Tank Hard!

Continuing my last article which featured all the pieces to keep your eyes out for from the moment you step off the zeppelin/boat, we pick up the Northrend Pre-Heroic Instancing Gear Guide with a look at Drak’tharon Keep, The Violet Hold, and Gundrak. Rochelle has already written up a great guide for those heading into Naxxramas and what you’ll need from the Ulduar instances as well as Heroics. This guide will bridge the gap between the first sets of instances of Northrend and everything you’ll need to watch for before you begin raiding. Let’s get it on!

Drak’Tharon Keep

Trollgore - Nothing tanky
Novos the Summoner - Summoner’s Stone Gavel is debatably useful for a tank. The hit rating is, of course, rather nice. However with no other stats (Stamina in particular) and a slow 2.3 speed, you might be better served letting this fall to someone else who can make better use of it.
King Dred - Can’t WAIT for this boss fight. Gotta love Devilsaurs. Bear types, keep a sharp eye out for Scabrous-Hide Helm, a very nice Head piece for those of the Feral persuasion.
The Prophet Tharon’ja - All lore associated with them aside (for those who don’t know, Muradin Bronzebeard was a main character in the Alliance campaign of WCIII, and is part of the infamous Bronzebeard clan of Dwarves, currently ruling Ironforge, but I digress…) Muradin’s Lost Greaves are definitely on my wish list.

The Violet Hold

(There are only ever three bosses in this instance on any given run. The first 2 are randomly selected from the 6 listed below. The last is always Cyanigosa)
Erekem - Screeching Cape should fit nicely on any tank’s back, regardless of class.
Moragg - Shoulderplates of the Beholder will doubtlessly cause Moragg to be a hopeful spawn for any party tanked by a Warrior, Death Knight or Paladin.
Ichiron - In addition to being kinda creepy lookin, this Revenant boss also drops Handguards of Rapid Pursuit, a very nice Hands piece for Ferals.
Xevozz - Has Riot Shield and hopefully the same death animation as all the BC Space Mummies as well! Do yourself a favor and actually check the link so you can see a screenie of this shield. Prior to appearing in WotLK, the Riot Shield seperated East and West Berlin for a few years.
Lavanthor - Nothing of tanking interest here on normal mode. Great trinket on heroic though.
Zuramat the Obliterator - Man, if Moragg and Zuramat spawned on the same run, I’d be one happy dude. Hooray for Void Sentry Legplates.
Cyanigosa - Plate Claws of the Dragon COULD be yours if you complete the entire run. This sounds like a very fun instance and certainly has the most tank drops out of any of the instances I’ve looked at so far. And, with the random boss generator, I’m sure it will get run OFTEN. There’s an achievement for downing all 6 of the random bosses too, for all you Obsessive Completionist achievement fiends out there.

Gundrak

Slad’ran - No tank drops… fight sounds entertaining though!
Moorabi - Forlorn Breastplate of War isn’t bad.. looks a little more Fury than Prot, but if it’s going to be DE’ed or Vendored, better off in your hands.
Drakkari Colossus - Shoulderguards of the Ice Troll look pretty awesome, Bears.
Gal’darah - Gal’darah’s Signet is good Finger-slot news for all tanks.
There is also a Heroic-Mode only boss in this dungeon named Eck the Ferocious.. looks like a big, angry Murloc. Enjoy that.

SO there you have it, gang. We’ve held hands through all the instances up to Ulduar’s Halls of Stone & Halls of Lightning (79-80) at which point you should be looking for drops to get you over the Heroic Hump and into Naxxramas itself. Good luck up there, and may blue tanking drops fall plentifully for you!

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