Sunder Armor

From WoWWiki

Sunder Armor
Sunder Armor Instant 5 yds. (melee) range 15 Rage Sunders the target's armor, reducing it by X per Sunder Armor and causes a high amount of threat. Can be applied up to 5 times. Lasts 30 sec.
Usable by
Class	Warrior
Properties
Type	Offensive
School	Physical
Cooldown
Talents
Improvement talents	Improved Sunder Armor, Focused Rage
Other information
Ranks	6
Requirements	Requires melee weapon
Related buff
Sunder Armor Armor decreased by X. Duration: 30 sec

Fury shatters what forges build.^{TCGHoA 149}

Sunder Armor is one of the warrior's basic threat generation abilities. It is an instant attack that decreases your opponent's armor by a certain value, depending on the rank of the skill. Sundering generates a high amount of threat, making it especially useful for tanking. Not only will it help you keep your opponent focused on you instead of your squishy teammates, it will also increase the amount of damage you and your party members deal.

Contents 1 Rank Table 2 Notes 3 Talent improvements 4 Tips and tactics

Rank Table

Rank	Armor decrease	Level	Price	Bonus threat
1	90	10	4	52
2	180	22	60	104
3	270	34	1 60	157
4	360	46	3 60	209
5	450	58	4 40	261
6	520	67	5 85	301

Notes

Threat is still generated by using this ability when there are already 5 sunders stacked on the target.

Sunder armor does not stack with the Rogue ability, Expose Armor.

Talent improvements

• Improved Sunder Armor: Reduces the rage cost by up to 3. While useful, tanks tend to have plenty of rage anyways, and so this talent isn't as important as it might at first seem.
• Focused Rage: Reduces the rage cost by up to 3. Together with Improved Sunder Armor, this can make Sunder Armors very cheap and quick to apply. Again, not a key talent, but certainly useful, especially when both talents are used.

Tips and tactics

• As well as the obvious, and significant, armor reduction effect, Sunder Armor is a powerful tool for establishing and holding aggro as a Main Tank. It causes a solid amount of threat, and is not situational, like Revenge, and has no extended cooldown, like Shield Slam, so can be used over and over repeatedly as long as there is enough rage. (Main Tanks usually have plenty of rage, due to the massive beatings they get.) However, an unimproved Sunder Armor remains a less efficient (per rage used) way of generating threat than an unmodified Shield Slam or Revenge.

• In Patch 2.3, the Warrior 41-point Protection-tree talent Devastate was changed to essentially be a Sunder Armor that also causes damage. A successful Devastate will cause a Sunder Armor effect on the mob, will generate the additional threat that a Sunder Armor generates, and will also cause damage based on the number of Sunder Armor effects on the target and the DPS rating of the Warrior's main-hand weapon. This ultimately means that a Warrior with the Devastate ability will be able to use it in any situation where the Sunder Armor effect was previously used (although if they choose to use Sunder Armor this remains a distinct ability).

• Compared to a Rogue's Expose Armor, the rogue can apply their full effect (5 combo points) sunder much sooner than a Warrior, if reducing the mob's armor is the goal for a group. The Expose Armor effect will block an application of Sunder Armor, however. Also, a full stack (5) of Sunder Armor usually has a greater armor reduction than a 5-combo-point Expose Armor (2600 reduction for Sunder Armor, 2050 for Expose Armor). A rogue with 2/2 Improved Expose Armor, however, can best the Sunder Armor number, with a final reduction of 3075 armor. Again, be wary of using Expose Armor on mobs that need to be tanked, as a warrior will have a very difficult time establishing aggro on a mob that they are blocked from using Sunder Armor upon.

• The threat effect of Sunder Armor continues to occur even after the fifth stacked Sunder Armor debuff, so a tank can continue to reapply it after five sunders have stacked – it will still generate the same amount of threat, but will not stack past five debuffs. Reapplying Sunder Armor on a mob with a full stack of Sunder Armor effects will however reset the expiration timer for the Sunder Armor debuff stack.

• For a bear Druid, Faerie Fire (Feral) (for lower levels) and Lacerate (once available) fill a similar role to the Sunder Armor ability.

• Sunder Armor's armor reducing effect is more effective against targets that already have a low armor value, since it increases the damage boost against them by a larger percentage. See also: Formulas:Damage reduction for more information on the physical damage reduction armor provides.

Classes • Warrior • Warrior Abilities • Warrior Talents • Warrior Tactics