Insider Trader: Taking it in the chest

Insider Trader is your weekly inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.

Is armorsmithing of use to a tank? As with most debates, the answer remains relative to your resources and playing status – whether you're a PvP machine, a casual raider, a five-man specialist, an uber-raider ... Players with limited raiding access and resources will always consider trade skills more valuable than players with access to the leetest of lewts.

But while many players have summarily swept armorsmithing's possibilities under the carpet as they clattered up the gear ladder, others have run thoughtful comparisons and concluded there just may be some merit to smithing your own breastplates. For those of you who don't have the time or energy to dredge through such drearily titled official forum threads as "Sad state of armorsmithing & what's wrong," Insider Trader takes a look at armorsmithing's selection of top-end breastplates.

Master blacksmith Willhelm of Argent Dawn (author of the Blizzard Profession forum's blacksmithing sticky) elevates breastplates from the gloom of a rather somber blacksmithing critique by observing that while armorsmithing's plate breastplates are primarily aimed at DPS warriors, thoughtful socketing can render them useful to tanks and paladins. "Admittedly, weaponsmith might be a better choice for those who are not DPS warriors," he muses, "but the Kings breastplate series is useful for protection types, given the choice of gems like three Enduring Seaspray Emeralds (+5 Defense Rating, +7 Stamina) to allow the breastplate to provide defense rating and more stamina."

This makes the Breastplate of Kings a viable possibility for armorsmiths who have more access to materials and time than they do to raid drops. That said, Willhelm admits that it's not ultimately optimized for that role and remains useless to holy paladins. "Blizzard needs to have three choices each for mail and plate: DPS, tanking and spellpower," he posits. "In addition, there really should be three armorsmith shields: tanking, healing and spellpower."

Take a look at Willhelm's comparison of breastplates for protection warriors:

Armorsmith Tier 1
Breastplate of Kings Plate, 1353 Armor, +46 Stamina, +31 Strength, +20 Hit Rating, +31 Critical Strike Rating, Blue/Yellow/Yellow Sockets, Bonus +4 Critical Strike Rating, L 70, Item Level 107 (Epic, BoP)

Karazhan Drop
Panzar'Thar Breastplate Plate, 1450 Armor, +51 Stamina, Yellow/Blue/Blue Sockets, Bonus +4 Block Rating, +26 Defense Rating, +24 Shield Block Rating, +39 Shield Block Value, L 70, Item Level 115, (Epic, BoP)(6% drop by Nightbane in Karazhan)

Warrior Tier 4 Set Piece
Warbringer Chestguard Plate, 1510 Armor, +16 Strength, +17 Agility, +48 Stamina, Yellow/Yellow/Red Sockets, Bonus: +4 Dodge Rating, +22 Defense Rating, +22 Shield Block Rating, +45 Shield Block Value, L 70, Item Level 120 (Epic, BoP)

Armorsmith Tier 2
Bulwark of Kings Plate, 1595 Armor, +55 Stamina, +35 Strength, +23 Hit Rating, +37 Critical Strike Rating, Blue/Yellow/Yellow Sockets, Bonus +4 Critical Strike Rating, Use: +1500 Health & +150 Strength for 15 sec. (30 min cooldown), L 70, Item Level 127 (Epic, BoP)

Warrior Tier 5 Set Piece
Destroyer Chestguard Plate, 1668 Armor, +25 Strength, +26 Agility, +57 Stamina, Blue/yellow/Red Sockets, Bonus: +6 Stamina, , +27 Defense Rating, , +24 Dodge Rating, +24 Hit Rating, L 70, Item level 33 (Epic, BoP)

Hyjal Summit Drop
Glory of the Defender Plate, 1765 Armor, +75 Stamina, +35 Defense Rating, +51 Dodge Rating, +34 Hit Rating, L 70, Item Level 141 (Epic, BoP) (11% drop by Azgalor in Hyjal Summit)[no sockets]

Armorsmith Tier 3
Bulwark of the Ancient Kings Plate, 1825 Armor, +40 Strength, +56 Stamina, +25 Hit Rating, +41 Critical Strike Rating, Blue/Yellow/Yellow Sockets, Bonus +4 Critical Strike Rating, Use: +1500 Health & +150 Strength for 15 sec. (30 min cooldown), L 70, Item level 146 (Epic, BoP)

Warrior Tier 6 Set Piece
Onslaught Chestguard Plate, 1825 Armor, +37 Agility, +69 Stamina, Red/Red/Yellow Sockets, Bonus: +6 Stamina, +37 Defense Rating, +28 Parry Rating, +23 Shield Block Rating, L 70, Item Level 146 (Epic, BoP)

Willhelm's conclusions: the dropped Panzar'Thar Breastplate (IL 115) and the warrior tier 4 Warbringer Chestguard (IL 120) fall between the armorsmith tier 1 Breastplate of Kings (IL 107) and the armorsmith tier 2 Bulwark of Kings (IL 127).

"The advantage of the armorsmith tier 1 BP is that you can craft it before you reach 70 and equip it the moment you hit level 70," he explains. "The armorsmith tier 2 BP only requires running heroics (or even just a lot of level 70 normal instances) to get the primal nethers. You can get this BP before you complete the attunement to enter Karazhan. You can get the armorsmith tier 3 BP by farming trash in Serpentshrine Cavern and The Eye for the nether vortexes before ever completing the attunement for Hyjal Summit or Black Temple."

Hasdrubal of Mannoroth adds another angle for armorsmith raiders seeking to maximize DKP use within their raid groups: "Bulwark of Kings can be crafted before you set foot in Kara. Panzar'Thar requires a Nightbane kill, and T4 requires Mag. And those are sidegrades. Bulwark of the Ancient Kings is T5 level, but you can have it made long before your guild starts making Kael attempts, never mind killing him. In both cases, you're gaining armor and hp at the cost of defense and avoidance. However, in the case of T4/T5 tokens, you're passing on sidegrades to give other members of your raid upgrades. If you use DKP, you can save for other upgrades. Armorsmithing has uses for tanks that know what they're doing."

See the rest of posters' thoughts on what might improve armorsmithing here. Has armorsmithing been valuable to you as a plate-wearing player? Do you think armorsmithing deserves a boost?

Lisa Poisso is a magazine editor, when she's not wondering why her favorite tank never seems to be farming for armorsmithing materials.