New items show up in Patch 3.0.8
by Zach Yonzon 
Dec 14th 2008 at 10:30AM
Notable changes include the availability of rare Northrend gems from pimp daddy Harold Winston in Dalaran, purchaseable with ten Emblems of Heroism. PvP gear will finally become available with 3.0.8, as well. Savage, Hateful, and Deadly Gladiator gear purchaseable from various sources, from the Arena vendors in Dalaran to the Honor vendors in capital cities. More interestingly, new boots and helm pieces, as well as trinkets will be available in Wintergrasp for Wintergrasp Marks of Honor. Prior to 3.0.8, the Marks were purely cosmetic, but the new patch will allow players to buy account-bound Honor as well as gear. A comprehensive list of the items can be viewed over at World of Raids and MMO Champion,
Filed under: Patches, Items, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
JackOfAllGames Dec 14th 2008 10:43AM
I'm no tanking expert...I prefer healing to tanking. I don't see the point in this item though. Wouldn't a decent tank be aiming to cap defense anyway? Why would the tank want an item with a CHANCE to temporarily increase defense? Either your defense is a bit low so this item can work part of the time or you're capped and this does nothing.
Maybe I'm just ignorant of how tanks work, but I don't understand this item.
Shot Dec 14th 2008 10:52AM
Defense over the cap still grants dodge and parry to death knights. Assuming that the DK is having no issues with TPS, they don't need the higher damage offered by other sigils and there would be no reason not to take this for extra mitigation.
superstone Dec 15th 2008 4:33AM
I don't think he means it does literally "nothing", but that it's stupid to base your level of preparedness on a proc.
Why the hell would an item that looks necessary for serious DK tanks be based on a proc?
Can't it just be "Your Icy Touch improves your defense rating by 53"?
Guess not.
Little lock Dec 15th 2008 6:48AM
100% proc chance.
The sigil basically turn Icy Touch into the same thing that Holy Shield for protadins. (The same thing that Shield Block used to be for warriors... but for them it was too boring... go figure).
I would imagine that a frost specced Death Tank would always open with Icy Touch, and reapply that whenever it needs reapplying, which would basically mean that this trinket is always active for Death Tanks.
Stop thinking of Icy Touch as a part of your threat and start looking at it as if it's your Holy Shield and you'll be able to trust on having the 53 defense rating. (If you can't keep it up, you might have to face the facts, you're not suited for tanking).
Horixon Dec 15th 2008 12:41PM
The extra mitigation (even if you are already defense capped) is paramount for DK tanks. We have no shield to block with, so we rely on parry/dodge to mitigate our damage. Also, our Icebound Fortitude will now scale up with defense, so if used in parallel with this Sigil proc you could increase the damage reduction of this spell. It is very useful for all DK tanks, defense capped or not.
ash Dec 15th 2008 7:46PM
You are right, this sigil is a very odd item. You're either going to be defense capped going into the fight or you're uncritability (sp?) will be in question. Even if is this is 100% proc its still a very bad mechanism for reaching uncritable status. The way holy shield worked for pallys was by making them uncrushable, but they got rid of the whole mechanic along with crushing blows cause nobody really liked it. This sigil kind of goes in the opposite direction of where I think Blizz was going with all other tanking classes. If its not a 100% proc they should change it to something like dodge or parry, otherwise as implemented it is very cumbersome and unwieldy a mechanism to bring back from the grave.
steve Dec 14th 2008 10:49AM
Why the hit rating on the pvp cloth items? Are we going to be facing many level 83 characters?
Zach Dec 14th 2008 11:20AM
That's an awesome question. A lot of the new PvP gear has +Hit. It really boggles the mind. You'll only need a few pieces, if ever. It's not just cloth items, either. It's on plate (and mail, leather), too.
Hangk Dec 14th 2008 12:45PM
Many specs have talents that reduce the chance to be hit by spells or attacks by up to 3%. In order to be hit-capped against such an opponent, you would need 230 hit for melee special attacks or single wield) or 184 hit (for spells).
Bastinator Dec 14th 2008 11:22AM
The sigil has a 100% chance to proc, and a 30 second duration.
niko Dec 14th 2008 12:02PM
maybe they'll retool the tooltip to be more clear, but as for RNG affecting the tanking gameplay, Blizz has already made one of the biggest improvements to the tanking world by removing crushing blows to mobs 3 levels higher than you.
Parry-gibbing is almost a thing of the past thanks to this change.
As a poster above pointed out, having the extra +defense over the cap helps out mitigation stats. DK's are known to be more spiky in current form, so items like these will make the healer's job much more consistent when it comes to keeping a DK up.
omenscourge Dec 14th 2008 11:35AM
I have also seen reports indicating 100% proc rate with a 30 second uptime. Begs the question, why not just make it on equip?
I personally won't use this to ensure I'm at the defense cap in its current form. So long as there is the possibility it won't be up on a boss fight, there is the possibility I can eat a crit at the worst possible time forcing a wipe.
As players we do enough things that can lead to wipes, why let the RNG provide another reason to run up your repair bill.
http://omenscourge.blogspot.com/2008/12/sigils-in-308.html
Sorano Dec 14th 2008 12:27PM
"I personally won't use this to ensure I'm at the defense cap in its current form."
I don't think that's quite the aim of this item. It's more for added mitigation.
Think of it of other items like http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40708#sold-by but for tanking instead of dps.
omenscourge Dec 14th 2008 5:44PM
@ Sorano #9
When Blizzard announced they were adding a tanking sigil it was supposedly to help Death Knights attain the defense cap. As other commentors have suggested this will still supply additional parry and dodge once you are at the cap.
I stand by my statement that I will not use this sigil to attain uncritable status in its current guise. As for the extra parry and dodge that 53 defense rating will provide over and above the 689 I have already stacked, I'd rather have something that specifically itemizes the dodge and parry.
It comes down to the purpose of this sigil. If its to attain uncritable status as originally hinted at by GC in a number of blue posts I don't think this execution is worthwhile. If its to add more dodge and parry, just give me dodge and parry rating.
Tim Dec 14th 2008 11:59AM
10 emblems for a blue gem? That's ridiculous. Just buy them on the AH.
fkraft Dec 14th 2008 12:08PM
What about after you have nothing else to spend emblems on boss (as in my case)?
Tim Dec 14th 2008 12:12PM
Save your Emblems, don't waste them on gems. Blizzard will add more items to the vendor as the game goes on.
dpoyesac Dec 14th 2008 1:04PM
Keep in mind, though, that the Emblems here are the introductory Emblems of Heroism. Once everything you have is epic and item level 200+, these emblems will do nada for you, gearwise -- and so there will be no reason at all to run heroics other than championing rep. Even once new gear is introduced, the real upgrades will be purchasable for Emblems of Valor.
Trading these emblems for gems will at least give some incentive for the well-geared to play around in the 5-mans.
Dez Dec 14th 2008 12:25PM
Even if you want Def-cap anyway, the sigil should help you until you manage to get that cap, I certainly won't be capped the moment I hit 80.
And then I ask, what does it hurt to use the sigil? It's more defense even if it's a proc, if you're not def capped anyway the sigil is just a bonus.
Damoirin Dec 14th 2008 1:01PM
Defense is by far the best stat for tanking DK's... and with the changes to IBF ( it will scale with your defense ranking, unknown what its cap is currently) stacking defense beyond the 540 cap will still benefit DK tanks. All in all I am excited about the trinket, and the cost isn't bad at all.