[Tanking] Where do I currently stand?

[Cutpaper]

First of all, I know the title isn't really the most descriptive. But as I have some questions about random things, and that I ask for peoples suggestions, I wasn't sure what to name the topic.

A while back I made a thread asking if I had the gear required to be able to tank Icecrown Citadel(10). Some very helpful people shared their thoughts and opinions, which was to a lot of help for me. I would like to think that I learned something from it. But here I am again, I would want some help, I'm being torn asunder by what I know, and what I think I know.

Toffsen of Doomhammer [EU].
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With the upcoming patch that turns emblems into gold and/or justice points, I'm not quite sure what I should spend my emblems on.

I currently have this chestpiece, but I'm boggled to whether I should take this or if I should go for this. The Cataclysmic Chestguard would seem to be the best immediate upgrade, but seeing as I could get the entire t10 set as soon as the patch hits, should I still take it or should I go with Ymirjar Lord's Breastplate?

I'm mainly worried about the defense loss from taking Ymirjar Lord's Breastplate, but if I would get the entire Ymirjar Lord's armor set, I should still be defense capped for raids. Any thoughts on this?
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Let's backtrack to my previous thread a bit. I've tanked Icecrown Citadel(10) a few times and off-tanked Icecrown Citadel(25) a little. So with my current gear, roughly how far should I be able to go? I feel confident enough to think that I would be able to tank Sindragosa, but I have some doubts about Lich King. I have yet to take him down on my Mage, so I'm still trying to get a hang of the entire fight.

I feel confident enough that I would be able to tank at least 6 bosses in Icecrown Citadel(25), all from Lord Marrowgar up to Festergut and Rotface. But perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself a little? I would love to hear your thoughts about this.
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I'm currently using these macros, as they are the only ones I've looked into that did me any good. But I'm far from an expert when it comes to macros, so could these be improved in any way? And are there any macros you would say I should look into?

#showtooltip Retaliation
/cast Battle Stance
/cast Retaliation

There isn't a whole lot to say about that one. I simply use it before a boss fight, or a AoE pull. (I switch back to Defensive Stance as well, of course, but I felt it was a bit too messy to include both stances in one macro. I have the macro above and Defensive Stance bound to my mouse, so they're both easy to reach.)

#showtooltip Heroic Throw
/cast [target=mouseover, harm, nodead] Heroic Throw

I found it a bit easier to only have to hold my mouse above the target and hit my Heroic Throw button than it was to target the mob then use Heroic Throw.

#showtooltip Intervene
/cast [target=mouseover, noharm, nodead] Intervene

This one is the same as Heroic Throw, I felt it was easier for me to hold the mouse over the person I wanted to Intervene, instead of having to target them.

#showtooltip Taunt
/cast [target=mouseover, harm, nodead] Taunt

Again, this was more useful to me than me having to target the mob and use Taunt.

#showtooltip Vigilance
/cast Vigilance
/me casts Vigilance on %t.

I used to have vigilance on [target=mouseover] as well but I copied a guildie of mine to make it say "Toffsen casts Vigilance on <target>", but I have no idea to make it say who I cast vigilance on then. "/me casts Vigilance on [target=mouseover]." didn't work quite as I had hoped. The emote came out as "Toffsen casts Vigilance on [target=mouseover]."

I also have some random macros to help me out in various heroics, raids and such.
Take Heroic Halls of Reflection as any example.

/party Please, prioritize Shadowy Mercenary and then Ghostly Priest. Footmen before Riflemen and Mages. I can keep the priest stunned/interrupted, tanking the footmen and riflemen, and I can spell reflect mages.

/party Please, prioritize Lumbering Abominations before Risen Witch Doctors. I can interrupt/stun the Risen Witch Doctors, and I will be able to get some aggro before you start nuking them.

Some people might disagree with the kill order, but this is the way that works the best for me.
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Also, I am aware of that I could back down to 536 defense due to the +15 resilience enchant on my shoulders. But, I've heard rumors how that isn't true in the next patch, and as I play in the fashion "better safe than sorry", I decided that I will stay above 540 defense. And I know one persons gear say little about if they actually are any good, and I would consider myself to be a decent tank. So there's no need to point that out, I'm well aware of that. The question about how far I would be able to tank in Icecrown Citadel(10 and 25) would best be answered with that in mind.

And for the GearScore horny people, I am up at 5615gs.
(It feels like there's something I forgot, but I can't for the life of me figure out what. So stay tuned for updates. ^^)

[Lynnx]

As far as the chest piece goes, if you are adament about buying one get the Cataclysmic Chestguard, it outshines the t10 251 piece in too many ways to be ignored.

Concerning the badges or gold issue, thats your call, if you feel you are low on gold then might want to hang on to as much as possible, or if you arent then spend the emblems, its not like they will be worth much in Cata. Historically Blizzard will dump an entire set of gear on you in the expansion before you hit 81 anyways, so spending emblems now could turn out to be a waste. That is something you will have to decide. If you are still planning on pushing through ICC or RS progression its my recommendation that you still upgrade whatever you can, gold is easy to come by, and should never dictate guild progression.

For the macros, the only ones i personally use are macroing Heroic Strike to devastate, shield slam, and revenge. Not sure how this will pan out with the new cd on HS after 4.0.1 hits, will have to see.

Concerning the resilience issue, yes after 4.0.1 lands, resilience will no longer reduce the chance to be critically hit, this means for pve tanking reasons it will be worthless. On the same note though, with the same patch, defense rating is disappearing from gear. Not sure exactly how this works for tanks, but im sure there will just be some passive thing that will not allow mobs 3 levels higher than you or lower, aka up to boss fights, to crit you anymore (kind of how crushing blows work). So resilience and dropping below the defense cap wont be an issue because there wont be a defense cap to stress over.

[Michultradk]

Maybe I am thinking wrong myself, but I make no decisions now for my toon with CATA in mind, I still do everything like there is no expansion. (again maybe thats wrong)
According to http://wow-heroes.com/ you are more than ready for ICC 10 and 25 man full clears, of course we are all bound by the raid composition and that will most likely hold you back for some time depending on the strength of your guild/group. I see nothing you can do but keep plugging away at better gear and more raid XP until you finally find the right combination, that being of course 19/24 other players that dedicate themselves weekly to acheiving their goals. Since I have a small guild I have for a large part had to meet people by pugging raids and it has worked out in some ways, but in others it hasn't been so good. I still don't have my 25man KS and 8/12 HM 10man , 5/12 HM 25man is really not where I should be, but like you I keep plugging along.
Good luck

[Cutpaper]

Ah, a big thanks to both Lynnx and Michiltradk. I will get the chestpiece as soon as emblems/justice points allows for it.
I'm not too concerned about gold, "easy come, easy go". And I do realize the gear will get replaced in a not too distant future, but till that time arrives, I intend to experience as much as I possibly can and have a lot of fun in the process.

I'm a bit like you there Michdultradk, I don't have any concern about Cataclysm (other than the standard "what in the name of toffsen should i name my worgen!?" issue). Again, thanks, I really appreciate it.

[ironsides]

I have also heard rumors that with bloodrage being removed in 4.0.1 will make our 4 pc unusable (C/d?) if this is the case using 4 pc is actually not a good idea and it would be better to just go with 2 pc then offpieces from icc. (unless of course you can get these offpieces and have badges to spare.) With the removal of defense rating to be uncrittable your going to want to just go all stam and activate the meta (stam to shield as well) I understand you are low on defense and that's why your enchants are how they are.

And the massive armor on the Cata chest + stam increase is awesome, I used that chest for a long time and didn't actually replace it until I got a heroic 277 Tier token for 2 pc, I replaced gloves first because of the aditional armor. But in all likelyhood you will be using that chest til Cata hits and it is very worth it.

[Cutpaper]

Hmm, really now? I haven't heard that Bloodrage was removed myself, but then again, I don't look into these things. I'm more the type of person that awaits to get a bit of a surprise (even though rumors, theories and leaks are going around).

But I might actually really have to look into things a bit for once. Thanks for your input though, I really appreciate it.

[robbymo]

On the PTR the four set bonus is activated with either Commanding or Battle shout.

[Cutpaper]

Really? Sounds like it would be a whole lot more useful! Thanks for clearing that out robbymo.

[Lynnx]

Yes bloodrage is gone on the ptr and beta. Shouts will replace it for generating rage, and the 4pc is currewntly showing for either shout. One more addition to the loss of defense rating, I did some reading and your basic defense skill at max will crit cap you for mobs up to 3 levels above your current level.

[Cutpaper]

Ahhh, a big thanks Lynnx. I tried to find a decent place to read up on such thing, but I'm a little behind on that front. I prefer having everything in one spot, not having to click tons of links that lead to a new link. :P

Thanks again Lynnx, it's much appreciated.