Tanking - Bear T11 set

[Xxliability]

So I've been wondering, are the T11 bonuses for bear tanking worth going for?

I have been saving up valor points and just about have enough to get 2 pieces for my tanking set.

I have seen a lot of people on the forums saying that the itemisation is horrible and after actually looking at them, the secondary stats are not that great for most of the pieces, although I don't hate the legs. But reforging can overcome a bit of the worse stats, however I am wondering if it is worth going for the tier pieces at all? The 2 piece looks ok with the 10% increase to lacerate ticks, although I haven't done the math to see how good it is. I have seen countless people flame the 4piece bonus on the 50% increase to survival instincts, but seeing as this is an ability typically used only once per fight, I couldn't help but wonder if it was worth it or should I just wait for other gear to drop from raids?

Additionally if it is only worth going for the 2piece bonus which 2 pieces are best? I just about have the points to get the chest and legs from valor, but should I save them for other items?

[Mystile]

Get the legs, they are perfectly itemized. Non-heroic helm is good if you don't get lucky with BoT trash / don't want to spend some gold for Tsanga's Helm.

While this is purely my own opinion, the two piece is awful unless you are able to switch into cat and dps for a bit, then maybe legs and helm would be good. Any other type of fight, the stat loss (crit and mastery) from off pieces to tier are just not worth the longer survival instinct. 6 seconds longer is great, don't get me wrong, but tier just has so many undesirable stats. I personally just use the legs and spent the rest of my valor points on off spec gear.

Toskk's TTL calculator also shows 4 piece to be just.. meh, making tier better than some pieces, but in certain cases even the off pieces far outweigh the set bonus. (Chest; tier is haste [worst stat] and expertise, vs Sark/Morrie's crit and mastery [our two best stats that will be on gear])

The best two are definitely the legs and helmet, heroic tier helm is the only item to beat out Tsanga's Helm for BiS.

[Deleted]

Just get the legs for the mastery, the setbonus(es) themselves really blows.

edit: If you necessarily have to spend your valor points, there's only two other things worth purchasing. The ring and the back.

[Mystile]

Just get the legs for the mastery, the setbonus(es) themselves really blows.

edit: If you necessarily have to spend your valor points, there's only two other things worth purchasing. The ring and the back.

And relic

[Deleted]

And relic

I am tired, of course the relic!

[Aukas]

Alot of people have said that the bear tank T11 was horribly itemized. The only Non heroic T11 piece that's worth anything are the legs. The helm becomes good for Heroic T11, other than that the other T11 pieces are not good for bears.

[sageosaka]

uh isnt fluid death extremely good for us too? with the hit reforged to dodge obviously.

[Arielle]

uh isnt fluid death extremely good for us too? with the hit reforged to dodge obviously.

Yes. The ring is also BiS at the normal mode level.

[gombudja]

The 2 piece is so horrible. 10% extra damage to lacerate. Take our last Maloriak kill, a good example as you are on the boss for the whole fight. I did 191k damage with lacerate. 10% of that is 19.1k. My total damage for the fight was 2.435,8k. That's an abysmal 0,78% increase in damage. Not worth losing any defensive stats for. The 4 piece might be useful on some fights, I don't know, my guild hasn't progressed far enough to notice..

[Deleted]

uh isnt fluid death extremely good for us too? with the hit reforged to dodge obviously.

No. It isn't. Hit is completely a wasted stat (unless you're on interrupting duty, and even with 2-3% hit you rarely miss a skull bash.)
Rather use Tia's Grace if you necessarily want the agility procc bonus.

[Barawr]

340 agility/285 mastery(Tia) vs. 380 agility/128 mastery/193 hit(FD). I'm almost certain that even with the loss in mastery, agility is so highly weighted for us that FD comes out ahead.

[Mystile]

Toskk shows Tia's Grace right below Fluid Death, and by right below I mean mere decimals, they're incredibly close, but Fluid Death pulls ahead slightly. (Both being reforged to dodge.)

[Barawr]

Yeah, I knew they would be pretty close so it looks like both are good options. I personally picked up my FD for the kitty set.

[Kagonos]

I don't particularly care for Fluid Death (I use Essence of the Cyclone and Symbiotic Worm for most fights right now) and might get it after I have finished getting my boomkin or resto gear... I too have found all valor stuff to be underwhelming. I bought the relic last night and the ring after deciding that, even though I love the look of being full t10, the stats are just so damn terrible that I can't swap out my blues with superior stats. I know the agility and stam increases are significant, but I'd rather grab non set pieces with mastery... How utterly disappointing.

Even the set bonuses, as pointed out, are just like, WTF? What was Blizzard thinking when they designed this set? It looks great, I was excited to wear it, but looks alone can't justify this crap. I don't know how cats feel about it, but it still looks pretty weakly itemized. In all, there are just too many crummy valor pieces for bears beyond the relic and the ring...

[Arielle]

Even the set bonuses, as pointed out, are just like, WTF?

Honestly, the 2pc bonus looks like it was added back when Lacerate's DoT actually did damage. Pre 4.0.

[Kagonos]

Honestly, the 2pc bonus looks like it was added back when Lacerate's DoT actually did damage. Pre 4.0.

Even then, why would bears give a shit about 10% more damage on lacerate? It's beyond stupid. Ugh. Remember the 4 piece (T10) that made enrage into another defensive CD rather than being a situational use when rage starved? Now THAT was something I really sought out... They better come correct when T12 hits shelves cuz this is abysmal.

[Mystile]

T10 was the last set of Wrath, of course it's bonuses were amazing. This is the entry raiding tier, wanna know what t7's 2 and 4 piece are? 5% more lacerate damage (2 piece) and 3 second longer duration on barkskin (4 piece). These are pretty much on par with each other, only difference is direct damage of lacerate is now the only real damage of the ability, vs the dot actually being worth some form of damage during wrath.

[Kagonos]

Oh, I understand that and remember it full well. I should have mentioned that I felt that way based on the horrible itemization on the gear. I completely understand why it's not going to be on par with final tier gear set bonuses. You're right.

[Captain Midnight]

If anyone remembers the extremely overpowered Druid T4 from BC, it should come as no surprise that our entry level Tier set bonuses are going to be crap now. T4 was BiS for Bears from Karazhan until Black Temple.

[Mystile]

If anyone remembers the extremely overpowered Druid T4 from BC, it should come as no surprise that our entry level Tier set bonuses are going to be crap now. T4 was BiS for Bears from Karazhan until Black Temple.

I did not use t4 for bear for that long... It was replaced immediately with various other upgrades. However, for cat... Yeah, I used that well into sunwell until they were replaced with vastly superior items, just because the set bonus was too amazing.

Edit: you are talking about four piece for bear, yes, it was amazing. I was thinking of the two pieces. My mistake.