5 Man gear tradeoff - spell dmg vs block (rating)

[Hierax]

Hi all - new to the boards...

A question I am always going over in my head on running 5 mans as I try and gear up for Uncrushability is what to wear in 5 mans regarding various tradeoffs.

Mainly I'm always considering Spell Dmg vs Block rating/value vs Hit points in 5 mans.

I used to run Blessing of Sanctuary + Ret Aura all the time - but am also now debating running Kings and/or Devotion depending.

I sit around 304 spell dmg now, 493 def. AC 11890 , 12.3hps w/kings, and roughly 56% avoidance based upon the uncrush macro minus Holy shield.

http://www.wowarmory.com/character-shee ... &n=Morthog

Biggest question I have usually is putting on Dauntless handguards and/or Burnose of Shifting ages for more block/def - which I assume if I block more - I gen more threat....I know the more def. is overkill for 5 mans...but what do folks usually put more stock in ? Block , hps or spell dmg. It's basically 304 spell dmg+ 14.91% block+400hps vs 280ish spell dmg and 17.5% block. What combo would work better for 5 mans ? And is it worth the loss of 800ish hps ?
(this is as opposed to Felsteel gloves+ STA/INT/Spell dmg cloak from Ogrila)

I also picked up Righteous leggings last night which should help as well in 5 mans but again I lose a bunch of HPs over timewarden's..

With gear in the bank towards uncrush(vindicator/fleshbeast boots/andormu's/Burnose), I can get to about 65% avoidance - I do not have the Libram yet . Hopefully if I can pick up the Devilshark, Wayward shield, Mech/Bot quest belt and/or Fig of the Colossus I'll be that much closer.

clueless as usual

*edit* yes I know I have sum-optimal gems right now - but I'm only running 5 mans. I'll have 12 STA gems in the right places once I hit uncrush for heroics and Kara.

[Eltiana]

300 spell damage is more than enough to tank heroics and Kara, so I'd suggest you work on Block Rating and other avoidance stats. After you get to 102.4 uncrush, start working on your Stam.

[Balanor]

Hi all - new to the boards...

A question I am always going over in my head on running 5 mans as I try and gear up for Uncrushability is what to wear in 5 mans regarding various tradeoffs.

Mainly I'm always considering Spell Dmg vs Block rating/value vs Hit points in 5 mans.

I used to run Blessing of Sanctuary + Ret Aura all the time - but am also now debating running Kings and/or Devotion depending.

You answered your own question and the answer is "it depends". If you are AoE tanking a normal instance like SH. You want more BV and SD to help keep agro on groups of mobs but you have to balance it with how much damage you are taking and how good your healer and DPS are at getting things down quickly. If the mobs hit really hard relatively speaking, BV isnt as important as STA/hps. If the threatmeter is showing you finishing fights with double the threat of your DPSers and no one ever gets close to the threat you put out, then SD can be reduced to increase either avoidance or hps.

Using BoSanc over Kings is also a subjective decision. BoS gives you not only a small incoming damage reduction per hit, but it also gives you a slight agro boost which is fine for AoE tanking when you aren't getting hit too hard. Kings gives you more hps and slightly more avoidance thru the increase to AGI and is better when you are single tanking mobs to give your healers a bigger health pool cushion to work with.

This is the gear balancing act that all tanks have to deal with, paladins especially. There is no "right gear, all the time". There is only the "right gear, some of the time".

[Rokh]

I must be the laziest paladin in the game... I just run with 1 set of gear

[Wraith]

Gear questions like these all depends on your dps, healer, and instance.

Are you running out of mana before all the mobs are dead?
If so, you are not taking enough damage and need to lighten up on BV or pull 2 packs instead of just one.

If your dps is under-geared the trash pulls will last longer and you can have mana issues this way also.

There are too many variables to give one answer. Most pallys keep a BV set and a boss tanking set, plus many more variations that we can work in. If you pug an instance, use the first couple pulls to get a feel for the group and switch gear to fit.

[Tyaera]

At low levels its not really viable to keep multiple sets of gear, so i'm in one set, but I imagine I will do my utmost to skate by with one set of gear (unless I tank Hydross or something) even at max level.

If i'm not taking enough damage, I'll pull more mobs. If I need more threat, I'll work more Consecrates into my rotation.

[sweeney]

I disagree, but only because "multiple sets of gear" usually refers to multiple Outfitter/ItemRack sets, rather than actually carrying 40 pieces of extra platemail around with you.

Even starting out, I found it useful to have different sets configured, even if only a couple of pieces differ (e.g. Righteous/spdmg trinket/sporregar shield for AOE pulls). It's simply faster and more convenient than swapping out a few pieces manually, and I already was using Outfitter for swapping into healing gear, so it was no trouble at all.

I think my break point for "Must hotkey Outfitter" was doing BM for Kara keys, where I drove myself nuts manually swapping on pieces of mp5/spdmg gear from my healing set so I wouldn't have to drink after every portal.

[Wraith]

I should have been a little more specific. I only carry one full extra set of gear "healing", if you have a outfitter you can switch to your BV set, for me that is only a 3-4 item swap, not a complete set. If you want more int and SD, I uaually just put on some healing gear.

[Wildstyle]

300 spell damage is more than enough to tank heroics and Kara, so I'd suggest you work on Block Rating and other avoidance stats. After you get to 102.4 uncrush, start working on your Stam.

well for heroics you don't need the to be uncrushable (since u can't be crushed ;p), and stacking block rating is on;y really gonna help if you have alot of block value., and 300 spell dmg is easily enough.

So for heroics I'd stack the good old stamina/dodge/parry. (threat shouldn't be an isse if you slap salv on your dps)

[sucellus]

300 spell damage is more than enough to tank heroics and Kara, so I'd suggest you work on Block Rating and other avoidance stats. After you get to 102.4 uncrush, start working on your Stam.

well for heroics you don't need the to be uncrushable (since u can't be crushed ;p), and stacking block rating is on;y really gonna help if you have alot of block value., and 300 spell dmg is easily enough.

So for heroics I'd stack the good old stamina/dodge/parry. (threat shouldn't be an isse if you slap salv on your dps)

Well, there is also the fact that having massive block rating relative to avoidance will allow you to take a bit more damage (And thus get more mana back) and also massively increase your threat by using your HS charges and if you're using it, Blessing of Sanctuary.