So here’s my plan for minimum effort to obtain a nice starter set of spellpower items to heal and dps at level 80:
- Head: Helm of the Majestic Stag (requires Kirin’Tor Honored, effort: easy)
- Neck: Emeline’s Locket (Quest Reward, effort: easy)
- Shoulders: Purehorn Spaulders (Leatherworking, effort: moderate – obscure mats)
- Back: Dark Soldier Cape (requires Knights of Ebon Blade Honored, effort: easy)
- Chest: Wildscale Breastplate (Leatherworking, effort: easy)
- Wrists: Storming Vortex Bracers (BoE Drop = AH Camping, effort: moderate)
- Hands: Awakened Handguards (Heroic BoE drop = AH Camping, effort: moderate)
- Waist: Overcast Belt (Leatherworking, PvP Item, effort: easy)
- Legs: Giant-Friend Kilt (requires Sons of Hodir Revered, effort: moderate)
- Feet: Tundra Wolf Boots (BoE Drop = AH camping, effort: moderate)
- Fingers: Ring of Northern Tears (Jewelcrafter, effort: easy), Ring of Temerity (Quest, effort: easy)
- Trinkets: Mercurial Alchemist Stone (Self Crafted, effort: easy), Cannoneer’s Fuselighter (Quest, effort: easy)
- Weapon: Flameheart Spell Scalpel (requires Kirin’Tor Revered, effort: moderate)
- Off-Hand: Frostbridge Orb (Heroic BoE drop = AH camping, effort: moderate)
- Idol: Idol of Arcane Terror (30 Venture Coins, effort: easy)
Since I will of course also be running an instance every once in a while each and any of these items can be replaced by what I can obtain through instances. I just hate to depending on winning a roll on an item that doesn’t even drop every time on a boss.
What I am wondering while looking through items: is there no Hit Rating + Spellpower Gear???
The most stressful will probably be to camp the AH for the BoE items and get to Revered with the Kirin’Tor. Currently I am half-way to honored thanks to the Cooking quest. We have already finished most of the other quests that award Kirin’Tor faction. So I’ll have to champion them at 80. I have no idea how hard the Sons of Hodir reputation will be to earn …
Update: I already managed to snag the boots and the off-hand and I am finally making my new Alchemist’s trinket. I decided that in direct comparison for “leveling items” I will keep my S3 Wrists and S3 Chest instead of choosing the items selected above. I’ll see if any upgrades come when they came 
I call this gear list “deterministic” because all the items are otainable with a (admittedly more or less) measurable amount of effort. When I plan out my gear for a character I usually look at available items in a certain order based on how much effort and most importantly luck is involved. Items that need luck are last on my list. On top of my list are items that I can easily obtain by solo-ing a fixed amount of content.
What kind of gear is qualifies as deterministic?
- Quest Rewards – you complete the quest and get the reward, this is the easiest and most often fastest way to get a reward.
- Faction Rewards – you can repeat dailies or run instances until you reach the desired level and then you can go to the quartermaster and buy the reward. In Northrend several factions have dailies that reward large chunks of faction points and easily get you up to the desired level. For other factions you just wear their tabard and go to an instance.
- Some Currency Based Rewards – you do whatever is required (usually killing bosses in instances or doing repeatable quests) to obtain the currency and buy the reward. Note: PvP rewards are currency based but I am not going to list them here for two reasons: 1) because there is PvP gear for every class and spec nowadays and 2) PvP depends on too many other people that you have no control over … so there is luck in getting good groups involved unless you farm pre-mades.
Rewards that need a little luck or patience:
- Crafted Rewards – farming most crafting mats is not quite straightforwad, since most drops have a less than 100% drop chance there is always some luck involved. Crafting mats that can be obtained solo-ing or on the AH are absolutely on my list. Once you have the mats you need to find a crafter but for many items this is not impossible to find someone in your guild or among your friends or get referred to a crafter
- BoE Random World Drops – can usually be bought on the AH for more or less reasonable prices – getting money is deterministic by doing dailies …
What gear does not qualify?
- BoP Random Drops from instance bosses. 1) you often need luck to find a group for the instance your drop is from, 2) you need to be lucky to have the boss drop the desired item and 3) you need to win the roll on that item. This is the type of gear that either requires a lot of effort and much time or a lot of luck. That is why I don’t really focus on boss drops until I have figured out what kind of equipment I can get from other avenues. I have rarely “farmed” an instance for a drop …
So without much more discussion, here are a few items that should be attainable for most Druids:
Blue Quest Rewards (search)
Faction Based Gear
- Alliance Vanguard, Revered: Orb of the Eastern Kingdoms
- Argent Crusade, Exalted: Signet of Hopeful Light
- Kirin Tor, Honored: Helm of the Majestic Stag
- Kirin Tor, Honored: Shroud of Dedicated Research
- Kirin Tor, Revered: Flameheart Spell Scalpel
- Kirin Tor, Exalted: Ghostflicker Waistband
- Knights of the Ebon Blade, Honored: Dark Soldier Cape
- Knights of the Ebon Blade, Revered: Wound-Binder’s Wristguards
- Kalu’ak, Honored: Whale-Skin Vest
- Kalu’ak, Revered: Totemic Purification Rod
- Sons of Hodir, Revered: Giant-Friend Kilt
Crafted by Leatherworkers (search)
Crafter by Jewelcrafters (search)
Crafted by Tailors (search)
Crafted by Blacksmiths
Bought with currency (search)
BoE World Drops (search)
- Legs: Leggings of the Water Moccasin
- Feet: Scytheclaw Boots, Tundra Wolf Boots, Treads of the Purifier
- Shoulders:Gnarled Shovelhorn Spaulders
- Bracers:Storming Vortex Bracers, Wristguards of Verdant Recovery
- Gloves:Awakened Handguards
- Robes: Ymirjar Physician’s Robe, Greenhealer’s Garb
- Rings: Raine’s Signet of Blasting, Twisted Puzzle-Ring
- Off-Hands: Prison Manifest, Frostbridge Orb, Branch of Sinful Reprieve
- Amulets: Dragon Prow Amulet, Mark of the Spider, Raine’s Choker of Combustion, Winterfall’s Frozen Necklace
- Cloaks: Zoe’s Comforting Cape, Reanimator’s Cloak, Cloak of the Agile Mind
- Weapons: Lola’s Lifegiving Branch, Melia’s Magnificent Scepter, Zabra’s Misplaced Staff
When I get to 80 and have all the Blues I want, I will make an upgraded listed with nice purplies.
Just an Update: Idols … forgotten because they rarely contain spellpower which I used to filter out feral gear 
The best for leveling balance druids should be available through Venture Coins: Idol of Arcane Terror.
