Short Version: I think the DPS boot reward from the Sha of Anger's dropped quest item is better than the tank one and we should generally enchant it with 175 hit.
Long Version:
The Remnants of Anger quest started from the [Claw of Anger] gives some very nice iLevel 476 boots as a quest reward. As tanks, we have two options:
[Angerforged Stompers]
[Mindfire Sollerets]
Clearly the main choice is between Haste/Mastery or Dodge/Parry. Traditionally, of course, the latter boots would be the obvious choice because Haste was not a tank stat.
However... in the current climate, haste has become useful enough for us to warrant the former boots. Dodge and parry's collective status at the back of stat priority list is the primary reason for this. Not only is haste useful, but dodge and parry have also gotten comparatively worse.
I haven't turned in my quest reward yet, because I've been playing for a long time and wanted to reflect on the choice before I made it, but I am starting to seriously believe that the "DPS boots" are the better choice of the two. It's been hard getting used to dodge and parry as the least desirable tank stats. I can always reforge the haste on the Angerforged Stompers into hit or expertise to help cap that stat, whereas the dodge/parry boots don't even have mastery, so I would only get one of my top 3-4 stats (hit/exp/mast/haste) rather than three.
Part 2: The boot enchant
I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that most of us probably picked Pursuit of Justice as our Tier 1 talent. While the others are useful, as a tank I prefer that constant 15% movespeed increase.
This renders two of the four boot enchant options totally obsolete (in my opinion). We have the following four choices:
1. Blurred Speed - 140 Agi + Move speed
2. Greater Haste - 175 Haste
3. Greater Precision - 175 Hit
4. Pandaren's Step - 140 Mastery + Move Speed
We obviously don't want 1, so let's toss that option out the window right off. Of the remaining three options, it's clear that the boot slot is budgeted for 175 of a stat for an enchant (barring the addition of a more expensive or rare enchant in a later tier). Movement speed takes 35 of these stat points, and we don't need it. Mastery is a good stat for us but when it comes down to it I feel like I'd rather have hit or even haste on my boots.
Of those other two, Hit is the harder one to get, and is one that we really need to cap, so I would say that it is probably my first choice of enchant, but if it's capped from gear or something, I'd probably go with haste.
Ultimately I think I'm going to take Angerforged Stompers and both reforge and enchant hit on them. I'll be able to get much more out of the rest of my gear as a result and won't have to reforge nearly as much hit on other pieces, allowing me to focus more on mastery and expertise in those areas.
Thoughts? Am I crazy or is this the new way we should be thinking about gear?
Petrus
Thu Oct 04, 2012 8:25 am
