DK 3.2 - Defense Concern - ToCr 10/25

Hello,

This post is about the 540 Defense and would it benefit in damage mitigation if I were to gem higher? Or should I be more concerned with my stamina and other stats. My goal overall is to prevent myself being too "squishy", as criticized by a member of the raid. Some haven't said that yet, but if I can just figure out what would be a good mitigation of receiving less damage, then let me know. I tanked ToCr successfully up to Faction Champions, but I'd like to make myself easier to heal..

So, I've been snooping around armories of various DKs on the realm, and seen a variety different stats. One DK is packing 569 Defense Rating, while one of the higher end guild DK has 549. My DK has 545 D.

Please check my Wowarmory.com if you can. Maybe there's another point that I missing, like low armor? missing talent? Or even the spec? I really enjoy Blood specialization! Maybe there's a great model Blood Tank to look at, then that would be helpful!


Thank you so much!
(I've only started tanking for almost 2 months, and learning what I can to be better at it!)

There is no 'cap' on defense, there is no harm in going over the 540 crit immunity, but I personally wouldn't gem for pure 16/20 defense gems. If you're looking at gemming defense, use the defense/stam in yellow sockets if you're going for the socket bonus. More defense rating will still increase your dodge, parry and miss chances.

There's also quite a bit of defense rating on the new plate tanking items in ToC10/25 so don't be surprised to see your defense go up quite a bit.

More defense won't get you less "squishy". ToCr Bosses seem to get some big hits on the tank no matter whch gear they have.
Getting more stamina is the thin most Tanks will do since a bigger HP Pool will let you live through more Hits and eventually give the healers a chance to heal you. Geting defgems is not that great since def also gives you parry which is a wasted stat. If you want to push avoidance get Dodge only or Dodge Stamina gems. I always prefer stamina gems over those though.

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Originally Posted by Missgunst

More defense won't get you less "squishy". ToCr Bosses seem to get some big hits on the tank no matter whch gear they have.
Getting more stamina is the thin most Tanks will do since a bigger HP Pool will let you live through more Hits and eventually give the healers a chance to heal you. Geting defgems is not that great since def also gives you Block which is a wasted stat. If you want to push avoidance get Dodge only or Dodge Stamina gems. I always prefer stamina gems over those though.

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Just wanted to make sure that people didn't read into your response wrong.

No, I believe you didn't get the whole post. DK's get 25% of their strength as parry which is subject to diminishing returns. Therefore, getting more parry is not exactly a waste as block, but it's not as effective as pure dodge, given that the parry portion of the defense is likely being subjected to diminishing returns. The golden rule of "not gemming for parry" is still in effect for DKs for this reason.

Incidentally, the benefit to getting over 540 defense is in the 5th effect of defense, increasing chance to be missed. This is why even druids benefit from some defense even they don't need any. However, this is also subject to diminishing returns...

No, I believe you didn't get the whole post. DK's get 25% of their strength as parry which is subject to diminishing returns. Therefore, getting more parry is not exactly a waste as block, but it's not as effective as pure dodge, given that the parry portion of the defense is likely being subjected to diminishing returns. The golden rule of "not gemming for parry" is still in effect for DKs for this reason.

Incidentally, the benefit to getting over 540 defense is in the 5th effect of defense, increasing chance to be missed. This is why even druids benefit from some defense even they don't need any. However, this is also subject to diminishing returns...