Shopping for the Crew

OK, I guess by now many of you have run their first hero instances and maybe even stuck their noses into Naxxramas. Aside from fun, wipes, epic loot, those Instances bring us our new Badges of Justice, now called Emblem of Heroism and their 25 man counterpart Emblem of Valor. I’d like to dedicate this post to Resto Items that can be bought with Emblems, help you out with picking your first Items without a lot of math.

Following comes a little list, where I post Items you can get with Emblem of Heroism/Valor. I’ll start with the items I consider worth getting first  and end with the stuff you really don’t have to get. I try to mention some easy to get alternatives that won’t make you spend those Emblems for nothing. It is not really the BEST items that come first, but those I hope you’ll be able to wear for a long time and those that fill slots that make you compete with other healing classes when rolling for it in a raid.

Emblem of Heriosm

1. Protective Barricade of the Light. This is my first pick. 35 Emblems makes this one really cheap. I’d only consider on not getting it if you’re rolling with Facade Shield of Glyphs out of Azjol-Nerub Heroic. If you’re already going Naxx 25 3-4 times a week you can hope on a lucky drop as Shield of Assimilation is waiting on Anub’Rekhans loot table. Chances are good though you’ll run with the Emblem-Shield for a good time (not as long as I did with Crystal Pulse Shield hopefully).
2. Lattice Choker of Light gets second place for myself. 25 Emblems is an insanely good deal. Upgrades do come with 10 man raiding, but this is a fantastic start. Amulet of the Crusade can be an easy to get alternative as it is available through questing in icecrown.
3. Beadwork Belt of Shamanic Vision is a very solid belt. This one might even come first or second for you, the only reason why I didn’t list this one earlier is because with 40 Emblems this will require a good bit of heroic grinding. I can totally recommend this one as I don’t see it easily replaced. Hateful Gladiator’s Waistguard of Salvation might be a not too expensive alternative if you PvP as well. Various Heroic Instances drop powerful starter Belts, Gundrak Heroic alone drops 3 (!) caster belts that might be an update for you at this moment.
4. The Egg of Mortal Essence. 40 Emblems of Heroism. This trinket might suit your needs, it might not. The base +spellpower is really strong, I don’t like the on-proc effect though, as it is very random and with tidal waves we get a lot of “free” haste. And it has no double purpose, it won’t help much if you specc elemental. Skyhoof started a list of healing trinkets out of Northrend here, check it out, get healing trinkets out of quests, they are a really good start and learn to use different trinkets in different situations. As alchemist create your Mercurial Alchemist Stone, an epic upgrade will follow someday for sure.
5. All the rest comes now. What’s not listed above I won’t get. I’ll keep my Emblems and wait for a patch, I’m sure there will be other things to buy or I’ll try to complete my enhancement set. The bind on account items are still not my cup of tea, especially healer items as I won’t level my alts in healing gear. Devout Aurastone Hammer and Mystical Pauldrons of Elements won’t make me spend any emblems. Buying Tier gear might be an option if you run many heroics and don’t raid too much. Gloves and Chest piece are available, 60 Emblem for the gloves, 80 the chestpiece. As a dedicated raider I guess you know how to get your tier gear or hope for the heroic tier gear as I do. Getting the Totem I wouldn’t recommend as well, as getting a fantastic healing totem from pvp questing in grizzly hills is so easy.

Emblem of Valor

1. Cloak of Kea Feathers. If you spend your first 25 Emblem of Valor on a cloak or a ring is just personal preference and depending on what’s already available to you. Wispcloak is an alternative if you like crafting items. Bloodbane Shroud is a good start if you do Icecrown quest. Shroud of Resurrection comes from Utgarde Pinnacle Heroic, I have seen it drop many times and still wear it.
2. Renewal of Life brings you a ton of good stats for only 25 Emblems. Ring of Temerity is a solid starter ring if you do Quests in The Oculus, but you’ll still need two rings, eh? If you’re still sitting on honor points Hateful Gladiator’s Band of Dominance might help you out as well, STA can help do those tricky heroics.
3. Pigmented Clan Bindings. Excellent stuff but, 60 Emblems are nothing to sneeze at. Good updated to this one on the other hand are rare and you might have to wait till Heigan in Naxx 25 for Bindings of the Decrepit. Pro Tip: Get Bands of Channeled Energy for the start. Nexus Heroic is easy and you might want to grind it anyway for some healing mace love. Hateful Gladiator’s Wristguards of Salvation are only 15k honor points but are inferior to the Nexus wristbands.
4. Treads of Coastal Wandering cost 40 Emblems. Having those on fourth place is random. I would recommend on getting Cloak and Ring in the beginning as many classes will compete for those items in raids an instances. If you lack good shoes on the other hand, here they come. I myself got lucky and have Atonement Greaves warming my feet. If you don’t mind cloth Sandals of Crimson Fury are easy to get, you have to grind rep for head enchantment anyway. Or you might just wear Treads of the Life Path forever.
5. Shoulders or Legplates come last. You might get your Tier gear easier through the old fashioned raiding way. If you are really unlucky and want to get set bonus fast it might be an option and it is Tier 7.5 gear, not Tier 7 as with Emblems of Heroism. Or you can get fantastic Tier gear for your offspec. I’m not sure yet if saving Emblems is really worth it as im not sure if future patches will bring better gear or all new Emblems for every raiding tier.

Edit 9.12.08: Corrected Tier gear to Tier 7 from Emblem of Heroism, Tier 7.5 from Emblem of Valor.

Addition 19.12.08: I ranked Tier gear pretty low on my shopping list but you I think I changed my mind. Shaman tokens just stopped dropping and we are running with 3 resto shamans, 1-2 elementals and 1 enhancement shaman, all hungry for tier gear, not counting warriors and hunters. From my BC experience good rings, cloaks and neck pieces were dropping very rarely, while now much of this stuff can drop on multiple Naxx bosses. While I still consider my list valuable when it comes to “stats for your bucks”, Tier gear might become a top priority for your emblems if you have no luck with token drops (like me) in 25 man raids or have problems finding a 10 man Naxx grp (like me).