anyway, you might as well pick it up and see how you like it. As you might expect, it drops off of the Black Knight.

Helm of the Crestfallen Challenger - This is an excellent hat. Go ahead and get involved in a long, technical discussion of parry vs dodge and diminishing returns, at the end of the day this is still an excellent hat. Meta socket, good stat spread, defense, parry and hit on one item. Both Eadric and Paletress leave it behind.

Legplates of Relentless Onslaught - These legs actually compare very well with the Emblem of Conquest DPS legs. Haste isn't my favorite DPS stat, but the rest of the stat budget's well spent on these Sure, they're lacking a socket and some crit compared to the Emblem legs, but considering they're a drop from an instance you'll be farming for the Emblems anyway, they're a solid DPS option. Eadric and Paletress both leave these behind when you beat them.

Majestic Silversmith Shoulders - Red socket, good stat spread, solid crit, and well okay haste too. Haste is probably better for a warrior than a DK or Paladin (let the debate commence) so these are a solid DPS option. These are an Eadric drop.

Plated Greaves of Providence - Welcome to the Melancholy Sabatons Jr. If for whatever reason Malygos has been refusing to drop his shoes, grab a pair of these and slap an ArP gem in them, and you're looking at the next best option. Seriously, these are very well itemized all around. These are found in the Confessor's Cache.

Vambraces of Unholy Command - Also very solidly itemized for a DPS warrior, especially for Arms or a Fury who has lots of hit already. (Not that hit is ever a bad stat,but then again, neither is ArP.) Combined with the Plated Greaves and the Helm of the Violent Fray/BotIJ from normal mode and the Ancient Pendant of Arathor/Banner of Victory you can assemble a lot of ArP in this instance. Heck, I forgot the Girdle of Arrogant Downfall! Seriously, a lot of ArP if you're of a mind to assemble it all.

Regal Aurous Shoulderplates - I love these things. I've picked up a set on each of my plate wearers and they're very, very nice. The socket makes them an even stronger choice (even if it is a yellow) and I actually wear them at times over my Ulduar 10 shoulders. These are a solidly itemized piece of tanking gear and I highly recommend them to any tank. You need to defeat Paletress and then hope she feels like dropping them.

Okay, that pretty much covers TotC for a warrior. Next week may be a BlizzCon wrap-up depending on what news for warriors we hear between then and now. Oh, man, I hate waiting.

Check out more strategies, tips and leveling guides for Warriors in Matthew Rossi's weekly class column: The Care and Feeding of Warriors.