Monday, April 26, 2010

Good Bad Items - Tank trinkets

We're looking at some trinkets yet again for this post about gear that are rough diamonds. Items that look bad on the outside, but really are quite decent and even awesome on the inside.

Just as with other classes, finding good trinkets as a tank can prove to be a challenge. Fear not, there are some out there waiting for ya that aren't too shabby and just the perfect trinkets to start out with. I was thinking about saving this post for my tanking guide but it deserves some extra space.

The trinkets I've got in mind are two stamina trinkets. And we all know stamina is like the most important stat a tank can get their hands on at level 80. This is especially true for a newly dinged tank since you need to gather enough stamina to be able to do some heroics (the only thing more important would be getting crit capped, which is 535 defense by the way). The trouble is that alot of really nice trinkets are only available through raiding. Something you won't be able to do with at least some decent trinkets already on you. It could easily turn into a moment 22, if it weren't for these two trinkets - Essence of Gossamer and The Black Heart. There are some trinkets to obtain through emblems, but they aren't all that unfortunately. The emblem of triumph trinket Glyph of Indomitability gives dodge and armor, and usually people prefer stamina over avoidance, at least up to a certain point. A point you most certainly won't have reached as newly dinged or even way into ICC gear. The same goes with the emblem of heroism trinket Valor Medal of the First War. Just alot of avoidance and no stamina. The reason people prefer stamina over avoidance is that it protects against any type of damage, not just physical. Furthermore, the dodge is on use on both trinkets (and a little on equip on the Valor Medal) which means to get the most out of it you should macro it to some skill. Some people say the Glyph is better than the Essence of Gossamer, but I'd say it depends on your overall hp. If you already have huge amounts of hp, and one rarely does, the Glyph might be better. Until then, stack stamina.

These two trinkets are definitely worth getting, considering how easy they are to get (unless you're extremely unlucky with droprates of course). Essence of Gossamer drops from heroic Hadronox in Azjol-Nerub, which of course means you've only got one try per day (well with the new lfg system you could be lucky enough to get it several times). The Black Heart drops in normal mode ToC from the Black Knight, which means you can run it as many times as needed till you get it (and pray no doofys dps needs on it).

I see tanks in ICC raids with these trinkets alot of times, especially the Black Heart (both my protadin and prot warrior still has it for instance, and they've both tanked until Putricide. Our MT when we killed Lich King had it too!). Both my protadin and prot warrior has switched Essence of the Gossamer to Corroded Skeleton Key (moar stamina!), and you should too once you get enough frost emblems. But until then these two trinkets are two easy-to-get and great trinkets to start a tanking career with, and actually the only stamina trinkets to get before the frost emblem one, outside a raid setting.

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