Building a tank set

[Sillyputty]

Currently I am trying to build my tank set, and I am now 11 rating points over the def cap.

My hit is a little low, and so is expertise. I know eventually I want to be hit and expertise capped, but I was wondering how I should gem at this point. My HP is also somewhat low.

http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...em&n=Mytokendk

Somethings of note

#1. I know my head is missing an enchant. I am working on Argent Crusade rep now
#2. I have [Vengeance of the Forsaken] sitting around in my bank.
#3. I know my tanking spec is missing ATM. It's a work in progress.

At this point should I simply stack STA gems?

Thanks.

[Craas]

just get a tank spec, gem expertise and hit should come from gear (I think, I am leveling my DK atm)

[Orion71483]

Drop the trinkets for some avoidance trinkets. HP means nothing you can't avoid/mitigate a hit.

[Sillyputty]

At the moment I don't have any tanking trinket but the expertise one.

I was wondering what I should gem in the short term?

[eint]

Drop the trinkets for some avoidance trinkets. HP means nothing you can't avoid/mitigate a hit.

This has some merit but your core tanking stat should be Stamina, especially as you are starting out with your gearing. Avoidance is actually harder on your healers when you don't have solid gear and stamina to back it up because your incoming damage is less predictable.

As far as trinkets are concerned, for initial gearing get your hands on Essence of the Gossamer (Heroic AN) and The Black Heart (Heroic TotC-5). Better yet, if you happen to have any of the handy 170 stam Brewfest trinkets, I recommend using those over both of the above trinkets.

[Oragan]

Id drop some of the def, gems as u got 551 def and u only need 540, id would not gem for expertise or hit, the hit cap aint so important as a tank, and most don't have it. just gem stam were ever you can :P .Also get some better trinckets, just farm totc 5 man normal and get the Black heart, nice trincket to start with (u may be stuck with it for ages like me )

Another thing, always go for stam over avoidance, stacking avoidance is very dodgey as you could mabey dodge 3 attacks in a row, but you could also get hit by everyone, and if you stack avoidance you WILL have lower hp meaning the healers will have a much harder job, generaly thies days the more stam the better as you can just eat the attacks and the healers have more time to heal you before you die.

[Taidaisher]

What tanking spec are you going with?

I built up my tank spec (blood dps, blood tank) so I don't have to worry about "LFM 1 tank, gtg". http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...se&gn=Clan+SOG

D cap is a misnomer. 535 for Heroics, 540 for raids. Those numbers are crit caps not true D caps. The higher your D is the less overall damage you are going to take. Don't gem for hit/exp, you should be able to get those fairly easily through gear alone. I am way over hit cap, and don't have any hit/exp gems/enchants.

Trinkets = go with the http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37220 (H AN) & http://www.wowhead.com/?item=47216 (H ToC 5man). They are better then the Brewfest trinkets. You would be giving up 103 stam, but gaining armor and mitigation procs is a better option.

#1 stat for tanking should be stam.

[Sinner563]

the essence of gossamer proc is worthless. The 170 stam trinkets beat it hands down.

I currentlly tank with black heart and a brewfest 170 stam trinket.

Gem for Stamina, hit and expertise will come with better gear.

[eint]

Trinkets = go with the http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37220 (H AN) & http://www.wowhead.com/?item=47216 (H ToC 5man). They are better then the Brewfest trinkets. You would be giving up 103 stam, but gaining armor and mitigation procs is a better option.

#1 stat for tanking should be stam.

Unfortunately you contradict yourself here, while it is debatable if The Black Heart http://www.wowhead.com/?item=47216 is better than the straight stam from Brewfest trinkets due to the proc up-time being around 80%, the Brewfest Trinkets are MUCH better than http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37220. Also note that The Black Heart drops from normal 5-man ToC, NOT heroic (so farm away).

While there are some cases where proc's are almost just as good as stam, generally speaking stam is always better since it adds to your effective health pool for ALL bosses. The Black Heart while great for physical mitigation through armor, certainly isn't better than Brewfest Trinkets beefy 170 stam against magic bosses. With this taken into account and the fact that I am lazy and don't like constantly trinket swapping for farm raid content, I tend to stick with stam since it is the best overall.

[sababatage]

Id drop some of the def, gems as u got 551 def and u only need 540, id would not gem for expertise or hit, the hit cap aint so important as a tank, and most don't have it. just gem stam were ever you can :P .Also get some better trinckets, just farm totc 5 man normal and get the Black heart, nice trincket to start with (u may be stuck with it for ages like me )

Another thing, always go for stam over avoidance, stacking avoidance is very dodgey as you could mabey dodge 3 attacks in a row, but you could also get hit by everyone, and if you stack avoidance you WILL have lower hp meaning the healers will have a much harder job, generaly thies days the more stam the better as you can just eat the attacks and the healers have more time to heal you before you die.

Lol are you kidding. Play in an endgame raiding guild where your dps does 8k+dps and try to maintain threat with all the misses that could have been hits.

[Cirayne24]

I've tanked everything without ever having to gem Exp. I've never even been close to the Exp cap, so dont gem or try to get Exp Cap. Its 56 from the front, you'll be gimping yourself if you even try. The sad truth to tanking in Wrath is you want Stam. So you Mass Stam.

But what about avoidance? Avoidance comes from Def Raiting, so don't try to stay around 540, although with tier9 gear, it comes naturally and you don't have to gem for it. I sit at 572.

I have 214 hit, I had to gem a couple hit gems here and there but there's no need to Max it. Yes your going to miss and get dodged/parried, but thats the problem with tanks, espcially DK tanks. If you wan to be effective you need a large Health Pool and Avoidance. You can't afford to gem hit/exp.

Any other questions I'll be happy to help answer. Here's my armory so you can see what I've done with my gear.

http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...yxia&n=Cirayne