Yellow tank gems, I don't get it.

[Luris]

Hey,

I usually browse over posts to get a better idea of the whole tank min maxing which I'm obviously not very good at. That being said, what do you guys recommend for a yellow slot gem? I've been meaning to get the gem requirements on some of my gear due to the fact that +12 stam sounds decent

Example: Pants:
Red:+10 parry +15 stam
Blue:+30 stam, no brainer
Yellow:+10def +15 stam ?
Bonus: +12 stam.

Overall: 72stam, 10 parry, 10 defense vs 90 stam (3 x30 stam blue).

While having a giganic health pool is nice, I'm already sitting at 51-52k raid buffed and do like the avoidance.
What bugs me is the 570def I'm standing partly due to yellow stam gems, would anyone advice differently? Is that def rating that big of a waste?

I've tried looking up on rawr and those yellow gems usually show up as best, is it correct?

I generally make or ask in posts things in general everyone can contribute from but here's my armory link, feel free to be a critic.
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...ivh&cn=Foxclaw

P.S. I know there have been threads about this but it usually ends up in an "i'm right you wrong" kind of fest.

Thanks in advance for your opinion.

[Novamh]

the defence rating adds to ur mitigation so it is well worth having although it may not seem it, i have 580 def on my warrior and have around 30% dodge 24% parry and 23% block aswell as around 51k fully buffed

[Deleted]

If the socket bonus is worth it, I usually choose between def/stam or hit/stam, depending on how much hit i've got from gear.

[Pieterman]

dodge>def>parry. (usually)
im sitting at 563 / 580 depending on what trinkets im using, and it still gives the same avoidance as it did before 540. defense is a great stat!

[zox]

dodge>def>parry.
im sitting at 563 / 580 depending on what trinkets im using, and it still gives the same avoidance as it did before 540. defense is a great stat!

The diminishing returns apply for all avoidance that comes from def too...

[seam]

dodge>def>parry.
im sitting at 563 / 580 depending on what trinkets im using, and it still gives the same avoidance as it did before 540. defense is a great stat!

Not always.

Defence gives Parry, miss, block(Not avoidance, but it gives it) and dodge.

However, at my warriors current gear 16 dodge gives .23 avoidance, and 16 defence gives .24

Dodge isn't always better =)

[dualprodigy]

I'll tell you from a healing point of view. Mitigation is awesome. the forums you are reading about your yellow sockets are absolutely correct. Tanks that do nothing but stack stam stam stam are what healers call "mana sponges." Thats because we have to spam constant heals on the tanks due to the fact that, even though they have nice big health pools, they're constantly getting hit. These hits might not be crits but they are still constantly taking damage because they don't have enough mitigation. There are sites that will help you figure out your "virtual health pool," which is your actual health plus the amount of damage your mitigation would help you avoid. Once you start getting into ICC n have bosses like festergut and onward, where bosses actually start hitting for some respectable damage, you're going to want that mitigation. There is a fine line that must be walked between stam and mitigation. Keep following the spreadsheets.

[Name0]

You dont HAVE to gem yellow

[Master Guns]

You dont HAVE to gem yellow

[watcherllane]

Now I'm not an expert on Warrior tanks but I would always meet the socket requirement as a Pally tank...but if you want to get the very best out of your gear, I believe you want to go ahead and put in:

Red:Regal Dreadstone 10Ddg / 15Sta
/Or/ Shifting Dreadstone 10Agi / 15Sta (I believe this will be a slight bit better, since you net a hair of armor and threat; also taking in consideration diminishing returns on dodge at you gear level)
Blue:Solid Majestic Zircon 30Sta (duh )
Yellow:Enduring Eye of Zul 10Def / 15Sta

You loose 30Sta for not spamming all Solids, but gain 12 from the bonus netting = minus 18 Sta plus 10def/10agi(or dodge).

I don't know about putting in parry. Presumably you have really good gear which means you are at the parry plateau of diminishing returns (parry is the worst tanking thing to stack from what I've read), and probably dodge since you mentioned you have 570 def and that sounds like about 245iLev to me. Agility/sta might be better for you if you need to fill a red, or at least dodge/sta: It depends on your gear...but I would not put parry/sta, since I'm certain that you will get less out of it.
Agi gives you armor and some dodge, but the armor + dodge is a little better if you have lots of dodge on your gear...armor is just awesome since it's straight mitigation (no way you're going to hit the cap w/o lot's of procs, whereas dodge you might be getting very little from)

Here's one of the "top", or so posted on EJ, via WoW meters:
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...gg&n=Kainteeka
Just an example warrior I looked at to confirm/dis confirm. This guy(girl?) opted for dodge/sta, and I hear agi is bairly better. Oh, and of course your question: yeah, def/sta for yellow!

In response to those above: it depends on your gear, but most likely if you are MTanking ICC Def>Dodge/Agility>Parry (I wonder how much hate I'll get for Agility ;p)

Sorry it's long >.> bottom line: IMO if the bonus is >6, for one half/half gem, or >9 for two half/half gems: yes, and yellow should be def/sta (see above for why Def is awesome)

[JustintimeSS]

It's pretty simple. Gem for what you need. You should be able to look at your gear and understand what stat you lack and which stat will take you to where you need to be. If you want to match a color socket then it needs to have a nice bonus. If the socket bonus is +9 or +12 stam then go for it.

I use these if I want the bonus:
Red: 10 agil/15 stam
Blue: 30 stam
Yellow: 10def/15 stam

That's for me though, you might want hit or exp. I don't need either. Having more defense than the "cap" is a pretty decent way to gain avoidance. I was gemming all 30 stam for a while but I did the math and saw taking the 9 and 12 stam bonuses actually nets me more avoidance with very little loss of health if I match. Work it out yourself on paper or with rawr or whatever and know what you need to do to excel in what you're tanking.

[Kayvas]

personally i skip all 6 stam bonusses, and legs/chest with 3 socker and 12 stam bonus, are not worth because it require 2 non-blue gems

[Dawon]

Agree with what most people say here but need to point out 2 things:

Never gem for socketbonus if it's less than +9 stamina (u'll probably just end up with a net-result that is worse than whacking full stamina into them).

Always gem red sockets with agi/sta, stop using dodge/parry/whatever, reason is simply that bosses starting to hit HARD, we wanna get rid off as much incoming dmg as possible and agi gives armor (and some dodge/crit)! For the love of everything unholy, don't underestimate armor... agi is the only way we can "gem for it"! (there is a reason the icc-gear got all insane bonus armor on them).


@op, yeah basically that's your best choice if u wanna keep socketbonus, put in the def/sta gem in yellow sockets.

[Frumpy Frumpy Frak]

If the socket bonus is 9+ stam then go for it.

If it's less, just chuck a stam in.

[Racetrack]

Tank gems:

Blue - 30 Stam

Red - 30 Stam unless it's for the meta or the socket bonus in which case use 10 Exp/15 Stam if your Exp is under 26. Otherwise 10 Dodge/15 Stam. 10 Agility 15 Stam isn't as good for Warrior tanks as it is for Paladin's.

Yellow - Nightmare tear. 10 stam, 10 agility, 10 strength, 10 spirit. is better than any of the yellow gems. After that gem 30 stamina unless your going for the socket bonus. 10 Def/15 stamina if your under 540 Def (who is these days) or 10 hit/15 Stamina if your under 263 hit. If you are over both 263 hit and 540 def i would go for 10 Def/15 stam.

Yellow gem sockets are the equivilant of blue gem sockets for Melee DPS. Their the worst of the 3 except for a fresh level 80 tank.

[Cynadra]

I'll tell you from a healing point of view. Mitigation is awesome. the forums you are reading about your yellow sockets are absolutely correct. Tanks that do nothing but stack stam stam stam are what healers call "mana sponges." Thats because we have to spam constant heals on the tanks due to the fact that, even though they have nice big health pools, they're constantly getting hit. These hits might not be crits but they are still constantly taking damage because they don't have enough mitigation. There are sites that will help you figure out your "virtual health pool," which is your actual health plus the amount of damage your mitigation would help you avoid. Once you start getting into ICC n have bosses like festergut and onward, where bosses actually start hitting for some respectable damage, you're going to want that mitigation. There is a fine line that must be walked between stam and mitigation. Keep following the spreadsheets.

Effective Health - The amount of HP you have.

Mitigation - Armor and Block, basicly stopping damage.

Avoidance - Dodging and parring attacks.

[seam]

I'll tell you from a healing point of view. Mitigation is awesome. the forums you are reading about your yellow sockets are absolutely correct. Tanks that do nothing but stack stam stam stam are what healers call "mana sponges." Thats because we have to spam constant heals on the tanks due to the fact that, even though they have nice big health pools, they're constantly getting hit.

I thought mana sponges died in BC along with healers not having infinite mana to heal tanks?

I mean, I know my priest never goes oom spamming heals on a tank.

If healers never go oom, and are going to chain cast anyway, wouldn't it be better to have more health and take smaller hits per hit(You say stam stacking, which I assume means EH, Stam/armor stacking?). That way the healing is actually being used, instead of being overhealing?

Or do your healers reactive heal and only heal after the tank is at 50% or so?

Also, you mean avoidance, not mitigation.

[blahism]

As a healer it amazes me how many tanks are stuffed to the gills with stam and don't bother reaching hit or expertise. If your not at those caps then yellow and red tank gems fill 'em perfectly.