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Shifting Perspectives: Gearing a new bear at 80, part 2

Allison Robert
Updated ·8 min read



<< Part 1

Cloak

This slot's a little on the odd side. The bear's best-in-slot piece is available for Frost badges (and second best-in-slot, as well) -- and then after that, it's a damn long drop to number three unless you have options from raids.

Enchant: Enchant Cloak -- Major Agility. If you're an engineer, you'll want a Flexweave Underlay here.

Chest

Don't buy the tier chest piece. It's not that it's a bad piece, but the non-set pieces are just so friggin' wonderful that the tier piece is a waste of emblems.

Enchant: Enchant Chest -- Powerful Stats.

  • Ikfirus' Sack of Wonder: This is amazing. It's a BoE drop from the easiest "boss" in ICC-25, Faction Gunships. The odds of finding a druid or rogue from another raid willing to sell this to you are small, but try for it anyway. Incidentally, the heroic version is best in slot (and thus naturally refuses to drop for me). Bribe everyone on your server, break hearts, punt gnomes, do whatever you have to do, but get one.

  • Shadow Seeker's Tunic: Available for 95 Emblems of Frost. Ikfirus has definitely gotten more press than the badge piece, but that's got a lot to do with the scarcity of +hit and particularly +expertise on Icecrown leather. In the interests of full disclosure, Shadow Seeker's is ever so slightly better than the ilevel 264 Ikfirus if you compare the two in a vacuum, but you'll almost certainly still want the latter if for no other reason than getting closer to the hard +expertise cap (56).

  • Lasherweave Raiment: Why are you looking at this? You're wasting valuable time that could be spent getting a Sack! It's available for 95 Emblems of Frost if you insist on buying it, but I will be very disappointed in you if you do.

  • Relentless Gladiator's Dragonhide Robes: Available for 95 Emblems of Frost or 13,200 honor and 770 arena points. Gee, that sounds like a lot of trouble to go farm up. Why don't you go buy a Sack?

  • Knightbane Carapace (Alliance)/Knightbane Carapace (Horde): Leatherworking BoE from tier 9. It's quite good, but still pretty expensive to have made. If I were you, I'd put your money toward a Sack.

  • Malfurion's Raiments of Triumph (Alliance)/Runetotem's Raiments of Triumph (Horde): The ilevel 245, tier 9 chest, and I am extremely put out that you are sill here reading this instead of going out and getting a Sack.

  • Furious Gladiator's Dragonhide Robes: Available for 75 Emblems of Triumph or 54,500 honor. Sackety-sack sack.

  • Malfurion's Raiments of Conquest (Alliance)/Runetotem's Raiments of Conquest (Horde): The ilevel 232, tier 9 chest, available for 50 Emblems of Triumph. Saaaaaaaaaaaack.

  • Choking Hauberk: Drops from Marwyn in heroic Halls of Reflection. While you're killing him, ask him if he knows anyone with a Sack to sell.

  • Blackened Geist Ribs: Drops from the Captain's Chest in normal Halls of Reflection, and WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE INSTEAD OF AT YOUR SERVER'S AUCTION HOUSE?

Bracers

There aren't a lot of compelling pieces in this slot, but fortunately the really good pieces are all fairly easy to get.

Enchant: Enchant Bracers -- Major Stamina. If you're a leatherworker, use Fur Lining -- Stamina.

  • Toskk's Maximized Wristguards: I'm going to break my self-imposed rule concerning raid loot to point these out. They're named for the player who pioneered Toskk's DPS gear method for feral druids. They drop from Deathbringer Saurfang-25 (the heroic version is best-in-slot for bears ... and, judging from the number of rolls I see, everyone else too), and because a lot of PUGs do make it that far (and because they honor a famous druid player), I really wanted to note that here. On a somewhat uglier note, be prepared for a lot of competition.

  • Wrathful Gladiator's Armwraps of Triumph: A really fantastic PvP piece that's within a whisper of Toskk's. It'll run you 43,400 honor.

  • Bracers of Swift Death (Alliance)/Bracers of Swift Death (Horde): These are a lot cheaper than they used to be, but if gold is a problem, just farm up the honor for the Wrathful bracers.

  • Chewed Leather Wristguards: Drops from Ick and Krick in heroic Pit of Saron. Good for a pinch, but they are far below the quality of the above three pieces.

Gloves

I would ordinarily recommend making the gloves the first tier 10 piece you buy, but both the gloves and the legs have a chance to drop off Toravon. I'm a firm believer in Murphy's Law, so I'm a little ambivalent over recommending that you dump badges into a piece that may very well drop off your weekly VoA run. This one's up to you.

Enchant: Enchant Gloves -- Major Agility, or Reticulated Armor Webbing if you're an engineer.

Belt

Another slot with a PvP piece playing a starring role!

Enchant: Not an enchant as such, but you'll want an Eternal Belt Buckle.

Legs

As stated earlier, these have a chance to drop off Toravon, and so I'm a little antsy over recommending that you run out and buy them with your Frost Emblems as a result. However, the tier 10 legs are also very good, so if they drop off Toravon the week after you dump 95 badges into them, try not to scream.

Enchant: Frosthide Leg Armor.




Part 3 >>