[Bearrorist]

And I don't see any basic threads that really tell me what I need to do a good job of bear tanking and what stats to shoot for. I'm assuming such a thread exists, but if not, can someone please give me the low down for druid tanks?

[dbodinem]

Assuming you have the right bear tanking spec....(3/3 Survival of the Fittest) you don't need to stack defense.

Thus the stats you should be working on....Stamina, Hit, Agility, Dodge, Expertise, Strength.

You'll want to stack a lot of stamina for survivability. In my experience (heroic and 10 man Naxx tanking) 30k + Health is more than adequate. Threat has always been the issue for me (especially on 3+ mobs) so you really want to make sure you're hit capped (263). Agility adds Crit and Dodge so its handy and Dodge itself is very beneficial. Most of this stuff comes with the leather armor you can get from conquest emblems, but there are still good drops in heroics.

As for strategies, get a marker addon (I use simple marker) so that you can mark easily. Threat on multiple mobs is the single hardest thing about bear tanking imo. So communicate kill order and maybe get a good Lacerate mouseover macro (read bigbearbuttblogger.com) to help establish threat with multiple mobs. When I pull, I FFF (Feral Faerie Fire) my primary target then actually autoattack my secondary target as I spam Swipe, rollover Lacerate all the mobs and Mangle secondary. I tab through the mobs to make sure they are stuck to me. Communicate with your dps (you dont' have an AOE damage spell (Consecrate) so make sure you're dps lets you build up a lot of threat before they AOE nuke (i tell them to wait until the primary target has gone down).

A really good bear tank is a sight to behold so enjoy.

[Astemus]

Click Search at the top, type in what you need help with (spec, threat, gear, stats), select Druid as the category, and instant info!

I will dispel some misinformation, though. Bears are excellent at AOE threat. Swipe is way more powerful than consecrate in most situations, and if you glyph maul, you will never have problems with aoe.

But there is no "requirement" or minimums to shoot for as a bear. If you have the proper spec, you can tank. It's pretty easy to tell what you can tank by how good your gear is. Also, there is a video under project marmot with some basic rotation and ability info to get you started.

(BTW the site is http://thebigbearbutt.com/)

[Dimness]

Source: Astemus I will dispel some misinformation, though. Bears are excellent at AOE threat. Swipe is way more powerful than consecrate in most situations, and if you glyph maul, you will never have problems with aoe.

I am not so sure about that, especially the consecrate comment. Swipe can crit and it's a "mobile" aoe, but those are about the only two advantages swipe has over consecrate. Otherwise consecrate, due to righteous fury, is arguably the best aoe threat attack in the game.

However, I do have to say that bears can do a good job of aoe tanking. The margin of error is much higher however, and bear tanking does require dps to not have such an itchy trigger finger.

Otherwise, I can only give the op some tips and pointers.

Gear: If it's not spellcasting leather, roll on it.

Gemming:
Blue = Stam
Red = Agility or Agility/Stam hybrid
Yellow = This one is still a head scratcher for me even though I've bear tanked for a year now. I would gem Hit, then once you make it to the hit rating of 263, gem for crit may be (to proc savage defense better)? not sure.

Heroic Instance Ready Check
Do you have at least 23 to 24k health unbuffed?
Do you have at close to 35% dodge unbuffed?
Do you have the standard craftable epics starter set? (Durable Nerubhide Cape, Trollwoven Spaulders, Trollwoven Girdle)
Is your gear enchanted?

Raid Ready Check (Naxx ready)
Do you have at least 30k+ raid buffed?
Do you have at least 40% dodge raid buffed?
Is your gear enchanted, especially the head piece (revered enchant from Argent Crusade)?

[felhoof]

This is a FAQ I wrote a while back. It should be mostly current and correct.

ThinkTank: [Druid] Bear FAQ for 3.1

And the above dodge numbers by dimness are way too high, and the health is way too low. Polar gear should be a top priority before heroics.

Your first yellow socket, if you absolutely need the bonus (8 agility/12 stamina is a good one to aim for) should be the Nightmare tear. Otherwise it depends on whether you want slightly more avoidance or slightly more threat.

[Bearrorist]

Thanks a ton for all the info guys! I have quite a few pieces of leather for now, looking forward to getting some more this week.