Just posting to satisfy a curiosity of mine - what's up with this item? our warriors are saying it's downright bad, because you can easily get the 25% block to maximize shield block without it and the stats are otherwise inferior to dragonslayer neck in terms of mitigation. does this have particular value that we're missing, or is it just an example of poor itemization?

It may be a viable tanking necklace for Warriors who are already at 440 Defense. Since the +Defense on the Mark of C'thun, Master Dragonslayer's Necklace, and other +Defense necklaces would be moot beyond 440, this necklace offers mitigation in another form.

Also, it's a fucking awesome Shield Slam necklace. The +shield block value could be regarded as added Threat for 31+ Protection Warriors (although, the +1% hit from the Mark of C'Thun is also added Threat generation).

just an example of poor itemization

Gluth's Missing Nexus Crystals

yeah, we've found like 4 of them so far :(

It's mainly a paladin tank item or for Warriors who don't have better.

Yeah, this is one of the few items where I can ever recall us sharding the very first one we saw, and I'm always in favor of finding situational uses for things. There just isn't one for a Horde guild whose tanks all have Nef neck (and what tank doesn't at this point?) or Mark of C'Thun. Annoying.

i'm the same way. i hate DE'ing anything that anyone could possibly put to any use, and after giving the first one to a warrior who still had medallion of steadfast might, every other collar has been sharded.

Its useful in situations where you want max damage/aggro and perhaps max crushing mitigation, where you can afford to be crit once in a while.

Examples? BWL, MC, and maybe thaddius.
Wearing this on patchwerk would be suicide.

I'd never take this item... Defense is so insanely important imo... and the C'Thun one just destroys it.

Wear it while tanking bugs on the fankriss fight?

Maybe for those crazy days when you feel like gathering up all the mobs in the stockades to aoe down at once?

I tried the Stockades stuff, mobs have a knockdown ability that prevents you from dodging/blocking/parrying, and it has no diminishing returns, past 20mobs you just stand there getting owned pretty bad ^^

You mean you guys actually bid on Digested Hand of Power?

They only spawn on one half of the instance, but yeah, you can gather that side last if you are really careful about it but you won't last long tanking them at all due to the stuns.

Wouldn't be a bad item if it had 7-10 Defense instead of 3% block, as it stands a mediocre item. I like +shield block value itemization though, and I'd like to see it on some (non-set) items that don't suck. (Styleen's being the only such example atm)