Shield Block changes!

Wow.

The night (at least for those of us in the United Kingdom) has seen some pretty significant changes regarding the tanking outlook come Cataclysm. Forefront for us warriors were the changes to Shield Block, but there was a heap of other information pouring out of Ghostcrawler and Zarhym and all of it will require attention. And forgive me, but I'm going to put the changes here in my own inimitable way. Alas, this is a long one.

Shield Block is going to read:

"Increase your chance to block by 25% for 10 seconds."

So I'm saying we just lost 75% block chance on Shield Block, which is a horrible nerf?

No.

Shield Block has never granted 100% block, because you can't get any more passive avoidance than 100%. So, considering we're already sat at 25% block as baseline before adding avoidance (and, of course, mastery), let's say it's about 50% additional block chance nowadays; and we're about to lose half of that.

But there's more.

The reason Shield Block has changed is because it gets worse the better geared you are. As you gear up and grab more avoidance and mastery, the actual percentage required to make you passively unhittable goes down. At entry raids, let's say we're at 40% chance to be struck, painfully, in the face. Shield Block is giving us 40% block in order to make up the difference. If our chance to be struck goes to, say, 25% within another tier or two, then Shield Block will only give us 25% worth of block.

So... If we say that Shield Block gives an extra 100% block chance, you are "wasting" a higher percentage of that chance the more avoidance/mitigation you have.

a. If you have 40% combined parry, dodge and block, then 100% extra block puts you at 140% - 40% wasted.
b. If you have 60% combined parry, dodge and block, then 100% extra block puts you at 160% - 60% wasted.

Think of it in the same way as the old ArP soft cap with trinket procs. When you were over 52% passive armour penetration, some of the proc was wasted on a stat that was doing nothing. This is exactly how Shield Block has worked until now, punishing those of us with better gear and this is a design flaw that the developers want to move away from.

Of course, that's not the whole picture. If we consider only the fact that warriors can no longer be unhittable for any period of time, we're still looking at a pretty hard sell to a class that is renowned for taking the spikiest damage. On top of that flaw, it's very likely that we're going to be wasting block a bit later in the content again, because it's extremely unlikely we're always going to remain at or below 75% passive unhittable for the whole expansion. Surely, there has to be some other change that will see warriors actually gain something out of this.

Yep, there is.

When Shield Block is active, any block percentage that spills over the 100% passively unhittable mark will be directly converted into Critical Block chance instead. Give that another read (this blog is number-tastic >.<). What it's saying is that when your 25% is added, if that takes you over 100% unhittable then the remaining percentage will add to your chance to critically block. Let's go for the examples again: a. 15% dodge, 15% parry, 25% block (55% overall). Shield Block grants 25% block chance only.
b. 20% dodge, 20% parry, 40% block (80% overall). Shield Block grants 20% block chance and 5% Critical Block chance.
c. 25% dodge, 25% parry, 50% block (100% overall). Shield Block grants 25% Critical Block chance only.

TL, DR?

Shield Block can no longer be wasted.

This change is undoubtedly something of a nerf in lower content when warriors will no longer be able to attain a 100% passive unhittable state (unless aiming for it, which is a gearing choice). However, the value of Shield Block will no longer diminish as we gear up because any overflow will be directly translated into Critical Block chance instead. When you also consider that Critical Block chance increases with mastery as well as normal block chance, and at the same pace, come T12 and beyond I'd wager we're looking at mitigating a lot of damage.

This is not a negative change by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, it's a very positive buff for when the content becomes harder.

With that fact now established, we can pay a bit more attention to the role of Shield Block; something that still seems to cause a bit of confusion. There seems to be some confusion as to the role of Shield Block amongst the player base and, for the life of me, I can't figure out why.

Some quotes:

Zarhym:

"Shield Block is not intended to be a magic damage cooldown."

Ghostcrawler:

"[Shield Block] is for reducing damage taken over time so that healers expend less mana over the course of the fight and don't run out."

That's it wrapped up - I honestly don't see where the grey area is. You use Shield Block on cooldown as part of your rotation in order to mitigate more damage over the course of a fight. Too many people seem to think Shield Block is something it's not; a cooldown in the manner of Shield Wall or Last Stand that will save you when either all else goes wrong or there's a huge burst coming in. But the days of Shear are long gone, and encounters will not be designed to have warriors dying off when the other tanks don't due to a lack of cooldowns. Ghostcrawler did suggest the possible implementation of a glyph that converts Shield Block from flat block chance to magical damage reduction, but he believes (as I do) that the community are grossly overplaying the requirement. For large burst you use your major cooldowns Shield Wall or Last Stand, while Shield Block is for general mitigation. It's really very simple.

My only question at this stage is where the developers view Enraged Regeneration for tanks in all of this. I suppose it's another mitigating factor that will save healer mana, as well as a handy levelling ability to stop yourself from dying while out questing. But as an endgame ability, I find it a bit lacklustre for tanks. DPS warriors could use it quite handily when there's AoE/raid damage coming in, but tanks take too much damage too quickly for it to be of much proactive use. Perhaps a glyph to frontload the healing of it, or deep Protection talents that buff it in some way could be an option - but that's a discussion for another day.

I'll round out, now - what else did we learn last night?

1) Shield Wall is being buffed. It will now reduce damage by 50% instead of 40% with no other changes (50% less damage for 12 seconds, every two minutes). This is a flat buff, nothing else to say.

2) Glyph of Shield Wall will add 10% more damage reduction, with only one more minute added on the cooldown (60% less damage for 12 seconds, every three minutes). Half the effect for half the cooldown; seems logical, and in line. It will be interesting if warriors can handle those extra 60 seconds, but encounters will dictate that.

3) Vigilance will no longer reduce damage taken by 3%, nothing else will change. As this is now being put solely on tanks, it cleans up any additive/overwriting issues. Technically a nerf I suppose (and heavily dependent on healer/tank set up), but a very minor one that will affect very few raid groups.

My congratulations - you've reached the end. Your prize is...

Greater knowledge. :)

Rise of the Offtank

Cataclysm is changing the world. That's no secret. In fact, if you weren't aware that Deathwing's coming was going to change everything we know and love, I daresay you've been living in a murloc community for the better part of a year. One of the more interesting changes, however, is the way classes are looking to be performing coming into our new content on December 7th. Things are, quite literally, upside down. Paladins are great raid healers. Druids are great tank healers. Warriors are fantastic off-tanks.

Yep, you read it correctly.

Warriors are fantastic off-tanks.

The new game is about to see a new warrior step up. And I must say, it's not before time. The tried and trusted set up of a warrior tanking the boss and [insert any other tank here] dealing with anything that's not the boss, are about to dissipate. Here's why.

It's not all about damage.

Though, admittedly, that certainly helps. And while warrior AoE output is low at the moment, it's sure to be buffed because we've been promised that either all tanks will struggle with it, or none will. Ignore that for a moment. Look at what else the Protection warrior is bringing to the table as an offtank.

1) Unparalleled mobility; you get around faster than anyone which puts you where you're needed, when you're needed there.
2) Significant control; stuns, interrupts, buffs and debuffs are yours to command. Don't underestimate the power of being a nuisance.
3) An external cooldown; in the form of the new Safeguard, we're literally life savers when everything else has capitulated.
4) Access to shiny utility; personally, I'm looking at going for Piercing Howl and abusing it whenever possible; but Deep Wounds isn't a bad choice.
5) Permanent Vengeance; unless I'm mistaken, warriors will be using Vigilance to be the only tank capable of stacking Vengeance while not taking damage.

Now, when you slot talents like Blood and Thunder into this rather potent mix you start to see the very real opportunities to shine in a role that warriors have traditionally been laughed at for considering themselves capable of filling.

The problem?

Naturally, this is leading a number of players to suggest that warriors are now going to become the de facto off tank for the coming expansion, taking the sideline and letting another class hog the boss-tanking glory. This is clearly a terrible thing, because they're taking our jobs.

Except... They're not. We're also in a world of talents such as Enduring Victory, Incite, Field Dressing and Blood Craze. These all add up to single-target potency, something that we can deliberately go for when we want to be the boss tank. And for those who say that it's up to the raid leader what you do and not necessarily the tank, I say this:

Is it going to affect you?

Too many people seem to be concentrating on what will happen in the top 1% of min-maxing guilds, and not what will be happening in their own guild. I think it's a pretty big leap to suggest that warriors will spend an expansion on adds just because they "can" do it, while also assuming that long-term boss tanks will suddenly be pushed aside. Even if this were the case, this is only going to have an impact on less than 1% of the player base.

For everyone else, and I daresay those in the top 1%, the boss tank will be the best person for the job and not the best class. This is as it should be, and I can't wait for it to finally happen.

In short, only one thing has changed.

If you want to be an off tank, you now have tools that would make other classes eyes water.

Enjoy them.

The passing of a Titan.

I had originally planned something quite different for this post. I'll be returning to the topic tomorrow so don't think you're necessarily spared more of my misbegotten ramblings, but something quite large just got my attention and I've decided to pay attention to it for todays commentary as it's significant enough for me to have done so. And those who know me will know just how rarely I'm swayed from my intended course.

Basically, Veneretio has decided to quit both World of Warcraft, and blogging.

This, as far as concerns me, is disastrous. Not for the man himself as, put succinctly, he has other things to be getting on with. He's loved his time in Warcraft, he's thoroughly enjoyed his blog and he's always gotten a great deal from the conversations that he's instigated. But for the Protection warrior community as a whole, this is a blow that's pretty hard to take because Veneretio is one of those bloggers that is impossible to dislike.

Allow me to elaborate.

There are those on the Internet who can't see the wood (the truth) for the trees (their own self-importance). The web itself provides the perfect platform for anonymity that would encourage difficult and grandiose behaviour way off what the facts bear out. Let's be clear; the Internet is full of idiots. If World of Warcraft is the microcosm to that backdrop, it's little wonder that the game sticks to type so accurately. The game, unfortunately, is full of the same fools who use "anonymity" to further agendas of rudeness, elitism and trolling. Sometimes, youth is an excuse - however tenuous. Other times, there is no excuse other than tragically inadequate development of social skills that cause the person concerned to treat others with the same disdain in which they subconsciously treats themselves. Worse, they do so with an error-strewn linguistic online presence that offends far more than it could ever hope to inform.

"We just don't get it".

But then, you come across a refreshing oasis in this desert of ill-begotten claptrap. And Veneretio's blog is one such oasis. It's hard to pinpoint what makes a good blogger, particularly one dealing with a subject as diverse as World of Warcraft. But Veneretio managed to hit that line between raid leader and friend that created an authority, but one who welcomed debate. Most importantly for him, however, was the fact that this personality wasn't worked at, fostered or fabricated.

Reading Veneretio's blog is like speaking to a tanking chum who wants you to end up better than he is.

The only blogs I read frequently come from the digi-pen of Veneretio, Linedan and Kadomi - all of which are fun for similar reasons. They're all engaging with you as an equal as opposed to the Jedi master who passes down information. They all enjoy quips and jabs, they get involved with their community in a warm and approachable manner and none of them seem to believe they have it all figured out. This mixture is powerful in any format, but particularly in one where it's easy to be maligned just for saying what you think.

Veneretio and the others advocate that style of theory-crafting that I adore and, one day, aspire to achieve - trying things for yourself.

There's no mathematics that nobody understands. There's no dismissal of differing opinions. There's no elitism or belief that they're better than you. Put simply, their blogs are glorified chat rooms where everyone throws their view into the pot and the results come out. In Veneretio's case, more than the others (and no offence), he picks up topics that are vilified by the Protection warrior community and puts a positive slant on them. He tries to understand where the developers are trying to go with the class or their PvE content, then slots the warrior into the niche he believes everyone is aiming at. Sometimes, I disagree. Sometimes lots of people disagree. But when someone puts their thoughts into comprehensible prose (which I'm awful at) and encourages a discussion around what he thinks with humility and wit, it's very, VERY hard not to love it.

Veneretio helped to make me a better player, and he made me want to get into blogging about it. He's what I aspire to as an Internet persona and a person that, though modest, will be sorely missed by a group that always looked up his blog first to see what he was going to chat about today.

Take good care, Vene - I, and many others, are really going to miss you. Let me personally wish you all the best on your future endeavours and I sincerely hope to see you pick up that shield again one day and join us in a debate about how best to avoid the dramatic chin-cleaves we're about to be subjected to.

Peace. :')

Pain... Agony.

So, the Cataclysm cinematic has landed and there is a huge amount of attention being given to it, much as you'd expect. For me, one word pretty much sums it up.

Wow.

The Cataclysm cinematic is some of Blizzard's finest set-piece graphical work which, for me, sets the scene perfectly for what's about to happen. Just as obviously, though, there is a significant amount of complaint about it because it doesn't tick the right box regarding what the complainant in question wanted to see. And because it wasn't what that individual wanted, it's clearly an abject failure in their mind and all who worked on the project should die in a fire.

It's a good thing WoW players aren't known for their reasoned and measured opinions.

To that end, though, let me tell you why I think the cinematic is awesome.

First of all, it's beautiful. The CGI rendering is beyond compare, with the visuals depicting the demolition of Auberdine, Booty Bay, the Barrens, Thousand Needles, Loch Modan and Stormwind illustrating the destructive power of Deathwing without overstating it in the monologue. It's all-out action; and while many have complained about that fact, we're witnessing the beginning of a new age and such things should be accompanied by visceral on-screen dynamics. The original classic cinematic fitted well as an introductory piece, much less prescriptive than those that followed. The Burning Crusade cinematic was designed around the conflicted personality of Illidan, introducing the new races that got involved directly as a result of the story arc (Kil'jaedan and Kael'thas, particularly). Of course, we then see the reflective job that was done for the character of Arthas in Wrath of the Lich King, something that was designed to encourage players to appreciate the tragedy of Arthas himself and his fall from grace; even the operatic music sets this cinematic apart as the end of something, as opposed to the beginning. And then we come to the Cataclysm, where we're actively confronted with the threat posed by Deathwing, practically the most powerful single being in Azeroth.

This is why a favourite is so hard to pick from the four we've seen to this point; they're all designed to convey something different. And while I can appreciate the disappointment that goblins and worgen aren't shown, they're not really a part of the Cataclysm "story" in the same way the blood elves and draenei were for their debut.

Of course, then we come to the monologue itself. It's commonly reviled, but something I think an awful lot of. It's understood that Deathwing is a massively powerful force of nature, one that can rip the world apart just by being, but the monologue itself is measured; it's the mercurial yin to the physical yang. It doesn't illustrate the immeasurable intellect held by the fallen Aspect himself, but it hints at it. This makes it all the more powerful, as it conveys the cerebral side of Deathwing while the words show how effing angry he is - significant intelligence, barely containing profound rage. This allows the imagination of the viewer to take centre stage in order to envision just how Deathwing views the world he's about to mangle.

And personally, I think the voice actor does this very well. While he's not responsible for the effect, he is responsible for the delivery and finding a voice actor that can depict absolute and primal fury with restrained cunning couldn't have been easy; I think he strikes the balance well.

In wrapping up, I'm not trying to convince those that don't like the cinematic to think otherwise. That would be undeniably arrogant. What I am trying to do, is highlight why I love it so much, and why I think the direction taken is the right one. Yes, I'd have liked to have seen the Greymane Wall or the city of Kezan being crushed and crumpled during the flight. But I wouldn't have supported seeing any other races because it would go against the overwhelming point in the visual.

Deathwing is everything. Consideration of anything else, no matter how large it may have been, is instantly eclipsed in the split-second of his arrival. Illidan and the Lich King were nothing compared to the threat the former Aspect of Earth poses, and that is the sole impression the designers want you to take away.

Death(wing) has arrived.

Uh-oh.

First Impressions of 4.0.1

So, I've been getting through the initial testing cycle and here is what I've been finding:

1) Warrior threat, both single-target and AoE, seems fine to me.

I suspect that too many warriors are struggling with a few things. Perhaps they're having problems with rage because they haven't picked up points in Shield Specialization or grabbed the glyph for 'zerker rage. Maybe they're mixing up how Blood and Thunder is supposed to work. Potentially, the new use of Heroic Strike is annoying people because they're trying to spam it when they shouldn't be. Point number two.

2) Heroic Strike is pretty cool now, but easy to overuse.

In all seriousness, Heroic Strike doesn't make the same threat contribution that it used to and could, in all seriousness, be routinely ignored if your DPS are average to fair. My advice is to keep it ready when you're about to get either a Sword and Board or a Revenge in; you'll invariably have the rage for it after that. Additionally, it's not a bad idea to use it after Victory Rush should you get that puppy lighting up. It's free, after all. The standard "over 60 rage" rule still applies.

3) I've yet to hear a compelling argument for Vigilance.

A few people have asked why it's not in my spec after inspecting me. When I ask why it would be, the best I can hope for is "herp derp". Vigilance is now totally situational, so only spec for it if you're going to actually be off-tanking in a raid. The rest of the time, it's a waste of time and don't be fooled into thinking otherwise by those who use phrases such as "lol", "rofl", or even stretch to "retard". They just look stupid when they can't give you a reason beyond those extremes.

4) Victory Rush should be on your bars somewhere.

I know, I know. But during an instance, you're quite likely to be killing things and it's a nice healing boost while also doing respectable damage and costing no rage whatsoever, thus freeing some up for Heroic Strike. This is especially true if you've picked up Enduring Victory, but I've left that out of my spec for the time being.

5) Rend is fine as an opener on packs, and you should keep it up on single targets.

Trust me - it's worth it. When you get adds, or something simply bimbles along and annoys you, only having to Thunderclap to get it bleeding is really nice and, I think, part of the design. It costs you no damage really, a tiny amount of threat and some self respect; but it's worth it when there is more than one target around. Oh, yeah - and you've taken Blood and Thunder.

6) Reforging your dodge into parry is a good idea, as is using parry gems.

The talent Hold the Line makes parry better for warriors than dodge. Since the two are now practically identical in all ways that matter, warriors can get mitigation and threat from those two points, while the uptime is actually pretty impressive despite the relatively low levels of parry we all have. Add that to the fact that our mastery is being significantly buffed and Hold the Line starts to look better and better.

Anyway, that's all that springs to mind for the moment. I currently have a ticket in due to constant WoW errors causing crashes and I haven't gotten through everything, but I figured I'd quickly share how it's been going to this point and let you know that I have no idea what game the most vociferous of complainants are playing.

It's not this one.

My Cataclsym Protection glyphs.

Following on from my last blog regarding the list of glyphs in Cataclysm for warriors, I figured I'd quickly point out which ones I'll be using for Cataclysm when I first hit raids at 85. I'm going to be boss-tanking with the following set of talents (as things stand, of course) so some of my choices will reflect that fact. And while the usual caveat of "things being subject to change" still exists, I'd imagine much of what is now up is going to form 90% of what we'll see when the expansion lands.

So then, let's get on with it.

My Prime glyphs will be Devastate, Revenge and Shield Slam. Nothing too elaborate here, and the developers are pretty honest about the fact that there isn't supposed to be. I'd like the choice of a more defensive Prime glyph but if not, these three are obvious and require no debate.

Moving on to Major glyphs, however, and the fun begins. Long Charge is interesting, I guess, but not worth the slot considering what else is available, while Shield Wall will also have its place for the more dire of boss mechanics but it's hard to gauge how often they'll pop up. Thunder Clap is another that's nice enough, but in a world with crowd control I don't reckon more range to an AoE attack is the best way to go. Cleaving will probably see common use amongst many warriors, but if I'm boss tanking it provides next to nothing additional. Heroic Throw could well be compelling if we consider the application of sunders from range, but I question how often that will be called for. Intercept simply isn't a PvE glyph in my view, while Intervene is one that you would possibly marry up with the talent Safeguard but, alas, it remains horribly situational. Rapid Charge is one I like, however, as it'll be useful almost anywhere and the rage saving value of Resonating Power makes it quite enticing, too - but lowering the cooldown of the namesake talent Shockwave is another that isn't likely to be earth shattering outside of AoE scenarios. Sunder Armor is another that'll see heavy use for the off tanks amongst us, while Victory Rush is solely for those talented into Impending Victory.

As for me, I'll be picking up Victory Rush, Shield Wall and Resonating Power. For my job of boss-tanking, and considering my spec, they're the ones that will yield the best results from what I can tell.

Lastly, the flavour; Minor glyphs.

While all have a certain amount of utility, it's really a choice between Berserker Rage, Command, Demoralizing Shout, Enduring Victory, Furious Sundering and Intimidating Shout. Once more, I want the most I can get out of Victory Rush, so I'll be taking Enduring Victory to complement that. Not having to use a GCD on Demoralizing Shout will also be quite nice on bosses, so Demoralizing Shout is my second slot. Finally, it's the choice between saving rage or longer duration buffs. With shouts now granting rage instead of costing it, it's unlikely Commanding Shout will be falling off (though the range is nice) so I'll be picking up Berserker Rage for those moments where I desperately need the rage.

So, what are you considering? :)