Nature resistance gear for AQ40 is mostly used during the Princess Huhuran fight. Huhuran hurls Poison Bolt at the closest 15 players when frenzied. If allowed to scatter among the raid without resistance gear it is too much for the healers. So the melee and hunters are used as a meat shield.
The fight requires two tanks, who will be in their normal mitigation gear. That leaves 13 “volunteers” to soak up the poison bolts. If you don’t have 13 melee DPS then include hunters. My guild asked all AQ40 raids to prepare a nature resistance set, including the casters. It gives us more options should we be short certain classes one night. And it encouraged everyone to help each other out in meeting their own nature resistance requirements.
How Much Nature Resistance Is Needed?
Recommendations vary, but most are between 150-200 unbuffed.
Exactly how much is the big question before Phase 5 opens up. AQ40 was never put on the public test realm. All other sources of data are either fragments from vanilla. Or from private servers, which are notorious for having slightly different numbers.
Ultimately it is going to depend on your healers and your DPS. How well can healers cover the incoming damage? And how quickly you down the boss. Most, if not all, of the poison volleys, come when the boss is below 35% health.
My guild opted for 150 nature resistance for melee and hunters. And 100 nature resistance for casters and healers. Those numbers were easily obtainable before Phase 5. Mostly from Maraudon, Undead Stratholme, and a couple of quest chains in Silithus. It didn’t require expensive rings on the auction house. Or gear from a heavily camped world boss. We’ll know soon enough whether it is enough.
Nature Resistance Gear for Rogues and Feral Druids in AQ40
You will definitely be in the poison volley soak group. So the more nature resistance gear you can get, the better prepared you’ll be. And the more the healers will love you. As much as any healer can love an aggro pulling DPS.
Suggested Nature Resistance Set
- Nature’s Whisper (8) – Silithus quest
- Phytoskin Spaulders (10) – Maraudon drop
- Nature Mantle of the Dawn (5) – Argent Dawn Revered
- Grovekeeper’s Drape (10) – Maraudon drop
- Enchant Cloak – Greater Nature Resistance (15)
- Tier 2 chest piece from Blackwing Lair (10)
- Chimeric Gloves (12) – Crafted
- Chloromesh Girdle (20) – Maraudon drop
- Cenarion Reservist’s Leggings (25) – Silithus quest
- Fangdrip Runners (20) – Undead Strat drop
- Heart of Noxxion (10) – Maraudon drop
- Heart of Noxxion (10) – Maraudon drop
Materials – Chimeric Gloves:
- Rugged Leather x6
- Chimera Leather x6
- Rune Thread
Quests:
- The Twilight Mystery in Silithus. Run through the entire quest chain. Nature’s Whisper will be mailed to you afterward.
- Start with Dearest Natalia in Silithus. Columates in three group quests involving the Silithus bug nests. You’ll finally get the quest The Calling, which requires killing a 20-man raid boss. Sometimes pug raids are formed to complete the last quest. Or your guild can help you just before an AQ raid night.
Drops:
- Nerub’enkan in Undead Stratholme (first ziggurat)
- Noxxion in Maraudon (orange side, first boss)
- Razorlash in Maraudon (orange side, second boss)
- Celebras the Cursed in Maraudon (between orange and purple, near scepter teleport site)
Reputation:
- Revered with Argent Dawn (even more important for Naxx later)
Additional Nature Resistance Gear
The above items were picked by being cheap and easy to acquire. But they are not necessarily the best options for both nature resistance and DPS performance. You can use the links below to look at other options. I also list my rogue’s own nature resistance set below.
Nature Resistance Gear for Hunters in AQ40
When you don’t have 13 melee DPS available hunters will fill in the remaining slots for taking the brunt of nature damage. Your Aspect of the Wild will also be used among the melee.
Suggested Nature Resistance Set
- Nature’s Whisper (8) – Silithus quest
- Phytoskin Spaulders (10) – Maraudon drop
- Nature Mantle of the Dawn (5) – Argent Dawn Revered
- Grovekeeper’s Drape (10) – Maraudon drop
- Enchant Cloak – Greater Nature Resistance (15)
- Tier 2 chest piece from Blackwing Lair (10)
- Sandstalker Bracers (15) – Crafted
- Sandstalker Gauntlets (20) – Crafted
- Chloromesh Girdle (20) – Maraudon drop OR Fangdrip Runners (20) – Undead Strat drop
- Cenarion Reservist’s Legguards (25) – Silithus quest
- Heart of Noxxion (10) – Maraudon drop
- Heart of Noxxion (10) – Maraudon drop
Materials – Sandstalker Bracers & Gauntlets:
- Heavy Silithid Carapace x3
- Silithid Chitin x50
- Larval Acid x4
- Cured Rugged Hide
- See Apb for Sandstalker bracers and gauntlet crafting
Quests:
- The Twilight Mystery in Silithus. Run through the entire quest chain. Nature’s Whisper will be mailed to you afterward.
- Start with Dearest Natalia in Silithus. Columates in three group quests involving the Silithus bug nests. You’ll finally get the quest The Calling, which requires killing a 20-man raid boss. The guild can run this before hitting AQ20 or AQ40. The reward is the Cenarion Reservist’s Leggings for your class.
Drops:
- Nerub’enkan in Undead Stratholme (first ziggurat)
- Noxxion in Maraudon (orange side, first boss)
- Razorlash in Maraudon (orange side, second boss)
- Celebras the Cursed in Maraudon (between orange and purple, near scepter teleport site)
Reputation:
- Revered with Argent Dawn (even more important for Naxx later)
Additional Nature Resistance Gear
Nature Resistance Gear for Warriors & Paladins in AQ40
If you’re DPS you’ll be among the poison volley soaking groups. So the more nature resistance gear you can get, the better prepared you’ll be. And the more the healers will love you. As much as any healer can love an aggro pulling DPS.
If you are one of the two assigned tanks you will want your regular mitigation armor. But if you aren’t always the tank have a nature resistance set for your DPS runs.
Suggested Nature Resistance Set
- Nature’s Whisper (8) – Silithus quest
- Acid-etched Pauldrons (20) – Undead Strat drop
- Nature Mantle of the Dawn (5) – Argent Dawn Revered
- Grovekeeper’s Drape (10) – Maraudon drop
- Enchant Cloak – Greater Nature Resistance (15)
- Sandstalker Breastplate (25) – Crafted
- Noxxion’s Shackles (15) – Maraudon drop
- Sandstalker Gauntlets (20) – Crafted
- Warriors: Cenarion Reservist’s Legplates (25) – Silithus quest
- Paladins: Cenarion Reservist’s Legplates (25) – Silithus quest
- Heart of Noxxion (10) – Maraudon drop
Materials – Sandstalker Breastplate:
- Heavy Silithid Carapace x5
- Silithid Chitin x70
- Larval Acid x4
- Cured Rugged Hide x1
- There may be a delay in getting a leatherworker enough rep for the recipe. Consider alternatives if you want a completed set on launch day.
Quests:
- The Twilight Mystery in Silithus. Run through the entire quest chain. Nature’s Whisper will be mailed to you afterward.
- Start with Dearest Natalia in Silithus. Columates in three group quests involving the Silithus bug nests. You’ll finally get the quest The Calling, which requires killing a 20-man raid boss. The guild can run this before hitting AQ20 or AQ40. The reward is the Cenarion Reservist’s Leggings for your class.
Drops:
- Nerub’enkan in Undead Stratholme (first ziggurat)
- Noxxion in Maraudon (orange side, first boss)
- Razorlash in Maraudon (orange side, second boss)
- Celebras the Cursed in Maraudon (between orange and purple, near scepter teleport site)
Reputation:
- Revered with Argent Dawn (even more important for Naxx later)
Additional Nature Resistance Gear
Nature Resistance Gear for Casters & Healers in AQ40
As I mentioned before, casters and healers typically don’t need nature resistance for AQ40. During Princess Huhuran melee and hunters soak up most of the damage. But my guild required some flexibility. And you never know when it could help out in another fight. We only asked cloth wearers to get up to 100 nature resistance, as their options get quite restricted after that.
Suggested Nature Resistance Set
- Nature’s Whisper (8) – Silithus quest
- Grovekeeper’s Drape (10) – Maraudon drop
- Enchant Cloak – Greater Nature Resistance (15)
- Tier 2 chest piece from Blackwing Lair (10)
- Chloromesh Girdle (20) – Maraudon drop
- Cenarion Reservist’s Pants (25) – Silithus quest
- Fangdrip Runners (20) – Undead Strat drop
Quests:
- The Twilight Mystery in Silithus. Run through the entire quest chain. Nature’s Whisper will be mailed to you afterward.
- Start with Dearest Natalia in Silithus. Columates in three group quests involving the Silithus bug nests. You’ll finally get the quest The Calling, which requires killing a 20-man raid boss. Sometimes pug raids are formed to complete the last quest. Or your guild can help you just before an AQ raid night.
Drops:
- Nerub’enkan in Undead Stratholme (first ziggurat)
- Razorlash in Maraudon (orange side, second boss)
- Celebras the Cursed in Maraudon (between orange and purple, near scepter teleport site)
Additional Nature Resistance Gear
Post-Phase 5 Nature Resistance Gear for AQ40
After Phase 5 there will be a couple more sources of nature resistance gear. But you should not rely on them. Instead, if you get access to an item below use it to better balance your resistance set with your DPS.
AQ40 Drops
All AQ40 drops with nature resistance
These items drop from AQ40 bosses. They provide better resistance and DPS combinations. They are for improving your set later. No one should count on having them, given their low drop rate and high demand.
Cenarion Circle Gear
Update: This gear is now available in-game, released a few weeks before Phase 6 arrives.
In patch 1.11 (release of Naxx, Phase 6 in Classic) nature resistance recipes were added to Cenarion Circle. Classic is following the same release order. Sandstalker set is available now. The cloak enchants will be available in Phase 5. The rest will not be available when AQ40 opens.
Blizzard may opt to release these recipes between Phase 5 and Phase 6. Or they may wait until Phase 6. They were initially intended as a soft nerf to AQ40.
Tailoring
- Sylvan Crown (Phase 6) – Honored
- Sylvan Shoulders (Phase 6) – Friendly
- Sylvan Vest (Phase 6) – Revered
- Gaea’s Embrace (Phase 6) – Revered
Leatherworking
- Bramblewood Helm (Phase 6) – Revered
- Bramblewood Belt (Phase 6) – Friendly
- Bramblewood Boots (Phase 6) – Honored
- Sandstalker Breastplate (Phase 4) – Revered
- Sandstalker Bracers (Phase 4) – Friendly
- Sandstalker Gauntlets (Phase 4) – Honored
Blacksmithing
- Ironvine Breastplate (Phase 6) – Revered
- Ironvine Gloves (Phase 6) – Honored
- Ironvine Belt (Phase 6) – Friendly
Enchanting
- Enchant Cloak – Greater Nature Resistance (Phase 5) – Honored
- Savage Guard (Phase 6) – ZG quest
Quests
- Band of Cenarius (Phase 6) – Revered
Bitt’s Nature Resistance Set
This is the nature resistance gear I’ll be starting with for AQ40.
Minimum Set – 153 Nature Resistance
- Phytoskin Spaulders (10)
- Grovekeeper’s Drape (10)
- Bloodfang Chestpiece (10)
- Chloromesh Girdle (20)
- Cenarion Reservist’s Leggings (25)
- Fangdrip Runners (20)
- Jasper Link of Nature Resistance (20)
- Serpentine Loop of Nature Resistance (18)
Maximum Set – 212 Nature Resistance
The above set, with these pieces added:
- Nature’s Whisper (8)
- Random Bracers of Nature Resistance (15)
- Stonebark Gauntlets (16)
- Heart of Noxxion (10)
- Heart of Noxxion (10)
The two sets were put together based on how much DPS I would lose vs how much nature resistance I would gain. Rings are fantastic value in that regard. Having two high NR rings gives a lot of flexibility to your set and performance.