The Leviathan’s Coil ring has had its armor reduced from 882 to 448 to properly reflect the item level.

Eff.

So it’s official, my guild runs DKP. Were this a few months ago, I might be disappointed to report such a development, but today I’m actually quite happy. As you could tell from my raid recaps lately we’ve had major attendance issues, and after the last few nights I am feeling positive about DKP’s ability to fix these issues.

Sure, we’ve hit the same hiccups you’d expect from a guild adopting DKP for the first time. We had the dissenting quarters, populated mostly by those that raided very seldom and liked the thought that they could hop in once a week and maybe snag a purple. Which is all well and good, but ultimately this laissez faire attitude was hurting the guild and progression.

I look at DKP from the perspective of a hardened pragmatist. Human beings are rational creatures, and invariably will act in their perceived self-interest. Likewise, WoW players will act in a way that will maximize their loot intake. If a player knows that they’ll get the same amount of loot raiding one night a week then they will do that. However, shake up the system like we did and make it so raiding one night a week supresses how much loot you get on that one day (rather than having an even shot with everyone else in the raid) and they will be compelled to raid more often.

It’s simple economics.

There have already been several comments by guildmembers saying something along the line of “when’s the next raid?”, “does x raid I never attend give DKP?”, and so on. They feel compelled to accumulate the green points, to maximize their shot at loot, and will act accordingly.

We did Naxx25 as the inaugural raid for the new system and it went very, very well. Looting was smooth and very, very fast. No multiple rounds of calling for rolls, just one box pops up. Everyone puts in their maximum bid and the system resolves winners eBay-style. Whatever doesn’t get bid on comes up for a second round of offspec bidding. I’d go so far as to say it’s flawless thus far.

Only worry I can perceive of is (1) dealing with recruitment when people will come in and find themselves at the bottom of a DKP pile, and (2) dealing with raiders ceasing to attend raids once they are sitting on a fat pile of points. We’ll have to see how those two situations operate when and if they appear.

Now for a funny ironic story:

We have this one raiding healer who I’ve mentioned in the past. She was first mentioned on these pages for disappearing once she snagged most of the loot she wanted from Naxx25, and only recently reappeared in the week or two before Ulduar came out. I don’t think it’s unfair to characterize her attitude as selfish. We’ve had issues finishing Naxx25 in one night this last month, and when told we probably wouldn’t devote a second night to old content, she informed the guild she only runs Naxx for the chance to get a ring from Kel’Thuzad.

Gee, thanks. Screw gearing up folks to help the guild, right?

So on Wednesday we scheduled a Naxx25 so we could fine tune the DKP system and not let it hamper an Ulduar run. Seems reasonable, I thought. Well, like I said, despite it being an exceptionally smooth Naxx run, she bailed out after Maexxna (our first wing), probably assuming we’d stall after two wings like the last few weeks. And a boss later we noticed she was in Obsidian Sanctum.

Okay…

We continued through Naxx, steamrolling everything in our path, and once at the last wing I noticed she was still in OS. They must be working on 3D, I suspected. I /who’d her fiance who is not in our guild, and he was in Naxx as well. She dropped a guild raid to do a PuG achievement run in OS.

And not long after the achievement for 2D popped up in guild chat. No one grats her as far as I can recall.

So the point where irony kicks in is, and I’m sure you’ve seen this coming (and you especially see it coming now that I’ve foreshadowed the shocking twist), we downed KT and the Signet of Manifested Pain dropped.

Sweet revenge! Four different people linked it in guild chat to flaunt it.

More so, we did Ulduar last night and Ignis dropped the Pyrelight Circle (and the Heart of Iron, woooo). Because she skipped out on Naxx, she didn’t have near enough DKP to compete with the other people that rolled on it, and lost that ring as well.

The lesson here, kids? Be loyal to your guild, or irony’s gonna git you.

(Lastly, before I get ambushed by an English major, I know that story wasn’t technically irony… but I’m lazy and it’s so much easier to type that than “unfortunate coincidence” so many times.)

TBG is being buffed to have stats “appropriate to its level.” With these changes, it is now definitively the BiS shield.

Changes to item are:

+70 Armor
+2 Block Value
-14 Strength
+6 Stamina
+2 Defense Rating
+2 Block Rating
+37 Parry Rating

Per request here is a list of BiS gear found in 10man Ulduar. Some items on this list drop in Ulduar25 (or are crafted by patterns that drop therein), but can be purchased with enough do-re-me. I also included two Naxx25 items that can be purchased with Emblems of Valor, now that those emblems drop in Ulduar10.

Like my 25man list, avoidance has more weight than block, and gem slots have more weight than not. Lastly, as always, comments sought and encouraged!

Head

1. Valorous Aegis Faceguard (N Mimiron)
2. Ironbark Faceguard (N Freya)
3. Thane’s Tainted Greathelm (N 4HM)

Neck

1. Mark of the Unyielding (N Kologarn)
2. Drakescale Collar (Reward: Judgement at the Eye of Eternity)
3. Chained Military Gorget (25 Emblems of Heroism)

Shoulders

1. Valorous Redemption Shoulderguards (60 Emblems of Valor)
2. Valorous Aegis Shoulderguards (N Thorim)
3. Shoulderguards of the Solemn Watch (N Kologarn)

Cloak

1. Platinum Mesh Cloak (25 Emblems of Valor)
2. Saronite Animus Cloak (N General Vezax)
3. Cloak of the Iron Council (N Iron Council)

Chest (of which there is a serious lack in Uld10)

1. Valorous Aegis Breastplate (N Yogg Saron)
2. Heroes’ Redemption Breastplate (N 4HM or 80 Emblems of Heroism)
3. Massive Skeletal Ribcage (N Sapphiron)

Wrist

1. Flamewatch Armguards (N Flame Leviathan)
2. Bracers of Dalaran’s Parapets (60 Emblems of Valor)
3. Minion Bracers (N Naxxramas Trash)

Hands

1. Valorous Aegis Handguards (N Freya)
2. Adamant Handguards (N Ulduar Trash)
3. Gauntlets of the Iron Furnace (N Ignis) [blech]

Waist

1. Indestructible Plate Girdle (Crafted)
2. Stormtempered Girdle (N Razorscale)
3. Waistguard of Living Iron (40 Emblems of Heroism)

Legs

1. Valorous Aegis Legguards (N Hodir)
2. Gilded Steel Legplates (N Flame Leviathan, Hard Mode)
3. Valorous Redemption Legguards (75 Emblems of Valor)

Feet

1. Spiked Deathdealers (Crafted)
2. Greaves of the Iron Army (N Mimiron, Hard Mode)
3. Kyzoc’s Ground Stompers (40 Emblems of Valor)

Weapon

1. Shiver (N Hodir, Hard Mode)
2. Stoneguard (N Kologarn)
3. Legacy of Thunder (N Thorim)

Shield

1. The Boreal Guard (N Hodir, Hard Mode)
2. Shieldwall of the Breaker (N Auriaya)
3. Barricade of Eternity (N Malygos)

Relic

1. Libram of Obstruction (15 Emblems of Heroism)

Rings

1. Signet of the Earthshaker (H Xt-002) [BoE]
2. Signet of Winter (N Hodir)
3. Signet of the Impenetrable Fortress (25 Emblems of Valor)
4. Titanium Earthguard Ring (Crafted)

Trinkets

1. Royal Seal of King Llane (N Yogg Saron)
2. Furnace Stone (N Ignis)
3. Repelling Charge (N Thaddius)
4. Essence of Gossamer (H Hadronox/Azjol-Nerub)

In this guide I am going to lay out the best in slot gear for prot pallies, as well as the next best two pieces. When choosing what gear I thought was best I gave primary weight to avoidance stats over mitigation stats, so you’re more likely to see dodge/parry gear favored over block rating/value gear. Gem slots gave pieces extra weight as well. Please let me know in the comments what you think!

Head

1. Conqueror’s Aegis Faceguard (H Thorim or 58 Emblems of Conquest)
2. Helm of the Faceless (H General Vezax)
3. Valorous Aegis Faceguard (N Mimiron)

Neck

1. Bronze Pendant of the Vanir (H Freya, Hard Mode)
2. Nexus Champion’s War Beads (Reward: Heroic Judgement at the EoE)
3. Shard of the Crystal Forest (19 Emblems of Conquest)

Shoulders

1. Conqueror’s Aegis Shoulderguards (H Yogg Saron)
2. Shoulderplates of the Deconstructor (H XT-002)
3. Valorous Aegis Shoulderguards (N Thorium)

Cloak

1. Titanskin Cloak (H Mimiron, Hard Mode)
2. Cloak of the Makers (H Auriaya)
3. Platinum Mesh Cloak (25 Emblems of Valor)

Chest

1. Conqueror’s Aegis Breastplate (H Hodir or 58 Emblems of Conquest)
2. Unbreakable Chestguard (H Auriaya)
3. Valorous Aegis Breastplate (N Yogg Saron)

Wrist

1. Mimiron’s Inferno Couplings (H Flame Leviathan)
2. Bracers of the Unholy Knight (H Instructor Razuvious)
3. Flamewatch Armguards (N Flame Leviathan)

Gloves

1. Handguards of Revitalization (H Freya, Hard Mode)
2. Conqueror’s Aegis Handguards (H Mimiron)
3. Gauntlets of the Royal Watch (28 Emblems of Conquest)

Waist

1. Indestructible Plate Girdle (Crafted)
2. Shieldwarder Girdle (28 Emblems of Conquest)
3. Stormtempered Girdle (N Razorscale)

Legs

1. Legplates of the Endless Void (H Algalon, random Hard Mode bosses)
2. Conqueror’s Aegis Legguards (H Freya)
3. Saronite Plated Legguards (H Kologarn)

Feet

1. Spiked Deathdealers (Crafted)
2. Charred Saronite Greaves (H Ignis)
3. Greaves of the Stonewarder (H Trash Drop)

Weapon

1. Sorthalis, Hammer of the Watchers (H XT-002, Hard Mode)
2. Titanguard (H Flame Leviathan)
3. Shiver (N Hodir, Hard Mode)

Shield

1. The Boreal Guard (N Hodir, Hard Mode)
2. Wall of Terror (H Kel-Thuzad)
3. Hero’s Surrender (H Patchwerk)

Relic

1. Libram of the Sacred Shield (H General Vezax)
2. Libram of Obstruction (25 Emblems of Heroism)

Rings

1. Fate’s Clutch (H Thorim, Hard Mode)
2. The Leviathan’s Coil (H Flame Leviathan)
3. Platinum Band of the Aesir (H Auriaya)
4. Signet of the Earthshaker (H XT-002)
5. Signet of Winter (N Hodir)

Trinkets (not including profession trinkets)

1. Heart of Iron (H Ignis)
2. Royal Seal of King Llane (N Yogg Saron)
3. Furnace Stone (N Ignis)
4. The General’s Heart (H General Vezax)

As I’m sure some have noticed, there was a major glaring omission in my previous guide on pally tank gems: meta gems. Metas are perhaps the most important gem you will socket, because in addition to a nice stat boost, you get a little bonus to an ancillary tanking stat.

Here are your options:

• Austere Earthsiege Diamond: +32 stamina (365hp) and +2% more armor
• Effulgent Skyflare Diamond: +32 stamina and 2% spell damage reduction
• Eternal Earthsiege Diamond: +21 defense rating and +5% block value

The only clear non-choice here is the Effulgent gem. It’s really more of a situational gem, and would be best fit in a secondary tanking helm you’d keep aside for resist or heavy magic damage fights (I’m thinking Sarth or Malygos mainly). Don’t use this gem for everyday tanking.

Now, where I am personally torn is between the Austere and Eternal gem. Since I first picked up the Arcane Shielded Helm in Heroic Nexus I’ve had an Eternal gem in my helm. Now, I’m beginning to question this. Let’s look at the math and figure out what’d be more beneficial.

Right now I have a base, straight-from-items, non-talented 20823 armor, for 57.8%. With the Austere gem I’d bump up to 21239 armor, for 58.2% damage reduction. A gain of .4% damage reduction.

Not a huge number, but let’s say a boss hits me for 25k (physical damage). As is, with the base armor numbers I have now, I’m only going to take 10550 damage. With the gem socketed in my helm I’ll take 10450. So 100 damage reduced from that hit.

Let’s look at block value now: according to Warcrafter I have somewhere on the order of 1222 block value (this is before the metagem and the bonuses from the Libram and Lavanthor’s Talisman). The Eternal gem gives me a bonus 5% block value on top of that number, for an additional 62 block value.

This means that every hit I take that I block I shave an extra 62 damage off the top. Which, of course, is where the rub is: I have to block the hit to see a damage reduction. Armor reduces damage if you’re stunned or fail to block, and even when you do block. The Eternal gem only works when you block a hit and all the factors line up to give you that DR bonus.

There are other benefits to the Eternal gem, of course. The 21 defense makes it easier to hit the defense minimum aside from other gem sockets. And on top of that, 21 defense works out to a nice bit of avoidance: .84% chance to block, parry, dodge, miss.

You’ll have to do the math to figure out which is best for you, but personally I think I’ll get more damage reduction benefit from the Austere gem. And I have enough avoidance elsewhere that I can comfortably replace that with the effective health, instead.

All this math aside, there’s nothing wrong with keeping a second helm with the Eternal gem for trash tanking or sweet ShoR crits.

I’ll be regemming when I get home tonight.

One of my huge gear goals recently has been to pick up my Valorous set gloves. The reason being two fold: (1) it was the last iLevel 200 item I needed to replace (best in slot to boot!) and (2) I really wanted that Epic achievement. I’m an achievement junkie, I know.

So because the guild hasn’t been running any 25mans aside from VOA and Naxx as of late, I queued in the LFG menu for a pug. Usually this is a recipe for disaster, and I girded myself for the worst in advance. I was fully prepared to wipe about 15 times, have the Bag of Spoils ninjaed, and then get jumped on the way out by a rabid pack of Alliance. Murphy’s Law was not catching this Pally by surprise. No sir.

Mercifully Ildara and Cendra (the super resto druid/surv hunter duo that I oft adventure with) said they’d come along and joined the pug as well. At least I’d have someone to gripe to when all went to hell!

As I was hightailing it over there, the raid chat was abuzz with the normal pre-raid stuff that pugs struggle to sort out. People were asking who the tanks were (I was refusing to volunteer myself initially, I didn’t want to step on any toes), how many healers we had or needed, and if we were leaving any drakes up.

It was decided to leave one drake up (gulp), and if that didn’t go well, we’d kill it and finish the encounter normally.

The MT and the OT get sorted out and I finally peep up “oh I can OT too, I’m prot.” No one said anything, so I shrugged, getting ready to do some sweet shield slam deeps. Zoning in though, someone caught sight of my gear and said “holy crap look at Rhidach… he should MT!”

Er, no thanks. (How embarassing).

Everything gets settled and immediately I must have been pissing off the tanks because I’m ripping aggro off of them left and right with Hammer and ShoR and Consecrate. I honestly felt bad, I wasn’t trying to show off.

In any case, someone asks which drake we’re leaving up and another says Shadron (terrible idea!) and I volunteer that the one in the back should stay up. It’s the easiest to deal with. That was also a bad idea, because the raid leader then asks me to explain how to do +1d before we engage Sarth.

Whatever. We clean up the trash and the two north-south drakes and line up in front of Sarth so I can give my little pep talk. I tell them the usual, drake lands in back, tank up front, etc. I thought it was pretty thorough but we then careened into a spectacular wipe on the first try.

The DK main tank turns Sarth incorrectly and the raid’s getting tail swiped left and right. I pick up the drake and the little whelps, which was a mistake. Lava wall takes out a bunch of people. It was chaos.

However, surprisingly, everyone was resolute. RL asked me what went wrong, and I pointed out the obvious issue with tail swipes and that the warrior OT should grab the drake and I’ll focus on whelps and the fire elementals. So instructions are given out, the DK has a better idea of positioning and we re-engage.

This time we as a raid were successful, but ironically, this attempt was about thirty times more chaotic. We got the drake down in short order, and a stray whelp didn’t eat anyone, so the warrior and I did out jobs. We then moved to controlling elementals and I watching Sarth with anticipation as his health moved down.

At around 50% it started getting nuts. Flame walls took out a few people and for some reason the DK compensated by beginning to pull Sarth eastwards across the lava. Wut.

He’s yelled at to bring Sarth back, but the DK’s having a merry time out there in the slop. Eventually stuff gets under control, and after what felt like the absolute longest Sarth engagement ever–20%-0% must have been 3 minutes long, I swear, with elementals EVERYWHERE–the dragon finally goes down.

I eagerly skip over to inspect the corpus for what loot had dropped… and to my immediate joy there were two “of the Conqueror” gloves! Ok, among the 8 of us that could use those (yes I inspected everyone’s gear) that gave me 2/8 (25%) odds. Not too shabby.

Gloves are called for rolling and yellowed numbers flying across my screen.

Suddenly, someone rolls a hundred! Aw dammit, one glove gone. My odds drop to 1/7 (14%).

Hearkening back to my post on chance I repeated to myself “there’s no such thing as luck” and typed in /roll.

And I rolled a 100 as well… amazing!

For someone who doesn’t believe in her, Lady Luck sure likes to smile on me.

Ulduar is chock full of brand-new lewt, just ripe for the taking. I wanted to take a look at everything we have to look forward to getting our greedy little mitts on in one condensed list, so I put together this compendium.

All these items are listed below broken down by slot, with Tier 8 separate, and with iLevels indicated. Some slots seem to have no 219 item, so I suspect one of the 226 items for that slot will turn out to be iLevel 219.

I’ll comment about the gear in a future post.

Tier 8

Conquerer’s Aegis Faceguard
Conquerer’s Aegis Breastplate
Conquerer’s Aegis Shoulderguards
Conquerer’s Aegis Handguards
Conquerer’s Aegis Legguards

Valorous Aegis Faceguard
Valorous Aegis Breastplate
Valorous Aegis Shoulderguards
Valorous Aegis Handguards
Valorous Aegis Legguards

Head

Helm of the Faceless (226)

Ironbark Faceguard (219)

Shoulders

Shoulderplates of the Deconstructor (226)

Shoulderguards of the Solemn Watch (219)

Chest

Unbreakable Chestguard (226)

Wrist

Mimiron’s Inferno Couplings (226)

Flamewatch Armguards (219)

Hands

Handguards of Revitalization (239)

Gauntlets of the Royal Watch (226)
Handguards of the Enclave (226)

Waist

Dragonslayer’s Brace (226)
Indestructible Plate Girdle (226)
Shieldwarder Girdle (226)

Stormtempered Girdle (219)

Legs

Legplates of the Endless Void (239)

Gilded Steel Legplates (226)
Saronite Plated Legguards (226)
Wyrmguard Legplates (226)

Boots

Charred Saronite Greaves (226)
Greaves of the Stormwarder (226)
Spiked Deathdealers (226)

Cloak

Titanskin Cloak (239)

Cloak of the Makers (226)

Cloak of the Iron Council (219)

Neck

Bronze Pendant of the Vanir (239)

Necklace of Unerring Mettle (226)
Shard of the Crystal Forest (226)

Mark of the Unyielding (219)

Rings

Platinum Band of the Aesir (226)
Signet of the Earthshaker (226)
The Leviathan’s Coil (226)

Signet of Winter (219)

Trinkets

Heart of Iron (226)
The General’s Heart (226)

Shield

Northern Barrier (226)
The Boreal Guard (226)

Shieldwall of the Breaker (219)

Weapon

Sorthalis, Hammer of the Watchers (239)

Shiver (226)
Titanguard (226)

Legacy of Thunder (219)
Stoneguard (219)

… You don’t have to get it!

Thanks Blizzard for making such a crappy libram that we get to save the 25 Emblems of Valor. Take that Holy/Ret chumps.

From mmo-champion.com:

Paladin T8 Protection Relic — Increases your block rating by 136 [8.5% -ed.] while Holy Shield is active.

This is an upgrade to Libram of Repentance, I guess, but not much else. Personally I’m already block capped, so all that extra block rating would be pushed right off the table. It’d be a perfect waste of a relic slot.

And you can’t even argue it’d be a good starter item for tankadins, since it costs Emblems of Valor to get in the first place.

Very disappointing.

In theory, every tankadin should have at his or her disposal four different tanking sets. One for threat generation, one for effective health maximizing, one for pure avoidance, and one for trash blocking. Personally, I feel this is awfully unwieldy for most people (and certainly is for me). While the benefits you’d get from maintaining so many different sets would certain be noticed in down-to-the-wire circumstances where every little bit helps, in everyday situations, you can get by with one set.

As such I present to you the everyman’s best-in-slot list. These items will give you the best you can get of every world without maximizing any of those four needs. It’s the best across-the-board set you can accumulate.

Before I start, if you’re looking for a list broken down by those four needs, I recommend this list on Maintankadin.

Head: Valorous Redemption Faceguard

Gem with Eternal Earthsiege Diamond and Solid Sky Sapphire and enchant with Arcanum of the Stalwart Protector.

Shoulders: Valorous Redemption Shoulderguards

Gem with Enduring Forest Emerald and enchant with Greater Inscription of the Pinnacle.

Chest: Dragonstorm Breastplate

Gem with Regal Twilight Opal and Enduring Forest Emerald and enchant with Greater Defense.

Cloak: Cloak of the Shadowed Sun

Enchant with Titanweave.

Wrist: Bracers of the Unholy Knight

Gem with Regal Twilight Opal and enchant with Major Stamina.

Hands: Valorous Redemption Handguards

Gem with Solid Sky Sapphire and enchant with Armsman.

Waist: Ablative Chitin Girdle

Get an Eternal Belt Buckle and gem this with two Solid Sky Sapphires.

Legs: Legplates of Sovereignty

Enchant with Frosthide Leg Armor.

Feet: Kyzoc’s Ground Stompers

Enchant with Greater Fortitude.

Neck: Nexus War Champion’s Bead

Gem with Regal Twilight Opal.

Rings: Sand-Worn Band and Titanium Earthguard Ring

Gem the TER with Solid Sky Sapphire.

Trinkets: Essence of Gossamer and Repelling Charge

Personally I prefer my Monarch Crab over the Repelling Charge, but that might be a no-go for some folks.

Relic: Libram of Obstruction

Weapon: Last Laugh

Enchant with Accuracy.

Shield: Hero’s Surrender

Enchant with Defense.

Altogether this gear will put you in a great position for any situation you encounter in Ulduar.

Update: I built this set out in Warcrafter and it came up at about 567 defense skill, which is yes way over-stacked for defense. However, it also came out to be 102.1% avoidance, which means with Kings you can cross over into blockcapped territory.

Plus, you’d have only 16% (+30% from Holy Shield) of that as block, so not a bad pure avoidance number.

Your profession buffs should allow you a little more breathing room to add stamina or other avoidance stats.