INTRO: So I made a list of some gear I think it some of the best stuff pre-raid. I don't claim to be all-knowing on which stats are worth how many point in theory, but most of the time you can just tell which is better when looking at gear. So, here's the list:

**NOTE: None of the PvP gear that is currently unavailable is included, but may be included once it becomes available to players.**

Part 1:
Pre-Heroic Gear:
Weapon:
Stave of Shrouded Mysteries
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44174
Kirin Tor Reputation - Revered
Armor, stamina, and a bit of dodge. Very good starting staff.

Staff of the Sorrowful Chieftain
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41987
Quest Reward: Zul'Drak: Wanted: Ragemane's Flipper
This is really a DPS staff, but if you are just starting tanking,
it is very easy to obtain and it can hold you over til you get Kirin Tor rep.

Hewn Sparring Quarterstaff
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=36980
Halls of Lightning - General Bjarngrim
Another DPS staff, but if you didn't get the above staff, this one is good
til you get Kirin Tor rep as well. Make sure to wear a Kirin Tor tabard while
trying to get it though. TWo birds with one stone.

Witch Doctor's Wildstaff
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=35583
Gundrak - Slad'ran
Another DPS staff, but if you don't get either of the above staff, this one
is good til you get Kirin Tor rep as well.

Idol:
Idol of Perspicacious Attacks
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=38365
Grizzly Hills PvP Vendor - 30 Venture Coins
Definately worth getting if you do some of the PvP dailies in Grizzly Hills.

Idol of the Plainswalker
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37573
Quest Reward: Borean Tundra: Get Me Outa Here!/Return My Remains
If you never picked up the TBC Heroic Idol, this one is almost as good.

Head:
Headguard of Retaliation
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44409
Quest Reward: Utgarde Pinnacle - Vengeance Be Mine!
A single run through Utgarde Pinnacle will get you the best pre-raid, pre-heroic
druid hat outside of the PvP gear.

Eviscerator's Facemask
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43260
BoE Leatherworking (420) - Fur Trader in Dalaran recipe
Easily craftable headpiece and solid tanking piece.

Hood of the Furtive Assassin
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=36996
Halls of Lightning - Loken
Nice place to start out your tanking gear if you don't want to get the LWing one.

Tirion's Headwrap
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44044
Quest Reward: Icecrown: The Crusader's Pinnacle
An easy-to-obtain quest reward for those just starting out.

Shoulder:
Eviscerator's Shoulderpads
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43433
BoE Leatherworking (420) - Fur Trader in Dalaran Recipe
BoE Leatherworking piece and very well worth getting.

Ceremonial Pyre Mantle
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37067
Utgarde Pinnacle - King Ymiron
OKay starting piece.

Shoulderpads of Fleshworks
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44379
Quest Reward: Icecrown: The Flesh Giant Champion
Quest reward starting piece.

Chest:
Exotic Leather Tunic
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44405
Quest Reward: Utgarde Pinnacle: Junk in My Trunk
Easy quest, and an amazing reward.

Darkheart Chestguard
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44303
Knights of the Ebon Blade - Exalted Reputation
Only if you somehow get exalted rep before completing Junk in My Trunk.

Dark Arctic Chestpiece
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=38592
BoE Leatherworking (395) - Trainer Taught Skill
If nothing else, start out with this. Easy to craft, should be cheap.

Wrist:
Eviscerator's Bindings
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43435
BoE Leatherworking (420) - Fur Trader in Dalaran Recipe
Easily craftable starting piece.

Njorndar Furywraps
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44036
Quest Reward: Icecrown: Not-So-Honorable Combat
Easy group quest reward for a starting piece. Soloable as feral.

Hands:
Handwraps of Preserved History
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44397
Quest Reward: The Culling of Stratholme: A Royal Escort
Get these. Very nice armor, and loads of stamina and agility. The expertise is
an added bonus.

Eviscerator's Gauntlets
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43436
BoE Leatherworking (425) - Fur Trader in Dalaran Recipe
BoE craftable starting piece.

Sidestepping Handguards
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=36951
The Oculus - Mage-Lord Urom
Get if you can't get the Eviscerator's Gauntlets for some reason.

Waist:
Ley-Whelphide Belt
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=36978
The Oculus - Zone Drop
Socketed, this is a very nice belt.

Glitterscale Wrap
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44106
The Oracles - Revered Reputation
Very nice piece if you happen to be grinding Oracles rep.

Eviscerator's Waistguard
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43437
BoE Leatherworking (425) - Fur Trader in Dalaran Recipe
BoE craftable starting piece.

Legs:
Mind-Expanding Leggings
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44179
Kirin Tor - Revered Reputation
Socket these pants and you have some nice starting legs. I mean, you're grinding
Kirin Tor rep for the staff already anyways, right? (The answer is yes)

Constellation Leggings
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=35676
Halls of Stone - Tribunal of Ages
Decent starting piece.

Dark Arctic Leggings
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=38591
BoE Leatherworking (395) - Trainer Taught Skill
Easily obtained BoE starting piece.

Feet:
Jormscale Footpads
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43256
BoE Leatherworking (420) - Trainer Taught Skill
BoE craftable piece. High stamina and armor.

Eviscerator's Treads
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43439
BoE Leatherworking (425) - Trainer Taught Skill
BoE craftable piece. Same armor, slightly lower stamina, higher agility than Jormscale.

Back:
Flowing Cloak of Command
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37084
The Culling of Stratholme - Salramm the Fleshcrafter
High armor, nice chunk of stamina. Really worth getting.

Cloak of Tormented Skies
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41238
BoE Leatherworking (395) - Trainer Taught Skill
This easily-obtained BoE should hold you over til you hit the Culling of Stratholme.

Amulet:
Amulet of Wills
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=35680
Halls of Stone - Sjonnir the Ironshaper
High armor and stamina and even dodge instead of defense. Very Worth getting.

Rings:
Iceforged Battle Ring
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43190
Quest Reward: Storm Peaks: The Brothers Bronzebeard/Forging the Keystone
High armor and staminam but no avoidance. Nice starting ring as a quest reward.

Ring of Earthen Might
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43250
BoE Jewelcrafting (420) - JC Token Vendor Recipe
High armor, dodge rating, decent stamina and a socket. Very nice starting ring.

Signet of Arachnathid Command
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=35661
Azjol-Nerub - Anub'arak
Really nice tanking ring from a normal low-level instance.

Trinkets:
Indestructible Alchemist Stone
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44323
BoP Alchemy (400) - Trainer Taught Skill
An amazing tanking trinket if you happen to be an Alchemist.

Figurine - Monarch Crab
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44063
BoP Jewelcrafting (400) - Trainer Taught Skill
Nice trinket with decent stamina, two sockets, and a dodge on-use effect.

Sonic Booster
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40767
BoP Engineering (400) - Trainer Taught Skill
Decent amount of stamina on this trinket.

Part 2:
Heroic Pieces of Note:
** Denotes a recipe that requires a Frozen Orb. These drop from Heroics, but are not BoP.

Weapon:
Enraged Feral Staff
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37190
Utgarde Keep Heroic - Ingvar the Plunderer
Get this. Seriously. Good armor, good stamina, good agility.

Head:
**Weakness Spectralizers
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=42550
BoP Engineering (430) - Trainer Taught Skill
Epic Engineering Leather Hat. Requires a Frozen Orb to craft.

Helm of Cheated Fate
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37636
Gundrak Heroic - Drakkari Colossus
Just slightly above the Headguard of Retaliation for tanking.

Mask of the Watcher
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37293
Meta socket is pretty nice as is the socket bonus of 8 agility, but the agility
on the hat itslef is low. The expertise rating is nice though.

Shroud of Darkness
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43403
Violet Hold Heroic - Zuramat the Obliterator
Meta Socket is pretty nice as is the socket bonus of 12 stamina, but the agility
is low again.

Shoulders:
**Trollwoven Spaulders
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43481
BoE Leatherworking (440) - Fur Trader in Dalaran Recipe
Require a Frozen Orb to craft, but BoE and worth getting.

Chest:
Crystal-Infused Tunic
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37165
The Nexus Heroic - Keristrasza
Only better than the Exotic Leather Tunic with 2x +21 Stamina gems or better.

Wrist:
Bindings of the Tunneler
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37183
Utgarde Keep Heroic - Skarvald the Constructor
Highest stamina bracers pre-raid.

Advanced Tooled-Leather Bands
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37853
Halls of Lightning Heroic - Loken
High armor, high-ish stamina.

Dragonfriend Bracers
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44203
Wyrmrest Accord - Exalted Reputation
High armor, high agility.

Hands:
Gilt-Edged Leather Gauntlets
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37409
Utgarde Pinnacle Heroic - King Ymiron
High armor gloves. But only moderate stamina and agility. Not that great for tanking.

Waist:
Sharp-Barbed Leather Belt
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37194
Utgarde Keep Heroic - Ingvar the Plunderer
Best pre-raid tanking belt available hands down.

**Trollwoven Girdle
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43484
BoE Leatherworking (440) - Fur Trader in Dalaran Recipe
Require a Frozen Orb to craft, but BoE so you may be able to buy it for a quick upgrade.

Legs:
Gored Hide Legguards
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37644
Gundrak Heroic - Gal'darah
High armor and decent stamina and agility.

Ravenous Leggings of the Furbolg
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37374
Utgarde Pinnacle Heroic - Gortok Palehoof
Socket with Stam/Agi gems for some really nice pants.

Legguards of Swarming Attacks
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43286
Ahn'Kahet - The Old Kingdom Heroic - Amanitar
Put a nice stamina gem in the socket and these get some pretty high stamina pre-raid.

Chain Gang Legguards
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37890
Violet Hold Heroic - Zone Drop
BoE Heroic zone drop with really high stamina.

Feet:
Slag Footguards
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37841
Halls of Lightning Heroic - Volkhan
High Stamina boots with a socket.

Gorloc Muddy Footwraps
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43312
Gundrak Heroic - Eck the Ferocious
More high stamina socketed boots.

Amulet:
**Titanium Earthguard Chain
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=42646
BoE Jewelcrafting (440) - JC Token Vendor Recipe
High armor, good stamina and a socket. Requires a Frozen Orb to craft.

Rings:
Keystone Great-Ring
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37784
Drak'Tharon Keep Heroic - The Prophet Tharon'ja
Best pre-raid tanking ring.

Nerubian Shield Ring
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37591
Ahn'Kahet: The Old Kingdom Heroic - Elder Nadox
High armor and stamina ring.

Band of Torture
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37257
The Oculus Heroic - Drakos the Interrogator
High armor and stamina ring as well.

Trinkets:
Offering of Sacrifice
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37638
Gundrak Heroic - Gal'darah
They only new pre-raid trinket with permanent armor.

Essence of Gossamer
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37220
Azjol-Nerub Heroic - Hadronox
Loads of stamina and a nice life-extending proc effect.

Valor Medal of the First War
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40683
40 Heroic Tokens for this nice new dodge trinket.

I appreciate this I do, and some of this stuff was on my list. RAWR does real well for helping with this list as well, but witht he changes to staff, rings, trinkets coming do we really think that it matters. Pretty soon the only tanking stats we iwll be looking for is high agility and high stamina.

thanks man, i was looking for something like this /sticky?

/win if you would make the url's actual links that you can click on it would be /win x2

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Q u o t e:
I appreciate this I do, and some of this stuff was on my list. RAWR does real well for helping with this list as well, but witht he changes to staff, rings, trinkets coming do we really think that it matters. Pretty soon the only tanking stats we iwll be looking for is high agility and high stamina.

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While I do think high stamina and agility are going to become more important, druids really shouldn't not be looking at pieces with armor. Something like the Cloak of Command has a ton of bonus armor, making it worth a ton of armor in bear form, but even after the changes it'll still give 504 armor, which is significant even without the multiplier.

Then again, the main reason I did this is so that people would stop asking what gear they should wear while tanking.

Awesome post. I'll definitely be using this in the coming weeks.

Good list, reported for sticky. I was actually sitting here browsing wowhead looking at dungeon loot trying to plan a course of attack lol.

With the upcoming changes to feral weapons, would the staff from Heroic Violet Hold be better?

Sticky Please ^^

THANK you for pointing out were to get that one Idol
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=38365

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Q u o t e:
With the upcoming changes to feral weapons, would the staff from Heroic Violet Hold be better?

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Compared to the Enraged Feral Staff from Heroic Utgarde Keep I would think not. You'd be gaining 16 stam and 11 agility at the cost of 700 armor. Yeah, it's not bear multiplied, but it's still 700 armor.

Now, compared to the Stave of Shrouded Mysteries, without actually determining the theoretical stat weights I'd say they are about even. But like I originally said, I haven't worked those numbers out yet, if I do find them somewhere or do the math myself, then I might give a definate answer.

Btw the Violet Hold Heroic staff is:
Staff of Trickery
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37883
Drops From Cyanigosa

On a side note, I wonder if Thick Hide is going to apply to these pieces of armor that are no longer bear-multiplied.

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Q u o t e:
THANK you for pointing out were to get that one Idol
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=38365

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You are very much welcome. I'm saddened by the lack of new feral idols in WotLK though. Not like there were many before though. The real problem I saw was that there wasn't a Feral Tank Idol bought with the new Heroic Badges, just a Feral DPS Idol.

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Q u o t e:


Compared to the Enraged Feral Staff from Heroic Utgarde Keep I would think not. You'd be gaining 16 stam and 11 agility at the cost of 700 armor. Yeah, it's not bear multiplied, but it's still 700 armor.

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Think you might want to go re-read CG post

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Q u o t e:

ARMOR
We are changing the way bear armor works so that bonus armor on items does not receive the bear armor multiplier. Specifically this means that trinkets, rings, necks and cloaks with bonus armor will not be multiplied by the bear bonus. The normal armor on leather will still be multiplied by this bonus. We are also going to remove bonus armor from Feral staves. You’ll get your bonus armor from the leather you acquire.

Examples:
1) A ring that grants 100 bonus armor will now grant a bear 100 armor (not ~470 armor).
2) Leather legs with 253 armor will still grant a bear ~1190 armor (not 253 armor).
3) A feral staff will now grant 0 armor.

We are making this change because armor is such a good stat for bears that it makes taking pieces with bonus armor a non-decision and we don’t want acquiring these pieces, which tend to not be common, to be so much of a barrier to a druid who wants

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Point 3 the staffs will now give 0 armor.
I hope this is a mis-statement.

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Q u o t e:


Think you might want to go re-read CG post


Point 3 the staffs will now give 0 armor.
I hope this is a mis-statement.

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And the most recent post on feral armor change states:

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Q u o t e:
This is an update to my previous post on Feral armor changes.

ARMOR
As previously announced, we are changing the way bear armor works so that bonus armor on items does not receive the bear armor multiplier. Specifically this means that weapons, trinkets, rings, necks and cloaks with bonus armor will not be multiplied by the bear bonus. Only cloth and leather will benefit from the Bear and Dire Bear multiplier.

We are compensating Ferals for this armor loss by improving the Survival of the Fittest talent. In addition to its current effects (stats and crit prevention), it will now also increase armor contribution from cloth and leather items by 22/33/66%. That should be very close to your current armor bonus. This makes Survival of the Fittest rather over-budget by talent standards, but we figured it was one talent we can be pretty certain most tank-oriented druids will have (and to be honest nearly all Ferals).

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Which means anything with armor will still give it's base armor (maybe even Thick Hide multiplied) just anything not cloth or leather won't get bear form multiplied.

Reported for sticky. Bump to keep it near top in the meantime. And thanks for the subsequent reminder about the armor multiplier not affecting non cloth / armor items. Here the other day one of my guildies was linking the Staff of the Sorrowful Chieftain he just got, and I was dismayed that it didn't have armor like the older weapons. Completely forgetting that it won't help much anyway, stacking +Agi to gain armor is the way now.

bumping for sticky. I was also looking for one of these gear lists to help me as I started leveling up, and I'm glad for this thread.

Thanks a bunch!

Bump, this is a great list, thanks for this!

Great list. Thanks for taking the time to compile this: made my jobs of sorting out which Heroics to focus on a little less time-consuming!! A+

you should also add the new Darkmoon Noble deck as this is a really good trinket for druids.
92 passive agility and an proc for 300 more.

also you should mention that our dodge has diminishing returns on it so going straight evasion may not be as good as you think.

thank you for the list