Welcome back to another enthralling episode of ‘I gots my Earthwarden, so NOW WHAT?!?’

There is SO much to do once you reach level 70 in the Outlands, that I think it is a pretty fair assumption that if you are a casual (or dedicated) player of World of Warcraft, that even if you hit 70 within a month of the Burning Crusades’ release date, you still haven’t secured every Heroic instance key, maxed out your professions, gotten to Exalted with Ogri’la and Sha’tari Skyguard AND Netherdrake, and put Kara and Gruul on farm.

Of course, if you have, then you can stick around after this episode and give advice on which pieces to choose to bolster +defense when your gear upgrades remove some of what you already had. That’s right, I’ll put your butt to work!

Anyway, if you are a Feral Druid and level 70, then you’ve likely already seen one of the many ‘pre-raiding tanking gear’ posts that are around the internet.
There’s an excellent one at Adventures in Azeroth that I like, and then theres the pre-raiding tanking gear guide that I put together myself a while back.

Those lists are all well and good. Everything there can be attained from either soloing quests, patient stalking of the Auction House, or regular 5 man instance runs. All reasonable expectations for any competent druid, even if you are forced to PUG it.

But what do you do AFTER that? Sure, you’ve got great gear. Compared to a Protection Warrior, you’re already geared up to start tanking Karazhan, at a point where the Warrior is just starting to think about where to find his first good piece.

Today we’re going to talk about where to go for upgrades in Heroics, and in early Karazhan raiding.

The drawback to having such great pre-raiding gear is that there are very few items that are upgrades once we DO start raiding. If you figure that your gear is good enough to start raiding Karazhan, and you’ll pick your upgrades up from there, then I have bad news for you sunshine; there’s not that much to find in Karazhan for a feral bear tank. Our gear upgrades are a bit harder to track down than that. Nope, even if you’re technically ready for Karazhan, you are going to need to look elsewhere for the bulk of your upgrades. That’s right; Heroics.

And now, we’re getting back to the point that started this post… maybe you JUST hit 70. Or maybe you hit 70 months ago, but you wanted to grind Kurenai reputation to get a Talbuk Mount, and farm money to get your epic flying skill, and then pound out Sha’tari Skyguard and Netherdrake rep for your wriggly sky worm and dragon mounts. [Not that I know anyone that did that :)]

Maybe you’ve already been tanking Karazhan, and you’re guild is rarely getting past Maiden, and NEVER getting to Illhoof, and you’re sick of seeing the same three boss drops over and over and over. Sure, the rep is getting you fantastic Tanking Ring upgrades, but you are getting burned out and miss that excitement at knowing that your tanking just got better. You know that the time has come to finally look at getting keyed for Heroics. But which one to choose first?

Well, there are two possibilities. First, maybe you’re a Pokemon Master, and you ‘gotta catch em all’, and you want exalted with everyone, all at once. You go ahead with that, I’ll admire your dedication and work ethic… from a distance.

The other possibility is you want to know how you can get the most potential return on your time investment. Time is valuable… you are going to have to spend some of it running instances to attain reputation with a faction to earn that Heroic Key. You want to know that the choice you make is going to give you the best chance to get some good upgrades. Right?

There are two different kinds of rewards for achieving reputation with a faction.

• First, there is the immediate reward; a faction Quartermaster has different items to sell, depending on your reputation level with them. As soon as you have the right reputation to qualify, boom, you can buy the item.
• Second, there is the potential reward. As soon as you buy your Heroic key at Revered (soon to be reduced to Honored in Patch 2.3), you can begin to run Heroic instances, with the potential to earn one of the Heroic level rewards. You also earn a Badge of Justice for each Heroic boss you kill, which you can save and turn in to G’eras in Shattrath City for even more epic loot upgrades.

Now, my first recommendation, unsurprisingly, will be Cenarion Expedition.

The reason why is that at Exalted, the immediate reward you will receive is the ability to purchase [Earthwarden] as your new Main Tanking weapon. You won’t have to try to get it to drop, and you won’t have to find a solid group to run Heroics. As soon as you hit Exalted, it’s yours. On the other hand, of course, you have to climb all the way past Revered to Exalted to get it. But frankly, in my opinion, it’s worth it. [Earthwarden] will last you for a LONG time. The next time there is ANY upgrade to your tanking weapon is the [Wildfury Greatstaff], which drops from trash mobs in Serpentshrine Cavern. SSC is a fairly long way down the raiding path for most guilds. You will first need 25 people that are solidly geared from Heroics, Karazhan, AND Gruuls’ Lair before you can realisticly hit Serpentshrine Cavern. Let’s face it… getting [Earthwarden] will likely last you for a long time in your tanking life. Also, don’t overlook that at Revered you can buy the [Strength of the Untamed], which is a pretty darn good tanking neck piece. It’s not quite as highly ranked as [Mark of the Ravenguard] or [Necklace of the Deep], but if you’re focused on Cenarion rep instead of questing you can be happy with this, and you won’t have to buy expensive gems to trick it out like you will with the [Necklace of the Deep].

The only real potential upgrade from Heroic Coilfang Reservoir instances is a fairly nice one, the [Argussian Compass] from Heroic Underbog, which drops from The Black Stalker, the final boss. The [Argussian Compass] is ranked by Emmerald as the highest of all bear tanking trinkets, but as has been pointed out by Kadaan, this is based off of being able to use the effect very often. I personally use the [Commander’s Badge], a trinket that is obtained through Netherdrake faction, which cannot be gotten until after you have epic flying skill. Kadaan also points out that [Moroes Lucky Pocket Watch] from Moroes, second boss fight of Karazhan, and the [Darkmoon Cards] (very high Stamina trinkets) are great choices over this also. Regardless of whether you go after this, or if you prefer a higher Stamina piece, or maybe one of the engineering crafted trinkets, most of your options here can be obtained from the Auction House, professions, reputation, or this instance.

Wow, so with Cenarion Expedition reputation, a profession or the Auction House, you could conceivably max out your Two-handed Weapon and both Trinket slots, lasting well into Serpentshrine Caverns. And no raiding yet!

After Cenarion Expedition, you have a few choices to make. If you are obsessed with getting your Epic Flying Form, than you’ll need to be able to run Heroic Sethekk Halls, which is based off of Lower City reputation. But if we’re talking about tanking gear upgrades, then my recommendation unquestionably has to be Honor Hold/Thrallmar.

Honor Hold/Thrallmar reputation does NOT provide any immediate tanking benefits. In fact, aside from the Quartermaster of Keepers of Time at Revered, there are NO other immediate Quartermaster rewards for feral bear tanks. Sure, there are plenty of professions patterns available from the Quartermasters, but as far as tanking upgrades go, there is zilch.

But the potential upgrades…. Holy Elune! Just look at this stuff…

From Heroic Hellfire Ramparts, we have [Tree-Mender’s Belt], which drops from the chest off the final boss. From Heroic Blood Furnace we have the [Mantle of Shadowy Embrace], which drops from Kel’idan the Breaker. This item should be sending up bright flares to draw your attention, because of the massive pain in the butt finding good tanking shoulders has become. Well, these shoulders kick big butt. And better yet, both of these Heroics are reasonable to run.

Finally, for the insane among you, you can take on Heroic Shattered Halls, and you can shoot for the [Forestheart Bracers], which drop from Warchief Kargath Bladefist. I personally think that this is too small a potential reward in exchange for the massive challenge of a Heroic SH, but since there is very little else to choose from as a bracer upgrade, if you have a good, GOOD group, it may be worth a try. It’s still a solid upgrade from your [Umberhowls’ Collar].

Regardless, the belt and the shoulders alone are awesome upgrades. It is possible to get a comparable upgrade belt from Hyakiss the Lurker, one of the three randomly generated critter bosses in Karazhan. And of course there is PvP gear that is better. But if you do not PvP, or your guild is not raiding Karazhan, or is bypassing the critter bosses, then the belt and shoulders here are just outstanding.

Now, if you’ve gone this far, lol, and you’ve gotten those two Heroic keys, and run those instances to get your [Argussian Compass], [Tree-Mender’s Belt], and [Mantle of Shadowy Embrace], then you should AT LEAST have 25 Badges of Justice.

RUN, don’t walk, over to G’eras in Shattrath City, and buy your [Ring of Unyielding Force]. This ring, coupled with the [Violet Signet] from Karazhan reputation, will be your final two rings well into Magtheridon’s Lair. Starting to look like we’re getting our end game raiding gear here, doesn’t it?

We are now left with Caverns of Time, Auchindoin, and Tempest Keep to choose from. Unfortunately, as I said before, NONE of the three Quartermasters here benefit a feral bear tank, even at Exalted. At Revered, the Keepers of Time Quartermaster, Alurmi, will sell the [Glyph of the Defender], the best tanking enchant for your head armor slot. But you probably got to Revered with Keepers of Time just by running Karazhan attunement, and then running Durnholdt/Old Hillsbrad a few times trying for your [Iron Band of the Unbreakable]. Either way, reaching Revered with Keepers of Time isn’t a difficult grind, and the [Glyph of the Defender] is worth it.

If you carefully compare the potential rewards you can obtain from running the rest of the Heroic instances with the gear that you can obtain as suggested by the beginning guides, you’ll find that none of them are worth your effort. Crazy, isn’t it? Caverns of Time, Auchindoin, and Tempest Keep can all be safely ignored by a feral TANK. There are plenty of DPS cat form rewards, of course, which is well worth an article all on it’s own, but as far as tanking gear… nada.

But after getting this far, and having two rings, two trinkets, a two-handed weapon, shoulders and belt… it’s looking pretty good. Your [Heavy Clefthoof Vest], [Heavy Clefthoof Leggings] and [Heavy Clefthoof Boots] are also solid pieces that can carry you well past Karazhan. So where else are you looking to get gear now?

Well, let’s take a look. First, let’s see what else we can get prior to seriously 10 man+ raiding.

From those Badges of Honor come two more great rewards. For an Idol, coming live in Patch 2.3, is the Idol of Terror for 20 Badges of Justice. (Edit: I know that the hotlink on the Idol wasn’t working right… so I’m going to make it a pagelink for now. Sorry.) For a neck piece, we can get the [Necklace of the Juggernaut] for 25 Badges of Justice.

If you are raiding Karazhan, the Maiden of Virtue can drop the [Barbed Choker of Discipline]. It’s not ranked quite as highly as the [Necklace of the Juggernaut], but if it drops then by all means take it, and save yourself the 25 Badges of Justice for when the new 2.3 Badge rewards are released.

Now we are finally into Karazhan. What you will be looking for are;

• Hands; The [Gloves of Dexterous Manipulation] from Attumen the Huntsman.
• Hands; [Guantlets of Malorne], the Tier 4 drop from Curator.
• Feet; [Zierhuts’ Lost Treads] from Karazhan trash mobs.
• Head; [Stag-Helm of Malorne], the Tier 4 head piece that drops from Prince Malchezaar.
• Back; [Gilded Thorium Cloak] from Terestian Illhoof.

That’s it. No, I’m serious. That’s it for Karazhan for bear tanks. If you don’t believe me, go back and look over all that gear again. It’s okay, I find it hard to believe too, but there it is.

That just leaves the Chest and Leggings. And it’s not pretty, because unless you PvP in a good Arena team, the next upgrades past Heavy Clefthoof are Tier 4 rewards past Karazhan.

For the [Greaves of Malorne], the Tier 4 armor token drops from Gruul. For the [Breastplate of Malorne], the Tier 4 token drops from Magtheridon himself.

I know that there are many dedicated players who actively raid these battles, and well beyond. I believe that if you are one of those players, then you are probably fully aware of what drops from whom, and also where you will be looking for your next upgrade. And if you are actively in The Eye and Black Temple, then bless you. I wish you good luck, and great rolling!

I hope that this greater in-depth look into bear tanking gear beyond the pre-raid warm up opens your eyes to your other options besides Karazhan, helps you to set some achievable goals, focus in on where to go, and exactly what you want to do next.

Until next time, peace out, my friends.