Checking your caps: Defense, Block, Hit, Expertise
by Mike Schramm 
Nov 20th 2008 at 4:00PM
Honor's Code has a great post up about the secondary gear stats that often get overlooked in favor of the main attributes. Everyone knows that Hunters need Agility and Warriors need Strength, but after that, things tend to get a little fuzzy -- just what does Expertise or Hit do for you? HC breaks it down from a Pally perspective, but what they say about these stats is helpful for any class that has to deal with attacking the bad guys.Defense comes first -- defense rating, for tanks, allows you to make sure that bosses can't crit you. Each class has its own defense cap, and the cap has changed from 70 to 80, so you'll have to keep an eye out for your own cap when you get that far. Block is next -- a high Block rating means you're pushing other attack options off the table when you're hit, so that when something does hit you, you block the damage on it. Both of those stats are mainly for tanks -- other classes, who aren't getting hit, won't have to worry about them at all.
But Hit and Expertise you will have to worry about if you're DPS -- Hit will make sure that you don't miss your target (the fewer misses you have, the higher your DPS), and Expertise makes sure that those hits don't become dodges or parries. This is tough stuff, and it shows up much earlier in Wrath, it seems, than it did in Burning Crusade, But the good news is that there's a lot of help around -- Honor's Code offers a great overview for what everything means, and from there, you can search our site or others for what you need to know about each stat and how it works with your class.
Filed under: Druid, Hunter, Rogue, Shaman, Warrior, Analysis / Opinion, Guides, Classes, Talents, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
kwyncy Nov 20th 2008 4:18PM
So does that mean at every level I need more def than 490 or does that recalculate itself as i level?
Culhag Nov 20th 2008 9:53PM
The defense cap at 80 is at 540 defense skill against lvl +3 mobs. I don't remember how much rating that requires though.
The rule for the defense cap is always: your level x 5 + 125 against a mob of your level, +5 for each level the mob has above you.
Horris Nov 21st 2008 10:16AM
Not only do you need more defense, but the coefficient for def rating -> defense skill changes every level. At level 80 it's 4.92.
You always need 140 defense skill on top of your base to be uncrittable against +3 level mobs (or 5.6% reduced chance to be crit).
So, if you're achieveing this purely through defense, you need 140 * 4.92 = 689 defense rating at 80 to be uncrittable...
xin Nov 20th 2008 4:21PM
hit and expertise also helps tanks greatly with threat
Beatphreek Nov 20th 2008 5:52PM
Expertise is also considered a mitigagtion stat since parries will trigger the next attack to be faster. This may have been a bigger concern with crushing blows still an issue as 2 back to back crushing blows could insta-gib a tank. It also presented some really spikey damage that is harder to heal.
Schadow Nov 20th 2008 10:12PM
Crushing blows are not an issue as a mob must be 4 levels above you to crush you. Bosses are 3 levels above max player level, not 4.
This is a change from BC where you could be crushed by a mob 3 levels above you.
xin Nov 20th 2008 4:22PM
yes as you lvl your def cap goes up, the cap for lvl 80 is much higher than 490
Orenus Nov 20th 2008 4:23PM
It's not a defense cap, it's a minimum to be uncrittable. Defense continues to provide good amounts of avoidance and block well beyond the 540 minimum. The term cap implies that you shouldn't have anything over 540, which is not the case.
Manatank Nov 20th 2008 4:37PM
This can't be emphasized enough. In BC the minimum was 490 (assuming you had no resilience), and until you became uncrittable at 490 defense was the most important stat to stack. After the minimum was reached the value of defense compared to other avoidance/mitigation stats went down. Defense was still good, but if you were going for pure avoidance then dodge rating was better to stack after you had your defense minimum.
With diminishing returns being applied to avoidance stats, it seems that the value of defense after the minimum has been achieved has increased. Defense spreads your avoidance across miss/dodge/parry instead of focusing it in one category.
Clbull Nov 20th 2008 5:32PM
Yes, it is a "defense cap" because Defense Rating increases your Defense, and Defense affects your chances of blocking, parrying, dodging and most importantly, the chance of being critted.
Chance to be critted is especially important when we're talking about raid tanking, because for all I know, one or several crits could be the end of you.
As for other mitigation stats like Dodge, Parry and Block. Yes, they are also very important.
The cap in TBC was 490, and I think it might be 540 in WotLK (excluding Druids, who have a 6% crit immunity talent)
Beatphreek Nov 20th 2008 5:57PM
No, it's not a cap. As Manatank said a cap means that once you hit it, any additional stat points are wasted. An example is Hit rating. It does have a cap because on a boss, they have a 17% (maybe its 16, its been a long day) chance to miss. So after you get enough hit to bridge that 17% gap, any more is just a waste. you can't get any better than 0% chance to miss.
Now as was explained by Manatank, 540 is a MINIMUM, (Cap is the Maximum) and any defense points above that is still a good thing.
Beras Dec 5th 2008 6:37PM
I agree, a cap means that adding any more defense past 540 is worthless, which it is not. 540 is an absolute minimum for raids, though you may be able to get by with 535 in most heroics. More defense still means you will get more block/dodge/and parry though, but after 540 you can also add dodge, parry or block if you prefer.
In the case of hit or expertise, you want to build to a point where you can't be parried, dodged or miss. After you have enough expertise and hit to not miss or be dodged or parry, any more is absolutely worthless, since you have already brought your chances down as close to zero as you can get. This is what a cap is, implying that you should never try to build over that point.
Again 540 is a defense minimum, please stop calling it a cap.
Mephator Nov 20th 2008 4:25PM
Thank goodness for being a hunter and not having to worry about expertise.
Kildon Nov 20th 2008 4:29PM
that's all fine and well for Pally tanks but does anyone know of a website where they breakdown stat caps for all classes? (or at least maybe just Enhancement Shaman?)
zappo Nov 20th 2008 4:42PM
For a rogue it's 755 @ 80, and 132 @ 80 for specials. A Shaman will need slightly more, but that's in the ballpark. Expertise has the same dodge cap for everyone.
Heilig Nov 20th 2008 4:30PM
I'm not normally one to post something like this, but why in the world would you write an article telling us to make sure to check our caps and then not tell us what we need to reach them?
I realize it's good to be hit-capped. So how much is that, exactly, at 80?
Heilig Nov 20th 2008 4:32PM
And yes, I know you linked somewhere that does exactly that, but a quick recap would've been helpful.
Manatank Nov 20th 2008 4:42PM
That is dependent on your class/spec. In particular it is dependent on if you are a caster, or if you single wield or dual wield. Too many variations.
Beatphreek Nov 20th 2008 5:58PM
It also depends on talents. Many talents increase your chance to hit/dodge/parry etc. So, if you don't take talents that give you those bonuses, you'll need to get them from your gear instead.
xin Nov 20th 2008 4:40PM
look up elitist jerks to find out about caps, on forums