The tanking has changed again with the new expansion, this time is for better. Unlike The Burning Crusade, the stacking hit rating and expertise is no longer required to simply hold a mob or boss to you, but with tank DPS actually being significant now, it never hurts to get a healthy amount. This guide here we talk about is for those looking to squeeze the most TPS/DPS out of their tanking time.
The values for stat goals are outlined. Currently there is some debate as to whether or not the hit cap for level 83 mobs is the old 9% or has been lowered to 8% on Elitist Jerks. For the purpose of this guide, we will continue to use the 8% value that has been presented until the evidence supporting the old 9% hit cap surfaces.
As a raid tank, you need at least +8% chances to hit to eliminate misses. This translates into 264 hit rating, unless you're a Dranei or grouped with one, in which case you only need +7% chances to hit.
Expertise lowers a mob's chance to dodge/parry your attacks. Assuming the standard combat table, a boss has a 6.5% chance to dodge attacks and a 14.25% to parry your attacks. Every point of expertise skill, not expertise rating lowers the chance for both by 0.25%. This means that if you want to eliminate the chance for a boss to dodge your attacks you need at least 26 expertises (214 expertise rating). If you want to eliminate the chance for a boss to parry your attacks you need 57 expertises (468 expertise rating). Since this stat lowers two forms of avoidance up to the dodge cap, this stat is doubly important as hit up to an expertise skill of 26. Luckily we get an automatic 6 points of expertise skill from Vitality - Spell - World of Warcraft.
With all of your tanking skills scaling directly or indirectly to your strength, this stat has become hugely important for threat. All tanking moves scale according to your AP or shield block value, this stat is even more important than it used to be to your TPS/DPS once you reach the hit and expertise thresholds.
Shield slam has always been a critical component of any prot warrior's threat rotation. With the talent Sword and Board - Spell - World of Warcraft and the new value of 2 str:1 SBV equation, the importance is greater than ever. On top of shield slam, the new talent Damage Shield - Spell - World of Warcraft scales directly to 20% of your block value, increasing this value also passively increases your threat/damage with no extra effort required on your part.
With the right combination of gear, enchants, and gems, it is possible to cap out both stats and maintain very respectable amounts of effective health and avoidance, all while meeting the 540 defense minimum.
It id not necessary to max out your threat stats but it is never a good idea to neglect them either with the changes to threat scaling with gear along with a good baseline of threat without exceptional gear. Just keep in mind that the more your raid DPS gears out, the harder it will become to hold aggro if you disregard having a respectable amount of hit and expertise.
33 hit rating translates into a 1% increased chance to hit while 33 expertise rating translates to 4 expertise skill, which is a 1% reduction in the boss' chance to both parry and dodge. This means that up to a skill of 26 (at which point dodges have been eliminated) expertise is effectively giving you a 2% increase in your chance to hit the boss from the avoidance reduction.
Aside from the obvious loss of threat from having a boss parry your attacks, parry is a danger to the tank. Any time a boss parries your attack, they receive an invisible haste buff to their auto-attack. This ranges from a 20% to 40% reduction of their swing timer on their next attack depending on when a parry lands after they swing at you. Some bosses do not receive the haste buff from parries, but many do, and it's one of the most common causes of the infamous "tank gib" where you suddenly die for no apparent reason.
It is obvious that the best time to stack threat gear is on trash (note that trash mobs are level 80-82 and do not require as much hit and expertise as bosses), but also on bosses when your gear levels meet/exceed the effective health & avoidance requirements, and on bosses where maintaining high levels of sustained threat is necessary.
It is not advisable to stack threat gear unless you already meet/exceed the effective health and avoidance requirements. Some bosses may put out enough damage or may force you to go through extended periods of time without heals to where it is advisable to stack survival gear over threat gear.
The values for stat goals are outlined. Currently there is some debate as to whether or not the hit cap for level 83 mobs is the old 9% or has been lowered to 8% on Elitist Jerks. For the purpose of this guide, we will continue to use the 8% value that has been presented until the evidence supporting the old 9% hit cap surfaces.
As a raid tank, you need at least +8% chances to hit to eliminate misses. This translates into 264 hit rating, unless you're a Dranei or grouped with one, in which case you only need +7% chances to hit.
Expertise lowers a mob's chance to dodge/parry your attacks. Assuming the standard combat table, a boss has a 6.5% chance to dodge attacks and a 14.25% to parry your attacks. Every point of expertise skill, not expertise rating lowers the chance for both by 0.25%. This means that if you want to eliminate the chance for a boss to dodge your attacks you need at least 26 expertises (214 expertise rating). If you want to eliminate the chance for a boss to parry your attacks you need 57 expertises (468 expertise rating). Since this stat lowers two forms of avoidance up to the dodge cap, this stat is doubly important as hit up to an expertise skill of 26. Luckily we get an automatic 6 points of expertise skill from Vitality - Spell - World of Warcraft.
With all of your tanking skills scaling directly or indirectly to your strength, this stat has become hugely important for threat. All tanking moves scale according to your AP or shield block value, this stat is even more important than it used to be to your TPS/DPS once you reach the hit and expertise thresholds.
Shield slam has always been a critical component of any prot warrior's threat rotation. With the talent Sword and Board - Spell - World of Warcraft and the new value of 2 str:1 SBV equation, the importance is greater than ever. On top of shield slam, the new talent Damage Shield - Spell - World of Warcraft scales directly to 20% of your block value, increasing this value also passively increases your threat/damage with no extra effort required on your part.
With the right combination of gear, enchants, and gems, it is possible to cap out both stats and maintain very respectable amounts of effective health and avoidance, all while meeting the 540 defense minimum.
It id not necessary to max out your threat stats but it is never a good idea to neglect them either with the changes to threat scaling with gear along with a good baseline of threat without exceptional gear. Just keep in mind that the more your raid DPS gears out, the harder it will become to hold aggro if you disregard having a respectable amount of hit and expertise.
33 hit rating translates into a 1% increased chance to hit while 33 expertise rating translates to 4 expertise skill, which is a 1% reduction in the boss' chance to both parry and dodge. This means that up to a skill of 26 (at which point dodges have been eliminated) expertise is effectively giving you a 2% increase in your chance to hit the boss from the avoidance reduction.
Aside from the obvious loss of threat from having a boss parry your attacks, parry is a danger to the tank. Any time a boss parries your attack, they receive an invisible haste buff to their auto-attack. This ranges from a 20% to 40% reduction of their swing timer on their next attack depending on when a parry lands after they swing at you. Some bosses do not receive the haste buff from parries, but many do, and it's one of the most common causes of the infamous "tank gib" where you suddenly die for no apparent reason.
It is obvious that the best time to stack threat gear is on trash (note that trash mobs are level 80-82 and do not require as much hit and expertise as bosses), but also on bosses when your gear levels meet/exceed the effective health & avoidance requirements, and on bosses where maintaining high levels of sustained threat is necessary.
It is not advisable to stack threat gear unless you already meet/exceed the effective health and avoidance requirements. Some bosses may put out enough damage or may force you to go through extended periods of time without heals to where it is advisable to stack survival gear over threat gear.
