102.4%

Had a quick discussion with a ex-Warrior tank friend of mine last night about the comparative benefits of my current Eternium Greathelm vs the Faceguard of Determination from Heroic Badges. Where I was (jokingly) accused of "min-maxing" by working towards the FoD whilst I had the EG.

Whilst it's true that the Eternium Greathelm will outdo Faceguard in the Stamina stakes if it's stacked with 3x +12 stamina gems, in doing so, you lose out on a lot of Crushing Blow immunity over the Faceguard. Whilst this is no big deal for a Warrior, since even the most poorly-geared tank can get Crushing immune with Shield Block (+70% to Block Chance) and can afford to stack up the Stamina from that point.

A Paladin, on the other hand, only has +30% Block from Holy Shield, which means he has to make up a considerable difference in miss/block/dodge/parry to reach the combined 102.4% figure needed for crushing immunity. With 24 Block Rating (+3% to block) and 24 Dodge Rating (+1.25% to Dodge), the Facguard helps with this a lot, especially since I doubt I'll see the T4 Helm any time soon. Plus, it has no wasted points on Strength, unlike the Eternium helm.

Now all I need is another 48-ish Heroic Badges *sigh*. On the plus side, at least the EG is getting a visual upgrade next patch along with the rest of the Karazhan tanking epics. It'll be nice to have a cohesive-looking set if and when I manage to collect them all.