Pre-Karazhan Gear Guide
This wouldn’t be a tanking site if I didn’t have my very own version of a gear guide for fledgling protection warriors. The original version of my guide was written for my guild a while back, with this version I’ll do my best to have all slots up-to-date with new gear that’s now in-game.
As a note, all of the gear will be obtainable by either rep, normal 5-mans or crafters. I will not include badge gear or heroic drops, under the assumption you won’t tank them until Karazhan ready.
Back:
Best: Devilshark Cape – drops off end boss in Steamvaults. Hands down the best cloak you can get and the last item I replaced back then, with a badge cloak. It has everything a cloak needs to have for a warrior. Defense, dodge, block. Run SV til you get it.
Good: Burnoose of Shifting Ages – first boss in Black Morass. Not as good as the Devilshark Cape, but not bad.
Okay: Cloak of Eternity – crafted by tailors. If you’re unlucky with drops, try to find a tailor who can make one of those. Cheap mats, as it requires Primal Earth, so nothing to shrug at.
Chest:
Best: Breastplate of the Bold – drops off end boss in Arcatraz. Simply because of the sockets, this is the best option. You have high flexibility to slap in gems to give you what you need. Need more dodge? Need more defense? Need more stamina? Anything you can put three Solid Stars of Elune in is rocking. 
Good: Jade-Skull Breastplate – second boss in Mechanar. Great piece of gear. Strength to make you hit harder (more threat), defense, high stamina, and block.
Okay: Vindicator’s Hauberk – requires Revered with Aldor. For those who need a lot of defense to reach their cap and are Aldor, this is great, and easy to get.
Feet:
Best: Flesh Beast’s Metal Greaves – quest reward. You are looking at the only piece of tanking gearfor feet before Karazhan and heroics. No kidding. The only boots with defense and dodge. If you haven’t done the Mana-Tombs escort quest yet or failed it, go back, right now, get those boots. I sold mine accidentally when I got the SL quest reward boots, when I mistakenly thought they had tanking stats. I couldn’t buy the greaves back. Don’t be as silly as I was.
If you already did the quest without getting the boots, my only alternative offer would be Obsidian Clodstompers. They have sockets, you could slap in some Enduring Talasites for defense if required, or as always the trusty friends, Solid Stars. They have sockets, so there’s some added flexibility that other boots don’t have.
Hands:
Best: Felsteel Gloves – crafted by blacksmiths. Best armor, high defense, two sockets. What’s not to love?
Good: Gauntlets of the Bold – end boss of Steamvaults. Again, sockets make these good, because of the flexibility you have.
Okay: Thatia’s Self-Correcting Gauntlets – Dalliah the Doomsayer in Arcatraz. They have no sockets, but block, which means they are superior for tanking trash. For bosses I would wear something with a little bit more mitigation.
Head:
I am not mentioning the engineering goggles, if you are an engineer, the Tankatronic Goggles > anything pre-T6.
Best: Felsteel Helm – crafted by blacksmiths. I can make them, huge amounts of armor and three sockets. Hot!
Good: Greathelm of the Unbreakable – first boss in Shattered Halls. Wins for the looks, as it’s the T2 look-alike. Mohawk hat!
Okay: Myrmidon Headdress – quest reward. With a meta gem slot, as quest reward, these are pretty nice to have, easy to get. As you’ll be killing Kalithresh for his cape anyway, this one will do until you can get one of the other two mentioned.
Legs:
Best: Timewarden’s Leggings – Revered with Keepers of Time. Sweet sweet pants! Three sockets, defense and dodge. Hitting Revered with KoT is an absolute-must, for the head enchant and those leggings. Slap a Clefthide kit on, make ‘em perfect.
Good: Felsteel Leggings – crafted by blacksmiths. High armor, three sockets, lots of defense, very good stuff.
Okay: Legplates of the Bold – end boss in Black Morass. If for some odd reason you really like the Bold set bonus, you can shoot for those, but there’s no real reason to.
Shoulders:
Best: Shoulderguards of the Bold – end boss in Shadow Labyrinth. Fantastic shoulders. The best you can get pre-Kara.
Good: Pauldrons of Brute Force – end boss in Underbog. The only other tank shoulders from normal Underbog. Pick them up while you’re leveling, you won’t replace them until Murmur has dropped his shoulders for you.
Waist:
Best: Sha’tari Vindicator’s Waistguard – Quest reward for completing the Arcatraz key, again really the only tank option as belt
Wrist:
Best: Bracers of the Green Fortress – crafted by blacksmiths.
Good: Sha’tari Wrought Armguards – SL quest reward, best wrist option if you can’t find a blacksmith. Has a socket, so that’s 12 stamina extra for you right there.
Okay: Junior Technician 3rd Grade Bracers – surprisingly good bracers, with defense and hit. I wish more items had hit rating, missing a lot as tank sucks for your threat. One of the early Netherstorm quests, really easy to get.
One-Hand Weapon:
Best: Warbringer – Too bad you need to be Exalted with Thrallmar, that’s a lot of Shattered Halls runs. But if you don’t want to run Heroic Mech for the Sun Eater until you’re ready to cry when someone mentions the instance, that’s a really hot tanking weapon.
Good: Inuuro’s Blade – Revered with Shattered Sun Offensive. Not only is this sword fast, has defense and stamina, but it also has hit and expertise, so it helps with building threat.
Okay: Grom’tor’s Charge – Cipher of Damnation quest chain in SMV. Needs a full group, to kill Ruul and then Cyruk but it’s a great quest chain (if you enjoy barfing).
Shields:
Best: Dawnforged Defender – Exalted with Shattered Sun Offensive. This shield is fantastic and is the best shield until Gruul drops the Aldori Legacy Defender. Grind your teeth, do the Isle of Quel’Danas dailies and get that colorful shield to slam into bosses’ faces.
Good: Crest of the Sha’tar – Exalted with the Sha’tar is the requirement. Excellent shield that will be a huge boost of armor, block and stamina. As it’s easier to get SSO rep than Sha’tar rep (thanks to dailies), most people will skip it nowadays.
Okay: Aegis of the Sunbird – second boss in Botanica. Very solid shield until you can get one of the above.
Ranged:
Best (on bosses): Gyro-Balanced Khorium Destroyer – crafted by engineers. Costly, but worth it. AH prices are around 1200 gold, or you can just farm the crazy amount of mats and find some engineer who has a primal nether available for you. Don’t let the socket bonus fool you, a Solid Star wants to be in that socket to make it the ultimate stamina stick for you.
Best (on trash): Nightstrike – stamina, hit, expertise, our favorite stats for tanking trash. Helps with building threat, and you can pull faster. Drops off Priestess Delrissa in Magister’s Terrace.
Good (for trash): Nethershrike – second boss in Mechanar. Throw that shuriken, rejoice in the tasty 15 stamina and crit it offers
Good (for bosses): Recoilless Rocket Ripper X-54 – second boss in Steamvaults. Big gun, again nice to have because of the stamina on it.
Neck:
Best: Strength of the Untamed – requires Revered with Cenarion Expedition. Easily obtainable, very solid neck-piece until you hit Kara.
Good: Natasha’s Battle Chain – quest reward in Blade’s Edge. Pretty nice for a quest reward.
Okay: Mark of the Ravenguard – very easy to get, just run Sethekk Halls for the quest reward, you only need to down the first boss to complete the quest.
I did not list Shattered Sun Pendant of Resolve, as pre-Kara a lot of tanks might still be struggling with reaching the cap. If you are capped, this is your best choice, with the three staples stamina, hit and expertise for threat. If you are Exalted with the Scryers, the proc is superior to the Aldor one. The Aldor proc seems to try to make a point to negate the threat stats with avoidance no one is looking for when wearing such a necklace.
Rings:
I have so many rings. There are so many good rings out there. I will list the ones I like most, but couldn’t say which one is the best. They all depend on what you’re trying to tank. Bosses? More mitigation. Trash? More threat.
- Shapeshifter’s Signet – requires Exalted with Lower City. Not only for druids! Weapon expertise makes this ring tasty.
- Band of Determination – drops off Vexallus in Magister’s Terrace. While its itemization clearly aims at feral druids, it’s a fantastic threat-type ring. Expertise, stamina and high armor, definitely worth the pain that is Magisters’ Terrace.
- Elementium Band of the Sentry – end boss in Arcatraz. Best mitigation ring, you won’t find a ring with dodge and defense again until Black Temple!
- Andormu’s Tear – quest reward for completing the Black Morass. Great allrounder, superb mitigation. If only it had stamina. If you feel your stamina is sufficient on your other ring, wear this one on bosses.
- Dath’remar’s Ring of Defense – end boss in Mechanar. The block ring. Another nice ring to have, especially when tanking trash the block rocks the house.
- Delicate Eternium Ring – crafted by jewelcrafters. Stamina and dodge, crafted, nice to have until you get better. The beginner’s tank ring, until you get any of the other options.
Trinkets:
Best: Adamantine Figurine – second boss in Shadow Labyrinth. The use effect is very sweet in ‘Oh shit!’ moments on bosses.
Good: Dabiri’s Enigma – quest reward from Netherstorm. Bring a healer and one ranged DPS for this quest and you shall be the owner of one of the best tanking trinkets.
Okay: Figurine of the Colossus – end boss in Shattered Halls. Not really a warrior trinket, it’s more a prot paladin’s dream come true. But nice to have if you need something for tanking for the second trinket slot, when you already have a defense trinket.
Again, I have only listed defense trinkets, once you start hitting up Karazhan and heroics, your options increase manifold, for a wide array of trinkets.
Gems:
I thought I would mention socket options. In general, most socket bonuses blow. Warriors at the defense cap tend to stack stamina, because you will take very spiky damage in Karazhan and heroics, and more stamina is your ultimate buffer. That’s why Solid Star of Elune is my number one gem. If you are looking to socket for the bonus (say if it’s dodge rating or something tasty like that), then the following gems are nice to have:
Red sockets: Subtle Living Ruby, Shifting Nightseye, Glinting Noble Topaz
Yellow sockets: Enduring Talasite, Thick Dawnstone, Glinting Noble Topaz
Blue Sockets: Solid Star of Elune. End of story.
Meta socket: Powerful Earthstorm Diamond
I would like to stress that you should never leave any socket without a gem, that you should not always try to get the socket bonus if it’s crap. A green gem > no gem in a socket. Also, try to gem to your advantage. If you’re well above the 490 defense cap, don’t be afraid to replace old def gems with some other gem that fills the gaps you might have, be it stamina or avoidance.
Hey,
Great guide for a new tank..
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@Alok – Glad you enjoyed it!
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yep, really nice.
I’m trying to find good gear to do Karazhan now and there are more of this kinda guides, but this one has more detailed information.
thankies ^^
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@Shinza – My pleasure, Shinza! Good luck in Karazhan.
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This guide is very good, i got my warrior back in prot with this guide… respect!
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admin Reply:
August 23rd, 2008 at 8:51 pm
@Seaman: Awesome, very happy to hear that!
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[...] do the Tanks think about this Guide Pre-Karazhan Gear Guide | Tank like a girl I have a second lvl 70 warrior who i am about to spec as a tank I came across this guide. and now [...]
Hey, nice guide, most my tank gear is in it, just need to re-socket for more def. Have a few better options as Armoursmith and heroic runs. Feel alot more confident in my choices now. Cheers
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admin Reply:
October 23rd, 2008 at 6:29 am
If you’re struggling with the defense cap, also check out my post about options to get gear enchanted etc.
Glad you enjoy the guide.
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