Heya guys!!  Welcome back to the next segment of Best in Slot Items for Death Knights!!  Today we’re gonna talk about the best Weapons for your 2Hand 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 Weapons

1. Betrayer of Humanity  2374.1692 APE
2. The Jawbone  2270.6468 APE
3. Cryptfiend’s Bite  2140.7568 APE
4. Deadly Gladiator’s Decapitator*  2042.8268 APE
5. Black Ice  2227.6966 APE
6. Inevitable Defeat  2336.9786 APE
7. Death’s Bite  2299.9356 APE
8. Armageddon  2165.0996 APE
9. Wraith Spear  1950.9338 APE
10. Hateful Gladiator’s Decapitator*  1864.077 APE

Frost - Top 10 Best in Slot Weapons

1. Betrayer of Humanity  2616.3055 APE
2. The Jawbone  2408.259 APE
3. Cryptfiend’s Bite  2357.281 APE
4. Deadly Gladiator’s Decapitator*  2260.686 APE
5. Black Ice  2429.8705 APE
6. Death’s Bite  2484.2455 APE
7. Inevitable Defeat  2476.8345 APE
8. Armageddon  2354.6415 APE
9. Wraith Spear  2157.454 APE
10. Hateful Gladiator’s Decapitator*  2063.5425 APE

Unholy – Top 10 Best in Slot Weapons

1. Betrayer of Humanity  1854.715 APE
2. The Jawbone  1775.763 APE
3. Cryptfiend’s Bite  1671.879 APE
4. Deadly Gladiator’s Decapitator*  1579.796 APE
5. Black Ice  1754.539 APE
6. Inevitable Defeat  1825.357 APE
7. Death’s Bite  1811.073 APE
8. Armageddon  1692.935 APE
9. Wraith Spear  1513.902 APE
10. Hateful Gladiator’s Decapitator*  1440.295 APE

Notes on 2Hand Weapons for Death Knights:

1. All APE values are subjective at best for weapon comparison.  They can give you a rough estimation based upon the weapon DPS and the stats on how good a weapon is, but it does not take into account the weapon speed or the min/max damage values of the weapon.  As DK’s are heavily dependent on their weapon damage value for their DPS due to things like Strikes (instant cast attacks), APE can only be loosely followed.
2. Even though instant cast attacks (Strikes) have been normalized to a set weapon speed multiplier (3.3 for all 2H weapons), that multiplier is still applied to the min/max damage values of any given weapon.  This means that slower 2H weapons with higher min/max damage values will create more total DPS.
3. APE values are still listed for those curious, though the weapons are ranked by how good they are.  The weapons are NOT ranked by APE.
4. When comparing weapons, note that the APE values are not truly representative of gained APE with normal items.  APE for weapons is only useful in comparing one weapon to another.  While putting on a piece of armor might be like gaining 300 AP on your toon, putting on a weapon is *not* like gaining 2000 AP on your toon.
5. Any PvP weapon noted with a * can be replaced with any other PvP weapon of the same designation.  Ex:  Any “Hateful” weapon can be replaced with a different “Hateful” weapon.  If you don’t wish to use an Axe, you can use a Sword instead.
6. Most importantly, the actual DPS of a weapon is the “bottom line” when comparing which weapon to use.  The basic starting tiers of weapon damage in T7 content are 222 DPS, 203 DPS, and 186 DPS.  If you are comparing a weapon that is from a lower tier of damage, the higher tiered item will *ALWAYS* be a significant dps upgrade.  Meaning, if you found a 186 DPS weapon and a 203 DPS weapon with similar APE values I am telling you right now they are *NOWHERE* near equal.  The 203 DPS weapon is significantly better and is a major upgrade.  Whereas if you are comparing two weapons that are both 203 DPS, swapping from one to the other will have only a marginal effect upon your DPS at best.
7. I do not *ever* recommend trying to pick a weapon based off of the stats that it has.  This is paramount for you to understand!!  Pick the best weapon possible to go for, and then balance your hit and expertise out with armor/item and gem selections.  Weapon APE values are not the best form of comparison by any stretch of the word.  Picking the best possible weapon to shoot for, and then balancing your expertise and hit elsewhere is the best way to go.

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