Ratanna's 3.1 TTL Best-in-Slot WotLK Guide. Hard Mode Loot

Ratanna's 3.1 TTL Best-in-Slot WotLK Guide. Hard Mode Loot Optional Included.

The Following setup is for JC/Enchanter Tankadins.

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Head (25-Man Hodir)
Conqueror's Aegis Faceguard
*Enchant - 37 Stamina, 20 defense (Argent Crusade Revered)
*Meta - 32 Stamina, 2% Armor Value
*Socket - 8 Defense 12 Stamina

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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)

or

Neck-HM (25-Man Freya Hard Mode)
Bronze Pendant of the Vanir
*Socket - 8 Defense 12 Stamina

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***Shoulder (25-Man Loatheb or 60 Valorous Badges) (If using 2 pc bonus)
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)

or

***Shoulder2 (25-Man Yogg'Saron) (If using 4 pc bonus)
Conqueror's Aegism Shoulderguards
*Enchant - 20 Dodge 15 defense (Sons of Hodir Exalted)
*Socket - 8 Dodge 12 Stamina

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Chest (25-Man Hodir or 58 Conquest Badges)
Conqueror's Breastplate
*Enchant - 10 Stats (only if defense capped)
*Sockets - 30 Stamina (Solid Stormjewel from Fishing Dailies)
*Sockets - Prismatic 41 Stam (red) (or 8 Dodge 12 Stam)

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Cloak (25-Man Auriaya)
Cloak of the Makers
*Enchant - 16 Defense

or

Cloak-HM (25-Man Mimiron Hard Mode)
Titanskin Cloak
*Sockets - 41 Stamina (JC Prismatic) or 8 Dodge 12 Stam
*Enchant - 16 Defense

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Wrist (25-Man Flame Leviathan)
Mimiron's Inferno Couplings
*Enchant - 40 Stamina

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Gloves (28 Conquest Badges)
Gauntlets of the Royal Watch
*Enchant - 18 stam

or

***Gloves (25-Man Obsidian Sanctum) (If using for 2pc bonus)
Valorous Redemption Handguards
*Enchant - 18 stam
*Socket - 24 Stam Gem

or

Gloves-HM (25-Man Freya)
Handguards of Revitalization
*Enchant - 18 stam
*Socket - 8 Dodge 12 Stamina
*Socket - 8 Defense 12 Stamina

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Belt (25-man Random BS Pattern)
Indestructible Plate Girdle
*Enchant - Belt Buckle
*Socket - 24 Stamina
*Socket - 24 STamina
*Socket - 8 Dodge 12 Stamina

or

Belt (28 Conquest Badges)
Shieldwarder Girdle
*Enchant - Belt Buckle
*Socket - 24 Stamina

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Legs (25-Man Freya)
Conqueror's Aegis Legguards
*Enchant - 55 stamina 22 agi
*Sockets - 8 Dodge 12 Stamina
*Sockets - 8 Defense 12 Stamina

or

Legs-HM (25-Man Algalon)
Legplates of the Endless Void
*Enchant - 55 stamina 22 agi
*Sockets - 8 Dodge 12 Stamina
*Sockets - 24 Stamina
*Sockets - 8 Defense 12 Stamina

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Boots (25-Man Random BS Pattern)
Spiked Deathdealers
*Enchant - 22 Stamina
*Socket - 8 Defense 12 Stamina
*Socket - 24 Stamina

or

Boots (25-Man Ignis the Furnace Master)
Charred Saronite Greaves
*Enchant - 22 Stamina

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Ring 1 (25-Man Flame Leviathan)
The Leviathan's Coil
*Enchant = 24 Stamina

Ring 2 (25-Man Auriaya)
Platinum Band of Aesir
*Enchant = 24 Stamina

Ring-HM 3 (25-Man Thorim Hard Mode)
Fate's Clutch
*Enchant = 24 Stamina

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Trinket 1 (25-Man Ignis)
Heart of Iron

Trinket 2 (10-Man Yogg'Saron)
Royal Seal of King Llane

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Weapon (25-Man Flame Leviathan)
Titanguard
*Enchant - Blade Warding

or

Weapon-HM (10-Man Hodir Hard Mode)
Shiver
*Enchant - Blade Warding
*Socket - 24 Stamina

or

Weapon-HM (25-Man Deconstructor Hard Mode)
Sorthalis, Hammer of the Watchers
*Enchant - Blade Warding
*Socket - 8 Dodge 12 Stamina

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Shield (25-Kel'Thuzad)
Wall of Terror
Enchant - 20 Defense or 18 Stamina

or

Shield (10-Man Hodir Hard Mode)
The Boreal Guard
Enchant - 20 Defense or 18 Stamina
*Socket - 24 Stamina
*Socket - 8 Dodge 12 Stamina

or

Shield (25-Man Algalon)
Bulwark of Algalon
Enchant - 20 Defense or 18 Stamina
*Socket - 24 Stamina

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Libram (25-Man General Vezax)
Libram of Sacred Shield

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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 the caster 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)

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Slot Discussion
1. Helmet - You could go with Helm of the Faceless Vezax-25, but I'm a fan of the block rating on the helm and the set bonuses. Block rating will come in handy on a fight like Thorim!
2. Neck - Sadly the Sapphiron neck is still best in slot until you get the hard mode neck. The badge one is very comparable if you need the extra hit.
3. Shoulders - Now t8 shoulders, i hate the itemization on it. however the 4pc is really good for a lot of bosses. I use 2pc Val 3pc Conq on a fight like thorim where i'm solo tanking the arena. Its very good Aoe threat and avoidance. Fight to fight you switch from 4pc/1pc to 2pc/3pc.
4. Cape - No debate.
5. Chest - No debate.
6. Wrist - No Debate.
7. Gloves - Valorous are still suprerior to t8 and its by far the weakest itemized piece. I will be using Valorous until i get my Freya Hard mode gloves. Also works nicely when you share with the shoulderguards for 2pc bonus.
8. Belt - Craftable ones are BoE. Get them if they're available. If not, the badge belt is still very good.
9. Legs - A little bit of debate as the saronite legs are very good. If you lack the 4pc then I'd def use the saronite legs. Get one and if you get the hard mode one use those.
10. Boots - Same with the belt. BS has the best one. If you can't get them then the Ignis boots will have to do.
11. Rings - These rings are up for debate. I like the armor ones, but they are situation and will cause me to watch my defense in that I retain my 540 defense. Choose carefully.
12. Trinkets - Hands DOWN no debate (haha) Kudos for blizzard finally making legit epic trinkets for us. (although i'm still waiting for a reitemization on the Vezax Trinket).
13. Weapon - Huge fan of the Flame Leviathan weapon. Trading hit for expertise on the Sorthalis i'm not a real fan of but the slight upgrades in stamina and the socket are very nice.
14. Shields - Fight to fight Borean Shield and the Hero's Defender still BiS. Tons of stamina on the Hodir hard mode shield. Dibs on the Algalon shield if you manage to get there and down him.
15. Libram - Hands down no debate fucking amazing libram. FREEDOM libram is what I call this one. FCFS rotations inc.


Things to consider in this build:

- This is a TTL (Time-to-Live) build meaning is maximum survivalbility for progression. Not A sustained damage over time ie. Mitigation). If you do not understand this concept please dont post.
- 540 Defense, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS. #1 Priority
- Use Blackened Dragonfin (40 Agility/40 Stamina food) For dodge and armor and stamina!
- Block Cap pre-requisite is still 102.4% (Sum of your Miss, Dodge, Parry, Block %)
- Keep in mind with the glyph of SoV (expertise) and talents alone you have 16 expertise.
- 26 expertise is the soft cap (dodge)
- Expertise after 25 affects parry only and it will up to 16%
- 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. blade warding enchant).
- 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 you 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 in those oh shit progression situations. 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 and saving your life in progression.
- 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.
- Block Rating is only important on a fight like Thorim, but its not something you want to stack in exchange of a lot of other stats.
- 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 you're not tanking so you can do more dps and take less dmg.

Disclaimer: I will tidy the look and feel in time. Just getting the barebone down first. Wasn't able to copy and paste from my old format cause a Administrator locked my thread to where I can't edit it. Tons of edits inc.

Here is an example of the effects of Argent Defender. Just copied from my previous BiS thread. This way people dont have to look at pages worth of debate.

Tank A: 43K Raid buffed HP
Tank A AD Activation: 15,050

Tank B: 40K Raid Buffed HP
Tank B AD Activation: 14,000

For whatever reason lets say are took whatever damage to get near their 17,000HP. (again not debating who took less dmg/s before the fight)

So Tank A is at
@17,000
-2000 hp (insert random raid damage here)
@15,000
*AD Triggered
(Next incoming attack was intended 11k after block/armor/% talents)
-7350 ***Damage Mitigated After AD Reduction
@7650
(Next incoming attack was intended 11k after block/armor/% talents)
-7350
@300

Tank B is at
@17,000hp
-2000 HP (random raid dmg)
@15,000hp
(Next incoming attack was intended 11k after block/armor/% talents)
-11,000
@4,000HP
*AD Triggered
(Next incoming attack was intended 11k after block/armor/% talents)
DEAD!

Evalutation: Tank A took an extra hit and STILL lived. Tank B Died on the 2nd hit and Died.

Also note lets say Tank A @300hp got a Holy Light for 13k
*AD Active
@300
+13,000 Holy Light
@13,300
(Boss Breaths tank for 18k Damage)
-12600 (affected by AD)
@700HP

Lets say Tank B Got a Holy Light for 13k and dodged the 2nd hit.
*AD Active
@4000
(Next incoming attack was intended 11k after block/armor/% talents)
DODGED!
@4000
+13,000 Holy Light
@17,000
*AD Deactivated
(Boss breaths tank for 18k Damage)
-18,000
Dead

It is very common that you could get HEALED out of your AD range, which may inevitably end in your death.

This is why this buffer zone must be extended. This is as clear cut as I can get. We're not going to debate on who takes less overall melee damage over a period of time. We're talking about living or dying in progression raids. Also with this example you can see how expanding your AD threshold and how 1 hp can go a long way as far as living in those bad RNG or big hit situations. AD only scales insanely well with TTL the more HP you have.

you actually prefer blade ward over blood draining or any of the older wpn enchants eh...

For those wanting to know my stats (armory is broken atm)
Raid buffed w/o cooldowns and bladewarding.

46244 HP
540 Defense (5.7% miss)
29.70% Dodge
19.88% Parry
17.18% Block%
29347 Armor

Here's our Impervious Thorim Hard Mode Kill.
http://files.filefront.com/Hardmodethor ... einfo.html

enjoy

So EH is really important and yet you fail to mention armour or agi as options? You do realise how good Saronite Plated Legguard are for your style of tanking right?

Without the bonus, the gloves from the badges are good ones no ?

http://www.wowhead.com/?item=45834

Ratanna wrote:15. Libram - Hands down no debate fucking amazing libram. FREEDOM libram is what I call this one. FCFS rotations inc.

This is demonstrably wrong, insofar as FCFS is always worse than 969. In some sense, 969 is two separate "FCFS" rotations that alternate GCD's (9's and 6's) to maximize the number of abilities one can use without clashes.

The new Libram itself is still better than the old one though, of course.

Not really. It's a minor TPS boost at the large cost of utility.

Alucard wrote:Without the bonus, the gloves from the badges are good ones no ?

http://www.wowhead.com/?item=45834

yes

and as for Saronite Plated Legguard. They're good. But less avoidance than the tiered ones and the tiered bonuses are very good.

It's worth a 1.8% relative reduction in physical damage at 27k armor and that is not looking into it's synergistic effects with Block. It gives as much EH as 800 hp would which is worth 64 stamina.

You can't tell me you wouldn't trade 60 parry rating for 64 stamina.

826 Armor
-1 Defense
+9 Dodge Rating
-60 Parry Rating

those are the differences between the legs.
I would choose 60 parry rating, 1 defense and a set bonus for 826 armor +9 dodge rating.

My list followed yours pretty well but I was able to refine things even further after seeing other opinions. Thanks for all the great tips.

Awesome. Honestly, I'd prefer a list that has optimal EH/TTL of non-hard-mode bosses, since many of us are likely to get the normal modes done before concentrating on the hard mode stuff. Still, many of these items are NOT from hard modes, so it's only a minor concern. Thanks for your work, Ratanna.