WotLK BiS Gear for Protection Paladin

[Bastardbottle]

Believe me, taking 1-2 higher damage hits are far better than taking lower constant damage. Upper replies cover what you ask but I add +1 to avoidance based mixed gear suggestions.

The only differences you should make in my opinion, dependent on bosses. Expertise gear for Halion (really shines.), Expertise + Frost gear for Sindra, Frost gear for lady (optional, low benefit.) and a main mixed gear for the rest. Though you can easily tank everything with main mixed gear already.

[anovakm]

Like i said up
Dk armor+hp,same with druid.
Paladin avoidance and hp coz they cant instantly heal for 20k dmg like dk,or have almost 100k hp like druids
So on paladins i choose avoidance over armor i mean 1%less physical dmg or 5%more avoidance.On 50k hit 1% is fkn joke.So id rather dodge 50k hit than taking 49500 more often,i did full armor pala vs avoidance pala and i triggered 2x times ardent defender when i stacked full armor instead of avoid.

[Matthooper]

what do you think is the best gear to get ?

http://forum.warmane.com/showthread.php?t=349241

Dude,Most of players like u (stack armor)are sh1t at tanking or never been tankin , i think ur never been tanking, or boosted by raid or good healers(no insult)? its simple
Pala avoidance- avoid + hp 45k hit to avoid it(exaple fester at 8 stacks some bosses do less like 20-25k per hit), simple paladins need much more avoidance coz they dnt have self healing or huge hp.

look, most of the info on the forums is bad enough. please dont add to it. misleading players when you clearly havent a clue what you are talking about helps no one.

[Blind]

Ye I agree that EHP is mostly the way to go. But not at any cost to avoidance.. getting 800 EHP at the cost of 3% avoidance is not worth it. (legs example if I remember numbers correctly)

Getting hit 3 times in a row means that healers have to crit 2 times in a row to be able to keep up with your dmg taken..

Healers can cancel cast more often, saving mana, lasting longer.. maybe get away with using plea less often, having higher throughput.. they also have to move on mechanics sometimes.. it's not just about bad play.. Always do whatever helps your raid the most.

Low amounts of EHP are not worth getting if you loose a lot of avoidance instead.

Like I already said:Avoidance doesn't change the fact you're gonna die if you take two hits without major heals. EHP doesn't either, it just makes those hits more manageable.

Healers cancel their heals when you don't get hit? Since when is healing in wotlk retroactive? You're either spamming the tank or timing your heals according to casts or swingtimer. There's no time to cancel your heal if you're healing like you're supposed to, which is 0.1-0.3s after the hit has connected.
Hpalas don't really run oom anyway.

Avoidance sounds great on paper. It's garbage in practice. In content where a tank is taking 35k/hit every 1.8s on his 57kish healthpool you won't really have time to cancel a heal because it saves you 800 mana-

@anovakm DK-Tank selfheal is laughable and not even worth an argument. Only thing that might save you once every 30s is tap, but that's most often just ending as overheal.

[jendah]

Like i said up
Dk armor+hp,same with druid.
Paladin avoidance and hp coz they cant instantly heal for 20k dmg like dk,or have almost 100k hp like druids
So on paladins i choose avoidance over armor i mean 1%less physical dmg or 5%more avoidance.On 50k hit 1% is fkn joke.So id rather dodge 50k hit than taking 49500 more often,i did full armor pala vs avoidance pala and i triggered 2x times ardent defender when i stacked full armor instead of avoid.

1% armor is going to be much more than 1% of 50k from each hit. Depends how high your armor alrady is.

For example going from 38 815 armor (70% reduction) to 40 727 armor (71% reduction) means taking 48.333 hits instead of 50k. (you go from taking 30% of bosses unmitigated attack to taking 29% of bosses unmitigated attack).

[jendah]

Ofc healers cancel casts anytime they can, so they dont run out of mana.. Even Hpal cant spam holy lights all lk fight without going oom. 0.2 s is plenty time to cancel and start recasting if the server delay isnt too much. Also time to cast judgement is really good as well as time to sneak in an AA.

35k hits on 57k hp means that DK can survive 2 hits in a row with saved runes for deathstrikes and Will of the Necropolis.

Anyways I think you missunderstand me when I say I think balanced gear is better...
Armor gear options are both rings, gloves, chest, legs, wrists, both trinkets and a weapon. Under balanced approach I mean I would take both rings, gloves, chest, one trinket and maybe wrists with armor. I dont think both armor trinkets or armor weapon are way to go and I see legs as inferior.

[Blind]

1% armor is going to be much more than 1% of 50k from each hit. Depends how high your armor alrady is.

For example going from 38 815 armor (70% reduction) to 40 727 armor (71% reduction) means taking 48.333 hits instead of 50k. (you go from taking 30% of bosses unmitigated attack to taking 29% of bosses unmitigated attack).

Or in short: You take 3.3% less damage.

And idk. We have two hpalas spam holy lights on a tank when needed pretty much the entire 13 minutes for lk. Neither of em runs oom - and neither of em cancels their holy lights.

Deathstrike is a meme if you're not expertise capped. I never got why ppl thought DK is about self-healing when your 15% maxhp-ability doesn't hit like 20% of the time, if you're even in melee, have diseases up and the runes to do so. Iirc our DK on lod doesn't even use it since it's a waste of time.

And I don't misunderstand you. You pointing out that you should "balance avoidance and armor" because it looks good on paper. I pointed out why legs are a viable option if you need hit, everything else should be straight up bonusarmor pieces. Trinket with armor + sindra one is a given - same is not using an armor weapon, because the only weapon with armor drops in 10 man togc.

[Matthooper]

Deathstrike is a meme if you're not expertise capped. I never got why ppl thought DK is about self-healing when your 15% maxhp-ability doesn't hit like 20% of the time, if you're even in melee, have diseases up and the runes to do so. Iirc our DK on lod doesn't even use it since it's a waste of time.
.

......wtf am i reading. doesent hit 20% of the time? what? please somone with half a brain shut this thread down. the amount of pepega is surging to new heights. imagine if players actually listened to this garbage and followed it as truth.

stop with the useless lies and false information. it is legit pointless. helps no one. if you want to be bad go ahead and be bad but dont influence others with your wild ideas and obvious no knowledge of any kind of theorycrafting. we have enough youtubers, streamers, and forum posters already doing that.

[jendah]

Or in short: You take 3.3% less damage.

And idk. We have two hpalas spam holy lights on a tank when needed pretty much the entire 13 minutes for lk. Neither of em runs oom - and neither of em cancels their holy lights.

Deathstrike is a meme if you're not expertise capped. I never got why ppl thought DK is about self-healing when your 15% maxhp-ability doesn't hit like 20% of the time, if you're even in melee, have diseases up and the runes to do so. Iirc our DK on lod doesn't even use it since it's a waste of time.

And I don't misunderstand you. You pointing out that you should "balance avoidance and armor" because it looks good on paper. I pointed out why legs are a viable option if you need hit, everything else should be straight up bonusarmor pieces. Trinket with armor + sindra one is a given - same is not using an armor weapon, because the only weapon with armor drops in 10 man togc.

I dont believe that your hpals dont cancel casts for 13 minutes and keep casting holy lights. Not possible unless you have multiple druids with innervates for each.

Dk who isnt casting death strikes is a bad tank period. Not having diseases on target is doubly bad tank. And if you are not in meele you dont really need to cast death strikes because meele attack wont hit you. Nothing to boast about. If he actually got more expertise he would be singnificantly less likely to die. Like this it seems your raids are being carried by healers.

[Blind]

......wtf am i reading. doesent hit 20% of the time? what? please somone with half a brain shut this thread down. the amount of pepega is surging to new heights. imagine if players actually listened to this garbage and followed it as truth.

stop with the useless lies and false information. it is legit pointless. helps no one. if you want to be bad go ahead and be bad but dont influence others with your wild ideas and obvious no knowledge of any kind of theorycrafting. we have enough youtubers, streamers, and forum posters already doing that.

Been a while since i've seen someone tank with above 6 expertise. So how does your deathstrike not just get parried/dodged?

Deathstrike is such a non-factor it's easily ignoreable.

@jendah: Literally casting unless boss is casting. Mana isn't much of an issue if you rotate cds properly, doesn't need more than 2 boomkins either.

[Gnimo]

4 piece T10 build:
Helm: Sanctified Lightsworn Faceguard
Neck: Bile-Encrusted Medallion
Shoulders: Sanctified Lightsworn Shoulderguards
Back: Sentinel's Winter Cloak
Chest: Sanctified Lightsworn Chestguard
Wrist: Gargoyle Spit Bracers
Gloves: Sanctified Lightsworn Handguards
Belt: Verdigris Chain Belt
Legs: Pillars of Might
Feet: Treads of Impending Resurrection
Ring: Ashen Band of Endless Courage
Ring: Devium's Eternally Cold Ring
Trinket: Sindragosa's Flawless Fang
Trinket: Satrina's Impeding Scarab or Petrified Twilight Scale
Weapon: Last Word
*with 40 hit 40 stamina food and swap to Bloodvenom Blade enchanted with 25hit 25crit, before you need to taunt*
Shield: Icecrown Glacial Wall
Libram: Libram of the Sacred Shield

You can also use 20 hit gem in BVB (Blood Venom Blade) and use 1x 10 hit 15 stamina gem in Cloak.
This will get you on 134 hit with Last Word and jump to 16.8% hit on taunt with taunt glyph.
You will still have 0.2% chance to miss, which is better in case you see yourself getting killed often and losing the 40 hit buff from food.

However, best build in the game if you are up for mitigating some huge hits coming your way.
Its not needed in a 30% buff environment if you ask me...
Some say that the same build with Broken Ram Skull Helm and Sanctified Lightsworn Legguards works just as good, so in case you dont have Pillars of Might, you dont need to waste gold on it to be honest. If you decide to go for these items you can just use an Armor ring: Loop of the Twin Val'kyr or Signified Ring of Binding instead of Ashens ring.
For Taunt hit cap you will need BVB enchanted with 25 hit and 25 crit and 1x 10hit 15stamina gem in BVB or Cloak.
Same goes for Mithrios, Bronzebeard's Legacy I guess, instead of Last Word, matter of a personal preference, in case you prefer that extra Expertise and avoidance over the proc.

2 piece T10 build:
Helm: Broken Ram Skull Helm
Neck: Bile-Encrusted Medallion
Shoulders: Spaulders of the Blood Princes
Back: Sentinel's Winter Cloak
Chest: Sanctified Lightsworn Chestguard
Wrist: Gargoyle Spit Bracers
Gloves: Sanctified Lightsworn Handguards
Belt: Verdigris Chain Belt
Legs: Pillars of Might
Feet: Treads of Impending Resurrection
Ring: Loop of the Twin Val'kyr or Signified Ring of Binding
Ring: Devium's Eternally Cold Ring
Trinket: Sindragosa's Flawless Fang
Trinket: Petrified Twilight Scale
Weapon: Mithrios, Bronzebeard's Legacy or Last Word or Crusader's Glory (with this one you might have some threat issues)
Shield: Icecrown Glacial Wall
Libram: Libram of the Sacred Shield

This build will give you the highest amount of armor.
You can use 40 agility 40 stamina / 40 hit 40 stamina / 40 expertise 40 stamina food, depending on personal preference.
With just 1x 10hit15stamina gem you can put in any yellow socket, you will be at 238 hit which is the Taunt hit cap with the Glyph, you dont need to do this if u are using 40 hit food, or u are alliance cos of Draenei grp 1% hit buff (be a Dwarf for the Armor racial and 5 expertise and just ask for a Draenei in group).

"Icecrown", 30% buffed, build I prefer to use:
Helm: Sanctified Lightsworn Faceguard
Neck: Bile-Encrusted Medallion
Shoulders: Sanctified Lightsworn Shoulderguards
Back: Royal Crimson Cloak
Chest: Sanctified Lightsworn Chestguard
Wrist: Gargoyle Spit Bracers
Gloves: Sanctified Lightsworn Handguards
Belt: Verdigris Chain Belt
Legs: Legguards of Lost Hope
Feet: Treads of Impending Resurrection
Ring: Ashen Band of Endless Courage
Ring: Devium's Eternally Cold Ring
Trinket: Sindragosa's Flawless Fang
Trinket: Petrified Twilight Scale
Weapon: Mithrios, Bronzebeard's Legacy
Shield: Icecrown Glacial Wall
Libram: Libram of the Sacred Shield

This build is there with maximum amount of overall stats due to highest item level on every one of them.
With just 1x 10hit15stamina gem you can put in any yellow socket, you will be at 263 hit.
You can also use Sentinel's Winter Cloak and 40 hit 40 stamina food and sit on 249 hit or add 2x 10hit15stamina gems for 269 rating.
Its w/e at this point, when it comes to that 1 extra armor item change, since as a Paladin tank in a 30% buffed raid, you are immortal, just as long as you use 264-277 ilvl gear. But I guess same can be said for the Hit from cloak, especially if you have a Draenei in group, so just chose based on personal preference.
Also, since you have a bit higher amount of hit, and 2 taunts, you can trow Glyph of Seal of Vengeance (instead of Taunt glyph), and/or a lot of 10exp15stamina gems for the 26 Expertise Cap.
You can also use both Taunt and SoV glyphs on top of Plea for the lulz...

10exp15stamina gems should be put in: Helm, Chest and Belt since you gain +9 stamina in return for matching the color.
This goes for any build and any tank spec.
10hit15stamina gem should also be put in T10 legs or any other yellow or yellow + blue socket bonus item that rewards +9 stamina.

In this build you can trow in some items like:
Bracers of Dark Reckoning, Belt of Broken Bones, that may be worth it on bosses that dont hit hard, but on bosses like Lich King, Armor will always be your best option.

Now when it comes to armor vs avoidance discussion...

663 armor loss / 6 def + 12 dodge + 46 parry + 17 stamina + 20 strength (some block value) - Wrist change
593 armor loss / 63 dodge + 8 parry + 23 stamina + 16 strength (some block value) - Belt change

~600 armor loss at this point is around ~0.3% extra damage reduction.
If the boss has a base of 200k damage hit (for example) before any damage reduction is applied, you can see that 0.3% is not a small amount.

Also, to anyone saying that you lose some MINOR (0.1%) armor and gain GODLIKE (5%+) avoidance, has no clue what he is talking about, since the trade is NEVER that big.
It is 0.3% dmg reduction for 1% dodge by changing between Belt of Broken Bones and Verdigris Chain Belt
and 0.3% dmg reduction for 0.6% parry by changing between Bracers of Dark Reckoning and Gargoyle Spit Bracers.

Also, if you dont have ENGINEERING as one of your professions, you have access to 20 hit enchant on gloves on top of everything so far.

Oh, I almost forgot...

4T10 Expertise Cap build that I use on my Human Pala tank (for Halion and Sindragosa mainly):
Helm: Broken Ram Skull Helm
Neck: Bile-Encrusted Medallion
Shoulders: Sanctified Lightsworn Shoulderguards
Back: Sentinel's Winter Cloak
Chest: Sanctified Lightsworn Chestguard
Wrist: Gargoyle Spit Bracers
Gloves: Sanctified Lightsworn Handguards
Belt: Verdigris Chain Belt
Legs: Sanctified Lightsworn Legguards
Feet: Grinning Skull Greatboots
Ring: Ashen Band of Endless Courage
Ring: Devium's Eternally Cold Ring
Trinket: Sindragosa's Flawless Fang
Trinket: Petrified Twilight Scale
Weapon: Mithrios, Bronzebeard's Legacy
Shield: Icecrown Glacial Wall
Libram: Libram of the Sacred Shield

Since I am a human, all I need is 40 expertise Food and I will be capped with this build (Glyph of Seal of Vengeance is included and a lot of 10 expertise 15 stamina gems).
410 expertise rating is the cap if you are Blood Elf or Draenei.
386 expertise rating is the cap if you are Human with a Mace/Sword.
368 expertise rating is the cap if you are Dwarf with a Mace.
Cap being 56 expertise (14%).
You can also use Cataclysmic Chestguard with maybe Spaulders of the Blood Princes or Boneguard Commander's Pauldrons (with 10 hit 15 stamina in yellow socket) or some other items to make a 2T10 Expertise build, but I prefer the extra 12% dodge on top of PTS proc in extreme cases of extreme danger when nothing else but RNG will save you.

Overall, paladins are the best tanks of this expansion.
Doesnt matter which build you go for, bottom line is that ARMOR is the way to go.
AVOIDANCE is not something that is worth investing in.

Sure, sometimes only a DODGED or PARRIED attack can and is the only thing that saves you, but when a SOUL REAPER happens, nothing but Armor Will.

P.S.
As Death Knight tank your minimum expertise is: 9, 14 if you are using 40 expertise food.
Regardless, saying that Death Strike is USELESS cos it can get DODGED or PARRYED, is beyond me...
15% instant Health Increase with a 4.25% chance to get dodge and 11.75% chance to get parry is worth any time of the day and in any situation where your HP is not at 100%.

[Matthooper]

Been a while since i've seen someone tank with above 6 expertise. So how does your deathstrike not just get parried/dodged?

Deathstrike is such a non-factor it's easily ignoreable.

expertise cap is not 6. it does have a chance to be dodged or parried but its not 20% as you claim. i feel like as an old udba player you would know this. js.

DS is such a non factor........

DS can literally save you from death and when used in conjuction with something like VB and lets say SR is out and ur hpal is grabbed it is amazingly useful, to sit here and say that is a non factor is just pure lunacy. You need to go learn and spend more time theorycrafting as you clearly have flawed logic when it comes to this 10 year old game. I do not understand why people cannot figure out this easy old game 10 years since it ended. Its been legit theorycrafted to death by many other players and explained a thousand times yet somehow wild theories and crazy new metas keep popping up. Please stop misleading players as again, we have enough of that as is on these forums and elsewhere. Be a part of the solution, not the problem.

[Blind]

expertise cap is not 6. it does have a chance to be dodged or parried but its not 20% as you claim. i feel like as an old udba player you would know this. js.

DS is such a non factor........

DS can literally save you from death and when used in conjuction with something like VB and lets say SR is out and ur hpal is grabbed it is amazingly useful, to sit here and say that is a non factor is just pure lunacy. You need to go learn and spend more time theorycrafting as you clearly have flawed logic when it comes to this 10 year old game. I do not understand why people cannot figure out this easy old game 10 years since it ended. Its been legit theorycrafted to death by many other players and explained a thousand times yet somehow wild theories and crazy new metas keep popping up. Please stop misleading players as again, we have enough of that as is on these forums and elsewhere. Be a part of the solution, not the problem.

Ofc the cap isn't 6. It's 56. But noone in their right mind would go for that without it being required - and as ehp-gear provides exactly 0 rating you're left with 6 expertise from Veteran of the third war, a massive 1.5% less dodge/parry. Means 5% chance for the target to dodge and 12.5% parry - so we're at "just" 17.5% chance to fail.
So sorry the 20% I stated randomly there are like 10% off.

"DS -can- literally save you from death" - so can avoidance. Does it make a thing to rely on or even consider for theorycrafting? No.
My whole point is just sayin' it's garbage to mention as a "core thing" for dk tanking, because that's like saying critical block from a warrior is good. It can save your ***. Sometimes. Do you want to rely on "sometimes"? No.
Using it in conjunction with VB is also fun, considering that skill is used on CD in SR-Rotation anyway. That's reaching for straws. Just ask for PS, Dsac or Hsac which isn't one of your sheduled CDs to survive the upcoming SR.

DS is only mentioned because it's a default ability. Doesn't mean it's great. Heck even on Lordaeron tanks barely use it, if at all, since it's just an unreliable and minor heal. If you consider it anything but an addition i'm kinda sorry to say but the guy to go back to his theorycrafting isn't me.

Proper DK-Tanks actually swapped from blood strike to blood boil because not proccing blade barrier due to having constant dodges/parries is nothing but nonsense to work with. Any ability that fails to work 1 out of 5 times isn't something i'd even mention as a proper tool - but I guess that's hard to comprehend, considering some act like i'm trying to reinvent the wheel here.

[Matthooper]

so can avoidance. Does it make a thing to rely on or even consider for theorycrafting? No.
My whole point is just sayin' it's garbage to mention as a "core thing" for dk tanking, because that's like saying critical block from a warrior is good. It can save your ***. Sometimes. Do you want to rely on "sometimes"? No.
Using it in conjunction with VB is also fun, considering that skill is used on CD in SR-Rotation anyway. That's reaching for straws. Just ask for PS, Dsac or Hsac which isn't one of your sheduled CDs to survive the upcoming SR.

DS is only mentioned because it's a default ability. Doesn't mean it's great. Heck even on Lordaeron tanks barely use it, if at all, since it's just an unreliable and minor heal. If you consider it anything but an addition i'm kinda sorry to say but the guy to go back to his theorycrafting isn't me.

Proper DK-Tanks actually swapped from blood strike to blood boil because not proccing blade barrier due to having constant dodges/parries is nothing but nonsense to work with. Any ability that fails to work 1 out of 5 times isn't something i'd even mention as a proper tool - but I guess that's hard to comprehend, considering some act like i'm trying to reinvent the wheel here.

ill just quote someone you glossed over...

Now when it comes to armor vs avoidance discussion...

663 armor loss / 6 def + 12 dodge + 46 parry + 17 stamina + 20 strength (some block value) - Wrist change
593 armor loss / 63 dodge + 8 parry + 23 stamina + 16 strength (some block value) - Belt change

~600 armor loss at this point is around ~0.3% extra damage reduction.
If the boss has a base of 200k damage hit (for example) before any damage reduction is applied, you can see that 0.3% is not a small amount.

Also, to anyone saying that you lose some MINOR (0.1%) armor and gain GODLIKE (5%+) avoidance, has no clue what he is talking about, since the trade is NEVER that big.

Doesnt matter which build you go for, bottom line is that ARMOR is the way to go.
AVOIDANCE is not something that is worth investing in.

Sure, sometimes only a DODGED or PARRIED attack can and is the only thing that saves you, but when a SOUL REAPER happens, nothing but Armor Will.

now idk what being a lord tank has to do with anything considering every LK encounter across all 3 realms is scripted the exact same (same hp,enrage,and damage. check and compare the logs if you wish). The only difference is IC having the option of a 30% buff and there are still guilds doing it no buff there as well. so saying lord tanks hardly use it (which is lol since i know decent players who do use it on lord) is just flat absurd. So you are basically telling me they are purposely gimping themselves? no wonder why everyone says lord is so hard. The amount of insane theories and reasonings that come from there from players such as yourself is legit stupid. Not saying everyone there is clueless but seems like every week another insane unfounded theory such as yours crops up.

you are trying to reinvent the wheel. what you are saying is wrong and based upon no facts or theorycrafting. your math even after you adjusted it down from 20% is still wrong once you add in food buffs. again why sit here and argue something that has been clearly theorycrafted and shown to better than any argument you have presented? You are offering your playstyle basically without proper math or reasons to show for example why avoidance is better over armor. You just spouting off personal likes or dislikes rather than showing any kind of math and reasons to prop up your ludacris argument.

[Gnimo]

Proper DK tank will actually use Glyph of Diseases to keep both Blade Barrier and Diseases on the target and do it ~"every 5 sec" so he has a free Blood Rune for a Def CD like Vamp Blood and Rune Tap since both Blood Boil and Blood Strike does 0 damage and threat, use Death Strike for heals and Icy Touch on every Death Rune he got from Death Strike for threat.
If you look at it and think about it for a sec, it feels perfect, feels like if Blizzard actually made a DK to be played that way... Strange.
(before nabs come here and say that Tanks dont have a "rotation", its just a overall general idea of a spec and play style)

And, again, you have Helm, Chest and Belt to gem with 10 expertise 15 stamina gem, so 9 (with those 3 gems) or 14 expertise (with gems and food) is what you have as a Death Knight tank.

One could also argue that sacrificing some minor Armor for hit, so you can increase expertise with Gloren as a weapon is better for overall self healing, but I doubt u would listen to or bring that any attention.

Regardless, you have a Death Knight class forum section for that discussion.

I updated the itemisation above due to couple of mistakes I made and after talking to couple of people about the different builds.

I also wanted to add that I recently geared a paladin tank myself.
For off-tanking 245ilvl and 258ilvl T9 2 piece and 4 piece bonuses are magical.
Cooldown reduction and Dprot was awesome tool when having to tank, after which you can hard support the main tank with Sac, Dsac, ImpLoH, etc when they call for it.

First T10 pieces you should get are Gloves and Chest, but if your job is to off-tank, 4 piece T9 bonus might be better in some situations, but I guess you should do the math on it yourself based on which content you farm.

However 2/5 T9 and 2/5 T10 will be awesome tools for Threat generation and tanking dungeons for emblem farms.

This was all done in a 30% buff Icecrown, so yea, cant speak a lot how to gear and what to use on Lord for example.
Oh, yea, damage incoming my way felt more manageable as I got "all" the extra Armor pieces.
Might be the overall item level increase, might be the extra Armor, might be both...

I wanted to add that I am glad that Lord>IceClown mentality finds its way in more and more threads nowadays... :)
Anyway, best of luck to you all, I dont think I can add anything more to this topic (will edit itemisation comment in case I get some extra info).