I'll probably finish Cruel's Intentions (http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10136) within the next couple of days. As a Feral Druid, should I take Bladefist's (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=28041) or take Vengeance of the Illidari (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=28040) for my healing kit? I don't think Ferals can use "Use" items in form, which means I only get 26 crit rating out of Bladefist. Maybe I'm better off in the long term taking the healing trinket?

Within the next few levels I know my questing trinkets will be the Mark of Conquest and the Mushroom, but for tanking is there anything available within in the lvl 62-65 range?

Since a few patches ago, Ferals CAN use "Use:" items in form, as long as they are wearing them. We still cannot utilize pots and elixirs, but trinkets work.

Great! I didn't realize that. This would be my first trinket. So, given that I can use Bladesfist, does it make for a good tanking trinket? Or should I "spend" my quest reward on the healing trinking?

Bladesfist isn't a great tanking Trinket, but getting what you want is hard for tanks.

Bladesfist isn't bad for feral kitty dps. I keep it just for that and finding healing trinkets has been pretty easy.

Thanks.

You'll be using Bladefist's Breath all the way to 70, and maybe even beyond. If you are feral, there's no excuse to take Vengeance of the Illidari.

There is; if you have Alchemist's Stone and Hourglass of the Unraveller. :>


-Annikk

There is; if you have Alchemist's Stone and Hourglass of the Unraveller.I won't have either until I'm lvl 70. So, for 62-70, is Bladefist's the only tanking trinket available?

It's not a tanking trinket, it's a DPS trinket. And pretty much until you are 70, there is no better.

OK, I don't really need a DPS trinket. So, back to my OP, should I take he healing trinket for my "feral healing kit"? Or just take the DPS trinket to help with questing and/or the odd chance I do Kitty DPS in an instance???

It is the best DPS trinket you will probably see until you are 70. If you are a feral spec you NEED a DPS trinket, whether you spend 90% of your time doing instances or 90% of your time solo questing. What do you need a feral healing kit for, the 1% of the time you pretend to be a real healer?

What do you need a feral healing kit for, the 1% of the time you pretend to be a real healer?Good point. I was thinking that if my chances of obtaining a better tanking, or DPS, trinket "real soon now" were great, I'd spend my quest reward on the healing trinket. I honestly don't see myself even making it thru Kara, so while I level I'd like to make sure I pick "the best" quest rewards[1] with the future in mind as I just don't know what I'll be doing if/when I reach lvl 70.



[1]That statement makes me laugh a bit. After leveling thru the old world quests for a 2nd time I am reminded at just how crappy the quest rewards were. I honestly don't know what blizzard was thinking with some of their old world rewards.:biggrin:

I won't have either until I'm lvl 70. So, for 62-70, is Bladefist's the only tanking trinket available?

Bladefists breadth is a dps trinket, not a tanking trinket.
What sort of stats are you going for, for your tank gear?



-Annikk

What sort of stats are you going for, for your tank gear?Thru the first half of HFP, I have yet to see anything I would call tanking gear. Last night I did get one chest piece that is sort of a kitty/bear combo piece (+str, +agi AND +sta). I have one ring with armor on it. And one or two other pieces that have more +sta than my kitty set. In short, I have close to 0 "real" tanking items. I'm not sure when "real" tanking items begin to appear.

The way I see it, until I start to see items with +def and/or +dodge on them, all I can do is stack +sta and +agi.

When I hit lvl 62, I'd like to try to tank the first HFP instance (Ramparts). I just hope I can find some gear by then.

Not sure why I didn't see this before, but there is a thrid item reward from the same quest. The Regal Protectorate (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=28042), which is obviously a tanking item. Should I take it over Bladefist? Or is the +26 def and +900 health on use not worth it?

I'd keep Blade's Fist Breath. Most of your tanking equipment will really be gathered at or near 70. Don't get hung up on tanking equipment. There are a few key pieces that you'll need, but most of them are from quests you'll do at 70. Plus the other half is crafted.

So, can I tank pre-level 70 instances in Kitty gear? Or should I just forgo any tanking until I reach 70 and can obtain "real" tanking gear?

Found this in wowhead's comments about the tanking trinket...I picked the dps trinket (Bladefist's) over this one (Regal Protectorate), and I've been regretting it ever since. Had I known then that I'd have about 500 dps trinkets to choose from, and so few tanking trinkets, I'd have grabbed this in a heartbeat.

Bottom line - if you're going to be tanking, get this trinket. You'll find plenty of dps trinkets in short order. andits (Regal Protectorate) an incredible trinket with +10,74% defence at 70 and obtained at 60Any truth to those statements???

It's true that there are a lot of dps trinkets available from quests and not a whole lot of tanking trinkets. Unfortunately, those dps trinkets are inferior to Bladefist's Breath. As you are leveling up from 60 to 70, what percent of the time do you think you will be tanking vs. time spent in cat? Personally I only did instances if there was a quest. You're not going to be farming those instances because there is no point. So you shouldn't be doing much tanking compared to DPSing from 60-70.

You bring up valid points.

But isn't this sort of a chicken and the egg issue? If I don't tank much from 60-70, but once I reach 70 I tank quite a bit, how do I gear up for tanking at level 70? Go back and tank lower instances until I'm geared up a bit? Using my higher level (and base states) to make it easier?

Building up tank gear on the way to 70 isn't really too tough. You have to look at where your basic tank gear comes from:

Tanking weapon/neck: Cenarion Expedition faction. just buy it. You should be able to reach revered just from quests and getting exalted is just a little more time after you're level 70.
Helm: PvP for gladiator or get the exorcist helm or buy a purple hat off the AH. easy.
Shoulders: I'd recommend the ones out of BM. easy to get, drop pretty frequently, and BM is a 30 min instance.
Cloak: Do mechanar as soon as you can (as a druid, you get to start doing it at 68 while everyone else has to wait until 70). First boss drops a great cloak. There are some from quests you can pick up along the way.
Chest, Legs, Boots: Heavy Clefthoof set. buy it off the AH or have a friend make it. Pretty cheap, extremely awesome.
Bracers, Belt: pvp. easy sauce.
rings: First boss of normal old hillsbrad. Start doing it at level 66 or so and get two of the rings and your tanking rings will be ready for level 70.
trinkets: darkmoon fair cards (furies deck! buy off AH over time, as you're leveling from 60 to 70). badge of tenacity (it's a BoE purple from blades edge mountains. you can usually get it off the AH, but it's expensive). Go back and do the old UBRS quest for Rend Blackhand's head and get the 180 armor, 20 dodge rating trinket (mark of tyrrany? only takes 3 level 70's to do). Timelapse shard from exalted timekeepers give stamina and resilience.

With a little forethought and planning, your tanking gear can easily be ready for when you hit 70.

gloves: Quest reward in shadowmoon valley or the last boss of normal shattered halls (wastewalker gloves. i never got these to drop for me).
idol: Solo the bosses in old stratholme (the undead side). the magistrate drops a good bear idol.

Wow! Thanks alot. That is exactly what I was looking for. Though, I don't typically do PvP, as my other class is a hunter and I find PvP'ing as a hunter to be extremely difficult. So, far I've only tolerated PvP with my Druid for 10 days so I can get my Mark of Conquest leveling trinket (2 days left, woot!!). And my primary MO has been to click dash and run to the closest graveyard.

What exact PvP items are you referring to for the Bracers and Belt. For the helm don't I have to be on an Arena team to get those?

Bracers and Belt I was referring to were the new season 3 vindicator bracers and belt. The total cost is about 30k honor points, but it's possible to get that honor points while leveling to 70 (like when you get tired of questing, go do some Alterac valley or Warsong gulch, etc).

The season 1 gladiator's helm can now be purchased with Honor points (as opposed to arena points). I like suggesting the season 1 gladiator's helm because when properly slotted (18 stam meta gem and a combination of agility/defense/stam blue-quality gem in the other slot), has 30%+ more mitigation and 20%+ more survivability than the "Stylin' Purple Hat" (arguably the old 'best' pre-kara tanking helm in the game).

Again, the S1 gladiator's helm, as it can be purchased with honor points, can be saved up for while leveling by doing regular PvP in AV, WSG, the Eye and AB. And if you don't get the time or don't like PvP, grab the other suggestions (styling purple hat, helm of the claw [this ugly thing is a quest reward, btw and almost ranks as high as the stylin'], exorcist's helm, etc)