WotLK Progression Gear (70-80 gear guide)

[Freemount]

The point of this thread is to look at and come up with a list of gear we should collect as we progress to 80 and to eventually seamlessly slip into heroic mode.


What I've gathered so far is that as soon as we reach level 71 we can either craft/buy the Cobalt Set, which includes:
Cobalt Legplates
Cobalt Chestpiece
Cobalt Helm
Cobalt Shoulders
Cobalt Bracers
Cobalt Belt
Cobalt Boots
Cobalt Gauntlets
This set is a step in the right direction and is super cheap. If you have mining/smithing it will be easily obtained. It is also a nice head-start on leveling your blacksmithing to 450.

Once you hit the level 75 mark you can start replacing the Cobalt Set pieces (if you haven't already) with the Tempered Saronite Set. Also, let's not forget the Saronite Bulwark which can further push your blacksmithing higher and I'm sure will sell nicely on the AH.


Moving away from the crafting sets and onto the starting areas.
If you are planning to chose Howling Fjord, your immediate instance choice will be Utgarde Pinnacle. Whereas if you chose Borean Tundra, your immediate instance will be The Nexus. But there is nothing stopping you from switching between each instance.

Phase one:
(Level 68-72)

Howling Fjord:
Utgarde Pinnacle/Utgarde Keep:
Tiled-Stone Pendant

Solo/Group quest:
n/a?


Borean Tundra:
The Nexus:
Gauntlets of the Disturbed Giant
Boots of the Unbowed Protector
Tundra Pauldrons

Solo/Group quest:
Plainkeeper Blockade


Phase 2:
(level 71-75)

Grizzly Hills:
Drak'tharon Keep:
Kurzel's Warband

Solo/Group quest:
Leggings of Forceful Purification
Bone-Polished Iceplate Shoulders
Handguards of the Sanguine Gladiator
Bulwark of the Tormented God


Dragonblight:
Azjol-Nerub/Ahn'kahetAhn'kahet:
Signet of Arachnathid Command
Expelling Gauntlets

Solo/Group quests:
Sword of Heartwrenching Slaughter
Hammer of Quiet Mourning
Expelling Gauntlets
Crescent of Brooding Fury
(Finally some decent tanking weapons. These can be obtained at level 74, make sure you go for it asap.)

Phase 3:
(Level 74-78)

Sholazar Basin:

Solo/Group quests:
Blood-Infused Pendant
Greathelm of the Titan Protectorate
Ring of Misinterpreted Gestures
Cloak of the Hardened Tortoise
Handguards of Transient Friendship

Zul'Drak:
Gundrak:
Gal'darah's Signet
Solid Platinum Band
Clutch of the Storm Giant

Solo/Group quests:
Betrayer's Choker
Solid Platinum Band

Crystalsong:
The Violet Hold:
Riot Shield
Screeching Cape
Void Sentry Legplates


Phase 4:
(Level 77-80)

Storm Peaks:
Halls of Lightning/Halls of Stone:
Eternally Folded Blade
Seal of the Pantheon
Amulet of Wills
Pauldrons of Reconnaissance

Solo/Group quests:
Polished Tusk Shackles
Crown of Hyldnir
Rockshaper's Resolve
Iron Colossus Legplates

IceCrown:
Solo/Group quests:
Quickblade of Cold Return
Demolisher's Grips
Iron Coffin Lid
Gutbuster of Aldur'thar
The Crusader's Resolution
Bloodbane's Resolve
Blade of the Empty Void
Reinforced Titanium Neckguard
Cultbreaker's Chestguard
Jayde's Reinforced Handguards

At 80 I suggest Crafting/buying some smithing gear for the push into Heroic/raid mode. There truly is a large number of high quality crafted tanking gear to obtain. A lot of which is on par or higher than 10-man Naxx.
Crafted:

Blacksmithing:
Tempered Titansteel Helm
Tempered Titansteel Treads
Titansteel Bonecrusher
Titansteel Shield Wall
Daunting Legplates
Take note that all these items need 3+ Titansteel Bars which have a 20 hour CD. I suggest you start smelting this as soon as you can. (mining 450)

Jewel Crafting:
Titanium Earthguard Ring
Titanium Earthguard Chain

If you are having a hard time upgrading a certain piece, make sure you search the AH every now and then, some nice shields can be found.

Anyway, that's it for now, tomorrow I will color code it for ease. If you find any mistakes or have anything to add, post here or PM me and I'll change it asap. If anyone has any earlier tanking weapons in mind, please let me know.
(how's that for a first post?)

[Freemount]

Reserved.

[Taragor]

very cool, thank you =) Looking forward to seeking these out!

[tbolt]

Thanks for putting this together, I've been meaning to sit down with wowhead and look up Northrend tank gear but didn't get the chance. This certainly saves me some time, good work

[majiben]

You should add the Duanting Handguards and these BoE sheilds to the list.

edit:broken link

[Freemount]

Thanks Majiben. I'll defiantly look out for those while leveling.

[Bobness]

This is excellent... saves me dribbling over wowhead for a ridiculous amount of time.

Cheers !!

[AusDante]

Reserved.

[Growler]

Thanks alot for the heads up. I was just about to start looking for this kind of info on WoWhead

[Mortehl]

Daunting + Tempered Saronite + a couple of other minor things (trinkets/rings) is all you need. The majority of that is BOE. Then start farming ze badges.

[Freemount]

Daunting + Tempered Saronite + a couple of other minor things (trinkets/rings) is all you need. The majority of that is BOE. Then start farming ze badges.

True to a certain extent. The Tempered Saronite set gives 410 defense rating alone. Not to mention a huge 543 stamina. Can anyone work out how much +HP that is just from the set?

[sherck]

Thank you greatly. I am still going to be main spec Holy but plan on trying out Prot when the dual-spec capability is introduced and will be looking to get a tanking set "on the cheap."

Since I am a miner, I should be able to get much of this stuff made for me pretty cheaply.

I am bookmarking this thread.

Cheers,

[Baeric]

Very nice. I've been looking to do something like this for myself. Thanks for the info!

[Velorian]

Thank you thank you thank you.

FYI I believe the Cobalt "set" is usable at 70.

[Tacoshell]

Why did you include the saronite shields as BoE shields when they are also craftable by blacksmiths, same with the titansteel shield?

It is kind of misleading.