[TANK] Feral Druid PvE Guide

[Silenz]

Druid Bear PVE Guide

1. Introduction
2. New Abilities and Changes
3. Talents, Bonuses and Mastery
4. Stats, Gearing and Reforge
5. Glyphs, Gems and Enchants
6. Professions
7. Consumables
8. Rotation and Macros
9. Pre-Raid Gear List
10. Best in Slot items (Tier 11 Heroic)
Excel Data Sheet with BiS Items stats value, reforge options, sockets, socket bonuses
11. AddOns
12. F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions)
13. Solo tanking in 5-man and raids
14. Wallpapers and Artwork




I`ve made this guide to present you the wonderfull and interesting side of druid tanking as a bear, which seems that on our server this class of tanking is very rare. I hope that in this guide you`ll find all that you need to know to tank as a bear, even you are a beginner or a professionist.

So far so good. So you`ve decided to make yourself a druid to tank with it, but now you have another question: "What race should i make?". Below I`ll present you the racials of every race that can be a druid and what race I think it`s proper for a tankig bear.

Alliance side:

• Night Elf:
  Nature Resistance: "Increases your resistance to harmful Nature effects by 1."
  Quickness: "Reduces the chance that melee and ranged attackers will hit you by 2%."
  
  
• Worgen:
  Aberration: "Increases your resistance to harmful Nature and Shadow effects by 1."
  Viciousness: "Increases critical strike chance by 1%."

I think that, at the alliance side, the best race for a bear is the "night elf" because it has a 2% avoidance chance which means alot, because the bear tank relies on stamina, armor and dodge. More than that, the night elf has a resistance for nature spells.

Horde side:

• Tauren:
  Nature Resistance: "Increases your resistance to harmful Nature effects by 1."
  Endurance: "Base Health increased by 5%."
  
  
• Troll:
  Regeneration: "Health regeneration rate increased by 10%. 10% of total Health regeneration may continue during combat."
  Da Voodoo Shuffle: "Reduces the duration of all movement impairing effects by 15%. Trolls be flippin' out mon!"
  Berserking: "Increases your attack and casting speed by 20% for 10 seconds."
  Beast Slaying: "Damage dealt versus Beasts increased by 5%."

Despite those many racials that trolls have, my vote is for tauren as a tanking bear in PvE because it has that 5% increase base health. Troll`s racials are more suitable for PvP than PvE, and that health regen while in combat barely makes a diference because in a raid the tank is healed by healers for more than that racial can heal.

Below is a list of all spells that were changed for the Cataclysm expansion, as well as some new ones received.

Bear Form (Level 15): "Shapeshift into bear form, increasing armor contribution from cloth and leather items by COND($lt(LEVEL,40),65,120)% and Stamina by 10%. Significantly increases threat generation, causes Agility to increase attack power, and also protects the caster from Polymorph effects and allows the use of various bear abilities. The act of shapeshifting frees the caster of movement slowing effects."
Attention! In Cataclysm the act of shapeshifting frees you only from movement slowing effects and not from root effects anymore.
Because there are no more spell ranks, Dire Bear Form no longer exists, in exchange there is just only one bear form which modifies with the character`s level: 65% increased armor contribution from cloth and leather items (lvl 15-39) and 120% increased armor contribution from cloth and leather items (lvl 40-85).
I know that Bear Form may look nerfed at a first sight, but the blizz staff buffed every leather item with 1.5x-2x more armor.

Faerie Fire(Level 24, no rage cost):"Decreases the armor of the target by 4% for 5 minutes. While affected, the target cannot stealth or turn invisible. Stacks up to 3 times. Deals AP * 0.15 + 1 damage and additional threat when used in Bear Form."
Attention! In wotlk this ability was lowering the target`s armor by 5%. Now it lowers the target`s armor by 4% but can stack up to 3 times, a total of 12% armor reduction. Used in bear form it makes threat and does damage.

Maul(Level 15; 30 Rage): "An attack that instantly deals 8 + AP * 0.24 - 1 physical damage. Effects which increase Bleed damage also increase Maul damage."
Attention! In wotlk this ability was depending on the pows attack speed, and didn`t had global cooldown with other abilities. Now it has a 3 seconds cooldown and still doesn`t have global cooldown with other abilities.

Lacerate(Level 66; 15 Rage): "Lacerates the enemy target, dealing 31 + (AP * 0.0766) damage and making them bleed for 5 * (31 + (AP * 0.00512)) damage over 15 seconds, and causing a high amount of threat. Damage increased by attack power. This effect stacks up to 3 times on the same target."
Attention! In wotlk this ability could stack up to 5 times on the same target. Now it stacks up to 3 times on the same target.

Swipe(Level 36; 15 Rage): "Swipe nearby enemies, inflicting 9 damage. Damage increased by attack power."
Attention! In wotlk this ability didn`t have cooldown. Now it has a 6 seconds cooldown. It`s a very useful ability for AoE fights..

Thorns(Level 6): "Thorns sprout from the friendly target causing 1 + (SP * 0.168) Nature damage to attackers when hit. Lasts 20 seconds."
Attention! In wotlk this ability was considered a buff, didn`t have a cooldown and lasted 10 minutes, 60 minutes with glyph. Now it has a 45 seconds cooldown and lasts only 20 seconds, but the damage done back to malee attacks is greater..

Survival Instincts(Level 49; 20 puncte in feral tree): "Reduces all damage taken by 50% for 12 seconds. Only useable while in Bear Form or Cat Form."
Attention! In wotlk this ability was increasing your HP. Now it reduces all damage taken by 50%.

Frenzied Regeneration(Level 52; no rage cost): "Increases maximum health by 30%, increases health to 30% (if below that value), and converts up to 10 rage per second into health for 20 seconds. Each point of rage is converted into 0.15% of max health."
Attention! In wotlk this ability was only converting rage into health. Now it increases your maximum HP by 30% and converts your rage into health for a few seconds.

Bersek(Level 69, necesita 30 puncte in feral tree): "Your Lacerate periodic damage has a $s3% chance to refresh the cooldown of your Mangle (Bear) ability and make it cost no rage. In addition, when activated this ability causes your Mangle (Bear) ability to hit up to 3 targets and have no cooldown, and reduces the energy cost of all your Cat Form abilities by 50%. Lasts 15 seconds. You cannot use Tiger's Fury while Berserk is active."
Attention! In wotlk this ability was breaking you out of fear and making you immune to fear for the duration of the buff. Now it doesn`t break fear anymore, but instead the periodic damage from Lacerate has a 50% chance to refresh the cooldown of Mangle (bear) and makes this ability to not cost rage, to have no cooldown and to hit up to 3 targets.

Skull Bash(Level 22; 15 Rage):"You charge and skull bash the target, interrupting spellcasting and preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 4 seconds."
Attention! This ability suffered a hotfix and now you can miss with it!. It uses physical hit %, not spell.

Pulverize(Requires 3 Points in Rend and Tear; 15 Rage): "Deals 80% weapon damage plus additional 629 damage for each of your Lacerate applications on the target, and increases your melee critical strike chance by 3% for each Lacerate application consumed for 10 seconds."
It`s a very useful ability and it must always be maintained up because at 3 stacks of lacerate, pulverize increases your critical chance by 9%! The more crit chance you have, the more chances you have that Savage Defense will proc more often.

Thrash(Level 81; 25 Rage): "Deals AP * 0.154 + 1 damage, and causes all targets within 8 yards to bleed for (AP * 0.026 + 1) * 3 damage over 6 seconds."
It`s a very useful ability for AoE fights. It does instant damage to all targets in range and aditional damage over time.

Leather Specialization(Level 50): "Increases your primary attribute by 5% while wearing Leather in all armor slots. Balance specialization grants Intellect, Feral specialization grants Agility while in Cat Form and Stamina while in Bear Form, and Restoration specialization grants Intellect."

Mastery(Level 80): "Allows you to benefit from mastery rating. Check your talent overview pane for additional details."

Personaly i prefer this spec (0/32/9):

You can use ingame this script to automaticaly put the talent points like the above image

Code:

/run t,p,a={2,12,23,42,53,62,83,91,113,121,132,161,172,182,203,211,221,1,3,22,43,53,61,}SetPreviewPrimaryTalentTree(t[1],GetActiveTalentGroup())for i=1,#t do a=t[i]if a<9 then p=a else AddPreviewTalentPoints(p,floor(a/10),a%10)end end

• Some prefer to spend the points from King of the Jungle in other talents, because they consider that the 4% bonus physical damage from Master Shapeshifter is all that they need to generate enough threat. The points from King of the Jungle can be spent in Stampede. Personaly I don`t see the big advantage that Stampede increases your malee haste by 30% for 8 seconds after you use Feral Charge (You don`t have when to use Feral Charge while fighting a boss because it requires a minimun range to work, it can be used only once when you pull the boss).
  
• Because of the talent Brutal Impact, Skull Bash becomes a 10 seconds cooldown spell. It`s a very important spell because you can intrerupt the bosse's spells more frequently.
  
• Because of the talent Perseverance, the druid is the only tank that has spell damage reduction all the time.
  
• Because of the talent Thick Hide the bear tank doens`t need items with defense rating because this talent gives the bear that 6% chance not to be critical striked, a chance that other class tanks have to earn it by obtaining a defense cap.
  
• Because of the talent Leader of the Pack bear tanks are also pasive healers. Once every 6 seconds and if they land a malee critical strike they will heal for 4% of their total health. The more HP you have, the more heal you will receive. Also this talent gives all party/raid members 5% increased critical chance.

Other specs you might be interested in: this, this and this.

Feral Specialization gives you the following bonuses:

Mangle (bear): "Mangle the target for 63% normal damage plus 47 and causes the target to take 30% additional damage from bleed effects for 1 minute."
Aggression: "Increases your attack power by 25%."
Vengeance: "Each time you take damage while in Bear Form, you gain 5% of the damage taken as attack power, up to a maximum of 10% of your health. Entering Cat Form will cancel this effect."

Mastery:Savage Defender.

In bear form Mastery increases the damage that Savage Defense can absorb. In my opinion I think that this Mastey rocks. Every point of Mastery increases the absorbed damage by 4%. X quantity of Mastery Rating will give you a specific Y quantity of Mastery. Mastery is a new stat introduced by Blizzard in Cataclysm.

(numar) - value with Blessing of Kings or Mark of the Wild
[numar] - value from a fully buffed raid.

• Stamina: Gives you Health Points as well as Attack Power because of Vengeance:
  

  Code:

  1 Sta = 17.1402 Health (17.99721)

  
  
• Agility: Gives Attack Power, Crit and Dodge. No longer gives armor.
  

  Code:

  1 Agi = 2.5 AP (2.625 AP) [2.8875 AP] 1 Agi = 0.0030783% Crit (0.0032323%) 324.85 Agi = 1% Crit 1 Agi = 0.0041054% Dodge (0.0043106%) 243.58 Agi = 1% Dodge

  
  
• Dodge Rating: Increases your chance to dodge.
  

  Code:

  1 Dodge Rating = 0.005687% Dodge 176.71899 Dodge Rating = 1% Dodge

  
  
• Critical Strike Rating: Increases your chance to crit.
  

  Code:

  1 Crit Rating = 0.0055779% Crit 179.28 Crit Rating = 1% Crit

  
  
• Haste: Increases attack speed (the speed of your pows).
  

  Code:

  128.05701 = 1% Haste

  
  
• Hit Rating: Increases the chance to hit the boss. Hit cap for malee against a 88 level raid boss is 8%, that means 960.87 hit rating.
  I recommend hit cap because you won`t miss with your attacks, in conclusion you have more chances that Savage Defense will activate.
  

  Code:

  120.109 Hit Rating = 1% Hit 1 Hit Rating = 0.0083256% Hit 8% Hit = 960.872 Hit Rating

  
  
• Expertise Rating: Reduces the enemy chance to dodge or parry your attacks.
  The soft cap against a lvl 88 raid boss is 26 expertise, that means 781.890 expertise rating, and the hard cap is 56 expertise, that means 1684.071 expertise rating.
  Attention! At soft cap the boss has 0% chance to dodge your attacks, but still has a 7.5% chance to parry them, and at hard cap the boss has 0% chance to dodge your attacks, and also a 0% chance to parry them.
  I recommend hard cap (if you can get achieve it) because the boss won`t dodge or parry your attacks, in addition you have more chances that Savage Defensewill activate.
  

  Code:

  30.0727 Expertise Rating = 1 Expertise Level 85 mob = 5.0% (Dodge) / 5.0% (Parry) = 601.454 (20) / 601.454 (20) Expertise Rating  Level 86 mob = 5.2% (Dodge) / 5.2% (Parry) = 631.527 (21) / 631.527 (21) Expertise Rating  Level 87 mob = 5.4% (Dodge) / 5.4% (Parry) = 661.599 (22) / 661.599 (22) Expertise Rating  Level 88 mob = 6.5% (Dodge) / 14% (Parry) = 781.890 (26) / 1684.071 (56) Expertise Rating

  
  
• Mastery Rating: Increases your Mastery-ul, in addition the effect of Savage Defender.
  

  Code:

  179.28 Mastery Rating = 1 Mastery

  
  
• Armor: Lowers the physical damage taken.
  

  Code:

  1 Armor = 3.2186 Armor (Bear + Thick Hide) 1 Armor = 3.282972 Armor (Bear + Thick Hide + Meta Gem) Armor cap (75% DR) for Lvl88 Boss mobs = 97717.5 Armor

  
  
• Strength: Gives you Attack Power.
  

  Code:

  1 Str = 2.5 AP (2.625 AP) [2.8875 AP]

  
  

Gearing up is a bit different now with the introduction of Mastery. It`s pretty hard to achiev hit and expertise caps so get thoso from where you can.
Let`s talk about accessories (neck, ring): now you are more avantaged to use Agility/Stamina accessories instead of tank ones because the base stamina of Agility/Stamina DPS accessories was rised to match the stamina levet of the tank accessories, and trough Reforge the pieces with Agility/Stamina have more survivability. Instead if you don`t have a ring or a neck with agility that is optim for you, than you can use the tank accessories.
When i talk about optimum accessories/items, i`m reffering that they should have Mastery Rating:. The best agility pieces in general will be ones with Expertise/Mastery(until soft cap) or Crit/Mastery as their secondary stats. You have to have as much mastery rating on items as you can get. Again I repeat that Mastery Rating is very important for a bear tank. If you have a tank accessory with dodge/mastery and an accessory with agility and no mastery (they have haste instead), use the tank one. Don`t take DPS accessories with strenght/stamina/other stats because they don`t give dodge, even if you reforge them, they are no good for you.
The best pieces with agility are the ones with Expertise(until soft cap)/Mastery ot the ones with Crit/Mastery as secundary stats.

After me the priority at stats is:


• Until you achieve soft and hard cap fot hit and expertise:
  

  Code:

  1. Dodge 2. Mastery 3. Expertise - until soft cap 4. Crit 5. Expertise - until hard cap 6. Hit - until the 8% cap 7. Haste (it`s no good for you)

  -take expertise from items but do not sacrifice Mastery for it
  
  
• After you achieve soft and hard cap for hit and expertise.
  

  Code:

  1. Dodge 2. Mastery 3. Crit 4. Haste

Mastery is very strange for bears because it has a soft cap. This soft cap varies between every single fight, depending on the damage taken, so it can`t be calculated exactly.
You wonder why it has a soft cap? Well Vengeance doesn`t activates when the damage is absorbed. As long as Savage Defender increases the absorbed damage it affects the rate that Vengeance will proc.

For bears regorginf is very simple. Reforge the lest wanted stat to dodge. Because there are alot of items with mastery rating and as I tolk you above that items with mastery are very important, we`ll have alot of mastery rating from items, we don`t need to reforge a stat into mastery, just into dodge.

Prime Glyphs:


• Glyph of Berserk: "Increases the duration of Berserk by 10 sec."
  
• Glyph of Lacerate: "Increases the critical strike chance of your Lacerate ability by 5%."
  
• Glyph of Mangle: "Increases the damage done by Mangle by 10%."

Major Glyphs:


• Glyph of Maul: "Your Maul ability now hits 1 additional target for 50% damage."
  
• Glyph of Frenzied Regeneration: "While Frenzied Regeneration is active, healing effects on you are 30% more powerful but causes your Frenzied Regeneration to no longer convert rage into health."
  
• Glyph of Rebirth: "Players resurrected by Rebirth are returned to life with 100% health." I think it`s a very useful glyph because when the boss is not hitting you or you are just an offtank in that raid and you have nothing to do, you can resurect a dead player with full HP because of this glyph.

Minor Glyphs:


• Glyph of Challenging Roar: "Reduces the cooldown of your Challenging Roar ability by 30 sec."
  
• Glyph of Unburdened Rebirth: "Your Rebirth spell no longer requires a reagent."
  
• Glyph of Aquatic Form: "Increases your swim speed by 50% while in Aquatic Form."

Meta: Austere Shadowspirit Diamond
Blue: Solid Ocean Sapphire(I recommend this) or Shifting Demonseye or Regal Dream Emerald
Red: Shifting Demonseye(I recommend this) or Delicate Inferno Ruby
Yellow: Regal Dream Emerald(I recommend this) or Polished Ember Topaz

• Head: Arcanum of the Earthen Ring
  
• Shoulders: Greater Inscription of Unbreakable Quartz
  
• Chest: Enchant Chest - Peerless Stats (I recommend this) or Enchant Chest - Greater Stamina
  
• Legs: Charscale Leg Armor
  
• Belt: Ebonsteel Belt Buckle
  
• Boots: Heavy Savage Armor Kit or Enchant Boots - Assassin's Step or Enchant Boots - Earthen Vitality or Enchant Boots - Lavawalker
  
• Bracers: Scroll of Enchant Bracer - Major Stamina or Enchant Bracer - Dodge
  
• Gloves: Heavy Savage Armor Kit or Enchant Gloves - Greater Mastery
  
• Cloak: Enchant Cloak - Protection
  
• Weapon: Enchant 2H Weapon - Mighty Agility or Enchant Weapon - Windwalk

In my opinion the most indicated 2 professions for a bear tank are:

Jewelcrafting: You can make up to 3 unique sockets:

• 3x Solid Chimera Eye - "303 Stamina - 5,193 HP (5,453 HP w/ Kings or Mark)"

Leatherworking

• Draconic Embossment Stamina - " 3,342 HP (3,510 HP w/ Kings or Mark)"
  
• Charscale Leg Reinforcements
  " 2,485 HP (2,610 HP w/ Kings or Mark)
  137.5 AP (158.8 AP Raid Buffed)
  0.17% Crit (0.18% Crit w/ Kings or Mark)
  0.23% Dodge (0.24% Dodge w/ Kings or Mark)"

Other useful professions:

Blacksmithing: Gives you a bonus socket for wrist and hands. You can equip 2x Solid Ocean Sapphire:
"120 Stamina - 2,057 HP (2,160 HP w/ Kings or Mark)"

Enchanting:: Enchant Ring - Greater Stamina: "120 Stamina - 2,057 HP (2,160 HP w/ Kings or Mark)"

Engineering:

• Fractured Cogwheel - 208 Mastery Rating
  
• Precise Cogwheel - 208 Expertise
  
• Rigid Cogwheel - 208 Hit Rating
  
• Smooth Cogwheel - 208 Crit Rating
  
• Subtle Cogwheel - 208 Dodge Rating
  
• Grounded Plasma Shield - Thinker
  
• Quickflip Deflection Plates - Thinker

Inscription: Gives you a shoulder enchant:

• Inscription of the Earth Prince
  "120 Stamina - 2,057 HP (2,160 HP w/ Kings or Mark) "

Mining: Toughness - "120 Stamina - 2,057 HP (2,160 HP w/ Kings or Mark)"

[PvE] Druid TANK Guide

[Silenz]

The indicated flask for a bear tank is:

• Flask of Steelskin "5,142 HP (5,399 HP w/ Kings or Mark) "

Other Flasks and Elixirs:

• Flask of Enhancement
  "200 AP (231 AP Raid Buffed) (80*2*1.25*1.05)
  0.246254% Crit (0.2585772% Crit w/ Kings or Mark)
  0.328432% Dodge (0.3448536% Dodge w/ Kings or Mark)"
  
• Elixir of Deep Earth(Guardian Elixir) "~1.36% Effective Damage Reduction"
  
• Elixir of the Master(Battle Elixir) "1.255 Mastery or 5.02% bonus toSavage Defence"

• Skewered Eel (I recommend this): "90 stamina + 90 agility"
  
• Mushroom Sauce Mudfish: "90 stamina + 90 dodge"
  
• Lavascale Minestrone: "90 stamina + 90 mastery"
  
• Fortune Cookie: "90 stamina + 90 in other useful stat"

The most important abilities that generate threat are: Mangle (bear), Lacerate, Maul, Faerie Fire, and AoE abilities are: Thrash, Swipe, Maul and Bersek





Use the macros below so you don`t have to manualy use Maul all the time

3x 3x

3x

3x

(Cast Bersek after the first Pulverize at the beginning)

and (Use them wisely!)

Skull Bash is used to intrerupt the boss spellcasting.

Swipe / Thrash macro:

Code:

#showtooltip /castsequence [stance:1] reset=6 Thrash(Bear Form), Swipe(Bear form) /use !Maul(Bear Form)

Mangle (bear) macro:

Code:

#showtooltip /use Mangle(Bear Form) /use !Maul(Bear Form)

Lacerate macro:

Code:

#showtooltip /use Lacerate /use !Maul

I`ve put the items in the following order: from the best to the least wanted in each slot.

When you see me suggesting "[Hit/Crit > Dodge]" you can reforge or not like that. If you want maximum survivability you can reforge into odge, but i think you`ll get aggro problems if you reforge all your items like that because you won`t be hit and expertise capped if you do so.

Legend:
[V] - JP Vendor
[H] - Heroic Dungeon
[C] - Crafted
[R] - Rep
[D] - World Drop

Helm:

• [D] Tsanga's Helm (World Drop) [Crit > Dodge]
  
• [H] Helm of Numberless Shadows (The Stonecore; High Priestess Azil) [Hit > Dodge]
  
• [V] Mask of Vines (2,200 JP) [Haste > Dodge]
  
  Neck:
  
• [D] Don Rodrigo's Fabulous Necklace (World Drop) [Haste > Dodge]
  
• [H] Pendant of the Lightless Grotto (The Stonecore; Ozruk) [Crit > Dodge]
  
• [R] Acorn of the Daughter Tree (Guardians of Hyjal; Revered) [Haste > Dodge]
  
• [V] Amulet of Dull Dreaming (1,250 JP) [Haste > Dodge]
  
  Shoulders:
  
• [V] Embrace of the Night (1,650 JP) [Hit > Dodge]
  
• [H] Caridean Epaulettes (The Throne of Tides; Commander Ulthok) [Haste > Dodge]
  
  Back:
  
• [D] Dory's Finery (World Drop) [Hit > Dodge]
  
• [H] Cloak of Thredd (Deadmines; Helix Gearbreaker) [Crit > Dodge]
  
• [R] Wrap of the Great Turtle (Guardians of Hyjal; Exalted)
  
  Chest:
  
• [D] Morrie's Waywalker (World Drop) [Crit > Dodge]
  
• [H] Vest of Misshapen Hides (Grim Batol; Erudax) [Crit > Dodge]
  
• [C] Assassin's Chestplate (Leatherworking) [Hit > Dodge]
  
• [H] Defias Brotherhood Vest (Deadmines; Glubtok) [Haste > Dodge]
  
  Wrist:
  
• [H] Double Dealing Bracers (Shadowfang Keep; Lord Walden) [Crit > Dodge]
  
• [H] Poison Fang Bracers (Halls of Origination; Temple Guardian Anhuur) [Haste > Dodge]
  
  Hands:
  
• [R] Stormbolt Gloves (Wildhammer Clan; Exalted) [Haste > Dodge]
  
• [H] Gloves of Haze (The Vortex Pinnacle; Asaad) [Crit > Dodge]
  
  Waist:
  
• [V] Sash of Musing (1,650 JP) [Exp > Dodge]
  
• [C] Belt of Nefarious Whispers (Leatherworking) [Hit > Dodge]
  
• [R] Quicksand Belt (Ramkahen; Revered) [Hit > Dodge]
  
  Legs:
  
• [V] Leggings of the Burrowing Mole (2,200 JP) [Exp > Dodge]
  
• [H] Beauty's Chew Toy (Blackrock Caverns; Beauty) [Haste > Dodge]
  
  Boots:
  
• [H] Crafty's Gaiters (Lost City of the To'vir; Siamet) [Haste > Dodge]
  
• [H] VanCleef's Boots (Deadmins; Vanessa VanCleef-Requires completed event) [Haste > Dodge]
  
  Ring1:
  
• [C] Elementium Destroyer's Ring (Jewelcrafting; Not Unique) [Crit > Dodge]
  
  Ring2:
  
• [C] Elementium Destroyer's Ring (Jewelcrafting; Not Unique) [Crit > Dodge]
  
• [D] Gilnean Ring of Ruination (World Drop; Unique) [Haste > Dodge]
  
• [R] Signet of the Elder Council (The Earthen Ring; Exalted) [Haste > Dodge]
  
• [H] Skullcracker Ring (Blackrock Caverns; Rom’ogg Bonecrusher) [Crit > Dodge]
  
• [H] Ring of Blinding Stars (Halls of Origination; Isiset) [Haste > Dodge]
  
  Trinket1:
  
• [H] Leaden Despair (The Stonecore; High Priestess Azil)
  
  Trinket2:
  
• (The second trinket depends on the boss you are fighting with)
  
  These are NOT listed by importance!
  
  
• [R] Mirror of Broken Images (Baradin's Wardens/Hellscream’s Reach; Exalted)
  
• [C] Darkmoon Card: Earthquake (Inscription; Darkmoon Earthquake Deck)
  
• [C] Figurine - Earthen Guardian (Jewelcrafting; BoP)
  
• [H] Porcelain Crab (Throne of Tides; Erunak Stonespeaker)
  
• [H] Tia's Grace (Lost City of the Tol'vir; Siamet) [Mastery > Dodge]
  
• [C] Lifebound Alchemist Stone (Alchemy; BoP) [Mastery > Dodge]
  
  Relic:
  
• [V] Relic of Khaz'goroth (Justice Quartermaster - 700 Justice Points)
  
• [C] Notched Jawbone (Inscription)
  
  Weapon:
  
• [C] Elementium Poleaxe (Blacksmithing) [Crit > Dodge]
  
• [H] Seliza's Spear (Lost City of the Tol'vir; General Husam) [Crit > Dodge]
  
• [H] Darkling Staff (The Stonecore; High Priestess Azil) [Hit > Dodge]
  
• [H] Berto's Staff (Blackrock Cavers; BoE Zone Drop) [Haste > Dodge]
  
• [D] Sorrow's End (World Drop) [Haste > Dodge]

I realized a list with Best in Slot items (Tier 11 Heroic) and from where you can get them.

Special for you I`ve made an Excel Data Sheet in witch I`ve presented the total value of BiS Items stats, what are the ideal reforging options, what sockets you can put, socket bonuses and a total value of BiS Items stats after you reforged and socket them.
If you don`t know what’s with some values you can simply hover over a cell and you will see a coment explaining to you from where i`ve taken those values (you can know what cells contains comments by simply looking at the top right corner of a cell and if you see a small brown rectangle, that cell contains a comment).


• Link to the Excel Data Sheet

Helm:

• Stormrider's Headpiece (Essence of the Forlorn + the 359 version) [Crit > Expertise]
  
  Neck:
  
• Caelestrasz's Will (Drop at Sinestra, last boss in Bastion of Twilight Heroic) [Mastery > Expertise]
  
  Shoulders:
  
• Poison Protocol Pauldrons (Drop at Magmatron Heroic, boss in Blackwing Descent) [Crit > Hit]
  
  Back:
  
• Cloak of Biting Chill (Drop at Maloriak Heroic, boss in Blackwing Descent) [Crit > Hit]
  
  Chest:
  
• Sark of the Unwatched (Drop at Atramedes Heroic, boss in Blackwing Descent) [Crit > Hit]
  
  Wrist:
  
• Parasitic Bands (Drop at Magmaw Heroic, boss in Blackwing Descent) [Crit > Hit]
  
  Hands:
  
• Double Attack Handguards (Drop at Chimaeron Heroic, boss din Blackwing Descent)
  
  Waist:
  
• Belt of the Fallen Brood (Drop at Sinestra, last boss in Bastion of Twilight Heroic) [Crit > Hit]
  
  Legs:
  
• Stormrider’s Legguards (Essence of the Forlorn + the 359 version) [Crit > Hit]
  
  Boots:
  
• Storm Rider’s Boots (Drop at Halfus Wyrmbreaker Heroic, first boss in Bastion of Twilight) [Haste > Hit]
  
  Ring1:
  
• Bile-O-Tron Nut (Drop at Chimaeron Heroic, boss in Blackwing Descent)
  
  Ring2:
  
• Lightning Conductor Band (Drop at Tron Council Heroic, first boss in Blackwing Descent) [Crit > Expertise]
  
  Trinket1:
  
• Vial of Stolen Memories (Drop at Theralion Heroic, second boss in Bastion of Twilight)
  
  Trinket2:
  
• Symbiotic Worm (Drop at Magmaw Heroic, boss in Blackwing Descent)
  
  Relic:
  
• Relic of Khaz'goroth (Justice Quartermaster - 700 Justice Points)
  
  Weapon:
  
• Malevolence (Drop at Halfus Wyrmbreaker Heroic, first boss in Bastion of Twilight) [Crit > Hit]
  

• Power Auras: Extremly useful addon that monitorises the duration of your buffs/debuffs and much much more. (Screenshot)
  Te see the uptime of Demoralizing Roar, Pulverize and Lacerate like me in the screenshot you have to complete these simple steps:
  Write in chat the command "/powa" and a new window will open with some options as you can see here. After the window openes press the button "Import" and copy the following code one at a time:
  

  Code:

  Version:4.22; b:0.9137; anim1:2; g:0.9608; target:true; icon:Ability_Druid_Lacerate; buffname:Lacerate; x:146; bufftype:2; texture:120; alpha:1; owntex:true; mine:true; speed:1.83; size:0.2; torsion:1.01; y:4; timer.h:1.81; timer.Texture:Crystal; timer.enabled:true; timer.cents:false; timer.y:-34; timer.x:150; timer.Transparent:true; stacks.enabled:true; stacks.y:39; stacks.x:145; stacks.h:1.23; stacks.Texture:Crystal

  
  

  Code:

  Version:4.22; target:true; icon:Ability_Druid_DemoralizingRoar; buffname:Demoralizing Roar; x:-203; customname:st; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:2; aurastext:st; owntex:true; size:0.2; y:-23; customsound:st; timer.h:1.67; timer.Texture:Crystal; timer.enabled:true; timer.cents:false; timer.y:-233; timer.x:-187

  
  

  Code:

  Version:4.22; b:0.9804; g:0.9137; icon:Ability_Smash; buffname:Pulverize; r:0.8863; x:-200; texture:24; owntex:true; size:0.2; y:83; timer.h:1.48; timer.Texture:Crystal; timer.enabled:true; timer.cents:false; timer.y:50; timer.x:-200

• Omen Threat Meter: A very useful addon that monitorises your threat and your raid members threat. (Screenshot)
  
• Recount: This addon will show you the damage done, dps, dot/hot uptime, dispeals, etc. (Screenshot)
  
• Bartender 4: Very useful addon that let you modify your User Interface, where to put your buttons, their size, etc. Very easy addon to configure, you will get the bottom of it on your own. (Screenshot)
  
• Cooldowns: This addon shows you the remaining cooldown on your spells. (Screenshots)
  
• Pitbull 4 (you can find a screenshot on their site). This addon modifies your Unit Frames.

Q: Why did they nerf our HP so much?? It’s all we have!
A: It is not all we have and you’re being silly. We still have a slightly higher HP modifier than the other tanks, so we will eventually begin to outscale them again. However, it won’t be by the gross amount it was before the nerf (something like 20k HP difference, which is absurd).


Q: What happened to Swipe? It doesn’t do a darn thing!
A: Truthfully, it got overnerfed. I have no idea if it will be buffed again and any kind of AoE tanking done before 81 will be more difficult. That does not mean it’s impossible. Just challenging.


Q: Haha I herd baers are the worst tanks LOL!
A: You are massively uninformed, but thank you for the memo. At 85, Bears are equal with the other tanks, and that was the goal. It took a few nerfs to our ego, but I haven’t seen tanks this balanced in a long time. Each tank still has its strengths, but when you’re comparing each class, you’re really comparing apples to oranges. We are however the worst AOE tank. We don't have very good AOE threat and when we do get threat we are the worst at surviving it thanks to or block/dodge mechanics. Single target boss tanking we are pretty dam amazing.


Q: What do I reforge to?
A: Haste into Dodge, mostly. Following spreadsheets and calculations done by Fasc and Zarko in the Tank community, as well as the folks over at EJ, it has become apparent that Bears are balanced around reforging unwanted stats to Dodge.


Q: What are the best gems?
A: This answer is going to change depending on your gear point, and even how capable your healers are. Right now, when everyone is grinding heroics and looking into entry level raids, Agility is the primary stat. Agility, Agility/dodge and Agility/Stam will provide the best amount of survivability early on. Whether or not Stamina will make a scene remains unknown.

Blackwing Lair:
Molten Core:
Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj:
Temple of Ahn'Qiraj:

Auchenai Crypts: (N/HC)
Mana-Tombs: (N/HC)
Sethekk Halls: (N/HC)
Shadow Labyrinth: (N/HC)
Hellfire Ramparts: (N/HC)
The Blood Furnace: (N/HC)
The Shattered Halls: (N/HC)
The Slave Pens: (N/HC)
The Underbog: (N/HC)
The Steamvault: (N/HC)
Old Hillsbrad Foothills: (N/HC)
The Black Morass: (N/HC)
Magisters' Terrace: (N/HC)
The Arcatraz: (N/HC)
The Botanica: (N/HC)
The Mechanar: (N/HC)

Black Temple:
Hyjal Summit:
Serpentshrine Cavern:
Gruul's Lair:
Magtheridon's Lair:
Karazhan:
Sunwell Plateau:

Tempest Keep: The Eye:

• Void Reaver
  
• Al'ar
  
• High Astromancer Solarian
  
• Kael'thas Sunstrider

..... ..... ..... .....


..... ..... ..... .....

Guide made by Silenz a.k.a. Pufarina.
+rep if you liked it !

[PvE] Druid TANK Guide

[Setemotion]

awesome job, looks great.

Setemotion - Goin Hard***
Setemotion's box of EDM goodies

[Silenz]

Thanks alot ^^

[PvE] Druid TANK Guide

[Pufarinaa]

*NEWS*
The talent Thick Hide has been repaired. Now bear tanks have the right value for armor, between 40k-50k.

[IamLegend]

Quick question :
I assume that leather specialisation is an important factor in this tanking spec. However, it's really difficult to achieve Leather specialisation here on Freakz because of the lack of raid bosses that drop specific items.
Would you guys suggest using a hybrid item build with Vicious Gladiator gear used together with the PVE gear in order to complete the leather specialisation?

Quinwaz wrote:

Trebuie sa ma prezint si eu? Nume: Marian Nume in Game: Quinwaz Despre Mine: Am Nasu Mare

[Pufarinaa]

IamLegend wrote:

Quick question : I assume that leather specialisation is an important factor in this tanking spec. However, it's really difficult to achieve Leather specialisation here on Freakz because of the lack of raid bosses that drop specific items. Would you guys suggest using a hybrid item build with Vicious Gladiator gear used together with the PVE gear in order to complete the leather specialisation?

Yes, that is how i started. With vicious shoulder and wrist.
Now i've got the shoulders from Omnotron, and i still have the vicious wrists.
As a druid tank leather specialization is very important.

[IamLegend]

Thanks for the answer.
One more thing !
Are you guys sure that the "hybrid" gems with stamina+ agility are better than the "stamina ftw" + 60 stamina blue gems socketed all over the place, disregarding sockets colors?

I currently have a 362 ilvl feral tanking build on Evolution and i experimented with both socketing strats and i came with the conclusion that the side bonuses of the extra agility from sockets aren't making much of a difference, while the HP boost given by the +60 stamina gems socketed all over my gear is really big.

Quinwaz wrote:

Trebuie sa ma prezint si eu? Nume: Marian Nume in Game: Quinwaz Despre Mine: Am Nasu Mare

[Pufarinaa]

IamLegend wrote:

Thanks for the answer. One more thing ! Are you guys sure that the "hybrid" gems with stamina+ agility are better than the "stamina ftw" + 60 stamina blue gems socketed all over the place, disregarding sockets colors? I currently have a 362 ilvl feral tanking build on Evolution and i experimented with both socketing strats and i came with the conclusion that the side bonuses of the extra agility from sockets aren't making much of a difference, while the HP boost given by the +60 stamina gems socketed all over my gear is really big.

I prefer the "hybrid" gems with stamina+agility in red slots or stamina+dodge in yellow slots only if the bonus of the socket is with agility or mastery. If the bonus is with haste, i go with +60 stamina gem.
Full stamina in all slots is not good, you need other stats to survive better
Agility gives you dodge and crit wich is good for the proc of savage defence.

[ovidiu_2311]

IamLegend wrote:

Quick question : I assume that leather specialisation is an important factor in this tanking spec. However, it's really difficult to achieve Leather specialisation here on Freakz because of the lack of raid bosses that drop specific items. Would you guys suggest using a hybrid item build with Vicious Gladiator gear used together with the PVE gear in order to complete the leather specialisation?

ofc u can use viciouse gear u cant use a cloth item for tanking ffs )

[IamLegend]

ovidiu_2311 wrote:

IamLegend wrote: Quick question : I assume that leather specialisation is an important factor in this tanking spec. However, it's really difficult to achieve Leather specialisation here on Freakz because of the lack of raid bosses that drop specific items. Would you guys suggest using a hybrid item build with Vicious Gladiator gear used together with the PVE gear in order to complete the leather specialisation? ofc u can use viciouse gear u cant use a cloth item for tanking ffs )

I do have leather gear all over but the pants,head, belt and bracers are lvl 85 blue items whos stats are a little low compared to the rest of the gear and, in bear form, with the hybrid gems we were talking about a couple of posts back, i only pull of around 130k HP. I currently have Stormrider Heroic Chest piece, stormrider's boots, rep gloves, Dory's Finery back, the rep+world drop rings (Gilneans Ruination or whatever its name is) some trinkets that aren't really for tanking (dps ones for the moment, until i get new ones) and the Malevolence staff (normal one, not HC).
My guild is both PVE and PVP (mostly PVP) and getting Vicious items isn't am issue, just a matter of time.

I do have a good tanking character (a prot paladin) but i kind of wanted to make the druid's offspec a tanking build for old times sake when druid tanking was the top tier tank back in TBC.
Good old times raiding The Black Temple with a druid tank, meh... :punk:

Quinwaz wrote:

Trebuie sa ma prezint si eu? Nume: Marian Nume in Game: Quinwaz Despre Mine: Am Nasu Mare

[Pufarinaa]

These days I`ll do some tests and I will do some modification at the reforge options.
I played hit and expertise caped situation and full reforge in dodge situation and I realised that on this server is better to play with full reforge in dodge.
I will make some prints at every boss with recount in these 2 situations (hit and expertise caped, and full reforge in dodge, without the cap in hit or expertise) and I will post them. Based on these tests I will modify the reforge options in the Excel Data Sheet.