Cata 4.X "Unhittable" Macro

[Skilganon]

Hi Guys ive been reading through trying to find the macro that adds up your dodge/parry/block and gives me a percentage of the time I take a full hit. I did have one for pre cata but I guess now the moddifiers have chenged etc.

So im sure you really kool number crunchers have made one and I just cant find it so a quick link would really be appreciated.

Cheers

[Quinafoi]

You mean something like this?

/run b=GetBlockChance() d=GetDodgeChance() p=GetParryChance() m=5 if UnitRace("player")=="Night Elf" then m=m+2 end a=m+d+p+b DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage(a.."% Avoidance")

Granted this uses character sheet values so uses avoidance measured against a same level mob, not a raid boss three levels higher (hence needing the 102.4%, that's to compensate for the three levels difference in weapon skill versus your defense skill.

The syntax of a macro to do that would not have changed in Cataclysm, so if you had one before it should still work.

Also, this probably belongs in the User Interface, Addons, and Macro forums rather than the Theory forums. Chances are an admin may move it later.

[Skilganon]

Awsome and thanks for the quick reply

[Skilganon]

Just ran the macro and it comes back with 72.016% without SB and 98.59% with SB. Given ive got iLVL 346-359 all tank gear from heroics, rep rewards and crafted chest and shield, reforged mastery for parry/dodge so that parry is just over dodge (1689/1753, 911 mastery) so that i keep HTL up im not sure what else im supposed to do pre raid gear, are we just meant to take shit loads of dmg? or am i doing something wrong?

Im no good with all the number crunching but would really apreciate a lamens terms answer to "soft caps" for dodge/parry/block/mastery to get the 102.4% and is it possible with current blues?

[Andenthal]

Just ran the macro and it comes back with 72.016% without SB and 98.59% with SB. Given ive got iLVL 346-359 all tank gear from heroics, rep rewards and crafted chest and shield, reforged mastery for parry/dodge so that parry is just over dodge (1689/1753, 911 mastery) so that i keep HTL up im not sure what else im supposed to do pre raid gear, are we just meant to take shit loads of dmg? or am i doing something wrong?

Im no good with all the number crunching but would really apreciate a lamens terms answer to "soft caps" for dodge/parry/block/mastery to get the 102.4% and is it possible with current blues?

First, why do you think you need to reach 102.4% in pre-raid gear? Where did you read that was a requirement? With the exception of maybe Paladins, every tank will take some unabsorbed hits in the first raid tier - what do you mean by "shit loads of dmg"?

Secondly, most tanks are reforging Avoidance INTO Mastery. You seem to have done the opposite. Mastery will get you to unhittable quicker - but it's by no means an absolute requirement prior to entering a raid instance.

[Skilganon]

Everybody has to enter a raid with pre-raid gear at some point otherwise they wouldnt need to go.. Secondly reading earlier posts it became apparent that most the blue and early epic cata gear doesnt post enough mastery to make a substantial difference especially when most tanks that are wearing this level of gear are really lacking dodge and parry. But getting back to my earlier question has anybody got a proper answer for a "Soft Cap" for dodge/parry/block/mastery? By Shit Loads of Dmg I mean 40-60k hits spike but more worryingly sustained dmg that keeps tank hp at 30-60% because the healers cant keep up with the healing. At the Mo I have around 170-180k Hp in Heroics (depending on buffs) but during most encounters I end up watching my hp bar drop to around 20k and poping CD's much earlier into fights than I am supposed to.

Armoury Link:
http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/characte...cadogan/simple

[Andenthal]

Everybody has to enter a raid with pre-raid gear at some point otherwise they wouldnt need to go..

That doesn't answer my question(s)...

At the Mo I have around 170-180k Hp in Heroics (depending on buffs) but during most encounters I end up watching my hp bar drop to around 20k

Holy poo man!!!
I have maybe 160k max with RAID buffs.

There's no "soft cap" for any given stat, or collection of stats - that's an antiquated term for tanking. Reforge for more Mastery, remove those +60 Stam Gems in your gear. Dodge gems are for Druids. Gems should be Mastery where ever possible, Parry next, Stamina last.

Your aim is to make every hit as small as possible - that's where the Mastery comes in. You should only add Stamina to your gear when there are no other options - or where you are getting burst down (100% to zero in 2 secs or less).

Your Parry and Dodge Ratings do not need to be near 1:1. Actually some discussion is showing it may be better to be 1.5:1 (P : D).

poping CD's much earlier into fights than I am supposed to.

I don't understand what you mean by this. More often than not, the first 15 secs of a fight are the most deadly. What would you be saving CDs for on any given fight?

[klausi]

Holy poo man!!! I have maybe 160k max with RAID buffs.

Getting kings/motw and stamina/imp/shout is not that hard at all. Depends on your trinkets, having 2* 427 stamina trinkets and two maxed professions really helps in this case. But judging from his gear and that he just recently picked up the stonecore hc trinket i guess he's exaggerating with 180k. But you're right, having mastery or pure avoidance instead of stamina should smooth the damage out.

Problems with survival on trash:
not enough cc (most likely)
not enough use of your stuns (keep at least concusion blow and shockwave on cooldown, leap + intercept vs caster can help, too)
no use of spell reflect at all
no use of your cooldowns (with shieldwall on 2 minutes and last stand/regen on 3 minutes you should can pop them every other pull and don't forget about spamming shield block all the time)
bad healer
more or less in that order

Additional problems with survival on bosses:
misunderstanding the mechanics

[emackn]

Added formatting:

/run b=GetBlockChance() d=GetDodgeChance() p=GetParryChance() m=5 if UnitRace("player")=="Night Elf" then m=m+2 end a=m+d+p+b DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage(format("%.2f%% Total Avoidance",a))

[Skilganon]

Thanks again ive regemmed / reforged and its brought my avoidance up by 5% give or take. One thing I hadnt noticed before is the tool tip for shield block; Its saying that if your total block or avoidance exceeds 100% wich it does now then the excess is converted into critical block. Is this factered into the macro and what revelance does that have to raid bosses. I mean before 102.4% was desired to compensate for the 3 levels of weapon skill on a boss, but now, if your exceeding 100% avoidance/block how does this effect avoidance/block stats and critical block over 100%? Hope that makes sence

[Quinafoi]

The calculation of critical block on the fly is too complex to represent in a macro. Because you have to calculate the exact value of block you have from all contributing factors prior in order to measure the overflow correctly. Also since the combat table functions such that Miss comes before Dodge comes before Parry comes before Block, the actual functional cap on Block is reduced as other avoidances increase. Also the true value of where the overflow begins to occur is relative to the targets level as well, against a same level mob overflow starts at 100%.

There is simply too complex of a calculation involved here to represent it in a single macro (256 characters isn't enough, you would need an addon). About the only thing you can do is approximate your critical block not accounting for the overflow condition.

[Skilganon]

Fair enough, so for us non mathamatically minded tanks, would you say the 102.4% isnt accurate but good enough guide line to go off for a raid boss?

[Quinafoi]

At 102.4% avoidance against an NPC three levels higher than yourself or lower, you can not take an unmitigated melee physical attack from in front of you while standing... unless a particular mechanic of said encounter alters the combat table.

[Andenthal]

I'm still wondering what site/guide/post is telling players they need to hit 102.4% so early in the game.
Where is this coming from?

[Quinafoi]

I'm still wondering what site/guide/post is telling players they need to hit 102.4% so early in the game.
Where is this coming from?

I have no idea either. This is the first tier in a new expansion, goals need to be realistic. They want a macro to measure it so we gave a macro. They want to know the target "unhittable" point, so we gave that magic number of 102.4%. I don't think anyone here ever said you needed to get there in the first tier, we've just been answering questions about avoidance and the calculation of avoidance.

Yes it is good to be "unhittable". Is it required, absolutely not. If it were, Druid and Death Knight tanks would never be viable options since they actually can't hit those thresholds due to the lack of the block. Content is not tuned around you being able to avoid (or block) all attacks.

[Stengel]

Fair enough, so for us non mathamatically minded tanks, would you say the 102.4% isnt accurate but good enough guide line to go off for a raid boss?

There is no magic number that you need to meet in order to be viable in raids. What you can get from heroic 5 mans is enough. Some epics from rep or crafting are icing on the cake and will obviously help but are not necessary. The cata raid bosses so far are not about killing the tank through overpowering damage (with the exception of Nefarian but that is supposed to be a gear check at the end of normal mode progression).

[Crankygeek01]

This is a great thread, I have learned quite a bit about the new tanking stats now that defense is out of the equation. I know there is no set numbers for us at this point, but I do have a question. I am having an extremely hard time against 5 man heroic bosses to the point that I usually end up backing out of the run because the healer going oom about 3/4 through the fight. I am a little discouraged about not being able to complete heroics this far into the expansion. I am going to post a link to my toon, any help or advice at this point would be greatly appeciated. (btw, before someone states the obvious, I keep my avoidance abilities on cooldown pretty much all the time
Thanks for any and all insight, normals 5 mans have become a joke at this point and are starting to get boring.
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...tanky/advanced

[Quinafoi]

This is a great thread, I have learned quite a bit about the new tanking stats now that defense is out of the equation. I know there is no set numbers for us at this point, but I do have a question. I am having an extremely hard time against 5 man heroic bosses to the point that I usually end up backing out of the run because the healer going oom about 3/4 through the fight. I am a little discouraged about not being able to complete heroics this far into the expansion. I am going to post a link to my toon, any help or advice at this point would be greatly appeciated. (btw, before someone states the obvious, I keep my avoidance abilities on cooldown pretty much all the time
Thanks for any and all insight, normals 5 mans have become a joke at this point and are starting to get boring.
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...tanky/advanced

First of all, Defense is not out of the equation... Defense Rating is. Defense Skill versus Weapon Skill is still in the system behind the scenes in how the combat table derives its values. You just no longer have control over these values, they are always maximum for your level.

This should really be a new post over in the HALP forums, character audits generally go there.

As far as gear and spec are concerned you're fine. The problems you are having are likely related to technique of yourself or your healer. Are you doing anything bad like letting mobs get behind you. As far as cooldown usage is concerned, are you using your cooldowns to counter appropriate mechanics or simply burning them whenever they are up? Are you healing yourself? As a Paladin tank you should be doing considerable healing to yourself through Word of Glory.

There really isn't enough information provided to say what you or someone else is doing wrong.

[Stephanius]

I tinkered a bit with the macro to make it show the total avoidance as well as the amount of block, dodge, parry and miss it added up.

/run b=GetBlockChance() d=GetDodgeChance() p=GetParryChance() m=5 if UnitRace("player")=="Night Elf" then m=m+2 end a=m+d+p+b DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage(format("%.2f%%Total=",a)..format("%.2f%%B+",b)..format("%.2f%%D+",d)..format("%.2f%%P+",p)..m.."M")

[Quinafoi]

Here is an version which scales for your target level, shifts the 102.4% down to show your actual percentage on a 100% scale.

/run u,t=UnitLevel("player"),UnitLevel("target") if t==-1 then t=u+3 end ld,d,p,b,m=0.2*(u-t),GetDodgeChance(),GetParryChance(),GetBlockChance(),5 DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage(format("Lvl: "..t.."  Unhit: %.2f%%  Avoid: %.2f%%",d+p+b+m+ld*4,d+p+m+ld*3))