Why is 400 the magic number for resilience?

ydnandrew · August 27, 2008, 08:39 PM

I've seen many posts here and on other forums that tell sl/sl warlocks to stack resilience until they hit about 400 and stamina until they're around 12-13k HP then stack spell damage after that.

Why were these numbers chosen? If the resilience cap is 492.5 why wouldn't you want to be capped? Right now my sl/sl lock is right at 13k HP, 489 resil and 1090ish shadow damage. I've been told that my damage is too low. Even after I finish getting my attainable PvP gear and then regem to stay at the resil cap I will only be around 1127 shadow damage and 13.5k HP.

As for my background I'm still relatively new to PvP. I had 0 resilience a few months ago but spent a lot of time in BGs this summer because I couldn't make my guild's raids. I typically only do enough arena to get my points, though I did have a 3s with rogue/priest that got to 1650. I've also partnered in 2s with a pally, druid and rogue, though none stayed over 1550 for long. I just want to optimize my gear for whatever situation I might fall into.

Redmage · August 27, 2008, 08:47 PM

400 is just a round number that is reasonably high for resilience. Of course 492.5 is THE resilience cap. There is nothing special about 400, it is just a reference number for reasonably strong resilience.

The reason why 400 and not 493? Simple, it is for balance sake. If you have very strong defense but weak offense, maybe it is better to balance them a bit. So maybe sacrificing some resilience for a bit more damage will make you more versatile.

My take is, if you find yourself dying first a lot, then maybe you need the resilience. If you feel that no one is attacking you and your resilience is just going to waste, go for damage.

Kusasi · August 28, 2008, 01:50 AM

493 is the point at which 2 of the 4 resilience effects are capped. Resilience does 4 things. Reduces critical strike damage, reduces the chance you'll receive a critical strike, reduces damage from dot spells and reduces mana drained from spells such as Drain Mana and Mana Burn.

Each of these 4 effects has a cap of 25%. However, critical strike damage reduction and mana drain reduction increase at twice the rate of the other 2 effects. So at 493 resilience, crit damage and mana drain will cap at 25% whilst the other 2 effects will only be at 12.5%. To cap these last 2 effects you would need almost 1000 resilience which of course is completely unrealistic. As redmage said, it's about balance. If you got yourself up to 600 resilience or something, you'd have to be sacrificing other important stats, resulting in you not being able to do any damage, and it only taking a little bit longer for you to be killed. :P

August 27, 2008, 08:39 PM	#1 (permalink)
ydnandrew Member	Why is 400 the magic number for resilience? I've seen many posts here and on other forums that tell sl/sl warlocks to stack resilience until they hit about 400 and stamina until they're around 12-13k HP then stack spell damage after that. Why were these numbers chosen? If the resilience cap is 492.5 why wouldn't you want to be capped? Right now my sl/sl lock is right at 13k HP, 489 resil and 1090ish shadow damage. I've been told that my damage is too low. Even after I finish getting my attainable PvP gear and then regem to stay at the resil cap I will only be around 1127 shadow damage and 13.5k HP. As for my background I'm still relatively new to PvP. I had 0 resilience a few months ago but spent a lot of time in BGs this summer because I couldn't make my guild's raids. I typically only do enough arena to get my points, though I did have a 3s with rogue/priest that got to 1650. I've also partnered in 2s with a pally, druid and rogue, though none stayed over 1550 for long. I just want to optimize my gear for whatever situation I might fall into.

August 27, 2008, 08:47 PM	#2 (permalink)
Redmage Member Character Info Ris 70 Gnome Warlock Bloodhoof US PvE Guild: Council of Arathor Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 0/14/47	Re: Why is 400 the magic number for resilience? 400 is just a round number that is reasonably high for resilience. Of course 492.5 is THE resilience cap. There is nothing special about 400, it is just a reference number for reasonably strong resilience. The reason why 400 and not 493? Simple, it is for balance sake. If you have very strong defense but weak offense, maybe it is better to balance them a bit. So maybe sacrificing some resilience for a bit more damage will make you more versatile. My take is, if you find yourself dying first a lot, then maybe you need the resilience. If you feel that no one is attacking you and your resilience is just going to waste, go for damage.

August 28, 2008, 01:50 AM	#3 (permalink)
Kusasi Member Character Info Kusasi 70 Undead Warlock Nordrassil Euro PvE Guild: Adults Only Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 0/43/18	Re: Why is 400 the magic number for resilience? 493 is the point at which 2 of the 4 resilience effects are capped. Resilience does 4 things. Reduces critical strike damage, reduces the chance you'll receive a critical strike, reduces damage from dot spells and reduces mana drained from spells such as Drain Mana and Mana Burn. Each of these 4 effects has a cap of 25%. However, critical strike damage reduction and mana drain reduction increase at twice the rate of the other 2 effects. So at 493 resilience, crit damage and mana drain will cap at 25% whilst the other 2 effects will only be at 12.5%. To cap these last 2 effects you would need almost 1000 resilience which of course is completely unrealistic. As redmage said, it's about balance. If you got yourself up to 600 resilience or something, you'd have to be sacrificing other important stats, resulting in you not being able to do any damage, and it only taking a little bit longer for you to be killed. :P