I don't think block capping is really worth it

Lol, Icebane.
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Levantine: Frost Tank
Anzen: Restogoat
Popeadin: Retardin

1k BV seems awfully low, especially if you have the new libram.
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i'm with the OP with block capping is overrated. Its such a small % and looks pretty good on paper, but I feel its not as practical as stacking stam/avoidance (on progression) unless for some reason there is a dual wielding boss in ulduar that his for 5k-8k per hit. MAYBE, i may consider it if this is the case.
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One thing I think people have failed to realize or illustrate to the OP is that, icebane simply seems good because it's of a higher caliber/item level than the rest of the gear you are using. When you get to end game content and are using items of similar levels you do not have this choice.

You pretty much get block capped whether you want it or not, and I dont know, just the whole concept of choice in gearing seems sort of odd to me there isnt a lot of options ultimately you will end up the same if you do end game content. You dont get the choice of using 5k stam over 1k block value. Blizzards itemization simply doesnt work that way. The only reason you are able to choose stam over avoidance/BR is because you are simply using higher ilevel gear.

I've gemmed nearly straight stam and gone for stam as much as possible and yet I'm still block capped. 10/17 of my item slots are not replaceable by anything in the game and I can tell you everyone will pretty much end up looking the same in the end unless they are gemming avoidance for some reason.

You are not presented with the choice of overwhelming amounts of stamina versus avoidance in end game. You can basically choose between avoidance or block rating and block value. There are a lot of "twin" items so to speak that are nearly identical in many ways yet one has avoidance and the other has block rating/value.

I really think all the bickering about people choosing to not be block capped or to be is sort of moot. It's pretty hard not to be even if you're a stam/avoidance person. The only real options for customization is trinkets and really jewelcrafting and gossamer seem to be the only way to go.

imo

BV/BR for fast small attacks (trash)

pure avoidance for slow big attacks (bosses)

Then heavy on the EH side for casters.
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At 540 Defense, when the tooltip says you have 5.6% chance to be missed, you really have a 4.11%.

i dunno. block capped at 28.3k vs not blockcapped at 31k...

so 2.8 k difference in health... i block 2 hits and i have mitigated more than 3k health and my damage is less spikey... would rather have the 28.3k block capped gear.
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I'll second that once you start gearing from Naxxramas, it's almost hard NOT to get block capped. (Before that, I wouldn't try it.)

At the moment, I'm looking at several pieces which are "sidegrades" in itemlevel (or downgrades), but which trade avoidance or EH for more block value. My nominal "tanking" set has ~29k when raidbuffed, and ~1000 block value. (Sure, Essence of Gossamer, Lavanthor's, and the new libram make it more than that for many attacks.) I am currently block capped, as far as I can tell, even by a conservative estimate.

So now, I am looking at pieces from Naxx10 which have more block value, but less effective health and less avoidance. One of them, I'm thinking of using simply because it gives me more defense (and thus more leeway elsewhere)... but in essence, I have the option to trade around 1-1.5k health for another ~80 block value, as well as 1-2% true avoidance. I'm not really motivated to do that, though, for most fights that I've seen so far. Am I correct in thinking that the loss of avoidance (more than the loss of EH) is going to hurt me more than having 1100 BV (rather than 1k)?

Waitasec...

Icebane? Really?

Icebane is tempting due to stupidly high amounts of effective health. I suppose that if you have defense covered elsewhere, using the belt or even chest COULD be tempting, especially as starter gear.

Someone made a good point of it basically being purple "of stamina" gear, though - upgrades due to better defensive stats will sometimes be not as apparent, due to the loss of health.

So far in 10s and 25s (haven't done 4H in 25s, nor abom wing in 25s), I've not felt the need to stack health that hard, though. Partially, it's because I needed the defense in the chest slot; still, with only 29k health (28.5k in 10-man), I haven't really felt squishy on ANY fight. Even when tanking Faerlina through her enrange. (I take that back: Maexxna gibbed me since I didn't get bubblewall up in time for the web spray.)