Critical Block buff

[Sirloinsteak]

Warrior
Protection
Critical Block: This talent now grants a 20/40/60% chance to block double the normal amount instead of 10/20/30%.


how will this change the way we see block rating ??


i know a lot of warriors including myself have let their block rating become quite low (16-17%) in favor of other stats like dodge, parry and armor ... but critical block does block a hell of a lot of dmg ... are we going to have to go for block rating again or is avoidance still going to be king ??


Discuss

[Kral]

Hi there

I was kinda surprised when i saw this buff

I mean i wasn't expecting it at all.

I always loved block for some reason and after this i think I'm going to focus a bit more on block rating , Currently sitting at 23%(27% with trinket change) while having 24% dodge and 18.50% parry

My block rating is about 1350 , Having 60% chance to block 2700 damage is quite nice (not to mention Shield block , you could block for 5.5k+ unless I'm wrong and critical block can't proc with shied block)

Long story short , I love the change

[Hengist]

I can't understand this change. It makes block even better at thing it used to be good, and its still awful at things it used to be bad.

It is nice that devs want to make something block even before Cataclysm, but that is a wrong way of doing it. I would prefer some consistency instead. Better 1000 blocked every time, than 2000 you can't rely on :/

[Warloco]

Ofcourse you'd rather have consistency. Just Blizzard doesn't agree. Yes blizzard agrees that it would be a better stat if it were consistent, but Blizzard finds that a game requires some RNG. You don't completely ignore dodge/parry, despite it being RNG. Blizzard wants to push block in the same direction.

[Dresk]

Hi there

I was kinda surprised when i saw this buff

I mean i wasn't expecting it at all.

I always loved block for some reason and after this i think I'm going to focus a bit more on block rating , Currently sitting at 23%(27% with trinket change) while having 24% dodge and 18.50% parry

My block rating is about 1350 , Having 60% chance to block 2700 damage is quite nice (not to mention Shield block , you could block for 5.5k+ unless I'm wrong and critical block can't proc with shied block)

Long story short , I love the change

Vezax hits you for 30k (5.5k blocked)

Still seems kinda meh... Great for trash but meh overall.

[Tzobee]

Ofcourse you'd rather have consistency. Just Blizzard doesn't agree. Yes blizzard agrees that it would be a better stat if it were consistent, but Blizzard finds that a game requires some RNG. You don't completely ignore dodge/parry, despite it being RNG. Blizzard wants to push block in the same direction.

Yet Paladins are easily allowed to have a consistent block with the help of avoidance but warriors aren't? Until block is something one can rely on there is no way it will be favoured over armor or stamina.

[Warloco]

Yet Paladins are easily allowed to have a consistent block with the help of avoidance but warriors aren't? Until block is something one can rely on there is no way it will be favoured over armor or stamina.

Ofcourse not, much like dodge/parry arent prefered over those. As for Paladins: Blizzard doesn't like paladins being block capped, and you'll probably see the end of it by the beginning of the next expansion.

[Crommi]

It's not going to change anything, there is not a single piece of gear in ToC with block rating on it. It would be useless anyways since heroic mode bosses hit for massive amounts and it doesn't make any sense to sacrifice EH and avoidance for block.

[Ózy]

What about if Block could work like parry or dodge, i.e. it blocks the whole amount of damage per hit, instead of just a portion of it.

The implications of this would be to have one stat for block only, e.g block chance, similar to shield block rating. The value of shield block chance could affect both; the percentage chance for you to block 'the whole amount of dmg' per attack, plus the value of your shield slam ability.

I have found myself stacking up dodge considerably more than block, partly due to the availability of trinkets. As a warrior tank this seems rather backwards, however i do see dodge as a more preferable damage mitigating stat rather than block value/rating at the moment. Sure you get more rage when u block rather than dodge but i dont struggle for rage, plus Shield Slam gives off enough dmg for me to get a decent threat lead rather than stacking up block value crazily high.

If were talking about tackling heroic raids and new content, avoidance is of course still going to be king, would u rather Shield Slam for 4k and dodge a boss' melee swing of 30k completely, or would u rather Shield Slam for 7.5k and block 5k out of the 30k?

[Regill]

Its a buff, but really doesn't change how heroic raid gearing works. EH, avoidance, threat, then block.

I think I'm gonna be functionally immortal in heroics in Block gear though, lol. If I'm not already. Anyone else only consider a heroic a success when you've bored the healer enough that he starts dpsing?

[Bowen]

A nice little buff, but with the faceroll setting of normal (10/25) TOC there is no point messing around having more block gear ect, and the hardmode is just rockhard hits you cannot afford to drop the EH and AV like others have said for a chance to possibly block 5k damage.

[Warloco]

Items have more than 2 stats, you wouldn't really need to sacrifice any EH for block. See it more as an alternative to dodge/parry/defense than an alternative to stamina/armor.

[Regill]

Items have more than 2 stats, you wouldn't really need to sacrifice any EH for block. See it more as an alternative to dodge/parry/defense than an alternative to stamina/armor.

An excellent pt, but...

Dodge, parry, def, expertise, and hit
all are better than
Block rating / block value.

unless you cap out exper and hit of course, unlikely, in EH gear.

[Warloco]

Block is "cheaper" than dodge/parry, it also has no DR. If the amount blocked is buffed enough, eventually it'll end up beating parry in terms of value. I have done absolutely 0 math to see wether or not that point is anywhere in sight or not, but thats the general idea.

Also keep in mind that which block is in almost all imaginable ways inferior- there is the fact that you have a cooldown that lets you block everything that isnt dodged/parried for 10 seconds. On a fight like Gormak where it's a combination of stuff hitting at the same time, shield block + critical block might just save your life.

If you have, say, 60% avoidance, and 60% critical block- then the chances of you getting neither of those 2 while shield block is up is 16%- which is pretty decent.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this makes block nice- I'm just urging you all to not write it off too easily.

[Bowen]

True warloco, but -

There is literally not a sniff of anything block value/rating in TOC normal so to actually make use of this you would have to downgrade to t8 items, and as we all have seen the jump in stat gains from t8 -> t9 is fairly large.

[acacetus]

I saw this and actually did a little dance in my seat.

Before anyone starts flogging me, let me say that I do understand that EH is King for proggression fights everything I say in the following paragraph is intended for use with 5 man heroics and Naxx.

I currently have a painstakingly put together block offset that is simply great for the vast majority of the tanking I do. I am still looking for a last couple of pieces but currently I am sitting at ~41% to block and 1800 unbuffed block value. I know for me this kit just became ALOT more useful. This actually could make this a viable set even for a few higher end bosses without putting the raid at risk. Probably my best example currently would be something like Emalon add tanking, this would create a situation where the vast majority of the incoming hits would be completely blocked thus making that a HUGE increase in avoidance.

Just my two cents, get to see my soloing and 5 man tank kit take some more hits and i feel more vindicated for hording all that gear i picked up offset.

[Haur]

I saw this and actually did a little dance in my seat.

Before anyone starts flogging me, let me say that I do understand that EH is King for proggression fights everything I say in the following paragraph is intended for use with 5 man heroics and Naxx.

I currently have a painstakingly put together block offset that is simply great for the vast majority of the tanking I do. I am still looking for a last couple of pieces but currently I am sitting at ~41% to block and 1800 unbuffed block value. I know for me this kit just became ALOT more useful. This actually could make this a viable set even for a few higher end bosses without putting the raid at risk. Probably my best example currently would be something like Emalon add tanking, this would create a situation where the vast majority of the incoming hits would be completely blocked thus making that a HUGE increase in avoidance.

Just my two cents, get to see my soloing and 5 man tank kit take some more hits and i feel more vindicated for hording all that gear i picked up offset.

Its fine and all, i also have 103% gear for 5 man heroics and things, but please do note, T9 is not made for 5 man heroics and people that do harder things prefer not to have block on last tier items. Its simply always better to have a chance to fully avoid attack then block 200 from it.
Someone before mentioned that block is cheap, here is link of few items and you can compare them and tell me if its cheap or not?
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=46162 vs Stoneskin Chestplate - Item - World of Warcraft or
Helm of the Faceless - Item - World of Warcraft vs Wrynn's Greathelm of Conquest - Item - World of Warcraft
(yes i know items have different ilevel but i think it obvious on first glance)

[Warloco]

True warloco, but -

There is literally not a sniff of anything block value/rating in TOC normal so to actually make use of this you would have to downgrade to t8 items, and as we all have seen the jump in stat gains from t8 -> t9 is fairly large.

Tier 9 has some SBV pieces though.

[drae]

Ohhh huuzah for making my incoming damage spikier!

-Does Critical block double the reflected damage from reflective block when it procs?
Like normal block for 3k, reflective block for 300 >>> critical block for 6k, reflective block for 600? That would be a nice AoE tps buff, which is a common warrior complaint these days.

-Obviously a huge buff while shield block is active. 6k blocked is a ton of block, even against mobs hitting me for 35k.. that's like 15% less damage; enough to change a 2hit kill to a 3hit kill. It will also make damage incoming much spikier won't it? That won't make my healers much happier :/

[Hengist]

-Obviously a huge buff while shield block is active. 6k blocked is a ton of block, even against mobs hitting me for 35k.. that's like 15% less damage; enough to change a 2hit kill to a 3hit kill. It will also make damage incoming much spikier won't it? That won't make my healers much happier :/

I honestly don't think that can even be called a problem - spiking for less damage at worst can lead to more overhealing. Our worst case scenario, back to back unavoided, unblocked hits remain the same as it were, so if your healers were prepared for that happening before, they still are. That change will make us look bit better in wws reports of damage taken, while not really increasing our chance of surviving.