Ogri’la Shield - For Tanking Hydross

I’ve been working on a set of gear for tanking Hydross, and with the resistance gear out of the way it’s time to start looking at other slots that need to be re-itemized. At least the Nature Resist gear is out of the way - I still intend on building the Frost Resist set over the next few weeks.

The tricky thing about Hydross is that his attacks cannot be blocked. Any gear that has Block Rating on it - like many Paladin pieces do - is now wasting item value. Defense, Dodge, and to a lesser extent Parry, would be good alternatives - all provide some avoidance of Hydross’ attacks.

I also did some math, and it looks like I’ll be a bit short of the defense cap when I put on all of the Nature Resist gear. That means that I need to pump my Defense up a bit, and then compensate for the other avoidance I lose with Defense, Dodge, or Parry.

Replacing the Shield

The first piece I found a suitable replacement for is my shield. The shield is a particularly good place to look to re-itemize. The most important stats on a shield - it’s armor value and it’s block value - are now utterly useless. That means that I can focus on other things - like Defense buffs and gem slots - to get what I need.

Currently, I’m wearing the Azure-Shield of Coldarra. It’s got some decent buffs on it. 22 Defense and 31 Stamina is pretty good compared to some other shields of comparable item value.

The next shield I plan on using is Sunward Crest. This is a great Pally tanking shield, but unfortunately it will be next to useless on Hydross. The Block Rating doesn’t do anything, so all I’d be getting is some Stamina and some threat generation. If I upgrade to this, I’ll need to keep my old shield or find a new one specifically for Hydross.

I managed to find such a suitable shield in an odd place - Ogri’la. The Ogri’la Aegis is a rep reward from Ogri’la at Revered status. It was never a terrific shield - most people preferred the Crest of the Sha’tar for pure stamina or Azure-Shield of Coldarra for a more balanced approach.

However, the Ogri’la Aegis is perfect for my needs. If I stick two Enduring Talasite in the sockets, I’m gaining 8 Defense Rating and 12 Stamina from the gems. That brings the total bonus from the shield to 31 Defense Rating and 30 Stamina. This is greater (at least in terms of Defense Rating) than any other easily obtainable shield.

Kaz’rogal’s Hardened Heart would be an awesome upgrade. Too bad that drops in Hyjal. No, I definitely think the Ogri’la shield will have to do for a while.

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