the mod says it adds 7400 defense/toughness. i thought i heard it was a misprint and i'm assuming it is since that would equate to more than 100% damage reduction on top of what we already have. i definitely still take damage, so... does anyone know what the actual value is supposed to be? i was guessing it was meant to say 740 or 2400.
This will be a tad difficult to explain, but I will try. Defense/toughness adds mitigation, which negates a percentage of damage. There is a "mitigation cap" of 75%, which means you are essentially capped at an effective 5325 Defense/toughness. Anything more, and it will have no effect. However, a problem with this is ice tanks. Ice tanks self-buff can easily push them past 5325, which would essentially render the buff largely useless. The answer to this was the introduction of "penetrating strikes". Basically, Tier 3 NPC's naturally ignore 25% of damage mitigation, taken into account BEFORE the cap is. I do not recall how much tier 2 or tier 4 NPCS ignore. This means that you can still achieve the usual cap of 75% damage mitigation, but you must have an effective 100%, which the 25% penetrating strikes will put your mitigation at the cap 75%. This means that when you run any tier 3 content, your effective defense is assumed to be reduced by 1775 when calculating mitigation. ------------------------------------------ With that explained is where this blocking mod comes into play. Because of these penetrating strikes, it is VERY hard to achieve enough defense to achieve the maximum mitigation values without blocking. A max geared ice tank can barely achieve it in tier 3 content, and it is not yet possible in tier 4. This mod essentially will make blocking add 7500 defense/toughness instead of the usual 5000. This also pushes your damage mitigation cap to 80%, which is a HUGE deal. This basically means when a tank is blocking, he will recieve 20% less damage with this mod than he would without. The additional 2500 defense boost makes it so fire tanks can block and be able to hit that 80% mitigation cap as well, because fire tanks do not have the kind of defense ice tanks do. Long story short, no. This mod does exactly what it says it does. It sounds like invincibility, but in calculation, it is a very good tank mod, but by all means, does not make you OP.
so not a typo. hmmm. still seems hardcore. i dont tank, but i have been using it on my neck sometimes in pvp. of course over blocking can be dangerous in arenas, but as it stands now its a toss up for me between the extra protection and escalating might. ive been switchin back and forth for defense/offense. so, is the max toughness the same as defense? 75 % mitigation in pvp?
Yes, although the 75% mitigation in PvP is not possible unless you are blocking, the reason being the toughness values of gear being so low. There is no penetrating strikes to consider, so mitigation for PvP is far easier to calculate, but in order to actually reach the 75% mitigation in toughness values, you HAVE to be blocking. However, I WILL say that the fortified blocking mod is a poor choice for PvP and here is why. When you normally block without that mod in PvP, you gain 5000 toughness. The max mitigation is 75%, and that value is achieved at 5325 toughness. This means that as long as you have at least 325 toughness and block, you achieve the 75% cap. Since this is very easy to achieve without the mod, and the mod effectively grants you 2500 toughness you cant use, the ONLY thing this mod gives you that is useful is the additional 5% mitigation cap, which comparing this to the 250 might or so extra you get from the escalating might mod is a night-and-day difference. Use escalating might.
Really good info Gunny. I will have to just pass that mod on my tanks neck then when he gets full T4. Right now he is still working with some T4 and T3 mix.
Well, i'll make sure this is a little more clear. This fortified blocking mod is like getting a lamborghini for your 16th birthday in terms of PvE tanking. Tanking, ESPECIALLY fire tanking, relies heavily on blocking. Turtling is a very popular tactic to tank with, which is popping a power, blocking a few seconds, hitting another power, etc. All of that time you spend in your block, you will recieve 20% less incoming damage through your block with this mod than you would without. This DOES include damage to your shields as well. Despite how good I may have made this mod sound, the only useful place this mod has is for PvE tanking, which because PvE tanking is actually quite easy to survive doing, a large number of tanks actually start giving up such extra survival setups in exchange for more damage. This is a VERY effective tank mod that adds more survivability to tanks. In terms of tanks though, tanks actually have an issue that after enough advancements, tanks already have a VERY easy time and almost never die in instances already. Sometimes, more damage is a better trade than survivability. PvE tanks that are not fully maxed out on gear/still learning the ropes, this mod is for you. Turtling, a basic tank tactic, best utilizes this mod. Other roles have far more attractive mods to consider, and will hardly utilize a block anyways. In PvP, as described above, the extra mitigation cap increase does not help, same for the additional 2500 toughness.
even though you've explained things thoroughly i think i'll have to do some testing for myself anyway... just for kicks. i actually was using this mod a lot on my non tank toons for both pvp and soloing pve--like the new solos that have uber hard hitting adds. TBH i thought it was working more than you've pointed out now... ugh, lol. really there arent many other options for certain situations like healing pvp, where the resto mod is pointless since it only works when you are not being attacked. thanks again for all the info.
Escalating might is a great mod for any PvP role. Probably of the four roles, it is least useful to healers so I do understand your pain. Not too many neck mods out there that are useful in PvP for healers, so in all honesty, escalating might, resto, or fortified is ok. I would probably use escalating might - even moreso if your chest mod is core strength. The bonus from fortified is almost completely unusable, and the extra 5% mitigation cap only works in a block, which in PvP blocking is usually not held long enough for the extra mitigation to benefit you. Your resto doesnt help you unless you are completely unseen and are very far out of range from the fight, yet close enough to heal. Good luck with that. Feel free to test that is how this stuff is learned...well, that and reading updates.
