My alt has just reached 80 so I've been doing some experiments trying to determine the cutoff point to be allowed to queue for heroics/ICC5/TOC5I in the LFD.
I've been sitting at a point where adding/removing one item of gear unlocks or locks heroics. This lets me test different configurations. Right now switching from ilvl 167 to 187 blue pants is all that's tipping me across. This is the closest I've managed so far. My gear is average 148 ilvl before, 150 after. I'm ignoring item quality for now as it's harder to test (until I can find a green and a blue with identical ilvl).
Some tentative conclusions:
* Gear is considered whether it's worn, in your bags, or in your bank. Gear in your guild bank, mailbox, or vendor buyback is not.
* BOE items ARE considered even when not soulbound.
* Gear that you can't wear due to armor skill is NOT considered (tested with plate BOEs)
* Inappropriate gear IS considered (caster gear on a hunter)
* All gear counts except weapon/offhand/ranged (and tabard/shirt of course) (tested by vendoring weapon/bow). Rings/trinkets/neck do count.
* There are at least three tiers of instances - normal, 3.0 heroics+ICC/TOC normal, ICC/TOC heroic. I won't be able to test the ICC heroics for a while. Tier 2 isn't available at all until 80.
* Each tier has a required average ilvl, you also need to be 80 for heroics/toc5/icc to show up at all. the ivl counts your best item in each slot across all your gear. The required ilvl for normal heroics is approximately 150.
* Heirlooms are lower quality than 187 blues
Unanswered question:
* Is the average ilvl weighted by item quality (green/blue/epic) and slot (legs/bracers)?
