Staying crit immune

[Arcdelad]

ZOMG â€" so like, I just got this great staff [item]Wildfury Greatstaff[/item], and I also got the T4/T5/T6/Badge chest/legs/boots!

For one…I dislike you now for getting that staff. I will be cat form urinating in all of your favorite hangouts to indicate that they are now MY territories <starts drinking a lot of water in preparation.>

But…as you replace your heavy clefthoof set and your [item]Earthwarden[/item] youll notice a curious phenomenon â€" your Defense level, which used to be WAAAAAAY above the requisite 415, starts to dip dramatically as you replace each of those pieces, until finally youll find yourself right at or right below 415. This will most likely occur when you remove any three of the four pieces listed there.

Here are some ways to stay crit immune…noone likes tanks getting crit â€" especially healers.

Rings, cloaks, and necks

When you look for these items, you should definitely be prioritizing for those items with +DEF on it. Luckily, some of the best and easiest to get items also have tons of +def on them.

Examples:

[item]Necklace of the Juggernaut[/item] â€" acquired from badges - +22 DEF
[item]Slikk's Cloak of Placation[/item] â€" acquired from badges - +16 DEF
[item]Violet Signet of the Great Protector[/item] â€" Violet Eye exalted - +19 DEF
[item]Ring of Unyielding Force[/item] â€" acquired from badges - +22 DEF

There are trinkets out there with +DEF, but they pale in overall effectiveness compared to some of the better and easily available trinkets out there.

Enchants

Even after equipping items with +DEF in both ring slots, your neck, and your back, you will STILL be short DEF if you have replaced any three of the 4 items I mentioned above.

Enchants are great gap fillers here…here are ways you can beef up your defense (At the cost of other enchants with other benefits you no longer receive):

Enchant chest â€" Defense - +15 DEF
Enchant cloak â€" Steelweave - +12 DEF
Enchant bracer â€" Deflection - +5 DEF

Also, don’t forget â€"

Glyph of the Defender - +16 DEF
Greater Inscription of the Knight - +15 DEF

Gems

This is maybe the worst option, but if your in a pinch it can be okay to throw in some +DEF gems or +STA/+DEF gems, but as a rule +12 STA gems are still the “go to” gem for ferals, unless you have a crapload of cash and can afford some of those fancy new gems. If that’s true, pick me up some while your there

Resilience

I am not a huge fan of resilience bridging the gap for going below 415 DEF, but it works…most of the PVP gear is high in STA and AGI (but low in armor) and all of it has +res on it. It is possible to be below 415 defense and still be crit immune with res, but it makes me sweat in dark, concealed places to do so.

Conclusion

The thick clefthoof set and the Earthwarden are great, but lets be frank â€" they do not stand the test of time well when you get into the 25 mans, or even the end of Kara and ZA. You will get better gear choices â€" that’s a good thing. Just keep your eye on your +def and know that there are a lot of options out there with various ease and effectiveness to make up for the huge losses of +DEF replacing any one of those items incurs. Right now I don’t use any of the thick clefthoof set, but I do have the Earthwarden still (As is famously known). I am, though, in a great position to still be crit immune should the SSC staff ever drop (like that is going to happen lol). It can be done â€" blizz just didn’t make it easy.