#0 - March 2, 2010, 3:35 a.m.
Plate doesn't mitigate much more then cloth.
No HP advantage
Fun factor completely removed from using a shield.
This one bugs me the most, the shield mechanic in it's current form is a lot of fun, in cataclysm it'll be about as meaningless as a ranged weapon on a warrior, providing a flat DR that every other tank gets from talents / skills.
Basically in Cata all tanks will be exactly the same except they'll look a little different and their spell effects will have different colors.
Not fun.