feraldruid
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Phat Loot Phriday: Earthwarden
Mmmmmm feral druid gear. (Yes, in a Undead rogue's hand for some reason, but still.)Name: EarthwardenType: Epic Two-hand MaceDamage / Speed: 142-279 / 3.20 (65.8 DPS)Abilities: 500 Armor. Yes, on a 2h mace. Hawt. +39 Stamina. Increases defense rating by 27, feral skill combat rating by 24, and attack power by 556 in Cat, Bear, Dire Bear, and Moonkin forms only. Yes, 556 attack power. 14 AP = 1 DPS, so this baby gives an extra 39 DPS when in those forms. Whoah mama. There are a few better Druid items floating around out there, but the armor on this especially makes it perfect for Bear tanks. Boy is it perfect-- Blizz wasn't kidding when they said, way back when, that feral gear would show up in BC. And you don't even have to raid to get it! How to Get It: It's a rep reward from Cenarion Expedition in Zangarmarsh (one of the easier Outlands rep grinds, if you ask me). The only real problem is that you've got to get to Exalted. While it's pretty easy to get to Revered (a few runs through Slave Pens and Underbog, a few turn-ins, and a few quests after you reach Honored), Exalted will require quite a few run through Steam Vaults (although Heroic Slave Pens and Underbog will also give the rep you need). You can also turn in Coilfang Armaments, and since those are BoE, it is possible, if you've got the cash, to buy your way up to this item.Don't spend all your money though-- even with the rep, you'll have to shell out 265g 68s 17c for it. Although if your guild is in need of tanks, maybe you could convince them to help you pick up the tab?Getting Rid of It: If you're a Bear tank, you won't, at least until Serpentshrine Cavern, which is a long way off for most people. But a vendor will eventually give you 53g 13s 63c for it.
Dealing with off-specs (or being one)
Righteous Fury has an interesting little piece up about off-specs-- you know them, they're the weirdos who play their class to do something other than its standard role in endgame raiding. Feral druids, DPS-adins, Fury warriors, Enhancement shammys, and (perhaps most of all) shadow priests. The convention says warriors spec prot, pallys heal and buff, and priests use +healing gear, but these guys (and girls) choose to buck the curve.What he says rings true to me because the guild I play with has finally reached the point where we're getting serious about raiding. My GM hasn't asked anyone to respec yet, but he's put it out there that we want to beat these bosses and get the gear-- if you can't do the job given to you because you're specced for PVP instead of raiding, you've got to move out of the way for someone who can, or do what's best for the raid. And I'm right there with him. Holy priests are the best healers in the game, so most priests should be holy and healing. Protection warriors have the tanking tools, so if you're MT, you better be prot.I'm not saying there's not room for off-specs-- there's a guy in my other guild who's such an awesome shadow priest (shout out to Gregorus on Thunderhorn-A!) that the whole guild has shadow priest alts just because they've seen what he can do. I main tanked for him in Strat, and when he told us early on that he "tanked by healing," he wasn't kidding-- the mobs all hit him way more then they hit me, and yet he kept us all healed and up with Vampiric Embrace and his +shadow gear. After seeing that, of course I had to have my own shadow priest, and when she hits 60, I already expect that I won't be able to raid with her under normal circumstances. No problem-- I'll melt faces in PVP with her, and raid with my prot warrior.On the other hand, if I need a DPS for a raid, and a shadow priest can roll out as much damage as a rogue or a warlock, then we're talking. But from what I've seen, off-specs can do those things, just not as well. Gear to gear (without extremely expensive potions), can a feral druid tank as well as a warrior? Can a shadow priest out-dps a rogue? Because if not, I'm giving those spots to PVE specced raiders.
