We've been covering in depth the changes to tanking for various classes in the Wrath beta, and how these changes might affect players when Patch 3.0 goes live prior to Wrath's release. Now on the beta servers we have one very big sign that these changes may be going live fairly soon: the stats on Burning Crusade raiding gear, specifically paladin and warrior tanking set gear and many non-set epic plate tanking pieces, have been changed to reflect the new realities of tanking mechanics that are incoming. In a surprise move that's incredibly welcome (well, in my eyes) Blizzard has gone back and changed Paladin and Warrior tanking tier 4 to 6 gear as well as non set plate drops, shield and badge gear to take advantage of the new mechanics.
Tanking stats updated for Wrath and Patch 3.0. Looks like a great change, but I noticed that in adding strength the change will also take away a bit of the defense rating on some of the pieces. I realize most tanks have much more than the minimum defense, but its going to be weird to see the defense drops anyway.
And I'm pretty sure the reason that defense took the hit was because you're not going to be crit immune as soon as you start leveling anyway. With Crushings much less of an issue, the occasional crit's not seen as much of a big deal anymore. With the removal of the ability to talent for defense, we'll definitely have to look carefully at our gear selection in wrath and patch 3.0.
As I primarily am a tank (and expect to remain so) I went online to check out how my tanking gear will change when patch 3.0 drops. A gallery of some select pieces and how they're changing when patch 3.0 goes live has been provided for all your browsing needs. I have to say that for the most part the changes are very welcome, they maintain old block value for threat while adding the strength we'll need for increased AP to scale our new threat abilities like Shockwave. Take a look at the changes to date.