Jan 15 2009
Remember my first shopping list for prot warriors? Wildly popular! Got everything you needed from that list and are eager to run your first heroics? Then let’s do that and check out where you can get the next best gear upgrades.
I am assuming that you have 535 defense, the value to be uncrittable in heroics. If it’s any less, go back to the older list and gear up some more, do your group a favor.
All gear listed will come from four possible sources: BoE crafted or drop, reputation rewards, heroic instance drops or gear you can buy with Emblems of Heroism. If you enjoy spreadsheets, check out the spreadsheet version of this list.
Head:
- Tempered Titansteel Helm crafted by blacksmiths. Easy to get, this is still the top dog for me, because of the changes in 3.0.8. A meta and a blue socket? Yes please!
- Arcane-Shielded Helm – Grand Magus Telestra in H Nexus. Meta and a blue socket, yes please! (Sense a theme here?) Also, very high dodge, this is the avoidance helmet of this list.
- Ground Tremor Helm – Moorabi in H Gundrak. Meta and a red socket, sure! This is the threat helmet, with the red socket just asking for a nice threat gem like e.g. Guardian’s Twilight Opal, and the hit rating on it.
Neck:
- Chained Military Gorget – 25 Emblems of Heroism. What a sweet piece of necklace. I am looking forward to buying this as the first thing I’ll buy with badges.
- Titanium Earthguard Chain – crafted by Jewelcrafters. Until you can afford the badge necklace, this is still a fabulous piece. Befriend a JCer now.
- Shadowseeker’s Pendant – Jedoga Shadowseeker in H Ahn’kahet: The Old Kingdom. If neither of the epic necklaces are available to you, this is a very solid drop with avoidance on top.
Back:
- Durable Nerubhide Cape – crafted by Leatherworkers. As long as you can stay crit-immune, this is an incredible cloak.
- Tattered Castle Drape – BoE drop from H Utgarde Keep. Pretty much a sidegrade to the Wyrmrest Cloak but great for SBV sets, if you’re building one.
- Cloak of Peaceful Resolutions – Honored with Wyrmrest Accord. Still really easy to get, and still a very solid cloak to wear until you can get a better one.
Shoulders:
- Wapach’s Spaulders of Solidarity – World Drop. I hate it when world drops are the top of any list, but these are the best pre-raiding shoulders you can get. Wishing you the lucky break!
- Pauldrons of the Colossus – Drakkari Colossus in H Gundrak. Unusually, they have shield block rating as second stat, and they have a socket. Pretty nice piece.
- Iron Dwarf Smith Pauldrons – General Bjarngrim in H Halls of Lightning. Last in line with that item-level, they’re solid, though I prefer the flexibility of a socket. Also, prefer most other stats to parry, but beggers can’t be choosers, so I’d take them if I ever dared set foot into the heroic version of that instance.
Chest:
- Heroes’ Dreadnaught Breastplate – 80 Emblems of Heroism. If you don’t want to wait for the lucky day that you get the T7 token into your hands, you can spend 80 emblems on buying it. Interesting approach to tier gear. The 2 piece bonus already sets my heart aflutter.
- Breastplate of the Solemn Council – Revered with Wyrmrest Accord. Do your dailies, grab this incredible chestpiece. It really is that good.
- Sun-Emblazoned Chestplate – Sjonnir the Ironshaper in H Halls of Stone. I prefer the expertise of the Wyrmrest chestpiece, but if for some reason you’re really set on getting your hit up instead, this would be a good chestpiece for you.
Wrist:
- Bracers of the Herald – Herald Volazj in H Ahn’kahet: The Old Kingdom. This is one of those must-haves from heroics, the best bracers you will find. Let’s just hope you can brave the Insanity long enough to be able to loot it.
- Bindings of Dark Will – Salramm the Fleshcrafter in H The Culling of Stratholme. Good bracers are few and far between these days, so if you don’t want to wear the Tempered Saronite bracers forever, these are a good bet.
- Svala’s Bloodied Shackles – Svala Sorrowgrave in Utgarde Pinnacle. The state of the prot warrior bracers is so dire that I am listing this drop from normal UP. They’re still the third best.
Hands:
- Heroes’ Dreadnaught Handguards – 60 Emblems of Heroism Got a socket, are very well-balanced, clearly the top of the pack, especially when you’re not raiding yet.
- Horn-Tipped Gauntlets – Gal’darah in H Gundrak. Holy moly, look at all that expertise. Do want.
- Fireproven Gauntlets – Exalted with Kirin Tor. If you’re not having drop luck to get the gloves from Gundrak, or simply do not care to run the instance (I have heard nasty stories), these gloves are almost as good, and just about the only reason for prot warriors to grind KT rep.
Waist:
- Waistguard of Living Iron – 40 Emblems of Heroism. Very solid stats, so if you have nothing comparable and don’t want to run H Azjol-Nerub much, this is the belt for you.
- Ancient Aligned Girdle – Anub’arak in H Azjol-Nerub. At least you have this ray of sunshine waiting at the end of one of the harder heroics out there.
- Skadi’s Iron Belt – Skadi the Ruthless in H Utgarde Pinnacle. On your way to gaining your Red Sword of Courage you should be able to pick up this lovely belt that makes a great addition for any SBV set.
Legs:
- Bolstered Legplates – Cyanigosa in H Violet Hold. Not much to say, best until Naxx, very good piece of gear and thanks to coming from H VH probably one of the easiest ones to get.
- Ley-Guardian’s Legguards – Eregos in H Oculus. This instance is probably my least favorite because there are so many annoying factors in there, including vehicle combat. Nevertheless, there’s some fine tanking gear to get.
- Legplates of the Infinite Drakonid – Chrono-Lord Epoch in H The Culling of Stratholme. The lack of socket puts it lowest on my pants totem pole, but they’re still pretty good stuff, until you get the Bolstered Legplates.
Feet:
- Tempered Titansteel Treads – crafted by blacksmiths. They are easy to obtain, have the highest stamina and the highest armor. This is why I rank them highest. In reality, they’re really tied with the other two pairs of boots I am listing, which really makes this a tie between the crafted boots or the Wyrmrest rep boots, unless you’re a huge avoidance fan.
- Greaves of Ancient Evil – Herald Volazj in H Ahn’kahet: The Old Kingdom. Lots of dodge, for avoidance fans.
- Sabatons of Draconic Vigor – Revered with Wyrmrest Accord. Easy to get, excellent boots.
Main Hand:
- Red Sword of Courage – King Ymiron in H Utgarde Pinnacle. The Sun Eater of a new generation, we are all facing running this instance whenever we can (and get past the Skadi gauntlet) just to get our greedy hands on it.
- Infantry Assault Blade – Prince Keleseth in H Utgarde Keep. No luck in UP? Visit the easier instance downstairs and the first boss might have a sword for you. Unfortunately it’s slow, but still quite nice.
- Cloudstrider’s Waraxe – Varos Cloudstrider in H Oculus. As discerning orc, this axe would make a shiny toy for me until I get that sword, but sadly, it just has to drop in Oculus of all places. Boo!
Shields:
- Crygil’s Discarded Plate Panel – 35 Emblems of Heroism. As badge competition is high, you might wish to pick up one of the other shields first and burn badges on this very nice one later. All the top shields are pretty nice.
- Royal Crest of Lordaeron – Mal’ganis in H The Culling of Stratholme. Such a beautiful model, though there are silly cries that use horde tanks should not use it. Pfft, I say. Stat-wise, ahead of the Titansteel one, so if I get my hands on it, it’s mine!
- Titansteel Shield Wall – crafted by blacksmiths. Easy to get, so still top of the line.
The next two categories, rings and trinkets, are not listed in order of priority, I just picked six very good candidates for those slots. Your own mileage may vary. Rings and trinkets are best for rounding your character, to fill stat gaps and such.
Rings:
- Titanium Earthguard Ring – crafted by Jewelcrafters. It’s awesome, it has a socket, it can be bought for gold from any jewelcrafter with the design. Win!
- Keystone Great-Ring – The Prophet Tharon’ja in H Drak’tharon Keep. Screams druid, but if you’re above the crit-limit defense-wise, this is very tasty.
- Band of Torture – Drakos the Interrogator in H Oculus. Much armor on this ring, which makes it pretty attractive.
- Nerubian Shield Ring – Elder Nadox in H Ahn’kahet: The Old Kingdom. Lots of armor rings available, looks like. The differences to Band of Torture are minuscule.
- Ring of Earthen Might – crafted by Jewelcrafters. Armor, dodge, str/sta and a socket, and reaaaaally easy mats.
- Woeful Band – Maiden of Grief in H Halls of Stone. I don’t care too much for parry, but that’s what this ring offers aside from the staples of str/sta and defense.
Trinkets:
- Essence of Gossamer – Hadronox in H Azjol-Nerub. 111 stamina? Hot diggity damn. A mitigation effect proc? That’s some fine trinket to me.
- Valor Medal of the First War – 40 Emblems of Heroism. My, you look a lot like Moroes’ Lucky Pocketwatch, don’t you?
- Darkmoon Card: Greatness – Darkmoon Nobles’ Deck. So much strength. Of course you can also get the agility trinket, for extra mitigation and crit, but I would go for strength, most likely. The proc would be strength for prot warriors. There’s a reason cards of the nobles deck are insanely expensive atm. Befriend a scribe.
- Seal of the Pantheon – Loken in Halls of Lightning. Wot, a normal instance drop, listed? Yup, because it’s still the only defense trinket, and defense is awesome. The on-use is also nice. Never dropped for me, of course.
- Offering of Sacrifice – Gal’darah in H Gundrak. Your basic armor trinket that offers an extra Last Stand effect. Combine with Enraged Regeneration to save your ass.
Also see:
- WotLK Shopping List for Protection Warriors, Part I: pre-heroics
- WotLK Shopping List, Part III: 10-man raids
Nice list, mostly what I have gone for myself.
One thing I wasn’t aware of but came across and bought recently is Signet of the Accord (Ring). Its a raid drop but boe so you see them on the AH. Awesome ring.
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That keystone ring would be entirely druid if they just swapped the frelling strength for agility. Woe to us who now have to do strength/stam on rings & trinkets and cloaks now.
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Regarding slow weapons if you have the deep wounds spec that slow weapon is quite nice!
I have the sword though, so i’m happy (though why don’t they make more tanking axes!! My guild don’t do 25 man naxx yet!).
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Very nice list!
Can’t wait for part 3 of it
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Very nice list! I spent a lot of time yesterday compiling a very similar list. I should have waited!
acedanger´s last blog post..Prot gear to push me over 20,000 health
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Hi Kadomi,
Nice list, but I absolutely must disagree with your ordering of weapons.
The infantry assault blade is far, far inferior to the axe. The stats are the same (apart from a 0.1 difference in DPS), but the axe has a must faster swing, which is excellent.
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admin Reply:
January 15th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
The weapons underneath the RSoC are absolutely identical but for the speed. I might as well remove the 2 or 3 and put a 2 in front of both of them. For Deep Wound builds the slower sword is better. It’s also better for extra expertise for humans. You can spam more Heroic Strike with the faster axe and you get extra expertise as orc.
It’s really a matter of playstyle but I do not think the sword is inferior at all. YMMV.
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Tankette Reply:
January 19th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
I’ve tanked everything in 10 man Naxx and all but Sapph and KT in 25 man Naxx while using the Infantry Assault Blade. I’m not having any threat issues what so ever.
Tankette´s last blog post..And then there’s even more Naxx
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Great list Kadomi, but I have just a couple of quibbles with your list, but it’s more personal opinion than anything.
For your shields, in my opinion, Crygil’s is a pass. I’d save the emblems for other gear on the list, because CoS is pretty easy, and Mal’Ganis is rather generous with the shield. I ran it for a week straight to get myself and all of my friends the drake, and out of 7 days, we saw 5 drop. The dodge on Cry’s is nice, but free vs. 35 emblems; I know, I’m a cheapskate. =P
And rings. Where’s the Unsmashable Heavy band? =( It’s a pretty nifty ring with respectable SBV and UK is silly easy.
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admin Reply:
January 16th, 2009 at 12:29 am
I agree with Crygil’s, it’s definitely at the bottom of the badge gear list. Stat-wise it comes out on top though. If people want to blow their badges on the shield? Up to each of you. I am going for the CoS shield myself.
The ring I somehow missed and will add it to the list, good catch. Thank you.
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If you have plenty of gold you can get well equiped within minutes of turinging 80. The crafted epics will cost a fair amount but are worth it in my opinion. Then there are a lot of crafted blues that are pretty decent until you start getting drops from heroics and getting emblem gear. There are also a lot of BOE blues that end up on the AH. Reputation grinds can get you some stuff as well but I ended up getting gear from drops before I had enough rep to get anything. I didn’t end up using a single piece of rep gear.
Tankette´s last blog post..And more Naxx
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Lovely list, thanks for all the work put into it (and your whole site!). Is there a way of downloading the Google doc, so I can start crossing things off as I collect?
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admin Reply:
January 16th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
If you go to this link, there’s an ODS version of the spreadsheet that you can download. That’s the Open Office file format. Hope that helps!
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awnm Reply:
January 17th, 2009 at 2:01 am
Great, that worked perfectly! Thanks again, love your site.
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I found this site a few weeks ago and am LOVING it!!! Thanks for the great work! It’s made searching throught AtlasLoot alot easier!
One question though, Waistguard of the Risen Knight (BoE belt from DTK) …. any reason it never made either of the shopping lists? Pretty cheap off the AH, and seems to do the job nicely.
Thanks again for the great site!
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admin Reply:
January 16th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
I actually got the same belt as trash drop in H Drak’tharon yesterday. It is a great belt and would be on the list if it had more than 3 items. Skadi’s Iron Belt has a socket, so with a belt buckle you have two gem slots, which makes it a tad bit better in my book.
Nevertheless, Waistguard of the Risen Knight definitely gets my thumbs up as well!
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1 = basic MT
2 = High Avoidance
3 = Trash tanking
4 = Items with hit
5 = Items with Expertise
[color=#FFBF00][b]Chest:[/b][/color]
1. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40203]Breastplate of Tormented Rage[/url]
2. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=44000]Dragonstorm Breastplate[/url]
3. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40544]Valorous Breastplate[/url]
4. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40203]Breastplate of Tormented Rage[/url]
5. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=39398]Massive Skeleton Ribcage[/url]
[color=#FFBF00][b]Head:[/b][/color]
1. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40328]Helm of Vital Protection[/url] or [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40546]Valorous Dreadnaught Greathelm[/url] or [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=39395]Thane’s Tainted Greathelm[/url]
2. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40328]Helm of Vital Protection[/url]
3. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40546]Valorous Dreadnaught Greathelm[/url]
4. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40546]Valorous Dreadnaught Greathelm[/url]
5. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40328]Helm of Vital Protection[/url]
[color=#FFBF00][b]Back:[/b][/color]
1. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40722]Platinum Mesh Cloak[/url] or [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40252]Cloak of the Shadowed Sun[/url]
2. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40252]Cloak of the Shadowed Sun[/url]
3. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40722]Platinum Mesh Cloak[/url]
4. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40722]Platinum Mesh Cloak[/url]
5. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=43988]Galeproof Cloak[/url]
[color=#FFBF00][b]Shoulders:[/b][/color]
1. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=39704]Pauldrons of Unnatural Death[/url]
2. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40548]Valorous Dreadnaught Shoulders[/url]
3. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40548]Valorous Dreadnaught Shoulders[/url]
4. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=39267]Abomination Shoulderblades[/url]
5. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=39704]Pauldrons of Unnatural Death[/url] or [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=44312]Wapach’s Spaulders of Solidarity[/url]
[color=#FFBF00][b]Legs:[/b][/color]
1. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40589]Legplates of Sovereignity[/url]
2. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40547]Valorous Dreadnaught Legguards[/url]
3. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40240]Greaves of Turbulence[/url]
4. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40446]Dragon Brood Legguards[/url]
5. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40589]Legplates of Sovereignity[/url]
[color=#FFBF00][b]Belts:[/b][/color]
1. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=39759]Ablative Chitin Girdle[/url]
2. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=37241]Ancient Aligned Girdle[/url]
3. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40263]Fleshless Girdle[/url]
4. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=39759]Ablative Chitin Girdle[/url]
5. x
[color=#FFBF00][b]Feet:[/b][/color]
1. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40297]Sabatons of Endurance[/url]
2. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40743]Kyzoc’s Ground Stompers[/url]
3. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=39717]Inexorable Sabatons[/url]
4. x
5. 1. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40297]Sabatons of Endurance[/url]
[color=#FFBF00][b]Gloves:[/b][/color]
1. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40545]Valorous Dreadnaught Gauntlets[/url]
2. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=39726]Callous-Hearted Gauntlets[/url]
3. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40188]Gauntlets of the Disobedient[/url]
4.[url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=39197]Gauntlets of the Master[/url]
5. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=39726]Callous-Hearted Gauntlets[/url] or [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=37645]Horn-Tipped Gauntlets[/url]
[color=#FFBF00][b]Wrist:[/b][/color]
1. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40734]Bracers of Dalaran’s Parapets[/url]
2. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40306]Bracers of the Unholy Knight[/url]
3. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=39764]Bindings of the Hapless Preu[/url]
4. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40734]Bracers of Dalaran’s Parapets[/url]
5. x
[color=#FFBF00][b]Necklace:[/b][/color]
1. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40387]Boundless Ambition[/url]
2. [url=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44665]Nexus War Champion Beads[/url]
3. [url=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44665]Nexus War Champion Beads[/url]
4. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40069]Heritage[/url]
5. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40387]Boundless Ambition[/url]
[color=#FFBF00][b]Shield:[/b][/color]
1. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40475]Barricade of Eternity[/url]
2. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40266]Hero’s Surrender[/url]
3. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40400]Wall of Terror[/url]
4. x
5. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40475]Barricade of Eternity[/url]
[color=#FFBF00][b]Onehanders:[/b][/color]
1. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40402]Last Laugh[/url]
2. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40402]Last Laugh[/url]
3. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40402]Last Laugh[/url]
4. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40402]Last Laugh[/url]
5. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40345]Broken Promise[/url]
[color=#FFBF00][b]Ranged:[/b][/color]
1. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=41168]Armored Plated Combat Shotgun[/url]
[color=#FFBF00][b]Rings:[/b][/color]
1.
2. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40107]Sandworn Band[/url]
3.
4. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40718]Signet of the Impregnable Force[/url] or [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40370]Gatekeeper[/url] or [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=39141]Deflection Band[/url]
5. [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40718]Signet of the Impregnable Force[/url] or [url=http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=40426]Signet of the Accord[/url]
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Hmmm sorry, didnt mean to spam you
Been working on a list with endgear for different tanking sets. And as I so often was so happy to read your lists, thought I might repay the favor and post mine
Kind regards,
Dizzy aka Pika
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I love the gear list and refer to it often. I have a question or two. I reached 540 without using trinkets and I’m trying different items in those two slots. Currently I’m trying Coren’s Lucky Coin and Moroes’ LPW since I have not seen any of the northrend trinkets. This brings me to my questions –
Once you’ve reached the defense target (540) what do you aim for next?
I’ve been working on Expertise for the first target (6.5% dodge chance reduction), and since much of my gear has hit rating that’s been creeping up too.
Do you work on increasing Dodge rating, parry rating, block rating, block value? Do you focus on armor and stamina?
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admin Reply:
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:51 am
Once you’re expertise capped, I would say Dodge is the best avoidance stat, biggest bang for the buck. Also, pushing beyond 540 defense is good. I only use SBV in a set for solo DPS, and possibly trash in the future, if I can stay past 535/540.
That’s my strategy at least!
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Arvernien Reply:
January 23rd, 2009 at 8:25 pm
I got lucky and picked up Seal of the Pantheon last night. I will be doing a big gear shuffle tonight! I will probably change a few gems as well. Thanks for the tips!
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Don’t know if you are still maintaining this list but here are a couple of items that really should be added. They are equal to the Red Sword of Courage and much easier to get. For only 25 Champion’s Seal’s from the Argent Tournament you get:
Horde
Axe of the Sen’jin Protector
Alliance
Teldrassil Protector
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admin Reply:
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:15 am
I actually have the axe included in part 3 of this shopping list, for 10-man raids. I only mention the horde version there, I will add the Teldrassil Protector there as well. Thanks for catching!
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