Gearing your new tank (Plate Version) - part 2

[Skaven]

Second step - Delving into tank role

Welcome to the second part of the Gearing guide for new tank.

For those of you who missed the first part, this is the link:
http://www.mmowned.com/forums/wow-gu...-part-1-a.html

In this part of the guide we will delve more in the role of tank and preparing for high-level heroics and 10-men raids.

Disclaimer and Credits
This guide was written by Skaven, proud member of MMOwned forums and would-be-main-tank Elfamaja in Hakkar-Eu server. This guide can be shared and copied AS IS, without modifications and with this section included. If you feel like, you can give credits, and they are hoped for. If you feel like donating, choose a suitable charity near you.

Tanking upgrades
Now you have tried yourself in all normal instances, and maybe even some heroics, and want more? This is the parting time of your career, in which you will step up from "casual tanking" to "tank as a way of gaming".

In this step, you're going to improve your equipment, raising the overall level of your equipment and especially your STAMINA, while keeping your defense maxed out.

I am not a big fan of luck: i prefer hard work to sheer luck, so in this guide you will rarely read that you have to "drop" something or "farm" some object from heroics or raids. IMHO, relying on ramdom drops will only slow your growth to a crawl, demoralizing you to no end.

A little word of advice: if you are in a guild, you can probably skip this step simply abusing your guildmates' patience and getting some items from early forays in raids. While this is a quick way of getting equipped fast, i don't recommend it. To these players, however, i suggest they go to the third part of the guide.

Improving your gear
First of all, i suggest a little bit of gold-farming. You need gold for this step, and you will need gold for repairs... LOTS of gold, so if you don't want to be an hindrance to others or a burden on your guild finances, you have -as usual- to prepare yourself very well.

You won't need much in terms of money, but you have to buy some crafted items, and this time they're not from rep vendors, but from players.

Your goal is to show up more or less like this:

80 Blood Elf Paladin

But first, you have to go tanking a bit...

Hitting instances
You now have to hit two instances, the only two you theoretically have to hit in your tanking life. I assure you, they are needed.

One is Halls of Lightning - NORMAL. The last boss, Loken, drops this object:

Seal of the Pantheon - Item - World of Warcraft

Next, you have to go in the spider-infested halls of Adjol-Nerub - HEROIC. The second boss, Hadranox, drops this wonderful object:

Essence of Gossamer - Item - World of Warcraft

This trinket is one of the best of the game. You won't find better even in Naxxramas, and you probably will change it in Ulduar. It is pretty rare, but you should get it in a few forays in this instance.

Buying equipment for the win
We have finished with instance work. Now let's get to business... you have to buy some items, and they're not cheap.

First, you have to buy the Icebane Set:

Icebane Chestguard - Item - World of Warcraft
Icebane Treads - Item - World of Warcraft
Icebane Girdle - Item - World of Warcraft

Then, you have to buy this two JC objects:

Titanium Earthguard Chain - Item - World of Warcraft
Titanium Earthguard Ring - Item - World of Warcraft

These WON'T be cheap.

If you can, i suggest you buy the materials and get the Frozen Orbs in the heroics (you have to go to heroic Adjol Nerub, after all), then ask a friendly crafter to do the work. You will get them rather cheap this way.

Next step, enchant and socket your pieces (the stones provided are an example - you can put other gem in, as long as you have 540 defense at the end).

This step should cost you much less if you can provide the Orbs and Eternals (you can farm eternals in Wintergrasp), and even less with the help of professions.

Tanking and Professions
This is the right moment to talk about professions. You will find that the prices for the object mentioned in this part are rather outrageous (let's talk about 600g for each of the JC items). You can buy them right away (and forget about this chapter) or find a way to lower your expenses (at the price of hard work).

The only mandatory profession for Tanks is MINING. The extra 500 hp are not ground-shaking, but just think about it - they're free, and they don't occupy a slot or enchant. I cannot think of another profession that gives a stronger benefit right now.

Having Mining will cut you the cost of materials in this phase, too, so let's say it is a win-win situation (even if the mineral costs are lowering a lot).

The next profession i will strongly suggest is JEWELCRAFTING. While it is not giving a real buff to tank per se, it will cut your expenses to a tenth of what needed, because of the ability to craft Dragon's Eye - Item - World of Warcraft (that are needed for most of JC objects). As a single Eye can cost more than 100g, and you need at least 8 only for this guide, you can understand that this profession rocks.

As a side effect, it gives access to strong only-JC stones, and rather interesting only-JC trinket, of which i will mention Figurine - Monarch Crab - Item - World of Warcraft , a first-class trinket that can easily substitute Essence of the Gossamer with the proper stones.

All in all a good profession for a tank, and one that easily scale up with every expansion (not like Blacksmithing that is useless for now).

Ready to rumble!
These few upgrades should have made wonders on your equipment. You now have almost 25k unbuffed, 540 defense, and your avoidance has risen to 43,16%, block excluded.

Now you're ready to tank all heroics and even off-tank Naxxramas, Obsidian Sanctum, Archavon and Malygos Normal.

I bet that with decent healers you can main-tank these instances and off-tank Naxxramas and Sartharion 25 and Ulduar 10.

If you're a new tank, though, i suggest you stick with normal raids, because getting 24 person pissed because you lack that bit of stamina/avoidance/threat is no good for your tank reputation and self-esteem

End of the second part.

[Keisari]

This guide is golden, +3 rep.

[Don'tTazeMeBro]

You do realize that 1. You get more hp / stats with the two extra sockets, two stam dragon's eyes equals 840 hp, and in 3.2 their stam value will be increased

[Skaven]

Yes, i do realize that, but as you can see this is not the final step of the tank guide, and remember i try to not include profession specific item or enchant if not mandatory.

Nice hints though, i will use them in the third part.

[Dombo]

Nice guide, I understand you wrote this yourself? I'm amazed!

EDIT: Damn, given away too much rep, PM me tomorrow for your delicious rep cookies!