On live servers, blocking several enemies at a time like this will degrade shield durability very quickly.
Needless to say, this is a huge change for Protection Warriors in particular, since it means the end of their infamous Block Tax, though all classes will benefit from this change, since weapons are often one of the most expensive pieces of gear to repair.
How Does Durability Damage Work?
While losing durability on death is fairly straightforward and won't be changing in Patch 12.0.7, the durability loss from normal combat is something that isn't as well understood by most players, being based on very old systems that aren't explicitly explained anywhere.
Being in combat will cause random pieces of gear to lose durability over time, regardless of whether damage is dealt or taken. This is a fairly slow decay, averaging around 1 point of durability per minute or less.
Dealing damage or casting spells has a very small chance of reducing weapon durability by 1 point.
Taking damage has a very small chance to reduce the durability of a random piece of armor by 1 point.
Blocking has a very low chance of reducing shield durability by 1 point. For most classes, the chance of blocking isn't particularly high, but it adds up very quickly on a Protection Warrior blocking nearly every attack. This also counts as taking damage, doubling up on the durability loss for armor.
The chance of this "wear and tear" occurring has been estimated at around 3%, though it's very difficult to get an exact number. Suffice to say, simply participating in combat still racks up repair bills over time, even if you're not necessarily dying!
No More Weapon Damage from Combat
Much of this remains the same in Patch 12.0.7, with one very important caveat: weapons and shields no longer degrade from use in combat. Only actual character deaths or accepting a spirit resurrection will cause them to take durability damage.
In 20 minutes of auto-attacking a target dummy, our character on live servers has taken 12 points of durability damage across various pieces of armor and another 10 on their weapons, totaling 73 gold worth of repairs.
In the same amount of time, the same character on the PTR has taken only 15 points of durability damage on their armor, while their weapons remain at 100%, amounting to only 37 gold in repairs.
Fury Warriors and Demon Hunters save more than most, due to the greater durability of their dual-wielded weapons.
This amount is going to vary, since how much durability damage is taken on which piece of gear is completely random, though we can conclude that the durability degradation over time is still being inflicted on armor, while weapons are left untouched.
No More Block Tax Either
It also appears that something may have changed with the way blocks are considered, as blocked hits no longer appear to qualify for random armor durability loss. In identical two-minute tests, a Protection Warrior on live servers took 13 durability damage on their shield and another 11 across random pieces of armor, for a total of 40 gold in repairs. Meanwhile, the same character on PTR servers took no damage on their shield and only one point of damage across all of their armor, amounting to about 3 gold worth of repairs!
Concentrating durability damage onto their shield and simultaneously taking it across their armor is where the Prot Warrior block tax really comes from.
Further testing is still needed to realize the exact extent of these changes, but the big point to be happy about is that everyone will be saving gold on repairs in Patch 12.0.7.
