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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:
- Strength
- Mastery
- Critical Strike
- Haste
- 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 |
---|---|
Vault of the Incarnates | |
Vault of the Incarnates | |
Halls of Valor | |
Court of Stars |
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 |
---|---|
Crafted Item - Jewelcrafting |
Best Shoulders
Tier is always ideal, even if it has your worst stat. Sim to ensure you have the best upgrade.
Item | Source |
---|---|
Vault of the Incarnates | |
Temple of the Jade Serpent | |
Halls of Valor |
Best Back
There are plenty of cloak options available. Pick one that doesn't have Vers. We highlighted three of them here.
Item | Source |
---|---|
Halls of Valor | |
Vault of the Incarnates | |
Ruby Life Pools |
Best Chest
Tier chest has an insane amount of Versatility. If possible, skip this piece and get your 4-piece elsewhere.
Item | Source |
---|---|
Vault of the Incarnates | |
Halls of Valor | |
The Azure Vault | |
Court of Stars |
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 |
---|---|
Vault of the Incarnates | |
Halls of Valor |
Best Hands
Every piece you can get from Mythic Plus is solid, but we recommend getting tier over anything else.
Item | Source |
---|---|
Vault of the Incarnates | |
Halls of Valor |
Best Waist
The raid belt has Vers, so hard pass on that. The crafted option is pretty nice.
Item | Source |
---|---|
Crafted - Blacksmithing | |
The Azure Vault | |
Halls of Valor |
Best Legs
Tier is exactly what you're looking for here.
Item | Source |
---|---|
Vault of the Incarnates | |
The Nokhud Offensive |
Best Feet
Sim for the best option as there are going to be several of them beyond what we list.
Item | Source |
---|---|
Vault of the Incarnates | |
Temple of the Jade Serpent | |
Court of Stars |
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 |
---|---|
Vault of the Incarnates | |
Halls of Valor | |
Court of Stars | |
Algeth'ar Academy |
Best Trinkets
Data for the best trinkets comes from sims via Bloodmallet.
Item | Source | Fight Type |
---|---|---|
Vault of the Incarnates | Better on single-target | |
Halls of Valor | Better on single-target | |
Vault of the Incarnates | Better on AOE/cleave | |
Vault of the Incarnates | Better on AOE/cleave |
Best Weapons
There are plenty of two-handers, just be careful about picking the ones that have Versatility.
Item | Source | Weapon Slot |
---|---|---|
The Azure Vault | Two-Hand | |
Shadowmoon Burial Grounds | Two-Hand | |
Vault of the Incarnates | Two-Hand |
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.
- Epic unique gem - Fierce Illimited Diamond
- Remaining gems - Quick Ysemerald or Keen Ysemerald
Best Enchants For Blood Death Knights
Here are the best enchants available for Frost Death Knights in Dragonflight.
- Cloak - Homebound Speed
- Chest - Waking Stats
- Bracers - Devotion of Speed
- Legs - Fierce Armor Kit
- Boots - Watcher's Loam
- Rings - Devotion of Critical Strike, Devotion of Haste, or Devotion of Mastery
- Weapon - Rune of the Fallen Crusader
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
- 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!