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The Tank Defense Cap

Why tanks need 490 defense before raiding, and how to get there.

Why 490

A raid boss three levels above you has an extra 5.6% chance to land a critical hit on you. Each point of defense skill above your base 350 reduces the chance of being crit by 0.04%, so you need 140 extra defense skill, a total of 490 defense, to become uncrittable. Being crit by a raid boss can kill a tank outright, which is why this cap comes before everything else.

Getting there

At level 70, about 2.4 defense rating gives one point of defense skill, so you'll need roughly 330 defense rating from gear, gems and enchants. Some classes can reduce the requirement through talents. Resilience also lowers the chance of being crit, though it's mainly a PvP stat and comes at the cost of other tank stats.

After the cap

Once you're uncrittable, extra defense still adds dodge, parry and block, but stamina and avoidance usually become the better choices. Swap pieces that only carry defense for ones with more health once you have a little to spare.