Shifting Perspectives: Gearing a bear druid in patch 4.2
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. This week, it's not like we're doing dailies for our health.
Mmmm. Fresh meat gear, nicely charred by all that flame-broiling action in the Firelands these days. High time to update our gear lists!
Stat priority for bears in patch 4.2 remains armor, stamina, agility, mastery, crit, expertise, hit, and haste. Rather than rehash territory we've already covered in our first set of bear gear guides for Cataclysm, the lowest piece I'm going to list in each slot is the best available piece from 5-mans, reputation, or the new Molten Front vendors. If you're starting from absolutely nothing and need some ilevel 333/346 gear to tide you over, I would recommend the previous bear guides. Otherwise, your goal should be to get to at least the lowest piece in each slot on this list.
As always, I'm bypassing PVP gear because so much itemization is wasted on resilience. However, if you want to use it and you've got a better piece than would otherwise be available from PVE, knock yourself out. This week, we'll cover the helm through boot slots, and next week, we'll tackle rings, trinkets, weapons, and relics.
To reiterate for anyone returning to the game as of patch 4.2, these are the ilevels you can expect at each tier of content:
ilevel 333 Pre-heroic blues and honored reputation blues
ilevel 346 Heroic blues and revered reputation blues
ilevel 353 Epics from the Zandalari 5-man heroics
ilevel 359 Normal tier 11 raid epics and exalted reputation epics
ilevel 365 Molten Front epic rewards
ilevel 372 Heroic tier 11 raid epics
ilevel 378 Normal tier 12 raid epics
ilevel 391 Heroic tier 12 raid epics
Gear comparison is fairly easy these days unless you have to judge the worth of a random proc. As a general rule, higher-ilevel pieces are preferable to their lower-ilevel counterparts, simply because they'll always have more primary stats (e.g., agility and stamina). All pieces at the same ilevel will have the same primary stats, so gear's usually ranked by how attractive its secondary stats are. As a bear, go for anything with mastery on it before you go for anything else, and avoid haste if you can (unfortunately you often can't). I ran into problems on the earliest version of this list by ranking everything according to its heroic version only. Without doubling the size of this article, I've still got a bit of that problem here trying to rank gear that doesn't have a heroic version, like the Tsanga's Helm below. Pay attention to your ilevels.
If you have a piece sitting around that's not listed here, just check the ilevel and compare it against the list to see where it'll fall.
Helm
Enchant Arcanum of the Earthen Ring (requires Earthen Ring revered)
Obsidian Arborweave Headpiece (heroic) Tier 12 helm; token dropped by Ragnaros
Hood of Rampant Disdain (heroic) Rhyolith
Stormrider's Headpiece (heroic) Tier 11 helm; token dropped by Cho'gall. The normal version of this isn't as good as Tsanga's (below), but the heroic beats it. However, if you want the four-piece tier bonus, the helm is usually kept while the shoulders are swapped for Poison Protocol Spaulders
Tsanga's Helm Bastion of Twilight BOE and the best normal helm before tier 12
Membrane of C'Thun (heroic) Cho'gall (the heroic beats Tsanga's, above)
Agile Bio-Optic Killshades Engineer-only BOP
The Savager's Mask Halazzi, Zul'Aman
Neck
Choker of the Vanquished Lord (heroic) Ragnaros
Necklace of Smoke Signals (upgrade) 1,250 valor points; can be upgraded with a Crystallized Firestone, becoming ilevel 391
Necklace of Strife (heroic) Valiona/Theralion
Don Rodrigo's Fabulous Necklace BOE drop from upper-level Cataclysm zones and heroics
Amulet of the Watcher Bloodlord Mandokir, Zul'Gurub
Shoulders
Enchant Greater Inscription of Unbreakable Quartz or Greater Inscription of Shattered Crystal (requires Therazane exalted)
Obsidian Arborweave Spaulders (heroic) Tier 12 shoulders; token dropped by Majordomo Staghelm
Shoulderpads of the Forgotten Gate (heroic) Baleroc
Poison Protocol Pauldrons (heroic) Magmatron
Stormrider's Spaulders (heroic) Tier 11 shoulders
Tusked Shoulderpads Daakara, Zul'Aman
Cloak
Enchant Enchant Cloak - Protection or Enchant Cloak - Major Agility
Dreadfire Drape (heroic) Rhyolith
Sleek Flamewrath Cloak Requires Avengers of Hyjal friendly
Cloak of Biting Chill (heroic) Maloriak; normal version isn't as good as the Mantle of Doubt below, so use only if you have the ilevel 372 version
Mantle of Doubt Quest reward from Elemental Bonds -- The Vow
Dory's Finery BOE drop by upper-level Cataclysm zones and heroics
Viewless Wings 1,250 justice points
Recovered Cloak of Frostheim Second timed chest in Zul'Aman (Oh, Frostheim -- why must your cloak contain haste?)
Chest
Enchant Enchant Chest - Greater Stamina or Enchant Chest - Peerless Stats
Breastplate of the Incendiary Soul (heroic) Baleroc
Obsidian Arborweave Raiment (heroic) 2,200 valor points; the normal version can be upgraded with a token dropped by Alysrazor
Sark of the Unwatched (heroic) Atramedes
Morrie's Waywalker Wrap BOE world drop from upper-level Cataclysm zones and heroics
Stormrider's Raiment (heroic) Tier 11 chest; if you're restricted to the normal version, the Assassin's Chestplate below is better
Assassin's Chestplate Leatherworking BOE
Shadowtooth Trollskin Breastplate Hex Lord Malacrass, Zul'Aman
Bracers
This is still a problem slot. You may get an excellent pair of bracers off Alysrazor. Then again, you might not.
Enchant Enchant Bracer - Agility or Enchant Bracers - Major Stamina
Flickering Wristbands (heroic) Alysrazor. In general I've tried to avoid the drops with random stats just because I find them rather annoying, but this is your only shot at bracers with mastery on them in tier 12
Flamebinder Bracers 1,250 valor points; whether the random Alysrazor drop is better than these is up to chance
Parasitic Bands (heroic) Magmaw
Amani'shi Bracers Jan'alai, Zul'Aman
Gloves
In annoying contrast to the bracer slot, we are still spoiled for choice with gloves.
Enchant Glove Reinforcements, Heavy Savage Armor Kit, Enchant Gloves - Greater Mastery, Enchant Gloves - Major Agility
Gloves of Dissolving Smoke (heroic) Shannox
Clutches of Evil Leatherworking BOE
Obsidian Arborweave Grips (heroic) 1,650 valor points or dropped by Occu'thar, Baradin Hold; heroic version can be upgraded with a token dropped by Baleroc, but don't bother -- unless you can get the heroic version, the leatherworking BOE and the Shannox drop are both better
Aviana's Grips Molten Front vendor Varlan Highbough (after finishing Calling the Ancients)
Double Attack Handguards (heroic) Chimaeron. Again, the heroic version of both this and the tier 11 gloves below will beat Aviana's
Stormrider's Grips (heroic) Tier 11 gloves
Stormbolt Gloves (Alliance) or Liar's Handwraps (Horde) Available at exalted with the Wildhammer or Dragonmaw Clan, respectively
Knotted Handwraps BOE trash drop in Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub
Belt
Enchant Ebonsteel Belt Buckle
Riplimb's Lost Collar (upgrade) BOE Firelands trash drop; can be upgraded with a Crystallized Firestone
Belt of the Fallen Brood Sinestra; best in slot, unless you can upgrade Riplimb's
Flamebinding Girdle Requires Avengers of Hyjal honored reputation
Dispersing Belt (heroic) Twilight Ascendant Council
Belt of Nefarious Whispers Leatherworking BOE; better than Dispersing unless you've got the heroic version
Belt of a Thousand Gaping Mouths World boss Akma'hat
Belt of Slithering Serpents High Priest Arlokk, Zul'Gurub
Legs
Enchant Charscale Leg Armor
Obsidian Arborweave Leggings (heroic) Tier 12 legs; 2,200 valor points or dropped by Occu'thar in Baradin Hold; heroic version can be upgraded with a token dropped by Shannox
Cinderweb Leggings (heroic) Beth'tilac
Stormrider's Legguards (heroic) Tier 11 legs
Aberration's Leggings (heroic) Maloriak
Leggings of Dancing Blades Third chest in Zul'Aman timed run
Boots
Enchant Earthen Vitality or Assassin's Step; as a tank, you really do need a boot enchant with increased run speed
Sandals of Leaping Coals (heroic) Majordomo Staghelm
Treads of the Craft Leatherworking BOE
Storm Rider's Boots (heroic) Halfus Wyrmbreaker
Treads of Fleeting Joy 1,650 justice points
Fasc's Preserved Boots Gri'lek, Zul'Gurub; all hail Fasc!
Shifting Perspectives helps you gear your bear druid at 85, tempts you with weapons, trinkets and relics for bears, then shows you what to do with it all in Feral Druid Tanking 101. We'll also help you gear your resto druid.