The Value of Block Value?

Hey guys.

Still relatively new to all this, so bear with me please. Might wanna see my other posts.

In my quest to become a Tank (From being a healer WAY too long) My main sources have been this site, and a good friend of mine who is basically my tanking mentor. I should note we don't play on the same server, but are RL friends. He took up tanking awhile back when he was very bored of his Paladin, and ended up being the Top tank in a pretty high end guild on his server. He's tanked in BT, though I am not sure if he made it to Illidan himself, as he had to quit recently due to real life.

Now as for me, my tanking aspirations are simpler. Basically my only goals are 5 Man Heroics and Kara. My guild does not have need of a 25 Man Raid tank really so I'm not even concerning myself with that.

I've read the Tankadin Guide 101, and I get most of it. The attack table still confuses me a bit, but the bottom line is I know to get 102.4% uncrushable, which I long since have,

My reason for posting is that I seem to read many, many reports about Block Value and the importance people place on it. To some, it's pointless it seems. They say "Stack Dodge and avoid damage all together." But from what I understand, you can never dodge EVERYTHING.

My friend on the other hand, places a high importance on BV, saying it is invaluable, ESPECIALLY for Paladin tanks. Saying that since we can't always guarantee we will wont dodge something or be missed, BV then does guarantee that if a strike goes though ALL our other defenses, parry dodge, etc, it will still be mitigated no matter what.

So I see the points from both sides. Just seems alot of disagreement on it's importance. IN him aiding me in gear recommendations, with him knowing I'm only doing 5 Mans at the most pretty much, he's recommended a high block value set. Ive been told several times to get the Autoblocker. He thinks it's one of the best Paladin trinkets in the game for a tank, others think it's a waste of badges.

Perhaps it's just a matter of opinion or playstyle to prefer one stat over another, IE Stamina or BV? Or maybe there is more to it than that?

I want to confirm, it's impossible to avoid every single hit through dodge/miss right? So even at 102.4% avoidance, something *Can* still get through, even if it's a "normal" (Not a crit and not a crush) hit?

Thanks for reading. Hopefully I will be able to understand this better. Your thoughts please.

For heroics the bosses won't crush. Level 73 raid bosses will crush unless you meet the 102.4% requirement.

With the 102.4 you will only be hit by blocks. That is to say the only possible outcomes for incoming attacks are miss, dodge, parry, and block. This is assuming you are uncrittable (490 def vs 73, 485 in heroics). You won't reach 102.4 without holy shield active, so if all its charges run out or you don't keep it active you will be hit normally or crushed.

A blocked attack cannot be a critical or crushing blow. It does the damage of a normal attack with your block value reduced from it after all other mitigation factors.

Block value is good against faster soft attacks as opposed to slower harder ones. If you depend on a large % to block to reach 102.4 you will be blocking more attacks thus making block value more useful.

Thank you guys for the replies.


Your posts helped me alot, and you both seem to agree with my friend's stress on the importance of Block Value. I admit part of the reason I had posted was to maybe find out why some people thought the Autoblocker was so useless, while others love it. I guess it might depend on where your character is in the game. Doing some random 5 man or Tanking Hyjal for example.

With my school semester about to end and my WoW time probably becoming limited, I know I wont be saving for any 100+ badge gear anytime soon, so I did finally buy the Autoblocker last night and in the end, am happy I did.

I'd link my armory so you guys can check me out, I got some very solid gear. But I can't get to the armory at work. If you search Jirroll though, Im the only result. Please, have a look.

I also wanted to mention that my friend DID actually recommend I build two sets, not JUST the BV set. So it seems his understanding is right in line with yours. He told me for that set, a boss set, I want 490+ Defense, Uncrushable, and the best combo of AVOIDANCE (Comprised of Dodge, Parry, and Miss) as much as possible. Because when fighting mobs that hit for 4-5k damage, 500 being blocked is like...big whoop. Better to not get hit at all.

So yeah, I got a better understanding now. Thank you.

Be careful when saying "Avoidance is unreliable", because its not true.

Avoidance is unreliable in the short term, and reliable in the long-term.

Short term is, say, you're fighting a boss, and you're on 4k hp. The next attack will kill you (assuming no heals land before the next attack. Avoidance can't be relied upon to save you. Most tanks run with about 50-60% avoidance, total. Thats still a 40-50% chance to die.

Long-term is fighting a boss over the whole course of the fight. Avoidance CAN be relied upon. If you have 60% avoidance, you're going to reduce the incoming damage by 60%, give or take a few % to allow for chance.

Basically, avoidance can't be relied upon to save you in a tight situation, but it can be relied upon to greatly reduce the amount of incoming damage you take.

Mitigation is what reduces the damage of attacks that DO hit you. Mitigation can, to some extent, be relied on to save you. If you have 4k HP and there's a 4.5k incoming attack, if you have stacked mitigation, you might be able to reduce it to a 3.9k attack, and survive it long enough to take some heals.

Avoidance = Dodge/Parry/Miss
Mitigation = Armor/Block rating/Block value
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