For a grouping bruiser, is there anything wrong with taking parry and block AAs (eagles talon, claw reversal) since I'm just leveling (34 sarnak bruiser) and have no plans to raid?
there is nothing wrong with using Parry and Contested block Pre-90. also remember at this level Reuse and Crit Chance (up to 100%) will give u much larger returns.
What changes after level 90 that I wouldn't want parry and block anymore? I've just read some bruisers saying that parry/block is a waste
Yup, thats why your seeing most leather drop all there Block% Mod jewelry and Armor in favor of %Mitigation. You can still maintain close to 70% uncontested block with only running 2 or 3 Block% Pieces of jewelry.
I do not know where u are getting your info from but, on my monk witch is Decently geared.... i am sitting around 55% Uncontested Block and i have more then 2 or 3 block items.... Brawlers do not have the Uncontested Block that some may lead to think.
when i go back to at 1h with 27.8% block, my uncontested Block goes up 5%.... unless the one from finishing all of ToV gives a lot more its not going to get us there.
Contested avoidance checks basically never succeed against orange-con, heroic+ MOBs, both due to innate level-scaled modifiers and massively inflated buff packages. The only possible benefit from contested avoidance skill bonuses is the overcap conversion into uncontested checks, and because of the ridiculous Strikethrough found on any relevant MOBs, only Uncontested Dodge is worth a darn in modern zones. Note that this isn't necessarily the case before the endgame, when you are fighting blue-yellow-con MOBs and probably not a lot of epics, but such content is likely too easy to bother caring too much about your contested avoidance checks, anyways. In my opinion, AAs and adorns that only increase avoidance skills are never viable options.
If you're just levelling, I wouldn't stress about optimizing your characters to its fullest potential. Usually, there are diminishing returns regarding gear, spell tiers, and AA specs because you outlevel it at a fast rate, unless you are in a progression guild that is doing old content. As others have mentioned, old solo, group, and even epic content can be successfully beaten by a character and player that is 'good enough'. In other words, you should strive for efficiency (working smarter, not harder). Still, it's nice to see that you're trying to be the best that you can be-save that drive for levelling and possibly playing the new expansion! It's a whole different ballgame at max level with the new expansion, so in order to prepare for it I would advise learning about current mechanics (e.g. The_Cheeseman's great breakdown of avoidance) and how to tank (temp rotations and gear selection are critical). Overall, I think your question has been answered: block and parry are great stats as ingenius mentioned, but are lower priority than reuse and % crit chance, as Silzin pointed out. xkrisx is right, it is indeed possible to "maintain close to 70% uncontested block with only running 2 or 3 Block% Pieces of jewelry." Make sure you are using all of the block adorns available, not reforging out of block, and remember that mainhand, offhand, and ranged can all have block stats. The purple % block chance rune (shoulder slot) is also vital. I am using an old ethereal with tons of block chance (18%+4.4%=22.4%) to make up for the ranged having %mitigation stats, but every single armor piece I chose has %mitigation. Ergo, you could get similar results with 3 weapons with %block chance. My heroic monk for reference: http://u.eq2wire.com/soe/character_detail/2168961544099
I am not really disputing the ability of brawlers to get to the 70% Uncontested Block cap. but in order for my monk to get the extra ~20% to get to that cap i would need to sacrifice about 2k or more Mit, all for about 5% more effective Blocking. this is not a worth while effort... thus there are not (Or should not be) brawlers walking around at the 70% Uncontested Block Cap, they should all be working on Mit/Threat/DPS.
How can bruisers reasonably hope to tank in the end game then, if their best efforts at mitigation can't be close to what plate tanks can do
Endgame tanking is really more about managing temps and coordinating with healers for deathsaves, stoneskins, etc. than it is about your static defenses.
Without anything running and just standing there I am sitting at 17.2 k Mitigation. This is without Martial Retaliation running or Bruising Spirit up. Not to mention the 8% Mitigation from a ring proc. Comparing myself to most equally geared tanks, plate and leather alike, there isn't as huge of a base mitigation difference. The difference in temps may sway in favor of other tanks but generally I sit around 25k + in raid and can temp myself up to ~30k with Rock Skin at times. Is it required to run 70% Uncontested Block, probably not, but am I going to still run it that high, absolutely. Not so much to the reason I " HAVE " too but because I can and I havnt found suitable replacements for the remaining Block % Jewelry I have.
