Gear Your Tanky-Bear FAST! A Simplified Pre-Raid Gearing Guide for Feral Tanks

Hey dudes, Silvite Soltis here and I'm back today with another Get Geared Fast guide for you! Man, it's been a LONG time since I did one of these...

So far we've discussed priests, pallies and shamans, warrior tanks and dps, and a whole bunch of casters. But one of my favorite types of character has long-been neglected: the bear tanks! So, since phase 3 is now out and getting pre-raid gear is easier than ever, I thought now's as good a time as ever to help get your big fuzzy bois all geared up to raid!

Let's get right into it!

Priority Dungeons

As a druid tank, you're going to have little difficulty finding dungeons as you approach level cap, due to the immense demand for tanks at endgame. That being said, there are 4 dungeons you'll want to prioritize as you reach that glorious level 60: BRD, UBRS, DM North, and Stratholme. And, as a general rule of thumb when gearing, make sure to focus first on the dungeons with important quests before farming for gear.

First up in the list, you'll want to be running BRD repeatedly, just like basically every other class, for a chance at up to 18 items, as well as a pre-raid BiS ring reward for Horde druids - Thrall's Resolve. Since you can start clearing this dungeon as early as level 53, and need to run it to complete attunement quests, it's just a great way to get the gearing process started. In particular, watch out for Arglemach's Naglering, The Emperor's New Cape, Plugger Spazzring's Mixologist's Tunic, and many more solid pieces while you work on those necessary quest chains.

Next up, UBRS is an absolute must-go dungeon for everyone in Classic, as it's home to several attunement quests, great quest rewards, and, of course, amazing drops. As you work on these quests to pick up your Mark of Tyranny and Drakefire Amulet, keep an eye out for Truestrike Shoulders, Blademaster Leggings, Blackmist Armguards, and some pieces of Wildheart or Shadowcraft that you can make good use of.

Third on the list of must-do dungeons is DM North Tribute Runs. This is mostly just to get the awesome weapon Unyielding Maul and/or the Tarnished Elven Ring from the tribute chest at the end. Now that we're in Phase 3, these items are easier to obtain than ever, and considering the high armor and defense of the mace, it's worth it to try and pick it up - unless you have the Warden Staff, that is.

Finally, Stratholme is a two wing dungeon that has several good leather items, but if you haven't gotten a helm yet, what you'll want to try for is the Mask of the Unforgiven from the boss bearing the same name. It's fairly common to see farming runs for this boss, so consider setting one up or joining a group to pick this amazing helm up, assuming you don't have something decent from leveling in BRD that is.



Ok, now that you know which dungeons to prioritize in your gearing process, let's discuss some RNG-free items for specific slots that you can collect if dungeon drops prove to be elusive along the way...

Quick Tip!

Feral tanks have several great items that they can pick up reaching rank 3 in PVP and grinding their Alterac Valley reputation to honored, so if you enjoy this form of content at all, keep that in mind as you work on gearing up!

Guaranteed Items for Specific Slots

Head

Unfortunately, the helm is one of the worst pieces in terms of a guaranteed slot, so your safest bet is to ignore upgrading this piece until completing all the attunements and related dungeons, then trying for the Mask of the Unforgiven from Stratholme if you haven't gotten a suitable piece by then. But, if you don't want to farm, you could hit up the Auction House to look for a Tattered Leather Hood, a Pridelord Halo, or a simple Wicked Leather Headband. Alternatively, you can complete the Deadwood of the North quest in Felwood to obtain a Helm of the Pathfinder, but chances are good that you'll be wanting to upgrade from that anyway at level 60.

Neck

Fortunately, there are several decent neck options for druid tanks pre-raid - especially for tauren:

If you are into PVP and feel like grinding AV rep to Honored, you can easily purchase a decent Stam+AP necklace, the Frostwolf Leginnaire's Pendant or Stormpike Soldier's Pendant

If you're Horde and hate the idea of hour-long AV queues, you can simply do the quest Wanted: Vile Priestess Hexx and Her Minions in the Hinterlands to obtain the Woven Ivy Necklace instead.

And like every class, druids can also consider completing Tirion Fordring's quest chain to obtain a Mark of Fordring, though it's definitely more of a dps item and you'd have to give up Fording's Seal to get it, so choose carefully if you do In Dreams.

As a final note, you can also look in the auction house for a Medallion of Grand Marshal Morris. Though it's usually quite expensive, it's an excellent necklace for all tanks, so keep it in mind as an option.

Shoulders

Hopefully, you'll get Truestrike while completing your attunements and whatnot, but if you NEED something else, there are three potentially decent items you can grab to help you tank early on:

First of all, Horde have access to the Duskwing Mantle from Nathanos's quest Duskwing, How I Hate Thee, which is a great place to start even before you go into UBRS.

Another potential shoulderguard you could obtain, even as Alliance, are the Wyrmhide Spaulders from the BRD quest A Taste of Flame. While they have no stamina or agility, the 2% hit makes them great for threat generation.

Finally, you can pick up the crafted Stormshroud Shoulders for some stamina and evasion if none of the other options seem good enough, though whether or not you believe it's worth the cost in materials is up to you.

Back

Luckily, druid tanks have access to several great cloaks that are fairly easy to obtain, though two of the best ones require a bit of PVP...

First off, the Sergeant's Cape/Cloak is a reward for attaining PVP Rank 3. If you've decided to farm AV rep anyway, this should basically be a free item AND it's pre-raid BiS due to it's high armor and stamina. If you somehow don't make rank 3 before hitting honored, though, you can also pick up a decent cloak from the reputation quartermaster instead: the Frostwolf Legionnaire's Cloak / Stormpike Soldier's Cloak.

Of course, if you're hellbent on avoiding PVP, there are a couple of crafted cloaks that you could obtain instead. The Cloak of Warding is particularly good due to its high armor and defense stats. The Shifting Cloak is an excellent druid tanking cloak as well, though the mats will likely take just as long to farm out as AV reputation, so...yeah. Choose wisely!

Chest

There are actually quite a few great chest that are guaranteed for bears that seek them out, but three stand out above the rest:

First off is the VERY tanky Warbear Harness, which is crafted via leatherworking. With a ton of stamina and decently high armor, it's definitely a worthwhile investment. If you prefer more agility though, the Wicked Leather Armor is another great crafted item that you could use.

However, both of those items pale in comparison to the newly introduced Grizzled Pelt from the druid Sunken Temple quest chain, which has an excellent spread of tanking stats. However, if you want to pick up the healing chest from that quest instead for offspec, the leatherworking items are still a great bet.

Wrists

Unfortunately, there's no really decent bracers that can be crafted or obtained via a quest, so keep an eye out for the Malefic Bracers, Shadowcraft Bracers, or Deepfury Bracers on the auction house.

Hands

For hands, there are a few viable options. First off, you can collect the Blight Leather Gloves from the Felwood quest A Final Blow - the final part of the Jaedenar quest chain. This is a good start, and one you can get pretty easily at level cap, but you'll probably want to upgrade from this anyway.

As such, there are two other BoE options are the widely-popular. The Devilsaur Gauntlets have ok stats, but an amazing 2 piece bonus for threat generation if you also get the Leggings. Alternatively, you could easily pick up the Shadowcraft Gloves from the auction house, which offers an excellent 2 piece bonus for damage mitigation - 200 more armor. So, if you have the belt or bracers anyway, it might be a great idea to drop the 4-6 gold on this dungeon set item too, assuming you don't particularly feel like spending hundreds of gold on the Devilsaur items, that is.

Waist

There are three guaranteed belts that you  can aim for for your big lovable bear:

First off, if you've been farming AV reputation, you can get your Stormpike or Frostwolf Leather Belt, which is available upon reaching honored.

If PVP isn't your thing, you can most definitely pick up Vosh'Gajin's Strand from the quest Maxwell's Mission, if you're Alliance or Warlord's Command if you're Horde. Horde is actually much luckier when it comes to this slot, as this quest is the first part of their Onyxia attunement quest, so every tanky tauren bear should have it already by this point.

If neither of those options suits your needs though, or if you want to make sure you can get double two-piece bonuses from Devilsaur and Shadowcraft sets, the Shadowcraft Belt is another viable option that is typically pretty cheap on the auction house. So, consider that as well.

Legs

Unfortunately, there are no really solid legs for bears that can be obtained from quests, but there is a nice selection of BoE items you can pick up from the auction house or have crafted for you:

Again, the Devilsaur Leggings are a great item for bears wanting to get that 2% hit for threat generation. They lack a bit in survivability though, so unless you've got the gloves to match, you may be better off keeping an eye out for the Plaguehound Leggings - a high-agi pair of pants with 1% hit.

But, if you're cheap like me, you'll probably end up just going for the Warbear Woolies - a crafted BoE item that is super cheap to craft. It might take a bit of time to find someone with the pattern, but it'll definitely save you some gold.

Feet

Ok, almost done with all the leather. For boots, druid tanks have a few guaranteed options. To start, the Spry Boots from the DM East quest Pusillin and the Elder Azj'Tordin offers some great avoidance and decent armor, so it might be a good place to start if you haven't gotten any other drops by this point.

If you want a bit more in stats, however, the Mongoose Boots and Dawn Treaders crafted by leatherworkers are also viable options that you can most definitely work toward. Keep in mind, though, that both of these can be quite pricey - especially the Dawn Treaders.

Fingers

For your rings, there are several awesome, guaranteed drops that you can work on:

First and foremost, Horde druids can and should get Thrall's Resolve from the quest The Princess Saved? in BRD. This ring is BiS and will last you a LONG time in your tanking adventures. Unfortunately, Alliance druids can't obtain this, as Magni's Will is the melee reward from their version of the chain, but to be fair, it's a great ring as well, so...yeah. All druids should really do this quest.

Other than the BRD quest, though, there are two great quest rewards out in the open world that you can and should work toward getting. While leveling up in Tanaris, you can complete the quest Tooga's Quest in order to obtain the Band of the Great Tortoiose, which is awesome for druid tanks due to the high armor in the ring slot - one that typically doesn't provide armor in the first place. Once you get up to level 60, though, you'll want to also obtain a Ring of Protection from the Battle of Darrowshire quest chain. This ring, with its high armor and stamina, is amazing for bear tanks, so make it a priority to pick it up!

Trinkets

Alright, now for the fun bit - the trinkets! As a druid tank, there are several awesome trinkets from quests and other sources that you'll want to pick up if possible:

First off, we've got the Rune of the Guard Captain from the Horde-exclusive quest Job Opening: Guard Captain of Revantusk Village. This is basically a must-have for any Horde melee class - tank or dps alike. As a tank, it will provide you with great threat generation and should only be swapped out for fights where high mitigation is more important than threat.

Next up is Mark of Tyranny, one of the pre-raid BiS trinkets for druid tanks. This is obtained from the quests General Drakkisath's Demise for Alliance and For the Horde! for Horde. Again, this is basically a guaranteed slot for Horde characters, as it is part of the Onyxia attunement quest chain. However, you should also be aware that by taking this item, you're giving up two other excellent trinkets as well - Eye of the Beast and, more importantly for threat generation, Blackhand's Breadth. Choose wisely.

If you're an enchanter, you should consider trying to pick up the recipe for Smoking Heart of the Mountain, a BoP crafted item made by enchanters that is comparable to Mark of Tyranny and offers several resistances. As of right now, the pattern is being sold for a pittance and other than the Blood of the Mountain itself, the materials are mostly quite cheap as well.

If you've decided to go the PVP route to gear your druid, you can make good use of the AV Trinket Frostwolf / Stormpike Insignia as well, which offers some dodge, health, and frost resistance AND improves as you gain more reputation with your faction. Sure, it's not the best, but it's something!

Finally, if you've just got no incentive to grind out any of those other trinkets, you could simply complete the long Blasted Lands quest chain ending in You Are Rakh'likh, Demon in order to pick up the Demon's Blood trinket - offering some defense, health, and more. Though, to be honest, you really should try to get the other trinkets over this one, as it's a lot of work for little reward. You do get a 16 slot bag with it too though, so...

Weapon(s)

Finally, the most important aspect of nearly every class's gearing process OTHER than feral druids, the weapon!

As a start to your tanking adventures, Horde players can pick up Sarah's Guide from the quest The Corpulent One in the Eastern Plaguelands, though this is really just for the stamina if you've gotten literally nothing better by that point.

Better than that stat stick are two very good two handers: the BiS-through-Naxx Warden Staff, which is a BoE world drop that you could use as early as level 43 and will cost you an arm and a leg to purchase, and the significantly less expensive Twig of the World Tree, which typically runs around 10 gold on the auction house. Obviously, the former is better, but the latter is more affordable, so...yeah.

As a final note about weapons, it's also VERY possible to find a high stamina/agility 2-hander from the auction house, so keep an eye out for those as well. As druid weapons are just glorified stat-sticks, it really doesn't matter all that much what it is so long as the stats are good. That being said, I wish you luck in getting either a cheap Warden Staff or an Unyielding Maul from your DM North tribute runs!

Final Thoughts

So yeah, that's basically all it takes to Gear Your Tanky-Bear FAST! To summarize, run BRD, UBRS, DM North, and possibly Stratholme for the quest rewards and many potentially great drops, grind AV for honored reputation and rank 3 if you're into PVP, and then fill in the gaps with the quest rewards and BoE items I just listed. Easy-peasy!

Thanks for reading this guide and good luck in gearing up your big ole huggable bear! As tanks are in high demand, I believe I speak for everyone when I say that we appreciate your role and hope you are able to get as much loot as you need as fast as possible! As a final note, remember that in addition to the items listed here, it's definitely possible to find high level stam/agi greens on the AH to round out your set as well, though those are never guaranteed and may be quite expensive, so feel free to prioritize the quest items and PVP rewards instead if you are financially strapped.

But anyway, that's it for today. If you liked this guide or found it useful, let me know by adding yourself to my mailing list and by leaving a comment down below! Also, consider following me on  Facebook and Twitter for updates when I release new guides and content like this in the future, and check out my videos over on YouTube if you prefer content like this in that form as well.

Thanks again for reading, good luck with the gearing process, and as always...

Take it easy!

Dungeon Sets 101 - Episode 7: Wildheart!

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis back again with my next installment of Dungeon Sets 101.

We're officially 2/3rds of the way there - 6 out of 9 classes are covered with only three remaining - the druid, shaman, and warlock. Since we've gotten this far, let's celebrate with what is most likely the most time-consuming set to collect.

So, shift into bear form or bind that Healing Touch rank 4 because it's time to start collecting the druid's dungeon set - the Wildheart Raiment!



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The Set

The Wildheart set contains 8 pieces and offers a total of 5 set bonuses - the only dungeon set to do so. This is due to the jack-of-all-trades nature of the druid class it's meant for. Like all of the dungeon set pieces, the items are scattered among the three main high-level instances - Stratholme, Scholomance, and Blackrock Spire. And much like the hunter set, you'll need to run LBRS to complete it. Here's a quick rundown of all of the items' locations:

Head:

The Wildheart Raiment

Wildheart Cowl - Scholo (Gandling)

Shoulders:

Wildheart Spaulders - LBRS (Gizrul)

Chest:

Wildheart Vest - UBRS (Drakkisath)

Wrists:

Wildheart Bracers - Strat Live/UD (Trash) or AH

Hands:

Wildheart Gloves - Strat Live (Unforgiven) or AH

Waist:

Wildheart Belt - Scholo (Ravenian/Trash) or AH

Legs:

Wildheart Kilt - Strat UD (Rivendare) 

Feet:

Wildheart Boots - LBRS (Mother Smolderweb)

So, that's where they are. Let's discuss how to get them as a druid now, shall we?

Stratholme

To start with, hit up Stratholme Undead to try and pick up your Bracers and Kilt. As with many of the BoE pieces, the bracers can drop from trash mobs, so there's not much to say about that. To get the legs, though, you'll have to clear the entire dungeon. Just like all the set legs, these drop from Baron Rivendare at the end.

Baron Rivendare drops the legs.

As a druid, you could potentially be rolling as a tank, dps, or healer - making it hard to give much advice on how to handle this fight. If tanking, keep the boss far from the healer - right where he is standing when you enter the room should suffice. If healing, stand back and remember to cast Rejuvenation on melee dps who will likely be taking damage from the pulsing AoE aura. Also, consider using some Stratholme Holy Water to help kill some of the skeletons that will no doubt be attacking you and don't forget to buff Thorns! Finally, if dpsing, kill skeletons and the boss. Pray to RNGeesus for your shiny kilt, and move on...

Scholomance

Similar to Stratholme, there's only two potential set pieces in Scholomance - the Belt and the Cowl. Both of these items drop toward the end of the dungeon as well, so make your way through the entire instance until the final chamber...

The Ravenian drops the belt.

To get the belt, you'll need to kill The Ravenian in the bottom-right room from where you enter. This fight isn't too challenging, but he does hit quite hard, so keep that in mind. Also, there's a knockback that you should be aware of - especially if you're tanking! If you're lucky, you'll snag the belt from him and not have to buy it from the auction house later.

Darkmaster Gandling drops the helm.

Clear the rest of the rooms to spawn the final boss - Darkmaster Gandling. He is without a doubt the hardest boss in this instance, but as a druid, you have a big advantage over other classes here - your flexibility. Remember to decurse the tank (if you're NOT the tank, anyway) and be ready to adapt your role as needed during the teleport phases. Kill him, grab your feather-hat and move on to the next dungeon.

LBRS

Next up is the most annoying bit, in my opinion. To collect your Boots and Spaulders, you'll need to run Lower Blackrock Spire. So, expect to run this dungeon a lot. Also, it's worth noting that the Belt can also drop from some of the trash mobs here, so if you don't get it from Scholo, there's a chance you can collect it along the way. Also, try to complete your Seal of Ascension while running this dungeon as well. After all, if you end up running LBRS a few times anyway, might as well get the key to UBRS while you're at it...

Mother Smolderweb drops the boots.

Anyway though, the boots are a drop from Mother Smolderweb - a giant spider located in the latter half of the dungeon. She occasionally stuns her target and can poison your party members, rendering them immobile. But other than that, she's not too difficult to take down. Just keep in mind that when she dies, spiders will spawn from her corpse, so don't be too hasty to check for your boots!

Gizrul the Slavener drops the shoulders.

Continue through the dungeon until you get to the giant worg, Halycon. This boss doesn't drop your shoulders, but needs to be killed to summon the boss that does - Gizrul the Slavener. This is the 2nd last boss of the dungeon and has a nasty ability, Fatal Bite, which heals the boss for twice the damage it deals. Burn him as fast as possible and keep everyone, including yourself, alive. Grab your shoulder wings, finish up the dungeon, and move on up to the final dungeon you have to run...

UBRS

General Drakkisath drops the chest.

The home stretch! You've cleared Strat, Scholo and LBRS! Now it's time to take on the final challenge - Upper Blackrock Spire. There's only one piece to collect here - the Vest from General Drakkisath.

Clear the dungeon until the final boss, keeping an eye out for other useful drops along the way. When you face Drakkisath, remember his Conflagration ability. There's not much more to say about this fight for a druid, though. So, pray to RNGeesus to get your chestpiece when he falls.

Final Thoughts

Congratulations on getting your druid to 60 and good luck collecting your dungeon set! The Wildheart Raiment is definitely one of the cooler looking sets in my opinion, but it's a chore and a half to collect compared to most of the others. But if you're willing to run Strat, Scholo, LBRS, and UBRS into the ground, you'll definitely get it someday!

Anyway, that's it for today. If you liked this guide or found it useful, let me know by leaving a comment down below. Check out my videos over on YouTube - where I eventually turn all of my written guides into videos for viewing pleasure. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates about streaming, content releases, and more. And consider supporting me over on Patreon as well, if you're into that sort of thing. Thanks for reading, and as always...

Take it easy!