The Roller Coaster Ride that is Block Value
Patch 3.2 features the following change:
Block Value: The amount of bonus block value on all items has been doubled. This does not affect the base block value on shields or block value derived from strength.
What does this mean for Block?
Not much really. Block requires a lot more than simply a bit more Block Value on items that we’re already avoiding to salvage it. This change really shouldn’t affect how you gear for bosses at all.
It does mean though that we can look forward to a lot bigger Shield Slams when we go out of our way to do so.
The BIG SMASH list
This list uses WoWhead’s PTR items so you’ll already see the new values. I’ve indicated the total Block Value provided by the item on the right taking into account the Strength that the item provides as well.
Back: Tattered Castle Drape (105)
Chest: Conqueror’s Siegebreaker Breastplate (209.5)
Feet: Inexorable Sabatons (190)
Finger 1: Signet of the Earthshaker (133.5)
Finger 2: Unsmashable Heavy Band (101.5) *
Hands: Handguards of the Enclave (177)
Head: Valorous Dreadnaught Greathelm (193)
Legs: Conqueror’s Siegebreaker Legguards (233.5)
Neck: Necklace of the Unerring Mettle (115.5)
Shield: The Skull of Ruin (311)
Shoulder: Spaulders of the Thalassian Defender (124) **
Trinket 1: Coren’s Lucky Coin (117)
Trinket 2: Gnomeregan Auto-Blocker 600 (117)
Waist: Dragonslayer’s Brace (177)
Wrist: Bindings of the Hapless Prey (106)
* Tooltip seems a little messed up currently on the Unsmashable Heavy Band. It should have 80 Block Value.
** Yup, that’s a level 70 item.
You’ll notice that I haven’t taken into account gems on this list. It’s something that you certainly can do by simply throwing Bold Scarlet Ruby in every socket. However, I would recommend against this for any piece you will be using for anything outside of this set. It’s for this reason I haven’t taken into account enchants either. I also haven’t listed a weapon because they all contribute about the same benefit since the only Block Value contribution you’ll get from them is from their Strength components.
Recent Developments
Since I started compiling this post, the following has also happened:
Shield Block now also increases the threat generated by Shield Slam by 100%. Does not increase Shield Slam damage.
Which, of course, means that we won’t be Shield Slamming for quite the ridiculous numbers that we may have. (although there’s no saying currently whether this will go live or not) It’s clear that we’re catching the wrong end of a PvP nerf on this one which is unfortunately just how it goes sometimes. That said, this change doesn’t affect the defensive nature of Shield Block. We’ll still be able to absorb massive hits during the time Shield Block is active and while it’s not as cool as big numbers, we’ll actually generate more threat as a result of this change.
Do I agree with this change?
Nope, not at all. My own feelings echo that of Ciderhelm’s. Is this the end of the world though? No, it really isn’t. It’s just more an annoyance and it’s important that you understand one thing…
Patience
This is the PTR. Following along with all the new changes can be quite a roller coaster ride of emotions as we’re all very attached to our characters, but just remember that nothing is ever finalized until it’s live. The worst thing you can do is get into a fight with your guild members over this or drown their ears in QQ. Yes, this change might even go live, but even if it did, it’s really not going to be the end of the world. It is not a step in the right direction, but it’s also not about to break the class either. If you complain about changes too much though, you may very well convince your Raid Leader that it’s time to take another class which is only a disservice to yourselves.
Where does that leave us?
It leaves us waiting, hopefully patiently. We can still have some fun collecting Block Value pieces that we’ll utilize for some nice big Shield Slams and to help us solo mobs that we have no business destroying on our own. Remember that the changes of tomorrow shouldn’t ruin the fun you have today. They only can if you let them. Try your best to keep your discussion on this post as rational as possible. Disagreement is fine, but if you’re looking for an outlet to complain, don’t bother commenting here. We’re here to be constructive. That’s what Tanking Tips is about.
Read the rest here: The Roller Coaster Ride that is Block Value
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Buffing Shield Wall: The Whole > The Parts
Shield Wall is easily the most powerful Defensive cooldown in a Warrior’s arsenal. There are 2 ways to buff it:
Does only 40% make it bad?
3 minute mini-wall vs 5 minute big-wall. Hmm… meh.
Is 1 minute less on shield wall good?
…not really.
A 3 minute, 40% Shield Wall isn’t really that amazing for a highly praised Major Glyph slot. A 4 minute, 60% Shield Wall isn’t really worth 2 talent points, at all.
What about Together?
Before: 5 minute cooldown, 60% reduction
After: 2 minute cooldown, 40% reduction
After sounds really, really good.
Which is my Point
Glyph of Shield Wall is really bad without 2 points in Improved Disciplines. Improved Disciplines is a waste of talent points without the Glyph of Shield Wall. The whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts applies here. So, if you’re sporting one without the other either respec or take a trip to the Auction House and rectify the situation.
Wait… so does this mean I have to buff Shield Wall!?
Absolutely not. It only means that when you’re going to do it that you should go the whole way or not at all. There are still plenty of acceptable specs without Improved Disciplines that utilize other Major Glyphs instead of Glyph of Shield Wall.
Read the rest here: Buffing Shield Wall: The Whole > The Parts
Riddle me this: Who do you Vigilance?
Vigilance has to be the ability I have grown the most to love of those given to us in Wrath of the Lich King. It was so looked down upon at the onset of the expansion, so shunned and yet, it’s turned out to be one of the most multi-functional abilities in our arsenal. There’s a Disney movie in there somewhere albeit probably one that’ll go straight to DVD, but a Disney movie nonetheless.
Riddle Me This
Most of the time, it’s fairly obvious that a DPSer should be Vigilanced or that a Tank should be either for the Threat reduction or for the Damage reduction. Occasionally though, it’s not quite so straight forward which is where things get interesting.
Setting the Stage
You’re doing Gothik the Harvester with 24 of your buddies and you’ve been thrown on the Undead side. You’re stuck with that annoying, blue barred Paladin chap in your guild who’s threat is questionable at best. Your DPS team is a mixed bunch of Warlocks, Mages and Hunters (sorry, no Boomkins or any other non-pure ranged DPSers) along with a few healers that have shown themselves to be quite capable throughout your journey in Naxx25.
The Live side team chatters amongst each other for entirely too long considering we all know they’ve got the easy side and eventually decides they’ve argued enough to be considered prepared. Your crew stacks up in the corner as you and Captain Drink-a-lot position yourselves as far away from the ranged crew as possible. The Raid Leader calls for the pull and…
Wait!
Who do you Vigilance?
Good luck guys and gals. Give it some thought and once you’ve decided upon an answer feel free to leave a comment justifying your reasoning below.
My Answer: (In white text, highlight it to see it)
A Pet. You want to be able to Taunt stray mobs as much as possible in this wave-style encounter. You can’t Vigilance the Paladin since he needs all the threat he can get which leaves a Warlock or a Hunter’s pet as the natural choice.
Read more from the original source: Riddle me this: Who do you Vigilance?
Is Resilience back?
In the past, we’ve looked at the relationship between Defense and Resilience in order to cheat the Defensive minimum (currently 540 defense) however, this practice has largely fallen out of flavour as the accessibility of PvP oriented gear that’s superior to PvE oriented gear just isn’t unbalanced anymore. That doesn’t mean though that we should ignore the PvP enchants though…
The Quest for even more Stamina
A while back, we looked at Defense and how we could maximize our health when hovering around the 540 minimum, but what I missed was this enchant:
I had remembered a while back that I had noticed a trend of the more savvy, bleeding-edge tanks were starting to utilized it on their shoulders and in a recent discussion with a friend of mine, it got brought to my attention again. Why aren’t we using this enchant?
What we give up
20 Dodge and 15 Defense
What we gain
30 Stamina
How this matches up…
If we look at the trade in the same light as the Defense:Stamina ratio post then it looks pretty hot, but then that’s not exactly all the information this time as there’s the Dodge component thrown in there as well. Does the dodge matter if we’re going for maximum Stamina? Nope, it really doesn’t.
15 Defense vs 15 Resilience
Or more to the point, how much equivalent Defense towards becoming uncrittable are we gaining from 15 Resilience?
22 Defense Rating.
What it all means
If you’re a maximum Stamina junkie then there’s absolutely no reason not to use this enchant. It’s going to offer you more rating points towards uncrittable than the defense shoulder enchant and it’s going to offer you 30 Stamina as well.
It’s a simple win-win. Get it.
Originally posted here: Is Resilience back?
Lichborne: Patch 3.2 Death Knight changes in-depth
Welcome to Lichborne , the Death Knight column, with your host, Daniel Whitcomb. On my first read-through of the Patch 3.2 Death Knight patch notes , I had to chuckle a bit. If the theme of the Retribution overhauls was making Retribution DPS a bit more complicated, it was definitely very much about the simplification for Death Knights.
Simplification is a relative term, of course, given that rune rotations are still in full effect, but there has been some streamlining of techniques and adjustment of cooldowns that will lead many of us to do some tuning up on our rotations.
Let’s take a deep look at the changes and see what they’ll mean for us going forward into Patch 3.2. Continue reading Lichborne: Patch 3.2 Death Knight changes in-depth
The Thing I take for Granted the most…
I often chat with you, my readers, and I make this assumption. I assume you’re in a guild and amazingly, some of you aren’t. But then, it isn’t amazing now, is it? But, it sure feels that way If there’s one thing I take for granted, it’s being a part of a guild and not just being a part of one, but having this established place in that guild.
In the end, finding your place matters more than just about any other aspect of tanking. It’s what makes you confident and what makes you confident is what makes you great. What is my Place? I’m the Raid leader and Main tank of a casual-oriented guild that doesn’t raid much, (I define not much as 25mans twice/week) but when it does, it takes it quite seriously.
I’ve had this gig for somewhere in the neighbourhood of 2 years, give or take a few months. So What? So, it’s my place. It isn’t something to brag about, it simply is. Which is the point. I was chatting with Miss Wordy Warrior last night and if there’s something that was a recurring theme in our conversation, it was that tanks seem to be a competitive lot by nature.
There’s often this drive among us to become the best. It’s both an amazing and terrible quality. It’s especially terrible when it comes to our Place. Why it Sucks to be Competitive When you’re really competitive, you aren’t willing to settle, but being a great tank is partly about settling. Basically, guild hoppers don’t make great tanks. Don’t get me wrong, they can be good, but there’s just no way they can be great. It’s because like it or not, we all have a certain presence… a certain playstyle.
The UnMyth of Style In the past, I fought against this idea that there was such a thing as a playstyle for tanks. I wanted to believe that there was the right way to play and then there was the wrong way to play and that was it. What I didn’t account for though is that in a game based on random chance, we all sometimes play the wrong way and there’s no way of avoiding it.
Our playstyle is the ways that we are wrong. Which brings me to the point… Your Raid is Compensating for You People learn how you screw up. They do. You don’t even know it, but they’re compensating for your mistakes all the time just as you are compensating for someone else’s mistakes all the time too. It’s called being part of a team. Which isn’t to say, we should all give up on becoming better tanks, but it is to say, that in order for us to be great tanks, we need a team that understands us.
A team that knows how we fail and saves us from those failures. It’s for this reason that in the past, I’ve talked about pugging to improve our game. It’s an easy way to identify ways in our game that we’re not perfect because pugs have no idea how to compensate for our weaknesses. Identifying how we fail is a lot of times the hardest part of improving and once we know how we’re failing, we can often prevent ourselves from that failure.
Wait… so, should I join a Guild or Not? Yes, you should. Being a Great tank is not just about constantly trying to eliminate your mistakes, but also in accepting that you are going to make mistakes. And if you’ve got a place, your teammates are going to be there for you and they’re going to compensate for those mistakes. Which perhaps is an ugly reality to think of, but then consider the opposite. On average, how successful are pugs? See people have this delusion that pugs are bad because the players are bad, but that’s rarely it. Pugs are bad because the players don’t know how to compensate for each other. (which is why what a great leader does is teaches people how to compensate for each other, but then that’s another story)
So, I shouldn’t leave my guild? I have no idea if you should. I don’t know your place, but you do. If there’s one thing every person has, it’s this innate ability to just know whether or not they’re in their comfort zone. You know when you’re in your place. Which isn’t to say you know where your place is or what your place is, but it is to say that when you do find that place, you will know. How do I find my Place? You find it by settling, accepting and committing to a guild in a tanking role. Settling When we’re looking for our place, we all have dreams and aspirations of what the guild we want to be in will be like. The reality though is usually very different and usually very different in a way with a whole lot less grandeur.
In my case, I left my first real guild at the start of The Burning Crusade to become a hardcore raider. As it turned out, that wasn’t for me and I ended up instead leaving that guild after a few months for the one I’m in now many years later. Accepting There’s nothing wrong with less grandeur. Our dreams have a way of creating impossible realities that not only don’t fit into our lives, but also aren’t actually what we wanted anyway.
If your life doesn’t allow you to raid 7 days/week or if your personality doesn’t allow you to Main Tank, that’s okay. In my case, I realized that the tension of the hardcore, must-succeed atmosphere just wasn’t for me and ultimately, I could never have fit raiding 5 nights/week into my life for very long anyway. Committing Once you’ve accepted that you’re settling for the group that you’re a part of, it is merely a matter of time. Time, in other words, Experience, is the final and most vital ingredient to finding your place. Experience not with content, but with the people you’ll do that content with. There’s no fast way to do this. You just have to put in the time. Which is what I’ve done and it’s why I’m great at what I do with the people I do it with. But then, I didn’t really settle, did I? And, that’s where the real icing on the cake is.
At the time, it may have felt like I was giving up on being a hardcore raider, but I was actually just finding my place. Years later, I’m part of a pretty amazing team that plays this game the way I want it to be played in a timeframe that I can afford to play it in and I’ve never been as great at this game as I am now as a result. It’s all because I’m in my place. Find yours.
View original here:
The Thing I take for Granted the most…
Tanking Cooldown Rotations
One of the current controversies in the tank world are tanking cooldowns. These are abilities which greatly reduce the amount of damage taken for a few seconds.
Though originally created as emergency measures – Shield Wall originally had a 30 minute cooldown – Death Knights were given cooldowns that could be used multiple times a fight. This meant that if a fight had a predictable spike in damage, the Death Knight could line up their cooldown to mitigate that spike, making them much easier to heal.
Since spike damage is generally what kills tanks, this made Death Knights the tank of choice on such fights. The other tanks had their cooldowns improved to match the Death Knight. However, the Death Knight still has the best cooldowns, and is often considered the best tank because of this. Paladin tanks, who only have one cooldown, are considered the worst.
However, two healer classes, Priests and Paladins, also have cooldowns that they can use to mitigate spike damage. Holy Priests have Guardian Spirit, Disc Priests have Pain Suppression, and Paladins have Hand of Sacrifice (coupled with Divine Shield to keep the paladin from dying). Instead of just relying on tank cooldowns, you can set up a cooldown rotation with your paladins and priests to help mitigate damage.
Personally, I find cooldown rotations a lot of fun as a healer. It gives you a chance to coordinate with your fellow healers. It adds a little extra spice to healing, and saving a tank from death with a well-timed use of a spell which is not spammed is fun. Honestly, that’s the most fun as a healer, using a spell at precisely the right time to save someone.
Tanks have tanking rotations, where they trade-off mobs. DPS have interrupt rotations, as they trade-off interrupting spells. I think adding cooldown rotations for healers would add a little extra element to the game. It’s something more than healing spam, and requires us to work together a bit more. I think Resto Druids and Resto Shamans should each get a cooldown (like Hand of Sacrifice, etc.) so they too can join in the fun.
Then I think that the number of cooldowns the tanks have should be reduced, or the cooldown timers greatly increased so that they go back to being emergency buttons. That should reduce the disparity in tanks, while improving the gameplay for healers.
Here is the original post:
Cooldown Rotations
