Gearing up to Raid: Priorities

So you're level 80 and you've decided that you want to start raiding. Everywhere you look, raid leaders are looking for geared healers with large mana pools, 3.5k DPS, and 30k HP unbuffed tanks...and you might be wondering where to start.

Stats/ Spec
The very first thing you should put into priority are your stats. Are you hit capped? Do you know what the cap is for your toon? What are the bread and butter stats to optimize your gear? Knowing this is the first step to greatness: it means the difference between knowing a true upgrade versus one that is sub-optimal. If you have any questions about stat-weights I encourage you to visit the EJ Forums. You may also want to try a cookie cutter spec and rotation--there is a lot of smart math behind 'em.

Pre-Raid Gearing
Heroics. Its as simple as that. There are a lot of great drops in heroic dungeons. Ask friends and guildies, pull up loot on the armory or on Atlas Loot (in-game), make yourself a list, and run religiously until you get what you want. I remember running H UK everyday for a month looking for Staggering Legplates to drop. Also, a lot of decent gear can be bought with heroism badges that will last you long into your first few raids: T7 pieces, Trinkets, Neck, etc. Heroics are really a win/win in this regard. And for a few pre-raid pieces, look to Reputation rewards to fill gaps. Tabards are easy to pick up, and rep grinds come quickly while you're running all those Heroics. Chances are you'll be grinding dailies for cash anyway.

Item Enhancement
You'll be pretty hard up to find a top raider w/out enchants on all of his/her gear. When you end up nabbing that piece of gear you want, chant it up to maximize its potential. Check the AH, ask a guildie chanter/leatherworker, and go to town. For a full list of item enchants, click here. Keep in mind that you'll have to grind out that long road to Sons of Hodir-Exalted if you want that Super Smexxy shoulder chant: Greater Inscription of the Axe.