Gear eval - Ready for Kara?

Hi All,

I just joined a new guild and they are looking to start Kara by the weekend. Now, I’m lucky enough that I was the first warrior to respond to their recruitment drive and was accepted and promoted to MT after a little while.

I've only ever done 5mans and the thought of 10mans has me a bit nervous. I can tank 5man Heroics without any trouble and since I found this website I have started to learn better ways of doing things.

The main worry I have at the moment is that I will go into Kara and get hammered...and let the guild down.

Can anyone please tell me if I'm ready for Kara. If not, any advice would be very welcome. - The World of Warcraft Armory

Currently I'm farming H Mech for the Sun Eater, and have acquired Inuuro's Blade for the time being. Currently also powering through SSO dailies to get Exalted and upgrade my current shield to SSO War tank shield.

Your HP and armour are more or less fine for the first half or so of Kara, however your avoidance is a bit low (specifically, your dodge), though I'm not sure, off-hand, what you can do to increase that.

Looking at your spec, however, there are definitely a few things that you should change. You need to get imp. shield block. Without it, it is more or less guaranteed that you'll take crushings, especially with your avoidance. Take the points out of imp. shield bash and either tactical mastery or imp. revenge (keep in mind that you can't stun raid bosses, and generally can't interrupt them, nor taunt them), and fill out shield spec and imp. shield block. Otherwise, your protection tree is more or less fine. In the fury tree, you might want to move the points from Booming Voice over to Cruelty, as it'll translate to more threat, while BV only give you a bit of extra HP and being less annoyed by having to keep commanding shout up.

Thanks Nay =)

I thought about my dodge being fairly low as well, I've got about 5-6 of the epic gems that drop inside Mech with stam and dodge on them. I'll wait until I get some gear which will last me a while longer and ill socket them.

Spec-wise, it's what I thought would be good before I even had a look at any other specs or read up on essentials for a tank. I just haven't had a chance to respecc since this one has served me well so far. I'll be doing that next chance I get.

For my offhand, I'm about to reach Exalted with SSO and I can upgrade to Dawnforged Defender at that point.

Should I be upgrading to Felsteel Helm over what I currently have? or would it be better to wait for a drop in Kara?...although I'm not sure what tank helms drop in there.

Any tips on what I should be upgrading first with badge loot?

I would definitely consider getting felsteel helm or myrmidon's headdress for an hp/defence boost. Also try to push through that aldor rep to get the vindicator's hauberk and shoulder inscriptions and throw a clefthide leg armor on those leggings or get the timewarden's leggings, only takes a few BM runs and you're set. Other than that i think that, yea, the sso shield will definitely help, and grind away at hmech for ur suneater, i'm using it right now and i love it. if you got the g's until then i'd consider throwing a mongoose on ur inuuro's which will help out the avoidance. Of course any other badge gear you can grab you should unless ur saving up for the new ones. Hope that helps

I think you're definately ready for the first half of Kara and after a couple of weeks of that you'll be ready to advance further, grab the felsteel helm when you get a chance and just because you start in Kara don't forget your rep farming, there's some crucial enchants out there for you from your exalted COT/CE & Aldor rep. The Stam/Dodge gem's nice from Heroics but you can only use one at a time so you won't buff yourself far with those. Good luck on your Kara runs if you're lucky you'll upgrade quickly.

Stop by and check out Polars pre kara gear thread, read each reply also, there's some grat advice on it for your. GL & HF Spacegoat.

http://www.tankspot.com/forums/gear-...gear-list.html

U can boost your HP by enchanting more stamina, 8 stam to legs sucks, chuck a 30 stam on it. From a quick look, u can increase your hp by about 5-600 hp, which is quite significant

Appart from that, if the guild is new, then you will gear up in kara as you progress and kill bosses :)

As I stated in another post; I would get the Gladiator Shoulders from AV. Personally, I believe there won't be a better pair until Gruul's.
If you are going to be the MT and do the pulls, which you dam well should; I would get a faster weapon. Felsteel Knives (2.2) are about the slowest I would ever use. Plus the added HR you'll definately need. As it is, your HR is way too low. (Gotta get this much higher) The more times you miss the mob, the harder you'll have to work to keep threat up. "Remember - hit cap is at 142" The Boomstick from Seth is nice if you don't want the Knives.
I would also re-gem and use +12 Stam instead of +9.
I am not a big fan of having Dodge ratings above 20% at this stage, but you are.....awefully low.
Since you are just starting Kara, I would start with a Defense artound 490 to 494 and use the gem slots for what you really need, like Sta; HR; Parry then Dodge. (Help your healers get the gear they'll need at all cost)
You may want to grind Black Morass until you are exalted with "Keepers of Time" and get the "Glyph of Renewal" head enchant. (Your guild should help you with this) and with Aldor / Scyers the Shoulder enchant.

Thanks everyone for the advice =) much appreciated.

So I just got my next upgrade, I decided to go with Slikk's Cloak - quite nice =D and I just need to get the 150armour enchant for it. I was thinking to wait out for another 30 badges or so and upgrade legs or something else, but decided that it would probably be more beneficial to get the cloak at this point.

My gear gemming is all over the place mainly because a while back when I was gearing for heroics I was really busting to get the 490def and as a result I was getting more def gems rather than stam to reach the level I needed. I think I should be fine to start replacing those with stam/HR/parry/dodge and still have the 490+def i need now.

I'm thinking of going for the Gladiator's Plate Shoulders for my next upgrade, should be nice and quick. Also, i'll be upgrading to Felsteel Helm this weekend - what gem's do you guys recommend? I'll also respec as you suggested Nay.

In regards to being ready for the first half of Kara, what does that mean exactly? Which bosses should I be ok to do or stay away from. I've never been into Kara before I don't really know.

Thank you in advance for the help:)

I would stack Stamina. As long as your Defense is at 490. I would also stress the importance of Hit Rating. Though 142 (hit cap) is out of reach for you right now, I would do what I could to raise this. (This is the main reason I do not stress a high Dodge right now. You Dodge. 0 rage. You attack and miss. 0 rage. Your Priest dies. Wipe.)

So having a few gems with hit rating will certainly help.

BTW : You do have a second tank?

And of course, you have read this
Karazhan - WoWWiki - Your guide to the World of Warcraft

Thanks Storm, I was thinking I can never go wrong with Stam - although to be quite honest I forgot all about HR. How much should i be aiming for right now? keeping in mind that I need to stack some stam as well.

I've started farming honor in AB and i should have my new shoulder this Saturday =)

AND!! Sun Eater finally dropped for me last night!! I was over the moon...I was starting to think I would never get it -good thing I held off on the Mongoose enchant for Inuuros Blade.

We do have a second tank, but i'm not sure of his gear just yet. We had a few new recruits come in during the week and some are tanks - I'll check with them and see how they are geared.

Would you please check out my talents, I respecced last night and I was somewhat in a hurry when I did it, as a result i think i stuffed it up. I believe I placed 1 or 2 talent points into the stun preventing talent - sorry I can't check what it is, I'm at work at the moment and WoW is blocked.

Your OT should be well equipt. Maybe not as good as the MT but pretty close.
The tree is really your preference but this is what I use.

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/warrior/talents.html?tal=250003010000000000000000000000000 000000000002055511032020123531351

Two mods I would have everybody in the raid have, and up to date. Make sure everybody has the same mod.
A threat meter. Omen is fine. Deadly Boss Mod though there are others. And of course, ventrilo.

A good start (being this is your first in Kara) should be (2) tanks. (2) hunters (3) healers; one for each tank and one for the raid and (3) DPS. At least a couple of these should be able to CC.

Start off with Attumen and Nightmare. Though they are not required to progress, it will difinately give you an idea on whats to come. Proceed to the guy who can fix your weapons. No need to clear the horses to the far left in this room. Then go back to the entrance and go upstairs. Getting to Moroes can be tricky. Learn to pull the lone wondering mobs down the stairs. The hall has a group of NPC (dancers) you can pull by individual groups. You will need to have these AOE'd. The lone valets hit hard, so be prepared if you accidently pull one. This room does not have to be cleared, but in your case, it may be good practice. Inside of Moroes, make sure you clear the room first except for those up the platform next to Moroes. Leave the kitchen alone. Again. CC will be important here. I like the idea of having both tanks on Moroes. Try and have others take down the healer quickly. The others can be CC'd and kited even after Moroes is dead. But that may be a long shot for you.

Good luck. I'd be interested in knowing how you did.

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A good start (being this is your first in Kara) should be (2) tanks. (2) hunters (3) healers; one for each tank and one for the raid and (3) DPS. At least a couple of these should be able to CC.

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You're a hunter, aren't you? =)

In seriousness, though, not sure where that requirement comes from. Shadow Priests or Warlocks are much more useful to a "new" Karazhan group - especially the Shadow Priests. Great DPS, help with raid healing, CC on Moroes and Skeletal Ushers and dispelling for Maiden - some of the biggest tripping points for new groups trying to master the early part of the instance.

Hunters are nice, don't get me wrong, but I don't see them as required for a new Karazhan team.

Since this will be their guilds 1st venture into Kara....I would be impressed if they get past Moroes on their first night. I doubt Maiden will be an issue. (I hope I am wrong)

As for the choice of (2) hunters, I don't see nothing wrong with that. It will help the others (Locks; Mage with CC) with the traps they can lay. Plus the added DPS. As for the 3rd DPSer, an SP would be a help as well but I would not depend on their healing abilities but more on DPS. I am guessing here, but from the original post; this will be a first (maybe for most of them) try in Kara. They may need all the mana they can get for DPS.

This whole venture should be to go in and learn, not to complete. (Hopefully, the virgins will enjoy and want to try again and again)

Traps are pretty ghetto as CC goes.

I much prefer shadow priests and warlocks since undead and demons are what you're going to be CCing and their CC is much more reliable than traps.

I wouldn't take a hunter over a shadow priest or lock. Put them about the same priority as a fury warrior, or rogue or enhancement shaman or something.

I prefer 2 healers in kara to 3 too, the more DPS you do the less strain there is on the healers mana pools after all. The third healer just gives you more heals per second.

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Since this will be their guilds 1st venture into Kara....I would be impressed if they get past Moroes on their first night.

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Moroes is a group check. If you can't pass Moroes, you're not ready for Karazhan. So you might as well try him.

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As for the choice of (2) hunters, I don't see nothing wrong with that.

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I didn't say there was anything "wrong" with it, per se, only that there's no reason to single them out like you did (2 Tanks, 3 Healers, 2 Hunters and "3 DPS"). Singling them out over other DPS implies they're somehow necessary (especially 2 of them?) for progression in the instance.

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As for the 3rd DPSer, an SP would be a help as well but I would not depend on their healing abilities but more on DPS. I am guessing here, but from the original post; this will be a first (maybe for most of them) try in Kara. They may need all the mana they can get for DPS.

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The Shadowpriests incidental healing is there to conserve healer mana and let the main healers focus on the tanks. Really helpful for new groups, especially with inexperienced or undergeared healers. Not to mention the fact that the Shadow Priest + Warlock synergy helps DPS immensely.

If I was "new" to Karazhan, my ideal group would be:
Protection Warrior
Protection Paladin
Holy Priest
Restoration Druid
Holy Paladin
Shadow Priest
Affliction Warlock
Affliction Warlock
Mage
Hunter

Once the group gears up and the healers can safely 2-heal, I would swap the Holy Paladin out for a Retribution Paladin, Shadow Priest, Hunter, Rogue or Fury Warrior.

Hi guys,

So the raid was.....a success!!:D

The group composition was -

2 Tanks
3 Healers - Paladin/Druid/Shaman
Hunter
Rogue
Warlock
Fury Warrior
Mage

I wasn't MT on this run due to not having experienced Kara before, GL opted to PUG for an MT with Kara exp and I could learn from him - which I was cool with. Although we got another MT, he was only minimally better geared than me, except I'm guessing he's run Kara before on other chars because he knew all the pulls.

We had an amazingly smooth run, downed the following bosses:

Attumen - One shotted
Moroes - One shotted - one member died.
Maiden of Virtue - Wiped once because healers did not have LOS to everyone in the raid.
Curator - One shotted

We also did Opera, event was Wizard of Oz - one shotted as well =D

All in all it was an amazing first time in Kara for me, the place is awesome. I also got two upgrades, Moroes watch and new legs. I would have landed the Eternium Helm as well but it was a crazy roll. Just me and the other tank, he rolled 3 and i was over the moon thinking It's as good as mine, but then I rolled 3:eek:!!! So rolled again, he got 17 and i got 16!!! i almost cried!:eek:

Unfortunately due to a late start I had to leave after Curator - but had another OT to take my place lined up.

When I got home in the evening and spoke with guildies, apparently a ton of tank gear dropped after I left. I'm not entirely sure which other bosses they went for but i can say they skipped Nightbane and called it at Prince - MT kept getting smashed in phase 2.

That's an amazing run for a first time - doubtless you had some good players in the raid.

There are some budget consumables that are useful for Prince - Greater Stoneshield for the tank in phase 2 and Demonslaying for the melees.

In my first Kara we only managed Attumen and the remainder was a series of endless wipes over the next 4 hours. I am almost certain even the repair vendor cried in pity taking our gold.

I'm sure that some of the guildies read up on the encounters in there. But still, I was very surprised as well at how great the whole thing went.

We're having our second run this coming Saturday,fingers crossed it goes as good as the last one with plenty of tank gear.

Thank you everyone that offered advise and tips, much appreciated:)

So i've had a few nice upgrades, another Kara guild run this weekend coming. Would I be ok to MT now with my new gear? WoW Armory - I have 13066HP unbuffed and 14600Armor

I have Regal Protectorate in the second trinket spot, I logged out with the Riding Crop by mistake.

You should be fine, one thing that stands out is that green ring, if you have done kara a couple times now I think you should be able to get the first level rep ring from the quest guys outside which won't give you quite as much stam but will give you defense and armor
Violet Signet - Item - World of Warcraft