Holiday Highs and Lows
I managed to pull myself away from my holidaying long enough to bring you this special set of holiday highs and lows.
Blacksmithing: Down
Blacksmithing as a profession continues to take a big hit in usefulness simply by offering nothing new with the emergence of all kinds of new, very accessible gear. At this point from a purely selfish tanking standpoint, there exists no reason to be any of the 4 potential blacksmithing routes.
- 3rd Armorsmith Chest outdated by the new Season 3 Gladiator Chest
- Red Havoc Boots outdated by the new ZA Jungle Stompers
Shapeshifter’s Signet: Up
This item’s change from Dagger and Feral Combat rating to Expertise makes it a fantastic tanking piece. The raw power of Expertise coupled with decent levels of agility and stamina may very well put this piece among the top tanking rings in the game… if not #1. Basically, this ring has secured it’s spot beside the Exalted reputation Karazhan ring in practically every tanking set I use. It’s that good and it’s going to cost you less than 20 gold.
And that’s all folks, I hope you all have a fun and safe holiday season.
December 24th, 2007 at 6:56 am
I wouldn’t count any profession out yet until I see the more information on the SunWell patch.
[Reply]
December 24th, 2007 at 9:06 am
Wow, I didn’t even realize this ring’s stats were changed.
With all the great free tank advice I’ve gotten over the months reading this site, I think Vene should at least be on my Christmas-card list
Thanks again, Vene. Of course, you drop this beautiful nugget of information on me two days after the Shade’s ring FINALLY dropped for me…. (killed that fool 100 times and I’ve seen the ring twice)…
As for armorsmithing… I’m hoping that blizz adds a few new bop epic craftable items. Kinda illogical that engineers, instead of Blacksmith/ARMORSMITHS, get the recipe for the best craftable plate helm…….
Anyway, Merry Christmas everyone!
[Reply]
December 25th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Top Tanking ring seems a little steep. It needs more stamina. I still prefer the Band of Eternity or Band of the Abyssal Lord.
Totally Agree about BS. There are some good dps peices that are BOP from BT and Hyjal, but no real tanking additions.
[Reply]
December 26th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
This post makes me wonder just how much of the BoAK’s item budget is taken up by its health booster. The Vengeful manages to be a distinctly better item despite the same item level (although the BoAK still has more hit rating).
I still use the cooldown regularly but I’ll have to give it up sooner or later. WTB Avatar talent for WotLK.
[Reply]
December 27th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
So between Shapeshifter’s signet, Brooch of Deftness, Bracers of the Ancient Phalanx, and the +6 expertise prot talent that’s expertise just about capped isn’t it?
I agree about the ‘raw power of expertise’, the fact that it doubles as both a threat stat and a mitigation stat (and so cheap!) is just crazy.
/sigh, LC rep grind here we come… wonder if I can pull some guildies into a few sethekk speed runs
[Reply]