Def cap?

[Boomrooker]

Ok guys i got like 19% dodge 19% parry and 28k unbuffed HP.
But this def cap is starting to give me problems i started HC tanking at 480 def
And tanked just about every HC in the game with 510 def atm.

But the thing that bothers me is i have to almost put +def chems in all my gear slots.What even more disturbing is my epic gear i can buy from heroic emblems is FAR better than my blue lvl 80 gear in every way but everytime i get purple piece even the once i buy got less def than the blue gear.

I tried enchants too still not def capped then there's people claimimg to be def capped as they ding lvl 80 how the hell do they do this?

Got kicked last night had 28k HP and 19% dodge & 17% parry cause my def was 520 i mean wtf i tanked nexus HC even with my friend hes still got greens as resto healer.I mean theres like 0.5% chance they can crit me.

Guys any help to boost my def would be great can look me up on EU armoury playing on Twilight Lights Hammer
O yeah i am a DK unholy tank still think Bone armour is fine and my aoe agro is unmatched doing 1.8k dps in hcs

 

[isankey]

You really shouldn't be having too much drama getting def cap as a DK, especially now with the new gargoyle rune - that thing is the bomb. My own DK is sitting at about 560 def atm, in mostly quest reward & rep vendor items, along with that rune. There's also what looks to be some reasonable tanking gear that blacksmiths can craft too, so you might want to look at that as an option.

 

[Boomrooker]

You really shouldn't be having too much drama getting def cap as a DK, especially now with the new gargoyle rune - that thing is the bomb. My own DK is sitting at about 560 def atm, in mostly quest reward & rep vendor items, along with that rune. There's also what looks to be some reasonable tanking gear that blacksmiths can craft too, so you might want to look at that as an option.

I am exalted with every north end faction atm and my 2 one handers still give ALOT more def than 1 2 hander.

Only thing that bothers me is the epic tanking gear got less def than the blues.
Found great guide tho http://www.tankspot.com/forums/f97/41986-cider-s-easy-540-defense-gear-guide.html

 

[Pitbull]

You need 540 defense to be made uncritable.

 

[isankey]

Give me 5 min & I'll post what tanking gear my DK has, with enchants & so on - he's in his DPS gear atm, so an armoury link won't work.

And yep, you get some very sweet 1H tanking weapons out there, but nothing really for 2H users. There was a green quest reward axe with 53 def on it as I recall, from a quest in Icecrown, and I understand there are a BS crafted BOP axe and sword either in game now, or being introduced soon, one with boatloads of def & the other with parry. Other than that though? You're stuck with the rune, though you have to admit that rune is awesome.

 

[isankey]

Ok, this is my 51/13/7 specced DK (Kyrgan, alliance side EU-Sylvanas), and his pertinent stats in frost presence, wearing his tanking gear are 23772 health, 22647 armour, 562 defence, 12.9% dodge & 14.7% parry.

Gear wise, here's the list
Head, The Crusaders Resolution, no enchant,
Neck, Reinforced Titanium Neckguard, with a 6def & 6parry gem,
Shoulders, Pauldrons of Reconnaisance, with the +13def Scryer honoured glyph,
Cloak, Cloak of Peaceful Resolutions, unenchanted,
Chest, Sun-Emblazoned Chestplate, +22def ench, 6def & 9stam gem,
Wrist, Battlescar Spirebands, BS socket with +7hit & 11stam gem
Hands, Daunting Gauntlets, no enchant, & BS socket which I evidently forgot to gem.....
Belt, Waistguard of the Risen Knight, no enchant,
Legs, Bolstered Legplates, 55stam & 22agi armour patch, 8 parry & 8def gem,
Feet, Sabatons of Draconic Vigor, no enchant,
Rings, Signet of Arachnatid Command & Solid Platinum Band,
Trinkets, Seal of the Pantheon & Regal Protectorate,
Sigil, Sigil of the Dark Rider (still!!!!)
Weapon, Dreadlord's Blade, Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle

SO it seems there's more in the way of drops there than I'd recalled, but we're talking about regular 5 man & some heroic items, not Naxx / VoA / OS / etc. You'll also notice there are some gaps in terms of enchants / enhancements so I can -and should, especially parry & dodge - boost the tanking stats further

 

[Blatman]

Yes it is generally a known fact that staying at 540 def is a bit of a challenge once you start getting epic gear. Especially in Naxx 25 there are items with some big def drops made even worse if you are trying to gem for more avoidance.

Make sure you always get the best Def enchants such as Titanweave on cloak etc. The old shoulder enchants in Shat have more def than the new faction ones.

 

[Pitbull]

Yes it is generally a known fact that staying at 540 def is a bit of a challenge once you start getting epic gear. Especially in Naxx 25 there are items with some big def drops made even worse if you are trying to gem for more avoidance.

Make sure you always get the best Def enchants such as Titanweave on cloak etc. The old shoulder enchants in Shat have more def than the new faction ones.

That is a good thing, it means only the real dedicated players will reach the defence cap as they will be working hard on all their gear pre-Naxx. If a Tank or off-tank fails at getting 540 defense, they belong in the BG's and not in raids

 

[Boomrooker]

Ok, this is my 51/13/7 specced DK (Kyrgan, alliance side EU-Sylvanas), and his pertinent stats in frost presence, wearing his tanking gear are 23772 health, 22647 armour, 562 defence, 12.9% dodge & 14.7% parry.

Gear wise, here's the list
Head, The Crusaders Resolution, no enchant,
Neck, Reinforced Titanium Neckguard, with a 6def & 6parry gem,
Shoulders, Pauldrons of Reconnaisance, with the +13def Scryer honoured glyph,
Cloak, Cloak of Peaceful Resolutions, unenchanted,
Chest, Sun-Emblazoned Chestplate, +22def ench, 6def & 9stam gem,
Wrist, Battlescar Spirebands, BS socket with +7hit & 11stam gem
Hands, Daunting Gauntlets, no enchant, & BS socket which I evidently forgot to gem.....
Belt, Waistguard of the Risen Knight, no enchant,
Legs, Bolstered Legplates, 55stam & 22agi armour patch, 8 parry & 8def gem,
Feet, Sabatons of Draconic Vigor, no enchant,
Rings, Signet of Arachnatid Command & Solid Platinum Band,
Trinkets, Seal of the Pantheon & Regal Protectorate,
Sigil, Sigil of the Dark Rider (still!!!!)
Weapon, Dreadlord's Blade, Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle

SO it seems there's more in the way of drops there than I'd recalled, but we're talking about regular 5 man & some heroic items, not Naxx / VoA / OS / etc. You'll also notice there are some gaps in terms of enchants / enhancements so I can -and should, especially parry & dodge - boost the tanking stats further

your way over the cap how did you do it and your parry and dodge is so low?I got 19% parry and 19% dodge i am not even capped and i got 7 tanking epics.

That rune does it add def ratting?Or def itself?
Thanks for posting everthing o and i am not raiding yet only doing HCs.

 

[isankey]

The rune adds 25 flat defence and not defence rating, so you can see what I mean about it being awesome.That rune on its own was enough to get me to def cap, and that's while I was wearing some gear that I've upgraded since.
I agree with you on my mitigation stats though, they're pretty bad, and I think what I'll be doing is dropping a few of the def gems for parry / dodge ones which will hopefully make a difference. There are also a few items that have *no* enhancements on them, so I'll look to fix those up with parry & dodge gems / enchants too, so I should hopefully be able to add 2-3% to each of those stats fairly easily.

 

[PsyWulf]

and I understand there are a BS crafted BOP axe and sword either in game now, or being introduced soon,

Removed,they replaced it with the tanking Rune

 

[TheShogun]

Well, not replaced per se, since the Rune was always going to be included.

@Boom, you need 540 Defense Rating to be uncrittable against Raid bosses. You can get away with slightly less for Heroics but I personally prefer to stay at 540 Defense.

You'll find that the Tempered Saronite blues you can craft at 80 are very high in Defense but don't have much in the way of other stats.
As you get epics, you really have to start gemming more for Defense initially but as you start hitting the higher end epic gear that problem falls away.

I'm sitting at 32.9K unbuffed HP, 541 Defense, 27+ Dodge and 18+ Parry and almost none of my gear (if any) has Defense Gems anymore. Most of my stuff is now gemmed for Hit and Stamina.

I suggest looking at the Epic legs from VH since they have 81 Defense which is pretty high and will make it easier to swap in other gear in other slots that has less Defense.

Grab the +65 Defense Trink to help you out initially too.

If you're 2Hander Tanking then the only Rune you should be using is the 25 Defense Rating one.

 

[PsyWulf]

Ok, this is my 51/13/7 specced DK (Kyrgan, alliance side EU-Sylvanas), and his pertinent stats in frost presence, wearing his tanking gear are 23772 health, 22647 armour, 562 defence, 12.9% dodge & 14.7% parry.

Gear wise, here's the list
Head, The Crusaders Resolution, no enchant,
Neck, Reinforced Titanium Neckguard, with a 6def & 6parry gem,
Shoulders, Pauldrons of Reconnaisance, with the +13def Scryer honoured glyph,
Cloak, Cloak of Peaceful Resolutions, unenchanted,
Chest, Sun-Emblazoned Chestplate, +22def ench, 6def & 9stam gem,
Wrist, Battlescar Spirebands, BS socket with +7hit & 11stam gem
Hands, Daunting Gauntlets, no enchant, & BS socket which I evidently forgot to gem.....
Belt, Waistguard of the Risen Knight, no enchant,
Legs, Bolstered Legplates, 55stam & 22agi armour patch, 8 parry & 8def gem,
Feet, Sabatons of Draconic Vigor, no enchant,
Rings, Signet of Arachnatid Command & Solid Platinum Band,
Trinkets, Seal of the Pantheon & Regal Protectorate,
Sigil, Sigil of the Dark Rider (still!!!!)
Weapon, Dreadlord's Blade, Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle

SO it seems there's more in the way of drops there than I'd recalled, but we're talking about regular 5 man & some heroic items, not Naxx / VoA / OS / etc. You'll also notice there are some gaps in terms of enchants / enhancements so I can -and should, especially parry & dodge - boost the tanking stats further

So gloves can get +2% Threat + 10 Parry
Feet can get 22Stam
Belt can get a Buckle socket with a gem of your choice
Head needs the tanking Glyph ofc
Cloak can get Defense
Bracers can get defense aswell

On another note,blue quest reward helm for UP that has a meta slot you can dump a bigass +def Meta gem in

 

[PsyWulf]

Well, not replaced per se, since the Rune was always going to be included.

@Boom, you need 540 Defense Rating to be uncrittable against Raid bosses. You can get away with slightly less for Heroics but I personally prefer to stay at 540 Defense.

You'll find that the Tempered Saronite blues you can craft at 80 are very high in Defense but don't have much in the way of other stats.
As you get epics, you really have to start gemming more for Defense initially but as you start hitting the higher end epic gear that problem falls away.

I'm sitting at 32.9K unbuffed HP, 541 Defense, 27+ Dodge and 18+ Parry and almost none of my gear (if any) has Defense Gems anymore. Most of my stuff is now gemmed for Hit and Stamina.

I suggest looking at the Epic legs from VH since they have 81 Defense which is pretty high and will make it easier to swap in other gear in other slots that has less Defense.

Grab the +65 Defense Trink to help you out initially too.

If you're 2Hander Tanking then the only Rune you should be using is the 25 Defense Rating one.

Blizz admitted they don't want to include items dedicated to DK tanking,rather that DKs could recycle other items to the purpose mentioning that the new Rune would be sufficient so in effect they replaced it with the notion that if it isn't they would modify talents/glyphs/runes to make up for it,not bolt in a game item that every DK tank would have to craft to be viable

 

[Boomrooker]

The rune adds 25 flat defence and not defence rating, so you can see what I mean about it being awesome.That rune on its own was enough to get me to def cap, and that's while I was wearing some gear that I've upgraded since.
I agree with you on my mitigation stats though, they're pretty bad, and I think what I'll be doing is dropping a few of the def gems for parry / dodge ones which will hopefully make a difference. There are also a few items that have *no* enhancements on them, so I'll look to fix those up with parry & dodge gems / enchants too, so I should hopefully be able to add 2-3% to each of those stats fairly easily.

If that rune is flat def i can drop my 2 one handers that each gives +30 def rating not flat def t and ill be caped
Thanks alot for clearing that up for me now i dont have to duel wiels anymore

 

[Boomrooker]

Well, not replaced per se, since the Rune was always going to be included.

@Boom, you need 540 Defense Rating to be uncrittable against Raid bosses. You can get away with slightly less for Heroics but I personally prefer to stay at 540 Defense.

You'll find that the Tempered Saronite blues you can craft at 80 are very high in Defense but don't have much in the way of other stats.
As you get epics, you really have to start gemming more for Defense initially but as you start hitting the higher end epic gear that problem falls away.

I'm sitting at 32.9K unbuffed HP, 541 Defense, 27+ Dodge and 18+ Parry and almost none of my gear (if any) has Defense Gems anymore. Most of my stuff is now gemmed for Hit and Stamina.
I suggest looking at the Epic legs from VH since they have 81 Defense which is pretty high and will make it easier to swap in other gear in other slots that has less Defense.

Grab the +65 Defense Trink to help you out initially too.

If you're 2Hander Tanking then the only Rune you should be using is the 25 Defense Rating one.

Damit but that rune make sme lose 4% parry is it worth it?

Seems i can reach the drf cap just with that rune i am at 520 atm but at major cost.

But at least ill be getting more str from 2 hander than 2 one handers with def on.

 

[TheShogun]

Damit but that rune make sme lose 4% parry is it worth it?

Seems i can reach the drf cap just with that rune i am at 520 atm but at major cost.

But at least ill be getting more str from 2 hander than 2 one handers with def on.

Yeah the Defense Rune is excellent. It works out to about 1% Dodge, 1% Parry and 1% Miss but you also gain 2% Stamina which is huge and it scales.

DW Tanking requires some very careful gear selection. I've started collecting gear for DW Tanking but even with 2x Defense Swords I still have to gem for Defense to remain capped and thats after switching out one of my Trinkets for the +65 Defense Trink which I no longer use.

 

[Boomrooker]

Yeah the Defense Rune is excellent. It works out to about 1% Dodge, 1% Parry and 1% Miss but you also gain 2% Stamina which is huge and it scales.

DW Tanking requires some very careful gear selection. I've started collecting gear for DW Tanking but even with 2x Defense Swords I still have to gem for Defense to remain capped and thats after switching out one of my Trinkets for the +65 Defense Trink which I no longer use.

If you put it that way not so bad and the extra str i think gives dks better parry too my crafted mace got almost twice the str than my 2 one handers but togther.

 

[Esea]

All this def this and that makes me glad my Druid tank dont have to worry about defence any more after Wotlk. But I'll have to keep this in mind when my 65 Dk hits 80

 

[Blatman]

Good point Theshogun as you said you only need 535 for heroics to take crit off the table.

I often drop down as low as 530 using some dps gear and have no problems. You will tend to make pugs a bit nervous especially ligthly geared healers if you are not at crit immunity.