Which runeforge for tanking

Are there other runes I should be considering instead? Improve this question. Mag Roader Mag Roader Just to clear up a misconception about armor -- it doesn't actually have diminishing returns. WoW uses the same principles of Armor Reduction that League of Legends does, as detailed here: gaming. I don't understand how that can be the case. You need to consider how long you live at the given reductions. Basically, adding a flat amount of armor increases life expectancy by a static amount, given a constant incoming DPS.

Raven I looked at the answer linked but it doesn't perfectly apply; they're talking about flat armor values 50, Stoneskin Gargoyle is not flat, it's a percentage. After some thought, I think I get it!

If you have almost no armor, it's not helping at all! Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. Improve this answer. Brant Brant Swordshattering is "better" overall. Over the course of a fight you'll take less damage. Pre it won't make much of a difference, but once you start getting into content that's a bit harder and that you don't outgear, you'll need to consider a few scenarios: Your healer does his or her best to keep you topped off at all times.

One way to think about it is why would the designers create two tanking runes if one was always better than the other? That's be a pretty incentive to prioritize gargoyle over swordshatter.

Raven I can't cite a source but I see no reason to believe that diminishing returns is dependent on the source of the parry. Raven yes, to the best of my knowledge all parry is subject to diminishing returns.

Show 2 more comments. Comments Comment by Kickstar Hello! Great guide guys. Just a quick input, it's been ages since EP was cleared on Mythic, and it's been ages since potions from Nazj. This guide is due for an overhaul!

Please keep the following in mind when posting a comment: Your comment must be in English or it will be removed. Unsure how to post? Check out our handy guide! Simply browse for your screenshot using the form below. For opening attacks on a single target, you should use [ Outbreak ] from a distance. You should not use Death and Decay. Once in melee range, make sure to use [ Death Strike ] to gain a blood shield and try to keep your Blood runes down to maintain Blade Barrier death knight talent.

For either single-target or AoE, you'll want to save your runic power for [ Rune Strike ]. Rune Strike should be used whenever both Frost or both Unholy runes are on cooldown. Avoid using RS when both Blood runes are down, as this can proc a free Blood rune and cause you to lose Blade Barrier death knight talent. Like all other tanks, Death Knight tanks should specialize in Mastery.

After Mastery, DK tanks should focus on stamina and avoidance dodge and parry. Expertise and Hit are also useful for additional threat, but not as essential, as Parry Hasting has been all but removed from the game. Taunts and off-GCD interrupts are no longer able to miss. The buff to agility and strength amount to significant dodge and parry increases as well as providing free runic power.

This ability should be used whenever you have a free global cooldown not that often. The Blood tree is the dedicated tanking tree for tanking death knights. Passive bonuses and a new ability are granted when the Blood tree is selected, all of which are geared towards tanking.

There are several talents in Blood that can be ignored. Generally, it is recommended that you take the following:. Taking the above talents from Blood as a baseline leaves you with 8 points to spend elsewhere.

Let's take a look at where those talent points will come in most useful. However as a level 85 death knight only has 10 additional talent points provided that 31 talent points in Blood , the choices are limited.

Depending on your spec and gear as a tank, the best glyph choices for you will vary. The 2 piece Tier 10 set bonus for Death Knight tanks provides the same effect as [ Glyph of Death and Decay ] , so if you have 2 pieces of Tier 10 already, this glyph is generally unnecessary. It is also unnecessary if you are not having trouble with AoE threat without the glyph.

However, it should be noted that it does stack, and if combined with a Howling Blast or an Unholy Spec, the AoE is very high, and if Blood specced, it can provide the AoE threat that that tree somewhat lacks. In general, Stamina is the most attractive stat for all tanking classes. Other tanking stats, like Dodge, Parry or Armor are useful for tanks, but none compare to Stamina, because Armor cannot reduce magic damage and cannot be gemmed for , and avoidance is never reliable.

In fact, high avoidance may even harm your survivability by confusing your healer; it was this reason that the [ Chill of the Throne ] was introduced. For this reason, DK tanks should gem [ Solid Majestic Zircon ] in every non-meta socket except one which will contain the meta requirement for the optimal tanking meta gem, [ Austere Earthsiege Diamond ].

Preferably, the one gem slot excluded will be the one that would offer the best socket bonus, in the cast of T10, the Helm. The former is the optimal choice if you have enough expertise already 26 is good, higher than that never hurts for tanks , and the latter is the optimal choice if you could use some expertise.