Which meta gem Protection Paladins should use, and why.

[kaskadereno]

The thing to note when looking at someone's gear who's in a very highly competitive raiding scene is that they often regem and respec on an encounter by encounter basis depending on which encounter they're facing at that moment.

It may work out, by some quirk or fight specific mechanic, that the fight they're on needs armour more than increased block value.

Of course he could just be doing it wrong : P

You're absolutely right. Thank heavens; it's the voice of reason! Please, indulge us with just a little bit more of your insight for what top raiding guilds do to min/max encounters so that, you know...... we can learn something!

[Evereghalo]

Synopsis: essentially when we are all full tier 11 (359 gear lvls) or at least heroic tier 11 then we should switch from 2% armor to 1% BV because the increase in Mitigation, and inverse reduced benefit from the more armor on items cause the BV meta even at 1% BV to reduce more damage than 2% armor.

Opinion: I do not see the 5% BV ever coming back because at we have shown here mathmatically if it were to then it would automatically be BIS for Paladins and Warriors, and would only get better as the 2 tanks approach 102.4%. So with the 5% BV and 102.4% reachable by full tier 11 or full tier 11 and part tier 11 heroic iLvl gear I think Blizz knows it might make prot warriors and paladins way better than Druids and DKs

[Retsucks]

You guys are stupid. Block value is not the same as block PERCENTAGE. The 5% means instead of block reducing incoming physical damage by 30%, it reduces it by 35%. You're talking about block RATING which increases your chance to block.

English is hard.

[Atrea]

You guys are stupid. Block value is not the same as block PERCENTAGE. The 5% means instead of block reducing incoming physical damage by 30%, it reduces it by 35%. You're talking about block RATING which increases your chance to block.

English is hard.

Actually, you're the one that's stupid, since no one here has even hinted at the meta gem's purpose being block chance.
We're quite aware of what the gem does - although the gem's benefits are not additive, they are multiplicative.
Ergo, 5% really means, increasing 30% by 5%, which is 31.5%.

English must be hard, because you don't seem to understand it.

---------- Post added 2010-12-23 at 07:00 PM ----------

Synopsis: essentially when we are all full tier 11 (359 gear lvls) or at least heroic tier 11 then we should switch from 2% armor to 1% BV because the increase in Mitigation, and inverse reduced benefit from the more armor on items cause the BV meta even at 1% BV to reduce more damage than 2% armor.

Opinion: I do not see the 5% BV ever coming back because at we have shown here mathmatically if it were to then it would automatically be BIS for Paladins and Warriors, and would only get better as the 2 tanks approach 102.4%. So with the 5% BV and 102.4% reachable by full tier 11 or full tier 11 and part tier 11 heroic iLvl gear I think Blizz knows it might make prot warriors and paladins way better than Druids and DKs

In a nutshell yes.

Also, from what I gather, the 5% is supposed to be multiplicative, and not additive, and so it is working as intended, and is not bugged.
It simply does not stack with the benefits of Holy Shield, or the critical block of Protection Warriors.

[Guzug]

Synopsis: essentially when we are all full tier 11 (359 gear lvls) or at least heroic tier 11 then we should switch from 2% armor to 1% BV because the increase in Mitigation, and inverse reduced benefit from the more armor on items cause the BV meta even at 1% BV to reduce more damage than 2% armor.

Opinion: I do not see the 5% BV ever coming back because at we have shown here mathmatically if it were to then it would automatically be BIS for Paladins and Warriors, and would only get better as the 2 tanks approach 102.4%. So with the 5% BV and 102.4% reachable by full tier 11 or full tier 11 and part tier 11 heroic iLvl gear I think Blizz knows it might make prot warriors and paladins way better than Druids and DKs

His isn't what was in the OP but I think this is where we ended up at days end. If you are pre heroic or heroics or even in some raid gear the armor gem will probably win out by a large bit. Once you get full raid gear and some heroic raid pieces the block gem starts to win out. In the end you'll need to decide at what point the added damage reduction from the block is worth more then the 'always there' aspect of the armor.

Today 06:55 PMRetsucks
You guys are stupid. Block value is not the same as block PERCENTAGE. The 5% means instead of block reducing incoming physical damage by 30%, it reduces it by 35%. You're talking about block RATING which increases your chance to block.

English is hard.

Wow, mean, rude and stupid! The trifecta!!!

Also, from what I gather, the 5% is supposed to be multiplicative, and not additive, and so it is working as intended, and is not bugged.

There are a handful of posts on ej wowhead and tankspot about the gem indeed being bugged but the bug is in the tool tip. The bonus is additive 1% just like wotlk was. Unless those folk are telling lies about the responses to their tickets. It's the intertubes so I wouldn't put it outside the realm of possibility.

[Fabiodin]

Lemme see if I got this right...

If I don't want to bother with the math necessary to evaluate which one is better based on my avoidance and block chances, I should go with Austere just because it's failsafe (work even when blocking isn't possible) and the Eternal block value bonus isn't that much greater even on its best scenarios.

But we should move to Eternal once we start reaching 50k buffed armor because the diminishing returns will crush the effects of any extra armor provided by Austere.

Did I get it right?

[danblee]

And this is why you should buy my gem on Zulu. Enough said.