Gems and Enchantments: A short guide

Nice someone took the time to put all that in one reference guide we can all find or to later update as needed. I forget stuff all the time so good to have something as reference.

Nice work and great guide.

This thread will save me from answering everyone else's questions. What else can i ask for. LOL
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http://ardentdefender.blogspot.com/ - My WoW Blog.

"One day my time will come. Until then I continue to prepare myself".

I really appreciate this guide. The emphasis on Min/Maxing is very notable. Having sets of maxxed gear is important.

Thanks
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Damnazion-Blood Elf Tankadin-Llane
"Curator will be tanking ME!"

http://damnazion.blogspot.com/

There is an enchant that you missed out, +12 agility on boots. I slapped these on my Boots of Elusion (kara trash drop) for that extra avoidance in my avoidance set. The enchant is so so, but it's still a viable option no the less.
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nice guide but i still prefer +6 stats over 150hp

What do people think of the new +15 def enchant to chest?
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Yeah, the funny thing about enchants is that they don't follow the "Balanced" item budget rules. Gems are all balanced cost-wise, even if different stats are ultimately more valuable for a certain task. Agi vs dodge gems, for example.

When you're looking at enchants, stam is a very prevalent option, but it's deceptive. Unless you are gemmed and enchanted entirely for stamina, your best bet for adding "combat table adjusters" is in enchants.

For bracers, 12 stam vs 12 defense... the 12 defense is "worth" more. If you have defense gems elsewhere, you can turn those into stamina and get the defense enchant, and come out with net gains to both stats. 12 def is 1.5 rare gems, 12 stam is 1 rare gem.

Block rating to shield is another one, where 15 rating is "worth" more than 18 stamina. (18 stam = 12 rating, obviously). Block rating's a special stat in that it's very imperative to get up to uncrushable, but once you're there adding more does nothing. If you can balance around that edge, it's something to think about. 15 rating is 1.875 rare gems, 18 stam is 1.5 rare gems.

Boots are strange. Boar's speed and Cat's grace are balanced. Fortitude and Dexterity are not. I'm not sure I'd ever advocate anything other than Boar's speed (barring PoJ), but Dexterity is obviously the most stat-ful enchant for boots. It's worth 1.13 rare [dodge] gems (not agi gems... which are suboptimal for avoidance), while fortitude is worth 1 rare gem.

Gloves are another one... 15 agi is incredibly more valuable than 10 stamina, even if agi is suboptimal for avoidance compared to, say, dodge. Of course, 2% threat is a nice unique option that's hard to overlook.

The budget costs between stamina and spelldamage are about 1.2 to 1, so 12 stamina and 15 spelldamage are close to equivalent. 40 spelldamage costs the same as 33.3 stamina costs the same as 22.2 rating/stat. If you're gemming or gearing for spelldamage at all at a tradeoff to stamina or avoidance, it's something to keep in mind. I generally only worry about spelldamage for non-critical fights (trash, 5mans), so that gives me an easy separation between spelldamage enchants and stam/avoidance enchants.

Again, obviously this only applies to gearings that are not based on stacking stam wherever possible. That's pretty prevalent, of course, especially where gear has enough budget to cover reasonable avoidance and uncrushability with the immutable stats, but it's not the best approach for absolutely every situation.
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Rasmfrackn
Dwarf Paladin
Icecrown Server

Very interesting analysis terms. I hadn't thought of it like that.
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Updated with a few things I had left out and the 2.4 recipes (Defense to chest, new BV meta).
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Reposting this from another thread where +15 def was mentionned:

if you switch 3 enduring talasites for solid stars and swap 150hp for 15def you net:

80HP (18stam * 1.06sacred duty *1.10combat expertise *1.10 blessing of kings = 23 stam = 230 HP) and 3 def.

Not too shabby.

Alternatively with 4 enduring talasites:

150 HP (24*1.06*1.10*1.10 = 30stam = 300HP) at the cost of 1 def.

Then again, I usually have enduring talasites to grab worthwhile socket bonuses... so you'd lose those points.
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Just wanted to give a heads up:

I just quit the game last night. This time for real, right? Anywho, the guide's not getting updated by me anymore. If any moderators feel like taking it over, have at.

Much <3 to the Maintankadin community,
-Ralthos
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