Archive for November 25th, 2008:
Crafting for fun and profit
One of my readers recently said that it’ll be interesting to see how the blacksmithing plans compare to faction rewards. Or to tanking gear in general, I say! This is part 2 of my WotLK pre-raid and pre-heroics gear guides. Part 3 will look at gear from normal level 80 instances and the last part will be me looking, comparing and posting a gear guide similar to my old pre-Kara guide. Please note that Tankspot already has extensive gear guides out there. Me, I just love planning ahead. I always loved the gear planning, so I am having a lot of fun with this. 
But today, crafted gear! I am looking at three professions in particular to see what they can do for us: blacksmithing, engineering and jewelcrafting. I am especially curious about blacksmithing, to see if it’s less disappointing than in TBC. I am currently at blacksmithing 400 myself, just got the ability to socket my gloves and bracers, and the state of blacksmithing finds me pretty happy so far!
Head:
What can I say, engineers win the head-piece game again. The goggles are very nice and offer a meta socket plus expertise. Are they good enough to be an engineer just for the goggles? I don’t think so. In the long term blacksmithing just offers more at the moment. But they are fine goggles. The Tempered Saronite gear is insteresting as you get most of this while still in your mid-70s. This provides a great headstart in the defense game.
Neck:
That’s a pretty lovely necklace that jewelcrafters can make if they have purchased the design from Tiffany Cartier. I don’t know about the mats yet, I have no idea if Frozen Orbs will be excessively expensive on servers, but the mats don’t seem that bad at all.
Shoulders:
As with all the Tempered Saronite pieces, I really only have one complaint: that there had been room in the item budget for anything else than defense.
Chest:
Wrist:
Gloves:
Waist:
Legs:
Boots:
Rings:
More Jewelcrafting goodness. The blue ring is probably a lot better for druid tanks, but might serve in a pinch. The steep def cap might necessitate the need for def on both rings though. The epic ring is most certainly very nice.
Trinkets:
A bunny is the stamina trinket this go-around, which makes me giggle like a girl. Oh wait, I am one. 
It’s a lot of stamina, but the on-use effect makes me blink a bit. I guess you could use it for extra mobility. The sockets are nice of course. All in all not that strong for a profession BoP.
Edit: Aha! Thanks to Veneretio I found that there’s a second trinket that’s more tanking oriented. It definitely makes more sense than the bunny. Love the crab.
Second edit: The biggest stamina trinket out there is BoE and made by engineers. 81 stamina is a lot, and the proc sounds very interesting. That would be a solid bunch of threat, on fights where health > avoidance. Very nice! Thanks for the tip, Krushchev!
Shield:
My favorite blacksmithing addition so far has been the ability to make shields. And not only shields per se, but shields that kick ass stat-wise. Nummy!
Ranged Weapon:
This nice gun will make engineers rich, despite us getting Heroic Throw. The stats are too good on this baby.
Summary:
The ideal tank in my world is an engineer who has close friends that do blacksmithing and jewelcrafting. You can supply all mats for all the great BoE gear that the other two professions can make, and still enjoy your OP goggles until you start raiding. However, blacksmiths got really boosted, and the ability to socket gear is really sweet. The crafted gear will be quickly replaced once you get into heroics and raids, but they will see you ready to tackle those without endless instance runs waiting for specific drops.
I am confused though that there are no specific BoP pieces for weapon- and armorsmiths, did they ditch this? Also, why can we not make at least one tanking weapon? Puzzling.
See also:
Don't Look Up
Volunteer Work
50 Fish
Looking For Multitudes
