Patch 3.2 tanking gear: a closer look
The Background Downloader has recently started, the PTR changes are thinning out (yay, Devastate buff!), and patch 3.2 is getting closer and closer. It won’t drop today, but it will drop soon. What will we see then? The big heroics rush of 2009! I am looking forward to getting rewarded for running heroics again, aside from Frozen Orbs and Dream Shards. This warrants a closer look at the gear you can buy with Emblems of Conquest, from a viewpoint of being an Ulduar 10 raider. As far as I know, item prices remain the same, so the curious (aka me) want to know how many emblems we all need to blow on yummy new tanking gear. Here goes nothing!
Head:
- Conqueror’s Siegebreaker Greathelm: again, T8.5 available for 58 emblems. Again, not thrilled by shield block value, as block is still all messed up, but it is a big upgrade for me personally, after lugging around the Tempered Titansteel helmet forever and a day.
Neck:
- Shard of the Crystal Forest: very sweet necklace. Hit is still the area where I lack most, so that’s nice to see. It’s just about as good as stuff coming from Ulduar 25, barring the Freya Hardmode necklace. A steal at 19 emblems of conquest
Chest:
- Conqueror’s Siegebreaker Breastplate: the T8.5 chest token is available for 58 emblems of conquest. Given the Devastate change in 3.2 (yay!) the 2pc bonus is looking a lot more attractive to me these days. Still meh about the SBV on it, but I’d take it.
Hands:
- Gauntlets of the Royal Watch: very nice gloves, again with lots of hit on, which is a very neglected stat in T7 content. 28 emblems of conquest.
Waist:
- Shieldwarder Girdle: Only the Indestructible Plate Girdle (the crafted one) beats it, so it’s definitely worth its weight in badges, all 28 of them. Thumbs up!
Legs:
- Wyrmguard Legplates: These are definitely quite yummy. Again, I personally am not so keen on the SBV though. In comparison to the T8 legs (my personal reference): 12 Sta, 7 Str, 22 Armor, 12 Defense, 60 Block. 39 emblems
This leaves out a couple slots where we’ll have to burn our current Emblems of Valor, or downgrade the Emblems of Conquest for it if you don’t want to use Ulduar drops. Noticeably the following slots:
- Feet: Kyzoc’s Ground Stompers for 40 EoV
- Bracers: Bracers of Dalaran’s Parapets for 60 EoV
- Back: Platinum Mesh Cloak for 25 EoV
- Rings: Signet of the Impregnable Fortress for 25 EoV
Grand total of Emblems of Conquest required to be fully clad in level 213+: 380
That’s gonna be a while. Fun times. 
yeah, there’s going to be some serious 5-man action for me too.
.-= Gravity´s last blog ..Three-day transfers change recruitment forever =-.
Reply
hmmm Kadomi, do you call them “5-girls” instead?
.-= Gravity´s last blog ..Three-day transfers change recruitment forever =-.
Reply
Nice list, but I’ll be skipping the helm. I have the Ironbark faceguard from Freya 10; you’ll have to pry that off my head with a crowbar. Waffling on the gloves; I have t8 hands at the moment, and although the badge gloves are better, I might save the badges and pick up the t9 gloves instead.
Reply
>.> Technically I’m still on vacation, but I wanted to send you an email and in the process I noticed this post and had to comment.
Personally I’m not all that thrilled about the SBV on pieces either, but I am looking forward to being able to get some pretty nice upgrades through emblems.
Apparently there is a new tanking weapon in the new heroic 5-man (Unless I’ve been mislead) which is nice for those of us with no luck at all on LL or the sword from FL. Or even Slayer of the Lifeless.
.-= Naissa´s last blog ..EA redux? =-.
Reply
Their is only one thing, the bracers for 25 valor are BoE. So if you have the gold and the luck to find them on the AH you could subtract 25 from your Emblem total. Just thought that was worth being brought up. BTW Great blog and i have been reading it like a mad man since my vacation just ended and their were like 6 new blog posts
Reply
I dont know if this has been changed or not. but to my knowledge block value on gear is being doubled, so although it not being a very sexy stat at the minute, that +Sheild block might still be a a nice amount of avoided damage, will have to see if this ends up being the case, but in theory it looks better. Also Higher SS damage cant be a bad thing threat wise!
Reply
Emblem grinding is probably the only grinding I have actually looked forward to.
.-= logtar´s last blog ..WoW Meme SPEED! =-.
Reply
Uh…the Valor bracers are 60 emblems, not 25. I’m a sad, sad tank because I just tried to go buy them and didn’t have enough emblems.
Reply
admin Reply:
August 7th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
My apologies, I fixed this. All the other valor items cost less, but the bracers are BoE, so I guess that explains their higher cost or the AH would be flooded with them.
Reply
Aldea Reply:
August 7th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Thanks. And my math-nerd/copy-editor impulses compel me to point out that the total emblem cost for all items adds up to 380 with the corrected bracer cost.
Reply
admin Reply:
August 8th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
I fixed that as well. Wouldn’t want to lie with the numbers, after all!
Reply