What raids to do? Warrior

[Rinsage]

Hi there. I'm a Warrior Tank (WoW-armory, WoW-heroes)

I need help with, or links to posts:
Enchants - Which one where, how and why?
Gems - always 30 stamina gems untill when?
Gear upgrades - Where and when?*

Money is an problem for now, but I'm levelling mining, herbalism and alchemy on characters.
Have atm: 30 emblem of Frost, 76 Emblem of Triumph. I get 20 Frost and 200-500 triumph a week.

*I've been looking though upgrades in Rawr and noticed there are a few upgrades here and there in instances but only for a few gear. I need help sorting out

So far I've decided to do some naxx 10 and 25 to get a feel or raid tanking and bosses. The rotation is still Shield Slam -> Devestate/revenge + some Demo shout and thunderclap?

If I missed to tell something please ask and I'll answer as soon as possible.

Thanks in advance for any help :-)

[MellvarTank]

I'd recommend getting those professions maxed out (especially blacksmithing for 2 x sockets). Enchants for shoulder are sons of hodir or the pvp enchant from you quartermaster. Get a belt buckle (extra socket) and consider gemming some expertise if you are having threat issues. You should be good to tank all the way up to ICC 10.

[greendragonempire]

500 triumph badges a week will buy alot of gems, that should solve your cash flow problem.

[Rinsage]

Thanks for the quick responses!

I'm leveling professions right now. Taking mining first because of the 30 stamina and blacksmithing gonna take a while. I was under the impression that belt buckle was blacksmiths only? If not, sweet another 30 stamina gem. I don't know about threat problems as I'm unable to join any harder raid then Ulduar 10 as my hp is only 33k they say. Should I refute them and say I'm over/ok geared for ulduar? Working on the PvP enchant also.

Hope the AH prices stay high for quite some time, got another 30 Triuphm so that's like 600g.

Thanks so much

[MellvarTank]

Well I tanked ICC 10 with about 36k unbuffed (I think)?

Expectations are unrealistic right now. I tanked Onyxia with 33k unbuffed in 25-man. It's not always about health, it's about health, armor, avoidance, mitigation, skill. All of those are equally important. If you are a new tank, start in Naxx to get used to raid pulls/groups, move into Ulduar/ToC. Then head into ICC.

The belt buckle is for everyone, the Bracer/Glove Sockets (that you can add) are blacksmith only.

[Rinsage]

Thanks MellvarTank!

.... I tanked Onyxia with 33k unbuffed in 25-man. It's not always about health, it's about health, armor, avoidance, mitigation, skill. ...

Looking at your armory I noticed you have (relative to me):
+1000hp
-2000 armor
+ 9 defence
- 6% dodge
+ 2.51% parry
+ 4.58% block

The one that sticks out is the block and parry which is important for bosses right?
Although, I can get the 1k hp from my 3 to be sockets, get a new weapon and I'm in business?

[fuddjupp]

Block is not important for bosses since it is an inferior mitigation stat (near to useless on most of raidbosses).

Some advice from my side (some things have been mentioned already):

- get Headplate of the Honorbound - Item - World of Warcraft for triumph badges. it will be a nice upgrade for you an hit you with some expertise.
- get a weapon enchant (Bladeward, Mongoose, Bloodraind) and your Hodir shoulder enchant. Remember when you want to raid it's always bad not to have enchanted all your gear
- do NOT gem for parry! http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f63/4...avoidance.html If you need avoid go for dodge. But i would really recommend to use 10exp/15stam gems in your red sockets with red gems offering a stamina bonus. Actually I always go for socket bonus if the bonus ist +6/+9/+12 stamina (although +6 is arguable)

Besides these point your ready to tank every 10 man content available at the moment an ToC 25 shouldn't be a problem too.

[MellvarTank]

Yeah, I just upgraded 3 pieces as well since you had a look at the armory methinks. I just got the headplate of the honorbound, the Spiked choker off Marrowgar, and the Splintered Door of the citadel to replace the crest of Lordaeron.

I don't actively stack block or parry through gemming, but I like bladeward and parry seems to work relatively well for me. That being said, you'll notice that most of my stats are within a few % of each other. I'm a firm believer in balance.

[Rinsage]

Hi again.

I've fixed the head and that removed my last parry gem as you asked.

I did ToGC 25 but wasn't allowed to tank as I had to little hp they said. Is this true? Should I need to stack hp stuff just the the purpose of get into raids and get OT/MT spot? I better just convince them...

Saving the weapon enchant to put blood drain on a weapon with more ILevel then 219 which is kinda low I think. Want the ToC5 sword or something from raid instance.

Oh by the way, watching all tactics from project mammoth, really great. Movie night to be ready to tank in 2 days.

[MellvarTank]

I would recommend running the new heroics, there is a tank sword that drops out of one of them (Rimefang's claw or something like that) that may be what you need if you have problems picking up the PeaceKeeper's blade.

[fuddjupp]

PUGs often rate tanks by their HP without knowing which amount is needed. The problem is that seeing high geared tanks gets PUG-leaders used to high HP numbers. There are PUGs that are unaware that a tank has more to offer than just HP (armor, avoid, etc.).
Your gear it totaly fine to tank the new 5mans, Toc 10 man/ToGC10 and Toc 25. These instances were designed for players wearing items around your item level. You could switch your chest enchant to +275 health if you want to get some more HP though.

I know it's hard to convince others to let you tank but maybe you can try it with accepting an OT role. If you get a chance and prove that you are able (skill!) to tank these instances nobody should question you anymore. Just go out there an play!

Gear upgrades, easy to get:
weapon: Falric's Wrist-Chopper - Item - World of Warcraft --> axe (racial) so awesome for an orc!
alternative weapon: Rimefang's Claw - Item - World of Warcraft but you should REALLY go for the axe
wrist: Saronite Swordbreakers - Item - World of Warcraft
neck: Fossilized Ammonite Choker - Item - World of Warcraft
waist: http://www.wowhead.com/?item=45551

P.S: at least put a weapon chain on your weapon if you want to save the big enchant for your upgrade, unenchanted items just don't look goo.

[Rinsage]

I've gotten the neck after 3 runs, still waiting for the weapon to drop.. Is the neck really an upgrade for me? Or is it marginal?
The wrist costs roughly 2.2k on my server so will wait for those. The waist will cost me 450 gold to gem on top of the 3k to craft it xD always the moneys fault...
Farming for the weapon then I'll be happy

Edit(22Dec):

Got the weapon now! Early Christmas for me

<STRIKE>Shall craft the bracers when I find someone to have the pattern.</STRIKE> Got them crafted, gemed and enchanted.

Also, I want to get blood drainer on the weapon but some people tell me it's useless in higher raid instances as that small amount of health doesn't matter if I get hit for 15k. Otherwise I'll enchant blade ward. What else enchant is there, because Rawr is telling me to enchant moongoose xD

And my friends tells me I need another 5k hp to enter ICC. WoW-heroes on the other hand tells me I'm ready. Which one to trust?
What is the hit cap for taunt by the way? I couldn't find a definite answer here or anywhere else. They tell me that it's very important on some bosses :O Have 151 hit rating for melee(4.61%) and spell (5.76%) some people tell me 17% spell cap which is pretty far away, some say 5% melee... anyone?