Comments

Comment by 205614

A great item. It has perfect stat distribution for tanks, including armor! Plus, it can be made for a reasonable price by jewelcrafters. This is definitely one of the first crafted epics that a tank should pick up.

Comment by Obolox

Which gems would you use for this?

Comment by Chronalis

I'd much rather have Chained Military Gorget from 25 emblem's of heroism. Much better stats and doesn't require the 4 "Dragon's Eye" to craft.

Comment by Ryxis

in regards to a druid, the armor on this will be much less useful once they patch it so we don;t get the multiplier, personally i'd opt for https://www.wowhead.com/cata/item=40679 unless i see something nice

until the patch this is the better though

Comment by 34116

pruple - 10agi/15stam

Comment by 205614

Note that this neckpiece may not be widely available for a while after the expansion. In order to get the recipe, JC's will need to do six days worth of daily quests. Most of them are still working on getting gem patterns. After a few months, there will be many more JC's with the pattern, and Dragon's Eyes will drop to a reasonable price, too.

Comment by Avalonia

The problem with this neck is that it costs to much to make based on how easily replaced it is. The neck from badges is arguably better and the necks from Naxx10 are better. That means you won't be holding onto this neck for a very long time if you heroic or raid.

Comment by lormus

Note that although for other classes Chained Military Gorget is far far far easier to obtain, for feral druids this one might be 2nd best necklace in game, after Kel'Thuzad 25-man drop.(Both before bear armor changes and after)

Comment by 145487

Placing a Stamina/X variety Twilight Opal in this necklace will will result in the following comparison when put next to the Chained Military Gorget:

350 Armor
6 Stamina
8 Strength
1 Defense
X (the second stat on the Twilight Opal)

vs

32 Dodge Rating
21 Hit Rating

This comparison should make it easier to choose between them. As a Warrior tank I would gladly take this necklace with either 8 Expertise Rating or 8 Hit Rating over the Gorget.

Comment by Warrenpeace

I agree that with the proper gem, this neck item will last until, https://www.wowhead.com/cata/item=40679 which has to be got off the last boss of Naxx. Until then, you might as well use this one and save up your points for more important armor (if you use a point system for loot). Even after you land an upgrade, then gem slot on this allows you to re-customize it for a secondary, specialized neck item, if you want. Just don't over pay for it. Work at getting the dragon's eye's for cheap, they aren't hard for Jewel Crafter's to get, they aren't worth 400g each like they go at the AH. They can be had for less. I mine the titanium myself and get the eternal shadow and earth in the process--as many tanks do. If you can acquire the mats on he low, go for it.

Comment by 189410

THe dodge rating increase on the Gorget would be less than 1%, the extra armor and strength, especially when socketed with a +16 str gem, would more than make up for the lower dodge in any fight. AS for the hit rating, the extra dps from the increased strength would also make up for this in this particular gem combination. People should really take wowarmory's rankings of gear with a grain of sand.

Warriors get far superior tanking benefits from this neck than the badge neck. Only the Naxx necks are better. Save your badges for trinkets or T-7 gear imo.

Comment by 259107

Personally, I would take the Chained Military Gorget over this one. I don't want to hear anything about needing the TEC to get the 25 badges it takes to get the Gorget. My tanking neckpeice is a green so crappy I wouldn't bother trying to link it here, and I'm sitting at 24 badges. Kortar makes a decent point, the extra armor and strength would help, but what I think a lot of people are forgetting is that while, yes, Strength increases SBV, it takes a LOT of SBV to completely negate an attack, while a dodge is just that, a dodge. Once you hit and surpass the def cap and can start trading out gear for avoidance stats, SBV gear is not hard at all to get, a zone drop in H Utgarde Keep, and plenty of drops from other heroics have SBV. So gemming for strength on something that, other than defence, has no avoidance statistic at all, would probably not add up to even .5% chance to dodge. Other than the ring I've gotten from H DTK, my gear is starving for dodge at the moment. While yes, I love all the stamina I can get, I'd more than willingly give up 80 HP for a nice chunk of avoidance.

As far as the extra DPS, I wouldn't bother considering the TEC. There are plenty of questing items and drops from lvl 80 non-heroics that would make a better item for your DPS kit. One could argue that the extra strength means extra threat. This is true, and yes, I have a few items I throw on when running non-heroics that give me more strength, because I like really heavy SotR crits. But for heroics and raids, if you need the extra strength from gemming this item correctly to give you just enough threat to out-do your dps, you have problems either in your spec, your rotation, or elsewhere in your gear. As a prot pally, not incredibly geared, I throw out about 1200 DPS. I know that's not a significant number, but whatever that adds up to in threat seems to be fine, because I've done heroics with T7.25 geared DPS that had no problems with how much threat I was producing. I'm not going to lie, I don't understand the threat mechanics of a warrior, but if you are comparing bonus strength to bonus dodge on the basis of extra threat, you're probably doing something wrong in the first place.

All that being said, it honestly comes down to the player's resources. 25 Emblems of Heroism are not hard to come by, but some people play during terrible off hours or are on servers where people want you to be overgeared for anything, and the TEC makes an excellent stepping-stone upgrade to help anyone out. For those that can manage to do heroics, the Chained Military Gorget will probably be your better bet. Save your gold for an enchant or another stamina gem.

Comment by 130055

One other possibly small item to consider is the gem slot...where my gear currently is there are not too many gem slots...I am not a BS...though some say I am full of BS...so in addition to the customization the slot can provide the red gem slot provides a way to help keep a meta gem activated depending on what other gear you are currently sporting. I realize that with eternal belt buckles and the number of gear slots available most will not have a problem keeping the meta activated but there may be some who need the gem slot which the badge neck does not provide.

Comment by 247767

Something to keep in mind for DKs is the bonus armor on this should apply to bladed armor and toughness. Both are a minor boost. What is unclear is whether the armor will be boosted by unbreakable armor, my guess would be yes but can anyone comfirm?

For reference the 350 armor on this for a DK starting raiding which I did with 26k armor is giving around 0.4% mitigation on a lvl 83 boss. Also be aware that the gem socket can help get you to crit immune where the badge neck cannot.

None of these stats make it better than the badge neck, but they are on par and so you have a choice on spending badges on say a belt which cannot be crafted vs a neck which can.

Comment by 171792

Interestingly, with for Unholy DPS DK's, with the statweights provided by Elitistjerks.com plugged into Lootrank.com, this neck is actually slightly better than it's dps oriented sibling, the Titansteel Impact Choker https://www.wowhead.com/cata/item=42645. Provided you have Bladed Armor from the Blood tree. The combination of AP granted from the armor, and 65 strength (if socketed with the 16 str gem) outweigh the stats on the Choker, even with some of the itemization wasted on defense.

Comment by Jushak

For plate tanks in situation where you can only afford this JC neck or the JC ring: Get the ring. Same materials, but the ring is much harder to replace than this neck.

Comment by Kar0t

For tanks building multiple sets for different purposes, this neck is excellent for that EH set. With armor and a lot of stamina, it's the best EH neck available at the 10-man level.

Comment by 137161

This item is not intended for druid tanks. It used to be nice for them, but it isn't anymore. Blizzard changed the stats needed by druid tanks to be more similar to the stats that a rogue would need. This way they don't have to make leather tanking items that are only used by one spec of one class. Tanking stats for plate-wearers remain the same since all three classes share the same tanking stats (roughly).

Traditional tanking necklaces have armor, strength, defense, and/or dodge. Here's why traditional tanking necklaces are not for druids (the same goes for tanking rings):

Strength gives druids AP but it does more for other tanks. Paladins and warriors get higher block values, DKs get higher parry rates. Defense is better for other tanks too since it only gives druids increased dodge. Dodge rating is not for druids either (I'll get to this later).

Level 80 leather armor does have agility, AP, and crit/hit/expertise. Those are the stats for a tanking druid. They're also the stats for a DPS necklace. Here's why DPS necklaces (and rings) are better for druid tanks:

Agility is a druid's best defensive stat. Druids get more dodge from agility than other tanking classes*. It takes 39 dodge rating to get 1% dodge (for all classes). For druids, agility is better since you lose a little dodge (< 0.1%) but gain armor and crit. For plate-wearing tanks, dodge rating is a better source of dodge than agility (agility is also not found on plate tanking armor).

* 41 agi per 1% dodge for druids, 73 for warriors and DKs, 52 for paladins. These numbers are rounded off, you can find the actual numbers here

DPS necklaces have AP instead of strength but this is okay for druids. Savage defense is based on AP so druids lose nothing by trading strength for AP. DPS necklaces have less stamina, but this is okay too. Leather armor has less stamina than plate tanking armor*, that's why druids have abilities and talents to increase their stamina. It is not surprising that a druid's tanking necklace would have less stamina than a warrior's tanking necklace.

* Here is a list of level 80 plate and leather armor sorted by stamina. In the top 50 items, only one is leather.

Pendant of the Outcast Hero is a much better tanking necklace (than this or the gorget). It gives you dodge, crit, and ample stamina and AP. Crit is thought of as an offensive stat, but for druids it is an important defensive stat. Not just for rage generation and threat, but thanks to savage defense a higher crit rate means you'll take less damage.

Comment by 338600

Some people tend to forget this si intended for warrior tanks and other such strength users. Warrior tanks and I'd say pally tanks too don't need so much avoidance. They are perfectly ok with getting beat on for rage and other things and in raids their healers just heal them up for what health they lose.

The Titanium Impact Choker has stats like Agility for cat druits and rogues. Mind you some bear druids might like it too for the avoidance. But the attack power and armour penetration on the choker do nothing for a shield wearing tank. Well a little more DPS/threat but that's all.

The shield wearing tanks like the strength for more dps/threat and more block value from the strength. And the defence on the earthguard chain, this item are just a really nice bonus. So for my Warrior tank I'll be choosing this as my pre raid neck piece.

So for DPS + bear tanks, the Titanium Impact Choker will be much better. But for any shield using tanks and some DKs, I'm stick with the Earthguard Chain.

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Titanium Earthguard Chain

Item Level 200
Binds when equipped

Neck

+49 Strength
+63 Stamina
+100 Bonus Armor

Red Socket
Socket Bonus: +6 Stamina

Requires Level 80
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 34.

Sell Price: 7 12 45

Titanium Earthguard Chain

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