I’d recommend taking posters who recommend not prioritizing dex with a grain of salt.
I did the *unthinkable* and created my warrior from the ground up prioritizing dexterity: dwarf with all starter stats dumped into dex. My gear is not great (0 raid drops so far) and my stamina buffs out to 225. A few upgrades will have me at or close to max. For dexterity a single Focus has me capped 255.
At lower levels stamina returns are minimal. Dexterity and ac in the absence of complete heal (or low enough level it’s not safe or efficient) are the most important stats. Dexterity is as potent at level one as it is at 60. After the last patch procs are less potent and white damage is the backbone of our threat potential, but we still function in an era where good, cheap weapons with aggro procs really on par (+/-) with their non proc counterparts. Those procs DO still matter. They are what will keep you above the monks and rogues who have backstab or superior weapons.
Procs are unpredictable. An absolute absence of them will drive you crazy ... but at lower levels cranking your unbuffed dex to 140 vs 100 or 180-190 at higher levels compared to 120 makes a huge difference. My experience having higher innate dex is very different than those with lower. Rolling a dual wield aggro proc setup gave me much higher total threat ... but more importantly it exponentially decreased my risk of going deep into an otherwise brief fight with a dry streak. One proc was almost always enough to lock down the fight and it’s rare that I didn’t (or still don’t) get one really early.
Our job is to tank. If you’re not the one taking damage, you aren’t tanking. Melee dps have ratios as good, ratios better, and special ability (stabs flying kicks) that we lack. With equal to or higher white damage threat potential, absent procs they can and will end up getting hit. White damage is the backbone base but procs cover and eclipse the gap.
High levels? My ac hasn’t suffered nor have my hp relative to my gear level. Raid vs group not once have I died due to not having enough. For me, the trade-off is absolutely favorable and well worth it and I’m now at the point that a few attainable upgrades will have me at 255 stamina while maintaining 255 single buffed dexterity.
My opinion isn’t main stream but prior to p99 I had almost a decade of main tanking cutting edge experience. Historically my experience is that the critically differentiating factors between a good tank and a great tank boiled down to aggro lock and, in later expansions high ac in the then infamous ac vs hp debate wars.
P99 ac mechanics aren’t the same as live expansions from PoP onward. Additionally the p99 loves to cheese-lock aggro with expendable clicks on engage. Depending on your outlook or play style you can cheese your way to success with clicks, but for day in day out warrior life (leveling, high level groups, and raid content not worth burning clicks) investing in dexterity pays off massively. Your groups will appreciate you more and you’ll have a lot less frustration.
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