85 Enh Itemization - Getting set for Cata Heroics - a guide

Post by canyoneagle

UPDATE==== 4.3====
This original post had its real value in the early days of Cata, but may still be of use to those who have recently hit 85 and are looking for some upgrades to the quest rewards to speed the process to the 4.3 content.
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Here follows one person's attempt to piece together the bits and pieces that will quickly bring the 85 Enhancement Shaman up to heroic-worthy gear (average item level 329+), including quest rewards, crafted items and dungeon drops from the 80-85 sprint. Hopefully others will help identify and fill any gaps.

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Our "Mail Specialization" only applies if we equip mail armor in every applicable slot, so the days of using rogue/feral druid gear in a pinch are essentially gone.

I'll start with a list of items in the 325 to 333 range that can be obtained pre-85, plus faction and Justice Point items that can be purchased the moment one hits level 85 (and has the requisite currency).
:
I have not included any items that have resilience, but am open to include them if there are some "no brainer" place keepers that offer an easily obtainable, worthy option.

Bear in mind this is a pre-heroic gearing guide and is not intended to address raid readiness (a separate thread in the making) or BiS QQ.

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325-333 items (mostly 83+):

BACK

At level 83 you can buy or make this cloak which will serve you well for some time. The hit is especially valuable.

Another option is the Drape of Neferset Destruction obtained from completing this quest

When you hit level 85 and revered reputation with the Earthen Ring, you can purchase a very nice cloak from the faction Quartermaster.

CHEST
The Crashing Idol Chestguard is easily obtained as a quest reward in Uldum

Another option is aleatherworking pattern which procs a random stat mix and can be equipped at level 83.

If you have sufficient Justice Points at 85 you can purchase this chest piece for 2200 JP.

FEET
Another Uldum quest reward, the Treads of the Neferset are great in slot until your first 346 drops.

While running normal dungeons, keep an eye out for these, which drop from Anraphet in Halls of Origination.

HANDS
A long quest line in Uldum culminates with the defeat of the final four bosses in Halls of Origination, at which point you can obtain these. The quest chain unlocks after completing the extensive "Harrison Jones" quests throughout Uldum.
Make sure you take the elevator to the third floor after you've downed the bosses to turn in the quest.

Similar stats can be obtained one level higher in Twighlight highlands with a quest reward for (Alliance) or (Horde)

If you have some Justice Points to burn, these gloves can be purchased at level 85 for 1,650 points.

HEAD
General Umbriss in regular Grim Batol drops this helm

When you hit 85 (and Revered reputation) you can purchase this helm from the Wildhammer Clan Quartermaster in Twighlight Highlands.
Another option at 85 is this helm, which can be purchased for 2,200 Justice Points.

LEGS
Running the normal Lost City of the Tol'vir can yield these leggings, which drop from High Prophet Barim

Questing in Twighlight Highlands will ultimately allow you to obtain a nice set of leg armor from this quest (Alliance) or these from this Horde quest

You may also purchase or loot the random world/zone drop

At 85 you can spend 2,200 Justice Points for these leggings, but they lack hit (reforge the haste).

SHOULDER

Our mail dropping friend in Halls of Origination, Ammunae, also drops some nice pauldrons

If you've leveled through the underwater spectacle that is Vash'ir, your hard earned rep with the Earthen Ring will allow you to purchase these at "Honored" and level 83.

The world/Zone drop is another option.

A potential shortlist item for your Justice Point shopping at 85 would be these shoulders.

WAIST
Achieving honored reputation with the Ramakhen (Uldum) will allow you to purchase an excellent belt from the quartermaster. That's pretty much it until you hit heroics.

At level 85 you are able to purchase a nice belt with 1,650 Justice Points.

WRIST
After completing a quest in Grim Batol, you can choose these cuffs to round out your primary armor set for heroics.

RINGS
Two dungeon drops in Halls of Origination and Grim Batol offer some solid stats.

A more desirable ring (due to hit rating) is a world/zone drop item, so you may get lucky or have to buy it for a small fortune.

WEAPONS
We love our hard hitting one handers!
Jewelcrafters trying to level their skills will more than likely have to produce at least 4-5 of these, which means the AH will be likely be pretty full of them at reasonable prices. It is a no brainer to equip two of these until you can get into 346's. This enchant is probably the best one to help with the all important hit rating.

Siamat (Lost City) drops a really nice mace and is a solid option as well. The heroic version is on the post 85 shortlist.

Several world drops exist, but are likely to be much more expensive than the perforato.

Completing the Crucible of Carnage questline in Twilight Highlands will get you a nice weapon, as well.

Once you ding to 85, 950 Justice Points will buy you a nice axe, but there are sufficient maces and axes dropping from heroic bosses that some may prefer to put their hard earned Justice Points elsewhere.

NECK
At level 84 you can obtain this necklace as a quest reward

In the mean time, you can hope that the more desirable necklace (with hit rating) will drop in Halls of Origination.

In the world drop category, luck of cash at the AH may grant you one of these

At 85 an easy upgrade (if you leveled in Hyjal or are otherwise honored with the Guardians of Hyjal faction) is this necklace

TRINKETS
The Uldum quests involving Schnotz (West coast of Uldum) will culminate with the award of a fantastic trinket, which will hold its own for quite a while. The Schnotz quests open afer completing other quest chains including:
1. Eastern Hospitality
2. A Favor for the Furrier / The Desert Fox
3. Idolatry / Angered Spirits / Fashionism
4. Gobbles!
5. Make Yourself Useful
6. Crisis Management
7. Battlezone

Two other potentially beneficial trinkets drop in regular dungeons

RELIC
Finally, let's not forget our all important Relic slot. Two crafted items are readily available at level 81 and 85, respectively.

Some 318 green quest rewards will be available as well, but really don't offer much improvement in between.
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NOTES
As an Enhancement Shaman, I'd recommend levelling through Hyjal to build rep with the Guardians of Hyjal faction to expedite the exalted status, where you can obtain some really nice boots early in your heroics by wearing the faction tabard. I learned this the hard way and ended up grinding the entire Hyjal questline while queing for random heroics after having leveled through Vash'ir.

The tradeoff is a delayed rep grind with Earthen Ring, which provides a nice ring at exalted, but the boots are a far bigger boost in stats IMO, allowing the earthen ring tabard to do its work for you as you do your heroics and early raiding.

Reforging items for hit and expertise will become a routine. Haste is the no brainer with the nerfs post 4.xxxx, and crit is another sacrificial stat until hit/exp cap is achieved.

With the items shown above, you should expect to average 5.5-6.5k DPS in most heroics, with 7-8k DPS on sustained tank -n- spank bosses. These figures will steadily climb to 9-10k DPS and 12-13k DPS, respectively when your gear average is 346 (time to raid).

Again, feel free to contribute to make this a better thread. I'm working on a pre-raid thread at the moment.

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EDIT 22 DEC
Thanks to the tip from Capnboomkin, I have re-done the post to be a bit cleaner.

Post by Capnboomkin

Great post. To make a name appear instead of the url, just type the word, highlight it, press the link button, and paste the link. Or if you want to do it manually, when the code shows up (such as ), edit it to look like Wowhead. Without the funky spacing, of course.

Post by DrShadow

wow Thank you very much for this post mate. I'm currently leveling a shaman to raid with and will most def be using this guide. Appreciate it.

Post by canyoneagle

Thanks so much for the tip - I'm still getting the jist of HTML. I'll get the original post cleaned up.

Thank you!

---UPDATE---- Done.

Post by 181706

This post was from a user who has deleted their account.

Post by canyoneagle

Thanks for the link, gondorath.
Unless I'm missing something, MaxDPS doesn't allow you to assess gear post-reforging to see how things with non-optimal stats (i.e.haste) measure up after reforging into useful stats (i.e. hit, expertise or mastery).
I haven't loaded the beta version of RAWR since the release, but that application was always my go-to in WoTLK.

I do find it interesting that the MaxDPS gear tool shows several items with intellect (and hit) outscoring items with AGI (and no hit). It does make sense that hit is the single most important stat until cap, but, again, Id like to be able to see how a more aligned (i.e. AGI not INT) item measures up with reforging.
I am particularly skeptical of the weightings for the weapons. Take a look at the list to see what I'm talking about. There are a number of low damage healing maces (NO HIT and very low damage) that apparently outscore much harder hitting weapons with hit. o.O It could be a developmental tweak in the stat weighting that needs to be addressed, or it is quite possible that there is something I'm not seeing.

Post by 181706

This post was from a user who has deleted their account.

Post by canyoneagle

No worries, Gondrath! That MaxDPS is a really handy site to see the items for each slot.

85 Enh Itemization - Getting set for Cata Heroics - a guide

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