Answers to Some 3.0 Gear Questions

I was recently approached about some gearing questions, following the 3.0 patch. Here's my current take.

Should I still choose to aim for 490 defense? 

5.6% Critical Strike Reduction is still a requirement, and 490 defense is still the best way to get it.

Should I choose gear with SBV and SBR over other values?

Shield Block Value is now a great threat stat, particularly in situations where your tanking multiple mobs - and damage shield is kicking back 20% of it for every attack against you.

Shield Block Rating got a boost (its no longer worthless) - but its not something to be sought too hard after. Shield Block (the skill) give us the ten second window of all blocks (and super-sized ones, at that). For the other 30 seconds, Blocking will still be helpful, but its usefulness has to be measured in terms of [Avg. Boss Hit]:[BV] (as a way to reduce incoming damage), and compare that % Damage Mitigated to how much avoidance you could get (a common alternative on gear), and how much % Damage you could avoid.

Example: Fasty-McdualWield hits for 2k. With 500 Block Value, your blocks reduce 25% of damage. Whomp-Bigfoot hits for 8k, so that same 500 BV is only ~6% mitigation.

In the case where you could choose between 5% Block Rating, or 1% Dodge...
Over the course of 100 Swings
On Fasty: SBV Prevents 2500 Damage, Dodge Prevents 2000 Damage
On Whomp: SBV Prevents 2500 Damage, Dodge Prevents 8000 Damage

Now, this is a pretty terrible example, because the slow, large hits are going to be over a bigger period of time - but it should be enough to get you thinking that SBR isn't doing much for you against a slow-hitting boss.

Is HR and expertise still as important as they were before?

No. I use to keep myself near hit capped to stay above DPS in threat. But now, even after losing chunks of it to gear changes, my threat is still huge. It shouldn't be totally neglected, but its not as important. Expertise is worth retaining as much as possible, because its parry reduction still does prevent bosses from getting sped up attacks (even though damage, as a whole, is less of a danger).

Should stam still be one of the the most important values, even over SBV? (effective health vs. damage intake reduction+damage out)

Stamina still is king. SBV is great for threat/trash, but it isn't about to overtake good old fashioned effective health as far as boss tanking goes.

Paladin, Druid, & Warrior Tanking in BC

(This post is spawn of discussions from WoWHead, and the final reason that pushed me over the edge from considering making a blog, to deciding to make and keep a blog of my WoW tanking/raiding experiences)

Paladin and Druid tanks have a mechanical advantage in five man content. I don't deny it, and I actually think that it was a vital move on Blizzards part in shaping the tanking scene for the better.

Hang with me - this is neither a rant that warriors need buffing, nor one that paladins/druids need a nerf. I promise. 

Coming out of Vanilla WoW, Warriors were the most popular tanks, by far. Warrior and Tank were nearly synonymous for the large majority of people. Sadly, however, the supply of warriors for tanking did not meet the demand of the community. Action was needed.

Burning Crusade revitalized the Tanking side of Feral Druids, and the Protection side of Paladins. The problem was, who would believe that? Now, I'm willing to wager that most people remember the first time they ended up in a group with a Druid/Paladin tank, in a 5 man. Scepticism was likely high, but results were likely surprising. These early Druid/Paladin tanks were largely made up of players who knew they were pioneers, and that they really had to work to prove themselves as tanks. To build on their drive to succeed, they were given the tools and talents to succeed in BC dungeons, which were partially tailored to them!

Whoa. Could that be true? Lets take a closer look. 

Paladins and Druids were given abilities which help them multi mob tank, something that proved a huge boon in five man dungeons where the trash often outweighed the bosses, and helped them dispel the lingering myths that they could not be effective tanks. If they were only able to perform "as good" as warriors in these early dungeons, Paladin/Druid tanking may never have caught on. Why would people challenge the status quo?

Warriors traditional strength in single mob tanking was challenged by these large groups of monsters in BC five man dungeons. Good warriors took this in stride, and used the tools at their disposal to multi mob tank "as good" as a Druid or Paladin. For our long period as all around top tanks, this challenge was designed - not as a punishment, but as a balancing factor. Warriors had the un-hotfixable advantage of historical tanking dominance on our side. 

Now wait - Didn't I say this was not going to be a rant? 

It isn't. Starting right with ten man dungeons, tanking levels out. All the way from Kara to Sunwell, tanks of all sorts are used, with similar success. While guilds may still gravitate towards warriors as MTs, the seeds of Druid and Paladin MTing have certainly been planted, and have come all the way to fruition in some guilds. In different fights, some tanks shine a little more then others, but all are viable (aside from obvious gimmick fights). And all tanks have to work just as hard to get the results needed.

In WoTLC, tanking at all levels appears to be completely leveled out. No more mechanical advantages at any level of content are needed to break down misconceptions about one class's superiority over another. Blizzard has proclaimed it wants to see tanks of all sorts in front of every boss, and variance in the MT's guilds choose at all levels of progression. Warriors AoE tanking tools are being improved somewhat, and dungeons will feature less "huge trash groups" like the one in Shattered Halls, which has achieved a certain level of infamy. Paladins and Druids are getting "panic button" abilities to aid boss tanking toolbox. 

Will I get to MT in WoTLC? I hope so. But I also hope that I don't feel I have to (as a Warrior), and that it can be a shared responsibility between players of different classes, without game breaking effects throughout the rest of the raid. 

Introductions: LOKI's Raid/Tanking Dynamics

Allright, time for some meat.

In T4 and early T5, LOKI's primary tank was Ruffianx, our legendary guild leader, and Feral Druid. He was the first feral druid to MT several bosses on our server (Darkspear), and cultivated my respect for Ferals as a primary tank. I was coming from the pre-BC standpoint of Druids being cornered into lolHealing and Innervating Priests.

Somewhere in T5, Tanking changed in LOKI. I was promoted into Tanking Officer, and began to MT some bosses, followed by some additional protection warriors. That freed up ferals to do more DPSing on single tank bosses. Morogrim's adds convinced us to get a full time Protection Paladin, though I admit that I only (under-) utilized them for trash and adds, and reserved bosses for the protection warriors and Feral Druids of the guild. 

Vashj was killed with a Warrior MT (two of us did it at different times), and a varity of OT's (Did it with Feral, Prot Warrior, and Prot Paladin's on Elites). Kael was done with Two Protection Warriors (one as the Kael MT), a Feral, and a Prot Paladin. 

In T6, I decided to push the limits of our protection paladin, and found paladins the equal of warriors against bosses. Different certainly: but fully capable, and just as strong as a whole. This finalized my views of the tanking classes - all are capable, all are different, none are a threat to the others, and working in harmony (and in consideration of the encounter at hand) has far more potential then blind "X is the best Tank, Y Tank will replace Z Tank completely" ideology.