The Warrior’s Charge: Warrior gear in Hellfire Citadel

There’s a lot of Warrior gear in Hellfire Citadel.

This week we’ll look at the first six bosses for LFR and Normal (that’s Hellbreach and Halls of Blood). Since Normal, Heroic, and Mythic gear are the same, just a higher ilevel for Heroic and Mythic, we won’t specifically list those. We’ll evaluate Warrior gear for Arms, Fury and both Gladiator and tanking Protection Warriors (in most cases, those overlap — Gladiator Prot still wants bonus armor, for example).

Hellbreach

Getting the Hellfire Out

The first boss of the Hellbreach wing is the non-boss fight Hellfire Assault. This encounter drops several items of interest to a Warrior, some more so than others.

• First up there’s the Engine-Kicking Boots, a set of Haste/Versatility boots which are of little interest to even Fury Warriors (Haste is at least useful to Fury, unlike Arms or either Gladiator Prot or tanking Prot) — the Versatility means they might serve in PVP.
• The Fel Iron Roller Chain is Haste/Multistrike — Fury likes Haste up to 11%, while tanking Prot likes Multistrike for Blood Craze, so it’s sort of a mixed bag stat wise.
• A better neck for Prot Warriors (either Glad or tank) is the Hand-Welded Gorget. The Bonus Armor is attractive to all Prot Warriors, as is the Critical Strike.
• Finally, the Haste/Mastery Ironspike Knuckle Gauntlets are suitable for Fury, especially if you’re not to 11% Haste yet, but not particularly compelling for any other spec.

On normal mode, the Hellfire Assault has several drops of interest as well.

• The Smoldercore Bulwark, a Haste/Mastery shield — though for a Prot Warrior I’d rather see Crit on there
• The Crit/Versatility Shell-Resistant Stompers — Crit makes them tolerable for Arms, Fury, and even Gladiator.
• Mar’tak’s Rugged Seal has Haste and Bonus Armor, the Bonus Armor marking it for Prot only.
• The Mastery/Multistrike Flamebelcher’s Insulated Mitts — Prot will like them for the Mastery and Blood Craze benefit, and they’re decently itemized for Arms as well.
• The Bolt-Latched Felsteel Gorget has Crit and Multistrike, making it solid for just about any Warrior spec.
• Finally the Blastproof Legguards with their Versatility/Mastery  (and high Versatility at that) are less than attractive.

Iron Reaver sounds like an 80’s metal band

Iron Reaver on LFR drops four items as well that Warriors might use.

• First up, the Demonhorn Buckler, useful for all variety of Protection Warriors. Crit and Mastery make it an attractive shield.
• The Commander’s Seat Cushion Cover is a Haste/Multistrike cape, better for Fury than either Arms or Protection, and better for tanking Protection than Arms.
• The Roughly Soldered Wristclamps are Haste and Mastery, better for Fury below 11% haste.
• The Assembly Worker’s Legguards mix Crit with Versatility, making them decent but not as good as they could be for any PVE spec. (If you’re putting together a catch as catch can PVP set, they can serve you for a while.)

What about normal mode drops?

• Ironthread Greatcloak, a Haste/Bonus Armor tanking cape. That’s disappointing.
• But the Felforged Aegis is a much better shield for us with Crit and Multistrike — better than the one from normal Hellfire Assault.
• The Iron Skullcrusher is a solid 1h weapon for SMF Fury below that irritating 11% Haste cap (or if you’re going for the 18% cap, for that matter) and it’s serviceable for Gladiator and tank Prot.
• The Stamped Felsteel Chestplate is ideally itemized for Arms, and solid for all other specs due to its Crit/Mastery itemization.
• The Hot-Rolled Iron Bracers are Versatility/Multistrike, so let Prot Warriors get them first.
• The Flanged Gasket is best going to a Fury chasing that 11% cap because of its Haste/Versatility itemization.

Speaking of, it’s time to Kormrok!

The final boss of Hellbreach is Kormrok. What does he have for us on LFR?

• The underwhelming Versatility/Multistrike Chestplate of Potential Energy — Prot would at least get some Blood Craze action out of the multistrike.
• The far superior Demonbreaker Helm with its Crit and Mastery — excellent for Arms, solid for Fury, and good even for Protection.
• The Strength/Multistrike Fragmented Runestone Etching, which is solid but unremarkable for all Warrior specs.
• And the solid Warrior tanking ring the Stone Runeguard. The Bonus Armor is good for all tanks, and the Multistrike is good for Blood Craze.

Let us now turn to looking at what Kormrok drops on normal.

• Faceguard of Iron Wrath, which is well-itemized even if it isn’t our tier helmet.
• Fel-Inscribed Shoulderplates, which are primarily good for a Warrior chasing that 11% Haste.
• The Imbued Stone Sigil is a decent trinket for Prot stacking as much Bonus Armor as possible — the Versatility is better for a tanking Warrior, since both taking less and dealing more damage are good things for them. It’s a bit wasted on a pure DPS Gladiator, but Bonus Armor is Bonus Armor.
• The Rumbling Pebble has both Mastery and Multistrike — neither is the #1 stat for any DPS Warrior, but they’re solid for both Arms and Fury.
• Finally the Shadowgorged Iron Choker is best for a fury warrior running after that target.

Halls of Blood

We are the gods of hellfire and we bring you…

What we come up against next is the Hellfire High Council, a three boss council fight. Three of the five pieces of gear that drop from them in LFR have Versatility on them. Truly, they are evil.

• The Blade-Chipped Waistguard is Haste/Versatility, so pretty terrible for everyone except Fury Warriors below 11% haste. And not even that great for them, to be honest.
• The Gorget of Induced Madness, on the other hand, is solid for Gladiator or tanking Protection Warriors, with Mastery and Bonus Armor on a neckpiece.
• The Rivetspike Cleaver is a Haste/Versatility 2h weapon, which I frankly wouldn’t waste too much time on even if you are low on Haste. Terrible for Arms, not great for TG Fury. There are better weapons easier to get.
• Same goes for the Viscera-Stained Longsword — it’s not terrible for any Prot or SMF Warrior, but you can probably do better with minimal effort.
• The Mastery/Multistrike Wailing Woe Pauldrons are actually decently itemized for Protection and could serve Arms and Fury as well.

Looking over their loot table for normal mode, it’s a little better.

• Spiked Bloodstone Pendant with Crit and Bonus Armor, excellent for all protection warriors.
• The Acid-Etched Legplates are Haste and Mastery — let a Fury Warrior have them first, then pass to the tanks.
• The Blazing Demonhilt Sword I’d let go to a Prot Warrior first then a SMF Warrior — with their Mastery/Multistrike itemization, it’s solid for either.
• The Fel-Burning Blade is a perfect Arms sword, certainly good for TG as well especially if the Fury is at 11% Haste.
• With Versatility and Mastery, I’d maybe let the Girdle of Savage Resolve go to a tanking Warrior first.
• The Rugged Bloodcaked Drape is Mastery and Multistrike, so just about any Warrior could get good use out of that.

I spy with my little eye an orc named Kilrogg

Next up is Kilrogg Deadeye, the misbegotten fool who drank the Blood of Mannoroth first this time around. What’s he got for Warriors?

• Well, first up is the Vial of Vile Viscera, which is not only amazingly alliterative and also an armor accessory, the Bonus Armor outweighs the otherwise not terribly useful Haste.
• The Band of Impending Doom is a Crit/Haste ring, and that makes it very good for Fury below that 11% Haste cap and solid for other Warrior specs as well.
• The Ribwrencher Gauntlets are Haste/Multistrike gloves, good for Fury below the 11% cap but not really worth it otherwise.
• The Hollowheart Helm is another Mastery/Multistrike piece of gear, decently itemized for Protection and serviceable for Arms.

What does Kilrogg have in store for us on normal mode?

• Tanks may overlook the Haste on the Warlord’s Unseeing Eye due to its strange and potentially powerful equip effect. Still, I’d personally rather have some Bonus Armor and a stat like Multistrike or Mastery than a haste trinket with such a fidgety equip — this seems like a trinket you hold onto for a few specific fights where you spend a lot of time at or near lower health, or taking a lot of big hits that would reduce you by a lot.
• The Crimson Throatgrabbers give delightful Crit and less delightful Versatility, meaning that they’re about the same for all Warriors — Fury loves Crit, while Prot tanks get benefit from both stats. Arms and Gladiator would still like that Crit.
• The Stompers of Brazen Terror are ideal DPS boots for Arms, good for any Fury who is already at that 11% Haste cap, and solid for all Protection Warriors as well.
• The Helm of Precognition can foresee you passing it to a Fury Warrior who is chasing that 11% cap.
• And the Congealed Globule Loop is a Mastery/Multistrike ring, decent but not exceptional for just about any Warrior spec with a slight edge to Protection for Blood Craze.

Gorefiend is not your gorefriend

Finally we come to Gorefiend. His gear takes an item level jump, on LFR he goes up to 685.

• The Demonbreaker Legplates are decently itemized with mastery and multistrike, and are especially worth getting if you can get the 2 piece set bonus, which is excellent for prot (bonus armor, good for tanking or gladiator) and arms/fury (100 strength).
• The Greatcloak of the Terrible Feast is a decent tanking cape with versatility and bonus armor.
• Fetid Salivation is for fury warriors chasing haste, everyone else can ignore it. (Perhaps gladiators can make use of it.)

For normal mode, Gorefiend drops are just slathered in Crit.

• First there’s the Critical Strike trinket Unending Hunger. It’s an excellent trinket for any Strength DPS due to its Hungering Blows proc. Both Arms and Fury would have wanted it just for that big dose of Crit, but that Proc makes it insanely good.
• He also drops the Soulgorged Pauldrons, excellent for Haste-chasing Fury and good for non-haste chasing Fury and everyone else due to the Crit on them.
• The Ravenous Girdle has Crit and Multistrike, good for us all, but very good for tanking Prot and Fury.
• The Legplates of Iron Wrath are our set legs, excellent for the 2-piece set bonus if you already have the helm, and also very well itemized with Crit and Mastery.
• Finally the Drape of Gluttony is extremely good for either a DPSing Gladiator or tanking Prot Warriors.

Next time, we look at the Bastion of Shadows, Destructor’s Rise, and Archimonde.