Warrior Tank Pre-Raid Gear

This is the pre-raid gear we recommend for Tank Warriors, setting you up to tackle the most challenging content in Phase 5, AQ40. While gear from starter raids is required in order to fill a main tank role, having the correct pre-raid gear will allow you to be decent as an off-tank immediately.

Before we get into the list itself, it is good to present two of the most important concepts for gearing: weapon skill and the Hit cap.

As explained in our Warrior Tank Weapon Skill guide, the difference between only having the baseline 300 weapon skill at level 60 or 305 weapon skill or above is absolutely gigantic for threat generation against bosses, and easily capable of making a pre-bis blue weapon superior to the best raid epics. Thus, your first gearing priority against raid bosses should be hitting at least 305 skill with your current weapon.

This can be achieved by using race-appropriate weapons on a Orc or Human character, or with any race by using special gear such as Edgemaster's Handguards. Once you get 305+ weapon skill, remember to not go over 6% extra Hit chance, as the extra Hit will be wasted. This cap is 9% Hit when at 300 weapon skill, which means you will require a lot more Hit to cap out.

The Darksoul set is very cheap to make and provides a good amount of starting stats over its three pieces (shoulders, chest and legs). While none of the pieces is a standout on its own, buying the set as soon as you get to maximum level is a good way to begin your tanking journey!

While we are only listing the Horde versions of the PvP set, equivalent versions can be found on the Alliance side, with the same requirements, cost and stats.

While we already list some threat-oriented gear, such as Lionheart Helm, most of the gear on display is defensively oriented. You can find more threat options in the DPS Warrior Gear page, which is optimized for maximum DPS, usually translating into additional threat for for Tank Warriors.

You can find more Warrior Tank BiS lists in our dedicated gear hub below.