Best in Slot! Warrior Tanking Gear "At a Glance"

[Halandir]

Table of Contents

I. Introduction
II. Icecrown Citadel BiS Gear (work in progress!)
III. ToC BiS Gear
IV. Gems
V. Enchants
VI. Ulduar BiS Gear
VII. Pre-Ulduar BiS Gear
VIII. Additional Information
IX. Passive Unhittable Set


I. Introduction

Several current, comprehensive tanking gear lists are easily accessible. MMO-Champion has a good one, and several have been compiled on these forums as well. However, as in the past, this guide seeks to take the concept of a gear list a step farther and identify how different pieces of gear best suit different sets for different situations.

The initial gear guide for Icecrown Citadel will necessarily be incomplete, due to the fact that not all the item drops have been recorded yet. As we progress through this (what seems to be) awesome raid instance, I'll keep updating as we see more gear become available. Since the hard modes of Icecrown Citadel won't be available initially, everyone will have access to the same loot (for a while, anyway). Until we defeat the Arthas encounter and gain access to hard modes, this guide will only list gear from normal mode content.


The Principles

Just as I've suggested in this guide in the past, I would highly recommend maximizing the effectiveness of the gear you pick up by building multiple tanking sets. To do this, a couple of key gearing principles deserve consideration:

1. Build multiple gear-sets for different situations.
2. Socket/enchant each individual item to the strength of that item (i.e. if a piece is itemized heavily with threat stats, use threat enchants/gems on that piece).


The Sets

Ok, lets get down to details. Gearing principle number one indicates that ideally we should be building multiple "sets" of gear. (Note that some items may be "best in slot" in multiple categories). What are the sets? and what stats does each set focus on? To answer these questions, I hope to develop a section of this guide where I will explain the theory behind each set in greater detail. For now, here are the sets I'll be using in the guide:

1. Effective Health (EH) For any tank looking at progression content, the EH set is the primary set you'll be shooting for. Even if you don't have the BiS EH piece for a particular slot, you'll probably be gemming / enchanting everything for EH until you get multiple pieces of gear for the same slot.
2. Avoidance (AV) There have been a few fights where you want to gear for avoidance instead of EH or Threat. In heroic ToC, the situation was not very favorable for an avoidance set. It remains to be seen if Icecrown Citadel and the avoidance debuff will change that. Nevertheless, having avoidance pieces will come in handy for any content you out-gear significantly. Wearing a mixture of avoidance / threat gear will pay off for Ulduar farming runs, or any other lower-level raids (note: this doesn't apply to heroic 5mans, where block value / threat gear is the way to go). Lets face it... you really don't need 50k health to do content that you were lucky to have 40k health in back in the day. Instead of stacking an extra 10k health (and never dropping below 50% hp) stacking avoidance and threat instead will lower the amount of healing needed, making speed runs even faster!
3. Threat (T) This is usually the first set to work on building after your EH set. Once you pick up two pieces for a particular slot, you can switch between them as needed (though if you're doing hard modes you'll still probably have both gemmed / enchanted for EH).
4. Passive Unhittable (UH) This used to be a novelty set, for the most part. However, due to the mechanics of the Anub adds, having a set that makes every attack a "blocked" attack and has significant block value as well can greatly reduce the damage taken by the add tank. You can go to this section of the guide for more info on this set. Icecrown Citadel may have a similar fight that lends itself toward an unhittable set, but we'll have to wait and see!

The Rankings

Just like the previous gear lists in this guide, the Icecrown Citadel gear list will be compiled "at a glance." I haven't done a lot of math or set up formulas for my "best in slot" picks, but merely compared the top pieces of gear in each slot to determine what set to put it in. I'm sure there will be differences between what I pick and what others would pick, and I welcome criticisms and suggestions. If you're looking for a comprehensive list, you won't find it here. You'll have to go to one of the other listings on this site or the MMO-Champion list if you're looking for that.


II. Icecrown Citadel BiS Gear

(work in progress)

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Head - right now there are only three helms in ICC that I'm aware of. One drops off of Lady Deathwhisper on 25man normal mode, and two are the tier helms.

EH - Sanctified Ymirjar Lord's Greathelm (T10.25) and Broken Ram Skull Helm (ICC25, Lady Deathwhisper): both these helms have the same EH potential. I would go with the non-tier helm, unless you need the tier helm for the set bonus.
AV - Sanctified Ymirjar Lord's Greathelm (T10.25)
T - Broken Ram Skull Helm (ICC25, Lady Deathwhisper)
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Neck -

EH -
AV -
T -
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Shoulder - Only two pieces here worth mentioning right now: the tier piece and a 25man drop. The drop has an extra gem slot, so it beats out the tier piece for EH potential.

EH - Boneguard Commander's Pauldrons (ICC25, Gunship)
AV -
T - Sanctified Ymirjar Lord's Pauldrons: I list the tier shoulders in the threat category because they're a good piece to go for to pick up the 2 piece set bonus.
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Back -

EH -
AV -
T -
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Chest -

EH -
AV -
T -
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Wrist -

EH -
AV -
T -
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Hands -

EH -
AV -
T -
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Waist - this is a slot where a "bonus armor" piece shows up, providing a huge survivability boost.

EH - Verdigris Chain Belt (60 Emblems of Frost): the bonus armor makes this an excellent EH piece.
AV - Belt of Broken Bones (ICC25, Festergut): this piece doesn't have the bonus armor of the badge belt, but it has more avoidance stats.
T -
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Legs - this slot is a choice between EH and Threat. The crafted leggings have massive EH value, while the other pieces available have a lot of threat stats.

EH - Pillars of Might (Crafted, Blacksmithing): the bonus armor on these leggings make them a valuable upgrade to your EH set.
AV -
T - Sanctified Ymirjar Lord's Legguards: Loads of expertise as well as a possible 2 piece set bonus. Other threat pieces in this slot are Legguards of Lost Hope (ICC25, Marrowgar) and Deathforged Legplates (ICC10, Saurfang).
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Feet -

EH -
AV -
T -
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Rings -

EH -
AV -
T -
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Trinkets -

EH -
AV -
T -
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Weapons -

EH -
AV -
T -
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Shields -

EH -
AV -
T -
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Ranged Weapons -

EH -
AV -
T -
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III. ToC BiS Gear

Gearing up in ToC was much more linear than ever before. In other words, the choices between different pieces of gear for a particular slot were slim compared to the choices in previous tiers. This is due to the fact that there simply weren't as many different pieces of tanking gear in that tier of content compared to previous tiers. Another factor that simplifies the discussion is the overwhelming amount of incoming damage that tanks faced in "ToGC" (heroic mode ToC). The choice between Effective Health and Threat pieces was at least initially non-existent in the face of the massive damage that we had to deal with--for the most part, we were forced to maximize EH at the expense of Threat, and just work on improving our Threat game through playstyle.

This section of the guide is geared (no pun intended) towards guilds involved in hard-mode ToC content. I listed the "Best in Slot" pieces for each set based on the best gear the ToC tier had to offer.

Legend:
ToC10 - 10man version of the Trial of the Crusader
ToC25 - 25man version of the Trial of the Crusader
ToGC10 - 10man version of the Trial of the Grand Crusader (hard mode)
ToGC25 - 25man version of the Trial of the Grand Crusader (hard mode)
Ony10 - 10man version of Onyxia's Lair
Ony25 - 25man version of Onyxia's Lair
T9 - ilvl 232 tier pieces (purchased with Badges of Triumph)
T9.25 - ilvl 245 tier pieces (purchasable with Badges of Triumph + Trophy of the Crusade)
T9.5 - ilvl 258 tier pieces (ToGC25 drop)
Badges - purchasable with Badges of Triumph
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Head - There are four decent helms to chose from: obviously the ilvl258 helm is the best for EH, but the Ony25 helm is a pretty close second in that category. The badge helm with its loads of expertise is great for threat.

EH - Wrynn's Greathelm of Triumph (T9.5), if you have access to it, otherwise Helm of Wrath (Ony25)
AV - Helm of Wrath (Ony25)
T - Faceplate of the Honorbound (Badges)
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Neck - Four choices here once again: the ToGC25 neck is by far the best EH neck, if you can't get that then either go with the ToGC10 neck or the ToC25 neck (it's a 30 stam versus 546 armor decision)--both of those items are fairly easy to obtain. For the threat category, the ToGC10 neck edges out the Ony25 neck, but odds are you'll pick up the Ony25 neck first, so don't be afraid to use it for your threat set.

EH - The Arbiter's Muse (ToGC25, Twin Valkyrs): The armor on this neck puts it above the ToGC10 neck for physical damage. Endurance of the Infernal (ToGC10, Lord Jaraxxus) and The Arbiter's Muse (ToC25, Twin Valkyrs) are both good alternatives if you can't get the ToGC25 neck.
AV - Best bet here is to take any ToGC neck with a gem slot and gem for avoidance, but I wouldn't recommend it.
T - Endurance of the Infernal (ToGC10, Lord Jaraxxus): The Ony25 neckEskhandar's Links is a close second in the threat category, but the gem slot makes the ToGC10 neck the better choice.
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Shoulders - 4 items to chose from for this slot: ironically the shoulders from ToGC10 have more stamina potential than the ilvl258 tier shoulders do... while the ilvl258 shoulders are better overall, if you can't get them then definitely pick up the ToGC10 piece. Threat-wise, the ilvl245 tier shoulders are a definite win (assuming you don't have the ilvl258 tier shoulders), and the badge shoulders are really not the greatest pick in this slot unless you are looking for avoidance over threat (which I very rarely do).

EH - Wrynn's Pauldrons of Triumph (T9.5): if you can get them, if not then Pauldrons of the Silver Defender (ToGC10) have great EH potential.
AV - Shoulderplates of Enduring Order: easily obtainable and a good candidate for an avoidance piece if you have tier shoulders already.
T - Wrynn's Pauldrons of Triumph (T9.5) or Wrynn's Pauldrons of Triumph (T9.25) are your best bet for a threat piece in this slot due to their expertise rating.
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Back - the tribute cloak from ToGC25 "Tribute to Insanity" is a monster, as would be expected from a ilvl272 item. But since most of us won't come close to obtaining that item, the EH picks for this gear slot include the ToGC10 tribute cloak and the ToGC25 cloak.

EH - Magni's Resolution (ToGC25 Tribute Chest), Cloak of the Unmoving Guardian (ToGC10 Tribute Chest), or Pride of the Eredar (ToGC25)
AV - If you're lucky enough to get two of the EH cloaks, one could become an avoidance cloak with an avoidance gem / enchant.
T - Pride of the Eredar (ToGC25): If you are lucky enough to have this item and the ToGC10 tribute cloak, you can afford to gem/enchant this one for threat and the other for EH. The ToC25 version of this item (Pride of the Eredar) is a good choice for threat if you can't get the ToGC25 version.
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Chest - there are more choices available for this slot than most other slots: however, there is one piece that really rises above the rest, and it's pretty easily obtainable--the ToGC25 chest off of Northrend Beasts. It has the most EH potential and it carries a bunch of expertise as well. If you can't get your hands on it there are plenty of other options though.

EH - Chestplate of the Towering Monstrosity (ToGC25, Northrend Beasts) is the best pick, and our second choice for EH in this slot (other than the ilvl258 tier 9.5 chest, which is technically better but is not very accessable) is a crafted item Breastplate of the White Knight (Crafted, Blacksmithing). The three other ilvl245 chests have just slightly less EH potential: Chestguard of the Warden (ToGC10), Chestplate of the Towering Monstrosity (ToC25), and Wrynn's Breastplate of Triumph (T9.25).
AV - Wrynn's Breastplate of Triumph (T9.5):
T - Chestplate of the Towering Monstrosity (ToGC25, Northrend Beasts): If you can't get the heroic version, then Chestplate of the Towering Monstrosity (ToC25, Northrend Beasts) is your best bet for the threat category.
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Wrist - For EH, the ToGC25 bracers are the best but the ToGC10 bracers and the crafted bracers are good alternatives. Each of the choices for this slot have either expertise or hit rating, so the threat pick is pretty much a toss-up.

EH - Bracers of the Shieldmaden (ToGC25, Twin Valkyrs), with Dreadscale Armguards (ToGC10, Northrend Beasts) and Saronite Swordbreakers (Crafted, Blacksmithing) as a close second.
AV -
T -
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Hands - little to choose from here, in fact there really isn't a choice at all other than whether you pick up the ilvl258 tier gloves if you're lucky enough to get a tier 9.5 trophy.

EH - Wrynn's Handguards of Triumph (T9.5) or Wrynn's Handguards of Triumph (T9.25) as a close second
AV -
T -
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Waist - Not much choice in this slot either. Three pieces, all of which have avoidance stats. the ToGC25 belt is obviously your best piece for this slot if you can obtain it, but the other two options aren't bad.

EH - Girdle of Bloodied Scars (ToGC25, Faction Champions) is the best EH belt, but Girdle of the Nether Champion (ToGC10, Jaraxxus) and Girdle of Bloodied Scars (ToC25, Faction Champions) are both a close second.
AV - Each belt has avoidance stats (defense / dodge / parry) so if you wanted an avoidance piece any one of them would work.
T - None of the belts have expertise or hit on them, so a threat pick in this slot will probably just be your second belt you pick up with some threat gems socketed.
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Legs - The ToGC25 pants are awesome... I love items with massive amounts of health and expertise. If you can't get them, then you should probably wear the normal mode version from ToC25. The tier pants aren't too impressive.

EH - Legguards of Feverish Dedication (ToGC25, Jaraxxus) or Wrynn's Legguards of Triumph (T9.5) as a close second. The Legguards of Feverish Dedication (ToC25, Jaraxxus) are probably the EH legs that are the most accessible and most of us will probably be wearing them. Note: Saronite Plated Legguards (Ulduar25, Kologarn) are also an interesting EH option for this slot due to the massive amount of armor they carry.
AV - there aren't any leggings with only avoidance stats, so an avoidance piece in this slot would probably just be a gem difference.
T - Legguards of Feverish Dedication (ToGC25, Jaraxxus) or Legguards of Feverish Dedication (ToC25, Jaraxxus) as a good second choice.
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Feet - the ToGC25 boots and the ToGC10 boots have just about the same EH value, but the ToGC10 boots have hit rating instead of parry, so I would put the ToGC10 boots at the top of the pick order for this slot.

EH - Dawnbreaker Greaves (ToGC25, Jaraxxus) or Sabatons of the Lingering Vortex (ToGC10, Twin Valkyrs) - the 25man boots lose 6 stamina compared to the 10man boots, but have an extra 79 armor. Either one of these items is great for EH.
AV - Dawnbreaker Greaves (ToGC25, Jaraxxus) and the normal version Dawnbreaker Greaves (ToC25, Jaraxxus) both have avoidance stats.
T - Sabatons of the Lingering Vortex (ToGC10, Twin Valkyrs) or the normal version Sabatons of the Lingering Vortex (ToC10, Twin Valkyrs) carry hit rating, which is pretty rare on current gear.
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Rings - Rings are one of the first slots to use to build multiple gear-sets.

EH - Signet of the Traitor King (ToGC25, Anub'arak), Loop of the Twin Valkyr (ToGC10, Twin Valkyrs) and Clutch of Fortification (Badges) top the EH charts for rings. For main-tanking Anub (due to the nature resistance) Signified Ring of Binding (Ony25) and Runed Ring of Binding (Ony10) are good options.
AV - Signet of the Traitor King (ToGC25, Anub'arak) and the normal version Signet of the Traitor King (ToC25, Anub'arak) are best for avoidance due to the dodge / parry / defense itemization.
T - There aren't any threat rings in ToC, so if you're looking for a threat piece for this slot you'll have to look back to previous content (check out the Ulduar and pre-Ulduar sections of this guide)
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Trinkets - I'm going to approach this slot differently than the rest due to the difference between many trinkets "passive" or "on use" or "chance to proc" effects. Rather than listing EH, AV, or T categories I'll list the trinkets and comment on each.

Satrina's Impending Scarab (ToGC25, Faction Champions):
Satrina's Impending Scarab (ToC25, Faction Champions):
Bitter Balebrew Charm / Bubbling Brightbrew Charm (Brewfest Event Boss):
Heart of Iron (Ulduar25, Ignis):
Royal Seal of King Lane (Ulduar10, Yogg-Saron):
Glyph of Indomitability (Badges):
The Black Heart (ToC5 normal mode, The Black Knight):

Fervor of the Frostborn (ToGC10, Faction Champions):
Fervor of the Frostborn (ToC10, Faction Champions):

Victor's Call (ToGC10, Faction Champions):
Victor's Call (ToC10, Faction Champions):

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Weapons - Rather than list EH / AV / T categories for weapons, I'll use a ranking system.

1) Silverwing Defender (ToGC25, Tribute Chest):
2) Crusader's Glory (ToGC10, Anub'arak) or Honor of the Fallen (ToGC10, Tribute Chest):
3) Burnished Quel'Serrar (Ony25) or Crusader's Glory (ToC10, Anub'arak):

DPS weapons: These would fall under the "threat" category, as they don't have any defense stats. I include these because they are fast weapons with threat stats and high dps. I used the normal mode Toc25 sword from Jaraxxus for a long time until I got a tanking weapon that was on par dps-wise.
Lionhead Slasher (ToGC25, Jaraxxus):
Lionhead Slasher (ToC25, Jaraxxus):
Westfall Saber (ToGC10, Anub'arak):
Westfall Saber (ToC10, Anub'arak):

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Shields - I was disappointed with itemization on the ToC shields. The Ulduar10 shield from Hodir is better for EH than the ToC10 and Toc25 normal mode shields. If you get a hold of the ToGC10 or ToGC25 shields they're better than the Hodir shield for EH due to their armor advantage, even though they still have a bit less stamina than the Hodir shield.

EH - Crystal Plated Vanguard (ToGC25, Northrend Beasts) or Bulwark of the Royal Guard (ToGC10, Anub'arak), or if you don't have those then use the Boreal Guard (Ulduar10, Hodir Hardmode)
AV - All the ToC shields have defense / dodge or defense / parry stats, so an avoidance shield would be your 2nd-best EH shield with a defense gem and enchant.
T - No ToC shield has threat stats other than block value, so there isn't a stand-out shield for the threat category. Your best bet is to take your second-best shield and throw a shield spike on it.

[Halandir]

IV. Gems

Meta Socket

EH - Austere Earthsiege Diamond: The 32 stamina on this meta is common to a few other meta gems, but the 2% armor bonus makes it the gem of choice for the EH set.
AV/BV/T/UH - Eternal Earthsiege Diamond: 21 defense rating isn't a whole lot, but if you need a little defense to get you over the cap, or you are already at the EH threshold for the content you're tanking, you can put this gem in your Avoidance helm, your block value helm, or your threat helm for that matter. The set that benefits the most from this meta will be your Anub adds "passive unhittable" set.

Blue Socket

EH - Solid Majestic Zircon: For a pure EH set, unless you have a stamina socket bonus you'll want to put this gem in every possible location (don't forget to include one red gem in your EH set for your meta to work).
AV - Enduring Eye of Zul or Regal Dreadstone
T - Guardian's Dreadstone
BV - Sovereign Dreadstone
UH - Thick King's Amber. You'll be using these pretty much exclusively for the Unhittable set, ignore socket bonuses and just stack defense for this set.

Red Socket

EH - Solid Majestic Zircon: again, use this unless there's a stamina socket bonus (in which case you can substitute a gem that matches the socket color and gives you 15 stamina + dodge or defense or whatever)
AV - Subtle Cardinal Ruby, Stalwart Ametrine, or Regal Dreadstone. The parry gems aren't going to get you anywhere.
T - Precise Cardinal Ruby or Accurate Ametrine are both great, also Guardian's Dreadstone or Resolute Ametrine if you are looking to add stamina or defense rating.
BV - Bold Cardinal Ruby: You'll be using your BV set on trash mostly, and you'll probably reach the 177 hit / 22 expertise caps easily, so stacking strength gems is the next best way to increase block value.
UH - Thick King's Amber. It's best to ignore socket bonuses and stack defense gems for your unhittable set.

Yellow Socket

EH - Solid Majestic Zircon: yet again, use this unless there's a stamina socket bonus (in which case you can substitute a gem that matches the socket color and gives you 15 stamina + dodge or defense or whatever)
AV - Thick King's Amber is the best, followed by Stalwart Ametrine and Enduring Eye of Zul.
T - Accurate Ametrine again, nice threat gem mentioned earlier for either a red or yellow socket.
BV - Anything with strength on it
UH - Thick King's Amber:

V. Enchants

I'm indebted to Veneretio for his great post on Warrior 3.0.8 Tanking Enchants. I've applied basically the same enchants he lists to the gear I've placed in the three categories (EH, AV, T). I've expanded on his work a little, but I'm not going to take credit for most of this section (no sense trying to re-invent the wheel anyway).

Helm

EH - Arcanum of the Stalwart Protector (Argent Crusade Revered):
AV/UH - Arcanum of the Defender (Keepers of Time Revered): technically more avoidance than the new tanking head enchant--if it's worth it to gain a little avoidance at the expense of 37 stamina, then use this. Unless you're trying to absolutely max out avoidance for some reason (read: unhittable set) it's best to stick with the Argent Crusade head enchant.
T - Arcanum of Torment (Knights of the Ebon Blade Revered):
BV - Presence of Might (Zandalar Tribe Friendly): Yea... kickin it old-school style. If you have one of these sitting around or you want to farm ZG to beat the boredom, you could technically still use one of these on your BV set.

Shoulders

EH - Greater Inscription of the Gladiator (30 stamina, 15 resilience rating):
AV/UH - Greater Inscription of the Pinnacle (20 dodge rating, 15 defense rating):
T - Greater Inscription of the Axe (40 attack power, 15 critical strike rating):
BV -

Back

EH - Mighty Armor (225 Armor):
AV/UH - Titanweave (16 defense rating):
T - Major Agility (22 agility)
BV -

Chest

EH - Super Health (275 health):
AV/UH - Greater Defense (22 defense rating):
T - Powerful Stats (10 to all stats)
BV -

Wrist

EH - Major Stamina (40 stamina):
AV/UH - Major Defense (12 defense rating)
T - Expertise (15 expertise rating):
BV -

Hands

EH - Heavy Borean Armor Kit (18 stamina) OR Glove Reinforcements (240 Armor):
AV/UH - Major Agility (20 Agility):
T - Armsman (2% threat increase, 10 parry rating):
BV -

Legs

EH/AV/UH - Frosthide Leg Armor (55 stamina, 22 agility)
T - Icescale Leg Armor (70 attack power, 22 critical strike rating):
BV - Presence of Might (Zandalar Tribe Friendly):

Feet

EH - Greater Fortitude (22 stamina):
AV/UH - Superior Agility (16 agility):
T - Icewalker (12 critical strike rating, 12 hit rating):
BV -

Weapon

EH - Blood Draining
AV/UH - Exceptional Agility (26 agility)
T - Accuracy (25 critical strike rating, 25 hit rating):
BV -

Shield

EH - Major Stamina (18 stamina) OR Titanium Plating (40 block value):
AV/UH - Defense (20 defense rating):
T - Titanium Shield Spike (45-67 damage on blocked attacks):
BV - Titanium Plating (40 block value):

[Halandir]

VI. Ulduar BiS Gear

Head
T - Ironbark Faceguard (Ulduar10 Freya):
EH - Helm of the Faceless (Ulduar25 General Vezax):
AV/Block - Conqueror's Siegebreaker Greathelm (Ulduar25 Thorim, 58 Emblems of Conquest):

Neck
T - Titanstone Pendant (Ulduar25 Trash):
EH - Bronze Pendant of the Vanir (Ulduar25 Freya Hardmode):
Block - Necklace of Unerring Mettle (Ulduar25 Kologarn):

Shoulders
T/EH/AV - Conqueror's Siegebreaker Pauldrons (Ulduar25 Yogg-Saron): Until we discover another shoulder drop, the T8.5 shoulders kick butt in pretty much every category. I'd put a 24 stam gem in these.
(T) - Shoulderplates of the Deconstructor (Ulduar25 XT-002 Deconstructor): These are better than T7.5 (unless you need the valorous shoulders for the T7 set bonus or something)... so though they're not as good as the Conqueror's shoulders, they're good enough to include here for now.
Block - Shoulderguards of the Solemn Watch (Ulduar10 Kologarn): Usable for a trash/adds set, but I'd only wear these if you don't have your T8.5 yet.

Back
EH/T/AV - Titanskin Cloak (Ulduar25 Mimiron Hardmode): Best all-around cloak, for good reason! (check out the ilvl). If you have the Cloak of the Makers as well, you may want to gem/enchant this one for EH.
AV - Cloak of the Makers (Ulduar25 Auriaya): with a 16 defense enchant this cloak makes a good Avoidance peice, especially if you don't have your Titanskin cloak yet or if you go the EH route with Titanskin.
Block - Cloak of the Iron Council (Ulduar10 Iron Council): Great peice for your trash mob set.

Chest
EH/Block - Unbreakable Chestguard (Ulduar25 Auriaya): It's rare for your top EH piece in a slot to be the best for a block set as well, but that's the case with this piece.
T - Breastplate of the Timeless (Ulduar10 Algalon): Massive amounts of expertise and defense rating.
AV - Conqueror's Siegebreaker Breastplate (Ulduar25 Hodir, 58 Emblems of Conquest): Parry rating sucks, but you could end up with a decent avoidance piece if you gem/socket this for Avoidance.

Wrist
EH/AV/T - Mimiron's Inferno Couplings (Ulduar25 Flame Leviathan): Unless we discover another bracers drop, these are best in slot. I'd advise 40 stamina for your enchant here.
T - Flamewatch Armguards (Ulduar10 Flame Leviathan): These are itemized identically to Mimiron's... just not quite as good. I list them here because you can put a threat enchant on them and use for fights where you don't need the extra EH.

Hands
EH/AV - Handguards of Revitalization (Ulduar25 Freya Hardmode): BiS for both EH and AV, depending on how you gem/enchant.
T - Conqueror's Siegebreaker Handguards (Emalon, Ulduar25 Mimiron): With a 24 stam gem, these are second place in the EH category. Good piece to use if you're looking for the set bonuses.
T - Gauntlets of the Royal Watch (28 Emblems of Conquest): Also a good threat peice, worth picking up until you get your T8.5 gloves.
Block - Handguards of the Enclave (Ulduar25 Iron Council):

Waist
EH - Indestructable Plate Girdle (Crafted by BS, Ulduar pattern drop):
AV/T - Shieldwarder Girdle (28 Emblems of Conquest): Assuming you gem for EH on the Indestructable piece, this belt becomes the top avoidance piece in slot. Use a defense or dodge gem with your eternal belt buckle.
Block - Dragonslayer's Brace (Ulduar25 Razorscale):

Legs
EH - Saronite Plated Legguards (Ulduar25 Kologarn): The extra armor on these is valuable for heavy physical damage fights. Gem this piece for EH.
EH/AV - Legplates of the Endless Void (Ulduar25 Algalon): BiS, or pretty close.
T - Gilded Steel Legplates (Ulduar10 Flame Leviathan Hardmode): Parry itemization sucks again, but these have the top expertise in slot, so they're valuable for a boss threat set.
Block - Wyrmguard Legplates (39 Emblems of Conquest):
(EH/AV/T) - Conqueror's Siegebreaker Legguards (Emalon, Ulduar25 Freya): decent all-around piece, they have good stam and nice avoidance itemization. The block value is good for threat as well. How you gem these probably depends on what other leg pieces you have. Don't underestimate this piece! If you're working toward the 4pc set bonus (magic dmg reduction) you may want to go EH with this piece to make the best use of it on the magic damage fights.

Feet
EH/T - Greaves of the Iron Army (Ulduar10 Mimiron Hardmode):
EH - Spiked Deathdealers (Crafted by BS, Ulduar pattern drop):
AV/T - Charred Saronite Greaves (Ulduar25 Ignis):

Rings
Block - Signet of the Earthshaker
T/AV - Platinum Band of the Aesir
EH - The Leviathan's Coil
EH - Fate's Clutch - from one of the hard modes, top EH plus def/dodge and expertise -- awesome ring!
Seal of Ulduar - I'm less geeked about this ring, but it does have stam/armor/expertise. Would have been nicer to see defense instead of parry though.

Trinkets
AV - The General's Heart:
EH - Heart of Iron: Listed as EH, but it has an awesome Avoidance "use" effect as well.
EH - Royal Seal of King Llane:

Weapons
- Axe of the Sen'jin Protector
- Sorthalis, Hammer of the Watchers
- Titanguard
- Veranus' Bane (ranged weapon)

Shields
T - Northern Barrier
EH/Block - The Boreal Guard
Bulwark of Algalon


VII. Pre-Ulduar BiS Gear

I'm keeping this list intact but seperate for now, for those who are setting up their gear-sets as they head into Ulduar. Also note: Instead of listing Gluth as a drop location for every peice of gear from the four wings of Naxx, Just keep in mind that Gluth can drop any Naxx gear including tier tokens (except Saph/KT drops).

Head

T/AV - Helm of Vital Protection (Naxx25, Gothik): This can serve as either your threat or avoidance helm.
AV - Thane's Tainted Greathelm (Naxx10, Four Horsemen): Wearing this helm will result in a significant loss in EH, but if you may want to keep this one for pure avoidance situations.
BV - Valorous Dreadnaught Greathelm (Naxx25, Kel'Thuzad): Even if this is the only helm you use, consider using a block value meta once your EH meets the minimums for the content you're encountering.
EH - Tempered Titansteel Helm (Crafted, Blacksmith): This easily-obtainable helm has a lot of EH potential... but not much else. Use it if you must, but only for the most demanding EH fights.

Neck - no enchants or gems here to worry about, so it's pretty straight-forward depending on which of these you can get a hold of.

AV - Heritage (Naxx25, Razuvious, Anub'Rekhan, Noth, Patchwerk, Grand Widow Faerlina):
T - Boundless Ambition (Naxx25, Kel'Thuzad):
BV - Medalion of the Disgraced (Naxx10, trash mobs):
EH - Nexus War Champion Beads (Heroic Kel'Thuzad/Malygos quest reward): best for MEH, with 118 stam possible but no armor. For physical damage, Boundless Ambition (94 stam, 336 armor) ranks right up there (336 armor versus 24 stam, you do the math).

Shoulders

AV/EH - Valorous Dreadnaught Pauldrons (Naxx25, Loatheb, or 60 Emblem of Valor): Tied for EH potential with the Anub'Rekhan shoulders, your choice of gemming/shoulder enchant determines where you go with these.
T/EH - Pauldrons of Unnatural Death (Naxx25, Anub'Rekhan): I list these here solely for the expertise, I'd throw a threat gem in but use a normal defense-oriented shoulder enchant. You could also trick these out for EH if you'd rather use the T7.5 shoulders for your avoidance set.
BV - Burdened Shoulderplates (Naxx25, Gothik): no added block value here (other than from best-in-slot 75 strength), but the block rating makes this peice a good addition to your BV set.

Back

EH - Cloak of the Shadowed Sun (Naxx25, Gothik, Grobbulus, Heigan, Maexxea): tied for top stamina, but with 490 armor (715 with an armor enchant) this cloak comes out on top for EH.
AV - Platinum Mesh Cloak (25 Emblem of Valor): put a 16 defense enchant on this cloak and add it to your avoidance gear.
T - Gale-Proof Cloak (Sarth10, One Drake): You can't go wrong with expertise for your threat set.
BV - Shadow of the Ghoul (Naxx25, trash mobs): Perfect for a block set, don't pass this cloak up!

Chest

AV - Dragonstorm Breastplate (Sarth25, One Drake): Tied for top EH potential with the T7.5 chestpeice, but this peice is also the best-in-slot for avoidance, so I'd stick with avoidance gems/enchants on this peice and leave the EH to the T7.5 chest.
T - Breastplate of Tormented Rage (Naxx25, Heigan):
EH/BV - Valorous Dreadnaught Breastplate (Naxx25, Four Horsemen): This chest is best suited for your EH set, but even set up for EH it makes a good addition to your BV set, by balancing out the usual loss of EH that comes with the BV gear-set.

Wrist

AV/EH - Bracers of the Unholy Knight (Naxx25, Razuvious): a 24 stam gem will give you top EH for your bracers slot, and these also have a healthy amount of avoidance stats, making them a great all-around peice for situations where you're worried about staying alive.
T - Bracers of Dalaran's Parapets (60 Emblem of Valor): If you're not worried about staying alive, use these bracers for the extra hit, you might even put a 15 expertise enchant on them for even more threat!
BV - Bindings of the Hapless Prey (Naxx25, Maexxna): These bracers have both block value and block rating, perfect for your block set.

Hands

AV - Callous-Hearted Gauntlets (Naxx25, Faerlina): A good balance of all three avoidance stats (defense/dodge/parry) make these gloves great additions to your avoidance set.
T/EH - Valorous Dreadnaught Handguards (Sarth25): with a 24 stam gem these become the strongest EH gloves.
BV - Gauntlets of the Disobedient (Naxx25, Noth):

Waist

AV - Waistguard of Living Iron (40 Emblem of Heroism): Defense, dodge, and parry plus a socket make this belt a great avoidance piece.
T/EH - Ablative Chitin Girdle (Naxx25, Maexnna): This belt has the top EH in slot, and even has a blue socket so you get an extra 4 defense bonus with the standard EH 24 stam gem.
BV - Waistguard of the Tutor (Naxx10, Razuvious): I know they're from a 10 man, but don't vendor these! They're perfect for a block set.

Legs

AV - Valorous Dreadnaught Legguards (Naxx25, Thaddius, or 75 Emblem of Valor):
T - Legplates of Sovereignty (Malygos25) / Dragon Brood Legguards (Sarth25):
BV - Legplates of Inescapable Death (Naxx10, Loatheb):
EH - Valorous Dreadnaught Legguards or Legplates of Sovereignty, T7.5 legs have 4 more stamina (assuming 24 stam gems) than the Malygos legs, but 43 less armor. Take your pick, I'd suggest using the T7.5 legs for avoidance and Malygos legs for EH.

Feet

AV - Kyzoc's Ground Stompers (40 Emblem of Valor):
T - Sabatons of Endurance (Naxx25, Thaddius):
BV - Inexorable Sabatons (Naxx25, Anub'Rekhan): Note that these are BOE, you can probably buy them on the AH for under 1k gold, depending on your server.
EH - Kyzoc's Ground Stompers and Sabatons of Endurance tie for top EH in slot, so take your pick depending on if you need more threat or avoidance in your EH set.

Trinkets

Trinkets are a great way to start your gear sets. Most tanks will be swapping out trinkets often, and for good reason! If you can maintain 535 defense on trash pulls without defense trinkets, you can throw in some of the threat/block value trinkets for a nice threat/dps increase.

AV
Repelling Charge
Valor Medal of the First War

T
Mark of Norgannon
Grim Toll
Mirror of Truth

EH
Essence of the Gossamer
Indestructible Alchemist's Stone
Figurine - Monarch Crab
Figurine - Ruby Hare
Sonic Booster
Commendation of Kael'thas

BV
Darkmoon Card: Greatness
Lavanthor's Talisman
Corren's Lucky Coin
Gnomeregan Auto-Blocker 600

Rings

AV
Sand-Worn Band (Naxx25, Razuvious, Patchwerk, Faerlina, Anub'Rekhan, Noth):

T
Signet of the Impregnable Fortress (25 Emblem of Valor):

EH
Gatekeeper (Naxx25, Sapphiron):

BV
Unsmashable Heavy Band (Heroic Utgarde Keep, Ingvar the Plunderer):

Weapon

Note: Due to the current Heroic Strike situation, weapon speed is key to improving dps/tps. Thus I would put the slower Broken Promise below the first two faster weapons.

1. Last Laugh (Naxx25, Kel'Thuzad):
2. Slayer of the Lifeless (Naxx10, Gothik):
3. Broken Promise (Naxx25, Four Horsemen):

Shield

Note: Veneretio has a great post on his blog comparing these shields, you can read it here.

AV - Hero's Surrender (Naxx25, Patchwerk):
T - Barricade of Eternity (Malygos10):
BV - Wall of Terror (Naxx25, Kel'Thuzad):

Ranged Weapon

I won't say "the one and only" for this slot, but it's close. You'll need to pick up a ilvl213 ranged weapon at some point for the achievement, but for tanking stick with this:

Armor Plated Combat Shotgun (Crafted, Engineering):


VIII. Additional Information

(work in progress, check back soon for more information)

I ran across an interesting post by Ghostcrawler that I thought I'd pass along as it relates to this guide... I found this quote here.

If you have great healers and never die, then you probably don't need as much survivability. If you have amazing and impatient dps, then you might want to emphasize threat more. Again personal experience here, but I have also found many tanks to be more reluctant to swap out gear per encounter than they should. Good tanks often swap out their rings, trinkets etc. from fight to fight.

You can start building multiple gear sets with just a few peices of gear--you don't need the top threat peice in each slot for an threat set. The general rule I'd suggest is to gem/enchant for EH on the first peice of gear you get for each slot, then as you collect more gear for that slot begin to gem/enchant to the strength of the individual pieces of gear for that slot.

Naturally, which gear set you use depends on the situation you are tanking in. At this point where your raid probably over-gears most of the content you may wonder why you need multiple sets, but having a "trash" set (consisting of 177 hit, 22 expertise, 535 defense) that stacks block value and strength combined with a shield spike can help speed up trash pulls considerably. The Effective Health set is great for MT'ing Sarth+drakes or fights with stuns (i.e. Maxxena), the threat set can be used for fights like Malygos where dps'ers have damage buffs, and the Avoidance set is good for fast-hitting bosses.


IX. Passive Unhittable Set

Important Note: The "Passive Unhittable" set means that your combined avoidance/block chance, without shield block active, and after diminishing returns, is at or above 102.4%. A cool little trick is to create a macro with this script ingame (thanks to Satrina for this, you can find it and more here):

/run ChatFrame1:AddMessage(format("Unhittable at 102.4%% - you have %.2f%%", GetDodgeChance() + GetBlockChance() + GetParryChance() + 5 + 1/(0.0625 + 0.956/(GetCombatRating(CR_DEFENSE_SKILL)/4.91850*0.04))))

"Unhittable" doesn't mean you dodge/parry/miss every hit... it means that without using shield block, every thing that you don't dodge/parry/miss will still be a blocked attack. Obviously, that doesn't help much when the boss is hitting you for 20k, as even with critical block up you're only going to be blocking around 3k at most. So, admittedly, this "Unhittable" set doesn't have much use in raids (perhaps with the exception of Loatheb, kiting zombies on Gluth, etc). It is NOT a trash set. Why include it here then? Well, the set is awesome for soloing old content. And it's great for AOE farming. Basically, you become invulnerable to anything that hits you with less than 2-3k physical damage per attack. **update** with the Anub adds mechanic, a warrior in an unhittable set with decent block value is awesome for reducing the damage taken by the add tank!

Unhittable Set Gear:

The New Set!:

(in progress)

The Really Old Set:
Head - Platehelm of the Great Wyrm (Naxx25, Sapphiron):
Neck - Nexus War Champion Beads (Heroic Kel'Thuzad/Malygos quest reward): best in slot for the unhittable set, though you'll need to put a 16 defense gem in instead of a 24 stam.
Shoulders - Burdened Shoulderplates (Naxx25, Gothik):
Back - Shadow of the Ghoul (Naxx25, trash mobs):
Chest - Valorous Dreadnaught Breastplate (Naxx25, Four Horsemen):
Wrist - Bindings of the Hapless Prey (Naxx25, Maexxna):
Hands - Gauntlets of the Disobedient (Naxx25, Noth):
Waist - Fleshless Girdle (Naxx25, Patchwerk):
Legs - Greaves of Turbulence (Naxx25, Loatheb):
Feet - Inexorable Sabatons (Naxx25, Anub'Rekhan):
Trinkets - Lavanthor's Talisman and
Repelling Charge
Rings - Titanium Earthguard Ring and Sand-Worn Band
Shield - Wall of Terror (Naxx25, Kel'Thuzad):

The Old Set:
Head - Conqueror's Siegebreaker Greathelm (or the Valorous version)
Neck - Necklace of Unerring Mettle
Back - Cloak of the Iron Council
Chest - Unbreakable Chestguard
Hands - Handguards of the Enclave
Legs - Wyrmguard Legplates
Rings - Signet of the Earthshaker
Trinkets - The General's Heart
Weapon - Titanguard
Shield - The Boreal Guard and Bulwark of Algalon
Ranged Weapon - Veranus' Bane

[Lore]

Looks great!

[Dubzil]

missing BV cloak - Shadow of the Ghoul - Item - World of Warcraft

[Jayson]

Strong post. If I wasn't so lazy... I would build a similar post for Paladins.

As is, even for Prot Paladins, this is a great guide with the AV/T/BV breakdown. Of course there are a couple major differences (Tier pieces and the failure of Expertise mainly), but overall good direction for those who are struggling with gearing decisions.

[Halandir]

missing BV cloak - Shadow of the Ghoul - Item - World of Warcraft

fixed, thanks.

[Muffin Man]

Are Inexorable Sabatons - Item - World of Warcraft just so awful that you wouldn't even take them for your block set ;-).

Great work btw, I'm still really torn about the T7.5 gloves versus Horn Tipped for threat though.

[Everest]

Tempered Titansteel Helm would be your best choice for EH, rly insane now with the sockets.

[Dubzil]

nvm already posted

[Golfgate]

Great guide, Thank You.

I know you are focused on tank gear here but I wanted to point out a great piece that I got when all DPS passed on it. Since I have plenty of defense now I have managed to work the Bracers of Lost Sentiments (+38 expertise & +25 hit) into most of the sets I wear. With the extra BS socket I can add +16 defense as well if I ever really need it.

[Halandir]

nvm already posted

yea missed those somehow, updated.

thx Dub and MM.

[Dubzil]

Oooh, also Lavanthor's Talisman - Item - World of Warcraft is best BV trink you can get

[Halandir]

Oooh, also Lavanthor's Talisman - Item - World of Warcraft is best BV trink you can get

updated again, thx

[Kazeyonoma]

Looks good, well formated and concise. Thanks for this!

Also wouldn't the Albative win out in EH as well? for the belts, most armor + most potential stam = winwin.

[Halandir]

Looks good, well formated and concise. Thanks for this!

Also wouldn't the Albative win out in EH as well? for the belts, most armor + most potential stam = winwin.

listing top EH peice for each slot will hopefully be done later tonight!

[klor]

What about the 25man maly key neck? Theoretically wouldn't it be top EH? and probably top avoidance as well..

Nexus War Champion Beads

[Kazeyonoma]

I think the Kel'Thuzad neck still wins out in EH because of the Armor no?

[Halandir]

Nexus War Champion Beads - 28 def, 34 parry
Heritage - 32 def, 41 dodge.

for pure avoidance (I'm not considering block as avoidance, and Dodge rating is superior to parry) Heritage wins out, and and as far as EH goes, i'll have to do some calculating since Nexus neck has more stam but less armor than Boundless Ambition.

I believe Satrina coined the phrase "Armor is subject to diminishing returns, while stamina is not" as it relates to calculating EH.

[klor]

Nexus War Champion Beads - 28 def, 34 parry
Heritage - 32 def, 41 dodge.

for pure avoidance (I'm not considering block as avoidance, and Dodge rating is superior to parry) Heritage wins out, and and as far as EH goes, i'll have to do some calculating since Nexus neck has more stam but less armor than Boundless Ambition.

you're apparently also not including the red socket which puts it at 50 parry or 16 dodge, however you'd like to look at it.