[Warrior] Tanking gear, block value

C

cylus

Veteran XX
Working on getting a high stamina, high block value, high defense build setup with my warrior. Presently my stats look like:

12331 hitpoints
484 defense
429 block value
23% block
16% dodge
16% parry

Right now I'm waiting on a ring drop that adds 39 block value, and to finish a quest for a belt with an additional 29 block value.

With these stats, most of the heroic mode mobs are a lot easier, and I end up tanking 2-3 at a time.

I'm wondering what other tanks experience is with high block value and if it is worth it end game raid bosses/trash.

------------Edited Stats-------------
Picked up a few different drops.

Armor: 11570
Defense: 494
Dodge: 16%
Parry: 17%
Block chance: 28%
Block Value: 464
Hitpoints: 12650
------------------------------------

Another thing to note, as a protection spec warrior shield block is almost always up, and at the speed most bosses attack, I will block every hit.
 
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my paladin is going heavy block to take advantage of holy shield. I thought while warriors like block they would want more dodge since their threat generation is mainly due to using skills like sunder. Palys generation is more based on doing holy damage with holy shield, SoR/SoV, and consecration. If I was MTing with a war, I'd value def rating, dodge, parry, block in that order as far as mitigation stats go (assuming I had enough stam and AF already). of course as a tank we can never have too much of any of those stats but you get the picture :D
 
I have a similar issue... now I'm only 66, but my tanking gear blows I have like 9k hps and 390 defense with my greens (Arms/Fury build). I never raided so I don't even have t1 (went for high warlord), but would like to know if the greens and blues I'm picking up from the auction house and quests are sufficient for tanking my way to 70 in instances.
 
tanking itemization picks up starting with mana tombs and onward. a lot of the quests start dropping +def stuff too so you will be able to pick up better gear.
 
I suppose it depends on what you are giving up for your block value.

Let's say you need to choose between 50 block or 24 defense rating. Time for some napkin math!

Let's say you have 25% block chance, but you also use shield block a lot so let's say 1 in 3 attacks are blocked. Over 100 attacks, you're reducing your damage by about 1670 with the +50 block value.

24 defense rating would add about .4% to miss, dodge, parry, and block. We'll assume you're already capped with regard to crit reduction. So with this item, over 100 attacks we're reducing our damage by 1.2x + .4*430, where x is the average damage we take on a hit.

With this set of assumptions, the defense item is better if x>= 1250.

I have no idea whether the 1 in 3 attacks blocked is realistic, and obviously that plays a large role in the result, so you might check your logs.
 
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The ONLY time I have ever taken a +block heavy item over anything else has been when I've been a prot, block heavy build. The only time I've ever felt the need for something like this is working on high burst, enrage, crushing fights. A blocked blow will not crit.

The two mini-bosses before Thaddius provide a great example, though not something I would consider stacking my gear or build for. Stalagg... whichever guy was on the left, iirc enrages periodically (Power Surge), with crushing blows, crits, etc. A block heavy build would benefit you in this case as to reduce the high burst/killing potential of the mob if he unleashes two big crits.

Another example is from back in the AQ40 days, working on the Twin Emps. Tanks were prone to huge burst from Veknilash's unbalancing strike (if you didn't use demo shout and clear the bugs...but not many did). Imp. shieldblock etc. and a block heavy gear build helped reduce the chance you got owned in the face by a strike/crit combo.

etc. etc. you guys get the idea....

Hooray for rambling--in a nutshell, I believe block heavy builds/gear has its place, but not for general tanking. I will always take +def, stam, armor for general utility.
 
Based on most of the gear I have seen other tanks pick up, my stats are actually higher (even my defense). It seems that Blizzard is trying to gear us towards block value with the stat setup. All of my block value items usually have +defense, parry, or dodge. I may be wrong here, but I'm going to test it out and see if I'm not better mitigation for tanking.
 
I always liked block rating more than block value, due to blocked attacks not being crushings (which were the only high dmg hits on me as I couldnt be crit in pve) and when tanking multiple mobs, shield block charges get eaten quickly, so there is still a use for block %. (Im referring to back in pre-BC)

I look at block value a lot like armor, its just another mitigation, though it only mitigates blocked attacks so its not quite as universal.
 
 
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I'm interested to see how this goes because I am considering going heavy block with my paladin. Please post your feelings after a few runs.
 
Now that I've had the time to start getting my shadow priest and hunter to 70, I respecc'd my warrior to prot. At the moment my block is at around 22%, with dodge ~14% and parry ~18%. I've picked up some more +block and block rating gear and the results were rather surprising.

I ran BM several times last night to test the build out and it works extremely well. I tried out the build both prioritizing shield block and rarely using it, and much to my joy, it performed very well even without shield block (though I don't know why you wouldn't use this with a block heavy build). In fact, the only issue I ran into was lack of rage because I just wasn't getting hit unless it was a caster, that stupid 2nd boss, or the last boss.
 
Tanked Karazhan last night with this gear, and worked extremely well. Healers have noticed a significant difference between me and other tanks (druid as well).
 
Healers will always notice a difference between someone who knows what they're doing and someone who doesn't regardless of gear. Hell, even a non-prot warrior vs prot was a huge difference when I was on my priest.

Not saying you're wrong, but you can't rely on observations to prove something is worth it. You really need to parse a log or do the math to illustrate your point.
 
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