Loading ...The Emblem of Valor Pick Order
You may have stumbled across a pair of these after dropping Archavon the Stone Watcher in a 25 man or perhaps in your first 25-man Naxx you snagged 1 or 2… regardless you’ve quickly realized that these aren’t used for the same things as Emblem of Heroism.
What’s for Sale?
Listed from most to least expensive.
- Legplates of the Lost Protector - Turns Into (75)
- Mantle of the Lost Protector - Turns Into (60)
- Bracers of Dalaran’s Parapets (60)
- Kyzoc’s Ground Stompers (40)
- Platinum Mesh Cloak (25)
- Signet of the Impregnable Fortress (25)
How to Pick ‘em?
Emblems of Valor are unique from Emblems of Heroism and Badges of Justice before them as we know that you’ll be acquiring these only by raiding. Sure, there’s easier raids to do (Vault of Archavon), but ultimately, you’ll be raiding when you get these which makes the acquisition of these just a little different. It’s far, far more likely than with the Heroism list that you’ll already have similar pieces to these items. On the flip side, however, you’re not going to have hundreds of these to spend in a short time frame like Emblems of Heroism so you’re going to want to look towards picking up the more timeless pieces on the list.
1. The Ring
Signet of the Impregnable Fortress combined with Sand-Worn Band are your best 2 rings picks in the game currently. At the low price of 25 Emblems, it’s the natural first pick.
2. The Cloak
Platinum Mesh Cloak is another one of your current end-game pieces, but you should pick it up a little later on the list if you’ve already got Cloak of the Shadowed Sun or even Sartharion10’s almost ubiquitous Gale-Proof Cloak.
3. The Boots
Kyzoc’s Ground Stompers is very similar, but ultimately a step behind Thaddius’ Sabatons of Endurance. So, if you’ve already been blessed with the better boots then don’t bother picking these up. The astute observer will notice that these boots are a superior upgrade in every single way over Plague-Impervious Boots and thus, definitely worth snagging if that’s what you’re still sporting.
4. The Bracers
Similar to the boots in that they’re 2nd best (Bracers of the Unholy Knight are better), it all comes down to whether you’ve already picked up the better piece or not. If you haven’t, get them, if you have… skip ‘em.
5. The Legs
Not even close to in the same league as Malygos’ Legplates of Sovereignty, however with those sporting only a 5% drop rate and requiring you to have finished all of Naxx, it’s more likely your decision will come down to Valorous Dreadnaught Legguards vs Satharion25’s Dragon Brood Legguards. The T7 piece has slightly more survival whereas the Dragon Brood offers significantly more threat so it’s kind of a toss up, but ultimately I’ll probably give the nod to the Dragon Brood if I’m presented with a choice between the two.
6. The Shoulders
Valorous Dreadnaught Pauldrons rank last on the list and with Anub’Rekhan’s Pauldrons of Unnatural Death being the superior option, it’s very possible you’ll never get to wear some of the sweetest looking shoulders in the game. These slip behind the Legs in natural least to most expensive order not just because of a clearly superior option, but also because it’s much more likely to kill Loatheb for these than Thaddius for the Legs.
Wrap Up
Not a terribly exciting list, but easy isn’t bad. The Ring and Cloak are definitely the strongest pieces amongst the works which is nice since they’re also the cheapest. The boots and bracers are also fine pieces, but with a little luck you’ll pick up the superior alternatives. It’s unlikely that you’ll ever buy the T7 pieces since you’ll probably either find the superior non-set pieces first or end up acquiring the tokens off the bosses themselves. Ultimately, as always this list is a guide, it’s very possible that you could still be wearing a blue item in a slot or two and certainly those spots are best to replace first.
December 19th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
thanks alot for writing this.
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December 19th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Thanks Vene. It just so happens that I have 25 embelms of valor so I think I’ll grab the ring tonight. I was lucky to already get the drop on http://www.wowhead.com/?item=39704 so that’s one less Emblem of Valor item I need.
I picked up this cloak the other night in Naxx http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40410 but it just doesn’t seem all that great for having a 213 item level. You’d think that it would be close to as good as http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40722 but that just doesn’t seem to be the case.
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admin reply on December 19, 2008 1:00 pm:
Ya, Shadow of the Ghoul is excellent for a Block Value set so worth acquiring, but not useful for your standard Survival set.
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swordoflevi reply on January 14, 2009 2:19 am:
I keep reading about all these sets and stats and really wonder where the point of diminishing return kicks in on dodge/parry. The fact that Blizzard seems to have changed some of the stats for prot warriors because of diminishing returns (ex. shield block value / and rating) has any of this been considered when we are talking about which piece is better all the way around? Also, how many consider which piece is best with other pieces of gear for a balance instead of always stacking the same stats like in tbc? Just thinking out loud, but I personally think that some of the survival stats will not work as well in the future as it does now. I might be wrong but hard to believe the stat change is for nothing.
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December 19th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Hmm, these boots http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40743 seem like a big upgrade over what I have: http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41392 . Tempted to get those first.
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admin reply on December 19, 2008 1:01 pm:
Ya, tempered Titansteel are pretty lackluster, barely better than the Wyrmrest Accord Revered ones. That being said, if you’re sporting Shadow of the Ghoul as your cloak, then I’d recommend picking up the Badge Cloak first.
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December 19th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
One thing about the Bracers: They are BOE. While its a bit early into the expansion for people to be hawking their Emblems nevertheless it may happen.
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Veneretio reply on December 19, 2008 7:01 pm:
Ya, pretty much after you’ve gotten everything you need, it’s either pick up random DPS pieces (what I’ll likely do) or buy crazy amounts of Bracers to sell for tons of gold.
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December 19th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Is it worth to give up all the shield block rating/value and stack on Parry and Dodge?
By the way, gears with Defense rating + Parry + expertise, they are for DKs, or really for warriors?
I am curious to give up my sheild and just stack on parry and dodge…
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December 19th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I’m just wondering where you find everything taht tells you it’s best “in slot” of what we hvae now. I’ve been looking but I cant seem to find anything.
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megagrogan reply on December 19, 2008 9:29 pm:
this one here is pretty good: http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f97/39462-wotlk-tanking-gear-list.html
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December 20th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Now if I could just get me some of them emblems.
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December 20th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
im currently carring about 80 of these that i dont need ( i have the ring and cloak and the rest aint upgrages ) does any1 no if there is new badge gear coming out soon? heroism or valor
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Chet reply on December 21, 2008 4:45 am:
If you’re the Kastrophy I found on the armory, assuming you don’t already have it in your bags, wouldn’t you want to pick up the Valorous Dreadnaught legs as an alternative to your piece? I realize yours have some big advantages over the valorous dreadnaught, but I can see situations where you might not need as much hit and/or def., and then the valorous might be better. It’s situational, but then again, isn’t a lot of tanking gear situational?
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December 21st, 2008 at 4:59 am
yeah unfortunatly a lot of it is.. yes i havent got the legs and i dont rly wanna spend that many badges on an item that is easily obtained in naxx.. and that i might not even use that often.. im guessing that there isnt new badge gear any time soon then, considering ive heard that new raid content isnt due till feb or some time silly
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December 21st, 2008 at 8:39 am
On the pants selection you do not mention these http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40240
I currently have those and like the SB boots while i get my exp softcap and hit cap from other items. Would you still go for http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40446 if you have those?
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December 21st, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Thx for writing this Vene. I picked up Slayer of the Lifeless last week and only had 30 valor badges so i picked up the ring first, mainly to make up the lost defence. So i’m glad to know that was the right decision.
I’ve been eagerly waiting Thaddius to drop his boots..but no such luck yet. Think i’ll take your advice and go with the cloak since i’ve only aquired http://www.wowhead.com/?item=39225 so far.
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December 22nd, 2008 at 10:09 am
Nice list.
BTW, on your poll as to what we’ve done.
I marked cleared all regular instances but that’s not quite true. The moment I dinged 80 I started running heroics. I’ve cleared all heroics multiple times (still working on the demise achievement tho), but I never did any 77-80 instances on regular. I imagine many of your readers did the same.
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Darraxus reply on December 22, 2008 10:37 am:
Yeah, I have never done any of the regular 80 instances. I actually havent made my way to Heroic HoL or Strat either
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December 30th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
A good tank should have enough avoidance and some block rate/value as say blackcat some gear seem to be fro dk tank or full avoidance set and other gear give block. About how its change healer worck when they heal pure avoidance tank and pure block value/rate one ive see one thing, with block rate +value we loock like a drood wr dont avoid so much indeed but WE MITIGATE a lot so healer do constant heal but less. At opposite a pure avoidance tank will dodge a lot of attack, but wil happen soon or later to not dodge or parry and tack a full hit, i think healing a “block tank” give less surprise fro the healer. You may say a block tank can’t miss is block but capping high stat in block is much more easy then avoidnace. I got 36 block rate, +1k passive block value, with shield block up and trinket i block fro 6k
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January 1st, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I wore the Titansteel head for a while at first, but eventually i found a blue, Arcane shielded helm i think its named, with slightly lower base def and stam, but a meta and blue socket, after droppin the 21 def, 5% SB meta, and a 41 stam JC gem in it, i havent been able to replace it yet. Been wearing it forever.
Ive noticed most of the tanks on my server in nearly full t-7 or higher still wear the titansteel. So what are our choices for helms? Casue im not seeing much for that slot.
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Karl Hungus reply on January 1, 2009 11:42 pm:
Hold onto your Titansteel helm Madtanker, they’re supposedly adding a meta and blue socket to it in the upcoming patch, which will place it ahead of the Arcane Shielded Helm.
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February 2nd, 2009 at 11:26 am
Im stuck at 32 emblems and waiting to purchase the boots as I am still wearing the titansteel ones.
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