Heya guys!!  Welcome back to the next segment of Best in Slot Items for Death Knights!!  Today we’re gonna talk about the best Spaulders for your shoulder 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 Shoulder

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  491.206 APE
2. Shoulderguards of the Undaunted  469.399 APE
3. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  444.831 APE
4. Concealment Shoulderpads  440.291 APE
5. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  437.641 APE
6. Shoulderplates of Bloodshed  424.562 APE
7. Upstanding Spaulders  357.616 APE
8. Shoulderpads of Secret Arts  355.301 APE
9. Spaulders of Resumed Battle  354.943 APE
10. Pauldrons of Unnatural Death  344.296 APE

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

1. Concealment Shoulderpads  440.291 APE
2. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  437.641 APE
3. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  417.504 APE
4. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  377.985 APE
5. Shoulderplates of Bloodshed  373.142 APE

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

1. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  426.873 APE
2. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  406.736 APE
3. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  367.217 APE
4. Shoulderplates of Bloodshed  362.374 APE
5. Upstanding Spaulders  346.848 APE 

Blood - Top 5 Best in Slot Shoulder: Hit Capped

1. Concealment Shoulderpads  440.397 APE
2. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  437.673 APE
3. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  376.858 APE
4. Upstanding Spaulders  357.648 APE
5. Shoulderplates of Bloodshed  344.794 APE  

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

1. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  426.873 APE
2. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  366.058 APE
3. Upstanding Spaulders  346.848 APE
4. Shoulderplates of Bloodshed  333.994 APE
5. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  330.323 APE 

Frost - Top 10 Best in Slot Shoulder

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  460.328 APE
2. Shoulderguards of the Undaunted  436.137 APE
3. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  416.061 APE
4. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  402.428 APE
5. Shoulderplates of Bloodshed  400.49 APE
6. Concealment Shoulderpads  386.503 APE
7. Spaulders of Resumed Battle  354.425 APE
8. Upstanding Spaulders  353.198 APE
9. Shoulderpads of Secret Arts  339.296 APE
10. Pauldrons of the Abandoned  334.468 APE

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

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  404.815 APE
2. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  402.428 APE
3. Concealment Shoulderpads  386.503 APE
4. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  365.712 APE
5. Shoulderplates of Bloodshed  361.76 APE 

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

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  403.951 APE
2. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  401.564 APE
3. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  364.848 APE
4. Shoulderplates of Bloodshed  360.896 APE
5. Upstanding Spaulders  352.334 APE

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Shoulder: Hit Capped

1. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  402.428 APE
2. Concealment Shoulderpads  386.503 APE
3. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  356.956 APE
4. Upstanding Spaulders  353.198 APE
5. Pauldrons of the Abandoned  334.468 APE 

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

1. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  401.564 APE
2. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  356.092 APE
3. Upstanding Spaulders  352.334 APE
4. Pauldrons of the Abandoned  334.468 APE 
5. Spaulders of Egotism  331.359 APE 

 Unholy – Top 10 Best in Slot Shoulder

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  448.266 APE
2. Shoulderguards of the Undaunted  444.26 APE
3. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  405.516 APE
4. Shoulderplates of Bloodshed  383.601 APE
5. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  366.473 APE
6. Concealment Shoulderpads  362.679 APE
7. Spaulders of Resumed Battle  330.711 APE
8. Shoulderpads of Secret Arts  329.34 APE
9. Upstanding Spaulders  325.966 APE
10. Deadly Gladiator’s Dreadplate Shoulders  307.413 APE

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

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  381.745 APE
2. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  366.473 APE
3. Concealment Shoulderpads  362.679 APE
4. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  345.183 APE
5. Shoulderplates of Bloodshed  337.191 APE

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

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  380.161 APE
2. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  364.889 APE
3. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  343.599 APE
4. Shoulderplates of Bloodshed  335.607 APE
5. Shoulderguards of the Undaunted  328.235 APE 

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Shoulder: Hit Capped

1. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  364.889 APE
2. Concealment Shoulderpads  349.588 APE
3. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  340.773 APE
4. Upstanding Spaulders  324.382 APE
5. Shoulderplates of Bloodshed  308.127 APE 

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

1. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  364.889 APE
2. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  340.773 APE
3. Upstanding Spaulders  324.382 APE
4. Shoulderplates of Bloodshed  308.127 APE 
5. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  307.875 APE

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Shoulder: Expertise Capped

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  447.155 APE
2. Shoulderguards of the Undaunted  445.085 APE
3. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  404.361 APE
4. Shoulderplates of Bloodshed  382.347 APE
5. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  364.889 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