Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them, brought to you by David Bowers and Dan O'Halloran.

Last week, I covered easy to get Moonkin gear for chest, legs, head, shoulders, wrist and hands slot. Today, I will finish by examining non-raid TBC options for waist, feet and back. In two weeks, when I return to the column, I will finish with neck, fingers, trinkets, weapons and relic slots plus enchants for all slots. In the weeks following, I'll start covering gear options for Restoration druids.

I want to define "easy to get". I mean non-raid. Either outdoor questing, 5 man grouping or crafting. Every item listed that drops from a quest will have an Alliance and/or Horde quest link. If you don't see an A or H after the stats, then your faction can't get the item.

Listing starts after the jump!

Waist: At level 58, you can read the Wanted Poster in Cenarion Refuge, Zangarmarsh to kill the leader of the Bloodscale Naga, Rajis Fyashe. Two players are suggested. This results in Belt of the Moonkin (14 int, 14 spi, 14 crit, 16 dmg) [A/H].

An alternative to the Belt of the Moonkin is L64 Eighty Silver Links (24 stam, 16 int, 16 spi, 19 dmg) [A H]. Alliance members must slay the pack of Murkblood Invaders patrolling the roads of Nagrand on Elekks. They have a 27% chance of dropping a map that leads to a two part quest chain. The second quest rewards you with the belt. Horde have it a bit easier with a one step quest given by Farseer Margadesh out of Garadar.

At midlevel, you can acquire the L65 Blackwhelp Belt (11 int, 10 spi, 10 crit, 32 dmg) [A/H] from a Blade's Edge quest or the L68 Moonrage Girdle (22 int, 21 spi, 20 crit, 25 dmg) a 19% drop from from Hydromancer Thespia in Normal Steamvaults. The best belt in the game for Moonkins is, again from the Windhawk crafted line, Windhawk Belt (16 sta, 18 int, 18 spi, {BS YS: 3 agi}, 10 crit, 21 dmg, 37 heal). Its the third and final piece in the Tribal Leatherworking set and is BOP.

Boots: In the first part of this series, a few readers pointed out that I ignored the Wild Draenish crafted line of items available to Moonkins. They are easy to make, non-BoP and can fill slots at L58. Case in point, Wild Draenish Boots (11 str, 11 agi, 18 stam, 11 int, 13 dmg).

Two immediate upgrades are available in Zangarmarsh. The L61 Cenarion Expedition Boots (17 int, 16 spi, 20 dmg) [A H] is the reward from the third of a fun five quest chain in Zangarmarsh. The L62 Swamprunner's Boots (25 sta, 12 int, {RS YS :3 spi}, 14 dmg) [A H] is obtained by killing a named (but not elite) crab monster named Terrorclaw.

At high level, you're upgrade options are Druidic Force Boots (15 sta, 20 int, 12 spi, 11 crit, 23 dmg) [A/H] from the L68 Nexus King Salhaddar quest chain in Netherstorm. You'll probably be doing this chain anyways, as the last reward in the chain is an excellent two-handed weapon for Moonkins (Ameer's Impulse Taser). Also, L67 Uvuros Hide Boots (16 sta, 12 int, 35 dmg, 4 mp5) [A H] from a Shadowmoon Valley wanted poster and L68 Moonstrider Boots (21 sta, 22 int, 20 crit, 25 dmg, 6 mp5) that are a 13% drop from Darkweaver Syth in Setthek Halls (both Normal and Heroic modes.) These Moonstrider Boots are the best boots in the game, currently.

Back: Many, many options here, but only one in the early levels. Horde get a quick reward in Hellfire Peninsula with the L58 Infiltrator's Cloak (10 sta, 10 int, 6 spi, 10 crit, 12 dmg) [H].

The midlevels provide two cloaks. The L62 Spore Soaked Vaneer (15 sta, 15 int, 11 crit, 19 dmg) is a 19% drop from Quagmirran in Normal Slave Pens and the L64 Spell-slinger's Protector - (15 sta, 14 int, 9 spi, 13 crit, 16 dmg) [A/H] comes from a crazy, two part quest involving a supercharged trampoline, a floating island in Nagrand and an aggressive monster mama bird.

At high level, you can take your pick of any of these five options, listed from lowest to highest upgrade:

• L70 Baba's Cloak of Arcanistry (15 sta, 15 int, 14 crit, 22 dmg) is a 12% drop from Pathaleon the Calculator in The Mechanar (Normal and Heroic).
• L68 Sethekk Oracle Cloak (18 sta, 18 int, 12 hit, 22 dmg) is an 11% drop from Talon King Ikiss in Sethekk Halls.
• L68 Cloak of Woven Energy (6 sta, 13 int, 3 spi, 6 crit, 29 dmg) [A/H] comes from a group quest out of Netherstorm, but you may want to choose the excellent healing ring alt reward instead.
• L65 Ogre Slayer's Cover - (18 int, 11 spi, 16 crit, 20 dmg) [A H] is the reward from a group chain quest to kill a named Warmaul Ogre chief. You may want to choose the healing neck or feral ring reward instead. The Alliance quest starts with a prisoner in a cage in Warmaul Hills of northwest Nagrand and increases Kurenai faction. Horde starts in Garadar with Matron Drakia.
• L69 Cloak of the Black Void (11 int, 35 dmg) is crafted with 350 tailoring and the mat requirements are fairly easy to acquire.
  

Finally, the best non-raid cloak you can get comes at the price of 25 Badges of Justice from G'eras in Shattrath City: L70 purple Shawl of Shifting Probabilities (16 sta, 15 int, 21 crit, 19 dmg). A Badge of Justice is looted from every boss mob in any heroic instance in TBC. Every member of the group gets one.

End Notes: These are the same End Notes as last week, but they are worth repeating. If you have a gap in your armor and can't get the next upgrade, you can always hit the AH and do a search for "of the invoker" or "of the sorcerer" leather. Good fill-in armor for cheap.

Much of this information was culled from this phenomenal thread on BC Balance Loot on the official forums. Check it out if want to learn more about balancing +hit, +spelldamage and +crit gear. There is also a great Balance FAQ starting with post fourteen.

This is it for today. In two weeks I'll be back to finish with neck, fingers, trinkets, weapons and relic slots plus enchants for all slots. In the weeks following, I'll cover gear options for Restoration druids.

Last week I missed a few pieces of gear. If I did that again today, be sure to list them below.

Tags: balance druid, balance equipment list, BalanceDruid, druid upgrade gear, joystiqfeatures, moonkin upgrade gear, MoonkinUpgradeGear

Filed under: Items, Quests, The Burning Crusade, Guides, (Druid) Shifting Perspectives