49 Legion Gear Prep Guide

[Kirise]

The arrival of the Legion prepatch brought significant changes to optimizing gear for XP-off players. Here's what you need to know for playing in instanced PvP (arenas and battlegrounds, not world PvP). Please let me know if this guide needs any corrections/additions/deletions!

• All characters in instanced PvP will receive stats based on a stats template predetermined by Blizzard, based on class and spec. Stats and enchantments on gear no longer matter. Trinkets and weapon/gear procs no longer work.
• Characters continue to temporarily boost to 49 in instanced PvP. All item levels on gear below item level 54 no longer boost to 54.
• For every average item level you achieve above 54, you will receive a 0.1% bonus to all of your stats e.g. if you get your average item level to 64, you will receive a 1% bonus to your stats.
• Characters can now use their best armor types i.e. shamans and hunters can wear mail, and warriors and paladins can wear plate. In addition, wearing all of the same armor type grants around a 5% boost to stats for wearing their native armor type.

The following list covers what we know (so far) as BiS items. Any slot stating "strongbox" means that the best gear comes from blue drops out of battleground rewards (ilvl 57), gained from winning a random battleground. This list excludes grandfathered gear.

BiS gear is the same within each armor type; weapon and offhand differences are separated by class within each armor type. Please see @StS Ralso 's great weapon guide for more details about weapons and offhands.


Cloth:

Head: Master Engineer's Goggles (ilvl 58)
Neck: Problem Solving Pendant (ilvl 80)
Shoulders: Tattered Dreadmist Mantle / Exquisite Sunderseer Mantle / Highbourne Pauldrons (ilvl 54)
Back: Cloak of Coordination (ilvl 60)
Chest: strongbox (ilvl 57)
Wrist: strongbox (ilvl 57)
Hands: Earth Warder's Gloves (ilvl 58)
Waist: Councillor's Sash (ilvl 54)
Legs: strongbox (ilvl 57)
Feet: strongbox (ilvl 57)
Rings: The Rock (ilvl 60)
Trinkets: Hook of the Master Angler (ilvl 65), Defender of the Timbermaw (ilvl 62), Power/Strength of the High Chief (ilvl 59)
Weapon (mage/warlock/priest): Ritssyn's Wand of Bad Mojo / Banshee Finger / Skul's Ghastly Touch / Wizard's Hand (ilvl 53). Wands provide 5% extra stats, making them BiS.
Off-Hand: Stratholme Lily (ilvl 70)


Leather:

Head: Any headpiece sold by Griftah (ilvl 100, rogue only), Helm of the Pathfinder (ilvl 55)
Neck: Problem Solving Pendant (ilvl 80)
Shoulders: Stained Shadowcraft Spaulders / Exceptional Stormshroud Mantle / Lasting Feralheart Spaulders / Ironfeather Shoulders / Living Shoulders / Praetorian Pauldrons (ilvl 54)
Back: Cloak of Coordination (ilvl 60)
Chest: strongbox (ilvl 57)
Wrist: strongbox (ilvl 57)
Hands: Gloves of the Pathfinder (ilvl 58)
Waist: Wanderer's Belt (ilvl 54)
Legs: strongbox (ilvl 57)
Feet: strongbox (ilvl 57)
Rings: The Rock (ilvl 60)
Trinkets: Hook of the Master Angler (ilvl 65), Defender of the Timbermaw (ilvl 62), Power/Strength of the High Chief (ilvl 59)
Weapon: (more forthcoming)
Off-Hand: (more forthcoming), Stratholme Lily (ilvl 70)
****weapon speed takes precedence over ilvl for melee and ranged melee except guardian and feral druid****
Druid
Weapon (feral/guardian druid): 2H strongbox (ilvl 57)
Weapon (balance/resto druid): MH strongbox (ilvl 57), OH Stratholme Lily (ilvl 70)
Monk
Weapon (brewmaster monk): Bloodied Arcanite Reaper (speed 3.8)
Weapon (ww monk): MH = Sword of Decay (speed 3.4), OH = 1H strongbox (ilvl 47)
Weapon (mw monk): MH strongbox (ilvl 57), OH Stratholme Lily (ilvl 70)
Rogue
Weapon (outlaw rogue): MH = Sword of Decay (speed 3.4), OH = 1H strongbox (ilvl 57)
Weapon (sub/ass rogue): MH = Jagged Wing Slasher (speed 2.6, Horde only). For Alliance: Broad Bladed Knife (speed 2.0), OH = dagger strongbox (ilvl 57)

Mail:

Head: Tarnished Raging Berserker's Helm / Mystical Coif of Elements / Laminated Scale Circlet (ilvl 54)
Neck: Problem Solving Pendant (ilvl 80)
Shoulders: Champion Herod's Shoulder / Mystical Pauldrons of Elements / Ebonhold Shoulderpads / Merciless Epaulets (ilvl 54)
Back: Cloak of Coordination (ilvl 60)
Chest: Vest of the Den Watcher (ilvl 58)
Wrist: strongbox (ilvl 57)
Hands: Green Dragonscale Gauntlets / Brazen Gauntlets (Alliance only) / Ebonhold Gauntlets (ilvl 54)
Waist: Ebonhold Girdle / Merciless Belt (ilvl 54)
Legs: strongbox (ilvl 57)
Feet: strongbox (ilvl 57)
Rings: The Rock (ilvl 60)
Trinkets: Hook of the Master Angler (ilvl 65), Defender of the Timbermaw (ilvl 62), Power/Strength of the High Chief (ilvl 59)
****weapon speed takes precedence over ilvl for melee and ranged melee****
Hunter: weapon speed takes precedence over ilvl
Weapon (surv hunter): Pendulum of Doom (speed 3.9), Bloodied Arcanite Reaper (speed 3.8)
Weapon (BM/marks hunter): gun strongbox (speed 3.0)
Shaman: weapon speed takes precedence over ilvl only for melee mainhand
Weapon (ele/resto shaman): mace strongbox (ilvl 57), shield strongbox (ilvl 57)
Weapon (enhance shaman): MH = Stalvan's Reaper (speed 2.9), OH = strongbox mace (ilvl 57)


Plate:

Head: Pristine Lightforge Helm / Polished Helm of Valor / Alabaster Plate Helmet (ilvl 54)
Neck: Problem Solving Pendant (ilvl 80)
Shoulders: Polished Spaulders of Valor / Lofty Shoulderpads / Light Plate Shoulderpads (ilvl 54)
Back: Cloak of Coordination (ilvl 60)
Chest: Ursa's Embrace (ilvl 58)
Wrist: strongbox (ilvl 57)
Hands: Banshee's Touch / Death Grips / Alabaster Plate Gauntlets / Lofty Gauntlets (ilvl 53)
Waist: Templar Girdle / Vanguard Girdle (ilvl 54)
Legs: strongbox (ilvl 57)
Feet: strongbox (ilvl 57)
Rings: The Rock (ilvl 60)
Trinkets: Hook of the Master Angler (ilvl 65), Defender of the Timbermaw (ilvl 62), Power/Strength of the High Chief (ilvl 59)
****weapon speed takes precedence over ilvl for melee and ranged melee except holy paladin****
Warrior
Weapon (arms warrior): The Pacifier (speed 4.0)
Weapon (fury warrior): MH = The Pacifier (speed 4.0), OH = 2H strongbox (ilvl 57)
Weapon (prot warrior): MH = Sword of Decay (speed 3.4), OH = shield strongbox (ilvl 57)
Paladin
Weapon (ret paladin): The Pacifier (speed 4.0)
Weapon (holy paladin): HEALING MH = mace strongbox (ilvl 57), DAMAGE MH = Sword of Decay (speed 3.4), OH = shield strongbox (ilvl 57)
Weapon (prot paladin): MH = Sword of Decay (speed 3.4), OH = shield strongbox (ilvl 57)

Thanks @Kryptonite for confirming the gear sold by Griftah, and to @raziel83, @Holythane for the Stratholme Lily info, and @AlisterCrow for the heads up on the STV trinket.

 

[Kirise]

I updated the guide with strongbox info. 49s take 2nc place behind 39s for having the worst gear grind in Legion for BiS, thanks to strongboxes.

 

[Taitaih]

If you're lucky enough to have it (I think the quest is gone), Enchanted Azsharite Felbane Dagger is ilvl 60 and equippable.

 

[Kirise]

I updated the guide, breaking out each armor class, and adding weapon info. Invasion Warforged gear is BIS for just about everything, so 49s have less than two weeks to get that gear!

 

[warpigs]

For my horde paladin as holy when I switch from the lily to boa shield I lose one ilvl(60 to 59), lose no stats, and gain armor.

I haven't checked this for my 49 alliance paladin, but i don't see why it would be different.

I can screen shot it whenever I log in if anyone would like to see it.

 

[Dimefox_]

If you did the Winterfall quests for the ilvl 58 stuff years ago, here's bad news.

 

[Monstreux]

Not sure when the last time an update to the list was looked into but some of these items have changed... I just did the quest chain for the winterspring trinket only to find out it was il 55 not il 59.... which we all know at this point can be a big deal! May want to double check some of these before setting out to get them!

I can confirm, I just did the timbermaw rep grind and the trinket is still available at il 61

 

[Stale]

@Monstreux

This list was made before the dungeon/quest zone scaling was implemented. That means anything in the list that wa below ilvl 55 is now BETTER (you should grind new ones) and everything that we got above ilvl 55 is now grandfathered, for RARE items.

For epic items all new ones are practically better as they are ilvl 65.

 

[Goesid]

Not sure when the last time an update to the list was looked into but some of these items have changed... I just did the quest chain for the winterspring trinket only to find out it was il 55 not il 59.... which we all know at this point can be a big deal! May want to double check some of these before setting out to get them!

I can confirm, I just did the timbermaw rep grind and the trinket is still available at il 61

Its from before legion, its in the top let corner of every post. It is not being updated.