As many people predicted, and many people have now found, it seems that most classes can get away with pre-TBC epics for at least introductory raiding in the expansion. The one place that seems to demand upgrades, due to the change in the stamina budget, is tank gear. I know lots of people have found great gear from quests/instances that will help peple gear up their tanks for the damage they're going to have to handle in Kharazan/Gruul's Lair, etc, and I figured making a central source for that information would help people a lot. That said - I'm not a tank, so I haven't gathered much of the info myself, but I just wanted to get the ball rolling.

One big upgrade I've found is the Clefthide Armor leg enchant - 30 stam/10 agi available at CE honored , with a 35 stam/12 agi version at Exalted.

Additonally, the 69 stamina legs from the Destroy Nabernius! quest in Netherstorm (starts at protectorate outpost near Manaforge Ultris by killing void spawns) are a great piece to put said enchant on - almost 1k hp from one piece of gear! http://www.wowhead.com/?item=29783

What other reasonably attainable tanking ugprades have people found?

Revered Legs from Caverns of Time. We've been working on getting all our tanking warriors through that and definately one of the biggest upgrades.

[Timewarden's Leggings]

I made this post in the Class forums:
http://forums.elitistjerks.com/viewt...=8161&p=38#934
Post 934

Which I had originally posted on my guild forums. This is my planned path of upgrades going from 6/8 wrath, 2/8 dreadnaught.

What's the new armor reduction formula?

There is a plethora of green quest rewards (example [Starcaller's Plated Belt]) for aspiring paladin tanks from Netherstorm, most out of Area 52. Also, should nobody on your server have the epic crafted bracers yet, these are phenomenal [Junior Technician 3rd Grade Bracers] (another A52 quest reward). Obviously the Righteous set (replacing legs for aforementioned Timewarden piece) is the first logical dungeon upgrades for paladins, but I haven't yet decided to replace my 5/5 Avenger's until I can get enough Righteous pieces for set bonuses (and properly enchanted/socketed).

[Junior Technician 3rd Grade Bracers] are very easy to get. I'll be upgrading from [Bracelets of Wrath], so I guess it's not that hard to beat. This green item is an excellent example of what the new stamina item budget value can give us.
Edit: guess I'm pretty slow. They're really good!

Speaking of Paladin tanks and Netherstorm, the [X-52 Technician's Helm] is not to be missed. I'm not sure of the exact order of events, but basically you should do quests for the goblins in Area 52 until "Help Mama Wheeler" is unlocked and then follow that chain.

EDIT: Link for the helm:

http://www.wowhead.com/?item=30016