Last week was Earth Day, and in the spirit of “going green” Blizzard has decided not to make more new content for us to enjoy, but instead to recycle. Noble intentions indeed; but regardless of how you may actually feel about killing bosses that you already killed years ago, there’s no arguing that 4.1 brings some opportunities for new tanks. This week I wanted to talk a bit about the patch and what it has to offer.
Zul’Aman and Zul’gurub are returning with ilevel 353 epic items, though not quite the level of BWD or BOT gear it’s still more than adequate for entry level raiding. It should be noted that each instance requires a minimum average ilevel of 346 to queue for it in the dungeon finder, so you’re not just going to take a fresh 85 into these dungeons. Last week we talked about entry level blood gear, but with the 4.1 on it’s way there’s a whole new set of concerns and a whole new set of gear to consider when taking those first tentative steps into raids. Here’s the new BIS list.
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PRE RAID BIS (Post 4.1)
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ITEM
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GEMS
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ENCHANT
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REFORGE
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Reforged Trollbane
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None | Rune | Hit ⇒ Parry |
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Stalagmite Dragon
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Prismatic | None | None |
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Spiritshield Mask
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Meta, Blue | Arcanum | Dodge ⇒ Mastery |
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Amulet of Protection
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None | None | None |
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Pauldrons of Sacrifice
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Red | Inscription | None |
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Wrap of the Great Turtle
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None | Enchant | None |
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Hardened Elementium Hauberk
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Blue | Enchant | Exp ⇒ Mastery |
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Sandguard Bracers
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None | Enchant | Exp ⇒ Mastery |
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Bone Plate Handguards
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Yellow | Enchant | Dodge ⇒ Mastery |
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Hardened Elementium Girdle
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Blue, Prismatic | None | None |
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Legguards of the Unforgiving
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Red, Yellow | Enchant | None |
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Boots of Sullen Rock
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Yellow | Enchant | None |
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Elementium Moebius Band
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Red | Enchant | None |
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Elementium Moebius Band
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Red | Enchant | None |
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Porcelain Crab
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None | None | Dodge ⇒ Mastery |
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Throngus’s Finger
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None | None | Parry ⇒ Mastery |
Keep In Mind
These instances are challenging, in my experience on the PTR they were pretty faithful to the original raid instances (with a few exceptions), so if you’ve never done those – be careful and if you have keep an eye out for surprises. Also, there are several changes to the class that you may want to consider for your tank. For example, The healing component of Death Strike will no longer generate additional threat, which could theoretically be a problem if you’re having any sort of threat issues. However, I would suggest that if you’re already having any threat issues there’s bigger problems (like running with fully tier geared DPS when you’re in quest blues). Raise Ally has also been remade into a Battle Rez, using this one on a boss fight is likely to be tricky at best.
Pro Tip: If you get half the raid cleaved so you can BR a DPS, you’re doing it wrong.
Speaking of utility though, Mind Freeze (along with other non damaging interrupts) will no longer miss. Which should be a load off of the minds of tanks in five and ten mans everywhere. Beyond that, there’s isn’t much really relevant to Blood in the patch.