Feral Tanking I; Gear Guides

The gearing for feral tanks is much discussed and little understood; or maybe I just don't properly understand enough to make a quality statement on gear. There are others who have, and do a better job than I. I am attempting to collect some of these links in this post.

First off, feral tanking is a science, not an art. Collecting a ton of PVP gear will not gear you to tank, or even properly dps, a raid on Kara level instances. It prepares you for PvP, and that's about it. By gearing in one to attempt to participate in the other is really creating a risk to your entire group, since your survivability goes down as a result. Gearing for instances, like Arena and BGs, is specific to that realm alone, and few of the things you need in your equipment stack will transfer.

First off, read on stats for druid tanks at: Druid Wiki. The Druid wiki is extremely helpful, and the tanking section is second to none.

Then, try the stats and math discussion on mitigation at: Elitist Jerks.

But the real info comes from a post on Allakhazam, by a druid tank with great math but not a lot of experience; Jasica put this together as a feral druid in end game instances, but I would take it for the most part with a grain of salt. Allakhazam Druid Tank Post.

The best general post for druids, of any type, is at Shifting Perspectives.

In terms of gear, there are a few guides around for beginning tank gear; I would start with the Allakhazam FAQ on druids, as well as the links to other resources, Here.

There is a good equipment guide listed for tanks, written by Fewyn, and going zone by zone through Outland. Fewyn.

In terms of software, however, you cannot beat Rawr; although it can be tough to use, and update, as you get gear. It will however show you what upgrades are available for your gear; download it and enter your data for an Armory download, and it provides you with some idea of your mitigation, and potential ups, just like your Armory page but with more detail.

Incidentally, in terms of the actual stats a given piece of equipment will give you, go and download DruidStats at Curse.com. This will provide instant analysis of the actual statistics, outside of BC level stats like resilience and +hit, that allow you to compare given pieces of equipment in depth.