by ZerinjThis is a list of the best pre-raid tank gear available to Death Knights. It include: BoE’s, reputation rewards and instance drops. I have also included a Gem List for what gems you should be using as a Death Knight.
Gemming
These are the only gems you should be using as a Defense-Capped Death Knight: (JC’s can use their own Prismatic Gems which are not listed)
Austere Earthsiege Diamond : Only good meta.
Solid Sky Saphire : Blue Gem
Solid Majestic Zircon : Epic Blue Gem, please save yourself money and don’t put it in anything lower than iLvl 213.
Accurate Ametrine : Only gem that should not be blue to meet Meta requirements. Put it in anything with a Red Socket.
Accurate Monarch Topaz : Non-epic version of the Ametrine.
Head
- Enchant: Arcanum of the Stalwart Protector
- Conqueror’s Darkruned Facegaurd: 58 Emblems of Conquest.
- Tempered Titansteel Helm: BoE Epic.
- Ground Tremor Helm: From Moorabi in Heroic Gun’Drak.
- Arcane Shielded Helm: From Grand Magus Telestra in Heroic Nexus.
- The Crusader’s Resolution: Reward from The Crusader’s Pinnacle.
Neck
- Shard of the Crystal Forest: 19 Emblems of Conquest
Shoulders
- Enchant: Greater Inscription of the Pinnacle
- Regal Aurous Shoulderpads: Drops from Argent Confessor Paletress in Heroic Trial of the Champion.
- Valorous Scourgebone Pauldrons: 60 Emblems of Valor.
- Warpach’s Spaulders of Solidarity: BoE Epic from numerous instances.
- Crusader’s Square Pauldrons: BoE drop from the Culling of Stratholme (heroic)
- Iron Dwarf Smith Pauldrons: Drops from General Bjarngrim in Heroic Halls of Lightning.
Cloak
- Enchant: Enchant Cloak – Titanweave
- Platinum Mesh Cloak: 25 Emblems of Valor.
- Durable Nerubhide Cape: BoE Epic made by Leatherworkers.
- Cloak of Peaceful Resolutions: Requires Honored Wyrmrest Accord.
Chest
- Enchant: Enchant Chest – Greater Defense
- Conqueror’s Darkruned Chestguard: 58 Emblems of Conquest.
- Sun-Emblazoned Chestplate: Dropped by Sjonnir the Ironshaper in Heroic Halls of Stone.
- Ziggurat Imprinted Chestgaurd: Dropped by The Prophet Tharon’ja in Heroic Drak’Tharon Keep.
- Breastplate of the Solemn Council: Requires Revered Wyrmrest Accord.
Wrist
- Enchant: Enchant Bracers – Greater Fortitude
- Bracers of Dalaran’s Parapets: 60 Emblem of Valor or buy it with Gold.
- Bracers of the Herald: Drops from Herald Volazj in Heroic Old Kingdom.
- Bindings of Dark Will: Dropps from Salramm the Fleshcrafter in Heroic Culling of Stratholme.
- Tempered Saronite Bracers: BoE from the Blacksmithing proffession.
Hands
- Enchant: Enchant Gloves – Armsman/Enchant Gloves – Major Agility
- Gauntlets of the Royal Watch: 28 Emblems of Conquest.
- Fireproven Gauntlets: Requires Kirin Tor exalted.
- Horn-Tipped Gauntlets: Dropped by Gal’Darah in Heroic Gun’Drak.
- Daunting Handgaurds: BoE made by Blacksmithing.
Waist
- Enchant: Eternal Belt Buckle
- Shieldwarder Girdle: 28 Emblems of Conquest.
- Ancient Aligned Girdle: Dropped by Anub’Arak in Heroic Azjol-Nerub.
- Waistgaurd of Living Iron: Costs 40 Emblems of Heroism.
- Waistgaurd of the Risen Knight: BoE drop from Heroic Drak’Tharon Keep trash.
Leggings
- Enchant: Frosthide Leg Armor
- Valorous Scourgeborne Legguards: 75 Emblems of Valor.
- Bolstered Legplates: Dropped by Cyanigosa in Heroic Violet Hold.
Feet
- Enchant: Enchant Boots – Greater Fortitude
- Kyzoc’s Ground Stompers: 40 Emblems of Valor.
- Sabatons of Draconic Vigor: Requires Revered Wyrmrest Accord.
- Greaves of Ancient Evil: Dropped by Herald Volazj in Heroic Old Kingdom.
Rings
- Enchant: Enchant Ring – Stamina Enchanter only.
- Mark of the Relentless: Dropped by Faction Champions in Heroic Trial of the Champion.
- Signet of the Impregnable Fortress: 25 Emblems of Valor.
- Titanium Earthgaurd Ring: BoE Epic from Jewelcrafting.
- Signet of the Accord: BoE dropped by Sartharion from Obsidian Sanctum.
- Woeful Band: Dropped by Maiden of Grief in Heroic Halls of Stone.
Trinket
- The Black Heart: Drops from the Black Knight in regular Trial of the Champion.
- Figurine – Monarch Crab: Jewelcrafting only.
- Essence of Gossamer: Dropped from Hadronox in Heroic Azjol-Nerub.
- Valor Medal of the First War: Costs 40 Emblems of Heroism.
Weapon
- Enchant: Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle/Rune of Swordshattering if you are defense capped (540)
- Marrowstrike: Drops from Argent Confessor Paletress in Trial of the Champion. Use this if not an Orc.
- Edge of Ruin: Drops from Faction Champions in Heroic Trial of the Champion, MUST HAVE if orc.
- Colossal Skull-Clad Cleaver: Drops from Loken in Heroic Halls of Lightning.
- Saliva Corroded Pike: Drops from Moragg in Heroic Violet Hold.
- Whale-Stick Harpoon: Requires the Kalu’ak Revered.
- Sword of Justice: Comes from the Tribunal of Ages event in Heroic Halls of Stone.
Sigil
- Sigil of Deflection: 19 Emblems of Conquest.
- Sigil of Awareness: 25 Emblems of Valor.
Needs an updateThis guide could definitely use an update, but it’s still useful as is so it will be left here for now. When the expansion comes out, it will be moved to the archive section.
Another tank weaponI’ve found that the [url=http://www.wowhead.com/?item=45076]Teldrassil Protector[/url] is useful for a starting dual-wield tank. Pretty easily gotten once you hit 80 at 25 Champion Seals apiece from the Argent Tournament.
i compared the titansteeli compared the titansteel destroyer and marrowstrike and i found that marrow strike was beating titansteel destroyer in everything except stam (-4) str (124) and hit (54)
Gloves
Gauntlets of theGloves
Gauntlets of the Water Revenant: Heroic VH
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37862
Weapon
Titansteel Destroyer: Crafted
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41257
Cloak
Tattered Castle Drape: BoE zone drop.
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37197
Fully UpdatedGuide is now updated to include gear from the new heroics and emblem of conquest gear.
3.2 updates?Adding the links to the epic versions of the tanking gems might at some point, as well as the availability of conquest, and valor, gear from heroics, will make this guide much more up to date.
Wrong nameThere is no Enchant Bracer – Greater Fortitude, however, the link point to a enchant that does exist, Enchant Bracer – Fortitude.
Tempered Titansteel Treads & Foot enchantI thought that Tempered Titansteel Treads http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41392
might be a good foot item, and that maybe
Enchant Boots: Tuskarr’s Vitality http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=47901 might be another possible choice for a Foot enchant, seeing as it is only a 7 Stam loss for a 8% run speed bonus.
Wrong wowhead link!The waist (belt) Waistgaurd of Living Iron: links to Horn Tipped Gauntlets (section above)
If you need yellow socket,If you need yellow socket, you’ll want to go with the stam/def one.
A usefull yellow gem.Thick Autumn’s Glow is a great yellow tanking gem. at +16 Defence Rating.
Just thought you would want to add it.
here is the link:
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40015
and this is a great guide, very usefull
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edit
Also I found that Special Issue Legplates are good leggings if you can’t get the drop of of VH.
here is the link to those http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44240
and they require Argent Crusade – Honored.
Also, do not forget the factAlso, do not forget the fact that parry gives you parry haste, which would increase your dps somewhat and thus your threat generating capabilities. This would also make your rune strikes hit faster.
CompletenessI really only added it for completeness. The DR is far less taxing on Dodge so it’s best just to gem for dodge, but after a while you will eventually be better off gemming for parry.
GemsIn the gem section I notice how you have a +Stam and +ParryRating gem. As far as I know, parry is lot less ‘rewarding’ then dodge. So why take these if you can take +Stam and +DodgeRating gems?
May be a small thing but…Of course it is in the DK section so you will understand it is for DK’s 🙂 But, if you come via link supplied in the front page, you will not recognize this until you open. Actually, it is not a big deal but according to my opinion, even Title should clearly identify the subject.
Second thing, yes, it may be applicaple to somne other tanking classes, such as Warrior and Pladin but not Druid. (At least plate gears). This is the nature of the gear selection, if it is not class specific (there is not much anymore), all gear guides somehow could be used by some other classes. Does it mean no need to write class specific gearing guides or in other words role specific guides will cover all community needs? I don’t think so.
Anyway, this was just a 2 cent from me and as I mentioned above it is not a big deal but may improve the quality even a little bit.
Regards
UhUh, its in the DK section of the guides, and it would probably work for most tanks up to the weapon area, also in the intro it kind of explains this is for Death Knights.
Does it need to be DK only?Does it need to be DK only? I reckon it could work for other tank classes removing some exceptions like the runeforging enchant.
Haytred
Could we change a name?Could we change name of the guide? Such as it shows, this guide belongs to DK only?
Regards
I changed the publishingI changed the publishing date to today so this would show up on the front page, since I see you just finished it. Thanks!
If you find better gear justIf you find better gear just post it in the comments, I am also going to start working on a Tanking Guide for Death Knights and have it up soon.