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

1. Undiminished Battleplate  753.072 APE
2. Chestguard of the Recluse  734.415 APE
3. Cult’s Chestguard  611.126 APE
4. Breastplate of Frozen Pain  593.759 APE
5. Tunic of Indulgence  573.64 APE
6. Chestguard of Flagrant Prowess  572.06 APE
7. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  546.856 APE
8. Blade-Scarred Tunic  521.539 APE
9. Tunic of Dislocation  511.639 APE
10. Breastplate of Undeath  501.874 APE

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

1. Chestguard of the Recluse  734.415 APE
2. Undiminished Battleplate  581.672 APE
3. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  546.856 APE
4. Breastplate of Frozen Pain  520.057 APE
5. Tunic of Dislocation  511.639 APE

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

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  525.32 APE
2. Breastplate of Frozen Pain  498.521 APE
3. Chestguard of Flagrant Prowess  487.106 APE
4. Tunic of Indulgence  480.116 APE
5. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Battleplate  477.103 APE

Blood - Top 5 Best in Slot Chest: Hit Capped

1. Chestguard of the Recluse  734.613 APE
2. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  546.92 APE
3. Tunic of Dislocation  511.793 APE
4. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Battleplate  498.703 APE
5. Hard Khorium Battleplate  494.81 APE

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

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  525.32 APE
2. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Battleplate  477.103 APE
3. Hard Khorium Battleplate  462.41 APE
4. Breastplate of Frozen Pain  457.843 APE
5. Chestguard of the Recluse  455.557 APE

Blood - Top 5 Best in Slot Chest: Expertise Capped

1. Undiminished Battleplate  588.342 APE
2. Breastplate of Frozen Pain  575.519 APE
3. Tunic of Indulgence  555.4 APE
4. Chestguard of Flagrant Prowess  553.82 APE
5. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  528.616 APE

Frost - Top 10 Best in Slot Chest

1. Undiminished Battleplate  671.507 APE
2. Chestguard of the Recluse  637.994 APE
3. Cult’s Chestguard  573.8 APE
4. Chestguard of Flagrant Prowess  550.802 APE
5. Tunic of Indulgence  550.746 APE
6. Breastplate of Frozen Pain  549.555 APE
7. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  506.898 APE
8. Breastplate of Undeath  491.982 APE
9. Blade-Scarred Tunic  491.111 APE
10. Tunic of the Lost Pack  482.742 APE

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

1. Chestguard of the Recluse  637.994 APE
2. Undiminished Battleplate  542.407 APE
3. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  506.898 APE
4. Chestguard of Flagrant Prowess  503.035 APE
5. Tunic of Indulgence  496.524 APE

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

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  505.17 APE
2. Chestguard of Flagrant Prowess  501.307 APE
3. Tunic of Indulgence  494.796 APE
4. Breastplate of Frozen Pain  492.314 APE
5. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Battleplate  459.385 APE

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Chest: Hit Capped

1. Chestguard of the Recluse  637.994 APE
2. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  506.898 APE
3. Chestguard of Flagrant Prowess  461.854 APE
4. Tunic of Indulgence  461.113 APE
5. Custodian’s Chestpiece  461.102 APE

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

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  505.17 APE
2. Chestguard of Flagrant Prowess  460.126 APE
3. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Battleplate  459.385 APE
4. Tunic of Indulgence  448.05 APE
5. Breastplate of Frozen Pain  444.455 APE

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Chest: Expertise Capped

1. Chestguard of Flagrant Prowess  550.322 APE
2. Tunic of Indulgence  550.266 APE
3. Breastplate of Frozen Pain  549.075 APE
4. Undiminished Battleplate  548.138 APE
5. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  506.418 APE

Unholy – Top 10 Best in Slot Chest

1. Undiminished Battleplate  688.479 APE
2. Chestguard of the Recluse  610.623 APE
3. Cult’s Chestguard  563.489 APE
4. Breastplate of Frozen Pain  537.015 APE
5. Tunic of Indulgence  517.968 APE
6. Chestguard of Flagrant Prowess  516.715 APE
7. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  494.56 APE
8. Blade-Scarred Tunic  483.708 APE
9. Breastplate of Undeath  471.413 APE
10. Tunic of Dislocation  451.467 APE

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

1. Chestguard of the Recluse  610.623 APE
2. Undiminished Battleplate  533.779 APE
3. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  494.56 APE
4. Breastplate of Frozen Pain  470.494 APE
5. Cult’s Chestguard  459.84 APE

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

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  491.392 APE
2. Breastplate of Frozen Pain  467.326 APE
3. Chestguard of Flagrant Prowess  456.308 APE
4. Tunic of Indulgence  449.826 APE
5. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Battleplate  446.355 APE

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Chest: Hit Capped

1. Chestguard of the Recluse  588.538 APE
2. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  491.392 APE
3. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Battleplate  446.355 APE
4. Tunic of Dislocation  437.184 APE
5. Undiminished Battleplate  429.582 APE

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

1. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  491.392 APE
2. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Battleplate  446.355 APE
3. Breastplate of Frozen Pain  427.938 APE
4. Chestguard of Flagrant Prowess  422.416 APE
5. Deadly Gladiator’s Dreadplate Chestpiece  412.65 APE

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Chest: Expertise Capped

1. Undiminished Battleplate  557.846 APE
2. Breastplate of Frozen Pain  534.32 APE
3. Tunic of Indulgence  515.262 APE
4. Chestguard of Flagrant Prowess  513.954 APE
5. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  491.392 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