Ardent Custodian

Uber rare world drop off of level 40 to 45 mobs. If you want it the best place to get it is off of the auction house.

No, something with just stam wont help, remember 1 stam is 10 health, and what tanks need is defense rating and armor as well as dps, and for stam u can just get an enchant, but i highly recommend this mace for anyone that gets it, but if ur greedy just sell it.

I believe you forgot the rather high dps. I have a twohand axe that is green of the same level, and this thing has higher dps than my axe!

I have to disagree. For a prot warrior, this is a very nice tanking weapon, and stam can be stacked on literally every other slot. At this level, def is not terribly common, so it's a valuable stat. Mind you, most warriors (or pallies for that matter) should not be prot at this level. Only if you are leveling by grouping for instances does prot make sense. There's also the AoE tanking prot pally, which is another nice reason to want this....

WRONG. Fenros drops it, he is lvl 32 rare. :P

Great main hand for either a tanking druid at lvl 50 below or a tanking warrior.

This is a handy item for anyone tanking. The extra armor boost is great along with the defense rating really does make it a valuable weapon to have for a tank at that level.

I think the key idea here is that the defense rating on the weapon gives you a lot of other gear options for other slots. You can take a higher stam chestpiece and leave the mitigation stats to your weapon. Additionally, the DPS on this mace is outstanding. The other option at this level is the quest reward from SM (Sword of Omen), which you can't realistically get (without twinking) for another 2 levels, and it has (at least, depending on faction) 2 less DPS than this.

really, it is about worthless, besides the extra aromor, u can grp up for the sword of omen, and many other swords at this lvl do way better, don't spend the moneies on it at the AH

I really want this baby :D Already on the way to Sword of Serenity.

This is a druid tanking weapon, and a good one. Leaves the offhand slot open for even more armor, and gives +defense. It's for those who don't want to spend the cash for the Warden Staff, or can't wait until level 43. Could use an agility enchant though.

I got this off a gorilla around Booty Bay and sold it for 80g. Tho i don't think it should be an epic the stats suck.

This weapon is kinda useless to buy if you are planning on leveling. You will prolly find a better blue shortly after buying this. So the 100+g you spend on it isn't worth it. However, it is a really good wep for a 39 twink.

got this from an elder shadowmaw panther in STV

This just dropped off an Elder Mistvale Gorilla. Unfortunately I was with a 60, and he won it when we both rolled greed. Kind of a nice surprise while grinding for Gorilla Fangs, though.

This is a pretty good tanking weapon indeed but for prot pallies im pretty sure this could be a good sorce of damage dealing, since the damage range and speed make it hit pretty hard for that level and speed. Unless you are 57ish IMO use it, price has gone down alot on this puppy too. Edit: Just checked at that speed (2.10 if you dont wanna look up) the only other weapon that has a bigger damage range is Hammer of the nothernwind another epic.

This dropped off of one of the Geomancers in Ulda last night for <Gnomei> on Auchindoun. The Priest who got it was VERY happy :D, this item gave her a very nice armor boost, especially seeing as she is doing ulda and comperable instances at 34 (i know she cant use it)

You gave it to a priest ? Was there no melee-orientated class around that would want it? Warrior, paladin, rogue, shaman,... all would benefit more from the weapon due it's high dps.

She can't use it, but she can't benefit from it...

I just got this drop from a Raptor south of Brackenwall in Dustwallow Marsh. Theres one at the AH on my server for 300g already so I put mine to 205. See if she sells. :)

It doesn't neccessarily drop off mobs that are between levels 40-45. Just got mine in Stormgarde Keep - dropped of one of those level 38 elites towards the Chapel area - been grinding there for the many quests from Hammerfall. I'm already level 45, so I'll just sell it in the AH (Horde - Ursin).

With the armour and defence I would think its kind of aimed at a druid tank. With offhand with armour like Totem of Infliction or the drop from Stitches you would get quite abit of mitigation for the level. That's not to say that other classes shouldn't use it. At that level its whatever drops for you since you'll probably outgrow it quickly.

just got it from a lvl 44 mob...sold it 190g on dragonmaw horde...dont see the point in epic to low lvl only if u wanna own on bg or some thing like that...

This item isn't very good for a Druid tank; while the defense and Armor are alright, the real benefit of this weapon is the damage range/DPS, which Druids get absolutely no benefit from.

This weapon is a Rare World Drop and yes that is said in many messages above but. The weapon is very hard to get farming it under level 60 but then very easily to get above 60, The best place to look for this weapon is the Auction House it should not be put as buyout for more than 60 Gold and no less than 85. The weapon has a decsent speed for tank's(2.10) and a intermediate damage rate (48 - 90) DPS:32.9 the weapon has a 100 Armor Rating Buff wich is nice for a weapon of this level.

I had this drop for me in Zul'Farak. It isn't selling, so I guess there really isn't much demand for it. After all, how many 39 twinks want a weapon with armour and defense, despite the great damage for that level?

Pretty useless as tankingweapon. Neither the 100 armor nor the 7 Defense rating will give a great "tanking-boost". Not to mention that a 2.1 speed isn't that fantastic ... Nevertheless it's a great dps weapon in the 38-45 bracket but for tanking i'd prefer a faster weapon with stam like http://www.wowhead.com/?item=7761

+7 defense at 38 is a lot

Come on we're talking about 38-45. You get out of that lvlrange within days (and that's if you're really leveling slow since patch 2.3) and the only instance you're gonna tank within this bracket is scarlet monastery or probably zf. :) Defense is the last stat I'd go for. +5 stamina would compensate the one crit you'd probable avoid with this defense-rating way better. Nevertheless it's a nice weapon it you can get it cheap (or find it).

It now has +7 dodge rating instead, which is 0,88% dodge at level 38. Edit: Wowhead now states that +7 dodge rating is 0,59% at level 38.

This dropped off a 43 Ironjaw Basilisk in the Crystalvein Mine, for me.

Got one today from Elder Mistvale Gorilla together with Jouster's Visor

This weapon has a few problems, in my eyes: It's speed isn't slow enough to be a really good mainhander, and not fast enough to be a really good tanking weapon. It's a weapon that have got defensive rather than offensive stats, thus lowering it's dps (As another weapon with +str / ap / agi would give dps increase through stats). And finally; It's level 38. At that level, you don't need gear with +defense and +armor on it to defeat the instances, just gain another level instead. In short; If it's an upgrade dps-wise, it's worth it, but otherwise you'd be better off selling it off

It is good weapon for druid tanks in bear form it is a great bost of armor.

I guess you're a little confused about what tanking actually means. The primary role of a tank is to maximize damage reduction while maintaining high threat so that other party members can dps/heal without pulling aggro. Weapon speed has nothing to do with how much damage you can absorb, except in terms of proc rates for enchants (e.g., Mongoose proccing more often increases your agility and thus improves your armor, dodge, etc) and only indirectly affects threat generation (a SLOWER speed main hand will cause the Crusader proc to remain in effect more often, for example, increasing your strength and therefore your dps and threat). Weapon speed has no direct impact on your tanking abilities and should only be considered in terms of proc rates or when deciding which weapon should go in the main hand and which should be held in the off hand when dual-wielding. You shouldn't have to get out your pencil and paper to be able to work out that 8 stamina and 3 agility is much worse than 100 armor and 7 defense rating for the purposes of tanking. The only reason to use the weapon you suggest is as a temporary placeholder until you are a high enough level to equip this mace, or if you've decided that you can't afford to buy it, or as I suspect is the case, you are not going for an all-out tank build. No matter which way I look at it though, I have to completely and utterly disagree with you. The Ardent Custodian is the best choice in the 30-39 level bracket to fill the role of a tank, period. You may find that you like to use the Steelclaw Reaver for some reason other than achieving the highest possible damage reduction . I suspect that it is for aesthetic reasons or for the personal satisfaction you get from getting the first hit on a mob, with your extra weapon speed, or possibly the prestige of having 80 more HP while you charge into pulls before your party is ready, spamming a 'HEAL ME!' macro that you no doubt have mapped in place of an ability that you could be using to hold aggro, then whining that healers need to heal better after you pull too many mobs and cause a wipe because your 'tank' build focuses too much on dealing damage and not enough on damage mitigation. Those 80 HP may look very nice and even lead some people to conclude that you are a better tank at first glance. However, a theoretical much-less ignorant counterpart to your warrior, using this mace, that you so amusingly refer to as a 'dps weapon' instead, would be taking less damage per hit; an effect which when calculated across your entire health bar, works out to be far more valuable than those 80 HP and the comparitively insignificant effect on damage reduction that you gain from 3 agility. Add to that the higher base dps and the only conclusion one can come to is that while your heart is in the right place (you want to be a good tank), you just don't really know what you're talking about. Aside from having better tanking bonuses than your axe, this weapon can be equipped by ALL of the tanking classes, it's effects compliment your bear form, i.e., the armor bonus applies, and the item level allows BC enchants to be placed on it. To those who made comments concerning the dps.... 'YOU ARE NOT A TANK IF YOU ARE DPS'. You're talking about two different roles, although many players choose to do some of each in order to level faster, and improving at one will almost always come at the expense of the other. You can't be 'leet dps' and a 'leet tank' at the same time.

just picked up one off of a scorched guardian... badlands

ive been using this on my prot pally since 38. I put +40 spell damage on it and its been awesome to level with.

it's a really good weapon for PvP. High dps, slow speed, and defense rating gives parry and dodge wich increases your abillity to survive. My twink rouge is getting this.

I agree...This is the best main hander for twinks at lv 39...im gettin this 2 on my rogue...just one problem..."looked at AH in 3 weeks and still none of them are there<_<".

If you people are getting this for a rogue/warrior twink then you obviously haven't been playing long, and I really really feel for you... Make a note to yourself: You want a very slow weapon in mainhand. (2.6 or slower) and a fast weapon in offhand.

The armor is far from amazing, I would consider it nice on a priest tank-.-

Good for Protection Paladin that's twinking 39 I guess... doesn't have healing power or Intellect for my Healadin though... Put the Cloak enchant of Defense Rating +12 on if you're gonna stack it.

If you can get this at 38, it's crazy good for a Protection Paladin. And you can usually get this much cheaper than other similar level epics, or maybe that's just the trend on my server, but my guess is that's the case on most realms.

Its Done me good ever sense the 30s, and My Prot pally is at 57 an stil using it. So far i have seen no Weapon that can out do the Add on that lets me know when to swap it out. I think i might keep it up till Bc if this keeps up.

This weapon is fantastic for the AoE level grinding Paladin.

Given that this is no longer a main hand weapon, meaning that it can be dual wielded, it may be an option for 39 twink rogues. Anyway, when I lay my hands on a pair of them, I intend to test them.

It is the highest dps mace offhand for a rogue, given that lolstun (mace spec) is amazing in pvp, this is now the best rogue offhand in the 39 bracket.

At level 39 this dropped for me off a trash mob in ZF. Since i needed a tanking weapon, i kept it and put a Fiery on it ( i know, there are much better enchants for tank weapons, but Fiery procs a LOT, and i only spent about five gold on it.) Anyway, the damage on this thing was incredible, and i havent found a weapon that can compete with it as a tanking weapon.

this wepon look good 4 tanking +100 armor :)

I don't know why so many people have mentioned it as a paladin tanking weapon. This weapon has nothing do to with tanking as a palladin since it doesn't have any spelldamage at all. Its a fine all-round tanking weapon but paladins are maybe the one of the 3 tanking classes that this weapon will help the least. go for [li]arbiter's blade[/li] or the scarlet healing weapon instead since theese provide a little spelldamge atleast. Very good offhand (maybe mainhand) for 39 rogue and warr twinks anyway.