Case study: Comparing Feral Druid Tank Items

[Arcdelad]

okay...last night when I told Depressing that the [item]Violet Signet of the Great Protector[/item] was the best tanking ring in the game, he expressed severe disbelief. How could a lowly violet eye rep item be better than items in SSC, TK, Hyjal and BT afterall?!? Telfurion then linked [item]Ring of Sundered Souls[/item], a SSC drop from Morogrim Tidewalker, and indicate this was better.

I want to use this as an example of how to make smart gear decisions for your druid tanking set. I would also like to add that the recently added BOJ item [item]Ring of the Stalwart Protector[/item] actually is slightly better than the Violet Eye ring, so I was only partially right.

There are two major ways to compare druid gear, and in my opinion BOTH need to be analyzed when deciding on what gear you should be chasing down. For this purpose, we will compare [item]Violet Signet of the Great Protector[/item] to [item]Ring of Sundered Souls[/item].

Step 1: What is the delta (change) in stats between two items?

When comparing stats, the following are the stats you should focus on. Other stats are arguably factors (hit rating, crit, etc etc), but these are far and away the most important stats for tanking.

• Agility
• Stamina
• + Defense
• + Dodge
• + Resilience
• Armor

Going from the Kara ring to the SSC ring you gain:

8 STA and 25 + dodge (equiv to JUST over 1% dodge).

You lose:

1 +Defense and 392 armor (2,156 armor in bear form with all the multipliers and assuming you have the Thick Hide talent specced).

Step 2: What is the weighted mitigation value of the item?

For this, its most common and best in my opinion to use Emmerald's weighted mitigation values. Emmerald is widely seen as the authoritative druid number cruncher, and he has assigned each of the tank stats a corresponding mitigation value. This lets you prioritize stats as you can quickly see which stats are most effective. Here is the table:

Stat Value
+1 Agility 3.6982
+1 Stamina 4.1962
+1 Defense 2.4708
+1 Dodge 2.6147
+1 Resilience 1.3027
+1 Armor 0.4987
+1 Armor Bonus 0.0906
+1 Health 0.2716

As you can see here, point per point stamina, agility, and dodge are the best stats to stack, but ALL of these stats should be factored into any gear choice. Obviously a tank with super high stamina but no armor or dodge wouldn't be very helpful. These values are meant to make analyzation of a gear's overall effectiveness very easy.

Multiplying out the ring values, we get the following:

Kara Ring: 397.695 mitigation points
SSC Ring: 298.6709 mitigation points

Meaning using the SSC ring you LOSE 99.0241 points of mitigation.

This means that when all values are looked at with their true effectiveness factored in, the Kara ring BLOWS AWAY the SSC ring, mostly becuase the 392 armor on the Kara ring is essentially like the druid wearing half a shield.

Now you as a druid have to make a decision - is gaining 1% dodge worth losing 2100 armor? The emmerald stats scream NO, but every druid has a different situation. If your a druid that already has 35,000 armor in bear form (the true armor cap for us), then the armor on the kara ring becomes less important. If your a druid with only 26,000 armor though, this is definitely the way to go.

In summary: see what you gain and lose, do the math, and look at your own scenario to see where you are lacking. The Emmerald stats are pretty solid and IMO the best indicator of what gear is best.

POST NOTE: Keeping 415 Defense after you crap-can your Heavy Clefthoof Items

One factor we all need to think about is staying crit immune. There are some druids (Rhino for example AKA Airtotem) who think throwing on some more avoidance and not being crit immune is an acceptable risk. He also says sometimes he DOES get crit by bosses, so IMO thats a bad idea, but Airtotem is an excellent bear tank, so maybe he is just more progressive than I am

Most druids when hitting 70 throw on the heavy clefthoof gear (chest, legs, and boots) which instantly push you well over the 415 required defense. Additionally, most druids also have [item]Earthwarden[/item], which helps with that as well.

So...what happens when you get those tiered pieces, arena gear, or any other thing that is going to provide a HUGE upgrade but could potentially put you beneath 415 defense?

1) Rings, trinkets, and necks. Most tank type rings have some +DEF on them, which will help a LOT.
2) Enchants. The KOT head enchant has some defense on it, and there are enchants for your cloak (Steelweave), chest, and bracers that also have +DEF on them.
3) Gems. If you still cant make it over 415, think about putting some defense gems in somewhere...this is one of the more undesirable options, becuase you could be using those gem spots for STA gems.
4) Resilience. Luckily for druids, arena gear and the BG belt and wrist are some of THE best tanking gear, and all of it comes with resilience. Resilience does NOT have all of the extra benefits that +Defense does (like more dodge and such), but it can be an effective gap filler to keep you crit immune.

[Vengeance]

Alright I give in. But this proves only one thing...Blizz is severely lacking on druid based rings.

[kaylasb]

Just let your pally tank get [item]Ring of Sundered Souls[/item] first  Who cares about fat bears, they have their stinky barrier for aggro/mitigation anyway

[Airtotem]

For bosses, IE, the Bear boss, he does not have any crushing blows, so if you are at the 415 defense cap while tanking this boss, your healers will never see you take anything stronger than a normal "hit"
The Dragonhawk boss does have crushing blows, so while tanking him, I will use my Forest Lord staff for the max HP, Dodge, and then when he enrages, I equip my Earthwarden to help minimize the damage taken.  Only when I put on my Earthwarden do I have 415 defense.
For trash and such, I equip more HP/Dodge/Agil/+hit, although I do stay very close to the armor/defense cap.  Especially when having to swipe tank, I will use more +hit so my taunts and swipes land with fewer chances of resist and misses.  Armor and Stam multiply for us as Druids, so those stats tend to take priority when when comparing items.

I remember when there were only a couple items in the game with armor on it pre TBC: there was a ring from a turtle escort quest in Tanaris, a quest reward from EPL with a armor ring, a quest reward from rescuing princess in BRD, and of course, the Ironbark Staff and the Mark of Tyranny.  The Rank6 trinket from Stormpike had tons of dodge on it, and was a great feral tank trinket. (yes, I was a rare druid that would tank before TBC, however most of the time I was in healing gear as that was more viable at that time)

[Nixphire]

Haha, I had the two blue rings on my druid, the staff and the enchanting trinket. Yes, I leveled enchanting just for the trinket. I was an unstoppable monster flag runner back in the day on my druid.