[Ciderhelm]

Spell Resistance is most beneficial for encounters that involve heavy, tank-directed spell damage. It becomes increasingly more effective for the encounter if most or all incoming damage is elemental, such as Hydross and Illidan.

Party or raid-wide elemental damage does not always necessitate or benefit from heavy Spell Resistance gear on the tanks. For example, Hex Lord Malacrass and Sapphiron both use raid-wide spell damage but still primarily use Physical damage on the tank. In these situations, it is more effective to wear full tanking gear (with an emphasis on Health) and only add Resistance gear when you clearly surpass gearing requirements.

Some encounters -- Hydross and Illidan in particular -- benefit from 490 Defense or a combination of Defense and Resilience to reach the Crit Reduction minimums. To achieve this, one of the most cost effective pieces of gear is an Arena shield providing both Resilience and high Health. If you fall just short of the recommendations, it is ok to be slightly short on Crit Reduction for Illidan or Resistance for Hydross; this is survivable burst damage on Hydross and Illidan, but be sure to reach the minimums as soon as possible. Be aware that Mother Shahraz off-tanks wearing Shadow Resist gear do not need to worry about Crit Reduction, as NPCs cannot Crit with special abilities.

Please note that Avoidance is still effective against elementals such as Hydross and Illidan flames. However, Shield Block is not, and the Shield Block ability should not be used. In some situations where gearing minimums are met it is possible to effectively dual wield for additional Threat.

The maximum effective resistance for a level 73 target is 365 Resistance. 365 Resistance will, on average, reduce 75% of incoming damage. With raid buffs from other classes (particularly Paladins and Shamans), 295 Resistance on gear will allow you to reach the 365 cap.



Resistance Gear (Frost, Hydross)
[item]Iceguard Leggings[/item] - Blacksmithing - Violet Eye Exalted Reputation
[item]Iceguard Breastplate[/item] - Blacksmithing - Violet Eye Exalted Reputation
[item]Iceguard Helm[/item] - Blacksmithing - Violet Eye Exalted Reputation
[item]The Frozen Eye[/item] - Jewelcrafting - Violet Eye Honored Reputation
[item]Pendant of Thawing[/item] - Jewelcrafting - Lower City Revered Reputation
[item]Inscription of Endurance[/item] - Violet Eye Honored Reputation
[item]Glyph of Frost Warding[/item] - Keepers of Time Honored Reputation
[item]Frost Armor Kit[/item]x4 - Leatherworking

Crafting Totals
48 Khorium Ore, 4 Eternium Ore, 6 Fel Iron Ore, 4 Khorium Ore, 3 Primal Nether, 6 Primal Water, 64 Primal Fire, 5 Primal Earth, 20 Adamantite Powder, 16 Heavy Knothide Leather



Resistance Gear (Nature, Hydross)
[item]Wildguard Leggings[/item] - Blacksmithing - Cenarion Expedition Exalted Reputation
[item]Wildguard Breastplate[/item] - Blacksmithing - Cenarion Expedition Exalted Reputation
[item]Wildguard Helm[/item] - Blacksmithing - Cenarion Expedition Exalted Reputation
[item]The Natural Ward[/item] - Jewelcrafting - Cenarion Expedition Exalted Reputation
[item]Pendant of Withering[/item] - Jewelcrafting - Scryer Revered Reputation
[item]Inscription of Endurance[/item] - Violet Eye Honored Reputation
[item]Glyph of Nature Warding[/item] - Cenarion Expedition Honored Reputation
[item]Nature Armor Kit[/item]x4 - Leatherworking

Crafting Totals
104 Eternium Ore, 156 Fel Iron Ore, 3 Primal Nether, 46 Primal Life, 64 Primal Shadow, 5 Primal Earth, 20 Adamantite Powder, 16 Heavy Knothide Leather



Resistance Gear (Shadow, Mother Shahraz)
[item]Shadesteel Greaves[/item] - Blacksmithing - Ashtongue Deathsworn Honored Reputation
[item]Shadesteel Sabots[/item] - Blacksmithing - Ashtongue Deathsworn Honored Reputation
[item]Shadesteel Girdle[/item] - Blacksmithing - Ashtongue Deathsworn Friendly Reputation
[item]Shadesteel Bracers[/item] - Blacksmithing - Ashtongue Deathsworn Friendly Reputation
[item]Night's End[/item] - Tailoring - Ashtongue Deathsworn Honored Reputation
[item]Blessed Medallion of Karabor[/item] - "A Distraction for Akama" Quest Reward

Crafting Totals
9 Heart of Darkness, 5 Void Crystal, 28 Adamantite Bar, 18 Primal Shadow, 13 Primal Life, 1 Bolt of Imbued Netherweave



Resistance Gear (Fire, Illidan)
[item]Inferno Tempered Chestguard[/item] - G'eras - 30 Badges
[item]Inferno Tempered Leggings[/item] - G'eras - 30 Badges
[item]Inferno Tempered Boots[/item] - G'eras - 20 Badges
[item]Inferno Tempered Gauntlets[/item] - G'eras - 20 Badges
[item]Flamebane Helm[/item] - Blacksmithing - Aldor Exalted Reputation
[item]Lesser Arcanum of Resilience[/item] - Libram Quest Reward
[item]Glyph of Fire Warding[/item] - Honor Hold or Thrallmar Honored Reputation
[item]Flame Armor Kit[/item]x2 - Leatherworking

Crafting Totals
12 Fel Iron Bar, 9 Primal Water, 3 Primal Fire, 4 Heavy Knothide Leather, 1 Libram of Resilience (Requires: 1 Black Diamond, 4 Crystal Spire, 1 Burning Essence)


Optional Replacements
There are several options for Fire Resistance gearing thanks to a crafted Blacksmith set. One particular trade-off, depending on available Defense/Resilience gear, is that it can be more beneficial to socket [item]Flamebane Gloves[/item] for Resilience than using the badge-bought gear. Here is a list of valuable replacements to consider when putting a set together.

[item]The Fel Barrier[/item] - Nexus-Prince Shaffar (Heroic Mana-Tombs)
[item]Flamebane Gloves[/item] - Blacksmithing - Aldor Honored Reputation
[item]Flamebane Bracers[/item] - Blacksmithing - Aldor Friendly Reputation
[item]Flamebane Breastplate[/item] - Blacksmithing - Aldor Revered Reputation
[item]Formula: Enchant Cloak - Greater Fire Resistance[/item] - Enchanting - Cenarion Circle Friendly Reputation



Mechanical Implementation (Theory)
Blizzard has explicitly detailed the mechanical implementation of Spell Resistances. The following is pulled from their Resistances page:

When hit by a spell, you have two chances to resist the spell. The first chance is based on your level. If you are much higher level than the attacking caster, you will have a significant chance to resist the caster's spell, but if you are much lower level, you will have a minimal chance to resist the spell (minimum of 1%). If you make this resistance chance, you are completely unaffected by the spell. The second chance to resist is based on your resistance score and the level of the caster. The higher your resistance score in relation to the level of the attacking caster, the higher your average resistance percentage, up to a maximum of 75%. Against most spells, this resistance percentage is the straight % chance to completely resist the spell. Against direct-damage spells (spells that deliver their full damage upon impact, such as Fireball, Mind Blast, and Earth Shock), this resistance is the percentage of damage you will resist on average. When hit by a spell, you have two chances to resist the spell. The first chance is based on your level. If you are much higher level than the attacking caster, you will have a significant chance to resist the caster's spell, but if you are much lower level, you will have a minimal chance to resist the spell (minimum of 1%). If you make this resistance chance, you are completely unaffected by the spell. When you are hit by a direct-damage spell, you have a chance to resist 100%, 75%, 50%, 25%, or 0% of the spell's damage, depending on your resistance score in relation to the level of the attacking caster. Your average percentage of damage resisted is the weighted average of your resistance percentages for each level of damage resistance (100%, 75%, 50%, 25%, and 0%). Using, as an example, a fire resistance score of 250 vs. a level-50 mage's fire spell, you would on average resist roughly 75% of the damage of that spell (as can be deduced by calculating the weighted average for the corresponding column in the example table below). To further the example, if you had fire resistance of 100, you would, on average, resist roughly 30% of the spell's damage.

Sources
Hydross gear set lists I worked with were originally posted on Wowhead by Immortares (WoW-EU Twisting Nether).

[Ciderhelm]

The above is part of the Warrior Reference update. However, I'm moving it to the Gear forums as it's more likely people will be checking here. Hope it helps!

[Corbusier]

Nice Cider.

[Shorty]

I haven't done the maths but just wondering if there was any reason you didnt mention the nature and frost armour patches? Also, especially if you're add tanking the void sphere-gems that add to all resistances can be really helpful.

[Ciderhelm]

Source: Shorty I haven't done the maths but just wondering if there was any reason you didnt mention the nature and frost armour patches? Also, especially if you're add tanking the void sphere-gems that add to all resistances can be really helpful.

To be honest, I haven't geared for Hydross due to not playing at release (because of this I was an off-tank on the fight and did not gear for resists). As I cited, I'm using a post on wowhead which seemed to cover the bases. If you guys would help me specifically for Hydross gear it'd be a big help.

Can you give me names and/or links to the gear?

[Shorty]

Frost Armor Kit - Item - World of Warcraft -- frost armor kit
Nature Armor Kit - Item - World of Warcraft -- nature armor kit

Void Sphere - Item - World of Warcraft -- void sphere +4 resist all

Also, Steelweave (Formula: Enchant Cloak - Steelweave - Item - World of Warcraft) is also really helpful for getting crit immune

As chatted about, I'll get you the lists for our add and main hydross tanks and PM you the details over the weekend.

[Ciderhelm]

Shorty, the Armor Kits put the listed set at just above 365 where they need to be. Thanks!

[Nuberino]

For fire don't forget for flexibility (and ease to get):

[item]Phoenix-fire Band[/item] -- Trial of the Naaru: Magtheridon
[item]Amulet of the Torn-heart[/item] -- The Cipher of Damnation

[Thist]

Is there really no use for Arcane resist? I made a set for fun, was a little harder because there are no raid buffs so it must be 365 base, not 295, but I have 490 def in it (only 12k health though, ugh).

Editing to add something I thought of when I read the Shadow part - nobody ever makes and uses the pants according to the tanks of top 3 guilds on my server. Thats 3 less hearts of darkness to buy if you don't have any other way to get them :-)

[Brogan]

Source: Thist Is there really no use for Arcane resist? I made a set for fun, was a little harder because there are no raid buffs so it must be 365 base, not 295, but I have 490 def in it (only 12k health though, ugh).

Back in the day I put together a set just to tank the arcane anomaly's right before curator in karazhan, that was silly. Now I find it very useful for Vexallus in heroic magisters terrace, but thats the only other use I've ever found.

[sibyll]

[Inferno Forged Hauberk] - G'eras - 30 Badges [Inferno Forged Leggings] - G'eras - 30 Badges [Inferno Forged Boots] - G'eras - 20 Badges [Inferno Forged Gloves] - G'eras - 20 Badges Reputation

These items linked are the mail FR pieces. The plate FR pieces are:
inferno tempered - Wowhead Search

[Ciderhelm]

Source: sibyll These items linked are the mail FR pieces. The plate FR pieces are: inferno tempered - Wowhead Search

I blame Temig for failing me on vent last night. Thanks.

[Rampart]

Arcane Resist is helpful for the Kalecgos fight. But you don't need obscene amounts of it. From what a friend has told me, the tanks used [item]Violet Badge[/item], and everyone else used [item]Cloak of Arcane Evasion[/item] along with the +15 AR enchant as well.

[Thugs]

Just quick note on the Fire Res Gear set. Don't forget to add the fire resistance on cloak enchant to the list. It's called "Enchant Cloak - Greater Fire Resistance" and gives 15 FR to the back-piece which I think is the best you get get for that slott in a fire resistance set.

Secondly, having the [item]Battleworn Tuskguard[/item] is quite awesome with the FR enchant nice it's changes in Patch 2.4. Comparing this helm with the [item]Flamebane Helm[/item]:

Gain
+ 425 Armor
+ 41 Stam
+ 40 Def. rating
+ 23 Dodge rating
+ 51 BV

Lose
- 40 Fire resistance

Both offer high flexibility with the three gem slots so I'll disregard that here. I would probably place the +6 stamina bonus you can get from the Tuskguard higher than +4 hit rating however.

The 40FR is of course a very valuable stat, but still, on Illidan you want to achieve crit. immunity against the mobs there. Even at the FR and crit cap you will take a beating. Stamina is also very welcome to have. This put's very high demands on your remaining gear to compensate for these lost stats.

Two items I've found post killing illidan are:

1. [item]Signet of Eternal Life[/item]
2. [item]Cloak of Blade Turning[/item]

These give you a total of 59 resilience rating and lower the defence cap needed to 453. This equals 90 defence rating for the pure "crit immunity", yet will of course offer zero avoidance. Still, the items are of high level and also have high stamina witch is good for the Illidan fight.

Basically you want to look at the given slot and what is best for that one. Chest - 150 HP, 15 defence or 8 FR. Well since you can compare this to say the cloak where only can get 12 defence yet 15 FR, having FR on the chest is quite a stupid move to make. Here I'd choose defence or HP if you can reach the defence cap in another manner.

Puzzling the pieces right for you set makes quite a difference. I've got around 20K HP buffed in my FR gear which is more than needed, but it helps. I would personally avoid the [item]Flamebane Helm[/item] since I get see it fit in very well with out gimping other stats.

In my current set, swapping that and this chaning gear around to compensate for what I loose and gain with it I'd be seeing:

Gains
+ 2 dodge
+ 2 FR
+ 41 hit

Loses
- 425 Armor
- 27 stam
- 7 def
- 51 BV

Probably more threat but less survivability, thus nothing really I'd want to do.

Edit: Seems you forgot to mention the [item]Amulet of the Torn-heart[/item]. It's a quest reward I think where there also is a JC cratable one very much like the ones used for Nature and Frost resistance. Also killing Maggie gives you the [item]Phoenix-fire Band[/item] which is very useful also. Someone else pointed that out but it's worth repeating.

The epic resistance shield [item]The Fel Barrier[/item] I think has little use in the FR set seing a piece like [item]Kaz'rogal's Hardened Heart[/item] bring much more stats to the given slott. This became quite a long note

[Bruizer]

For Fire Resistance, you might also want to consider the relatively easily accessible [item]Wyrmcultist's Cloak[/item] which you can purchase from the Wyrmcult Provisioner in the cave in Blade's Edge Mountains (32, 33) once you've gathered 5 costume scraps to create an Overseer Disguise.

[Bodasafa]

I heard you need over 450 arcane resist for the solar fight in TK as the MT. Due to a debuff.

I have a set built that allows for 490 arcane resistance. It has all the scryer blacksmith crafted enchanted adamantite peices, plus some other stuff.

[Thist]

Puzzling the pieces right for you set makes quite a difference. I've got around 20K HP unbuffed in my FR gear which is more than needed, but it helps. I would personally avoid the [Flambane Heml] since I get see it fit in very well with out gimping other stats.

Wow! I have just got 14k health in mine - please can you link the whole thing?

[Hypatia]

Source: Bodasafa I heard you need over 450 arcane resist for the solar fight in TK as the MT. Due to a debuff. I have a set built that allows for 490 arcane resistance. It has all the scryer blacksmith crafted enchanted adamantite peices, plus some other stuff.

This is extremely old information, on a different version of the fight. It is no longer true.

[Negation]

So just how important is having 365 resistance versus 364? I've never really seen an effective calculator for resistance, and haven't seen the difference explained well. Some sources say the last point is the difference between 50% reduction and 75%, and others say the single-point difference is negligible, and scales on a curve similar to armor.

My guild is going to make our first attempts at Hydross tonight, and as the frost tank, I've been looking for information to finally figure out the difference. I currently sit at 364 Frost resist buffed (once I get my final shield enchant), and have a frost kit left over. If I put the last frost kit on my gloves, I'll be way over the cap, so I could do one of two things:

1) Wear my regular tank shoulders instead of my special resist shoulders, and keep my legs/gloves with the frost kits, putting me at exactly 365, or
2) Put a Nethercleft Armor Kit on my legs, and the last frost kit on my gloves, and sit at 364.

Is there any reason not to do the second option? The Nethercleft seems too good to pass up, unless of course the very last point is as important as some people say it is.

[Thugs]

Source: Thist Wow! I have just got 14k health in mine - please can you link the whole thing?

I noticed a typo in my reply. I of course have around 20K HP fully buffed it the flight

My items include:
[item]Battleworn Tuskguard[/item] +20FR
[item]Amulet of the Torn-heart[/item]
[item]Onslaught shoulderguards[/item] +15 def, +10 dodge
[item]Slikk's Cloak of Placation[/item] +15 FR
[item]Inferno Tempered Chestguard[/item] +15 def
[item]Eternium Shell Bracers[/item] +12 stam
[item]Inferno Tempered Gauntlets[/item] +8 FR
[item]Girdle of Stability[/item]
[item]Inferno Tempered Leggings[/item] +40 stam, +12 agi
[item]Inferno Tempered Boots[/item] +12 stam
[item]Band of the Eternal Defender[/item]
[item]Phoenix-fire Band[/item]
[item]Scarab of Displacement[/item]
[item]Commendation of Kael'thas[/item]
[item]The Brutalizer[/item] +Mongoose
[item]Kaz'rogal's Hardened Heart[/item] +18 stam
[item]Rifle of the Stoic Guardian[/item]

In terms of gems I almost only use +15 stam except for the head which has a [item]Regal Nightseye[/item], [item]Enduring Seaspray Emerald[/item] and a [item]Solid Star of Elune[/item]. This takes me to the defence cap with a flask and gives me the socket bonus of 6 stamina.

Unbuffed I'm at 15.4K HP, 297FR and 488 defence which is good enough, but could be improved a bit if I got around to shift a few items around. For instance putting in [item]Signet of Eternal Life[/item] and [item]Cloak of Blade Turning[/item] would give me about 600 more HP but my avoidance would drop to 38% instead of just below 44% like I have now. I'm not sure what serves best in this fight, I know avoidance helps for sure.

Source: Negation My guild is going to make our first attempts at Hydross tonight…

There is a huge difference between the Hydross and Illidan fight in terms of requirements. I've never and I mean never killed Hydross resistance OR defence capped. I've been the realm of 300 Nature resistance and about 485 defence and had no issues tanking him or seeing insane burst damage. I'd opt. for high survivality through stamina rather than 8 resistance to be honest.

Last time we killed him I think the other MT had like 465 defence or something cause he forgot a trinket. He might have been lucky but I saw no crits in the recount report and to my knowledge he doesn't do that anymore (crit nor crush). On a few attempts we've had off-tanks with out res-gear all together. It works quite fine as long as they are a little careful with the amount of mobs they pick up and that they are at a T4/T5 gear level.

My experience from Hydross is perhaps the fact I never did him before he got hugely nerfed (or so it seems at least). Other resistance fights are however not to be take as lightly.