Gems, Enchants and Glyphs...oh my!

So, you finally hit 80 and got yourself some sweet tanking gear. Feels good right. Looking at your HP and how much avoidance you have, I know, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside too. Now it's time to look into my favorite part of the gearing up process, trying to figure out the right gems, enchants and glyphs to add to your tanking set. Its almost a little mini-game by itself, but be warned, some of those enchants are very expensive, so be fairly sure that its the one you want. I also tend to avoid the socket bonuses that come come with gear and just fill up with the stam/avoidance I want, unless its a solid tanking socket bonus like +def or +stam or if I am trying to meet meta requirements. Always remember that having more than 540 def is good, 540 defense is the minimum, NOT the cap, in fact it would be good to have the extra avoidance it provides untill you get better gear. You shouldn't have to gem for hit, expertise, strength or parry all will come naturally with gear.

I have a little rule when it comes to gems and enchants:

Always enchant for def and gem for stam/avoidance, once you hit the def minimum enchant for stam/avoidance.

Here is the reasoning behind that rule. A stam gem Solid Sky Sapphire vs a def gem Thick Autumn's Glow or 24 stamina vs 16 def. Lets break it down to numbers we can relate too: 24 stamina equals to 240 hp before the talents bump them up a bit and 16 defense equals to about 4 def rating. As you can see the stamina gem gives you much more bang for the buck. So try and fill up the rest of your def with enchants as the stam/avoidance from gems will be better itemized to achieve the best effective health/avoidance that you can get with your gear level. So here goes the list:

Enchants

Head:
[Arcanum of the Stalwart Protector] - 37 Stamina and 20 Defense Rating, Requires Argent Crusade - Revered

Shoulder:
Master's Inscription of the Pinnacle - 52 Dodge and 15 Defense Rating (Inscription only/ 1 snowfall ink)
[Greater Inscription of the Pinnacle] - 20 Dodge and 15 Defense Rating, Requires Sons of Hodir - Exalted
[Lesser Inscription of the Pinnacle] - 15 Dodge and 10 Defense Rating, Requires Sons of Hodir - Honored

Chest:
Enchant Chest - Greater Defense - 22 Defense Rating (10 Infinite Dust, 1 Eternal Earth)
Enchant Chest - Super Health - 275 Health (20 Infinite Dust, 4 Greater Cosmic Essence)
Enchant Chest - Mighty Health - 200 Health (3 Greater Cosmic Essence)

Cloak:
Enchant Cloak - Titanweave - 16 Defense Rating (8 Infinite Dust, 2 Dream Shard, 2 Titanium Bar)
Enchant Cloak - Major Agility - 22 Agility (8 Infinite Dust, 2 Greater Cosmic Essence, 2 Dream Shard)
Enchant Cloak - Mighty Armor - 225 Armor (15 Infinite Dust, 2 Greater Cosmic Essence)

Wrist:
Enchant Bracer - Major Stamina - +40 Stamina (4 Greater Cosmic Essence, 1 Abyss Crystal)
Fur Lining - Stamina - 90 Stamina (Leatherworkers Only/ 1 Arctic Fur)
[Heavy Borean Armor Kit] - 18 Stamina (created from leatherworking and can be bought in AH/ 4 Heavy Borean Leather)

Glove:
Enchant Gloves - Armsman - 10 Parry Rating and 2% Threat (2 Dream Shard, 8 Eternal Earth)
Enchant Gloves - Major Agility - 20 Agility (4 Greater Cosmic Essence, 1 Dream Shard)
[Heavy Borean Armor Kit] - 18 Stamina (created from leatherworking and can be bought in AH/ 4 Heavy Borean Leather)

Belt Socket:
[Eternal Belt Buckle] - One Prismatic Gem Socket (created from blacksmithing and can be bought in AH/4 Saronite Bar, 1 Eternal Earth, 1 Eternal Water, 1 Eternal Shadow)

Legs:
[Frosthide Leg Armor] - 55 Stamina, 20 Agility (created from leatherworking and can be bought in AH/ 2 Arctic Fur, 2 Nerubian Chitin)
[Jormungar Leg Armor] - 45 Stamina, 15 Agility (created from leatherworking and can be bought in AH/ 5 Heavy Borean Leather, 1 Jormungar Scale)
Leatherworkers Only:
Jormungar Leg Reinforcements - 55 Stamina, 20 Agility (Leatherworkers Only/ 2 Jormungar Scale)

Boots:
Enchant Boots - Greater Fortitude - 22 Stamina (3 Lesser Cosmic Essence, 3 Infinite Dust)
Enchant Boots - Tuskarr's Vitality - 15 Stamina and Minor Run Speed Increase (10 Infinite Dust, 2 Greater Cosmic Essence, 2 Dream Shard)

Weapon Options:
Enchant Weapon - Exceptional Agility - 26 Agility (4 Dream Shard, 4 Eternal Air)

Shield:
Enchant Shield - Defense - 20 Defense Rating (6 Infinite Dust, 6 Eternal Earth)

Rings:
Enchant Ring - Stamina - 24 Stamina (Enchanters only/ 8 Infinite Dust, 1 Greater Cosmic Essence)

Gems

Meta Gems:
Austere Earthsiege Diamond - 32 Stamina and 2% Increased Armor Value from Items
Effulent Skyflare Diamond - 32 Stamina and Reduce Spell Damage Taken by 2%
Eternal Earthsiege Diamond - 21 Defense Rating and +5% Shield Block Value

Red Slot:
Subtle Scarlet Ruby - 16 Dodge Rating
Perfect Subtle Bloodstone - 14 Dodge Rating
Subtle Bloodstone - 12 Dodge Rating

Blue Slot:
Solid Sky Sapphire - 24 Stamina
Perfect Solid Chalcedony - 21 Stamina
Solid Chalcedony - 18 Stamina

Yellow Slot:
Thick Autumn's Glow - 16 Defense Rating
Perfect Thick Sun Crystal - 14 Defense Rating
Thick Sun Crystal - 12 Defense Rating

Purple Slot:
Regal Twilight Opal - 8 Dodge Rating and 12 Stamina
Perfect Regal Shadow Crystal - 7 Dodge Rating and 11 Stamina
Regal Shadow Crystal - 6 Dodge Rating and 9 Stamina

Green Slot:
Enduring Forest Emerald - 8 Defense Rating and 12 Stamina
Perfect Enduring Dark Jade - 7 Defense Rating and 11 Stamina
Enduring Dark Jade - 6 Defense Rating and 9 Stamina

Orange Slot:
Stalwart Monarch Topaz - 8 Dodge Rating and 8 Defense Rating
Perfect Stalwart Huge Citrine - 7 Dodge Rating and 7 Defense Rating
Stalwart Huge Citrine - 6 Dodge Rating and 6 Defense Rating

Glyphs

Major:
Glyph of Divine Plea - All I can say is OMG. 3% damage reduction while divine plea is active? Sign me up! This should be the first Glyph you buy and since is goes hand in hand with Guarded by the Light, its mandatory and yes it stacks with Blessing of Sanctuary. Yay!

Glyph of Seal of Vengeance - 10 expertise! This will be your second mandatory Glyph. Expertise helps reduce the number of times a mob parries or dodges an attack.
Glyph of Hammer of the Righteous - Your hammer hits 4 targets now, very good for running heroics.
Glyph of Judgement - Your judgements hit for 10% more damage, more suited for raids where you will be fighting one boss and not multiple targets.

Minor:
Glyph of lay on hands - 5 mins off the CD of your lay on hands spell is huge, can be used once per boss.
Glyph of Sense Undead - 1% damage increase to undead mobs, not so great but alot of mobs you will face are undead and all of Naxx is undead so will come in handy. Just remember to keep your sense undead active while in instances or raids!


Leave me a comment and tell me what you guys think!