First the big news, no new tank weapons for death knights.
Ghostcrawler: The two-handed Blacksmithing tanking weapons are not going to be implemented.
Indeed, we did not want to stick DKs with these weapons forever, nor did we want to start itemizing 2H tanking weapons forever. DKs were designed to tank with 2H dps weapons.
The new sigil and runeforge enchant should help players with low defense.
Original thread can be found here.
If you read the thread it is about concerns of death knight tanks getting stuck with one of two tank weapons for the rest of the game, barring more tanking two-handers being released. A valid concern, and Ghostcrawler comments on that with things we heard back when the death knight was first announced. So no new weapons, but we’re still going to be better off defense wise than we were.
For those death knight tanks still wanting a specific tank weapon keep an eye out for [Inevitable Defeat] from Naxx 25-man trash. Just be aware feral druids will be drooling over it as well after patch.
For our DPS weapon we are still using to tank we are getting Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle, which grants 25 defense and 2% stamina. It has been confirmed that that is 25 actual defense, not defense rating (which is equal to 123 defense rating, or almost a fifth of the defense rating we need for cap). Even if you are already defense capped this still beats Rune of Swordshattering and you should take advantage of the new rune by changing out defense enchants and gems for other stats, such as dodge, stamina, hit, and expertise. I myself am going to take back my concern over having to change runes to be defense capped (if the group needs me to tank that badly I can use Death Gate and they can summon me back) and will use this to change out a lot of defense gems I have. This will also make us more flexible than warriors and paladins in terms of taking tank upgrades that have less defense than lower level gear.
We’ll also be getting Sigil of the Unfaltering Knight.
It will be available for 15 [Emblem of Heroism]. At first glance I dismissed this item: why in the world would you make your defense cap rely on a proc? But as it turns out the “chance” is 100% and it lasts for 30 seconds, so as long as you use Icy Touch at least every 30 seconds it is dependable defense. For the new death knight tank I think this can work, especially with the low badge cost. Personally I’m going to skip it, at least until I’m out of badge gear to buy. Given I’m in good shape with defense gear I just don’t want to put myself in a position where I have to rely on a proc, even a guaranteed one, to remain crit immune. Now all other sigils are damage based so from a tank perspective, assuming you have no threat issues, this is your best slot choice even if you are otherwise crit immune. Extra defense does grant some dodge, parry, and miss, so if you have the badges to burn go for it.
by Paddy, on May 19 2009 @ 11:44 am
Rune of the stoneskin gargoyle….I’m wondering how this is better than sword shattering if you’re already Def Capped?
With semi decent blues it’s possible to be def capped at 80, no enchants (apart from head and shoulder ofc) or gems needed.
So why would you take an extra 25 defence? It would amount to at most 1% extra chance to parry, dodge and for enemies to miss, so 3% damage reduction. 2% stamina is nice but at 25,000 health that’s only an extra 500, hardly anything to write home about.
Swordshattering gives a flat 4% parry, so that’s 4% damage reduction over 3% damage reduction and circa 500 health.
If you’re getting hit 1% more then 500 health is long gone in heroics/raids.
Could you expand as to why this is a viable rune even when def capped?
Ty
Harnak Venture Co EU
Total Comments by Paddy: 9
by Dedbitt, on May 20 2009 @ 2:55 pm
Paddy – Parry is a poor mitigation stat, it costs more than dodge and has greater diminishing returns with death knights with our strength to parry attribute. The flat numbers favor swordshattering, but the numbers will vary from player to player. The best thing to do is try them both and check your stats with each, keeping in mind stoneskin gargoyle gives an invisible miss mitigation. I would also recommend stoneskin gargoyle over any defense enchants or gems, no matter the numbers. You can get so much better tank stats by using stoneskin gargoyle and enchanting/gemming for dodge or stamina.