DK Tank: Gearing Predicament.

[Wilhem]

First off, here is my armory.

Second, don't mind the Shadow's Edge, I only use that for tanking Heroics/VoA/the weekly, etc... (and when I forget and tank through lower spire with it like yesterday...). Normally I use Ramaldini's and am at 28 expertise.

Now on to the predicament. Yesterday I picked up a token for another Sanctified T10 piece and, today I got lucky and picked up the Sanctified tanking legs from VoA25. They aren't really an upgrade (in fact, it seems like a big downgrade with the massive armor loss) but, I was the only DK in the raid so I took them to mess around with them. In fact, it seems as though every Sanctified piece I compare my current gear to seems like a downgrade in one way or the other, nothing appears to be a clear winner over the other gear I have acquired.

So my questions are:

Is the T10 2P tanking bonus (20% to DnD) worth the loss in whatever stat I will lose depending on which piece of gear I switch out?

Am I missing something and the T10.5 gear is actually better than what I have?

Which piece should I pick up with the token I have (Helm, Chest or Gloves) or should I just pick up a DPS Sanctified piece with it?

Thanks!

[Selene]

I personally wouldn't bother with the 2pc bonus, the 4pc bonus however does have potential.
IMO the 2pc bonus is only good for heroics, or AoE fights, where you will be using DnD alot.

[Wilhem]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking... I was trying to remember the last time I used DnD during a boss fight in ICC... I haven't tanked LK on 10 or 25 yet but, i'm sure if I ever do i'll be doing ghouls (I usually tank with a druid or warrior OT)... Just going through the fights in my head I can't think of any fight other than Dreamwalker where I may drop a DnD but, even then I don't really use it.

How effective is that 4 piece bonus? Does it stack with IBF? It seems like a really nice emergency button to add to the arsenal but, with the stats I would have to lose to put on 4 pieces of gear i'm not sure it's worth it... Can anyone speak to that?

Thanks, Selene, you kind of confirmed what I thought.

[gd_void]

I would agree with just Swapping in the t10 pants for Heroics/trash. And As for what Sanc Piece to get i would suggest getting the Gloves, Use the Gloves then aim for a Juggernaut's band from Lady D in icc25, Which would put your .01 below Hit cap if you Replaced two of your hit/sta gems with full STA gems. To gain more HP you could looking an Amour kit for your Glove s(+18 STA) and the pvp shoulder enchant +30STA/15RES

[Wilhem]

I would agree with just Swapping in the t10 pants for Heroics/trash. And As for what Sanc Piece to get i would suggest getting the Gloves, Use the Gloves then aim for a Juggernaut's band from Lady D in icc25, Which would put your .01 below Hit cap if you Replaced two of your hit/sta gems with full STA gems. To gain more HP you could looking an Amour kit for your Glove s(+18 STA) and the pvp shoulder enchant +30STA/15RES

Meh, i'm not too big on the +30 Stam/+15 Res enchant for shoulders.

As far as changing the rings/gloves around, i'd be concerned with the fact that if I switched to the tier gloves i'd lose a socket (30 stamina), 18 stamina in raw stats, and the exact same avoidance i'd get with the Juggernaut band.

Juggernaut Band in place of Abomination's Bloody Ring (Heroic) gives me:
+33 Strength
+48 Parry (.98%)
-6 Stam
-14 Defense.
-20 Dodge (.51%)
-53 Hit

T10.5 Gloves in place of Gauntlets of the Kraken:
+20% damage bonus to DnD.
+17 Defense.
+61 Hit.
-18 Stamina.
-28 Strength.
-48 Parry.
-1 Socket.

Net Gains/Losses:
+20% damage bonus to DnD.
+5 Strength.
+3 Defense.
+8 hit rating.
+0 Parry.
-20 Dodge (.51%).
-24 Stamina.
-1 Socket (amounts to -30 stam).

Seems like a lot of juggling for what turns out to be an avoidance loss as well as losing 54 stamina; or did I mess up my numbers again?

[gd_void]

Shoulder enchant 30 STA
Glove Enchant 18 STA
Bracer Gem Switch 9 STA
Chest Gem Switch 3 STA
----------------------------
Total STA gain 60
----------------------------
Three AGI/STA Gems

If you were to Switch these too Straight STA because you are gemmed for Expertise so you dont need them for your meta

Helm +3STA
Chest + 15STA(because you already broke your SB)
Belt + 6STA
---------------------
Total Gain 24
+60 From the Former changes
---------------------------
84 STA Gain While you do loose Avoidance and a might bit of Armour I would say that 840HP Before Spec/enchant/buff's Is worth more then maybe 1% Dodge

Edit:
That's 1182HP Using The Formula from The Why we do what we do thread*

[Schmevan]

The armor on the pants is deceptive due to frost presence, which doesn't affect green armor numbers

[Wilhem]

Thank you for your reply and in depth looking at the numbers... I've kind of become accustomed to how I'm hemmed and being hit/expertise capped... I know many tanks aren't... I suppose switching some gems around wouldn't be the end of the world... Some fights I can push upwards of 14k TPS if need be... Most of the time that's not necessary though, heh.

I'm still not sold on the shoulder enchant swap, though. Seems like a form over function thing to me, maybe I'm wrong though.

Thanks again. I will take a closer look when I get home.