Table of contents

  • WoW Dragonflight
    World of Warcraft: Dragonflight
    Franchise:
    Warcraft
    Platform:
    PC
    Developer:
    Blizzard, Activision
    Publisher:
    Blizzard, Activision
    Genre:
    MMORPG
    Released:
    2022-11-28

Tanking has arguably never been better in World of Warcraft. For World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Blood Death Knights are an incredibly solid option. On our tank tier list, they happily reside in A-tier, making them a great option for your group composition. Our best in slot guide will help you obtain the best gear Dragonflight has to offer and do the most damage you can.

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Blood Death Knight Best in Slot Stat Priority

The most important factor to consider when obtaining new gear is your stat priority. In general, you should follow a rule like this:

  1. Strength
  2. Mastery
  3. Critical Strike
  4. Haste
  5. Versatility

Haste, Mastery, and Crit are all relatively even. Versatility is your worst stat. Item Level is a big factor as well. You'll generally want to prioritize the highest ilvl item.

Important Notes For BiS Lists

It is important to note that any jump in ilvl by more than 10 points almost always results in the higher ilvl item being better. If you have an upgrade of 5 ilvl or less, compare the stats based on the stat priorities to decide the better item.

When weighing options of other items not listed below, refer to the stat priority of the class and spec. Keep in mind that stats eventually have diminishing returns, so it is not required to have absolutely every slot stack the same 2 stats. For simplicity, we offer the best per slot assuming you have not capped out these stats.

The calculations for diminishing returns are as follows:

  • 0 to 30% in a stat - no penalty.
  • 30% to 39% in a stat - 10% penalty.
  • 39% to 47% in a stat - 20% penalty.
  • 47% to 54% in a stat - 30% penalty.
  • 54% to 66% in a stat - 40% penalty.
  • 66% to 126% in a stat - 50% penalty.

In the case where you have reached 30% in a secondary stat, an item that has a secondary stat that is lower on priority may in fact be a better upgrade. This is why it is always important to sim your gear. For simplicity, we offer the best item in that slot assuming you have not capped out these stats.

Blood Death Knight BiS Gear

The items appearing in these lists may come from Mythic+, Raids, or The Vault. Their item level will depend on the instance's level of difficulty (Normal, Heroic, Mythic, Mythic+ 1-20). This list does not include Renown or Crafting items as it is meant as a guide on what dungeons or raids to attend to get your best gear from these sources.

Item tooltips will show the Mythic 9 or the Normal Raid difficulty item level version.

Best Head

Tier is easily your best option. If for some reason you have trouble acquiring it, there are plenty of backup options available.

Item

Source

Maw of the Haunted Frostbrood

Vault of the Incarnates

Gaze of the Living Quarry

Vault of the Incarnates

Skoldiir Helm

Halls of Valor

Helmet of Reverent Loyalty

Court of Stars

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Best Neck

Theorycrafting and data show that the Elemental Lariat is almost always your best neck piece. We recommend getting this crafted ASAP. Anything else is honestly not worth mentioning.

Item

Source

Elemental Lariat

Crafted Item - Jewelcrafting

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Best Shoulders

Tier is always ideal, even if it has your worst stat. Sim to ensure you have the best upgrade.

Item

Source

Jaws of the Haunted Frostbrood

Vault of the Incarnates

Serpentstrike Shoulderpads

Temple of the Jade Serpent

Pauldrons of the All-Father

Halls of Valor

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Best Back

There are plenty of cloak options available. Pick one that doesn't have Vers. We highlighted three of them here.

Item

Source

Goldscar Pelt

Halls of Valor

Acid-Proof Webbing

Vault of the Incarnates

Fireproof Drape

Ruby Life Pools

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Best Chest

Tier chest has an insane amount of Versatility. If possible, skip this piece and get your 4-piece elsewhere.

Item

Source

Breastplate of the Haunted Frostbrood

Vault of the Incarnates

Skoldiir Breastplate

Halls of Valor

Cuirass of Irreparable Madness

The Azure Vault

Inferno Breastplate

Court of Stars

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Best Wrist

You can get one of your best bracers without ever stepping into the raid, provided you have the gold. Everything else not listed below has Versatility.

Item

Source

Primalist Warden's Bracers

Vault of the Incarnates

Skoldiir Bracers

Halls of Valor

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Best Hands

Every piece you can get from Mythic Plus is solid, but we recommend getting tier over anything else.

Item

Source

Grasps of the Haunted Frostbrood

Vault of the Incarnates

Skoldiir Gauntlets

Halls of Valor

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Best Waist

The raid belt has Vers, so hard pass on that. The crafted option is pretty nice.

Item

Source

Unstable Frostfire Belt

Crafted - Blacksmithing

Illusion Breaker's Waistguard

The Azure Vault

Greatbelt of Alpha Dominance

Halls of Valor

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Best Legs

Tier is exactly what you're looking for here.

Item

Source

Greaves of the Haunted Frostbrood

Vault of the Incarnates

Greaves of the God-King

The Nokhud Offensive

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Best Feet

Sim for the best option as there are going to be several of them beyond what we list.

Item

Source

Kurog's Thunderhooves

Vault of the Incarnates

Stonestep Boots

Temple of the Jade Serpent

Duskwatch Guard's Boots

Court of Stars

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Best Rings

Seal of Filial Duty has an insane amount of Mastery and some Haste. It's one of the most important loot drops to prioritize. There are a lot of good options in Mythic Plus, too. Make sure you sim for the best upgrade.

Item

Source

Seal of Filial Duty

Vault of the Incarnates

Woe-Bearer's Band

Halls of Valor

Jeweled Signet of Melandrus

Court of Stars

Platinum Star Band

Algeth'ar Academy

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Best Trinkets

Data for the best trinkets comes from sims via Bloodmallet.

Item

Source

Fight Type

Manic Grieftorch

Vault of the Incarnates

Better on single-target

Eye of Skovald

Halls of Valor

Better on single-target

Storm-Eater's Boon

Vault of the Incarnates

Better on AOE/cleave

Rumbling Ruby

Vault of the Incarnates

Better on AOE/cleave

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Best Weapons

There are plenty of two-handers, just be careful about picking the ones that have Versatility.

Item

Source

Weapon Slot

Ley-Line Tracer

The Azure Vault

Two-Hand

Nhallish's Bloody Polearm

Shadowmoon Burial Grounds

Two-Hand

Imbued Qalashi Crusher

Vault of the Incarnates

Two-Hand

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Best Gems For Blood Death Knights

Here we list the best gems you can socket your gear with for Blood Death Knights. As always, it is best to sim to ensure you're using the best options available. These gems are chosen given consideration to your best stats.

Best Enchants For Blood Death Knights

Here are the best enchants available for Frost Death Knights in Dragonflight.

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How To Simulate To Determine Your Best Gear

Raidbots is a tool that World of Warcraft players can use to figure out if the gear they just looted is an upgrade. As mentioned earlier, there are so many nuances and diminishing returns as certain points in the game, that determining an exact set of bis gear is impossible. With the ilvl scaling of Mythic+ loot on higher keys and utility different gear has for different fights, there just isn't a pure "this is the absolute best for the entire Season" list. It's even something that certain classes have come across in Classic Wrath!

Don't worry, because we're still here to help. We highly recommend using raidbots to determine if an item you just acquired is an upgrade. Here's a quick guide to help you run simulations to see if your new item is an upgrade:

  • Make sure you have the Simulationcraft add-on installed.
  • With your new loot in your inventory, open your chatbox and type /simc.
  • A window will open up. Copy the entire text and paste it on the Raidbots Top Gear page. I included my Simulation craft window for my personal character below
simc example
  • This step is important. On the Top Gear page, scroll down and make sure you're selecting the gear you want simmed. If you do not select the gear you're wearing, as well as the gear in your inventory you just acquired, you won't know if you picked up an upgrade.
  • Raidbots will then let you know which items allow you to maximize your DPS!

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