http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...sid=1&pageNo=1

Just posting this here to get some solutions from a different source, and to make sure all the numbers are right. Also, agree or disagree?

I've discussed this topic many times in the past during my 2+ year tenure as a Warrior MT. I have to generally agree with the linked thread that Shield Block% is virtually pointless for a Warrior, unless you're talking about heavy time spent trash mob tanking. For optimizing boss fight mitigation or survivability, it's not really a useful stat by any particular measure.

There are some interesting numbers floating around about how T5 geared Warriors can fill up their entire combat table in a passive way due to the cheapness of Block%, though...which is a curious prospect. If that's true, then there may be a use for it--but I can hardly think that Blizzard would find that the "intended" use of the stat. Who knows though?

I suppose if you are in the position to make a run for the "full passive combat table" thing, it can be an interesting stat. Otherwise, it is primarily just fluff added on to items to fill up the budget. I've always wished that it could either be replaced on items or made a bit more useful.

Like I mentioned in the first paragraph, some trash situations also benifit from it in rare occasions. For instance, the old example of Demo Shout tanking the Fankriss adds...never hurt to have some extra block rating/value there. Boss fights just don't benifit much from it in the long run though.

Yep, unless you can fill the combat table to be crush immune without Shield Block up, this stat is pretty pointless against anything that hits hard like raid bosses. Makes me wonder why it appears so frequently on high end raiding armor.

Hmm, after much browsing of wowhead, this setup is interesting:

http://www.wowhead.com/?item=30889
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=30980
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=30970
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=30974
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=30976
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=19431
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=32501
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=30028
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=30083
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=30007
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=30096
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=32267
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=30116
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=29925
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=32253
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=30874
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=32515

This combination of gear gets: 229 block rating, 88 parry rating, 172 dodge rating, 77 agility, and 429 defense rating. Naked, I have a 10.8% chance to block and parry, a 4.75% chance to dodge, and 5.2% chance to be missed. That's 31.55% avoidance. The gear adds 36.14% chance to block, 9.94% chance to parry, 18.82% chance to dodge, and a 7.15% increased chance to be missed. That brings the total avoidance to 103.6%. Now, I don't know if you need 102.5% or 100%, so if someone could clarify that, it would be awesome. I think it's really cool that with this gear, you don't have to use any of the 16 gem slots for avoidance, and you can still be passively immune.

I guess the interesting question to ask would be:
Although it's an interesting prospect to become passively immune to crushing blows, how much do you trade-off to do it?

If the 36.14 Shield Block% on that set was replaced with something else, would you end up taking more or less damage in the long run? Given that Warriors have a fairly cheap clickable that simulates this to a pretty high degree of uptime, is the actual value gained still lower than if it was spent on other things?

There is little question than Block% holds considerably more value for Paladin tanks, but I'm still unsure if it really pays off in the end for Warriors. Then again, we probably don't have much choice as Blizzard's itemization team has been tossing Block% on random items ever since Wrath.

While being passively crush immune is nice, I'm not sure if it outweights the sacrifice of other stats (HP/AC/avoidance) on gear. I don't know how common it is for raid bosses to eat up the charges of shield block and get an unblocked hit in.

I see some potential for dual wielding bosses though, where "only" 84.6 % (?) avoidance is needed to be crush immune.
Seeing the spike potential of Prince Malchezaar, the old Romulo (MH, OH, Poisonous Thrust and Deadly Swathe all at the same same time stap, yay), and having Illidan as another potential dual wielder on the horizon, I'd say block rating is nice to have for an gear set against dual wielders.

My major issue with block rating is that it's mostly useless unless you're at ~85% block+avoidance. So you need to stack block rating to a certain extent before it starts having any actual effect. And even then, I'm not sure if it's worth the sacrifices.

For one I do believe that is the intended use of shield block rating. If it wasn't intended and just an oversight, there probably would be block rating gems too.

Also, I do think getting naturally crush immune is worth some total avoidance and hp sacrifices. Even on slow and hard hitting bosses, like Magtheridon, getting crushed is quite probable if you forget to refresh shield block right at its cooldown. But I also believe that it's not worth even trying unless you know you can hit 102.4% dodge+parry+block+miss.

If it was possible for me, I would go as far as drop 2k unbuffed hp and any amount of dodge+parry+miss just to get naturally crush immune. Blocked hits are very steady dps to be healed and total crush immunity eliminates unexpected bursts completely.

About the sacrifice of HP/AC for the passive immunity: If you look at the gear I listed to attain passive immunity, the worst piece of gear is the gloves from void reaver and the tier 5 leggings. This means that clearly, armor class not sacrificed at all. Also, NO GEMS were used in the achievement of the immunity, so you can use fifteen 12stam gems and one 18stam gem. With the gear listed, you'd be at around 15-16k unbuffed, with passive immunity to crushing blows.

That's some confusing expression. Half of the people who read that thread now thinks you really cannot block what would otherwise be a crush right now. You might want to clarify that.

Has this been confusing too?

Common misconception; there is no need for well-geared paladin tanks to stack block rating. It's just as useful (useless?) for paladins as it is for warriors.

Keep in mind that decently-geared warriors are utilizing less than 35% of the 75% granted by Shield Block, so Shield Block is essentially the same as Holy Shield.

Absolutley no offense intended but I think that's even worse. Try:
Even including 'second roll' makes me twitch a little bit.