Imp Defensive Stance questionFollow

In my prot build, I have improved Defensive Stance. I've been insulted for this by more than one person. Are they right? Is it a waste of talent points? It seems to me like it'd be a big help, especially on bosses like the final boss of Heroic Mana-Tombs that ONLY uses spell damage.

It's not that it's a stupid choice for talent points, it's just that it's not all that useful before a certain point in the game. Imp. Def. Stance really starts to shine once you get into SSC and The Eye, particularly when you first do Hydross, for absorbing some of the large amounts of magic damage coming at you in those and higher raids. Kara/Gruul/Mags don't really dish out enough magic damage to make it worthwhile, and 5 mans most definitely don't warrant the use of 3 talent points to take 6% off of spells that hit for sparse amounts, and 6% of them is smaller still. I can't name any point in time in those instances where I thought to myself "Man, 6% less spell damage would have MADE that fight," after a wipe. You're not stupid by any means, nor is the talent useless. It's just points that could be much better spent elsewhere before a certain point in the end game.

I took a loot at your armory and your talent build. The build looks good, aside from personal differences in taste, that being I've always hated Imp. Shield Bash and Imp. Revenge. Some people swear by them though, and they're not entirely horrible for 5 mans. I just hated having a mob stunned all the time. If you would like to move those 3 points in Imp. Defense, I would personally suggest either Imp. HS for improved rage dumps, or when the next patch goes though, Imp. Sunder. While Imp. Sunder isn't that great right now, because 3 less rage on sunders isn't game breaking by any means, once the -3 rage applies to Devastate as well it'll be an awesome talent. Just my personal comment, the advice can be taken or left however you like. :D

generally speaking, on point distribution. Imp def stance is a 'bonus' you get if your doing heavy magic damage fights. Heavy means resist fights.

You can easily gain imp HS instead, 5/5 imp demo shout (if you raid with a warlock who is willing to use curse of recklessness, and a melee group), or any other 3 points in talents. HS and imp demo shout just stick out in my mind as easily attainable replacements for imp def stance, that will provide immediate benefit for threat and dps.

I forgot I made this thread. Some very good responses, thanks for the advice. I'm not prot right now, but I'll keep the suggestions in mind for when I do respec. As for stuns and rage generation gimping, that could be a factor, but I generally run heroics, and I usually have no problems with rage. For instance, in Heroic Mech, those robots hit me so hard that I actually prefer them to be stunned as much as possible, because even through spamming heroic strikes, sunders, revenges, shield blocks, and shield slams, I'm still maxed out in rage. I personally love Concussion Blow. It's an extra interrupt and gives healers time to land that next heal.