[Andromedea]

I'm sitting at 496 defence in my present gear (mixture of Kara epics, some blues and BoJ). I hope to replace my blues (Felsteel Helm, Vindicator's Hauberk, Devilshark Cape, Natasha's Battle Chain) with the BoJ items (Faceguard of Determination, the pally tank chest, Slikk's Cloak and one of the BoJ necks).

Here's my armory link: The World of Warcraft Armory

I was saving up for the pally BoJ chest (22 def) but giving up Vindicator's Hauberk (46 def) would put me below 490 defence. I'm quite at a loss as to how to make up for this loss in Def by gemming or swopping my other gear. Feels like its so hard to maintain the 490 def figure whereas it seems from the Tank Gear ranking lists etc that its taken for granted (and hence +12 stam gems are recommended for all sockets).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Irellman]

It would be worth investing in the Gyro-Balanced Khorium Destroyer over your green 'of stamina' item. You can socket this with +8 defense to give you 30 stam and 8 defense.

I like the Wind-Traders Band but consider swapping this for another ring with high defense rating (aran's or badge ring).

Once you are above 490 with your new items, you can change the gem in the Khorium Destroyer to +8 hit or +4def/+6stamina and it will last you until BT

[faitas]

you can also get the merciless shield =)
it has good armor and stam, and the resilience makes up for the defense you need
if I remember correctly, with the shield you only need 471 def

[nuclear-ping]

As I saw you still have the option to put 5 Points to the Anticipation talent in your def tree, taking them from the 5/5 UW in the Fury Tree.

When you lack of defence and can't compensate this through equipment, you should skill the additional 20 Def while getting better equip.

We've got pretty much the same talents (mine: The World of Warcraft Armory).

[Norrath]

Unbridled Wrath is a very poor talent for non-DWers. There is zero reason to take it above Anticipation.

[hbombs]

"you still have the option to put 5 Points to the Anticipation talent"

your problem is right there. you really want the 5 points in anticipation. your goal should be to stop using the 30 def rating trinkets. u need anticipation for this. eventually u can rework talents to take less and less points in it but really its just good to have while gearing up.

edit: another thing is if you want to take the real nice threat gen neck it has zero def rating on it. making anticipation that much better for you

[Andromedea]

Thank you for the advice. I'll be picking up anticipation for sure very soon, and that extra 20 def will come in handy. And yes, I'll drop UW. My current spec was done with 5 man tanking in mind. Now I'm planning to do Gruul's/Mag and take her to SSC?TK eventually.

Even with the 20 def extra tho it feels like I will still be stuck with that Dabiri's trinket once I obtain the pally chest from BoJ (24 def downgrade).

I'll be trying to get mats together for the Khorium Destroyer. Thanks for the gem tip!

I'd love to get Arena gear but sadly, this is my 2nd 70 and I don't have much time (or enough PvP skill) to really do much of that.

Qn: Is there a point gemming the pally chest to obtain the socket bonus in my situation (tight on defence). I hate red sockets... ;p

[Brucimus]

I put the [item]Enchant Bracer - Major Defense[/item] on my [item]Bracers of the Ancient Phalanx[/item] This gives these bracers +35Defense rating ...They already have plenty of stamina on them ...seemed like a good place to stack some defense

[bludwork]

You need a new helm badly, if I were in your shoes I would use [item]Strength of the Untamed[/item] instead. and like everyone says you're not geared enough to not have 5/5 anticipation

[veneretio]

Ya I honestly can't imagine not using 5/5 Anticipation. It's an amazing talent for the tier it's in and not really worth dropping ever.

[Silenus]

Source: Andromedea Thank you for the advice. I'll be picking up anticipation for sure very soon, and that extra 20 def will come in handy. And yes, I'll drop UW. My current spec was done with 5 man tanking in mind. Now I'm planning to do Gruul's/Mag and take her to SSC?TK eventually. Even with the 20 def extra tho it feels like I will still be stuck with that Dabiri's trinket once I obtain the pally chest from BoJ (24 def downgrade). I'll be trying to get mats together for the Khorium Destroyer. Thanks for the gem tip! I'd love to get Arena gear but sadly, this is my 2nd 70 and I don't have much time (or enough PvP skill) to really do much of that. Qn: Is there a point gemming the pally chest to obtain the socket bonus in my situation (tight on defence). I hate red sockets... ;p

I think you might not realize that Anticipation gives you an actual 20 defense SKILL, not rating! 1 Def skill = 2.4 Def rating, which means anticipation is worth 48 defense RATING. Just FYI, thought it might help ease your mind a bit in case you didn't realize! Go ahead and go all stam on the pally chest if you like.

EDIT: realizing that it sounds like u want to change your Dabril to something else too, but should still work out ok.
+ Anticipation (+ 48 def rating)
+ Pally Chest with 3x 12 Stam (+22 Def rating)
- Vindicator's chest (-46 def rating)
- Dabril (and assuming another trink with NO def) (-30 def rating)
Your net change is -6 Defense rating, or 2.5 Defense skill. You'd still be above 490.

[Andromedea]

Source: Silenus I think you might not realize that Anticipation gives you an actual 20 defense SKILL, not rating! 1 Def skill = 2.4 Def rating, which means anticipation is worth 48 defense RATING. Just FYI, thought it might help ease your mind a bit in case you didn't realize! Go ahead and go all stam on the pally chest if you like. EDIT: realizing that it sounds like u want to change your Dabril to something else too, but should still work out ok. + Anticipation (+ 48 def rating) + Pally Chest with 3x 12 Stam (+22 Def rating) - Vindicator's chest (-46 def rating) - Dabril (and assuming another trink with NO def) (-30 def rating) Your net change is -6 Defense rating, or 2.5 Defense skill. You'd still be above 490.

I <3 you, omg.

Thanks!!! I honestly did not realise that, and my noobness quotient just fell a tiny bit thanks to you. ^^