Pants and Accessories, time for change.

[Conreeaght]

Armory: The World of Warcraft Armory (http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Stormrage&n=Conreeaght) (if I'm logged out in pvp gear, I apologize! I also switch between 226 Heart of Iron and 245 Ony blood trinket to pad my ego.)

-----skippable-----

So, my fashion is a bit outdated in the pants area. (my character actually looks mildly hilarious with all the ornate T9 on the upper body, slimming to skin-tight plate pants, then giant clodhopper boots.)

Every time I look at my character Sheet I'm staring at the same pants, ring1, and cloak with disgust. Then I go over to the badge vendors outside the arena, and am even more disappointed. I do have the option of Wrynn's Legguards of Conquest - Item - World of Warcraft (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=48445) available straight away, however block still feels like a dead-weight stat. Though the added stamina might push me straigh over another hurdle to 38k if I can snag a trophy. I've adopted an EH/AV style of play that I (and my healers) have been accustomed to. I also love defense, and not taking advantage of it just turns one into an (inferior) stam-boat comparable to a druid. I even tried it for a time, when it was effective for content (Naxx40, Naxx25 the first time around) but now, stats are just getting...well...complicated. I mean to say that I don't go out of my way for defense, I just don't like pieces such as Signet of Winter - Item - World of Warcraft (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=45874) which lack the stat entirely.

I finally fixed my extreme-overcapped-hit problem with a few key 245 pieces, and am a little nervous of the replacement options for my last 3 pieces (I like my threat, so do the crack dps that trust me with getting mobbs to hold still.)

I feel that the T9 pants would actually be a DOWNgrade from what I have, due to the block value and my low block %. (not to mention Shield Block lending very little to the amounts and types of damage that kills me)

I've also found that looking on the gear horizon, that simple tank gearing has become one of those complex sliding-puzzle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sliding_puzzle) things that I hate. Upgrading one slot means a hole somewhere else that might force me to pull a sidegrade/downgrade out of the bank.

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My questions are:

1. Should I cave and get the pants? (instead of saving up for the blades) Note the low block %.

2. With reference to the sliding block puzzle and all the junk I said above, If I were to make a priority list, what kind of upgrades should I shoot for first? I'm finally taking the whip to my guild to try ToGC10 after skiing down the ToC10/25(guild alliance) bunny hill. The deal is I'm looking at one upgrade a week (if I'm lucky.)

[Kuraf]

I just took a quick look thro your gear...

If I was in your shoes I would:

- Replace Signet of the Impregnable Fortress by any of these: Leviathan's Coil (easiest to get) or any of the Onyxia rings (the armor provides a great boost)
- Replace armsman on gloves with the engineer armor enchant (it's far superior)
- Slap +30 stam gem on the shoes (instead of the def/stam gem u got there)
- I would also try to get EoT trinket to replace Heart of Iron (the glyph of indominability). The armor it provides will surely help you survive longer and provides a superior "on use" bonus. The armor it provides seems superior to the stamina of the heart (didn't do the math since i'm at work).


Then again i'm still not that experienced as tank so it's likely that u'll be able to get better hints from "older" tanks...
I'll mention this again: i only did a quick glance at your armory. And i'm conseidering this to physical heavy fights (gormok for example). Would be nice to keep some stam items in the bags for fights with more magical dmg :)

EDIT:
Additional info: your dodge is past the value in which it is more useful than parry (due to diminishing returns - 1.88:1 ratio if memory serves me right) so i'd advise you to replace the dodge/def gem for a parry/def gem in your chest. Replacing the Hodir enchant with the pvp one (resi and stamina) wouldn't be a bad thought neither.
Finally, i'd also consider replacing the weapon enchant (and if you are still high on defense, consider replacing the weapon for something with more HP - peacekeeper blade for example... even tho it has no defense :P)

[Conreeaght]

Thank you for the tips. I'm actually really really bad at following changes and updates. Often my information is also second hand. (half due to time, half laziness) In which case, numeric values such as when to stop diving off the dodge board aren't in an accessable part of my brain.

I admit, I'll probably only really enact about 50% of what you made mention of (due to the fact that my healers and I are to the point where we function as a unit with the way I gear things.) Mostly I'll work on scaling back the dodge (something I've actually been trying to do - it actually was worse at a point!)

Keep 'em coming!

[Kuraf]

Thank you for the tips. I'm actually really really bad at following changes and updates. Often my information is also second hand. (half due to time, half laziness) In which case, numeric values such as when to stop diving off the dodge board aren't in an accessable part of my brain.

I admit, I'll probably only really enact about 50% of what you made mention of (due to the fact that my healers and I are to the point where we function as a unit with the way I gear things.) Mostly I'll work on scaling back the dodge (something I've actually been trying to do - it actually was worse at a point!)

Keep 'em coming!

I usually try to do the same, and since i've mained resto shammy since vanilla (changed main to prot warrior recently) i'm also working with my healers to gear myself up. And i've also been trying to make the dmg input on me "steady" (the less spikey possible) and by that I mean stam/armor stacking...

Regarding the armsman enchant... only do that if you're having threat problems, the armor is by far superior :)

[Griff]

Regarding the armsman enchant... only do that if you're having threat problems, the armor is by far superior

Superior in what way? Better EH? The armor enchant is definitely superior for that, but for threat, its clearly inferior. If you're not having problems surviving, then threat is always better imho.

[Conreeaght]

Glove enchant is staying. No opinions about leggings yet. No wonder I'm confused, this must be a hard choice. :(

[Unfurth]

For the pants, I don't see how a little bit of dodge outweighs a substantial amount of block value in its passive bonus to mitigation, threat and damage (shield slam), not to mention the T9 pants are substantial upgrades in effective health in terms of stamina and armor.