A Feral Guide to Cataclysm pre-raid progression

fr0d0b0ls0n · 11/28/10, 3:01 AM

This is the BiS I calculated a few days ago, the Elementium Ring is better than the Skullcrusher, but no Jewelcrafter will craft that in the first few weeks:

Profiler - Wowhead

Also I have a sorted BiS list for pre-heroics, pre-raid and a first shot a Tier 11 BiS in my blog (in Spanish tought): Equipo Pre-Heroics y Pre-Raideo Cataclismo Druida Feral DPS � Garfios Para Todos

Makapuu · 11/28/10, 4:37 AM

Why start in Vashj'ir?

Mt Hyjal has a faction we can start gaining rep with there right away. Vashj'ir does not as far as I can tell. Wouldn't getting a jump on GoH rep be a smart idea as they have some decent blue rewards to help ease into grinding heroics.

edit: Even if you can gain some small measure of ER rep in Vashj'ir, from what I have read you can get revered with GoH and access to some nice blues for level 85 by doing all of Mt Hyjal as your initial starter zone. Plus ER rep can easily be gained when you hit Deepholm from my understanding. Deepholm would also have quest rewards, at least some decent legs, that we could use at the level cap.

Kintoun · 11/28/10, 5:27 AM

Originally Posted by Makapuu

Why start in Vashj'ir?

Mt Hyjal has a faction we can start gaining rep with there right away. Vashj'ir does not as far as I can tell. Wouldn't getting a jump on GoH rep be a smart idea as they have some decent blue rewards to help ease into grinding heroics.

edit: Even if you can gain some small measure of ER rep in Vashj'ir, from what I have read you can get revered with GoH and access to some nice blues for level 85 by doing all of Mt Hyjal as your initial starter zone. Plus ER rep can easily be gained when you hit Deepholm from my understanding. Deepholm would also have quest rewards, at least some decent legs, that we could use at the level cap.

Editted for clarification. Thanks for pointing this out.

Camulos · 11/28/10, 4:17 PM

The Kindleprotector Staff looks to be the equal of the Remora-Crusher Staff, and it appears to drop in the Hyjal zone.

Alarron · 11/29/10, 3:21 PM

I've done a list as well, availably on my blog here:
The Fluid Druid � Blog Archive � The Fluid Druid’s Cataclysm Feral DPS Gear List, Part 1
Good job taking the time to wrangle phpBB format, though.

A few comments on your list:

1. You're missing profession-specific items (Engi helm, JC trinkets, etc).
2. Weapon- Don't forget the Spear of Trailing Shadows (Tol Barad Revered)
3. Trinkets- Darkmoon Cards (DMC:Hurricane looks really nice, depending on ICD)

In general, with the reduction in value of secondary stats wrt Agi, and the introduction of Reforging, there are very few "bad/undesirable" items.

Rojans · 12/01/10, 11:22 AM

Hinalover, could you check the allowed gear used for that optimization? There are a number of pieces that I had manually flagged as BIS Pre-raid that aren't on your list. The items are either crafted from chaos orbs or exalted reputation items.

Back: Wrap of the Great Turtle (Guardians of Hyjal - Exalted)
Chest: Assassin's Chestplate(Crafted LW)
Waist: Belt of Nefarious Whispers (LW Crafted)
Finger: Signet of the Elder Council (The Earthen Ring - Exalted)

fr0d0b0ls0n · 12/01/10, 12:44 PM

Hinalover, can you post the stat weighting?

I'm curious about how much better is dodge than mastery, and when an STR item can be better than an AGI one (like the cloak Rojans posted).

Slott · 12/01/10, 1:55 PM

There is also a crafted cloak from leatherworking with rather nice stats (mastery and crit)

Razor-Edged Cloak - Item - World of Warcraft

Razor-Edged Cloak. May want to include this in the original post.

Lithou · 12/01/10, 4:44 PM

Originally Posted by Kintoun

Gems
Cats:
Agility (red) > Mastery (blue) > rest
Make sure to gem to fit the requirement of your crit mod meta.
[Relentless Earthsiege Diamond] (yes the level 80 one since it has AGI)
Note that Blizzard has announced they are changing the "more blue than red" requirement on the crit mod metas.

Mastery gem is not blue but yellow. Hit rating is now blue so for a blue slot you can use [Sensei's Dream Emerald] or for a yellow slot [Adept Ember Topaz]

♦ Tecton · 12/02/10, 6:21 AM

Unless things have changed, I believe none of the T11 bosses have parry-haste enabled (I was under the impression that it was being removed, but can't find anything to confirm). You may wish to take that into account regarding expertise.

Maeltne · 12/02/10, 11:55 AM

Stamina 47.13
Agility 22.41
Dodge Rating 19.55

It appears that the best
Blue Gem: STAM (2827.8) [0]
Red Gem: STAM/AGI (1862.1) [965.7]
Yellow Gem: STAM (1804.9) [1022.9]

This means that:
in order to swap 1 blue gem for a red gem that the socket bonus would have to be: >20/43/49 STAM/AGI/DODGE
in order to swap 1 blue gem for a yellow gem that the socket bonus would have to be: >21/45/52 STAM/AGI/DODGE
in order to swap 2 blue gems for a red and a yellow gem the socket bonus would have to be: >42/88/101 STAM/AGI/DODGE

Kintoun · 12/02/10, 12:43 PM

As of Cataclysm nothing in the game parry hastes anymore.

Also how final are those rawr stat ratings Hina? I would like to add that info to the original post, but I'm waiting until I have confirmation of solid formulas. Exact numbers are more convincing than "stam is best, followed by dodge".

Hinalover · 12/02/10, 11:51 PM

These are based on the current modeling that Ast has set up for Bear Druids in Rawr 4.0. He has said that the module is near complete. As for how final it is, I would say once we can get these freaken Relics to work is when I would say it will be final. Just we have had no luck in that department. once we do is when I would say it is final.

As for personal preference in the Relic department though, i would use [Stalagmite Dragon] for the Pre-Raid set, and [Stalagmite Dragon] for the Pre-heroic dungeon set. But that is my opinion. Until we can get this bug worked out I would hold my tongue on the matter.

Xenoborg · 12/05/10, 7:55 AM

Was the honor buy-able [Bloodthirsty Gladiator's Dragonhide Helm] and Tol Barrad [Gladiator's Dragonhide Helm] gear considered in your setups? I know the resilience is a loss, but based on your stat weights they are competitive if not apparently BIS for some slots due to their higher item level.

Talep · 12/05/10, 6:22 PM

Can anyone explain why Dodge is so much better than mastery ? Actually mastery seems very low ( just a little above crit ) and i don't understand why. I guess that these numbers come from Rawr4 ( and so from Astrylian ) but what is the logical reason for mastery being so underated ?