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Pre-Raid Gear: Head, Shoulder, Chest, Hands, Legs, Feet
Published on January 2, 2009 by Phaelia 
Items and Equipment, Lunar Guidance 
32 Comments
By repeated request, here is a listing of pre-raiding gear to help you prepare for Naxxramas, organized by item slot and roughly ordered by my preference/recommendation. Because this is so lengthy, I’m breaking this article into two parts. Part II will include wrist, back, fingers, neck, and waist.
Quick Links
Head
- [Helm of Anomalus] – Anomalus in the Nexus (Heroic)
Leather, both a meta socket and a yellow socket, and among the highest Spell Power for an ILevel 200 helm make this my first choice of hats pre-raiding. - [Crown of Unbridled Magic] – Cache of Eregos in the Oculus (Heroic)
I consider this to be pretty closely tied with the similarly itemized [Forgotten Shadow Hood] (they essentially trade Intellect and Spirit). I prefer the socket bonus on this one (12 Stamina vs. 8 Haste Rating). Contains meta and yellow sockets. - [Forgotten Shadow Hood] – Salramm the Fleshcrafter in The Culling of Stratholme (Heroic)
Slightly less attractive than the [Crown of Unbridled Magic], this is the higher Spirit and lower Intellect of the two. Contains meta and blue sockets. - [Elder Headpiece] – Elder Nadox in Ahn’kahet: The Old Kingdom (Heroic)
No socket on this item but a very respectable 91 Spell Power and astounding 77 Intellect make this a good choice. - [Cowl of the Dire Troll] – Trollgore in Drak’Tharon Keep (Heroic)
No socket on this helm either, but an excellent 78 Spirit.
Shoulder
- [Silent Spectator Shoulderpads] – Svala Sorrowgrave in Utgarde Pinnacle (Heroic)
These shoulders are the only ILevel 200 option in leather, have the highest Spirit of all three, and include a blue socket. - [Runecaster’s Mantle] – Utgarde Keep (Heroic) Zone Drop
A yellow socket (worth approximately 16 Intellect for a blue-quality gem) makes this slightly more attractive than the [Mantle of Deceit] . - [Mantle of Deceit] – Dark Runed Chest in the Culling of Stratholme (Heroic)
Although this shoulder piece lacks sockets, it has seven more Intellect and fourteen more Stamina than the [Runecaster’s Mantle], at the cost of 2 Spirit.
Chest
- [Heroes’ Dreamwalker Robe] – 80 x Emblem of Heroism
Leather, sockets, and half of the way there to the 2-piece set bonus! If you can get this, do so! - [Moonshroud Robe] – Tailoring (BoE)
A perfect balance of stats with no itemization points wasted on spell crit or spell haste. All wrapped up in a pretty blue, belly-bearing package! The downside is definitely the cost. If you have the patience, it’s better to save your Heroic badges for the [Heroes’ Dreamwalker Robe]. - [Ymirjar Physician’s Robe] – Utgarde Pinnacle (Heroic) Zone Drop
This item is essentially a watered-down, leather version of the Moonshroud Robe with 12 less Intellect, 12 less Spirit, and 14 less Spell Power. Still, you can likely pick this piece up for around 200 gold which is substantially less than you can expect to pay for [Moonshroud Robe]. - [Bauble Woven Gown] – Quest Reward from Junk in My Trunk
If you prefer to gear up through questing and instancing, this is a good option. Has 13 less Intellect, 24 less Stamina, 21 fewer Spirit, and 24 less Spell Power than the [Moonshroud Robe]. - [Raiments of the Titans] - Loken in Halls of Lightning (Normal)
Similar to the [Bauble Woven Gown], this item trades 3 Intellect and 9 Spirit for 8 Stamina and a yellow gem slot. - [Wildscale Breastplate] – Leatherworking (BoE)
The Wildscale Breastplate is sadly lacking on Stamina and has itemization points wasted on critical strike. Included here because so many Druids also happen to be leatherworkers.
Hands
- [Heroes’ Dreamwalker Handguards] – 60 x Emblems of Heroism
Between this and the [Heroes’ Dreamwalker Robe] (purchaseable with 80 Emblems of Heroism), you can start raiding with the 2-piece T7 set bonus and halfway to the 4-piece bonus to Nourish. The stats are great, too! - [Gloves of Token Respect] – Grand Widow Faerlina or Gluth in Naxxramas (Heroic)
These are actually statistically superior the [Heroes’ Dreamwalker Handguards] but the set bonuses from the Dreamwalker set make them my first choice. - [Overlook Handguards] – The Prophet Tharon’ja in Drak’Tharon Keep (Heroic)
Nearly identical to the [Moonshroud Gloves] (but much cheaper to acquire). - [Moonshroud Gloves] – Tailoring (BoE)
Have lots of money and no time or interest in running instances to gear up? These gloves are nearly identical to the [Overlook Handguards] . - [Gloves of Glistening Runes] – Keristrasza in the Nexus (Heroic)
While these gloves do have a bit of wasted critical strike rating, they also include a red gem slot which is clearly OM NOM NOM. - [Grotto Mist Gloves] – Hadronox in Azjol’Nerub (Heroic)
The only leather option, the [Grotto Mist Gloves] include a red socket with a +4 Spirit socket bonus. - [Sterile Flesh-Handling Gloves] – Ebon Blade Revered
These have the highest Intellect and Stamina values of any of the ILevel 200 gloves and share the highest Spell Power value with [Gloves of the Crystal Gardener]. - [Gloves of Distorted Time] – Chrono-Lord Epoch in the Culling of Stratholme (Heroic) Includes a yellow socket, ideal for an Intellect or Intellect/Spell Power gem. Unfortunately, the socket bonus is +4 Stamina.
- [Gloves of the Crystal Gardener] – Ormorok the Tree-Shaper in Nexus (Heroic)
High Spirit and great spell power from an easily farmable boss make these a good choice.
Legs
- [Earthgiving Legguards] – Leatherworking (BoE)
Easily the best choice for a Restoration Druid just beginning Naxxramas, you can generally find these on the Auction House for around 1,000 gold. - [Kilt of the Forgotten One] – Herald Volazj in Ahn’kahet: The Old Kingdom (Heroic)
Your only leather option of the ILevel 200 legs, the [Kilt of the Forgotten One] has a good amount of Stamina and Spell Power as well as the highest Spirit value. - [Breeches of the Caller] – Ingvar the Plunderer in Utgarde Keep (Heroic)
While these pants have the lowest Spell Power of any of the ILevel 200 legs, they have the highest Intellect, making them a good choice to bolster mana regeneration. As a bonus, they also include red and blue gem slots. - [Cyanigosa’s Leggings] – Cyanigosa in the Violet Hold (Heroic)
These legs have nice, well-rounded stats. They are probably slightly easier to acquire than the [Opposed Stasis Leggings] (whose stats are identical) because of the easy access to and lower completion time of the Violet Hold instance. - [Opposed Stasis Leggings] – Commander Kolurg or Commander Stoutbeard in the Nexus (Heroic)
Identical to [Cyanigosa’s Leggings].
Feet
- [Arcanic Tramplers] – Alexstrasza’s Gift in The Eye of Eternity (25-Man)
Despite dropping in a raid instance, these boots are BoE and can be picked up off the auction house. More Intellect, Stamina, and Spell Power than the [Earthgiving Boots] (though 6 less Spirit), and the smidge of haste won’t kill you (just don’t tell the Tree League). - [Boots of Septic Wounds] – Patchwerk or Gluth in Naxxramas (25-Man)
With a +16 Spirit gem in the blue socket, these would be slightly better than the [Earthgiving Boots], though the difference is such that you might base your decision on which you could buy cheaper. - [Earthgiving Boots] – Leatherworking (BoE)
Epic leather. ‘Nuff said. - [Boots of Transformation] – Gal’darah of Gundrak (Heroic)
These are pretty close to the [Footwraps of Teleportation], having a red slot instead of a yellow and preferring Spirit over Intellect. These, however, are leather and so are ranked higher in desirability. - [Footwraps of Teleportation] – Xevozz in The Violet Hold (Heroic)
Has a yellow slot and plenty of Intellect. May be more difficult to acquire than the [Boots of Transformation] given the random assortment of bosses that can appear in Violet Hold. - [Aurora Slippers] – Tailoring (BoE)
While these only have an iLevel of 187, I’m including them because they’re probably going to be pretty cheap to acquire.
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- Anelf’s Resto Druid Easy Naxx-Ready Gear Guide (Part 1) « steady shot
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Pallys are great trash tankers but might face problems with spellers due to OOM or just a lack of spell defend abilities. If your group is about to kill raid boss with some spell abilities, high constant melee damage and bleed/spell resistances better get decent warrior.
Thank you. I look forward to the follow-up.
Very nice! To be honest, I’m looking forward more to part two, particularly how you would suggest to go with the various neck and waist pieces available for emblems. (Spirit and MP5 but cloth from http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40697 , or leather with more Int and some crit but less Spirit and no MP5 from http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40695 ?)
Thanks, Phaelia. How about Robes of Crackling Flame (Kirin Tor - Exalted)? Would it be a good resto item? Or is it more for DPS roles? I wonder what the MP5-to-Spirit conversion rate is now, i.e., how much spirit is 26 MP5 worth?
@Hepzibah: Haste and MP5 make the robes less than ideally itemized for a Resto Druid. That isn’t to say it might not be better than some of the blues that are listed by virtue of its item level, but I tried to select items that I considered best itemized for us so you wouldn’t spend your time or effort chasing down items that would be replaced when something more appropriate came along.
As for Spirit and MP5, it still depends on a lot of different variables. As a general rule, though, MP5 isn’t worth as much as the equivalent amounts of Spirit or Intellect that Blizzard would allocate to an item.
Thanks! I’ve got all my feral gear and after Helm of Anomalus dropped for me I decided to work on getting a resto set so I can start exploring healing.
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Thank you so much. I look forward to the next section very much. I’m geared up enough to tank in Naxx, and now in there and in heroics I’m constantly saying “if nobody want’s that, I’ll take for my healing set”. Now I’ll have a better guide so I can actually start farming specific heroics for them.
My +healing in tree form is currently around 1350 with no buffs. Is that getting close to being able to spec into heals and run heroics?
Good list. I’ve been using Silent Spectator Shoulderpads (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37368) for a while now while healing Naxx (10 man), and last night the Mantle of the Extensive Mind (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=39310) dropped and since there were no casters who wanted it, I got it. I’m still not sure whether I want to use it or not; with the socket, it adds some extra spell power and the mp5 is about even, but I lose a ton of spirit. Any thoughts?
@Hepzibah: As Phae points out, spirit-vs-MP5 is based on different variables, in particular intellect (spirit-based mana regen is now based on your intellect). For trees and priests spirit gives additional healing benefits and scales a lot better due to talents and buffs (Kings), while paladins and shamans get better returns from Int and MP5 (over spirit) for their regen.
On my paladin I started a ret set, changed my mind and moved onto a tanking set, and before I completed that I decided to go back to my healing roots (druidic reference intended) and now hope to just pick up pieces for the others.
Beathoovens last blog post..New Year’s Resolutions
I picked up Ymirjar Physician’s Robe for about 20 gold. Don’t hate me!
Nice list, thanks
@Copey: Yes, I think 1350 spell power is more than sufficient for healing Heroics. Good luck. =)
@Riverrun: Hmmm … that is kinda tough. I think they’re pretty close, despite the loss of Spirit (which is about equal to 9 spell power) and the gem slot. I’d probably choose the SSS because it’s leather. And what’s up with a socket bonus that gives you haste when the item itself (thankfully) doesn’t include haste? Still, I’d hold onto the Mantle for DPS if you don’t have something better. PEWPEW!
@Beathooven: I think that with the Replenishment buff the way that it is, Druids shouldn’t discount Intellect. It’s one of the best ways to improve your mana regen (assuming you have someone in the raid providing the effect, of course). Unfortunately, I’m not sure of the exact comparative values between the two, but I know I’m equally eager to gem for Intellect as I am for Spirit these days!
@Hobert: You suck. ^_^ I paid like 250!
@Phae: good point, I tend to forget about it sometimes, since our 3 paladins are all prot or holy, or erstwhile-shadow priest respec’d holy last week and if we had hunters they’d be BM (i.e. no replenishment buff for me, which is odd, because I get invites to other guilds because all their paladins are ret spec).
I know for paladins in particular, Int is currently greater than MP5 in terms of regen (and longevity of course) given a certain up-time of Replenishment (the margin being between somewhere 50 and 70 %, if memory serves).
Not sure how it works out for druids, but of course the more Int you have, the better the returns you get from your Spirit =D. I guess it makes for some simpler socketing choices (red=spell power, yellow=int, blue=spirit).
Besides, more Int = more smarts >(^_^)<
Beathoovens last blog post..New Year’s Resolutions
Very nice post, thanks! =) I’ve been spending a lot of time combing through loot lists to find the ideal pre-raid set and while I agree with some (oh all right, most) of your choices, I do have 2 questions:
1) How’d you rank the items, do you use Lootrank? If you do, may I ask the values you assigned to each stat?
2) Why not include the BOE raid drops such as the Boots of Septic Wounds or Gloves of Token Respect? Yeah they’re technically raid drops, but they can also be bought on the AH along with the crafted/world drop stuff and you won’t have to actually set foot in a raid to get them. =P
I noticed you haven’t included the Wisp Cloak on here. Its a cloak. You can buy it or craft it. It is epic. Get one.
@Minttunator: I didn’t use Lootrank at all. These are essentially my opinions of what is most attractive. And … I didn’t realize that some of those items in Naxx were actually BoE. I’ll have to take another look and add them. Thank you!
@Notabear: As I said, cloaks will be in Part II.
I picked [Battlemap Hide Helm] from heroic UK, when running as a Moonkin. The crit is a bit less useful but it’s still a decent resto helm, especially since Anomalus hasn’t dropped the helm for me. I also won the [Cleric's Linen Shoes] from heroic VH, which are working decently too. Neither are as good as the items on your list, but they’re worth taking if the opportunity arises.
I grabbed the [Gloves of Northern Lordaeron] from a normal CoS run. They’re actually quite decently itemized and are working well.
For what it’s worth, I’ve had good results healing in both Naxx (spider wing) and on Sartharion, even though some of my gear is just a bit below what’s on the list. I went into Naxx last night still wearing my [Grovewalker's Leggings] and we did fine.
@Alamein Sorry to break this to ya, but the Battlemap Hide Helm will be getting a significant nerf in the next patch, reducing both its crit rating and its Intellect. (New stats can be found here: http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/december/battlemaphidehelm.jpg )
@Alamein: The items in this list certainly aren’t our only options; I intended this list to be a “go to” for “Where can I find something in this slot?” or even “If I have a choice between Heroic Violet Hold and Heroic Gun’Drak, where should I go?” with an eye toward optimal itemization (i.e., few points wasted on spell crit or spell haste as well as a plethora of Spirit). I also tried to stick to ILevel 200 or higher which is why you don’t see the Gloves of Northeren Lordaeron on the list (though I love those and think Phaelia may be wearing them right now).
Do we really need to pile on the heroics to contribute to the early 10-mans? If the pre-raid guide is full of heroics, does anyone have a pre-heroic guide?
Thanks for taking my suggestions into account! =)
I thought of another question tho - are you planning to include PVP gear? True, they waste some item points on stam/resi, but the Deadly Glad items are actually better for PVE than most of the things mentioned here. On the other hand, I’m not planning to acquire them myself, since the better Arena items require high ratings which are currently unattainable for healers. =(
@Quillbreaker: you’ll notice that many of the items mentioned in the list are BOE drops or craftable, which means you don’t actually have to grind heroics to be able to contribute to Naxx. In fact, you can have well over 1600 spellpower while wearing BOE/crafted gear ONLY (I know, because I did at one point). =)
@Quillbreaker: As Mint points out, many of these items come from sources other than Heroics. However, I do think it fair for a guild to expect its members to gear up to the best of their ability before entering a raid. Heroics are just one option for doing so!
@Minttunator: I decided not to include any of the Deadly Gladiator items because their rating requirements are stupidly high (especially for the first set of Arena items). I think they’re making a huge mistake by making the starter level 80 sets so completely inaccessible. It’s going to create a very large barrier of entry at 1600 Rating.
“It’s ze’ hobo suit, darling… you can’t be seen in dis! I won’t allow it. Last expansion, maybe, but now??”
(Sorry, I love Edna!)
Anyway, thanks for putting together this great guide. I actually picked up a Ymirjar Physician’s Robe recently myself, and like Hobert, I too found it to be very inexpensive on my server. I imagine that the prices of items like this have dropped quickly as more people push into raiding, and just do heroics for fun n’ Emblems.
And while it’s not quite as snazzy as the blue n’ belly Moonshroud… I do find the vertical knotwork to be quite slimming!
I was commenting on the the loss of stats that seems to accompany acquiring the T7 pieces from those on your list and the fact that the spells they give you set bonuses for are the ones I go to last on my lists, and a druid friend started going on about how “they had haste!” and how I had to stack on the haste.. He is feral, so I was nice about it all.
I’ve been skeptical of piling on the haste, and although I’m not against it, I’ve always looked at Intellect, Spirit and Spellpower first. Sure, haste stacked high will help spells get off faster, but its going to deplete you faster, too. Thus far, I’ve done just fine.
@Anyone: 15% haste is really all we need with GOTEM to make our GCD 1 second, right?
I’ve been Resto for a long time but since the expansion i’ve been trying to assert my desire to be a Boomkin (It’s difficult when everyone thinks your a healer), There is actually a nice pair of Boots that drop in Naxx (10-man) i use them interchangeably for Boomy or Resto they are called…Boots of the Follower
Actually Phaelia, I think the new starter PvP sets are the crafted ones now. Theres one for cloth, leather, mail and plate. They give pretty good stats and have high resilience on them. They moved the starter pvp gear off of reputation vendors and into crafting professions. Hopefully that will give the new arena players the starter gear they are after and let them pole dance thier way to a new rating
The outcast set is so good I got it crafted at 80 to use as my starter heroic set!
@Kayeri: While Nourish was kind of up-in-the-air at the time this was written, it’s firmly in the camp of “omgwow” tank heal with the upcoming changes and the 4-piece T7 set bonus. The new 2-piece T7 bonus will now be applied to Lifebloom, so that’s pretty rocking. I’m generally of the mindset that I prefer “fun” perks of an item like a set bonus over slightly better stats, although I can definitely see how you might disagree.
@Slaide: Yes, that’s correct. 15% for 1.0 sec GCD w/5 GotEM.
@Qix: Those items actually look pretty good, though with the itemization points from Resilience taken away, they probably don’t meet the minimum ILevel I used when looking through available items. Still, they wouldn’t be a bad choice if you happened to have the materials on hand or could pick them up pretty cheaply.
Hi Phaelia,
I see you used the item comparison tool on wowhead for these items - have you used the Weight Scale feature?
The default settings seem a bit messed up for Restos. They weight stats as follows
Mana Regen 100
Spell Power 53
Spirit 48
Intellect 28
Crit 14
Haste 12
Shouldn’t Int, Spi & SP be our top 3 weighted stats with mana regen being at the bottom? (I assume mana regen is MP5 rather than regen gained from Spi) If so, how would you weight the stats & would there be any factors that would drastically alter a “standard” weight scale?
@Chupacabra: Those stat weights DO seem pretty peculiar. While I haven’t done the theorycraft to give you a firm direction on what I think they should be, I would have placed mana regeneration (assuming, as you do, that it’s MP5) down near the bottom. Intellect is also currently more valuable than Spirit in terms of the mana regeneration it grants. Your value for spell power relative to Intellect and Spirit likely depends on whether you’re having mana issues. I agree that haste and crit are pretty poopy, though I prefer haste to crit.
Several of Wowhead’s stat rankings are suspect (as I recall, they at one time had Spirit as an exceptionally good stat for warlocks, when it’s “meh” at best). If you’re looking for good stat rankings, stick to the more respected theorycrafting sites (Elitist Jerks, Shadowpriest.com, etc.).
Wait…if this is pre-raid, why are EoE & Naxx gear included in the feet section? Hmm…
@Ramzi: Because they’re Bind on Equip, as stated in their description.