Reputation rewards in Cataclysm for druid tanks

I’ve been letting this post sit in draft form for a while now, and a few other bloggers have posted before me. I’ll still list the items, but it’s worth going over to The Fluid Druid to check out the discussion of faction gear for feral cat druids. Much of that discussion applies to bears as well as cats.

Here’s the list of reputation items that are particularly relevant to druid tanks:

Earthen Ring (Vashj’ir):

• Arcanum of the Earthen Ring revered
• Softwind Cape revered
• Signet of the Elder Council exalted

Wildhammer clan (Twilight Highlands – Alliance):

• Swiftflight Leggings honored
• Stormbolt Gloves exalted

Questing in Twilight Highlands will get you pretty close to honored reputation woth the Wildhammer Clan, so the leggings will be worth picking up then. They are not as good as the Justice Point reward legs though.

Guardians of Hyjal (Mount Hyjal)

• Sly Fox Jerkin honored
• Acorn of the Daughter Tree revered
• Wrap of the Great Turtle exalted

The chest-piece is good, but much better options are available. Have a look at my feral tank gear list for better options at 85.

Ramkahen (Uldum)

• Quicksand Belt revered
• Arcanum of the Ramkahen revered (really a cat dps enchant)
• Red Rock Band revered

Therazane (Deepholm)

• Terrath’s Signet of Balance revered
• Lesser Inscription of Shattered Crystal honored
• Lesser Inscription of Unbreakable Quartz honored
• Greater Inscription of Shattered Crystal exalted
• Greater Inscription of Unbreakable Quartz exalted

Baradin’s Wardens (Tol Barad – Alliance)

• Baradin Footman’s Tags honored
• Spear of Trailing Shadows revered
• Unsolvable Riddle exalted
• Mirror of Broken Images exalted

The key items required from reputation are:

1. Arcanum of the Earthen Ring for your head enchant
2. Acorn of the Daughter Tree a neckpiece
3. Wrap of the Great Turtle as a best in slot tanking cloak
4. Stormbolt Gloves as best in slot gloves, before raids
5. Baradin Footman’s Tags, Mirror of Broken Images or Unsolvable Riddle are good trinkets
6. Spear of Trailing Shadows is an excellent weapon

Guardians of Hyjal reputation will be the top priority for a feral tank – there are two top level items from them, and the Sly Fox Jerkin is a good placeholder piece until something better is found.

Both the Earthen Ring and Wildhammer Clan have important upgrades – the head enchant and a ring, compared to good gloves. I think it will be worth going for the Earthen Ring first, and using something like Bloodied Leather Gloves or a quest reward until you have time to grind for Wildhammer Clan reputation.

Therazane reputation comes next in the list. Of course the shoulder enchants are important, and there is a nice ring, but the Heavy Savage Armor Kit can tide you over while you work on grinding other reputations that give gear rather than enchants.

The Justice Point gear for legs and waist is better than any reputation pieces, so for a bear the Ramkahen reputation is not a priority. The Justice Point rewards are Leggings of the Burrowing Mole (2200 Justice Points) and Sash of Musing, (1650 Justice Points). There is also the crafted Belt of Nefarious Whispers as an option.

The trinkets and weapons from Baradin’s Wardens are great, so starting the quests here as soon as possible is a good idea.

Based on that logic, here’s the final list of reputations in priority order:

1. Guardians of Hyjal (to exalted)
2. Baradin’s Wardens (daily quests)
3. Earthen Ring (to revered, you can go to exalted if you really want the ring)
4. Wildhammer Clan (to exalted) and Therazane (to exalted) are about equal
5. Ramkahen

Much of the gear is the same for bears and cats in this expansion so far, but the priorities for faction reputations are pretty different.

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