a bit confused on stats ?

Hi guys new tank and new member I have been mainly questing, and queing for randoms here and there but im a bit confused as to what stats take priority when leveling?

I do know that, as a tank stamina is number one but I seem to be taking a big drop in attack power and dps with most of the high stamina gear im getting? Is this fine ? Everything I have been getting has an increase in health but a big drop in atk power. Is this irrelevant since im not at the 85 cap? I am currently at lvl 70. Thanks guys

While leveling the requirement to balance stats is pretty minimal.
Questing is super easy nowerdays, dungeons have been nerfed multiple times etc.
Just go for strength and stamina in approx equal measure.
If you are dpsing as ret, having a bit of hit/experise means you miss less.
If you are tanking dungeons, then its an idea to not totally forget about strength over stamina.
Being able to hold threat - especially against heirloom equipped people - is good.

Don't worry too much about avoidance at level 70. If you can get dodge/parry gear then great
(the crafted green L70 cobalt gear is nice). But at your level the best you are probably going to be able to do is about 25% combined dodge/parry, and your block is stuck at 5% until level 80.

Thank you very much for the help. I will deff try, to see if I can get someone to craft me the cobalt set for tanking for the time being. The threat issue comes into play sometimes with overzealous hunters and dk's but for the most part its been ok . Just wanted to make sure I wasn't gimping myself on what I should have at this level.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Random Pugs.

Expect all sorts of gearing, from people in crap greens with bad stats 20 levels below them, to characters like my alts, with 7 Heirloom items, and everything gemmed and enchanted.
The majority of players out there in PuG land have no idea how to play properly, or simply don't care - A product of instances that have been so terribly nerfed. (I could solo BC instances at equivalent level on my current pallytank alt).
So expect ninja pulls, dumb body/pet pulls, DK's randomly spamming deathgrip, and people blowing all their dps cooldowns before mobs even get to melee range.

You can usually find most of the cobalt set on the AH for 50-100g per piece.
Worth it if you are tanking you way up to 85 IMHO.

One advantage of having low avoidance and next to no mitigation (5%): Reliable incoming damage = nice Vengeance stacks.

LOL seriously you are so right no one cares!!!! Had a dk in my group keep death gripping everything in sight and his response before he got kicked was he wanted to do the instance fast lmao. Just bought most of the of cobalt set at the ah for about 15-20g per piece then got a BS to craft the chest and legs now im set.

i hate to say this, but it doesnt get much better the higher you go

that said, welcome to the tanking community, and if you are anything like me, just create your druid warrior and dk now
once i started tanking, i cant stop

Im seriously thinking, of it lol my dk is at 65 my warrior is at 48 I feel bad for my main lvl 85 rogue who has been getting the bench for a while lol. Don't know if I should stay elf or go cow and do the race change cow's look badass with all there gear also war stomp and extra health are a plus too. Thanks for the welcome