What am I missing? (Plague-Impervious Boots and Defense)Follow

The following is a GM conversation through email (timed out falling asleep while waiting for a GM to talk to):

Issue Reported: I received the Plague-Impervious Boots in Naxx (+44 Defense Rating) and when I used them in the stead of my Inexorable Sabbatons (+24 defense rating with a +8 defense gem = 32 defense rating), my overall defense went from 542 down to 540. How can this be when adding 12 more defense rating?

The issue reported above is not considered to be "broken" and should be functioning normally. Please keep in mind that most equipment stats cannot be compared in a vacuum; a variety of stats work together to affect your character. If you feel that the functionality should be different, then please visit the Suggestion Forum (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?forumId=11122&sid=1) and post a suggestion. These forums are regularly monitored by the World of Warcraft development team.


Okie-dokie... so is there more that affects overall defense outside of defense rating? Or does anyone just get a job as a GM? If anything else does affect the defense stats, then great, maybe something else to load up on a bit. But there would be a lot of reading I have done over the years to have overlooked it all this time. What am I missing? And thanks.

Do you ever hate those times where you try with all your memory to find where your keys are and it turns up they're in your pocket? Or your glasses were on your head all this time...? I kinda feel like that, lol. Thanks. And the bad part is, when I got them, I noticed that and just stored them in my bank for a couple weeks waiting for myself to get a good defense trinket (thanks for not dropping HoL trinket...). But last night, with a cold and sinus infection I thought it might be a great idea to work away some block rating for pure avoidance. That's what I get, I guess.

Really, thanks again ^^