Phat Loot Phriday: Titansteel Shield Wall

Name: Titansteel Shield Wall (Wowhead, Thottbot, Wowdigger)
Type: Epic Shield
Armor: 7350
Abilities:
- 211 Block, +36 Strength, +69 Stamina
- Increases defense rating by 64, and at this level, while I'm not a tank expert (I leave that to the pros), Defense is what you want.
- So obviously this is a tanking shield. It's not the absolute best tanking shield in the game (in fact, we covered another one right around this level that drops in CoT: Stratholme, and there's a nice one in Naxx, too). But it is a very good tanking shield, especially for when you can get it, and if you don't want to deal with RNG (and want to put your hard-earned profession to good use), this is the one.
- It's Bind on Equip, too, so you can buy one or sell one -- see below.
Titansteel is a little tougher. You'll need Titanium Ore, which you can find from the nodes in Icecrown (or via a Transmute, but that's a last resort). It's three titanium bars per one titansteel, so you'll need nine total. And then you'll also need one Eternal Fire, Eternal Earth and Eternal Shadow for each Titansteel bar, so three each of those. Be at least 440 Blacksmithing, put it all together with some sweat and blood over and anvil, and the shield is yours.
We'll note here also that since the item is BoE, you could just buy one off the AH -- average price is around 2500g. But it's much more fun to make one yourself.
Getting Rid of It: As pretty as it is, you probably will be exchanging it whenever your lucky day comes in Heroic CoT: Strat or Naxx. But don't worry about that -- you can sell it off to vendors for 13g 10s 92c, or it'll disenchant into a Dream Shard or (small chance) an Abyss Crystal (never mind, Epics become Crystals, my mistake).
Filed under: Blacksmithing, Items, Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Instances, Phat Loot Phriday, Leveling






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Nick Jan 16th 2009 7:43PM
That is just a phreaking gorgeous shield!
platnex Jan 16th 2009 7:45PM
100% chance of an abyss.
Mattimus Jan 16th 2009 8:27PM
This. It's an Epic item, after all, so it's definitely going to DE into an Abyss Shard.
Wakleon Jan 16th 2009 7:48PM
CoS Heroic Shield is much better. Although I wish there was a Horde Crest version that dropped somewhere. Maybe a hidden horde vendor in CoS that would exchange it. Oh... That would be so cool!
Saelorn Jan 16th 2009 8:03PM
Looks much better, sure. Statistically, I think I'd go with this one (unless the other one happened to drop first). Defense is a really, really nice stat.
Aaron Jan 16th 2009 8:35PM
Cetainly is, but Titansteel is one of those starting shields to use since reaching 540 def is a tad more tricky upon dinging 80 compared to TBC.
Manatank Jan 16th 2009 11:43PM
I still use this shield in my full frost resist gear to remain uncritable. It has a lot of defense.
Wakleon Jan 17th 2009 12:03AM
ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!?!
It is so much easier to reach 540 defense in WotLK than TBC. You have the entire Tempered Saronite set to get you there along with the horde rep shield and a quest mace. The only point of the Titansteel Shield is that is has more defense and stamina. The only point of stacking this much def is to increase all your mitigation. But you will get specific ratings in heroics and naxx. You should end up with 540 def without needing trinkets and a good amount of mitigation. They have a very nice progression from crafted to heroic to raid as far as tank loot is concerned.
Maybe it was that I knew what I was doing, but I hit 540 def within an hour of dinging 80.
Gloaming Jan 17th 2009 1:12AM
Wakleon, Only problem with the Tempered Saronite, is that, being 76ish level Items, They have relatively low Stamina/Strength compared to lvl 80 Tank pieces, leaving you Uncrittable, but still low on all the other stats.
So yes, they are a good starter, but I dont suggest running anything but the easiest Heroics with them, because, Even if the mob ain't critting you, It still only takes a couple good smacks to kill you, which can be hard on healers
Just my 4 and a half cents.
Angus Jan 17th 2009 9:30AM
"It is so much easier to reach 540 defense in WotLK than TBC. You have the entire Tempered Saronite set to get you there along with the horde rep shield and a quest mace."
Okay folks, let's get something straight here.
This shield should NOT be disenchanted, or sold EVEN if you get the badge or HCoS shield.
Reason: That Saronite set is nice, the blues from Wyrmrest are nice, but they are ALL higher in Defense than the Tier items.
WHAT?
That's right, when you upgrade your gear (and you will) you will start seeing your defense plummet faster than Apple Stock the day Steve Jobs dies. (Do not start this rumor, they will find me and break my legs)
I just got my T7 chest. Lost close to 30 defense rating. This shield is the only reason I am still over 540. I can upgrade this to something with more avoidance or block, but when I need to juggle some pieces after upgrades, this shield will consistantly be available to keep me high enough that I can not hurt a raid's chances with .1% chance crit coming up at the wrong time. Because if you have a 1 in 1000 chacne to get crit, it will happen 100% of the time when facing Patchwerk as MT.
Do NOT underestimate this shield.
miked Jan 16th 2009 7:49PM
It should be noted that Frozen Orbs are not soulbound; you can also find them on the auction house. On my server they range from 50g to 120g (though at the rate the price is dropping you might be able to get a stack of them for 50g in a month, /sigh).
victor Jan 16th 2009 7:58PM
64 defense rating, not 84.
Gessilea Jan 16th 2009 8:04PM
There is no excuse for a plate wearing tank to show up to tank a heroic without this shield. Run some dailies for cash, and get this shield. Seriously.
One correction though: Icecrown is not the only place to get titanium. The best place to farm titanium is probably Sholazar. Even though tons of people are usually farming it, there are so many nodes that either you'll get what you need without too much trouble, or you'll get so much saronite that you can sell it to buy what you need.
Gessilea Jan 16th 2009 8:05PM
Bah, I forgot about DKs. Okay, change "plate wearing tank" to warrior or paladin.
Angel Jan 16th 2009 8:29PM
Or you could of said "A Shield Wearing Tank" :P
Gessilea Jan 16th 2009 8:46PM
Bah, specifics. It's Friday, my brain has gone on vacation until Monday. ;)
Unico Jan 16th 2009 8:35PM
is that char on the screen wielding thunderfury Oo?
Xerous Jan 17th 2009 12:54AM
Think it's the Sword of Justice. http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37653
Eight Jan 17th 2009 1:39AM
Nope, it's Thunderfury. Sword of Justice's prongs are parallel to each other while TF and the sword in the picture seem to be coming to a point. SoJ also uses a sparkle particle effect while the one pictured has a lightning effect.
ash Jan 16th 2009 8:43PM
Its worth noting that while there might be better overall shields out there (like the one from strat) this shield's high defense still comes in handy for when you need to wear your frost resist set as the high defense will make up for the lack of it on the icebane set. In short, don't shard it, it can still come in handy.