Enhancement Shaman Gearing for Raids - 4.1 4.2

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Gearing by Item Slot
3. Reputation, and what they mean to Enhancement
4. Heroics, and what they mean to Enhancement
5. Valor and Justice Points
6. Craftable Items
7. Rise of the Zandalari
8. Other notes


1. Introduction

As of this post, the Cataclysm Beta just came to a close, and I decided to build a Cataclysm gear "wish list." While doing so, I searched through all of the known Cataclysm drops for items I might be interested in acquiring, and made a list. Since I had already done half the work, I figured why not help a few others save some time by writing a guide with the information I compiled.

If you have any questions or if you see any corrections that need to be made, feel free to post and let me know. Everything below I learned either by running heroic dungeons on the Cataclysm Beta or by searching through the item database at Wowhead.com and mmo-champion.com. Due to much of the information being directly from personal experience in Beta, it is subject to change for the live version. I will keep these posts as up to date as I am able.


What you will find here: Gearing options that don't involve raiding, item lists of various types, listing by item slot, by location, as well as including craftable, BoE, and vendor items. I will include some recommendations with the item-by-slot list.


What you will not find here: Item specific Gemming, Enchanting and Reforging strategies. Due to the fact that what you should do with any given item changes depending on what your overall gear set looks like, it's impossible for me to tell you whether you should reforge that Haste rating to Mastery, Expertise or Hit rating.


When gearing for entry level raiding as Enhancement, you'll need to keep a few things in mind. We need hit rating. Lots and lots of hit rating. So much hit rating, that you'll likely need to reforge all of your early gear for hit, and after doing so, you'll still very likely be short of your caps. You need 1742 Hit rating, to be exact (1639 for Draenei.) Hit and expertise combined, we need more total rating to cap our active abilities than anyone else. We also need 541 Expertise rating (451 as a Dwarf with Maces or an Orc with Axes/Fists), making it a total of 2283 rating to hit a boss with our strikes and spells without fail... assuming you're behind the boss. And you should be.


Roughly, our stat weights rank in this order: Agility > Hit rating to spell cap = Expertise Rating to dodge cap > Mastery > Critical strike rating >= Haste rating. Crit and Haste are coming in at the bottom by a wide margin. Of course, after reaching the spell hit and expertise caps, those become the least desirable stats to have more of.


With the coming changes, Agility will always remain substantially better than Mastery. Crit and Haste ratings are literally less than half as valuable as Mastery. Because of this, pieces of gear with both Hit and Mastery are extremely attractive, and will be very difficult to replace, even by items of a much higher level. Basically, if a piece of gear doesn't have Hit, Expertise or Mastery on it, it's not likely to even be worth looking at, and I have exluded many such pieces from this list for that reason.


As far as reforging goes, your first priority is getting to the Hit cap. Once you're there, reforge for the Expertise cap. After that, you want to acquire as much Mastery as you possibly can - if you have a Haste/Crit piece, reforge whichever stat is higher into Mastery (or, usually, Haste into Mastery if they are equal).


Hopefully I can be of some help for where you should be on the lookout for gear early on at 85, as well as pointing out craftable and BoE items you can pick up with minimal time spent. All blue items I refer to will be the heroic version, if a heroic version exists, unless otherwise stated. All gear listed here can be obtained without you personally stepping foot inside a raid instance.

2. Gearing by Item Slot

Here, I'll list as many options for each item slot as I can without going into the Haste/Crit variety more than I need to, and provide some suggestions on what you should do. Keep in mind, like all things in World of Warcraft, this is subject to change.


Helm


Deadly Bio-Optic Killshades - Craftable (Engineering - BoP)
Headdress of Sharpened Vision - Drop (Daakara - ZA)
Renouncer's Cowl - Drop (Corla, Herald of Twilight - BRC)
Windhome Helm - Wildhammer/Dragonmaw
Worgen Hunter's Helm - Drop (Lord Godfrey - SFK)



If you are an engineer, you can give yourself a very big head start in the Hit and Expertise rating department. Deadly Bio-Optic Killshades allow you to place two different Cogwheel gems in the unique Engineer-only sockets. Cogwheels give a +208 rating bonus to two secondary stats of your choosing, but Cogwheels are unique, so you can't choose two Rigid Cogwheels or two Precise Cogwheels. You can have one of each, though.

If the Engineering goggles aren't an option for you, you'll want to try to acquire the Renouncer's Cowl from Corla, Herald of Twilight in Blacrock Caverns until a time comes when you're able to do Zul'Aman or the tier 11 helm token is available to you. If you're desperate, go ahead and pick up the Wildhammer/Dragonmaw helm, but it's not very good for us, and you have better reputations to be going after first.


Neck


Don Rodrigo's Fabulous Necklace - World Drop
Amulet of the Watcher - Drop (Bloodlord Mandokir - ZG)
Mouth of the Earth - Drop (Earthrager Ptah - HoO)
Pendant of the Lightless Grotto - Drop (Ozruk - SC)



Mouth of the Earth, from Earthrager Ptah in Halls of Origination is the most well itemized neck slot item for us in Cataclysm content. Don Rodrigo's is a world drop epic, but probably isn't much better than Mouth of the Earth, so it's up to you. Both will eventually be outdone by Necklace of Strife due to sheer item levels, but Mouth of the Earth is very comparable to the normal version, at least. Definitely pick this one up if you are able.


Shoulder


Pauldrons of Nalorakk - Drop (Nalorakk - ZA)
Bloodpetal Mantle - Drop (Ammunae - HoO)
Wrap of the Valley Glades - Justice Points



For your shoulder slot, the most well itemized piece you can acquire are the Spaulders of the Raging Elements, but until you're in a position where acquiring the token is likely, you'll want to pick up either Bloodpetal Mantle from Halls of Origination, or Wrap of the Valley Glades from Justice Points, and upgrade to Pauldrons of Nalorakk once ZA/ZG are open to you.


Back


Dory's Finery - World Drop
Recovered Cloak of Frostheim - Drop (Nalorakk timed chest - ZA)
Viewless Wings - Valor Points
Kaleki Cloak - Drop (General Husam - LC)
Cape of the Brotherhood - Drop ("Captain" Cookie - DM)
Cloak of Thredd - Drop (Helix Gearbreaker - DM)
Softwind Cape - Earthen Ring reputation



Kaleki Cloak, from General Husam in the Lost City of the Tol'vir is easily the best option for early on. If you're unable to wrest it from him, Cape of the Brotherhood and Cloak of Thredd (both conveniently from heroic Deadmines) and Softwind Cape from The Earthen Ring are acceptable alternatives. Viewless Wings should be one of your last Valor point purchases. Dory's Finery is a world drop epic that will likely last you until heroic raids if you get your hands on it, but Kaleki is very comparable. The Zul'Aman cloak is another acceptable alternative, but it's not really good enough to be worth going out of your way for if you have the Kaleki Cloak.


Chest


Dragonkiller Tunic - Craftable (Leatherworking - BoE)
Cuirass of the Raging Elements - Valor Points
Breastplate of Primal Fury - Drop (Halazzi - ZA)
Vest of the True Companion - Justice Points



Here is where you have a few options. The chest slot is one of only two armor slots you can fill using a craftable, bind on equip epic. Dragonkiller Tunic and Vest of the True Companion are very comparable depending on your current gear - Vest of the True Companion works out to better in almost all gear sets. Dragonkiller Tunic is only better if you're swimming in hit rating and can't reforge or regem any of it to mastery.. but that's pretty unlikely. Depending on how much gold you want to spend or time you want to spend farming, it's really up to you. Both the Halazzi drop and tier 11 pieces are superior to both, so pick up one of those when you are able.

Wrist


Wristguards of the Predator - Drop (Akil'zon - ZA)
Elementium Scale Bracers - Drop (Ozruk - SC)



There aren't many bracer options for us. The only noteworthy blue are the Ozruk drop in Stonecore, but unless you're really lacking hit rating, pick up Wristguards of the Predator as soon as you can.


Gloves


Grips of the Raging Elements - Valor Points
Handguards of the Tormented - Drop (Cache of Madness - ZA)
Gloves of the Passing Night - Justice Points
Traitor's Grips - Drop (Baron Ashbury - SFK)
Wrasse Handwraps - Drop (Lady Naz'jar - TotT)



There are quite a few options for your glove slot. None of them are particularly amazing, but the best option outside raiding and Valor Points is the easiest to get - Gloves of the Passing Night which are purchaseable with Justice Points. Due to the cheaper cost of glove slot items, you'll probably want to make Grips of the Raging Elements your first or second purchase with Valor points.


Belt


Corded Viper Belt - Craftable (Leatherworking - BoE)
Waistband of Hexes - Drop (Hex Lord Malacrass - ZA)
Belt of the Dim Forest - Justice Points
Hail-Strung Belt - Drop (Altairus - VP)



Your belt is the second slot you can fill with a Bind on Equip, craftable item. Corded Viper Belt is significantly better than the Coil of Ten-Thousand Screams that you acquire in normal difficulty raids (in fact, it's better than the heroic version), so I'd strongly recommend buying or having one crafted. If you're cheap, or don't have a lot of gold or farming time to spare, the Belt of the Dim Forest is easy to acquire via Justice Points and Waistband of Hexes will serve you well as well.


Legs


Legguards of the Raging Elements - Valor Points
Balkar's Waders - Drop (High Prophet Barim - LC)
Arrowsinger Legguards - World drop



Arrowsinger Legguards are a world drop BoE that are extremely good for us. Pick them up if you are able, you will not replace them until heroic raiding.

Balkar's Waders, from High Prophet Barim in the Lost City of the Tol'vir are the most useful blue leggings you'll find in Cataclysm. If you're desperate, though, there's a pair of Haste/Crit leggings from the Justice Point vendor or a drop from Zanzil in ZG, but I don't recommend sticking with either of those. Due to the other four pieces of Raging Elements being very nice, you might want to opt out of getting the legs... or at least save them for last. Once you're raiding, Leggings of Lethal Force are better, and for the most part, none of the other Raging Elements pieces are able to be replaced by non set gear. If you won't be raiding, or are having bad luck with drops, the set piece isn't a bad option.


Feet


Treads of Malorne - Guardians of Hyjal
Boots of Crumbling Ruin - Drop (Anraphet - HoO)
Haunting Footfalls - Drop (Commander Springvale - SFK)



Here's one of the easiest to fill slots with a very high quality piece of gear. Treads of Malorne from the Guardians of Hyjal faction are extremely well itemized for us, and will make a strong case for best-in-slot until tier 12 arrives. Heroic Boots of Vertigo are probably a little better, but not a lot better. Get the Treads as soon as possible, they will serve you well. Until then, there are some options from Halls of Origination and Shadowfang Keep to hold you over. There is a pair of boots available from Valor Points, but Treads of Malorne are so much better and easier to acquire that they aren't worth getting your hands on.


Finger


Signet of the Elder Council - Earthen Ring
Gilnean Ring of Ruination - World drop
Hornet-Sting Band - Valor Points
Quickfinger Ring - Drop (ZA Trash)
Arlokk's Signet - Drop (High Priestess Kilnara - ZG)
Terrath's Signet of Balance - Therazane
Band of Blades - Craftable (Jewelcrafting - BoE)
Ring of Blinding Stars - Drop (Isiset - HoO)
Ring of Dun Algaz - Drop (Forgemaster Throngus - GB)
Elementium Destroyer's Ring - Craftable (Jewelcrafting - BoE)



Tons of options for rings! Terrath's Signet of Balance will be competitive with most item level 359 epics. Signet of the Elder Council from the Earthen Ring will serve you well as well. There is a world drop and valor point ring, as well as a Zul'Aman BoE trash drop that should be very cheap, though the valor point one you probably want to save for last. There are two craftable rings you can make use of, as well as a handful of drops from various dungeons (no pun intended).

Trinket



Fluid Death - 1650 Valor Points
Darkmoon Card: Hurricane - Craftable (Inscription - BoE)
Unsolvable Riddle - Baradin's Wardens/Hellscream's Reach
Skardyn's Grace - Drop (General Umbris - GB)
Tia's Grace - Drop (Siamat - LC)
Grace of the Herald - Drop (Corla, Herald of Twilight - BRC)
Key to the Endless Chamber - Drop (Corborus - SC)
Left Eye of Rajh - Drop (Rahj - HoO)
Schnottz's Medallion of Command - Uldum quest reward
Figurine - Demon Panther - Dropped quest (JC only)



Trinkets have always been the hardest slot to fill. This may or may not be the case anymore, Blizzard stated they felt that through Wrath certain specs had a difficult time finding suitable trinkets. They've always been the hardest items to get, but that seems to no longer be a problem.

Fluid Death is an excellent use for Valor points, but you might want to wait until you have at least your tier 10 two-piece bonus. Darkmoon Card: Hurricane is an excellent option if you have loads of resources to spend on acquiring it. Unsolvable Riddle can be acquired from Baradin's Wardens at exalted. There are drops in Grim Batol, Lost City, Blackrock Caverns, Stonecore and Halls of Origination that will all suffice. A quest reward, Schnotzz's Medallion of Command would also likely hold you over until raids. Tia's Grace specifically is an excellent option and compares to heroic raid level trinkets (though your best options are Fluid Death and Darkmoon Card: Hurricane.)


Weapons


Maimgor's Bite - Drop (Blackwing Descent)
Claws of Torment - Drop (Blackwing Descent)
Claws of Agony - Drop (Blackwing Descent)
Arlokk's Claws - Drop (Renataki - ZG)
Thekal's Claws - Drop (Hazza'rah - ZG)
Mace of the Sacrificed - Drop (Daakara - ZA)
Fist of Pained Senses - Drop (Corborus - SC)
Elementium Gutslicer - Craftable (Blacksmithing - BoE)
Lightning Whelk Axe - Drop (Lady Naz'jar - TotT)
Ravening Slicer - Baradin's Wardens/Hellscream's Reach
Windslicer - Justice Points
Hammer of Sparks - Drop (Siamat - LC)
Cookie's Tenderizer - Drop (Captain Cookie - DM)
Vicious Gladiator's Left Ripper - 950 Conquest Points
Vicious Gladiator's Right Ripper - 2450 Conquest Points



There are plenty of options here. It's hard to run heroics for very long without finding a suitable pair of weapons.

It's worth noting that Cookie's Tenderizer, despite being a strength weapon, is an excellent choice. It's the slowest one-hander in Cataclysm, meaning your Lava Lash will hit very hard with it in the off-hand, and it's very solid in the main hand as well.

The Vicious Gladiator's fist weapon off-hand is very cheap and easy to get - You can win 2 rated battlegrounds or 4 2v2 matches and have enough Conquest Points for it. The main hand fist weapon, mace or axe are a bit more expensive (the one you pick up is purely cosmetic), but would only take 2-3 weeks to acquire and may be worth doing. They will be better for you than blues, but not as good as most of the epic drops.

Maimgor's Bite, and the set Torment and Agony are all Bind on Equip. Since slow agility off-hands are rarely used by anyone other than Enhancement Shamans, if you're on a server with a lot of active raid groups, you might be able to get Maimgor's Bite for a reasonable price if you're lucky. There are also 3 weapon options in the Zandalari heroics, which are as valuable as their 353 item level would suggest.


Relic


Relic of Golganneth - 700 Valor Points
Sandshift Relic - Drop (Ascendant Lord Obsidius - BRC)
Relic of Arathor - Drop (Lord Godfrey - SFK)
Silver Inlaid Leaf - Craftable (Inscription - BoE)



There are very few options for the relic slot. Sandshift Relic from Ascendant Lord Obsidius in Blackrock Caverns is your best-in-slot relic. Relic of Golganneth is close enough that it may be worth picking up when you get to a point that you're swimming in Valor Points, but prioritize that last, relics tend to give the least benefit.


That should be everything as far as pre raid gearing goes. You're not going to get all of it. You'll likely get epics from raids for a slot or two before you get the appropriate blue for that slot. Some pieces may simply never drop. The best advice I can give is try to focus on what you need most now rather than what the best possible setup is. Immediate improvement leads to faster progression. You never know what will drop or when, saving for a very specific setup isn't going to be worth it most of the time.

3. Reputations, and what they mean to Enhancement

Listed in order of importance (in my opinion)


Therazane


Greater Inscription of Shattered Crystal - Exalted
Terrath's Signet of Balance - Revered



Ramkahen


Arcanum of the Ramkahen - Revered



Guardians of Hyjal


Treads of Malorne - Exalted



The Earthen Ring


Signet of the Elder Council - Exalted
Softwind Cape - Revered



Baradin's Wardens/Hellscream's Reach


Ravening Slicer - Revered
Unsolvable Riddle - Exalted




Wildhammer Clan/Dragonmaw Clan


Windhome Helm / Snarling Helm - Revered




4. Heroics, and what they mean to Enhancement


Blackrock Caverns:


Renouncer's Cowl
Grace of the Herald
Sandshift Relic



Halls of Origination:


Mouth of the Earth
Bloodpetal Mantle
Boots of Crumbling Ruin
Ring of Blinding Stars
Left Eye of Rajh



Throne of the Tides:


Wrasse Handwraps
Lightning Whelk Axe



Stonecore:


Pendant of the Lightless Grotto
Elementium Scale Bracers
Key to the Endless Chamber
Fist of Pained Senses



Lost City of the Tol'vir:


Kaleki Cloak
Balkar's Waders
Mirage Ring
Tia's Grace
Hammer of Sparks



Shadowfang Keep:


Traitor's Grips
Haunting Footfalls
Relic of Arathor
Worgen Hunter's Helm



Deadmines:


Cape of the Brotherhood
Cloak of Thredd
Cookie's Tenderizer



Grim Batol:


Ring of Dun Algaz
Skardyn's Grace



Vortex Pinnacle:


Hail-Strung Belt

5. Valor and Justice Points



Justice Points, and what you can acquire

These, as I'm sure you know, are acquired by defeating bosses in Heroic 5 player dungeons, as well as doing a normal random dungeon. There is a vendor to redeem your points in Stormwind and Orgrimmar, depending on your faction.



Wrap of the Valley Glades - 1650
Vest of the True Companion - 2200
Gloves of the Passing Night - 1650
Belt of the Dim Forest - 1650
Windslicer - 950



Valor Points, and their rewards

Valor points are the currency earned in the most recent tier of raids in Cataclysm, and can be redeemed for the best gear. A set amount can be acquired once per day by completing a random heroic dungeon, and will be earned by raiding Blackwing Descent, Bastion of Twilight, Baradin Hold, and Throne of the Four Winds. As new content patches are released, your Valor Points and their rewards will eventually be converted into Justice Points, and the latest content will have new rewards for Valor Points, which will then only be earned in the new raids or random heroics once per day. There is a limit on how many Valor Points you can acquire per week.



Viewless Wings - 1250
Cuirass of the Raging Elements - 2200
Grips of the Raging Elements - 1650
Legguards of the Raging Elements - 2200
Fluid Death -1650
Relic of Golganneth - 700




6. Craftable items


Deadly Bio-Optic Killshades - Engineering - BoP
Dragonkiller Tunic - Leatherworking - BoE
Corded Viper Belt - Leatherworking - BoE
Darkmoon Card: Hurricane - Inscription - BoE

Band of Blades - Jewelcrafting - BoE
Elementium Destroyer's Ring - Jewelcrafting - BoE
Figurine - Demon Panther - Jewelcrafting - BoP
Elementium Gutslicer - Blacksmithing - BoE
Silver Inlaid Leaf - Inscription - BoE




7. Rise of the Zandalari

These two new heroic-only dungeons require an average item level of 346 to enter via the Dungeon Finder. All of the drops contained within are item level 353 epics, and there are a lot of items that are hard to replace. Please keep in mind that any piece of gear from these instances with both haste and crit is not worth using over a 346 blue that has one better secondary stat. (Balkar's Waders are superior to Zombie Walker Legguards for example.)

Zul'Gurub

Required bosses: High Priest Venoxis, High Priestess Kilnara, Bloodlord Mandokir, Zanzil, Jin'do the Godbreaker
Optional bosses - Edge of Madness - one party member must have 525 Archaeology to summon: Gri'lek, Wushoolay, Hazza'rah, Renataki. There are also numerous other named mobs with many non-gear drops. "Cache of Madness" means it can drop from any Edge of Madness boss despite what the tooltip tells you.


Arlokk's Claws - Renataki
Thekal's Claws - Hazza'rah
Handguards of the Tormented - Cache of Madness
Amulet of the Watcher - Bloodlord Mandokir
Arlokk's Signet - High Priestess Kilnara



Zul'Aman

Zul'Aman, unlike Zul'Gurub, is nearly identical in layout to the original. That's not a bad thing, to me at least, the original Zul'Aman was one of the most fun raid zones ever released, and it's hard to improve on something that was so exceptional. Like the original, there are extra rewards for killing the first 4 bosses quickly. The first (Akil'zon) always gives a bag of gold coins. The second and third (Nalorakk, Jan'alai) always have pieces of gear, and the fourth (Halazzi) always has the new recolored Amani Bear. While the bosses aren't as difficult as the original, the trash definitely can be. Getting the bear isn't impossible by any stretch, but it won't be easy either until you significantly out gear it.


Wristguards of the Predator - Akil'zon
Pauldrons of Nalorakk - Nalorakk
Breastplate of Primal Fury - Halazzi
Recovered Cloak of Frostheim - Nalorakk timed chest
Waistband of Hexes - Hex Lord Malacrass
Headdress of Sharpened Vision - Daakara
Mace of the Sacrificed - Daakara
Quickfinger Ring - Trash



Taken from Ashunera