Shifting Perspectives: Gearing a new restoration druid, part 2
Cloak
A lot of PUGs do make it to Deathbringer Saurfang, hence the inclusion of the first piece on our list. However, there's a lot of competition for it.
Enchant Enchant Cloak -- Greater Speed. While some people pick Enchant Cloak -- Wisdom, the haste enchant is much more useful to almost everyone.
Greatcloak of the Turned Champion Dropped by Deathbringer Saurfang in ICC-25. An excellent piece. The heroic version is best in slot.
Volde's Cloak of the Night Sky Available for 50 Emblems of Frost. To be frank, I wouldn't spend your Frost emblems here; the Wrathful cloak below is really, really close to it.
Wrathful Gladiator's Cloak of Subjugation Quite a nice piece, but whether you pick up this or the spirit version below will depend on how badly you're hurting for haste. Dropped by Toravon, or available for 52,200 honor.
Wrathful Gladiator's Cloak of Deliverance The spirit version of the above Wrathful cloak. Get this one instead of the Subjugation piece if you're haste-capped. Dropped by Toravon or available for 52,200 honor.
Drape of the Violet Tower This is the other Frost emblem cloak. Available for 50 Emblems of Frost.
Titan-Forged Cloak of Ascendancy Available for 25 Wintergrasp Marks of Honor.
Flowing Sapphiron Drape Dropped by Onyxia-25.
Pennant Cloak Dropped by Sartharion-25.
Disguise of the Kumiho Available for 25 Emblems of Valor.
Wrathful Gladiator's Cloak of Salvation Dropped by Toravon or available for 52,200 honor.
Fluttering Sapphiron Drape Dropped by Onyxia-10.
Chest
This slot is interesting in that one of the restoration druid's best in slot pieces (Vestments of Spruce and Fir, below) is available to anyone who can cough up the badges. After that, it's a pretty long drop to the 251 tier 10 piece.
Enchant Enchant Chest -- Powerful Stats
Vestments of Spruce and Fire Available for 95 Emblems of Frost. A very fine piece that beats out everything else in the game, barring two Icecrown heroic pieces (both of which, regrettably, are cloth) and the heroic balance tier chest. If you've got this, don't bother getting tier.
Meteor Chaser's Raiment Available for 95 Emblems of Frost. The cloth equivalent of the leather piece above. If you've got 95 Emblems of Frost just lying around, don't get this (obviously) over the Vestments.
Deathwhisper Raiment Dropped by Lady Deathwhisper in normal ICC-25. Again, a lot of PUG raids see this fight, and there's generally not much competition for this if it drops.
Ermine Coronation Robes Available for 95 Emblems of Frost. The other non-set cloth piece you should ignore in favor of the Vestments.
Merlin's Robe (Alliance)/Merlin's Robe (Horde) One of the ilevel 245 Tailoring recipe available from Trial of the Crusader.
Lasherweave Robes Available for 95 Emblems of Frost.
Royal Moonshroud Robe (Alliance)/Royal Moonshroud Robe (Horde) The other ToC tailoring recipe. If you're going to use a crafted piece to tide you over until you can get Vestments, use this one if you're having mana issues. Use Merlin's if you're not.
Lunar Eclipse Robes (Alliance)/Lunar Eclipse Robes (Horde) The ToC leatherworking spellpower chest. Yep, the tailoring equivalents are better.
Chestguard of Broken Branches A surprisingly nice piece; this would be my pick if you're looking for something inexpensive to tide you over until you get the Vestments of Spruce and Fir. Dropped by the Captain's Chest in heroic Halls of Reflection.
Malfurion's Robes of Triumph (Alliance)/Runetotem's Robes of Triumph (Horde) The ilevel 245, tier 9 chest, available for 75 Emblems of Triumph and 1 Trophy of the Crusade.
Malfurion's Robe of Conquest (Alliance)/Runetotem's Robe of Conquest (Horde) The ilevel 232, tier 9 restoration chest, available for 50 Emblems of Triumph.
The Sanctum's Flowing Vestments Dropped by Sartharion-25.
Robes of the Cheating Heart Dropped by Bronjahm in normal Forge of Souls.
Ancient Polar Bear Hide Dropped by Ick and Krick in heroic Pit of Saron.
Mord'rethar Robes Dropped by the Devourer of Souls in heroic Forge of Souls.
Embrace of Madness Dropped by the Black Knight in heroic Trial of the Champion.
Phaelia's Vestments of the Sprouting Seed A BoE drop from the Iron Council encounter in Ulduar-25. You're not as likely to find this on the auction house these days, but I wanted to include them because they honor a famous druid player and blogger (Phaelia of Resto 4 Life). I just wish they had some haste on them.
Bracers
Even for people in heroic Icecrown, it's a little disappointing to note that a Jaraxxus-25 drop (particularly its heroic version) is so close to being best in slot. I'm going to list them here just because you may have a shot at them from a ToC-25 PuG; leather spellpower pieces usually don't get a lot of competition.
Enchant Enchant Bracers -- Superior Spellpower
Bracers of the Autumn Willow (Alliance)/Bindings of the Autumn Willow (Horde) Dropped by Jaraxxus-25. The heroic version is a hair's breadth away from best in slot, and even the normal version is pretty sweet. If you manage to get a ToC-25 PuG, be on the lookout.
Bracers of Dark Blessing Dropped by Lady Deathwhisper-10.
Bejeweled Wizard's Bracers (Alliance)/Bejeweled Wizard's Bracers (Horde) A tailoring BoE with the recipe dropped in ToC-25. It's a DPS piece, but the socket, haste and meaty spellpower really add up here.
Moonshadow Bracers (Alliance)/Moonshadow Armguards (Horde) A leatherworking BoE with the recipe dropped in ToC-25. If you're having mana issues, use these. If not, use the tailoring equivalent above (Bejeweled).
Royal Moonshroud Bracers (Alliance)/Royal Moonshroud Bracers (Horde) The tailoring counterpart of the Moonshadow piece above. Moonshadow is slightly better for us, so stick with the leather.
Wrathful Gladiator's Armwraps of Salvation Dropped by Toravon or available for 43,400 honor.
Unsullied Cuffs Dropped by Sartharion-25.
The Lady's Brittle Bracers A BoE drop from Lady Deathwhisper-25. The odds of finding this on the auction house still aren't high at this point (too many DPS casters can find use for them), but they're an okay piece to use. Too bad about the hit.
Bracers of the Broodmother If you get Razorscale Must Die! as a weekly raid quest, keep an eye out for these.
Wristguards of Subterranean Moss Dropped by Ick and Krick in normal Pit of Saron.
Ghostly Wristwraps Zone drop in the new Icecrown 5-mans.
Gloves
This is one of those unfortunate slots without a lot of great options outside of raiding, but be careful before you dump emblems or gold into options other than tier; Toravon has a chance to drop both the tier gloves and legs.
Enchant Enchant Gloves -- Exceptional Spellpower
Handguards of Winter's Respite Dropped by Marrowgar-25. This is a really nice piece, so keep an eye out for these (and try to snag a 25-man PUG) if your realm gets Lord Marrowgar Must Die! as a weekly raid.
Sanctified Lasherweave Gauntlets Dropped by Toravon.
Lasherweave Gauntlets Available for 60 Emblems of Frost.
Gunship Captain's Mittens The odds of your getting these aren't high because they're a DPS piece, but they're dropped from Faction Gunships in ICC-25.
Gloves of Ambivalence One of the non-set cloth Emblem of Frost gloves, available for 60 Emblems of Frost. Honestly, just buy the tier.
Gloves of False Gestures The other non-set cloth Emblem of Frost gloves, available for 60 Emblems of Frost. Why is this better than the Owl gloves below? The extra socket. They're pretty close to each other all the same.
Gloves of the Great Horned Owl The non-set leather Emblem of Frost gloves. Available for 60 Emblems of Frost.
Wrathful Gladiator's Kodohide Gloves Dropped by Toravon.
Malfurion's Handguards of Triumph (Alliance)/Runetotem's Handguards of Triumph (Horde) The ilevel 245, tier 9 gloves available for 75 Emblems of Triumph and 1 Trophy of the Crusade.
Essence of Desire Dropped by the Devourer of Souls in heroic Forge of Souls.
Malfurion's Handguards of Conquest (Alliance)/Runetotem's Handguards of Conquest (Horde) The ilevel 232, tier 9 gloves available for 30 Emblems of Triumph.
Suspiciously Soft Gloves Dropped by Marwyn in normal Halls of Reflection.
Marwyn's Macabre Fingertips Dropped by Falric in normal Halls of Reflection. What Falric is doing with Marwyn's fingertips is best left to the imagination of a more corrupt person than myself.
Handwraps of Surrendered Hopes Dropped by the Black Knight in normal Trial of the Champion.
Gloves of Dismal Fortune Dropped by the second boss (Eadric or the Argent Confessor) in heroic Trial of the Champion.
Belt
As with a few previous slots, you can get some damn fine stuff if you're willing to spend Frost emblems like a drunken pirate. Otherwise, your best bet is probably the leatherworking belt from tier 8.
Enchant Eternal Belt Buckle
Circle of Ossus Available for 60 Emblems of Frost. A really lovely piece, but expensive.
Crushing Coldwraith Belt As long as you're pugging Marrowgar-25 for a shot at the gloves, keep an eye out for this as well. Unfortunately, the competition for it is likely to be pretty keen, and caster DPS will not appreciate your rolling on this.
Cord of the Patronizing Practitioner Another to-die-for belt off Marrowgar, but this time off his 10-man version.
Belt of Petrified Ivy Available for 60 Emblems of Frost. The leather equivalent of the Circle of Ossus, but really itemized more with balance in mind.
Cord of Dark Suffering Dropped by Faction Gunships-10.
Wrathful Gladiator's Belt of Salvation Dropped by Toravon. Otherwise, you have to have a personal and team rating of at least 1300 to buy this for 68,200 honor.
Belt of Arctic Life A leatherworking BoE with the recipe dropped in Ulduar. Still a surprisingly good piece. If you get this made, it'll tide you over for a while until you get a Frost belt or a raid drop.
Braid of Salt and Fire Dropped by Ick and Krick in heroic Pit of Saron.
Belt of the Living Thicket Available for 28 Emblems of Conquest.
Embrace of the Leviathan Dropped by Flame Leviathan-25.
Strip of Remorse Dropped by the Captain's Chest in heroic Halls of Reflection.
Binding of the Tranquil Glade Dropped by the Champion's Cache in normal Trial of the Champion. A really well itemized piece.
