Heya guys!!  Welcome back to the next segment of Best in Slot Items for Death Knights!!  Today we’re gonna talk about the best Necklace for your neck slot that you can get for your DK.  For those of you who have been keeping up with the site, I mentioned we’re gonna change how we look at items for ranking.  And this is it.

Items have been broken up into 6 categories depending on your current Hit and Expertise Rating.  Please refer to the Hit and Expertise Revisited post if you have any questions regarding Hit and Expertise caps, their value, and how to get there.

PLEASE read the notes at the bottom of the post.  The notes are important.

Blood - Top 10 Best in Slot Necklace

1. Collar of Dissolution  323.48 APE
2. Favor of the Dragon Queen  311.335 APE
3. Fool’s Trial  287.264 APE
4. Pendant of the Dragonsworn  279.996 APE
5. Titanium Impact Choker  234.059 APE
6. Gem of Imprisoned Vassals  232.676 APE
7. Boundless Ambition  225.423 APE
8. Deadly Gladiator’s Pendant of Victory  213.08 APE
9. Nexus War Champion Beads  212.771 APE
10. Icy Blast Amulet  212.387 APE

Blood - Top 5 Best in Slot Necklace: Melee Hit Capped

1. Favor of the Dragon Queen  311.335 APE
2. Collar of Dissolution  282.344 APE
3. Pendant of the Dragonsworn  279.996 APE
4. Fool’s Trial  239.272 APE
5. Titanium Impact Choker  234.059 APE 

Blood - Top 5 Best in Slot Necklace: Melee Hit and Expertise Capped

1. Favor of the Dragon Queen  300.567 APE
2. Pendant of the Dragonsworn  269.228 APE
3. Fool’s Trial  239.272 APE
4. Gem of Imprisoned Vassals  232.676 APE
5. Titanium Impact Choker  223.291 APE 

Blood - Top 5 Best in Slot Necklace: Hit Capped

1. Favor of the Dragon Queen  300.567 APE
2. Pendant of the Dragonsworn  269.228 APE
3. Collar of Dissolution  282.344 APE
4. Titanium Impact Choker  223.291 APE 
5. Gem of Imprisoned Vassals  232.676 APE 

Blood - Top 5 Best in Slot Necklace: Hit and Expertise Capped

1. Favor of the Dragon Queen  300.567 APE
2. Pendant of the Dragonsworn  269.228 APE
3. Gem of Imprisoned Vassals  232.676 APE
4. Titanium Impact Choker  223.291 APE 
5. Fool’s Trial  212.784 APE

Frost - Top 10 Best in Slot Necklace

1. Favor of the Dragon Queen  293.73 APE
2. Collar of Dissolution  290.586 APE
3. Fool’s Trial  287.4 APE
4. Pendant of the Dragonsworn  262.704 APE
5. Gem of Imprisoned Vassals  235.97 APE
6. Icy Blast Amulet  217.063 APE
7. Pendant of the Outcast Hero  208.514 APE
8. Titanium Impact Choker  208.222 APE
9. Deadly Gladiator’s Pendant of Victory  203.352 APE
10. Boundless Ambition  190.874 APE

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Necklace: Melee Hit Capped

1. Favor of the Dragon Queen  293.73 APE
2. Pendant of the Dragonsworn  262.704 APE
3. Collar of Dissolution  259.602 APE
4. Fool’s Trial  251.252 APE
5. Gem of Imprisoned Vassals  235.97 APE 

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Necklace: Melee Hit and Expertise Capped

1. Favor of the Dragon Queen  292.866 APE
2. Pendant of the Dragonsworn  261.84 APE
3. Fool’s Trial  251.252 APE
4. Gem of Imprisoned Vassals  235.97 APE
5. Icy Blast Amulet  217.063 APE 

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Necklace: Hit Capped

1. Favor of the Dragon Queen  293.73 APE
2. Pendant of the Dragonsworn  262.704 APE
3. Gem of Imprisoned Vassals  235.97APE
4. Collar of Dissolution  232.89 APE
5. Fool’s Trial  220.088 APE 

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Necklace: Hit and Expertise Capped

1. Favor of the Dragon Queen  292.866 APE
2. Pendant of the Dragonsworn  262.704 APE
3. Gem of Imprisoned Vassals  235.97APE
4. Fool’s Trial  220.088 APE 
5. Icy Blast Amulet  217.063 APE 

 Unholy – Top 10 Best in Slot Necklace

1. Collar of Dissolution  290.494 APE
2. Fool’s Trial  266.606 APE
3. Favor of the Dragon Queen  260.506 APE
4. Pendant of the Dragonsworn  233.61 APE
5. Gem of Imprisoned Vassals  217.188 APE
6. Deadly Gladiator’s Pendant of Victory  205.594 APE
7. Boundless Ambition  201.789 APE
8. Nexus War Champion Beads  197.82 APE
9. Icy Blast Amulet  197.662 APE
10. Pendant of the Outcast Hero  186.223 APE

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Necklace: Melee Hit Capped

1. Favor of the Dragon Queen  260.506 APE
2. Collar of Dissolution  253.366 APE
3. Pendant of the Dragonsworn  233.61 APE
4. Fool’s Trial  223.29 APE
5. Gem of Imprisoned Vassals  217.188 APE

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Necklace: Melee Hit and Expertise Capped

1. Favor of the Dragon Queen  258.922 APE
2. Pendant of the Dragonsworn  232.026 APE
3. Fool’s Trial  223.29 APE
4. Gem of Imprisoned Vassals  217.188 APE
5. Icy Blast Amulet  197.662 APE 

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Necklace: Hit Capped

1. Favor of the Dragon Queen  258.922 APE
2. Pendant of the Dragonsworn  232.026 APE
3. Collar of Dissolution  221.996 APE
4. Gem of Imprisoned Vassals  217.188 APE
5. Icy Blast Amulet  197.662 APE  

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Necklace: Hit and Expertise Capped

1. Favor of the Dragon Queen  258.922 APE
2. Pendant of the Dragonsworn  232.026 APE
3. Gem of Imprisoned Vassals  217.188 APE
4. Icy Blast Amulet  197.662 APE
5. Fool’s Trial  197.642 APE 

Things to remember

1. Please see my “Best in Slot Items” (BISI) page for a comprehensive list of all BISI items.
2. THIS DOES NOT WEIGH SET BONUSES.  I CANNOT STRESS HOW IMPORTANT THAT FACT IS!!!  I have not yet seen a good model for measuring the DPS gain from our T7 set bonuses, however the 4 set bonus is extremely good and will have a significant impact upon our DPS.  If you can attain 4 pieces of T7/T7.5, you should consider giving those items more value.  I do.
3. These items are weighted using a system commonly refered to as APE, or Attack Power Equivalency.  This uses mathematical formulas, and often times simulators, to determine how much each attribute contributes to your dps.  It equates item stat values into a numeric value that equals 1 Attack Power, or 1 AP.
4. APE means exactly what it says, this item has an equivalent value of x AP.  So if it says 1 is 519 APE and 2 is 492 APE, swapping from 2 to 1 would be like gaining 27 Attack Power.
5. Take everything here with a grain of salt.  If you had all of your gear epic’d out from Naxx+, it’s likely your personal stats will skew the results of “best in slot”.  Short of running a simulator, it’s nearly impossible to know what the best stats are for any one character.  APE changes as your stats change.  As one stat goes up, its value to your dps goes down.  Meanwhile other stats’ values will go up in value.  This however is a good baseline, assuming you have the equivalent best in slot items and have kept your stats balanced while gearing out.
6. Keep in mind also, my information could be wrong.  But even if it is, it is most likely the closest source of information to the actual truth about DK APE values.
7. 18 Agi is effectively 1 AP due to the armor gain from Agi (read: Bladed Armor talent).  Also keep in mind that Agi affects only your physical crit, not your spell crit.
8. Some stats can be capped.  You do not want more than you can actually use.  Items with a stat that you’ve exceeded the cap are not worth their “true” value anymore because you’re not getting all of the benefit.
9. 262.32 Hit Rating is equal to 8% Melee Hit (this is the Melee Hit cap).
10. 445.91 Hit Rating is equal to 17% Spell Hit (this is the Spell Hit cap).  The spell hit cap is 288.53 rating or 17% if you have 3/3 Virulence and Misery debuff up.
11. The expertise cap is 123 rating or 15 skill for Blood.  The cap for Unholy/Blood is 172.15 rating or 21 skill.
12. Your stats need to be balanced.  If you pick gear that always has +Strength on them, then you’re going to be screwed. These items are balanced around the concept that you do not overstack certain stats.  Aka, 4% hit and 3000 AP is bad.  But so is 15% hit and 1500 AP.  Sticking with these item lists will usually avoid that however.
13. If you don’t agree you should seriously take a moment to stop and think about what factual data you have to back up that feeling.  Often times the number crunchers out there find things that look wrong to the average person.
14. When gemming gear most of the time you will ignore the slot colors.  Only pay attention to slot colors when trying to meet a metagem requirement if you need to.  Otherwise every gem slot should be either +Strength, +Expertise, or +Hit.  These numbers assume you are using Rare gems available to any player.
15. For more information on the Expertise and Hit caps you should read here: Hit and Expertise Revisited.

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Tags: Best in Slot Items