The Spirit Realm

*sigh* I'm over-analyzing things again...

So, snooping over on the SK forums, I ran across this little formula a while back.

1 shielding = 5 avoidance = 15 ac = 90 hp

Also, I've seen somewhere that knight AC return over the softcap is 1:3, so that gives knight shield AC a multiplier of 3x.

Now, what I've been thinking on is trying to adapt this for use in my own gear selection. I'm assuming that the value of avoidance vs.hp would remain unchanged at 5 avoidance = 90 hp. I also decided to keep the shielding vs. ac ratio the same, which basically left me with comparing the value of shielding/AC vs. avoidance/HP. For various reasons I decided to go with 1 AC = 2 hp, and came up with this as adapted for my own shaman self:

3 shielding = 5 avoidance = 45 ac = 90 hp

This would also put shaman shield AC at a multiplier of 9x as compared to having it in any other slot.
I'm not trying to set any sort of canon here. I'm just trying to figure a relative worth of AC on my gear. I know it's not nearly as useful as it is for some other classes, but I refuse to believe its completely worthless. Any input or suggestions?

The relative worth of AC depends on how often you get hit. Yes, you can be the AC boss like... OMG, Brohg passed Zigmund for AC! ...anyway, that's great if you get attacked a lot.

My idea is that if you play a little bit in from the edge, you are, of course, just a big wuss... but if you're not trying to balance AC, you have less tradeoffs to make for the other stuff. I try to keep at cap for avoidance, and I keep an AC aug in my shield, but other than that, I don't focus on my AC. And I'm the no. 16 Shaman (by AC) on Saryrn. And I only raid once a week.

A bit after the fact, but here's my two cents.

As a grouping/mini-raiding shaman, I value stun resist and avoidance above all else. Stun resist seems much harder to keep with gear upgrades, so this is my first priority. It is possible to keep both near max, although it costs you some AC and HPs. For example, my shaman is still using the over the in his bags.

I tend to be the primary healer and we prefer more difficult fights, so getting the spell off is the single most important thing for me. After that the priority is surviving rampage, adds, and aggro. I think that avoidance and ID are the most helpful thing here. HPs are a no-brainer for a shaman, and SC is so disgustingly powerful that they become even more of a priority. AC is nice but I never really choose it over these or focusses. AC is only really a consideration when a new item has less, or items are otherwise similar.