WotLK Classic Feral Druid Tank Gear and Best in Slot

Feral Druid Tier 10, Lasherweave Battlegear, can only be obtained through Emblem of Frost and starts at item level 251. Once you have bought a piece, you can upgrade it to 264 with regular Vanquisher's Mark of Sanctification, which drop from Icecrown Citadel 10 man heroic and 25 man normal, and to 277 with heroic marks, which only drop in Icecrown Citadel 25-man heroic.

Its set bonuses are:

• 2 pieces — causes your Swipe (Bear) and Lacerate abilities to deal 20% additional damage and the cost of your Rip ability is reduced by 10 energy. This is a decent damage bonus, which helps with threat;
• 4 pieces — causes your Enrage ability to no longer decrease your armor and instead decrease all damage taken by 12%. It also allows the periodic damage done of Rake to critical strike. A fantastic bonus which provides an extra short-cooldown damage reduction effect, well welcomed in a tier where bosses do massive burst damage.

As Tier 10 has an incredible 4-piece bonus, can have high item level, and also has great standalone stats, you will want to get its bonuses as soon as possible, favoring using your Emblem of Frost on tier pieces until the 4-piece bonus is obtained.

Feral Druid Tier 9, Runetotem's Battlegear, is obtained differently than before. Rather than dropping from specific bosses, the 258 item level pieces are all bought with the same Regalia of the Grand Protector, which drops in 25-man Heroic Trial of the Crusader.

You can use 10-man Heroic / 25-man Normal dropped Trophy of the Crusade and Emblem of Triumph to buy 245 item level pieces, and the lowest 232 item level versions can be bought with just Triumph Emblems.

Its set bonuses are:

• 2 pieces — decreases the cooldown on Growl by 2 sec, increases the periodic damage done by Lacerate by 5%, and increases the duration of Rake by 3 sec. This is a quality of life increase from having access to more frequent taunts, as well as a small threat and DPS gain from Lacerate, and also Rake when not actively tanking;
• 4 pieces — reduces the cooldown of Barkskin by 12 seconds and increases the critical strike chance of Rip and Ferocious Bite by 5%. While the damage benefits can be good while not tanking, the Barskin cooldown reduction is a very small bonus, and it can be worth skipping in order to use more powerful individual gear pieces.

We will be skipping the 4-piece Tier bonus in the gear list below, which is defensively biased as threat is much less of a concern in Wrath due to tank threat being massively buffed and Engineering bombs causing extra threat when used while in Dire Bear Form. Thus, it is recommended to gear for maximum survivability in order to be able to tank every encounter, even when things go wrong.

Feral Druid Tier 9, Malfurion's Battlegear, is obtained differently than before. Rather than dropping from specific bosses, the 258 item level pieces are all bought with the same Regalia of the Grand Protector, which drops in 25-man Heroic Trial of the Crusader.

You can use 10-man Heroic / 25-man Normal dropped Trophy of the Crusade and Emblem of Triumph to buy 245 item level pieces, and the lowest 232 item level versions can be bought with just Triumph Emblems.

Its set bonuses are:

• 2 pieces — decreases the cooldown on Growl by 2 sec, increases the periodic damage done by Lacerate by 5%, and increases the duration of Rake by 3 sec. This is a quality of life increase from having access to more frequent taunts, as well as a small threat and DPS gain from Lacerate, and also Rake when not actively tanking;
• 4 pieces — reduces the cooldown of Barkskin by 12 seconds and increases the critical strike chance of Rip and Ferocious Bite by 5%. While the damage benefits can be good while not tanking, the Barskin cooldown reduction is a very small bonus, and it can be worth skipping in order to use more powerful individual gear pieces.

We will be skipping the 4-piece Tier bonus in the gear list below, which is defensively biased as threat is much less of a concern in Wrath due to tank threat being massively buffed and Engineering bombs causing extra threat when used while in Dire Bear Form. Thus, it is recommended to gear for maximum survivability in order to be able to tank every encounter, even when things go wrong.

Feral Tank Druid Tier 8, the Nightsong Battlegear, is obtained from the following bosses:

• Helm — Thorim in 25-man Ulduar or Mimiron in 10-man Ulduar;
• Chest — Hodir in 25-man Ulduar or Yogg-Saron in 10-man Ulduar;
• Legs — Freya in 25-man Ulduar or Hodir in 10-man Ulduar;
• Shoulders — Yogg-Saron in 25-man Ulduar or Thorim in 10-man Ulduar;
• Gloves — Mimiron in 25-man Ulduar or Freya in 10-man Ulduar.

Its set bonuses are:

• 2 pieces — causes the periodic damage dealt by your Rake, Rip, and Lacerate abilities to have a chance to cause you to enter a Clearcasting state. While useful for DPS, this has little survivability value;
• 4 pieces — increases the duration of Savage Roar and Survival Instinct by 8 sec. This is a significant duration increase for a major defensive but due to its 3-minute cooldown, uptime is still very low, regardless.

As neither set bonus is particularly strong, tier pieces will mostly be picked up for their individual stats. Also, threat is much less of a concern in Wrath due to tank threat being massively buffed and Engineering bombs causing extra threat when used while in Dire Bear Form.

Feral Tank Druid Tier 7, the Dreamwalker Battlegear, is obtained from the following bosses:

• Helm — Kel'Thuzad in Naxxramas
• Chest — The Four Horsemen in Naxxramas
• Legs — Thaddius in Naxxramas
• Shoulders — Loatheb in Naxxramas
• Gloves — Sartharion in The Obsidian Sanctum

Its set bonuses are:

• 2 pieces — causes your Rip last for an additional 4 seconds and your Lacerate to deal 5% extra damage. This is a decent threat and damage increase.
• 4 pieces — increases the duration of Barkskin by 3 seconds and decreases the cooldown of Tiger's Fury by 3 seconds. The increase on Barkskin uptime is a small survivability increase.

As neither set bonus is particularly strong, tier pieces will mostly be picked up for their individual stats. Also, as threat is much less of a concern in Wrath due to tank threat being massively buffed and Engineering bombs causing extra threat when used while in Dire Bear Form, we will prioritize a defensive setup in the BiS list below.