I’m always finding myself needing to reference this and needing to spend 5-10 minutes searching for it is frustrating. (I often visit from different machines, so bookmarks can get clunky too)

Thanks ^^

20 / 0.4% = 5k raw damage, or 1485 damage post mitigation without the elixir.

Prince hits for about 2.3k, crushes for 3.4k (7.6k/11.5k raw damage). So on a crush, the extra armor reduces the damage by 11.5k*0.4% = 46. Which is more than 2x the Earthen Elixir.

Now, I was tanking normal BM and Aeonus hits me for around 600-800, and the Earthen is better there.

As a Gruul OT, the Major Defense is obviously better (on growth 10 his Hurtful Strike is something like 34k unmitigated = 136 damage reduced from Major Defense). However, you are likely to be using Unstable Flask of the Beast anyway, since it is practically free, stays past death, and gives you some nice stats. With BoK, the +30 stam is worth approx 510 health.

Having worked through the math on this, there’s a simple way to determine the point at which Defense stops giving more “effective health” than Fortitude. Basically, adding health is always better if your armor is above a threshold given by:

A = (H * dA / dH) – K

where H is your health, dA is the effective increase in armor you’re considering (here, 550 for the Defense elixir), dH is the increase in health you’re considering (here, 250), and K is the same “K” in the mitigation formulae–a value dependent on the level of mob you’re fighting:
- vs lvl 70, K=10557.5
- vs lvl 72, K=11492.5
- vs lvl 73, K=11960.0

For our hypothetical 18Khp druid tank, going up against a lv 73 boss, the Defense elixir is a winning proposition (VS. PHYSICAL ATTACKS!) if his armor is below

A = (H * dA / dH) – K
= (25000*550 / 250) – 11960
= 27640

which, at 25K armor, it is. The tipping point is even higher (29042) vs. lv70 opponents. For druids with high health, the choice of which to use is situational, since Defense will give more mitigation than Fortitude for physical attacks but does nothing for magic attacks.

Above the armor rating where Defense no longer helps, or above the 75% mitigation cap, Fortitude is always the better answer for both physical and magical attacks.

Since the threshold armor rating is based linearly on health, druids with lesser health will be considerably more likely to have an armor rating above the cutoff. A few samples, vs. lv 70 opponents:

If you have… use Fort above armor…
10k health . . . . 11442
12k health . . . . 15842
14k health . . . . 20242
16k health . . . . 24642
18k health . . . . 29042

Against lv 73 raid bosses the cutoff is about 1500 armor lower.

beyond 18k health, watch out for the mitigation cap.

Hopefully this helps make the decision on what to use a little clearer.

http://yawown.blogspot.com/2007/10/warlock-raid-consumables.html

Hope you like it,
Cheers

I agree with Frange that there’s no one formula for which consumables are best, and that it’s situational. For most tanking encounters I’ve chosen to go with Elixir of Fortitude over Earthen, under the theory that when you’re taking hits for potentially thousands of damage, minus 20 isn’t going to make a big difference. As far as Elixir of Defense goes, make sure you’re not at the mitigation cap already (which most druids in SSC/TK level gear will be).

The “survivability” time granted by armor is linear until you reach the mitigation cap (~32K vs lvl70 mobs, ~36K vs Raid Bosses).

Still, it behooves you to be smart and take a good look at the encounter when choosing your pots.

Math helps, but every encounter is different, and there are certain times where some pots are better than others.

Who cares about mitigation when you’re taking hurtfuls from Gruul? Dodging one or two more hurtfuls is SO much better than having each one do 20 less damage.

By the same token, you’re not going to dodge the arcane pounding from Void Reaver, but the earthen elixir will take 20 damage off each hit.

Flask of Chromatic Wonder
+35 resist all
+18 stats

For those who are playing in SSC and TK, this has become one of my favorites for Void Reaver (Pound = 100% arcane damage) and Hydross (Frost/Nature). I was using Flasks of Chromatic Resistance (+25 resist all) for these fights, but this one obsoleted that old flask.

- Alannon, GM Order of Azeroth, Zul’jin