Titanguard weapon enchant gone after all
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Jan 18th 2009 at 2:00PM
Ok, so you remember how Titanguard, the 75 stamina weapon enchant, disappeared from 3.0.8? Apparently, that was intentional. Ghostcrawler spoke out yesterday on the rationale for removing it. In short, it was just too good. That 75 Stamina would have made it far and away the best tank enchant, and would have locked them into creating higher and higher tiers in future patches and expansions so tanks wouldn't just stick with Titanguard and be done with it. Not only would this lead to less variety in game, but the developers would be stuck specifically designing future encounters with the assumption that every single tank had that extra 75 stamina.Blizzard's certainly shied away from making certain enchants too powerful before. For example, the Crusader enchantment was given diminishing returns after level 60 specifically so it wouldn't overshadow any other weapon enchants. With that in mind, this move does fit in with Blizzard's modus operandi. And if nothing else, it's good that this was nerfed now, before it made its way onto the live servers. While some tanks may not be happy with the outcome, this is certainly an instance where the PTR testing process worked.
Death Knights will still get to keep the +2% stamina on their Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle, in part to make up for the lack of a shield and a solid defense sigil. Ghostcrawler also did not rule out the possibility of future tanking enchants, but only if they could find out a way to prevent the same problems that caused them to take out Titanguard.
Filed under: Enchanting, Patches, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
taldon Jan 18th 2009 2:07PM
lol. figures
K Jan 18th 2009 2:10PM
This is stupid....So does Blizz just expect us tanks to hang onto hit rating and disarm prevention? GIVE US TANKS A WEAPON ENCHANT FOR ONCE PLEASE.
Thanks.
shinken Jan 18th 2009 2:19PM
They need to change titangaurd to a druid only enchant much like the Dk enchants and allow DK to pick up upgrade runeforges .
Then they can balance warriors with 250 stam epic guns.
Gormaggus Jan 18th 2009 5:30PM
And us paladins get what then?
infection Jan 19th 2009 2:32PM
A concencrate libram with a 213 rating that is worse than a libram with a 187 rating.
Libram stam enchant ftw
Dookieshed Jan 20th 2009 11:26AM
oh, don't get me started on warrior tanking guns.
A TANKING GUN!?
Guns and bows used to be for hunters specifically, and if you could equip one, you had to find one with stats you liked even if they were hunter stats, and socket it to your fancy. What hunter wants defense rating, hm?
And then there are librams. Mine increases my block rating while holy shield is active. It requires me to be lvl 70 to equip. I got it for 15 badges of justice when I was trying to gear up for Kara. It's still the best (arguably) tanking libram.
/cry
Stone_Rhino Jan 18th 2009 2:15PM
Not to mention it would HEAVILY favor dual wielding classes in arenas.
Hunters, Rogues, Warriors, DKs, and Shamans could all start with 1500 more health than anyone else.
shinken Jan 18th 2009 2:15PM
What blizzard needs to get through their head is Druid and DK enchants options. Warriors get pick up epic ranged slot gear that is scaled to the tier. we are stuck with sigils, and idols we got in the first tier.
Druids have to use one handed enchants on two handed weapons, and Dks have to use enchants that will not be "slightly superior" in later tiers. Warriors and paladins have the option of shield enchants also.
With very few stats to build on and few enchants to work with, DKs and Bears fall behind.
Harlequinne Jan 18th 2009 11:45PM
Not a big fan of Runeforging, are we?
Or a druid's already insane health pool.
On a Warrior's ability to wear ranged weapons: Good luck trying to explain to your raid that the Epic ranged weapon that just dropped is going to the tank instead of the DPS.
Durango Jan 18th 2009 2:15PM
hit rating helps your threat
sounds like a tanking enchant to me
obarthelemy Jan 18th 2009 2:50PM
not so much. threat is much less of an issue (esp. since the extension) than survivability
Amaxe Jan 18th 2009 3:26PM
Hit also helps dps
Clint Jan 19th 2009 9:48AM
Sooo... Mongoose is still the best survivability tank enchant...
Wardoc Jan 18th 2009 2:27PM
When will blizzard stop focusing on balancing the game and bring us some more new content -not remade/slighting changed BC/Old World stuff.Wrath was HUGE disappointment and from watching blue posts it will continue to be a disappointment-WTG BLizzard!
pietrex Jan 18th 2009 2:33PM
Indeed, the increasing amount of people playing Wrath surely proves it's a huge disappointment.
WTG Blizzard!
dpoyesac Jan 18th 2009 3:55PM
So... the developers responsible for the titanguard enchant were cannibalized from the team developing Ulduar? Patch 3.1 has been pushed back because the content designers have been shanghaied into working on game balance? Um... what?
It's obvious you have some sort of real gripe about Wrath -- what it is I don't know, because I think the new content in Wrath has been top-notch, and even the recycled content has been good fun -- but blaming the team responsible for game balance and systems design for the absence of content you find appealing is more than a bit nonsensical.
Iwanttobeasleep Jan 18th 2009 4:50PM
"Wrath was HUGE disappointment"
You're kidding me, right? Sure, most of the gear/enchants/profs were just upgrades from BC, but come on, they changed so much for every other aspect of the game. And there's so much to do--unless you're really hardcore and play enough to have done all the zone quests, the instances and heroics, cleared the raids, and done the DK starter zone. . .and if you are, chill out! It takes them way longer to make content than it takes us to play it, so if you're going to play a lot you're going to run out pretty fast. Wrath as it stands had a whole bunch to do, and more is coming.
Wolftech Jan 18th 2009 10:47PM
What you call recycled content is part of the lore storyline. Want a game without storyline? Take your ass to Age of Conan or one of the other crappy MMO 'Warcraft Killers" and STFU.
Robert Jan 18th 2009 2:33PM
I get Ghostcrawlers rationale, but there are still no tanking enchants in Wrath. I am a part-time Pally tank (raid tank, dps other times) and before 3.0 we universally used the spell power enchant for mega threat. After 3.0 most moved to Mongoose or Potency (+20 STR). And while the Wrath strength enchant is fine, its not really a tanking enchant.
Stamina doesn't even seem tanking to me. How about something like something that procs occasionally with extra dodge, or defense, perhaps even a mix of Strength and Stamina? That way its not constant, and its a big deal when it does proc.
Wyred Jan 19th 2009 2:45AM
As an enchanter with mongoose I am one of the few to think this is a great change. Of course I'm being a bit selfish with that