When's the ***ing Patch Coming Out?

Every Tuesday, it's the same story. You double-click your desktop icon, and your heart begins to beat in double-time. Holding your breath, you wait...and then you sigh. The patch isn't here yet. How many more Tuesdays of this sad story must you suffer through?

WoW Insider thinks you've already seen the last of your patch disappointment. The current rumor is - this sounds familiar - that Patch 3.3 will be available for download this coming Tuesday.

World of Warcraft: Become a Fan

Blizzard's a little late to the party, but no big deal. It's official: you can now become a fan of Warcraft on Facebook. Bliz took so long to get this going, the name World of Warcraft was already taken - so make sure you search for just Warcraft instead of the entire game title.

Calculate Your Talents

Do you really need Natural Reaction? Is Sharpened Claws going to do you any good? You could spend hours re-specing your character, or you could calculate your talents ahead of time.

The Druid Wiki is offering a very handy online calculator that helps you break down your base stats and the bonuses you get from various talent points. Play around with it as much as you like to find the perfect balance of mitigation and damage - it won't cost you any in-game gold to try.

Tank LFG: Are You Ready for that Raid?

Are you ready for that raid? You may want the gear. You may be able to find a group. But you may fail if your stats aren't where they need to be. Check yourself before you make the attempt - and avoid getting lambasted in vent.

To see stats for tanking Naxx, EoE and Uld, refer to Are You Ready to Tank That Yet? For all other Wrath instances, keep reading:

Crusaders' Coliseum, located in the northeast area of Icecrown, can be found at the center of the Argent Tournament Grounds. Tier 9 items drop here.
Trial of the Crusader (ToC): Five encounters playable on 10- and 25-man versions. To tank this, you'll want to see yourself sitting at 36k health at least (unbuffed). Many groups use 3-4 healers for this raid, so survivability is key here. Be sparing with your healing potions and spells and hold out as long as you can to succeed. A high dodge rating (35%+) can help bears avoid some of those blows.
Trial of the Grand Crusader: Hard mode. To successfully tank this, you'll want to have a great understanding of the fights and something very close to 40k health.

Onyxia's Lair is in Dustwallow Marsh, a single-boss fight that was upgraded in a Wrath of the Lich King patch. This instance is playable on 10- and 25-man settings. If you can tank ToC, you should have no problems in Onyxia's Lair.

Upcoming in next patch:

Icecrown Citadel will be found in Icecrown when it's finally released. This will be the end-game Wrath raid and the place where every tank wants to go. Though this raid is still a bit unknown, it's safe to assume that bears will want to get as close to 40/40 (40k HP, 40% dodge) as possible to tank it successfully - anything in excess of this amount will only help.

Bear Tanking Visual Aids: ToC

The bear faces its opponent head-on, using AoE to defeat extra mobs as they pop out, doing everything it needs to do to survive and defeat the enemy. At least...that's what bear tanks do in ToC. Watch the video above to get a better idea of how to tank Trial of the Champion.

Bear Tanking Talent Builds

Don't know where to put that last point? Why you've got to have so many points in the resto tree? Whether you want to focus on high damage or survivability? Don't forget that all the info is on our home page The Bear Den (that, and much more).

Here, you can check out different 60/11 talent builds, and find out what you need to know about your tree.

Tank Weapons: Where to Get Raid Drops

Do you know which raid bosses you should be focused on? It's true that feral bears don't use their weapon - our damage is inflicted with tooth and claw, baby - but you can certainly use the stats those high-level staves provide. Find out where to get high item level weapons (230 and up), and get yourself tricked out.

Twisted Visage Binds when picked up Two-Hand Speed 2.40 446-670 Damage +120 Agility +121 Stamina Durability 120 / 120 Requires Level 80 Item Level 232 +2488 feral attack power Improves hit rating by 70. Increases critical strike rating by 86. Increases attack power by 160.

Where to get it: The Deconstructor drops this bad boy in Ulduar 25 (about 40% of the time).

Dreambinder Binds when picked up Two-Hand Speed 2.40 469-705 Damage +112 Agility +105 Stamina Durability 120 / 120 Requires Level 80 Item Level 239 Yellow Socket Blue Socket Socket Bonus +8 Agility +2657 feral attack power Improves haste rating by 86. Increases armor penetration rating by 85. Increases attack power by 140.

Where to get it: Defeat Freya (Ulduar 25, hard mode) after defeating Algalon the Observer to win this prize.

Lupine Longstaff Binds when picked up Two-Hand Speed 2.40 490-736 Damage +128 Agility +136 Stamina Durability 120 / 120 Requires Level 80 Item Level 245 Blue Socket Socket Bonus +4 Agility +2808 feral attack power Improves haste rating by 90. Increases armor penetration rating by 82. Increases attack power by 181.

Where to get it: Defeat Twin Val'kyr on the 25-man version of TOC to get a chance at the drop (Alliance).

Twin's Pact Binds when picked up Two-Hand Speed 2.40 490-736 Damage +128 Agility +136 Stamina Durability 120 / 120 Requires Level 80 Item Level 245 Blue Socket Socket Bonus +4 Agility +2808 feral attack power Improves haste rating by 90. Increases armor penetration rating by 82. Increases attack power by 181.

Where to get it: Defeat Twin Val'kyr on the 25-man version of TOC to get a chance at the drop (Horde).

Gearing Up to Tank: Do You Know Your Options?

There's more than one way to gear a bear, and nothing says you've got to follow the same formula and get the same gear as everyone else (though there are precious few choices). Bears who want to tank can choose three different routes when gearing up for PvE. Do you know your options?

The Stam Bear

Bears have one big advantage over other tanks: naturally high HP. Almost any bear will have higher health than any pally, warrior or DK in the raid. The stam bear takes advantage of this by pushing the envelope even further, stacking up all the stamina they can get to amass whopping amounts of health. Obviously, taking this route gives tanking bears amazingly high HP, therefore helping them last longer when engaged in boss fights. At the same time, however, they're going to be take a heck of a lot more hits.

The Dodge Bear

Feeling a little bit rogue, or just want to screw with your leather-wearing DPSers? Some bears choose to stack agility, dodge and defense in order to pad their one and only mitigation stat. High dodge helps bears deflect and defend against blows, which helps negate the need for massively high HP. Stacking nothing but dodge, however, means those blows will hurt a whole more when they do land...and eventually, they will land.

The Hybrid

The hybrid bear focuses on both stam and dodge (really, the only two things a PvE bear can focus on) to achieve fairly high percentages in both health and mitigation. This is the route most bears take as a matter of course, achieving a combination that allows them to both absorb and deflect blows as they come. Gearing hybrid helps bears remain versatile in the game, as well, as this can be somewhat beneficial in PvP as well.

Season 3 of The Guild Begins Tomorrow!

The third season of The Guild will premiere tomorrow (the 25th) on MSN Video. Remember, the last time we left The Knights of Good, Codex went into spirit form and suddenly had zero men interested in her. Will she fall for the warlock after all?

Seven New Zones Introduced at Blizzcon

Gossip has it that World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will bring seven new zones to the map. The new map design and the name of these new areas was unveiled recently at Blizzcon, where all the fun secrets are being spilled.

Gilneas, Twilight Highlands, Deepholm, Sunken City of Vashj'ir, The Lost Isles, Uldum and Mount Hyjal will son provide new adventure and excitement for all WoW-ers. Shacknews is offering the best in maps for players who want to get a sneak peek.

Battle.net to Become Mandatory

Recent comments from those in-the-know at Blizzard say that soon, a Battle.net account will be mandatory for all players. Currently, the lengthy sign-up process at Battle.net is completed in five separate steps.

Patch 3.2.0a: Fixing WoW Mistakes

As always, a big patch recently put in place by Blizzard now needs to be fixed. This is being handled in the form of patch 3.2.0a, which provides many small fixes to several pesky problems brought on by patch 3.2.

Command exploits, logon problems, several Mac bugs and a Freya visibility problem (her light beams were near invisible) make up the bulk of the fixes.

Sacred Bear Circle

This sacred meeting of high-ranking, badass tanking bears took place on the Skullcrusher realm, most likely to discuss a hatred for Blizzard's tendency to nerf us.

Or...it's just some people screwing around.

Bear-y Fun: Stormwind Dancing Parade

What's better than a bear in the World of Warcraft? Lots and lots and lots of bears!

And remember, the videos I post weren't made by me. Try not to be "jellus."

Are You Ready to Tank That Yet?

You're a bear, so you're pretty naturally bad...but that doesn't mean you can hit level 80 and fall into Ulduar, either. Are you ready to tank that instance yet? Find out what you need, before you go in and fall flat.


Naxxramas

To effectively tank in Naxx 10 or 25, a bear tank should be sitting at 30% dodge or more and have at least 30k health. Use buffs to bring up your numbers if you find you're a little low.

Eye of Eternity

There's a certain school of thought that says only Death Knights should tank Malygos, but this is bunk. Druids can tank through EoE with ease, though they may need help maintaining their threat. Use misdirections to make it a little easier. Tanks who are Naxx 25 ready should be able to get through Maly 10; for 25, try to reach at least 32k health.

Ulduar

Tanks have to be versatile and fast-acting in Ulduar, as this raid offers many very long, multiple mob boss fights. You want to be at 34k health comfortably if you're going to tank here, with a high mitigation of 30% dodge or more.

More Patch 3.2 Changes for Druids

Patch 3.2 is here and there are more changes in the World of Warcraft, which is really just one huge bear den if you persist in looking at it from a four-legged point of view (as I do). So, what can up-and-coming and existing druids expect from this brave new World of play?

The game continues to be made that much easier, now with flight form learned at level 60 and travel form awarded at the whoppingly low level of 16. Yowzah! The young cubs certainly have it easy these days.

The look of Savage Defense, a racial bear ability only recently introduced in a preceding patch, has new animation that no longer makes the bear stand upright.

Bears can now see their mana levels when shape shifted, a feature available in many different add-ons. We can now also use rage potions, which we've lived without for so long this is pretty much a bust.

There is a certain school of thought (I think I've mostly spearheaded this movement) that says Blizzard hates the bear. Evidence of this continues to mount in the form of continuing armor and mitigation nerfs, more of which have been presented with Patch 3.2. A 15% agility-to-dodge and dodge rating-to-dodge nerf has been introduced which does slightly lower the bear's ability to take a hit. The new buff to Enrage, which now offers 20 instant rage and 10 rage over the next 10 seconds, doesn't at all make up for it. Bears continue to be the baddest and the best, Blizzard continues to nerf. The result? Pallys still can't touch our health, guys.

Change Your Form by Changing Your Hair

Want to know which hairstyles you need to get the right color form, now that druids have finally been changed? The 'do you were rocking before Patch 3.2 may not look so hot when you jump into bear form.

Thankfully, the folks at Wow Insider have it all figured out for you. Get the look you want with only the minor inconvenience of finding a barber shop.

The PvP Bear

So, a lot of WoWers want to say tanks - especially bear tanks - can't PvP successfully. Patently, this is not the case. Bear tanks are amazingly hard to take down and, at given times, they can do a helluva lot of damage. In fact, bears who raid can be ideal in PvP. Here's what you need to make your presence known in the battlegrouns and arenas:

-A healer.
No self-respecting tank would be caught in a Wintergrasp battle without one.

-Resilience gear.
What? Are you serious? Yes, that's right, resilience gear. It's true bears are naturally uncritable, but in PvP resilience isn't used as a defense replacement. This stat has merit on its own, only don't expect it to do a whole lot for you outside the battlegrounds. You'll find some pretty good epics for sale in Wintergrasp and near Champion's Hall in Stormwind. Aim to have about 700 resilience, all told, to really deflect those attacks. Remember, in PVP clothies are your worst enemies (strange as that may sound).

-Pots, flasks, consumables and buffs.
Every little bit helps. Be sure to bring your bandages, mage food, healing pots and all the reagents you can carry. If you're looking for a PvP session, you want to be fully stocked. Bears can take a lot of damage, but you don't want to have to pop into caster too many times to get healed up. You know how small your mana pool is - bring some food!


Bear PvP Tricks and Tips

Remember, you can stealth when you're in kitty. You can also get an extra stun and one strong bleed attack out of this. Stealth, strike with Pounce and then throw a Shred. You can even finish it out with Maim to interrupt your target. Go into bear form and you've got another stun already on deck.

Don't forget to use your cooldowns. Bust Barskin. Use your bear healing ability. Go Berserk. Fight to kill!

Always, always, turn your entangling roots buff on. You can use it without switching forms, and you can really aggravate your attacker.

Druid Changes in Patch 3.2

The player test realms have been open for a while and the whole of the World of Warcraft seems to be on the brink of anticipation. Patch 3.2 is getting closer and closer to being released all the time!

So...what can druids expect to see as far as their characters are concerned?

Druid Changes in Patch 3.2

The answer is, very little. Everything that druids will see for themselves has long since been released. Some Balance abilities may be tweaked, some Resto spells might change...and the bear gets absolutely nothing new to talk about.

The only 3.2 change that might matter to druids (other than the appearance, of course) is the possible change to shapeshifting cost. There has been a lot of talk about the amount of mana is takes to change forms, and even more talk suggests that this could change in the upcoming patch. Many rumors say that it will no longer cost mana at all to change forms.

But seriously, how much does that matter to bears?

World of Warcraft Movie Update

Bruce Campbell,whom you'll recognize from the Evil Dead movies (he's also, apparently, in a series called Burn Notice), recently spoke about the upcoming World of Warcraft movie.

Campbell is still friendly with his old director Sam Raimi, who worked on the Evil Dead and Spiderman movies, and says he'd be happy to play a part in the upcoming flick. Sources say the film will center around Azeroth, the stage for much in-game drama and leveling activity.

A director. Casting buzz. A plausible setting. Sounds like we've got all the makings for the big WoW movie, a project that's already been years in the making.

Bear Tanking Visual Aids: AoE Mobs

Seriously, reading just isn't everyone's thing. If you prefer a visual aid for bear tanking, take a gander at this video. The smooth and cultivated voice of someone whom I can only assume to be Australian guides us through bear tanking on AoE mobs. You'll notice in the video he used Swipe, Berserk and Entangling Roots to help get his point across to the bad guys. The bear you're watching in the video uses Glyph of Maul, a strip of parchment I suggest to any and every bear whether or not you ever set foot in a raid.

Check back for more visual aids as time wears on, and take your tanking to the next level.

World of Warcraft Movie in the Works

The World of Warcraft movie has hovered somewhere between gaming myth and media rumor for years now, but now it seems the project has been given the green light.

More than that, it's been given a big-name director - one that's sure to delight WoWers of all types. Sam Raimi originally gained attention for the Evil Dead films, which endure as must-see cult classics. He also directed Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2, not to mention working on a whole host of other films. Raimi's name brings a certain amount of panache to any project, and indicates that a big-budget WoW movie is certainly in the works.

Very little plot or scripting information is known at this point, and Blizzard seems to be playing their cards pretty close to vest. This leaves the door wide open for speculation. Will the film feature a single hero as its main character, or an ensemble where different playable WoW classes are present? Will the movie showcase the classic conflict of good vs. evil (in this case, Alliance against Horde)? Are we talking live action or high-octane animation?

What do you want to see from the first-ever World of Warcraft movie? Sound off in the comments section below!

Druid Tier 9 Designs

MMO-Champion has unveiled the new tier 9 pieces. Personally, T7 is still my all-time fave - looks-wise, anyway. What do you think of the new look?

Alliance

Horde

Why Be a Bear?

It's harder for bears to get gear than any other tanking class. Bears are different from all other tanks in more ways than one. They don't hold or build threat as well as others, they've only got one kind of mitigation (dodge) when others get to build lots more stats and they can be slow as all hell.

So...why be a bear to begin with?

I Adore Being a Bear

Sure, bears have their drawbacks, and Blizzard absolutely seems to hate them (or at least, if you want to be kind, overlook them). Bears have to viciously fight rogues to get any kind of gear, don't get cool ground effects and have to worry about building and maintaining rage (and threat) at all times. But even in the days of Wrath, I personally maintain that bears are the best.

Why be a bear? Let me count the ways:

1. Hit Points, baby.
Put a warrior and a bear in the same level gear, and the bear should always have higher health. Since the earliest days of WoWs, the bear tank was made to take damage - and how. As a bear tank you'll enjoy impressive health that puts those conceited pallys to shame.

2. Versatility.
Is there anything a bear can't take? Pallys are said to stumble on Malygos and warriors are known to have trouble in OS, but the bear can go anywhere and do anything if they've got their act together. There isn't a single fight you can't do because of the class you are when you're a bear, so run in there and attack your claws off.

When they aren't tanking, bears can also easily switch forms and go cat to do faster attacks. Once your target is dead and your tanking services aren't needed, it's possible to run over to the other tank in the raid and go melee crazy in cat form. Who else can do that? No one, that's who.

3. Self healing/self saving.
Bears absolutely have some of the best self-saving and self-healing abilities out there for tanks. Frenzied Regeneration, Barskin, Berserk - a bear can survive a hell of a lot of damage, and isn't that what raid groups want? Learn how to use your abilities well, spec yourself correctly and you could be the baddest tank out there - gear notwithstanding. Even an under-geared bear can be a badass if they know what they're doing.

4. Visibility.
Get twenty-five people together and at some point, it's going to get damn hard to tell what's what and who's who. But it's always easy to spot the bear in the group, which makes it great for the healers and dps.

5. Extra abilities.
Because all bears are also druids, you come stocked up with a whole slew of added, highly useful abilities. As a druid you've got a great raid buff (Mark of the Wild), a battle rez (an incredibly wonderful ability), a regular rez, and plenty of healing spells you can use when you're out of combat. What other tank can do all of that? Not a one.

Be a Bear!

Put it all together and what do you got? Hands down, the best tanking class in the whole damn World of Warcraft - though the paladins are liable to fight that particular theory. When you compare all your extra benefits to their silly self-buffs, however, it's easy to see why you should be a bear.

Blizzard's New Bear Look

For the first time since the game began, Blizzard is finally introducing new skins for bears...but are you pleased with the look?

Night Elf Bears

Tauren Bears

Bear Tanking 101

New to tanking? Haven't done it in a while and need or refresher course? Or maybe you're just willing to take whatever advice you can get. Whatever it is, perhaps you could benefit from a little Bear Tanking 101.

Pulling

Tanking always starts with the pull. This is what starts the fight and it's essential. There are, in the main, two different ways to pull: bring targets toward you, or rush up to them. Most bears achieve this through Faeire Fire (to pull back), or Feral Charge (to rush right in). Either way, even when you use your charge you should still hit your targets with Faerie Fire for threat-building purposes.

How you pull depends on the rest of the room and the placement of the mobs. If other mobs are likely to pat toward you while you're fighting, you want to pull your targets back toward you. In some cases you might even need to move forward, pull your targets and move backward to reduce possible interference from added enemies.

Placement

At all times, face what you're fighting. Only when absolutely necessary (because you literally have to run away quite quickly) will you ever turn your back on a target. This is because you'll take very heavy damage if you ever turn your back to a mob - it also reduces the effectiveness of your attacks (the only one that will even work, in fact, is Swipe). There may be times when you're required to kite a target around (to kite is to move. This means you'll maintain threat and keep up attacks even as you move the target from place to place around the move), but even so face what you fight.

Unless there are special circumstances involved, it's a good rule of thumb to run in front of your group to pull and attack any target. Then, turn around so that the target is facing you, with the rest of your group arrayed behind the mob. Even trash mobs might do damaging attacks that could seriously harm your group, so try to always place yourself so that you're the only one in front of the enemy (or enemies).

Building and Holding Threat

Being a bear tank is no walk in the park, and you should be doing something every single second. There's no time when all your cooldowns will be spent all at once, so you can always attack or cast a debuff. If you aren't busy as hell, you aren't doing your job. There are lots of little tricks you can use to build and hold threat, so learn them all to tank successfully.

Mitigation

Crisp pulls, good placement and threat management are all part of tanking, but don't ever forget about your mitigation. Even when a healer or multiple healers are assigned only to you, it's possible that you'll die. Keep one eye on your own health even as you watch your threat meter, keep up your damaging attacks and pay attention to the mob you're fighting. Remember, bears can take potions, use warlock stones, pop trinkets and take advantage of important abilities such as Barskin and Frenzied Regeneration. You've got healers, sure, but you've also got personal responsibility to keep yourself up. That's why you have certain abilities and items in the first place.

Leading

A tank is very much a leader in any sort of group. This means you have to be aware of everyone else even as you're aware of yourself. As a tank, you will very often find yourself in front of the group and controlling the pulls. Pay attention! Make sure your dps players and healers have mana before you start a new fight, and pop a Ready Check before boss fights to be sure that everyone is prepared and well-armed for what's to come. This doesn't mean you should move at a snail's pace, however. Maintaining a good speed through dungeons and raids is part of your responsibility as a tank, so always be pushing forward. Just remember to include pauses to be sure everyone's up to speed before you fight.

Be Prepared!

Whatever you do, don't show up for a group or a raid unprepared. Make sure you've got potions, bandages and food so that you're capable of self-healing. You might not always have an excellent healer or a friendly mage, so always have what you need to take care of yourself even if you're just going on a quick dungeon run that should be a cake walk. Keep your regeants stocked and double-check to be sure you've got on the right gear (everyone's accidentally walked into a raid wearing their fishing pole or some other item, but you don't want to start a fight that way). Also, check your own buffs to be sure you're good to go before everything begins.

Building Your Threat

First things first: you are a bear. This means will always have more trouble building and maintaining your threat than warriors, paladins, death knights...and every single dps in the raid. With your spec and your skill, however, you can still tank and get the job done.

It can be very frustrating to struggle with maintaining threat, but remember that every tank has the same problem (it's just more acute for bears). It's dps-class players who need to watch their own aggression and achieve the delicate balance between doing a lot of damage and not pulling threat. Sometimes, you may lose threat through no real fault of your own. Remind the dps that their job isn't just spamming AoE or throwing all their best tricks as fast as they can - it's about not pulling off you.

As long as you're doing everything right, everything else is up to them.

Spec for Damage

Building your threat begins with your spec. The more damage you do, the more threat you're going to build. Naturalist 5/5 (resto tree) increases your damage in all forms by 10%, not bad when you should be putting 11 points in your resto tree already. Savage Fury 2/2 increases the damage of your Mangle and Maul by a whopping 20%. Predatory Strikes 3/3 increases your damage by 150% of your level and 20% of any attack power on your weapon - this is an absolute must-have. King of the Jungle 3/3 increases your attack power by 15% when you Enrage (which you should be doing every minute). Rend and Tear 5/5 increases the damage of your Maul on bleeding targets by 20%.

If you spec yourself to do more damage, you will - and you will have less trouble maintaining your threat. Unfortunately, maintaining threat as a bear is a full-time occupation...and there's lots more to learn.

Using Your Taunts

Okay, you've got two taunts - and neither one of them is all that wonderful. But they're what you've got, so learn to use them to their fullest.

Growl
Instant, 30 yard range, 8 second cooldown
Taunts the target to attack you, but has no effect if the target is already attacking you.

Challenging Roar
Instant, 3 minute cooldown (see Glyphs)
Forces all nearby enemies to focus attacks on you for 6 seconds.

You should always use Growl as part of your pull (more on that later), but it's going to be pretty ineffectual for the rest of the fight unless you find yourself losing threat. If you do lose threat, immediately cast Growl to get it back.

Challenging Roar, on the other hand, can be dicey. If you're in a raid situation it's likely another tank will be fooling with another mob somewhere nearby. Casting this taunt could cause them to loose aggression and then your biggest problem is no longer losing threat (you'll want to lose the threat from the rest of the raid at that point). If you're tanking everything there is to tank, however, or if shit starts to hit the fan, go ahead and cast this AoE taunt. Better to have all the mobs than to lose every target.

Using Your Debuffs

There's more than one way to create damage, and you can do more than taunt to capture the attention of a mob. You should be using your debuffs at every available opportunity, even before they wear off in some cases. If you're having trouble with threat, popping your debuffs can give you a little extra boost.


Demoralizing Roar
Decreases all nearby enemies' attack power for thirty seconds. Amount of damage determined by ability level (at level 80, it's -408).

Faerie Fire (Feral)
Decreases the target's armor by 5% for 5 minutes.


Both these debuffs should always be a part of your initial pull. It's best to pop your Faerie Fire in a macro with Growl, then cast your demoralizing roar as the mob nears. The roar is a great way to gain the attention of all enemies at once - a quick swipe or two helps you ensure that you have more than their attention. Any AoE you can use is helpful if you're tanking multiple targets, and demoralizing roar actually helps build threat - so pop it often. Faerie fire lasts for five minutes, but you want to pop it at every opportunity. It does damage and it helps you maintain threat - so keep this one close to your main action bar.

Use Your Rotation

Okay, so you need to pull with Growl and Faerie Fire. You need to pop Demoralizing Roar as soon as the mob is within range. You want to keep up your debuffs as much as possible and you want to keep checking your threat to be sure that you're holding well. So when the hell do you get to damage?

Make your debuffs a regular part of your rotation, and keep your damage-building abilities and bleed debuffs up at all times. A good bear should be clicking or pressing buttons like crazy, and that's no joke. If there's a second where you don't have something to click, then you're failing.

An AoE mob rotation is going to end up playing out something like this (side-by-side abilities are macroed together):

Faerie Fire/Growl
Demoralizing Roar
Swipe
Swipe
Maul
Mangle
Maul
Swipe
Swipe
Maul
Demoralizing Roar
Mangle
Maul
Swipe
Swipe

Get the idea? You should absolutely have Glyph of Maul regardless (see Glyphs), so you should have little trouble tanking two targets at once. If you're tanking three or more enemies at once, you're going to want to switch targets. Watch your threat meter - when you have a decent amount of threat built up on your first target, switch to your third target but keep your rotation the same.

If you're tanking a single target, you can pretty much forget about your Swipe. It doesn't do a whole lot of damage, and you'll benefit much more from your Lacerate. Keeping the same pull and debuff principles in place, your rotation will wind up looking more like this:

Growl/Faerie Fire
Demoralizing Roar
Mangle
Maul
Lacerate
Lacerate
Maul
Mangle
Lacerate
Lacerate
Mangle
Maul
Faerie Fire
Demoralizing Roar
Mangle
Maul
Lacerate
Lacerate

Get the idea?

Going Berserk

You must not forget the best bear ability of all: Berserk. This burst damage, AoE mother is so badass, you've just got to have it - so spec for it. Glyph of Berserk is absolutely wonderful for threat-building - so get it. Whether you're fighting a larger mob (no more than three, because this ability only hits three targets) or a single target, go Berserk when you can. There are some pulls where you'll want to time this out, saving Berserk for certain occassions. For instance, some bosses may offer a buff where damage is increased. There are also times when the raid will use Heroism to boost damage. When possible, save your Berserk for these occassions. Otherwise, the dps will find it all too easy to pull threat right off you.

What You Don't Need for Tanking

The warrior yelps. The pally drools. The death knight cried "I want that!" And the bear stands quietly off to the side, waiting for a different piece to drop. There's a lot of tank gear that feral tanks can't use. Know exactly what you don't need for tanking, and avoid creating a riot on vent when you type /roll on an item you can't really wear.

Many druids new to the tanking game repeatedly ask about the same stats. Remember this: you can't use parry. You can't use block. You can't use defense.

And you don't need hit, expertise or a lot of armor penetration. In fact, there's a lot of tank gear that's absolutely not made for bears. So...what do bears use?

Rogue gear. That's not a tongue-in-cheek response, either. Since WOTLK, druids and rogues have a lot of reasons to compete. They share the same tier class, they both wear leather (come to think of it, they're the only two classes which do) and they both want plenty of agility - albeit for different reasons.

So as that +parry, +block, +defense gear rolls by, the bear sits and waits for something providing plenty of stamina, dodge and agility (which gives you dodge). That doesn't mean, however, that some of that "other" tank gear won't still appeal to your gear needs.

In fact, it's pretty hard for a bear to find necklaces, trinkets, rings and capes for tanking that don't offer unusable stats. If gear drops that is well and truly an upgrade but contains some extra stats (defense, for instance, which commonly appears on tank-friendly items), tell the raid you're still interested in the piece. Since many guilds and groups lump all tank gear into one category, you may not ruffle too many feathers by rolling on items which offer parry, block and/or defense. State your intention to roll before you do so, however, as some groups are more strict and exacting than others.

Stack items which offer lots of stamina, even if you have to pick up some unnecessary stats along the way. Meanwhile, keep looking for the +dodge and +agility that provides the bear's only gearable mitigation. While pallys, warriors and DKs enjoy block and parry, the bear must rely on dodge. So tell the rogue in the raid to watch out, because you're in the raid now. Grrr.

A Word on Defense

You've got three points in Survival of the Fittest, and you've got all the defense you need. Does that mean defense won't benefit you at all?

It's true that bears don't need defense, but that doesn't mean they can't get a little something out of it just the same. Defense will give you a minor dodge increase, nothing like what you'll get from agility and straight dodge, but you will get something. If something drops that gives you an upgrade, you don't necessarily have to move out of the way for the pallys, warriors and DKs - though agility or dodge gear is obviously preferable.

Best Bear Enchants and Enhancements

You've got the gear, but is it good enough? With the best enhancements and enchants, you can take even good gear to the level of greatness. Always soup up your gear even when you don't have that perfect piece. You should constantly be padding your stats with the very best in gems, enchants and enhancement items.

Arcanum of the Stalwart Protector
Binds when picked up
Requires Level 80
Requres Argent Crusade - Revered
Adds 37 stamina and 20 defense rating to a head slot item
150 gold

Greater Inscription of the Gladiator
Binds when picked up
Requires Level 70
Adds 30 stamina and 15 resilience to a shoulder slot item
10,000 honor

Greater Inscription of the Pinnacle
Binds when picked up
Requires Level 80
Required Sons of Hodir - Exalted
Adds 20 dodge rating and 15 defense rating to shoulder armor
100 gold

Enchant Chest - Super Health Reagents: Infinite Dust (20), Greater Cosmic Essence (4)

Permanently enchant chest armor to increase health by 275. Requires a level 60 or higher item.

Enchant Chest - Powerful Stats
Reagents: Dream Shard (4), Abyss Crystal (4)
Permanently enchant chest armor to increase all stats by 10. Requires a level 60 or higher item.

Enchant Boots - Greater Fortitude
Reagents: Lesser Cosmic Essence (3), Infinite Dust (3)
Permanently enchant boots to increase Stamina by 22. Requires a level 60 or higher item.

Frosthide Leg Armor
Requires Level 80
Permanently increase a pair of pants by 55 stamina and 22 agility.

Enchant Bracers - Major Stamina
Reagents: Greater Cosmic Essence (4), Abyss Crystal
Permanently enchant bracers to increase Stamina by 40. Requires a level 60 or higher item

Enchant Gloves - Major Agility

Reagents: Greater Cosmic Essence (4), Dream Shard
Permanently enchant gloves to increase your Agility by 20. Requires a level 60 or higher item.

Heavy Borean Armor Kit
Requires Level 70
Permanently increase stamina to a pair of gloves by 18.

Enchant Cloak - Major Agility
Reagents: Infinite Dust (8), Greater Cosmic Essence (2), Dream Shard (2)
Permanently enchant a cloak to increase Agility by 22. Requires a level 60 or higher item.

Enchant Weapon - Mongoose
Reagents: Void Crystal (6), Large Prismatic Shard (10), Greater Planar Essence (8), Arcane Dust (40)
Permanently enchant a melee weapon to occasionally increase Agility by 120 and attack speed slightly. Requires a level 35 or higher item.

Enchant Weapon - Mongoose has often been the source of debate among feral druids. Before post-Wrath patches, Mongoose didn't even work for bears. Now, however, the effect does work and works well. The +35 Agility enchant is still widely used by many bears, but I personally find Mongoose to be the superior enchant.

Defense and resilience don't do a whole lot for bears, unless the player is into PvP. Bears who use their talents points correctly don't have to worry about defense stacking, which makes some of the bonuses from these items superfluous. Any enhancements and enchants offering stamina and dodge (or agility), however, are to be desired. I've personally found that the above item enhancements offer the best stat results for tanking bears. Check me out on wow-heroes to see what enchants and enhancenents I personally use.

Crafted Epics Can Help

You don't always have to grind rep, farm honor or wait for lucky rolls to get that epic gear. Bears can always get a little bit of help from the leatherworkers. Turn to crafted epics. It may take a little extra time to farm mats, grind gold and find someone with just the right recipe, but it's better than waiting for a good group, a lucky drop and random chance.

Polar Vest Binds on equip Chest 578 Armor +169 Stamina +115 Frost Resistance Requires Level 80 Red Rocket Yellow Socket Blue Socket Socket Bonus +12 Stamina

Durable Nerubide Cape Binds on equip Back 150 Armor +75 Stamina +41 Strength Requires Level 80 Increases dodge rating by 49. Increases expertise rating by 21.

Trollwoven Girdle Binds on equip Waist 317 Armor +72 Stamina +66 Agility Requires Level 80 Increases attack power by 132. Increases expertise rating by 38.

Trollwoven Spaulders Binds on equip Waist 423 Armor +79 Stamina +72 Agility Requires Level 80 Increases attack power by 114. Increases expertise rating by 28.

Footpads of Silence Binds on equip Feet 406 Armor +64 Stamina +69 Agility Requires Level 80 Blue Socket Red Socket Socket bonus +6 Agility Increases hit rating by 48. Improves critical strike rating by 56. Increases attack power by 114.

*recipe drops in Ulduar

Death-warmed Belt Binds on equip Waist 333Armor +73 Stamina +69 Agility Requires Level 80 Blue Socket Red Socket Socket bonus +6 Agility Increases hit rating by 40. Improves critical strike rating by 56. Increases attack power by 112.

*recipe drops in Ulduar

Bear PvP Gear

Not quite raid-ready? With a few pieces of PvP gear, you might be soon be prepared for bigger instances.

Wintergrasp

Titan-Forged Belt of Triumph Binds when picked up Waist 325 Armor +67 Agility +85 Stamina Requires Level 80 Blue Socket Socket Bonus +4 Agility Improves resilience rating by 49. Increases armor penetration rating by 42.

Titan-Forged Boots of Triumph Binds when picked up Feet 388 Armor +58 Agility +76 Stamina Requires Level 80 Yellow Socket Socket Bonus +4 Resilience Rating Improves resilience rating by44. Increases attack power by 66. Increases armor penetration rating by36.

Titan-Forged Leather Helm of Triumph Binds when picked up Head 458 Armor +73 Agility +103 Stamina Requires Level 80 Meta Socket Red Socket Socket Bonus +8 Critical Strike Rating Improves resilience rating by59. Increases attack power by 58. Increases armor penetration rating by 44.

Titan-Forged Leather Tunic of Triumph Binds when picked up Chest 578 Armor +84 Agility +115 Stamina Requires Level 80 Red Socket Yellow Socket Socket bonus +6 Resilience Rating Improves resilience rating by66. Increases attack power by 102. Increases armor penetration rating by 51.

Honor Points

Hateful Gladiator's Armwraps of Triumph Binds when picked up Chest 247 Armor +50 Agility +57 Stamina Requires Level 80 Improves critical strike rating by33. Improves resilience rating by 32. Increases attack power by 50.

Hateful Gladiator's Belt of Triumph Binds when picked up Waist 325 Armor +67 Agility +85 Stamina Requires Level 80 Blue Socket Socket Bonus +4 Agility Improves critical strike rating by 36. Improves resilience rating by 44. Increases armor penetration rating by 66.

Hateful Gladiator's Boots of Triumph Binds when picked up Feet 388 Armor +58 Agility +76 Stamina Requires Level 80 Yellow Socket Socket Bonus +4 Resilience Rating Improves critical strike rating by 36. Improves resilience rating by44. Increases attack power by 66. Increases armor penetration rating by 66.

Rep Gear for Bears

The fact of the matter is, you aren't going to be tanking anything if you haven't got the gear. You may not win the loot rolls, but you can always grind the reputation. This rep gear will tide you over until you upgrade:

Argent Crusade

Cloak of Holy Extermination Binds when picked up Back 140 Armor +39 Agility +57 Stamina Requires Level 78 Requires Argent Crusade - Honored Increases attack power by 52. Increases armor penetration rating by 25.

Boots of the Neverending Path Binds when picked up Feet 388 Armor +51 Agility +49 Stamina Requires Level 80 Requires Argent Crusade - Exalted Improves hit rating by 66. Increases attack power by 122.

The Kalu'ak

Whale-Skin Breastplate Binds when picked up Chest 474 Armor +38 Agility +57 Stamina Requires Level 76 Requires The Kalu'ak - Honored. Improves haste rating by55. Increases attack power by 114.

The Kirin Tor

Stave of Shrouded Mysteries Binds when picked up Two-Hand 392 - 589 Damage (169.1 damage per second) Speed 2.90 1600 feral attack power 315 Armor +117 Stamina Requires Level 80 Requires The Kirin Tor - Revered. Increases your dodge rating by56. Increases attack power by 155.

The Sons of Hodir

Spaulders of Frozen Knives Binds when picked up Chest 395 Armor +34 Agility +51 Stamina Requires Level 78 Requires The Sons of Hodir -Honored. Improves haste rating by52. Increases attack power by 100.

Wyrmrest Accord

Dragonfriend Bracers Binds when picked up Chest 247 Armor +49 Agility +38 Stamina Requires Level 80 Requires The Wyrmrest Accord -Exalted. Improves critical strike rating by38. Increases attack power by 100.