Ratanna's Best-in-Slot WotLK Guide Discussion Thread.

[Targonis]

The Following setup is for JC/Enchanter Tankadins.

Head (25-Man Kel'Thuzad)
Valorous Redemption Faceguard
*Enchant - 37 Stamina, 20 defense (Argent Crusade Revered)
*Meta - 32 Stamina, 2% Armor Value (Effulgent if the meta is fixed)
*Socket - 24 Stamina

Neck (25-Man Saph Pre-Req followed by 25-Man Malycgos Kill Quest)
Nexus War Champion Beads
*Socket - Prismatic 41 stam (JC Only) +8 Dodge 12 Stamina (if no dragon's eye or pattern)

Shoulder (25-Man Loatheb/Gluth or 60 Emblems of Valor)
Valorous Redemption Shoulderguards
*Enchant - 20 Dodge 15 defense (Sons of Hodir Exalted)
*Socket - Prismatic 41 stam (JC Only) +8 Defense 12 Stamina (if you dont have the Pattern for 41 stam)

Chest (25-Man Sartharion)
Dragonstorm Breastplate
*Enchant - 22 Defense or 10 Stats (only if defense capped)
*Sockets - Prismatic41 Stam (red) (or Str/Dodge+12 Stam)
*Sockets - 8 Defense 12 Stam

Cloak (25 Emblems of Valor)
Platinum Mesh Cloak
*Enchant - 16 Defense

or

Cloak (25-Man Gothik/Grobbulus/Maexxna/Heigan)
Cloak of the Shadowed Sun
*Enchant - 16 Defense


Wrist (25-Man Rasuvious/Gluth)
Bracers of Unholy Knight
*Enchant - 40 Stamina
*Socket - +8 dodge 12 Stamina or 41 Stam (JC dragon's eye)

Gloves (25-Man Obsidian Sanctum)
Valorous Redemption Handguards
*Enchant - Precision or 8 Parry/2% Threat, Expertise, if hit/expertise capped you can even do 18 stam
*Socket - 24 Stam Gem

Belt (25-man Maexxna/Gluth)
Ablative Chitin Girdle
*Enchant - Belt Buckle
*Socket - 24 Stam x2

Legs (25-Man Thaddius/Gluth or 75 Emblems of Valor)
Valorous Redemption Legguards
*Enchant - 55 stamina 22 agi
*Sockets - 24 Stam x2

Boots (40 Emblems of Valor)
Kyzoc's Ground Stompers
*Enchant - 22 Stamina

Ring 1 (25-Man Anub'Rekhan, Patcwerk, Rasuvious, Noth, Faerlina)
Sand-Worn Band
*Enchant = 24 Stamina

Ring 2 (25 Badges of Valor)
Signet of the Impregnable Fortress
*Enchant = 24 Stamina

Trinket 1 (Jewelcrafting)
Figurine - Monarch Crab
*Socket - 24 Stam, Prismatic 41 Stam (if not JC +8 Def 12 Stam)

Trinket 2 (Heroic Azjol-Nerub Boss: Hadronox)
Essense of Gossamer

Weapon (25-Man Kel'Thuzad)
Last Laugh
Enchant - Mongoose or Potency
Enchant - 75 Stamina (Next Patch)

Shield (25-Patchwerk)
Hero's Surrender
Enchant - 20 Defense

but in 3.1
Shield (25-Kel'Thuzad)
Wall of Terror
Enchant - 20 Defense


Libram (15 Emblems of Heroism)
Libram of Obstruction


Glyphs - Major
1. Glyph of Seal of Vengeance (Passive 10 Expertise Skill while active)
2. Glyph of Judgment (+10% Dmg to all Judgments)
3. Glyph of Righteous Defense (+8% hit to taunt)

3.1 Glyphs - Major
1. Glyph of Seal of Vengeance (Passive 10 Expertise Skill while active)
2. Glyph of Divine Plea (+3% Dmg Reduction while Divine Plea is active)
3. Glyph of Salvation (+20% reduced dmg to target while hand of salvation is active)

Glyphs - Minor
1. Glyph of Sense Undead (+1% Dmg to Undead)
2. Glyph of Lay on Hands (+20% mana restored)
3. Glyph of Seal of Wisdom (-50% mana cost on Seal of Wisdom)

You can check out the stats here.

http://www.chardev.org/?template=109608

Some side pieces you will want to collect for sidegrades:
Helm 2(25-Man Gothik/Gluth)
Helm of Vital Protection
*Enchant - 37 Stamina, 20 defense (Argent Crusade Revered)
*Meta - 32 Stamina, 2% Armor Value (Effulgent if the meta is fixed)
*Socket - 8 Defense, 12 Stamina

Legs 2(25-Man Malycgos)
Legplates of Sovereignty
*Enchant - 55 stamina 22 agi

Ring 3 (25-Man Sapphiron)
Gatekeeper
*Enchant = 24 Stamina


Things to consider in this build:

- 540 Defense, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS. #1 Priority
- Keep in mind with the glyph of expertise and talents alone you have 16 expertise.
- 25 expertise is the soft cap (dodge) and the t7 helm alone gives you 5.002 (with socket bonus) leaving you at 21 near the soft cap!
- Expertise after 25 affects parry only and it will up to 16%
- Check your racials to make sure you're not going OVER expertise caps! ie. Humans +3 maces/swords
- 4pc bonus is pretty good and the BP is the weakest piece.
- JC Primatics only allotted to 3 per set so use them in the weakest color sockets ie red/yellow. DO NOT put 41 stam gems in blue sockets!
- Threat is usually a non issue so maximizing survival is key (ie. mongoose weapon enchant). ie Heroic Malycgos!
- Although point for point Strength beats +hit in threat, having +hit smoothes out your tanking ability to pick up new adds, taunt, and land interrupts. Where none of these things matter, it is then OK to tweak STR over +hit. If you want smooth raids, getting as much hit as u can (until cap) it will be very important.
- Mongoose adds Haste and armor also.
- Potency is better than Greater and Super Potency due to the fact that its strength and not raw AP. With full buffs/talents it equates to 25 strength and additional BV!
- The Stamina meta also adds ~12 spell dmg (minimal threat). So although 5% block lost block is not a real issue when boss tanking.
- STAMINA STAMINA STAMINA. Increasing the threshold to Ardent Defender is key to mitigation. Ex. You have 35k hp and the boss takes you down 12,251hp. Your threshold For AD is 12,250. Lets say the next Incoming Blow is 10k dmg (after all your mit) You will take the full 10k dmg. If you had a mere 2 hp more that hit would've been 6.5k only! This is what I mean by expanding the threshold of AD. The more HP you have, the more amazing AD becomes for you in mitigation.
- Stamina ALSO increase threat (30% of your stamina will turn into spell damage!)
- The +hit rating is SPELL AND MELEE so its a double bonus! Get your 8-9% max (melee, draenei) and focus on other things. You cannot go wrong with this stat! Get at LEAST 6%!
-Block Rating/Value dont hold much merit compared to parry/dodge (pure avoidance) against end game progression bosses.
-Healers are able to peel raid heal and conserve more mana when you have great avoidance! Mitigating 2000 dmg damage doesnt mean jack whent he boss hits you for 20k+ frequently. This setup includes enough block value/rating for any boss.
-You should pass expertise items to druids/warriors/DKs. They need it WAY more than paladins ever will. (this is subject to change depending on the new 3.1 weapon enchant)
-Use items with block value and block rating for trash packs or when ur not tanking so you can do more dps and take less dmg.[url][/url]

Your head recommendation is marked "breastplate". You also can't get the monarch figurine if you're not a JC. The Indestructable Alchemist stone being +75 Sta and 50 Dodge is not something to snark at also.

-Block Rating/Value dont hold much merit compared to parry/dodge (pure avoidance) against end game bosses. \
-Healers are able to peel raid heal and conserve more mana when you have great avoidance! Mitigating 2000 dmg damage doesnt mean jack whent he boss hits you for 20k+ frequently.

I disagree with these 2 points. Every point of damage mitigated adds to your effective health. Having a healthy block value/rating (and not a shit block value/rating) should just happen from base gear but if it doesn't find a way to bring it up so that you do.

[Soraki]

i also agree that BV and BR are nothing to sneeze at.

Malygos hits are slow, mitigating 1/3 or 1/4 of his attack will help the healers, dodging it will also; but with diminishing returns I see high avoidance as less of an option.

otherwise good list for people to shoot for in end game

[Tieran]

I Disagree with the chest choice - http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44000 outshadows the one you have mentioned IMO.

I also disagree about the legs - these http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40589 are better again IMO but that breaks the 4 set bonus... and guess what? I disagree again on whether that is as amazing as you say it is.

3 extra seconds of 50% reduced dmg > a whole fights worth of reduced dmg due to better stats on 2 other items? Imo no.. personal choice though

As I said above - this is my own personal opinion - and I am only sharing this with you. I have a very set idea of what I want my protadin to look like going into Ulduar and if others disagree it does not matter to meee

[Dork]

I agree with a lot of what the above post says. I'll most likely replace my valorous bp with the dragonstorm once I get the legs. I've already got a lot of the items you have listed on that list, and I agree with the majority of them, with the few exceptions that have been posted already.

Nice list either way, will help some of the guys coming in to these raids a bunch.

[Io.Draco]

Going all out on dodge and parry is a bad idea heh , not saying that it doesn't have some good side of it , but I think getting unhitable and having a good block value is more important mitigation wise ( considering diminishing returns on avoidance..)

[Levantine]

I, as a healer, have issues with a lot of what you've said.

Long story short, don't discount block value and rating. Blizzard tried to kill avoidance tanking for a reason.

[Arjuna]

Trinket 1 (Jewelcrafting)
Figurine - Monarch Crab
*Socket - 24 Stam, Prismatic 41 Stam (if not JC +8 Def 12 Stam)

how can i not be a JC and have the JC BoP trinket?

[Maihes]

Trinket 1 (Jewelcrafting)
Figurine - Monarch Crab
*Socket - 24 Stam, Prismatic 41 Stam (if not JC +8 Def 12 Stam)

how can i not be a JC and have the JC BoP trinket?

Very carefully.

[majiben]

Trinket 1 (Jewelcrafting)
Figurine - Monarch Crab
*Socket - 24 Stam, Prismatic 41 Stam (if not JC +8 Def 12 Stam)

how can i not be a JC and have the JC BoP trinket?

Very carefully.

Can't do that anymore. They used to not require JC to wear see Old TBC Trinket. In the past you could raise up JC for the trinket and then drop it. They fixed it in the expansion though.

[Arjuna]

hmm, I might have written it the wrong way...I think you misunderstood.

I was trying to correct the fault in his list, ie the bolded part in my quote. It is not possible to have the JC BoP trinket and not be a JC, thus his "if not JC +8 def 12 stam" is quite unnecessary...

[Dianora]

Trinket 1 (Jewelcrafting)
Figurine - Monarch Crab
*Socket - 24 Stam, Prismatic 41 Stam (if not JC +8 Def 12 Stam)

how can i not be a JC and have the JC BoP trinket?

Level JC slowly because I dropped mining a year ago?

[Arjuna]

Trinket 1 (Jewelcrafting)
Figurine - Monarch Crab
*Socket - 24 Stam, Prismatic 41 Stam (if not JC +8 Def 12 Stam)

how can i not be a JC and have the JC BoP trinket?

Level JC slowly because I dropped mining a year ago?

How would that affect anything? you get the trinket at JC 400, the epic gem is from JC 370...
To get an epic gem you have to do dailies, 2 for the design, and 1 for each of the gems. The dailies are available at lvl 65 if you can get to dalaran.

[gibborim]

i also agree that BV and BR are nothing to sneeze at.

Malygos hits are slow, mitigating 1/3 or 1/4 of his attack will help the healers, dodging it will also; but with diminishing returns I see high avoidance as less of an option.

otherwise good list for people to shoot for in end game

How high is your block that you are actually blocking 1/3 of Malygos' damage? You don't get to do that in 10man unless you are stacking it a bit and have Obstruction up. 25man, that is a pipe dream.

[Docc]

"24-25 expertise is the cap and the t7 helm alone gives you 5.002 (with socket bonus) leaving you at 21 near capped!"

No 25 is not the cap, thats the cap for mele dps as thats all you need to reduce dodge to 0%, dodge starts a 8%, parry at 16%, at 25 Experties you would still get parrys 8% of the time, Parrys give the boss a haste buff to their next attack making your next few seconds potentially very painfull if the boss has a instant attack like a cleave.

"Mongoose now procs off HotR/SotR/Reckoning autos"

I really hope your not picking up reckoning while below the parry cap, your just adding a chance of a double parry which on a 25 man boss with 2 clean(or even blocked) hits is potentially fatal...threat is not an issue, ever, picking up reck is RECKless....

[Barathorn]

I like the idea of this guide, I would welcome more of the same for other professions.

Tidy it up a bit Ratanna and I'll link it to the index [WIP].

Barathorn