3.3 Gem and Enchant Guide

Excellent list, just one question - is there a limit on how many Solid Majestic Zircon (or any other crafted epic gem) we can put in our gear?

Klaudandus wrote:Excellent list, just one question - is there a limit on how many Solid Majestic Zircon (or any other crafted epic gem) we can put in our gear?

Nope. Have at it.

Digren wrote:

Klaudandus wrote:Excellent list, just one question - is there a limit on how many Solid Majestic Zircon (or any other crafted epic gem) we can put in our gear?

Nope. Have at it.

So, we're basically only limited by budget concerns?

Klaudandus wrote:So, we're basically only limited by budget concerns?

Given how cheap the mats are for the epic gem transmutes (1 blue gem + 1 eternal for all except the Eye of Zul), after a few weeks I imagine that the epic gems will not cost all that much more than the blue-quality gems.

Braundo wrote:

Klaudandus wrote:So, we're basically only limited by budget concerns?

Given how cheap the mats are for the epic gem transmutes (1 blue gem + 1 eternal for all except the Eye of Zul), after a few weeks I imagine that the epic gems will not cost all that much more than the blue-quality gems.

I can actually cut 'em - need to get the recipes for the regal purple one and the enduring green one

Robbert wrote:The Engineering cloak tinker 'Flexweave Underlay' was buffed in 3.2 to provide 23 Agi in addition to the slow fall on use effect. Ignoring the on use effect, this buff makes this enchant best overall tanking enchant to cloak.

Ok...so I finally applied this enchant to one of my cloaks (for my ret set in this case), and while the text for the tinker does say it increases Agi by 23, but the tinker text on the cloak says it increases crit rating by 43. If the text as shown on the cloak is correct, then this tinker is no longer at all viable for tanking.

I believe Titanium Plating now gives +81 BV instead of the old +40 BV on your shield.

Robbert wrote:

Robbert wrote:The Engineering cloak tinker 'Flexweave Underlay' was buffed in 3.2 to provide 23 Agi in addition to the slow fall on use effect. Ignoring the on use effect, this buff makes this enchant best overall tanking enchant to cloak.

Ok...so I finally applied this enchant to one of my cloaks (for my ret set in this case), and while the text for the tinker does say it increases Agi by 23, but the tinker text on the cloak says it increases crit rating by 43. If the text as shown on the cloak is correct, then this tinker is no longer at all viable for tanking.

When I put this on my cloak a few days ago, I verified that it added 23 agility. It was not in the text, but toggling the cloak in and out of the slot changed my stat accordingly.

I do not know if they changed it in today's patch. I can check tonight.

Arnax wrote:I believe Titanium Plating now gives +81 BV instead of the old +40 BV on your shield.

Corrected. Thank you.

Is blood draining still of questionable effect with the changes to AD?

Piety wrote:Is blood draining still of questionable effect with the changes to AD?

Blood Draining was never of questionable effect. That myth was debunked months ago.

Now even that myth can't be used as an excuse. Blood Draining is good, and in my opinion the best pseudo effective health option for the slot. I use it.

For completeness' sake, you seem to have omitted the Nightmare Tear.

Even with the useless +10 spirit and negligible +10 intellect, at +10 agility, +10 strength and +10 stamina it can be a valid choice, at more useful item credit value and due to its prismatic flexibility. It's also rather cheap.

Might be worth a mention, just to round it out.

Veilan wrote:For completeness' sake, you seem to have omitted the Nightmare Tear.

Even with the useless +10 spirit and negligible +10 intellect, at +10 agility, +10 strength and +10 stamina it can be a valid choice, at more useful item credit value and due to its prismatic flexibility. It's also rather cheap.

Might be worth a mention, just to round it out.

I don't want to confuse people who aren't nuanced in gear selection. Only blocking sets need to gem for strength, ever, and in that case a +10str/+15sta gem is likely a better choice anyway. In regular gear sets a +10agi/+15sta gem would be preferred.

In a theoretical world where blocking was important for effective health, it could have uses. But I can just imagine new tanks posting the gear advice forum with gem slots full of those and complaining about how they have trouble reaching and maintaining the defense minimum and how their strength and block gear doesn't seem to keep them alive long enough.

For those interested, I have a brief opinionated rant on gemming theory for 3.2 - Gems, Sockets and YOU!

Digren wrote:But I can just imagine new tanks posting the gear advice forum with gem slots full of those

Heh, considering they're unique equipped, your imagination trumps mine here .

While I agree that usually other choices are better, the beauty of the prismatic stone is that it can provide you a slot bonus, and ease your meta activation, if that is a problem. Not that anyone should need that, but the option is out there and might deserve a place in a thorough guide. Possible confusion can be countered by accessible education in the gem's paragraph or description.

The parry you get from parry rating still diminishes in effect faster than dodge does. They only changed the starting point.

Tobyboat1 wrote:Ah I seeeee, thank you .

I'm at 24% D, 21% P, 13% B with 35k health unbuffed, should I bother resocketing or just wait for new gear ^^? For instance my helmet has nothing but a bit of defense and 70 parry lol. Blah I dunno..

Oh and I know that my block is low, but when I'm always over 102.4% in raids anyway.. I want the lowest amount of hits that I 'avoid' to be blocks.. aslong as I can stay capped against full hits. Blocking makes me cry in my pants

Please ask this in the Gear Questions and Advice forum. Reserve posts in this thread for comments about the guide such as your first post.

thanks

Still a little confused about taking 20 def to shield over 81 BV (105 with redoubt).. just from a theoretical point of view.

20 def rating / 4.918 = 4.067 def skill, *0.04, * 3 = 0.488% avoidance (miss/dodge/parry). + 0.163% block rating.

now with dr nailing that into the ground, that drops to 0.3ish. (ill using 0.25% avo after dr based on BiS Coliseum loots for the rest of my napkin maths)

So if we get hit 410 times that avoidance should stop 1 hit (given 102.4%), if we use BV (taking an 'uncrushability' of about 100% from bis list (so 2.4% chance to take a full hit)) we would have blocked 400 hits for 32400 dmg total. (if you were at .3% avo from 20 def it would be 27000)

so by that random terribad maths 20 def = 105 BV if you are getting hit for 42000 dmg after armour, which i think is IC hardmode with 5 ppl dead territory or super thorim mega death (highest Vezax hit i could find in logs was for 27000ish on our geared out the ass feral druid with many armors)




ok i may have lied when i said i was confused at the start, and i know there are holes in this hypothetical with spell dmg hits and such, just comes down to predicatable 105 dmg reduction vs 0.25 avoidance that could save you on every one of the 410 hits or not at all. Just looking for some feedback to my 3am theory.

i realise now that i failed to consider that the 100% 'uncrushability' included proper avoidance and not just block%, so i guess a hypothetical based on a worst case scenario of only blocking stuff is correct, but with only 40% ish chance to block its only mitigating 16800 dmg over 400 hits which isnt quite as good if you're doing hardmodes.

also i may have misread my 'uncrushability'

PS: i know uncrushability doesnt really exist anymore, its just the word that comes to mind when trying to calculate around 102.4%

editted both posts for BV after redoubt. going to bed now

Defense to shield has nothing to do with its inherent avoidance. Defense to shield has to do with being uncrittable.

When your gear gets good enough to not require defense enhancement through all yellow gem slots, head enchant, shoulder enchant, back enchant, chest enchant, and shield enchant, where do you start cutting defense to boost other important stats?

If the socket bonus on the gear is poor, swapping def/sta gems to pure sta is a huge effective health boost and is one of the first places to enact change. The other place is on the back enchant, where Agi or the engie flexweave offer more pure avoidance, or the armor enchant is again a good effective health boost. Then you can look at your chest enchant, where +health is an ok EH boost given the loss of defense.

Some people would look at the shoulder enchant next, since 30 sta at the loss of 20 dodge and 15 def is a fair tradeoff for some. Only then would most people consider the block value enhancement via swapping out their shield enchant. (Perhaps, with the doubling of block value in 3.2, people would swap shield before shoulder. That remains to be seen.)

It's very unlikely anyone would swap out their head enchant for the engie alternative, since losing 20 def rating for 8 stamina is a poor deal under any circumstances.

When you've made all the other swaps, and you can still drop more defense/avoidance to gain effective health, then by all means use the block value enchant to shield. As I say at the top of the first post, only you, the experienced tankadin, knows what's best for you given your gear and raid role.

When most expert tanks on this forum have reached this point, and most feel that the block value enchant is the best value for the slot, I'll change the recommendation. Most don't yet. I don't yet. So I'm not changing it.

As far as nightmare tears go, I put one in my Conq T8 shoulders because at the time, nobody could cut a Regal or Shifting Dreadstone. I don't really regret the gem as it activates my Austere Meta, and I gain 10 str at the cost of 5 stam. Not that huge of a loss.

Don't have a nightmare tear in boss tanking gear though. It's a decent choice, but not 100% optimal.

Nominate for sticky. This guide rocks.

Ard wrote:Nominate for sticky. This guide rocks.

/points at maintankadin consolidated gearing guide sticky at top of page.

This guide. It's in it.

/slaps ard with a wet fish.

Please continue your excellant work Digren.

Barathorn

Concerning mongoose, while I personally still use it, last time I cared to lurk at tankspot, the peeps who tested mongoose v blade warding have basically said that mongoose is now dead. No maths or anything, they just stated mongoose is now dead. Keep in mind these were the 2 people who analyzed logs and stuff to figure out how good blade warding was.

Thought I'd mention it in case it's been missed.