Leg armor. Too many choices.

[Mornak]

My warrior has both the Unwavering Legguards and Sunguard Legplates badge items. The Unwavering has 3x 12 stamina gems (had em before we started getting epic gems, and since they aren't my main leg item, haven't put +15s in) and the Sunguard has +15 stam and a +4 dodge/+6 stam gem. Last night Shade of Akama dropped Praetorian's Legguards and after tanks declined a need roll due to having badge legs, we did greed rolls on the item. I won. At first I thought I'd smack three +15 stams in there and call it good, but after discussing with our MT, we both thought they'd make a pretty nice avoidance piece. So I'm thinking +10 dodge and something for the two yellow slots, but what? Go all stam or gem avoidance? Suggestions? Thanks -

[ebs2002]

[item]Unwavering Legguards[/item]
[item]Sunguard Legplates[/item]
[item]Praetorian's Legguards[/item]
Ungemmed, the prae's legs have 1.85% dodge, 1.82% parry, and 18hit.
Ungemmed, the sunguard legs have 1.85% dodge, and 2.18% avoid from defense, and 23 expertise.
Ungemmed, the unwavering legs have 1.16% from defense, and 59 bv.

The sunguard legs have 3 more sta and 0.36% more avoidance. If you popped in 10def/10def/10dodge in your prae legs, you'd pick up 1% from dodge and 0.52% dodge, giving you 1.16% more avoidance (less the gems from your prae's, for about 1% more).

So, you'd gain 1% more avoidance than your current piece, and lose a bit of stamina, and trade 18 hit rating for 23 expertise (not a HUGE loss, but a loss nonetheless).

Personally, I say it's worth it for an avoidance fight if you have the gems available, but I myself wouldn't because epic gems aren't easy to come by for me.

[Daimon]

Correct me if i'm wrong but, since Sunguard are well loaded with +def they make (like Stoicism chest) a good stacking slot for defense and save the rest for other options after you reach 490+. So if you already are good in def there is no need to use them, and praetorians are perfect for having a load on expertise (a stat not ez to get overall). So i'd use Preatorian w 15stam gems all over.
For instance, maibe if you are a JC or Alch with the defense trinket you can afford not using the Sunguard and have build with a different dynamic.
Overall i'm saying none is better than the other but different, still assuming 15stam gems in both. Personally i'd take the praetorian ones, is easier to get 18+hit than +23exp, and solely +parry is also a pain to get.

[ebs2002]

Correct me if i'm wrong but, since Sunguard are well loaded with +def they make (like Stoicism chest) a good stacking slot for defense and save the rest for other options after you reach 490+. So if you already are good in def there is no need to use them

You're correct that the high amount of defense makes it easier for you to stay over 490 and swap around other slots. You are not correct in your conclusion that "if you are already good in def there is no need to use them". Defense is almost as effective as dodge, and has benefits that dodge doesn't give:
1) If you are stunned, you can't dodge an attack and your dodge rating/parry rating is worthless. If you are stunned, you can still be missed, and so your avoidance based on defense is still 33% effective.
2) Defense helps you avoid crushes more often against bosses that attack faster than shield block can be refreshed.

You get this, and only sacrifice a small amount of avoidance (100 defense rating = 42.3 defense skill = 5.07% avoidance; 100 dodge rating = 5.28% avoidance. Not a huge difference).

So you shouldn't "ignore defense" over 490. If you can get an equal amount of dodge it's better, but if you can't, then defense is still an excellent avoidance attribute.

[Sarris]

Of the 3 listed above, if you toss in T6 pants, what would you use on progression boss fights? I have the Sunguard myself, but I might have a shot at t6 pants. I like Sunguards expertise, which if I lost would bring me down in the 20s, I think I am around 43 with them on.

[Daimon]

oh don't get me wrong, every set I have keeps between 500-520; I never said ignore over 490, just to save slots for other stats, anyway almost every combination of tanking gear (decent tanking gear) don't get static at 490, you easily pass the 500 at t5+ without even notice.
Is true I forgot the miss value inherit in defense, which maibe want to look for a mainly defense build in some specific fights where you get stunned a lot. For now i only remember trash fighs though, in which +threat is better, if then the healers can't keep an stunned tank up, they should be replace.

Does any1 know what % part of def is pure +miss?

[ebs2002]

1/3d of the total avoidance. Or, 0.04% for each defense point.

And I can foresee situations where you'll be tanking with 550 avoidance and it being the right choice: namely, if you have a lot of high-defense items in your avoidance set (which there's nothing wrong with). Personally, I'm over 520 in my avoidance set (by a little).