Tier-10 Tank Armor Changes

We recognize that many plate tanks are making their gear choices based on the amount of armor they’re provided, as this is currently the most preferred stat. In order to make the tier-10 plate tanking sets more desirable, we will be adjusting the stats on the gloves and chest pieces in order to inflate the amount of armor they provide in the next minor patch. This will apply to all item levels of the tier-10 death knight, warrior, and paladin tanking gloves and chest pieces.

Similar items crafted or purchased with Emblems of Frost will continue to be very good and will compare favorably to all but the Heroic difficulty boss loot, so you shouldn't despair if you recently acquired any of those.

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Here are examples of how the set pieces will be changing in the next minor patch:

Current Warrior Tier-10 Pieces (item level 251)

Ymirjar Lord's Handguards

1579 Armor
+81 Strength
+148 Stamina
Yellow Socket
Socket Bonus: +6 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 71.
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 63.
Equip: Improves hit rating by 54.


Ymirjar Lord's Breastplate

2526 Armor
+144 Strength
+191 Stamina
Red Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +9 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 76.
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 68.
Equip: Increases your parry rating by 68.

Updated Warrior Tier-10 Pieces (item level 251)

Ymirjar Lord's Handguards

2461 Armor
+81 Strength
+148 Stamina
Yellow Socket
Socket Bonus: +6 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 71.
Equip: Improves hit rating by 54.


Ymirjar Lord's Breastplate

3590 Armor
+144 Strength
+191 Stamina
Red Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +9 Stamina
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 60.
Equip: Increases your parry rating by 76.

Current Death Knight Tier-10 Pieces (item level 251)

Scourgelord Handguards

1579 Armor
+81 Strength
+148 Stamina
Yellow Socket
Socket Bonus: +6 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 71.
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 63.
Equip: Improves hit rating by 54.


Scourgelord Chestguard

2526 Armor
+144 Strength
+191 Stamina
Red Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +6 Strength
Equip: Increases defense rating by 60.
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 76.
Equip: Increases your parry rating by 76.

Updated Death Knight Tier-10 Pieces (item level 251)

Scourgelord Handguards

2461 Armor
+81 Strength
+148 Stamina
Yellow Socket
Socket Bonus: +6 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 71.
Equip: Improves hit rating by 54.


Scourgelord Chestguard

3590 Armor
+144 Strength
+191 Stamina
Red Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +6 Strength
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 60.
Equip: Increases your parry rating by 76.

Current Paladin Tier-10 Pieces (item level 251)

Lightsworn Handguards

1579 Armor
+81 Strength
+148 Stamina
Yellow Socket
Socket Bonus: +6 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 71.
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 63.
Equip: Improves hit rating by 54.


Lightsworn Chestguard

2526 Armor
+144 Strength
+191 Stamina
Red Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +9 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 76.
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 60.
Equip: Increases your parry rating by 76.

Updated Paladin Tier-10 Pieces (item level 251)

Lightsworn Handguards

2461 Armor
+81 Strength
+148 Stamina
Yellow Socket
Socket Bonus: +6 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 71.
Equip: Improves hit rating by 54.


Lightsworn Chestguard

3590 Armor
+144 Strength
+191 Stamina
Red Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +9 Stamina
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 60.
Equip: Increases your parry rating by 76.

Current Vendor Armor

Gauntlets of the Kraken

2308 Armor
120 Strength
157 Stamina
Red Socket
Yellow Socket
Socket Bonus: +9 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 63.
Equip: Increases your parry rating by 63.

Updated Vendor Armor

Gauntlets of the Kraken

2658 Armor
120 Strength
157 Stamina
Red Socket
Yellow Socket
Socket Bonus: +9 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 63.
Equip: Increases your parry rating by 48.

Q u o t e:


May I ask how druids are to be compensated for this change? Leather badge gear is already behind the bonus-armored plate gear available from badges (including the 370% bonus).

We rely on our armor for survival, yet plate classes will now have more armor than ours. Was any thought put forth on this?

We are concerned that Feral druid tank gear won't scale as well and will be keeping an eye on it.

Q u o t e:
But... I could've had armor and set bonuses had I not spent badges on the armor pieces.


brb despairing :(

The crafted and vendor pieces will still be very good. As some have noted in this thread, it may not be worth the four-piece set bonus to go through collecting that many tier-10 pieces even with this change. That's up to each individual to decide.

The only exception to this rule comes into play with the Heroic quality gear. It will be better than the vendor or crafted items, however, obtaining this gear will not be trivial for most players.

Q u o t e:
I hope you mean your adding more armor, but getting rid of stats to compensate. Either or its whatever seeing how the tier 10 4 piece is crap for warriors

Different items will lose different defensive stats (parry, dodge, defense, etc.) to compensate for the bonus armor being added.

Here are examples of how the set pieces will be changing in the next minor patch:

Current Warrior Tier-10 Pieces (item level 251)

Ymirjar Lord's Handguards

1579 Armor
+81 Strength
+148 Stamina
Yellow Socket
Socket Bonus: +6 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 71.
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 63.
Equip: Improves hit rating by 54.


Ymirjar Lord's Breastplate

2526 Armor
+144 Strength
+191 Stamina
Red Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +9 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 76.
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 68.
Equip: Increases your parry rating by 68.

Updated Warrior Tier-10 Pieces (item level 251)

Ymirjar Lord's Handguards

2461 Armor
+81 Strength
+148 Stamina
Yellow Socket
Socket Bonus: +6 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 71.
Equip: Improves hit rating by 54.


Ymirjar Lord's Breastplate

3590 Armor
+144 Strength
+191 Stamina
Red Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +9 Stamina
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 60.
Equip: Increases your parry rating by 76.

Current Death Knight Tier-10 Pieces (item level 251)

Scourgelord Handguards

1579 Armor
+81 Strength
+148 Stamina
Yellow Socket
Socket Bonus: +6 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 71.
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 63.
Equip: Improves hit rating by 54.


Scourgelord Chestguard

2526 Armor
+144 Strength
+191 Stamina
Red Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +6 Strength
Equip: Increases defense rating by 60.
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 76.
Equip: Increases your parry rating by 76.

Updated Death Knight Tier-10 Pieces (item level 251)

Scourgelord Handguards

2461 Armor
+81 Strength
+148 Stamina
Yellow Socket
Socket Bonus: +6 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 71.
Equip: Improves hit rating by 54.


Scourgelord Chestguard

3590 Armor
+144 Strength
+191 Stamina
Red Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +6 Strength
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 60.
Equip: Increases your parry rating by 76.

Current Paladin Tier-10 Pieces (item level 251)

Lightsworn Handguards

1579 Armor
+81 Strength
+148 Stamina
Yellow Socket
Socket Bonus: +6 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 71.
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 63.
Equip: Improves hit rating by 54.


Lightsworn Chestguard

2526 Armor
+144 Strength
+191 Stamina
Red Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +9 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 76.
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 60.
Equip: Increases your parry rating by 76.

Updated Paladin Tier-10 Pieces (item level 251)

Lightsworn Handguards

2461 Armor
+81 Strength
+148 Stamina
Yellow Socket
Socket Bonus: +6 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 71.
Equip: Improves hit rating by 54.


Lightsworn Chestguard

3590 Armor
+144 Strength
+191 Stamina
Red Socket
Blue Socket
Socket Bonus: +9 Stamina
Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 60.
Equip: Increases your parry rating by 76.

I forgot to add that Gauntlets of the Kraken are changing slightly as well:

Current Vendor Armor

Gauntlets of the Kraken

2308 Armor
120 Strength
157 Stamina
Red Socket
Yellow Socket
Socket Bonus: +9 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 63.
Equip: Increases your parry rating by 63.

Updated Vendor Armor

Gauntlets of the Kraken

2658 Armor
120 Strength
157 Stamina
Red Socket
Yellow Socket
Socket Bonus: +9 Stamina
Equip: Increases defense rating by 63.
Equip: Increases your parry rating by 48.