Tank like a girl
Dec 02 2008

WotLK Shopping List for Prot Warriors

Posted by admin

After my two previous posts looking at reputation rewards and craftable tanking gear, I have now looked at instance drops and quest rewards, compared all of them, and came up with my personal shopping list which I’ll use to gear up for heroics and entry-raiding. All items on the list are either available through reputation, questing or normal level instances. I am not including BoP craftables like engineering goggles or jewelcrafting trinkets.

A priority on the gear is defense. Once you hit the magic cap of 540, it will get easier to focus on gear that is more balanced than pure defense gear. This also means that in my top 3 per slot a higher def piece might be better until you hit the cap. For heroics you will need a defense of 535, for raid bosses you will need 540 defense.

On we go! As always, comments are very welcome. :)

 
Head:

  • Tempered Titansteel Helm - Crafted by blacksmiths. Very basic stats, but big numbers when it comes to armor, stamina, defense.
  • Helm of the Ley Guardian - Cache of Eregos in The Oculus. Excellent piece, with high armor, very high def, a red socket and hit rating for extra threat. Best blue helm outside of heroics for sure.
  • The Crusader’s Resolution - reward from The Crusader’s Pinnacle in Icecrown. Very solid piece, but no socket.

Pet peeve number one. Why are all the helmet models the same? Lazy, Blizzard, lazy.

 
Neck:

 
Back:

  • Cloak of Peaceful Resolutions - Honored with Wyrmrest Accord. Extremely nice cloak, and Honored is not that lofty a goal.
  • Flowing Cloak of Command - Salramm the Fleshcrafter in The Culling of Stratholme. Holy moly, that’s a lot of armor. Pretty nice.
  • Screeching Cape - Erekem in The Violet Hold. You can get this cloak early if you’re lucky, not a bad way to go.

 
Shoulders:

  • Crusader’s Square Pauldrons - BoE Trash drop in The Culling of Stratholme. Check the AH, you might get lucky and score these shoulders which are quite excellent.
  • Pauldrons of Reconnaissance - quest reward for Halls of Stone. Run an instance, score this excellent reward, nice deal. And it’s not even a level 80 instance.
  • Tempered Saronite Shoulders - Crafted by Blacksmiths. Hooray, non-spiky shoulders. Another lazy model issue, pet peeve number 2. These shoulders don’t have much to offer other than good chunks of basic tank stats, but they are so easy to get.

 
Chest:

  • Breastplate of the Solemn Council - Revered with Wyrmrest Accord. Hands down the best pre-heroic chest, very sweet deal. Buy your tabard now and be ready to burn through Wyrmrest Accord rep.
  • Reanimated Armor - Gortok Palehoof in Utgarde Pinnacle. Also not bad at all. How about grinding rep in the Pinnacle? Would work for me. :)
  • Silver-Plated Battlechest - Quest reward for Junk in my trunk in Utgarde Pinnacle. Another argument for Pinnacle as place to be for chestpieces. Grab the quest reward or the drop until you have rep, if you’re into that.

 
Wrist:

 
Hands:

  • Fireproven Gauntlets - Exalted with Kirin Tor. Just about the only possible thing rep with them gains us, so that’d be the last rep for me to grind. But very sweet gloves, no doubt.
  • Daunting Handguards - Crafted by Blacksmiths. Massive amounts of defense, no kidding.
  • Gauntlets of Vigilance - Quest reward for The Reckoning in Storm Peaks. Color me flabbergasted, tank gear with agility on. It’s like blast from the past.

 
Waist:

 
Legs:

  • Special Issue Legplates - Honored with Argent Crusade. Sockets make my heart sing, there are so few of them these days. Great legs.
  • Daunting Legplates - Crafted by Blacksmiths. If you’re really out to get tons of defense.
  • Void Sentry Legplates - Zuramat the Obliterator in The Violet Hold. Another piece with one socket, and that’s why it’s listed, because it makes gear more versatile.

 
Feet:

 
Rings:

 
Trinkets:

  • Seal of the Pantheon - Loken in Halls of Lightning. Welcome to the only defense trinket pre-heroic and Naxxramas. Heed the words of Veneretio over at Tankingtips.com and keep your old defense trinkets. If you’re strapped to hit the def cap, you might need them.
  • Sonic Booster - Crafted by Engineers. Massive massive amounts of stamina and a great threat proc. If you don’t need defense, definitely worth a look. If you are an engineer, that is. If you read the fine-print, you need 390 engineering to use it. Boo, fine print. Thanks for catching this, Daraxxus.

 
Main Hand:

 
Shield:

 
Ranged Weapon:

  • Armor Plated Combat Shotgun - Crafted by Engineers. Nummy. Engineers will make some cash with these statsticks.
  • Weighted Throwing Axe - quest chain in the Storm Peaks. Not the fastest thrown weapon, but still probably not bad on trash pulls.

And that’s it, the big shopping list. Hope some of you can use it. I have a gear plan, and I am gonna use it. :)

Filed under : Gear, guide, wotlk |

30 Responses to “WotLK Shopping List for Prot Warriors”

  1. Caboose Says:
    December 3rd, 2008 at 12:38 am

    When I started raiding I was in mostly blues and one or two epics from heroics. First badge item I picked up was the shield then moved to the neckpeice.

    Entry raiding is very easy. As long as your uncritable your fine to start raiding (10 mans we started in).

    None the less, very good list you made! Thanks a ton!

    [Reply]

  2. Shagh Says:
    December 3rd, 2008 at 1:41 am

    Great list as expected. Printing out now and crossing off those I already have.

    Still only 79 but have already got all the mats for my shiny Titansteel Shield Wall.

    Have also got my cloak from Wyvern rep. This was so easy, only required about one extra daily plus the standard quests to get to honoured. Now for the tabard to get to Revered.

    [Reply]

  3. mavfin Says:
    December 3rd, 2008 at 8:33 am

    Yeah, I have a lot of the Saronite, good high def high stam starter gear. I’ve got the Halls of Stone shoulders banked at the moment, and I saw Veneretio’s post. I’m using my old Styleen’s as one of my trinkets at the moment. Only needed 20 more def rating, and it has parry/block rating/block value on it, so it was better for what I needed than another pure def trinket. I hope to put the old soldier back out to pasture soon, though.

    [Reply]

  4. Pika Says:
    December 3rd, 2008 at 3:08 pm

    As always great to read your work. Things I would add to your list:

    [item] Arcane Shielded Helm[/item] from Nexus heroic. Quite easy to obtain and a great tankhelm.
    [item] Infantry Assault Blade [/item] from UK heroic.

    [item] Bolstered Legplates[/item] from VH heroic.

    [item]Horn-Tipped Gauntlets[/item] from Gundrak Heroic

    Also i simply loved the tanking belt you could purchase for 40 emblems of heroism.
    [item] Waistguard of Living Iron[/iron]

    Kind regards,
    Pika
    A fellow tank and a fan
    http://eu.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Draenor&n=Pika

    [Reply]

    admin Reply:
    December 3rd, 2008 at 4:53 pm

    Thanks for all the suggestions. I did not include heroic drops on purpose, as this list is for pre-heroic tanks. I will likely add the Best of the Best from heroics list one of these days, when I get there.

    Woot, I love fans. :D

    [Reply]

  5. Adrale Says:
    December 3rd, 2008 at 4:21 pm

    Fantastic list! and perfect timing!

    [Reply]

  6. Darraxus Says:
    December 3rd, 2008 at 5:37 pm

    Just a heads up that you have to be an engineer to use the stam trinket with at least 390 engineering.

    Darraxus´s last blog post..Woot get to play tonight!

    [Reply]

    admin Reply:
    December 3rd, 2008 at 6:13 pm

    Bah, okay, will fix that then.

    [Reply]

  7. Elistan Says:
    December 3rd, 2008 at 5:53 pm

    I’m tank but i’m also a JC so i chose both the +stam trinkets that JC gives you, both have 2 sockets and 63/62 stam respectively. The Monarch crab and Ruby hare, the 300 dodge is nice to blow when bosses enrage or even for that extra mitigation on aoe pulls, also the use on the hare is handy to run around when needed, even with intervine :)

    [Reply]

  8. mydeathknight Says:
    December 4th, 2008 at 1:16 am

    Nice list, a few +parry items in there that would look nice on my Orc! Keep up the good work :)
    mydeathknight´s last blog post..Big Shoulders

    [Reply]

  9. Daslasher Says:
    December 4th, 2008 at 11:05 am

    Good job! Similar to the list I created for myself, you may wish to consider adding:

    Neck
    Betrayers Choker - Betrayal (Quest) - ZulDrak - Stefan Vadu

    Cloak
    Durable Nerubhide Cape - Crafted

    Boots
    Tempered Titansteel Treads - Crafted

    Main Hand
    Fang of Truth - Wyrmcrest Accord Rep (Honored)
    Corroded Saronite Woundbringer - Crafted

    [Reply]

    admin Reply:
    December 4th, 2008 at 2:57 pm

    I totally missed adding the crafted boots, shame on me. Thanks for the suggestions, will modify. :)

    [Reply]

  10. Leewsham Says:
    December 4th, 2008 at 6:55 pm

    I am also leveling a prot warrior and a resto shamy. you should publish your resto list also. thanks

    [Reply]

    admin Reply:
    December 4th, 2008 at 10:21 pm

    I can send you a copy of my list, if you’re really interested.

    [Reply]

    Valnac Reply:
    December 11th, 2008 at 6:39 am

    Awesome info at the best possible time!

    Just switched to Protection at 74 and was looking for something just like this.

    I was wondering about your resto shaman list and if I could get a copy of it?

    Thanks for all your efforts

    [Reply]

    admin Reply:
    December 11th, 2008 at 1:28 pm

    I’ll mail you guys a copy of my spreadsheet. :)

    [Reply]

  11. uncaringbear Says:
    December 5th, 2008 at 1:19 am

    This is a fantastic list. I’ve seen a few similar lists on other sites, but yours is spot on. I wish I had seen this list before I spent several hours researching my own list. I love you!

    [Reply]

    admin Reply:
    December 5th, 2008 at 10:17 am

    Aw, thank you. :)

    [Reply]

  12. Armagon Says:
    December 5th, 2008 at 3:34 am

    Very nice list, have to compare with mine later.

    On my server (and in my guild) we have a total abundance of tanks (and the DKs didn’t help either), so after levelling as Prot to 80 I immediately respecced to Fury to get any instances. Now as DPS nearly everytime I’ve gotten some tank drops.. really weird. Guess I’ve got a full epic tank set together by the time I’m needed as Prot again. And *then* I’ll get the Fury drops 8)

    [Reply]

    admin Reply:
    December 5th, 2008 at 10:17 am

    I actually read a Tankspot article that listed that there were like 19 tanks, 5 DPS and no healers in someone’s LFG tool. Tanking is fun, and I don’t blame people for jumping on it now, but even in my guild we suddenly have more tanks than ever. Times, how they have changed. :)

    [Reply]

  13. beelo of madoran Says:
    December 5th, 2008 at 8:45 am

    hey i dig the list and know about the all mighty 540 def rating now, but what are some stats like armor and stam that i should have prior to raiding or even heroics? It would be nice to know what the baseline should be before i stack up my repair bill. I do love the list though and thanks for putting it out there.

    [Reply]

    admin Reply:
    December 5th, 2008 at 10:15 am

    I would say you’re good to go with 22k health unbuffed, 20k armor, along with the def cap.

    [Reply]

  14. Anglachel Says:
    December 5th, 2008 at 2:53 pm

    You rock my socks… i’ll hit 80 tomorrow, and i was thinking of compile somthing like this… thanks for doing the work for me :D
    Anglachel´s last blog post..Some random comments on WotLK instances so far

    [Reply]

  15. On the final stretch | The Meatshield Diaries Says:
    December 5th, 2008 at 7:29 pm

    [...] started to look at gear i will need to get at 80, and ran into a great post over at Tank Like a Girl, which saved me a lot of work, so go check it out. December 05th, 2008 | [...]

  16. icup Says:
    December 6th, 2008 at 1:08 am

    So happy I found this site, new bookmark :P

    [Reply]

  17. Mike Says:
    December 11th, 2008 at 8:36 pm

    This was a big help. Thanks for taking the time to compile this list.

    [Reply]

  18. Tedward Says:
    December 12th, 2008 at 2:04 am

    Thanks for your list. I’ll be tanking like a girl in not time!

    Tedward´s last blog post..Mix CD 12/02/08

    [Reply]

  19. Daslasher Says:
    December 18th, 2008 at 5:57 pm

    I decided to use the Icebane Chestguard for the time being as a chest item. It is missing defence and strength but has lots of sockets and very high stamina. The way I have socketed and enchanted it has made it quite desirable imho. It has almost as much def as the T7 (about 38 I think), a little expertise and an absolute tonne of stamina (I think 217 or so). Don’t get me wrong, I will replace it, probably with the badge chest, when I can but it is never mentioned in any tank gear discussions I have read about and I find it quite handy. I find I can gem defence in other gear rather than stamina and have an overall positive net balance on both with this (as opposed to say the Wyrmcrest Chest reward. It is also fairly cheap to make. Anyone have any thoughts? PS I am Daslasher on Lightbringer EU if you want to look me up on Armory.

    [Reply]

    admin Reply:
    December 18th, 2008 at 8:03 pm

    I didn’t list that chestguard, because it’s really one of those classic resistance gear pieces. This one actually manages to allow tanks to get defense in because of the three sockets, and has massive stamina, but ultimately I believe it’s intended for frost encounters.

    That said, it’s a great piece of gear for really cheap mats, so I think it’s worth a recommendation for those who do not need really high defense for reaching 540 on their chest piece.

    [Reply]

    Kram Reply:
    December 19th, 2008 at 9:29 am

    The Indestructible Alchemist’s Stone is a great trinket that can be worn at 75 if any of you are Alchemists out there.

    +75 Stam
    +50 Dodge rating
    + Your usual alch bonus

    http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44323

    [Reply]

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