Prot Warrior LF review/critique from his peers...

[The Big Ape]

hopefully, i can post links...

My Armory: BigApe

currently gearing to tank for 10 man raids...
eventually looking to for some critiques from my peers on gem/enchants/stats and talents.

current spec works fine for heroics... starting to value the stam a bit more as pugs seems to have unreliable healing...

also have 1680 vp and working up to get my T11 legs...

trinkets, damned Stonecore and GB does not like me that well... neither does throne of the tides... but working hard to fill my bag of tanking trinks.

thank you in advance for all your opinions and critiques.

[MrMuggles]

you need to hit cap yourself towards raid bosses if you are going to do 10 mans and not see random shit like blast wave ripping ur raid apart on nefarian or halfus getting of unecessary shadow novas.

[The Big Ape]

you need to hit cap yourself towards raid bosses if you are going to do 10 mans and not see random shit like blast wave ripping ur raid apart on nefarian or halfus getting of unecessary shadow novas.

thank you very much for your reply...

i am reading/researching on the whole hit cap issue... as our 10man raids won't start for another week or two... and as per another's suggestion here, i am looking to get gear with +hit or extra set with reforged to hit cap for these specific fights...

i just need a bit of guidance into what min stats, if any for starting raids...

thank you.

[Sligboy]

reforging to crit....I mean dude how high were you?
Also reforging parry to mastery is not the best to me, but there is no mistake here, i just keep my parry on a higher level than my dodge due to hold the line.
Look a your enchants (mending is crap, stat on the chest isn't the way to go.....work on your therazane rep for the shoulders's one), porcelain crab is imo the best 346 trinket as it procs like crazy
Why put a +60sta on your ring? on a red socket with a +15sta bonus?
If your are running 10men you might need to have the hit cap (or at least 5% to interrupt the adds on nefa) but there is a long way to go for you as you haven't start raiding yet.
go for Deep wounds as well.

[Xuany]

Hit won't be your issue with threat, it's only for crucial fights that it is imperative you interrupt. What you should do is build up a hit set that you keep in your inventory along with Hit food. Don't douse your main set with unneeded hit. Try and look into instances that drop gear that gives 0 Hit/Exp, that will boost your avoidance by quite a bit, much better than reforge Hit/Exp to Parry or Mastery.

[Deleted]

Get 2x of the reputation epics, gem/enchant/reforge them to +hit. Eat and drink food and elixir with +hit. I believe this is ~6% extra chance to hit. Wear these for fights were you may be expected to interrupt (Possibly Omnotron Defense System, Halfus Wyrmbreaker, Maloriak, Ascendant Council, Cho'gall, Nefarian).

Your gemming doesn't seem to have a scheme. Not that it truly needs to; all defensive stats are attractive and I suppose stamina is decent on fights like Magmaw or Halfus, but those are the two easiest encounters this tier. I use Fractureds, Puissants and Fines, which strengthens my general stat prio of mastery > stamina > parry and picks up any socket bonus.

Your dodge : parry ratio is looking good, but there are many items without mastery. Judging from your massive amounts of expertise ratings there should be many upgrades for you in heroic dungeons still. Although this gear is certainly good enough for raids, try visiting a few heroic dungeons and look for items with two defensive stats rather than one defensive stat and one defensive stat as many of your current items have. Mastery and parry would be the ideal combination, I believe you know this. If you take a look at Pulveriser's Protection Warrior Guide he's now included a list of viable items obtainable outside raids, made by Xebtria. Your gun is reforged to critical strike rating, I assume this is a mistake.

If you got the money and want to make the effort, consider respeccing for the raid. The points you spent in Gag Order, Thunderstruck and Blood & Thunder could be placed in Impending Victory (which, glyphed, does heal for considerable amounts, I like it though many seem to consider it "too minor"), Deep Wounds for the dps/tps increase, or Blood Craze which may seem even more minor than IV, but if one truly wants to maximize survival... All these tiny heals do add up after all.

Since you're exalted with Baradin's Wardens, I assume you're getting their trinket Mirror of Broken Images soon? Even when fully heroic geared, this trinket is still on the top 3 list and it's almost mandatory for a few select encounters (Cho'gall, Nefarian).

[The Big Ape]

reforging to crit....I mean dude how high were you?

perhaps i logged in my arms set... but i don't see what i've reforged to crit on my tank set... but will take another look at my gears... and if so... i guess i was indeed smoking some funky stuff...

Also reforging parry to mastery is not the best to me, but there is no mistake here, i just keep my parry on a higher level than my dodge due to hold the line.

still in process of getting gear from couple of heroics... Stonecore, GB, TotTides... so in the meantime, i'm just trying things out a bit.

Look a your enchants (mending is crap, stat on the chest isn't the way to go.....work on your therazane rep for the shoulders's one), porcelain crab is imo the best 346 trinket as it procs like crazy

will revise enchant on chest... as for weapon... what is a better alternative to mending? and btw, i do have therazane exalted enchant...
working on getting procelain crab... but my luck sux...

Why put a +60sta on your ring? on a red socket with a +15sta bonus?
If your are running 10men you might need to have the hit cap (or at least 5% to interrupt the adds on nefa) but there is a long way to go for you as you haven't start raiding yet.
go for Deep wounds as well.

as Iyona indicated, i am working to get a hit set built... it's in working progress...
as for +60Sta on ring with at +15Sta socket bonus, i have to say, i'm a bit confused as well... my recent re-gemming experiment is based on Rawr... and i too was confused...
but recently been stacking a bit more stam as i've mentioned above, healing in pugs were unpredictable at best...

Get 2x of the reputation epics, gem/enchant/reforge them to +hit. Eat and drink food and elixir with +hit. I believe this is ~6% extra chance to hit. Wear these for fights were you may be expected to interrupt (Possibly Omnotron Defense System, Halfus Wyrmbreaker, Maloriak, Ascendant Council, Cho'gall, Nefarian).

i will work on this set... but my raid comp so far (still in midst of recruiting) is as follows:
2 tank: warr, warr
2 melee: rogue, sham or rogue rogue combo
3 ranged: warlcok, mage, s.priest, s.hunter, boomkin in rotation
3 healer: druid, druid, d.priest, h.pally in rotation

in such a case, you still advise tank to have a interrupt set?
but i am exalted with all the factions so it is no big deal...

Your gemming doesn't seem to have a scheme. Not that it truly needs to; all defensive stats are attractive and I suppose stamina is decent on fights like Magmaw or Halfus, but those are the two easiest encounters this tier. I use Fractureds, Puissants and Fines, which strengthens my general stat prio of mastery > stamina > parry and picks up any socket bonus.

well, tbh, i was and still am a bit confused... my current gemming is based out of necessity of EH in pugs due to unreliable healing... but in the beginning, i did not stack stam... i am still in search of trying to find the right balance... but also am about 4~5 days from my T11 legs and by then, i hope to finalize my gemming.

Your dodge : parry ratio is looking good, but there are many items without mastery. Judging from your massive amounts of expertise ratings there should be many upgrades for you in heroic dungeons still. Although this gear is certainly good enough for raids, try visiting a few heroic dungeons and look for items with two defensive stats rather than one defensive stat and one defensive stat as many of your current items have. Mastery and parry would be the ideal combination, I believe you know this. If you take a look at Pulveriser's Protection Warrior Guide he's now included a list of viable items obtainable outside raids, made by Xebtria. Your gun is reforged to critical strike rating, I assume this is a mistake.

yes i am still religiously farming the specific heroics that still drop tanking gear...
and thank you.. i'll go check out that thread once again.

If you got the money and want to make the effort, consider respeccing for the raid. The points you spent in Gag Order, Thunderstruck and Blood & Thunder could be placed in Impending Victory (which, glyphed, does heal for considerable amounts, I like it though many seem to consider it "too minor"), Deep Wounds for the dps/tps increase, or Blood Craze which may seem even more minor than IV, but if one truly wants to maximize survival... All these tiny heals do add up after all.

was considering moving points from Gag Order to Impending Victory... do you find you utilize it/procs often?
Thunderstruck and Blood & Thunder are just temporary at the moment... while still farming heroics... but as my group gets near ready, i will respec...

thoughts on this 8/2/31 spec as a raid spec?

Since you're exalted with Baradin's Wardens, I assume you're getting their trinket Mirror of Broken Images soon? Even when fully heroic geared, this trinket is still on the top 3 list and it's almost mandatory for a few select encounters (Cho'gall, Nefarian).

yes, working religiously to get my bag of trinks...
Thorungus's Finger from GB
Porcelain Crab from TotT
Sword & Leaden Despair from Stonecore
and i'm about 4~5 days from Barradin's tanking trinket.

[Deleted]

I would still recommend a hit set to you, it's a minor cost and you never know when it may be needed. Although you got three reliable interrupt classes with that pool of players.

The spec you link looks great. I did not use Safeguard at all during the normal modes of raids, although I have seen some great uses for it on heroic modes. I'd suggest you got Impending Victory for the time being. When glyphed, it will heal you for almost 10% of your health. It procs relatively often even if you don't spam Devastate, and since it has a 20 second time window you can wait until your health drops low if that'd be the preferred method. I haven't studied that much myself, but I've seen logs where it's healed for very considerable amounts. edit: Allow me to recommend the glyph of Intimidating Shout. I'd also pick up the glyph of Battle Shout since you got no dps Warriors or DKs in your guild.

The Mending enchant is fine. It's not to be underestimated on Chimaeron and it's the best budget enchant available. I myself haven't gotten Windwalk yet, I'm eagerly awaiting the Mace of Acrid Death to drop, but if you feel like you got the gold to spare then get it asap; it's great.

Feel free to look over my setup of gems, enchants and reforges. I'm not saying it's the best way of doing things, but it has worked well for me.

[Tsura]

only suggestions i would make is your enchant to chest i would personally do +75 Stamina but that's just me. also you should try and get a Headcover of Fog helm from heroic Vortex Pentacle it's have like 200+ parry and hit with is awesome for warrior tanks. also i agree on with sligboy about your ring drop that 60 stamina for a 20 parry/ 30 stamina purple gem then you get the socket bonus of 15 stam which is good. laden dispair took me forever to get on my tank so i know how the trinket situation goes i'm still working on getting the heroic finger from GB and the porcelain crab from ToT.

[junialum]

Always build sets. Don't try to make 1 set that fits all. Since you are running a 10man have at least 2 sets, one for survival and another for hit. You will need the hit set for fights like Halfus, Omnitron, Ascendent Council (water tank), Cho'gall (adds), Maloriak, Nefarian.

[Deleted]

Always build sets. Don't try to make 1 set that fits all. Since you are running a 10man have at least 2 sets, one for survival and another for hit. You will need the hit set for fights like Halfus, Omnitron, Ascendent Council (water tank), Cho'gall (adds), Maloriak, Nefarian.

You don't really need a hit set tbh. Just make sure you have a collection of different food and pots on you and few select pieces that have hit rating. I know I only swap like three pieces of gear when I need to get hit capped. Otherwise, you can get by with just one survival set, with maybe some alterations for Chimaeron and a host of trinkets that you can swap when need to.

[Marquessa]

I've gotten by without any hit and like 16 expertise in 10 man so far, I just call on vent for our mage to cs if I miss something important but besides that threat isn't an issue after the first 10 seconds and you have a rogue for that.

[The Big Ape]

thank you very much for your comments.

apologies in bringing up an old thread but thought it'd be better than creating a new one.

i've made some improvements... and again, i'm at a bit of crossroads in terms of gemming still...

i am able to JC gem and get ~155k hp unbuffed... and have raided as such...
after further reading, i've gone back to ~145k hp unbuffed (~155k buffed in heroics, have not raided on this setup) but i've increased my other stats as follows:

Block 50.16%
Parry 14.22%
Dodge 12.73%
HP 145k unbuffed, as stated above.

i am MT for my guild's 10 man, 3rd group... and currently we're up to Maloriak/Council in progression...

i've been farming heroics, have all the trinkets atm... perhaps could use a better stat tanking helm, neck, rings...


but anywhoo, it's been a while and like to get some comments/crits on my char... again...

thanks!

here's my armory...

[Deleted]

It's looking good, although you seem to have no gemming scheme. Generally it makes the most sense to follow a stat prio for gems, using one pure gem with one stat and two hybrids with that stat + something else. Most Warriors prefer mastery over stamina, so a reasonable gemming scheme would be mastery + mastery/stam + mastery/parry, picking up all socket bonuses while gemming. Socket bonuses giving offensive stats should obviously be ignored.

You got roughly 10% more parry rating than dodge rating in your current gear. If you reforge dodge > parry on your cloak you bring it to roughly 15% more parry rating than dodge rating. You can then further reforge your Porcelain Crab to mastery, your Carbine and your other ring to parry and you should be at the desired ~30% more parry rating than dodge rating.

edit: Ah, just noticed you also haven't reforged your legs to mastery. Doing this will probably give you too much parry in proportion to dodge. Not a very big deal, but fyi.

Please read this post as "I believe".

[Mammoth]

You don't really need a hit set tbh. Just make sure you have a collection of different food and pots on you and few select pieces that have hit rating. I know I only swap like three pieces of gear when I need to get hit capped. Otherwise, you can get by with just one survival set, with maybe some alterations for Chimaeron and a host of trinkets that you can swap when need to.

Pretty much someone starting raiding doesn't need a second hit set. Its something you can build from your spare epics. An epic item will always trump a blue, so any second set from blues will be weak. Hit trinkets are nice if you can pick them up. Assuming its not a fatal interrupt, its always nicer to get as close to the cap as possible without gimping your survivability.

Make the choice with your raid team to either be hit or not. (Actually scratch the team bit, make the choice yourself and then force it on them.) If you decide like me that hit isn't your thing, just make sure a rogue is placed on anything you need reliable interrupts on, or maybe double a tank and healer. Two misses are rare, play those odds .

[The Big Ape]

It's looking good, although you seem to have no gemming scheme. Generally it makes the most sense to follow a stat prio for gems, using one pure gem with one stat and two hybrids with that stat + something else. Most Warriors prefer mastery over stamina, so a reasonable gemming scheme would be mastery + mastery/stam + mastery/parry, picking up all socket bonuses while gemming. Socket bonuses giving offensive stats should obviously be ignored.

You got roughly 10% more parry rating than dodge rating in your current gear. If you reforge dodge > parry on your cloak you bring it to roughly 15% more parry rating than dodge rating. You can then further reforge your Porcelain Crab to mastery, your Carbine and your other ring to parry and you should be at the desired ~30% more parry rating than dodge rating.

edit: Ah, just noticed you also haven't reforged your legs to mastery. Doing this will probably give you too much parry in proportion to dodge. Not a very big deal, but fyi.

Please read this post as "I believe".

yea, gemming scheme is, for some reason, something i just can't comfortably grasp...
so i used all my JC gems for mastery... and going over 50% block was nice...

so, here's an option1:
replace 4x 60 stam gems with Mastery+Stam gems:
-120stam = -1200 hp (net about 143k hp Unbuffed)
+80mastery rating

and resort to gear for Dodge & Parry?

i will look and reforge for ~1.3 ratio on parry to dodge...

Option2:
replace 4x 60 stam gems with Mastery+Stam gems:
-120stam = -1200 hp (net about 143k hp Unbuffed)
+80mastery rating
+Leaden Despair trinket/jc trinket for +427 Stam = +4270 hp, and at the same time, puts the ratio of parry to dodge near 1.3?

and so i'll be running with more like 147k hp...

now why do i feel uneasy about the 143k hp? am i thinking with a wrath mentality again?
especially when even in option 2, i swap Leaden Despair for Finger or Crab trink...

thanks again for your input.

[Deleted]

1 stamina isn't 10 hp; it's more like 16-17 hp to a stat multiplier buffed tank.

Feeling uneasy about 143k hp is Wrath-mentality. Remember, the boss still hits you for just as much no matter how much hp you have. The healers will still need to cast exactly as many healing spells on you no matter how much health you have. If you want to allow your healers to cast less spells you will need to reduce damage taken, which is done with mastery, dodge, parry and resistances.

Extra health is a buffert which, at huge increases, allows you to live through an entire extra melee swing without going down. It also serves as a safety buffert should your healer not be able to throw a big heal on you. In WotLK, these two occasions where the most common reason for tank deaths. In Cataclysm, no, not really. It's more likely you die from healers going oom. No, it's not possible to generalize, deaths can occur from mostly anything for many reasons, but generally I feel mastery to be worth more than stamina since it helps preventing the bad scenarios from even happening in the first place.

I do Mastery > Stamina > Dodge:Parry 1:1.3 and apply that reasoning to my gearing, gemming, reforging and buffing.

Worth mentioning is also resistances. If it was possible to gear towards, I'd place it before mastery even. Rather than stamina flasks, I use mastery and resistance elixir. They're delicious.

[shadowkras]

Worth mentioning is also resistances. If it was possible to gear towards, I'd place it before mastery even. Rather than stamina flasks, I use mastery and resistance elixir. They're delicious.

The day they moved the resistance flask (wrath) to a guardian elixir (cata) i cried inside.

[Deleted]

The day they moved the resistance flask (wrath) to a guardian elixir (cata) i cried inside.

Why is that? They're cheaper than flasks anyway.

[The Big Ape]

thank you again... and yes, currently i'm using Mastery food and elixirs in raid, not the fish feast...