Heya guys!!  Welcome to the T8 edition of Best in Slot Items for Death Knights!!  Today we’re gonna talk about the best Bracers for your wrist slot that you can get for your DK. 

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 Bracers

1. Decimator’s Armguards  455.75 APE
2. Armbands of Bedlam  436.11 APE  (Hard)
3. Bitter Cold Armguards  429.55 APE  (Hard)
4. Solar Bindings  418.46 APE (Hard)
5. Fluxing Energy Coils  412.72 APE (Hard)
6. Bracers of Unrelenting Attack  400.31 APE
7. Wristbands of the Sentinel Huntress  358.39 APE  (Emblems)
8. Bracers of the Tyrant  356.42 APE
9. Bracers of the Smothering Inferno  348.1 APE
10. Frost-bound Chain Bracers  345.26 APE

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

1. Armbands of Bedlam  436.11 APE  (Hard)
2. Bitter Cold Armguards  421.95 APE  (Hard)
3. Solar Bindings  416.02 APE (Hard)
4. Decimator’s Armguards  384.11 APE
5. Wristbands of the Sentinel Huntress  358.39 APE  (Emblems) 

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

1. Armbands of Bedlam  436.11 APE  (Hard)
2. Bitter Cold Armguards  421.95 APE  (Hard)
3. Decimator’s Armguards  384.11 APE
4. Wristwraps of the Cutthroat  321.15 APE  (Emblems)
5. Fluxing Energy Coils  318.74 APE (Hard)

Blood - Top 5 Best in Slot Bracers: Hit Capped

1. Armbands of Bedlam  436.11 APE  (Hard)
2. Bitter Cold Armguards  421.95 APE  (Hard)
3. Solar Bindings  416.02 APE (Hard)
4. Decimator’s Armguards  365.39 APE
5. Wristbands of the Sentinel Huntress  358.39 APE  (Emblems)

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

1. Armbands of Bedlam  436.11 APE  (Hard)
2. Bitter Cold Armguards  421.95 APE  (Hard)
3. Decimator’s Armguards  365.39 APE
4. Wristwraps of the Cutthroat  321.15 APE  (Emblems)
5. Mechanist’s Bindings  304.92 APE 

Blood APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  60 APE
• T7 4pc  39 APE
• T8 2pc  83 APE
• T8 4pc  104 APE 

Frost - Top 10 Best in Slot Bracers

1. Decimator’s Armguards  407.55 APE
2. Bracers of Unrelenting Attack  393.15 APE
3. Fluxing Energy Coils  378.27 APE (Hard)
4. Armbands of Bedlam  377.83 APE  (Hard)
5. Bitter Cold Armguards  372.63 APE  (Hard)
6. Solar Bindings  358.12 APE (Hard)
7. Thrusting Bands  332.61 APE
8. Frost-bound Chain Bracers  331.35 APE
9. Wristbands of the Sentinel Huntress  326.87 APE  (Emblems)
10. Bracers of Lost Sentiments  323.42 APE

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

1. Armbands of Bedlam  377.11 APE  (Hard)
2. Bitter Cold Armguards  360.27 APE  (Hard)
3. Solar Bindings  352.36 APE (Hard)
4. Wristbands of the Sentinel Huntress  326.87 APE  (Emblems)
5. Decimator’s Armguards  324.03 APE

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

1. Armbands of Bedlam  377.11 APE  (Hard)
2. Bitter Cold Armguards  360.27 APE  (Hard)
3. Decimator’s Armguards  324.03 APE
4. Bracers of Unrelenting Attack  284.99 APE
5. Fluxing Energy Coils  265.79 APE (Hard)

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Bracers: Hit Capped

1. Armbands of Bedlam  377.11 APE  (Hard)
2. Bitter Cold Armguards  360.27 APE  (Hard)
3. Solar Bindings  352.36 APE (Hard)
4. Wristbands of the Sentinel Huntress  326.87 APE  (Emblems)
5. Decimator’s Armguards  306.03 APE 

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

1. Armbands of Bedlam  377.11 APE  (Hard)
2. Bitter Cold Armguards  360.27 APE  (Hard)
3. Decimator’s Armguards  306.03 APE
4. Bracers of Unrelenting Attack  261.99 APE
5. Sinner’s Bindings  258.93 APE

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Bracers: Expertise Capped

1. Decimator’s Armguards  407.55 APE
2. Bracers of Unrelenting Attack  393.15 APE
3. Fluxing Energy Coils  378.27 APE (Hard)
4. Armbands of Bedlam  377.83 APE  (Hard)
5. Bitter Cold Armguards  372.63 APE  (Hard)

Frost APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  73 APE
• T7 4pc  97 APE
• T8 2pc  150 APE
• T8 4pc  75 APE

 Unholy – Top 10 Best in Slot Bracers

1. Armbands of Bedlam  433.439 APE  (Hard)
2. Bracers of Unrelenting Attack  372.098 APE
3. Bitter Cold Armguards  363.677 APE  (Hard)
4. Decimator’s Armguards  360.259 APE
5. Solar Bindings  356.332 APE (Hard)
6. Bracers of the Tyrant  330.687 APE
7. Wristbands of the Sentinel Huntress  322.775 APE  (Emblems)
8. Fluxing Energy Coils  315.787 APE (Hard)
9. Frost-bound Chain Bracers  306.513 APE
10. Sinner’s Bindings  285.342 APE

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

1. Armbands of Bedlam  433.439 APE  (Hard)
2. Bitter Cold Armguards  360.045 APE  (Hard)
3. Solar Bindings  356.332 APE (Hard)
4. Bracers of the Tyrant  330.687 APE
5. Wristbands of the Sentinel Huntress  322.775 APE  (Emblems) 

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

1. Armbands of Bedlam  433.439 APE  (Hard)
2. Bitter Cold Armguards  360.045 APE  (Hard)
3. Bracers of Unrelenting Attack  322.05 APE
4. Decimator’s Armguards  321.091 APE
5. Sinner’s Bindings  285.342 APE  

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Bracers: Hit Capped

1. Armbands of Bedlam  433.439 APE  (Hard)
2. Bitter Cold Armguards  360.045 APE  (Hard)
3. Solar Bindings  356.332 APE (Hard)
4. Bracers of the Tyrant  330.687 APE
5. Wristbands of the Sentinel Huntress  322.775 APE  (Emblems)   

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

1. Armbands of Bedlam  433.439 APE  (Hard)
2. Bitter Cold Armguards  360.045 APE  (Hard)
3. Decimator’s Armguards  289.411 APE
4. Sinner’s Bindings  285.342 APE 
5. Solar Bindings  282.777 APE (Hard)

Unholy APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  78.3 APE
• T7 4pc  160.2 APE
• T8 2pc  37.92 APE
• T8 4pc  115.7 APE

Notations

• (Hard) – This comes from a boss on Hard mode.  This will not be easy to get.
• (Set) – Remember to account for the 2 and 4 Piece Set Bonuses.  This will adjust the ranking of this item.
• (Crafted) – This should be easier to attain if you have the gold and can find a crafter with the recipie.
• (Emblems) – This can only be purchased through Emblems at a vendor.

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 ADD IN SET BONUSES!!!  At the end of each Spec’s section, there is a listing of the APE values of the set bonuses.  When you attain a bonus you can then add in that APE to item values.  Remember it is not a bonus per each Tier item.  For example if you got 5 pieces of T8 Unholy you would add a total of 153.62 APE to your toon, and no more.
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.  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  that 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 available.
7. Agility adds armor, so if you have the Bladed Armor talent this can be adding AP as well as Melee Crit %.
8. Hit and Expertise 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. 213.2 Expertise Rating is equal to 26 Expertise (this is the Expertise cap).  172.2 expertise rating  (21 skill) will hit the cap when talented.
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.

Tags: Best in Slot Items

Heya guys!!  For a full write up on the new Death Knight Q&A by Ghostcrawler, please click here for the official WoW forums link.  I will only be copying a few particular quotes here, but feel free to refer back to the original post by GC for complete details.

I jest again, but my point is that we introduced a new class to a game that didn’t really have a niche that needed to be filled.

Blizzard lead their players to believe that the major reason that Death Knights were chosen for the new Hero class was specifically because the expansion was spun around Arthas himself, the main character of Warcraft 3.  Had they taken the expansion in a another direction it is entirely likely this Death Knight blog would not even be here, as things would have unfolded differently.

But regardless, the simple truth in the revelation becomes quite clear.  WoW didn’t need a new class, Hero or otherwise, because every possible role in the game was adequately covered.  And because of that, Death Knights will never truly feel needed.  And it seems obvious with Blizzard’s new game design that they intend for that to stay static.

We’ve asked ourselves several times if the death knight is overly complicated — perhaps you could accomplish 90% of the design with a 3 rune system instead of a 6 rune system — but we aren?t changing it to that large a degree soon.

Just be aware that when the big bad blues mention crap like this, that it’s something they are considering doing in the future.  Heads up is all.

In terms of 3.2, we want to chill out the death knight AE damage and defensive cooldowns a little. It’s fine for a melee class to have strong area-effect, but they shouldn’t be so much better than warriors, rogues, and Enhancement shamans.

This is where things break down with Blizzard sometimes.  They forget that a “Hero class” really can break the mold, and it’s ok to tell the players “tough, deal with it” from time to time.  Having a hero class, in and of itself, that can break the mold by doing more AoE damage than a traditional melee role is not bad.  It’s a “hero class”, things are supposed to be shaken up some. 

However the design team is taking the tunnel vision approach and soothing the bruised egos of other players by making DK’s fit more into the preconceived notions of melee class balance.  While it’s a fundamently design flaw on their part to cave in (imo), it’s something we’ll have to get used to it seems.

What we are going to do with dual-wield in 3.2 is just provide the Frost tree with the talents necessary to prop-up dual wielding, including a new talent that lets Frost Strike, Death Strike, Obliterate etc. hit with both weapons.

Well, Blizzard is finally getting around to supporting the Dual Wield die hards in the DK community.  It’s about time…  Short of some major catastrophy or mythic revelation on Blizzard’s part, DW’ing DK’s will now be pigeonholed into Frost specs.  While it’s probably a good thing from a balance/design stand point, the only upcoming fear is that DW’ing will entirely replace 2H Frost specs.

I want to reiterate though that our vision hasn’t changed — we still want death knights to be able to tank every encounter.

DK tanks have been ridiculously OP for the entirety of LK guys.  Sorry, but it’s true.  In cast off gear, I was 2% away from the armor damage reduction cap (75% cap).  And I still had multiple CD’s available, etc.  DK’s needed some nerfs when it comes to tanking.  The only fear now is whether or not the nerfs will be too heavy handed. 

It’s obvious that Blizzard desperately wants as many viable tank classes as possible, though finding that happy middle ground is far more difficult to accomplish than imagine.  Where we will land when 3.2 launches is still a scary prospect.

It is a problem that, say, Blood wants armor penetration and Unholy does not. But our answer to that problem is going to be to make all specs regard the stats more similarly, not to provide lots of different armor choices.

Well, this is a bad bad bad thing honestly.  More and more, each and every DK spec becomes a carbon copy of the next.  Gargoyle and DRW becoming the same, Unholy losing it’s AoE advanatge, and who knows what else.  Part of the epic flavor of DK’s is that each spec plays totally differently. 

With this new promise you have to ask yourself if the class will lose some of it’s core flavor if homogenized much more.  I think this path is a catastrophic mistake, but as it saves Blizzard both “time and money” I can’t see any way to avoid it sadly.

One particular spell that was brought up a lot is Mind Freeze and the “delays” in it taking effect on the target which often causes the interrupt to appear on a combat log but not actually stop the spell.  We have never been able to duplicate the situation that the players describe, that sometimes it has a delay that other interrupts do not.

This has been an ongoing problem since day 1.  Not sure if you guys have experienced it like I have (in both PvE and PvP), but it’s a massively annoying problem.  Looks like there is no upcoming fix to this issue.

Do we have plans to change any of the death knight’s self-healing abilities?  The healing is one of the core mechanics of the class, and one of the things that helps them feel distinct from warriors.

Yay!!  Honestly, after so much rigamarole basically talking about how they intend to ner…uhm…”balance” the class it’s nice to hear something on the upswing.  No more healing nerfs for Death Strike, woot!!

We have a long-term plan to add the ghoul voices back. We pulled them because they were using the vendor voices, which sounded weird when your ghoul would ask you to buy or trade. We just need to get some audio made without the vendor text. It’s in the plan, but not super high priority.

Who in the hell was complaining about their ghouls talking?  I mean seriously, it made more people laugh than cry.  I mean…  Damnit, give Bonechewer his voice back already!!  *HUFF*  Jerks!!

Recap

So, that’s basically the gist of the Q&A with some SJ translations in there for those who were not able to read between the lines.  The core concept of DK’s seems to be changing honestly.  Blizzard is afraid of getting any more flak from players because a “Hero Class” is potentially more powerful than a base class.  Whether that be by versatility, breaking the mold on potential, or you name it.

While DK’s are an OP class, there are many other OP classes as well.  Anyone else got multiple horror stories about being stun locked to death by a rogue?  Or seen the crazy HoT heals from a druid in a raid?  Or been non stop locked down by a druid in PvP?  Or…well you get the point.

Expect to see DK’s become more of a baseline tank, lose any special AoE tricks, watch damage leak from your primary strikes and bleed into Blood Strike, and become more homogenized.  It’s not the death of DK’s by any stretch.  Just we’re losing some of that “epic” feel is all.

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Tags: Blue

Heya guys!!  Welcome to the T8 edition 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. 

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. Chestplate of Titanic Fury  796.54 APE 
2. Chestguard of the Recluse  766.02 APE 
3. Chestguard of Insidious Intent  758.05 APE 
4. Conqueror’s Darkruned Battleplate  745.46 APE (Set) 
5. Winter’s Icy Embrace  742.64 APE
6. Steelbreaker’s Embrace  737.55 APE 
7. Undiminished Battleplate  734.91 APE
8. Valorous Darkruned Battleplate  702.32 APE  (Set)
9. Chestplate of Vicious Potency  687.72 APE
10. Embrace of the Gladiator  687.13 APE (Hard)

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

1. Chestguard of the Recluse  766.02 APE 
2. Conqueror’s Darkruned Battleplate  745.46 APE (Set) 
3. Winter’s Icy Embrace  742.64 APE
4. Steelbreaker’s Embrace  737.55 APE 
5. Valorous Darkruned Battleplate  702.32 APE  (Set) 

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

1. Chestplate of Vicious Potency  687.72 APE
2. Embrace of the Gladiator  687.13 APE (Hard)
3. Chestplate of Titanic Fury  669.96 APE 
4. Chestguard of Insidious Intent  636.51 APE 
5. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  636.09 APE (Set)

Blood - Top 5 Best in Slot Chest: Hit Capped

1. Chestguard of the Recluse  766.02 APE 
2. Conqueror’s Darkruned Battleplate  745.46 APE (Set)
3. Winter’s Icy Embrace  742.64 APE
4. Steelbreaker’s Embrace  737.55 APE 
5. Valorous Darkruned Battleplate  702.32 APE  (Set)  

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

1. Chestplate of Vicious Potency  687.72 APE
2. Embrace of the Gladiator  687.13 APE (Hard)
3. Chestplate of Titanic Fury  637.72 APE 
4. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  636.09 APE (Set)
5. Conqueror’s Darkruned Battleplate  609.61 APE (Set)

Blood APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  60 APE
• T7 4pc  39 APE
• T8 2pc  83 APE
• T8 4pc  104 APE 

Frost - Top 10 Best in Slot Chest

1. Undiminished Battleplate  740.73 APE
2. Chestplate of Titanic Fury  724.56 APE
3. Conqueror’s Darkruned Battleplate  692.14 APE (Set) 
4. Chestguard of Insidious Intent  689.35 APE
5. Steelbreaker’s Embrace  682.03 APE 
6. Chestguard of the Recluse  664.29 APE 
7. Valorous Darkruned Battleplate  652.8 APE  (Set)
8. Winter’s Icy Embrace  617.77 APE
9. Breastplate of Frozen Pain  593.13 APE
10. Cult’s Chestguard  591.34 APE (Hard)

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

1. Conqueror’s Darkruned Battleplate  689.26 APE (Set) 
2. Steelbreaker’s Embrace  680.59 APE 
3. Chestguard of the Recluse  663.57 APE 
4. Valorous Darkruned Battleplate  649.92 APE  (Set)
5. Winter’s Icy Embrace  614.89 APE 

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

1. Chestplate of Titanic Fury  574.24 APE
2. Embrace of the Gladiator  565.62 APE (Hard)
3. Conqueror’s Darkruned Battleplate  563.31 APE (Set)
4. Chestplate of Vicious Potency  562.77 APE
5. Steelbreaker’s Embrace  547.77 APE

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Chest: Hit Capped

1. Conqueror’s Darkruned Battleplate  689.26 APE (Set) 
2. Steelbreaker’s Embrace  680.59 APE
3. Chestguard of the Recluse  663.57 APE
4. Valorous Darkruned Battleplate  649.92 APE  (Set)
5. Winter’s Icy Embrace  614.89 APE  

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

1. Embrace of the Gladiator  565.62 APE (Hard)
2. Conqueror’s Darkruned Battleplate  563.31 APE (Set)
3. Chestplate of Vicious Potency  562.77 APE
4. Steelbreaker’s Embrace  547.77 APE 
5. Chestplate of Titanic Fury  543.24 APE

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Chest: Expertise Capped

1. Chestplate of Titanic Fury  724.56 APE
2. Chestguard of Insidious Intent  689.35 APE
3. Undiminished Battleplate  623.94 APE
4. Breastplate of Frozen Pain  593.13 APE
5. Embrace of the Gladiator  569.94 APE (Hard)

Frost APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  73 APE
• T7 4pc  97 APE
• T8 2pc  150 APE
• T8 4pc  75 APE

 Unholy – Top 10 Best in Slot Chest

1. Conqueror’s Darkruned Battleplate  690.164 APE (Set) 
2. Steelbreaker’s Embrace  677.966 APE
3. Valorous Darkruned Battleplate  650.92 APE  (Set)
4. Embrace of the Gladiator  647.351 APE (Hard)
5. Chestplate of Titanic Fury  641.969 APE
6. Undiminished Battleplate  637.261 APE
7. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  630.803 APE (Set)
8. Chestplate of Vicious Potency  616.197 APE
9. Chestguard of Insidious Intent  586.555 APE
10. Breastplate of Frozen Pain  585.568 APE

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

1. Conqueror’s Darkruned Battleplate  690.164 APE (Set) 
2. Steelbreaker’s Embrace  677.966 APE
3. Valorous Darkruned Battleplate  650.92 APE  (Set)
4. Embrace of the Gladiator  647.351 APE (Hard)
5. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  630.803 APE (Set) 

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

1. Embrace of the Gladiator  647.351 APE (Hard)
2. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  630.803 APE (Set) 
3. Chestplate of Vicious Potency  616.197 APE
4. Conqueror’s Darkruned Battleplate  604.089 APE (Set)
5. Steelbreaker’s Embrace  587.196 APE 

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Chest: Hit Capped

1. Conqueror’s Darkruned Battleplate  690.164 APE (Set)
2. Steelbreaker’s Embrace  677.966 APE
3. Valorous Darkruned Battleplate  650.92 APE  (Set)
4. Embrace of the Gladiator  647.351 APE (Hard)
5. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  630.803 APE (Set)

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

1. Embrace of the Gladiator  647.351 APE (Hard)
2. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  630.803 APE (Set)
3. Chestplate of Vicious Potency  616.197 APE
4. Valorous Darkruned Battleplate  604.089 APE  (Set)
5. Steelbreaker’s Embrace  587.196 APE

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Chest: Expertise Capped

1. Embrace of the Gladiator  647.351 APE (Hard)
2. Chestplate of Titanic Fury  641.969 APE
3. Valorous Scourgeborne Battleplate  630.803 APE (Set)
4. Chestplate of Vicious Potency  616.197 APE
5. Conqueror’s Darkruned Battleplate  604.089 APE (Set)   

Unholy APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  78.3 APE
• T7 4pc  160.2 APE
• T8 2pc  37.92 APE
• T8 4pc  115.7 APE

Notations

• (Hard) – This comes from a boss on Hard mode.  This will not be easy to get.
• (Set) – Remember to account for the 2 and 4 Piece Set Bonuses.  This will adjust the ranking of this item.
• (Crafted) – This should be easier to attain if you have the gold and can find a crafter with the recipie.
• (Emblems) – This can only be purchased through Emblems at a vendor.

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 ADD IN SET BONUSES!!!  At the end of each Spec’s section, there is a listing of the APE values of the set bonuses.  When you attain a bonus you can then add in that APE to item values.  Remember it is not a bonus per each Tier item.  For example if you got 5 pieces of T8 Unholy you would add a total of 153.62 APE to your toon, and no more.
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.  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  that 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 available.
7. Agility adds armor, so if you have the Bladed Armor talent this can be adding AP as well as Melee Crit %.
8. Hit and Expertise 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. 213.2 Expertise Rating is equal to 26 Expertise (this is the Expertise cap).  172.2 expertise rating  (21 skill) will hit the cap when talented.
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

Heya guys!!  Welcome to the T8 edition of Best in Slot Items for Death Knights!!  Today we’re gonna talk about the best Cloak for your back slot that you can get for your DK. 

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 Cloak

1. Drape of the Faceless General  433.8 APE  (Hard)
2. Drape of Icy Intent  405.12 APE  (Hard)
3. Drape of the Skyborn  402.25 APE  (Hard)
4. Drape of the Drakerider  383.55 APE 
5. Stylish Power Cape  374.02 APE
6. Drape of the Skyherald  355.74 APE  (Hard)
7. Drape of the Lithe  334.38 APE
8. Titanskin Cloak  326.63 APE  (Hard)
9. Shawl of the Shattered Giant  321.81 APE
10. Drape of Fuming Anger  316.97 APE

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

1. Drape of the Faceless General  428.62 APE  (Hard)
2. Drape of the Drakerider  383.55 APE
3. Stylish Power Cape  374.02 APE
4. Drape of the Skyborn  328.62 APE  (Hard)
5. Drape of Icy Intent  323.08 APE  (Hard) 

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

1. Drape of the Faceless General  428.62 APE  (Hard)
2. Drape of the Drakerider  383.55 APE
3. Stylish Power Cape  374.02 APE
4. Drape of the Skyborn  328.62 APE  (Hard)
5. Drape of Icy Intent  323.08 APE  (Hard)

Blood - Top 5 Best in Slot Cloak: Hit Capped

1. Drape of the Faceless General  428.62 APE  (Hard)
2. Drape of the Drakerider  383.55 APE
3. Stylish Power Cape  374.02 APE
4. Drape of Fuming Anger  316.97 APE
5. Drape of the Deadly Foe  311.19 APE 

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

1. Drape of the Faceless General  428.62 APE  (Hard)
2. Drape of the Drakerider  383.55 APE
3. Stylish Power Cape  374.02 APE
4. Drape of Fuming Anger  316.97 APE
5. Drape of the Deadly Foe  311.19 APE 

Blood APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  60 APE
• T7 4pc  39 APE
• T8 2pc  83 APE
• T8 4pc  104 APE 

Frost - Top 10 Best in Slot Cloak

1. Drape of the Skyborn  388.26 APE  (Hard)
2. Drape of Icy Intent  370.61 APE  (Hard)
3. Drape of the Faceless General  368.93 APE  (Hard)
4. Drape of the Skyherald  343.14 APE  (Hard)
5. Drape of the Drakerider  320.79 APE 
6. Titanskin Cloak  319.69 APE  (Hard)
7. Stylish Power Cape  307.92 APE
8. Shawl of the Shattered Giant  301.13 APE
9. Drape of the Lithe  294.61 APE
10. Drape of Fuming Anger  264.43 APE

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

1. Drape of the Faceless General  360.29 APE  (Hard)
2. Drape of the Drakerider  320.79 APE 
3. Stylish Power Cape  307.92 APE
4. Drape of the Skyborn  300.98 APE  (Hard)
5. Drape of Icy Intent  272.05 APE  (Hard) 

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

1. Drape of the Faceless General  360.29 APE  (Hard)
2. Drape of the Drakerider  320.79 APE 
3. Stylish Power Cape  307.92 APE
4. Drape of the Skyborn  300.98 APE  (Hard)
5. Drape of Icy Intent  272.05 APE  (Hard)

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Cloak: Hit Capped

1. Drape of the Faceless General  360.29 APE  (Hard)
2. Drape of the Drakerider  320.79 APE
3. Stylish Power Cape  307.92 APE
4. Drape of the Skyborn  282.48 APE  (Hard)
5. Drape of Fuming Anger  264.43 APE  

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

1. Drape of the Faceless General  360.29 APE  (Hard)
2. Drape of the Drakerider  320.79 APE
3. Stylish Power Cape  307.92 APE
4. Drape of the Skyborn  282.48 APE  (Hard)
5. Drape of Fuming Anger  264.43 APE

Frost APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  73 APE
• T7 4pc  97 APE
• T8 2pc  150 APE
• T8 4pc  75 APE

 Unholy – Top 10 Best in Slot Cloak

1. Drape of the Skyborn  381.823 APE  (Hard)
2. Drape of Icy Intent  364.064 APE  (Hard)
3. Drape of the Faceless General  352.721 APE  (Hard)
4. Drape of the Skyherald  337.979 APE  (Hard)
5. Drape of the Drakerider  320.125 APE 
6. Drape of Fuming Anger  318.847 APE
7. Stylish Power Cape  299.843 APE
8. Drape of the Lithe  296.771 APE
9. Titanskin Cloak  291.225 APE  (Hard)
10. Drape of the Deadly Foe  291.084 APE

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

1. Drape of the Faceless General  352.721 APE  (Hard)
2. Drape of the Skyborn  341.567 APE  (Hard)
3. Drape of Icy Intent  320.544 APE  (Hard)
4. Drape of the Drakerider  320.125 APE
5. Drape of Fuming Anger  318.847 APE 

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

1. Drape of the Faceless General  352.721 APE  (Hard)
2. Drape of the Skyborn  341.567 APE  (Hard)
3. Drape of Icy Intent  320.544 APE  (Hard)
4. Drape of the Drakerider  320.125 APE
5. Drape of Fuming Anger  318.847 APE  

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Cloak: Hit Capped

1. Drape of the Faceless General  352.721 APE  (Hard)
2. Drape of the Drakerider  320.125 APE
3. Drape of Fuming Anger  318.847 APE
4. Drape of the Skyborn  309.007 APE  (Hard)
5. Stylish Power Cape  299.843 APE  

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

1. Drape of the Faceless General  352.721 APE  (Hard)
2. Drape of the Drakerider  320.125 APE
3. Drape of Fuming Anger  318.847 APE
4. Drape of the Skyborn  309.007 APE  (Hard)
5. Stylish Power Cape  299.843 APE 

Unholy APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  78.3 APE
• T7 4pc  160.2 APE
• T8 2pc  37.92 APE
• T8 4pc  115.7 APE

Notations

• (Hard) – This comes from a boss on Hard mode.  This will not be easy to get.
• (Set) – Remember to account for the 2 and 4 Piece Set Bonuses.  This will adjust the ranking of this item.
• (Crafted) – This should be easier to attain if you have the gold and can find a crafter with the recipie.
• (Emblems) – This can only be purchased through Emblems at a vendor.

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 ADD IN SET BONUSES!!!  At the end of each Spec’s section, there is a listing of the APE values of the set bonuses.  When you attain a bonus you can then add in that APE to item values.  Remember it is not a bonus per each Tier item.  For example if you got 5 pieces of T8 Unholy you would add a total of 153.62 APE to your toon, and no more.
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.  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  that 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 available.
7. Agility adds armor, so if you have the Bladed Armor talent this can be adding AP as well as Melee Crit %.
8. Hit and Expertise 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. 213.2 Expertise Rating is equal to 26 Expertise (this is the Expertise cap).  172.2 expertise rating  (21 skill) will hit the cap when talented.
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

Heya guys!!  Welcome to the T8 edition 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. 

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 Shoulders

1. Shoulderpads of the Intruder  601.52 APE  (Hard)
2. Shoulderplates of the Celestial Watch  569.47 APE  (Hard)
3. Shoulderplates of the Eternal  555.68 APE
4. Conqueror’s Darkruned Shoulderplates  546.08 APE  (Set)
5. Treacherous Shoulderpads  537.15 APE
6. Valorous Darkruned Shoulderplates  519.25 APE  (Set)
7. Iron-studded Mantle  518.69 APE
8. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  516.99 APE
9. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  513.09 APE  (Set)
10. Shoulderguards of the Undaunted  512.19 APE

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

1. Shoulderplates of the Celestial Watch  563.15 APE  (Hard)
2. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  516.99 APE
3. Shoulderpads of the Intruder  492.07 APE  (Hard)
4. Shoulderplates of the Eternal  474.09 APE
5. Concealment Shoulderpads  473.66 APE 

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

1. Shoulderplates of the Celestial Watch  563.15 APE  (Hard)
2. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  516.99 APE
3. Shoulderplates of the Eternal  474.09 APE
4. Conqueror’s Darkruned Shoulderplates  464.49 APE  (Set)
5. Mantle of Fiery Vengeance  461.99 APE (Hard)

Blood - Top 5 Best in Slot Shoulders: Hit Capped

1. Shoulderplates of the Celestial Watch  563.15 APE  (Hard)
2. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  516.99 APE
3. Concealment Shoulderpads  473.66 APE 
4. Shoulderpads of the Intruder  463.47 APE  (Hard)
5. Mantle of Fiery Vengeance  461.99 APE  (Hard)

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

1. Shoulderplates of the Celestial Watch  563.15 APE  (Hard)
2. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  516.99 APE
3. Mantle of Fiery Vengeance  461.99 APE (Hard)
4. Shoulders of Misfortune  454.04 APE
5. Shoulderplates of the Eternal  452.77 APE 

Blood APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  60 APE
• T7 4pc  39 APE
• T8 2pc  83 APE
• T8 4pc  104 APE 

Frost - Top 10 Best in Slot Shoulders

1. Shoulderpads of the Intruder  582.64 APE  (Hard)
2. Shoulderplates of the Eternal  534.87 APE
3. Conqueror’s Darkruned Shoulderplates  503.51 APE (Set)
4. Shoulderplates of the Celestial Watch  502.47 APE  (Hard)
5. Shoulderguards of the Undaunted  497.17 APE
6. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  495.9 APE (Set)
7. Treacherous Shoulderpads  488.46 APE
8. Valorous Darkruned Shoulderplates  480.64 APE (Set)
9. Iron-studded Mantle  467.09 APE
10. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  448.71 APE (Set)

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

1. Shoulderplates of the Celestial Watch  492.75 APE  (Hard)
2. Shoulderpads of the Intruder  452.16 APE  (Hard)
3. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  439.17 APE
4. Shoulderplates of the Eternal  438.31 APE
5. Conqueror’s Darkruned Shoulderplates  406.95 APE (Set)

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

1. Shoulderplates of the Celestial Watch  492.75 APE  (Hard)
2. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  439.17 APE
3. Shoulderplates of the Eternal  438.31 APE
4. Conqueror’s Darkruned Shoulderplates  406.95 APE (Set)
5. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  394.7 APE (Set)

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Shoulders: Hit Capped

1. Shoulderplates of the Celestial Watch  492.75 APE  (Hard)
2. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  439.17 APE
3. Shoulderpads of the Intruder  424.66 APE  (Hard)
4. Shoulderplates of the Eternal  417.81 APE
5. Concealment Shoulderpads  401.66 APE  

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

1. Shoulderplates of the Celestial Watch  492.75 APE  (Hard)
2. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  439.17 APE
3. Shoulderplates of the Eternal  417.81 APE
4. Conqueror’s Darkruned Shoulderplates  386.45 APE (Set)
5. Mantle of Fiery Vengeance  383.46 APE (Hard)

Frost APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  73 APE
• T7 4pc  97 APE
• T8 2pc  150 APE
• T8 4pc  75 APE

 Unholy – Top 10 Best in Slot Shoulders

1. Conqueror’s Darkruned Shoulderplates  529.535 APE (Set)
2. Shoulderplates of the Eternal  528.691 APE
3. Shoulderpads of the Intruder  505.646 APE  (Hard)
4. Valorous Darkruned Shoulderplates  502.037 APE (Set)
5. Shoulderplates of the Celestial Watch  501.055 APE  (Hard)
6. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  484.013 APE (Set)
7. Shoulderguards of the Undaunted  474.089 APE
8. Heroes’ Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  436.941 APE (Set)
9. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  434.911 APE
10. Shoulders of Misfortune  431.135 APE

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

1. Shoulderplates of the Celestial Watch  500.805 APE  (Hard)
2. Conqueror’s Darkruned Shoulderplates  484.927 APE (Set)
3. Shoulderplates of the Eternal  484.083 APE
4. Valorous Darkruned Shoulderplates  457.429 APE (Set)
5. Shoulderpads of the Intruder  445.806 APE  (Hard)

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

1. Shoulderplates of the Celestial Watch  500.805 APE  (Hard)
2. Conqueror’s Darkruned Shoulderplates  484.927 APE (Set)
3. Shoulderplates of the Eternal  484.083 APE
4. Valorous Darkruned Shoulderplates  457.429 APE (Set)
5. Valorous Scourgeborne Shoulderplates  437.229 APE (Set) 

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Shoulders: Hit Capped

1. Shoulderplates of the Celestial Watch  500.805 APE  (Hard)
2. Conqueror’s Darkruned Shoulderplates  448.847 APE (Set)
3. Shoulderplates of the Eternal  448.003 APE
4. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  434.911 APE
5. Shoulders of Misfortune  431.135 APE  

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

1. Shoulderplates of the Celestial Watch  500.805 APE  (Hard)
2. Conqueror’s Darkruned Shoulderplates  448.847 APE (Set)
3. Shoulderplates of the Eternal  448.003 APE
4. Shoulderguards of Opportunity  434.911 APE
5. Shoulders of Misfortune  431.135 APE 

Unholy APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  78.3 APE
• T7 4pc  160.2 APE
• T8 2pc  37.92 APE
• T8 4pc  115.7 APE

Notations

• (Hard) – This comes from a boss on Hard mode.  This will not be easy to get.
• (Set) – Remember to account for the 2 and 4 Piece Set Bonuses.  This will adjust the ranking of this item.
• (Crafted) – This should be easier to attain if you have the gold and can find a crafter with the recipie.
• (Emblems) – This can only be purchased through Emblems at a vendor.

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 ADD IN SET BONUSES!!!  At the end of each Spec’s section, there is a listing of the APE values of the set bonuses.  When you attain a bonus you can then add in that APE to item values.  Remember it is not a bonus per each Tier item.  For example if you got 5 pieces of T8 Unholy you would add a total of 153.62 APE to your toon, and no more.
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.  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  that 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 available.
7. Agility adds armor, so if you have the Bladed Armor talent this can be adding AP as well as Melee Crit %.
8. Hit and Expertise 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. 213.2 Expertise Rating is equal to 26 Expertise (this is the Expertise cap).  172.2 expertise rating  (21 skill) will hit the cap when talented.
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

Heya guys!!  Welcome to the T8 edition of Best in Slot Items for Death Knights!!  Today we’re gonna talk about the best Necklaces for your neck slot that you can get for your DK. 

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 Neck

1. Frigid Strength of Hodir  492.5 APE  (Hard)
2. Seed of Budding Carnage  411.19 APE  (Hard)
3. Might of the Leviathan  400.11 APE
4. Strength of the Heavens  363.5 APE  (Hard)
5. Favor of the Dragon Queen  362.99 APE
6. Spiked Battleguard Choker  356.96 APE  (Emblems)
7. Pendulum of Infinity  356.3 APE  (Hard)
8. Broach of the Wailing Night  352.97 APE  (Emblems)
9. Pendant of a Thousand Maws 348.56 APE
10. Insurmountable Fervor  333.84 APE

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

1. Frigid Strength of Hodir  412.9 APE  (Hard)
2. Favor of the Dragon Queen  362.99 APE
3. Strength of the Heavens  356.5 APE  (Hard)
4. Pendulum of Infinity  356.3 APE  (Hard)
5. Broach of the Wailing Night  352.97 APE  (Emblems)

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

1. Frigid Strength of Hodir  412.9 APE  (Hard)
2. Favor of the Dragon Queen  362.99 APE
3. Strength of the Heavens  356.5 APE  (Hard)
4. Pendulum of Infinity  356.3 APE  (Hard)
5. Broach of the Wailing Night  352.97 APE  (Emblems)

Blood - Top 5 Best in Slot Neck: Hit Capped

1. Frigid Strength of Hodir  392.1 APE  (Hard)
2. Favor of the Dragon Queen  362.99 APE
3. Strength of the Heavens  356.5 APE  (Hard)
4. Pendulum of Infinity  356.3 APE  (Hard)
5. Broach of the Wailing Night  352.97 APE  (Emblems)

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

1. Frigid Strength of Hodir  392.1 APE  (Hard)
2. Favor of the Dragon Queen  362.99 APE
3. Strength of the Heavens  356.5 APE  (Hard)
4. Pendulum of Infinity  356.3 APE  (Hard)
5. Broach of the Wailing Night  352.97 APE  (Emblems) 

Blood APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  60 APE
• T7 4pc  39 APE
• T8 2pc  83 APE
• T8 4pc  104 APE 

Frost - Top 10 Best in Slot Neck

1. Frigid Strength of Hodir  442.02 APE  (Hard)
2. Seed of Budding Carnage  364.46 APE  (Hard)
3. Might of the Leviathan  355.05 APE
4. Spiked Battleguard Choker  349.71 APE  (Emblems)
5. Pendant of a Thousand Maws  335.79 APE
6. Strength of the Heavens  317.94 APE  (Hard)
7. Favor of the Dragon Queen  305.15 APE
8. Nymph Heart Charm  294.74 APE
9. Collar of Dissolution  293.58 APE
10. Pendulum of Infinity  293.11 APE  (Hard)

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

1. Frigid Strength of Hodir  347.78 APE  (Hard)
2. Strength of the Heavens  305.22 APE  (Hard)
3. Favor of the Dragon Queen  303.71 APE
4. Pendulum of Infinity  291.67 APE  (Hard)
5. Insurmountable Fervor  282.96 APE 

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

1. Frigid Strength of Hodir  347.78 APE  (Hard)
2. Strength of the Heavens  305.22 APE  (Hard)
3. Favor of the Dragon Queen  303.71 APE
4. Pendulum of Infinity  291.67 APE  (Hard)
5. Insurmountable Fervor  282.96 APE 

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Neck: Hit Capped

1. Frigid Strength of Hodir  327.78 APE  (Hard)
2. Strength of the Heavens  305.22 APE  (Hard)
3. Favor of the Dragon Queen  303.71 APE
4. Pendulum of Infinity  291.67 APE  (Hard)
5. Insurmountable Fervor  282.96 APE  

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

1. Frigid Strength of Hodir  327.78 APE  (Hard)
2. Strength of the Heavens  305.22 APE  (Hard)
3. Favor of the Dragon Queen  303.71 APE
4. Pendulum of Infinity  291.67 APE  (Hard)
5. Insurmountable Fervor  282.96 APE

Frost APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  73 APE
• T7 4pc  97 APE
• T8 2pc  150 APE
• T8 4pc  75 APE

 Unholy – Top 10 Best in Slot Neck

1. Frigid Strength of Hodir  396.18 APE  (Hard)
2. Strength of the Heavens  358.114 APE  (Hard)
3. Insurmountable Fervor  333.85 APE
4. Spiked Battleguard Choker  333.014 APE  (Emblems)
5. Pendulum of Infinity  332.122 APE  (Hard)
6. Pendant of a Thousand Maws  329.099 APE
7. Might of the Leviathan  313.605 APE
8. Seed of Budding Carnage  310.754 APE  (Hard)
9. Nymph Heart Charm  294.476 APE
10. Favor of the Dragon Queen  291.96 APE

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

1. Strength of the Heavens  358.114 APE  (Hard)
2. Frigid Strength of Hodir  396.18 APE  (Hard)
3. Insurmountable Fervor  333.85 APE
4. Pendulum of Infinity  332.122 APE  (Hard)
5. Favor of the Dragon Queen  291.96 APE 

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

1. Strength of the Heavens  358.114 APE  (Hard)
2. Frigid Strength of Hodir  352.66 APE  (Hard)
3. Insurmountable Fervor  333.85 APE
4. Pendulum of Infinity  332.122 APE  (Hard)
5. Favor of the Dragon Queen  291.96 APE 

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Neck: Hit Capped

1. Strength of the Heavens  358.114 APE  (Hard)
2. Insurmountable Fervor  333.85 APE
3. Pendulum of Infinity  332.122 APE  (Hard)
4. Frigid Strength of Hodir  317.46 APE  (Hard)
5. Favor of the Dragon Queen  291.96 APE  

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

1. Strength of the Heavens  358.114 APE  (Hard)
2. Insurmountable Fervor  333.85 APE
3. Pendulum of Infinity  332.122 APE  (Hard)
4. Frigid Strength of Hodir  317.46 APE  (Hard)
5. Favor of the Dragon Queen  291.96 APE 

Unholy APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  78.3 APE
• T7 4pc  160.2 APE
• T8 2pc  37.92 APE
• T8 4pc  115.7 APE

Notations

• (Hard) – This comes from a boss on Hard mode.  This will not be easy to get.
• (Set) – Remember to account for the 2 and 4 Piece Set Bonuses.  This will adjust the ranking of this item.
• (Crafted) – This should be easier to attain if you have the gold and can find a crafter with the recipie.
• (Emblems) – This can only be purchased through Emblems at a vendor.

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 ADD IN SET BONUSES!!!  At the end of each Spec’s section, there is a listing of the APE values of the set bonuses.  When you attain a bonus you can then add in that APE to item values.  Remember it is not a bonus per each Tier item.  For example if you got 5 pieces of T8 Unholy you would add a total of 153.62 APE to your toon, and no more.
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.  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  that 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 available.
7. Agility adds armor, so if you have the Bladed Armor talent this can be adding AP as well as Melee Crit %.
8. Hit and Expertise 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. 213.2 Expertise Rating is equal to 26 Expertise (this is the Expertise cap).  172.2 expertise rating  (21 skill) will hit the cap when talented.
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

Heya guys!!

Frost might still do okay with 2H. We didn’t specifically nerf their 2H abilities. We just gave them a talent to make DW more viable. I don’t honestly know how 2H Frost dps stacks up in 3.2 at the moment.

So.  Who else really just stopped dead in their tracks when they read the words, “I don’t honestly know how 2H Frost dps stacks up in 3.2 at the moment.”?  I sure as hell did.

Backing up a step…

I played a Shaman for the vast majority of BC.  It was a hell of a lot of fun even though I was playing one of the weakest damage dealing classes in all of PvE and PvP content.  I enjoyed playing this character even though Blizzard never understood how the class really worked, ignored the problems consistently, and in the end ultimately failed at balancing the class as a whole.

So that being said, I can speak with some authority on playing a broken class for an extended period of time.

Moving back to now…

So basically the weakest spec for PvE damage (Frost) is obviously being followed very closely by the Devs… *shakes head*

OK, first up I like Frost.  It’s really cool.  But it’s damage is subpar.  The Blue posts exemplifies why this has happened sadly when of course they are initiating Frost nerfs when they have people who have no concept of Frost’s performance in the game.  I don’t really know what else to say on this matter.  It really speaks for itself.

The future of Death Knights

This is a detailed and long post I don’t have the time for.  But I tell you this now.  DK’s are not dead, they will not suck, nor should you be quitting your DK.  A strong community presence on the forums of WoW is honestly one of the only things that can and will prevent massive nerfs from going through.  If you sit idly by the sidelines without speaking up, then you have no one to blame but yourself.  That said, keep your arguments informed and educated.  Don’t just whine or cry.

It’s been a busy weekend for me guys.  Hell I slept in till like 4pm because I was so exhausted from this last week.  Had a ton of work to do on the D20 rules stuff for our 3.5 campaigns (D&D).  But, that is behind me now (yay!!) and I can get back to focusing on DK’s.

If you’re getting discouraged, don’t be.  Honestly it’s frustrating as all hell when you’re gettin nerfed, but we’ll make it through.  We’re Death Knights.  We not a bunch of sissy Nancy boy rogues or mages who are going to cry because we got a nose bleed.  Man up, weather the storm, and prove what we’re made of.  Remember to keep active in the forums and to not whine or cry.  Speak your message, and back it up with facts.  We are the dark destroyers of WoW, not a sissy caster in robes.

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Tags: Blue

Heya guys!!  Nerf city.  Should be used to it by now…sigh.

• Due to significant talent changes, all death knight talents will be reset for players.
• Blood Strike: The bonus damage this ability receives from diseases on the target has been increased to 50% per disease.
• Chains of Ice: Now reduces movement by 95% instead of 100%. The main effect of this change will be that targets of Chains of Ice will not have to re-issue a movement command to continue moving.
• Frost Presence: 10% bonus health reduced to 6% bonus stamina.
• Frost Strike: This ability can now be dodged, parried, or blocked. Weapon damage bonus reduced to 55%, down from 60%.
• Icebound Fortitude: Cooldown increased to 2 minutes.

Talents

Blood

• Dancing Rune Weapon: This ability now has a fixed duration of 12 seconds (which can still be modified by its glyph) and a fixed cost of 60 runic power.
• Veteran of the Third War: Stamina bonus reduced to 1/2/3%.

Frost

• Blood of the North: Reduced to a 3-point talent. Increases Blood Strike and Frost Strike damage by 5/10/15%. There is now a 33/66/100% chance whenever you hit with Blood Strike or Pestilence that the Blood Rune will become a Death Rune when it activates.
• Lichborne: Duration reduced to 10 seconds, and cooldown reduced to 2 minutes.
• Threat of Thassarian: New 3-point talent. When dual-wielding, your Death Strikes, Obliterates, Plague Strikes, Blood Strikes and Frost Strikes have a 30/60/100% chance to also deal damage with your off-hand weapon. Off-hand strikes are roughly one half the effect of the original strike.
• Toughness: This talent now grants 2/4/6/8/10% armor instead of 3/6/9/12/15%, placing it in line with similar abilities of other classes.

Unholy

• Desecration: This talent has been reduced to 2 points for 25/50% snare and no longer increases damage done by the death knight. It has also been moved one tier earlier in the tree and its spell effect has been made more transparent.
• Desolation: New talent. This talent is in the position formerly occupied by Desecration. It causes Blood Strikes to increase all damage the death knight deals by 1/2/3/4/5% for 12 seconds.
• Scourge Strike: Weapon damage bonus reduced to 40%, down from 45%. Damage increased by 10% per disease on the target, down from 11%.
• Summon Gargoyle: The gargoyle now flies lower to the ground, making it susceptible to melee attacks. This ability now has a fixed duration of 30 seconds and a fixed cost of 60 runic power.
• Unholy Blight: This talent has been redesigned. It no longer deals damage to nearby targets. Instead, when you deal damage with Death Coil, the target will take periodic damage for 10 seconds equal to 30% of the damage done by Death Coil. This damage accumulates in the same way as Ignite and Deep Wounds.

Uhm…it’s nerfs across the board really excepting making room to make DW viable in the Frost tree.  It looks like a lot of PvP initiated nerfs, combined with them hating the AoE on Unholy.  I’m not sure on all of this yet, so I’ll get back to you on it after I have some time to think on it.

I’ve not been posting because we have a new D&D campaign starting this Friday and I’ve been putting in the new Spyre campaign info on the Shai’dar tab and updating the new house rules I’ve written.  Once this weekend is over, I should be done with updating the D&D part of my site and can focus on DK’s more.

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Tags: Blue

Heya guys!!  Welcome to the T8 edition of Best in Slot Items for Death Knights!!  Today we’re gonna talk about the best Helms for your head slot that you can get for your DK. 

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 Helm

1. Warhelm of the Champion  807.15 APE (Hard)
2. Iron Riveted War Helm  718.57 APE
3. Conqueror’s Darkruned Helmet  694.44 APE (Set)
4. Obsidian Greathelm  692.99 APE
5. Dragonsteel Faceplate  662.41 APE
6. Valorous Darkruned Helmet  650.3 APE (Set)
7. Spiked Titansteel Helm  642.44 APE (Crafted)
8. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  631.24 APE (Set)
9. Garona’s Guise  626.63 APE
10. Guise of the Midgard Serpent  620.25 APE

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

1. Conqueror’s Darkruned Helmet  694.44 APE (Set)
2. Obsidian Greathelm  692.99 APE
3. Warhelm of the Champion  678.16 APE (Hard)
4. Dragonsteel Faceplate  662.41 APE
5. Valorous Darkruned Helmet  650.3 APE (Set)

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

1. Conqueror’s Darkruned Helmet  694.44 APE (Set)
2. Warhelm of the Champion  678.16 APE (Hard)
3. Dragonsteel Faceplate  662.41 APE
4. Valorous Darkruned Helmet  650.3 APE (Set)
5. Titan’s Outlook  614.47 APE

Blood - Top 5 Best in Slot Helm: Hit Capped

1. Conqueror’s Darkruned Helmet  694.44 APE (Set)
2. Obsidian Greathelm  692.99 APE
3. Dragonsteel Faceplate  662.41 APE
4. Valorous Darkruned Helmet  650.3 APE (Set)
5. Warhelm of the Champion  646.44 APE (Hard)

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

1. Conqueror’s Darkruned Helmet  694.44 APE (Set)
2. Dragonsteel Faceplate  662.41 APE
3. Valorous Darkruned Helmet  650.3 APE (Set)
4. Warhelm of the Champion  646.44 APE (Hard)
5. Titan’s Outlook  614.47 APE

Blood APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  60 APE
• T7 4pc  39 APE
• T8 2pc  83 APE
• T8 4pc  104 APE 

Frost - Top 10 Best in Slot Helm

1. Warhelm of the Champion  781.38 APE (Hard)
2. Iron Riveted War Helm  676.49 APE
3. Obsidian Greathelm  642.77 APE
4. Spiked Titansteel Helm  631.2 APE (Crafted)
5. Conqueror’s Darkruned Helmet  604.26 APE (Set)
6. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  597.06 APE (Set)
7. Fire-Scorched Greathelm  586.11 APE
8. Boundless Gaze  580.78 APE (Hard)
9. Dragonsteel Faceplate  576.63 APE
10. Circlet of True Sight  572.52 APE

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

1. Obsidian Greathelm  641.33 APE
2. Warhelm of the Champion  626.66 APE (Hard)
3. Conqueror’s Darkruned Helmet  602.82 APE (Set)
4. Dragonsteel Faceplate  575.19 APE
5. Valorous Darkruned Helmet  565.92 APE (Set)

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

1. Warhelm of the Champion  626.66 APE (Hard)
2. Dragonsteel Faceplate  575.19 APE
3. Conqueror’s Darkruned Helmet  602.82 APE (Set)
4. Valorous Darkruned Helmet  565.92 APE (Set)
5. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  516.74 APE (Set) 

Frost - Top 5 Best in Slot Helm: Hit Capped

1. Obsidian Greathelm  641.33 APE
2. Conqueror’s Darkruned Helmet  602.82 APE (Set)
3. Warhelm of the Champion  596.16 APE (Hard)
4. Dragonsteel Faceplate  575.19 APE
5. Valorous Darkruned Helmet  565.92 APE (Set) 

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

1. Conqueror’s Darkruned Helmet  602.82 APE (Set)
2. Warhelm of the Champion  596.16 APE (Hard)
3. Dragonsteel Faceplate  575.19 APE
4. Valorous Darkruned Helmet  565.92 APE (Set)
5. Titan’s Outlook  515.37 APE

Frost APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  73 APE
• T7 4pc  97 APE
• T8 2pc  150 APE
• T8 4pc  75 APE

 Unholy – Top 10 Best in Slot Helm

1. Warhelm of the Champion  763.256 APE (Hard)
2. Iron Riveted War Helm  683.454 APE
3. Obsidian Greathelm  632.579 APE
4. Spiked Titansteel Helm  608.221 APE (Crafted)
5. Conqueror’s Darkruned Helmet  603.886 APE (Set)
6. Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet  600.807 APE (Set)
7. Dragonsteel Faceplate  576.359 APE
8. Mimiron’s Flight Goggles  571.104 APE (Hard)
9. Valorous Darkruned Helmet  566.95 APE (Set)
10. Fire-Scorched Greathelm  565.849 APE

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

1. Warhelm of the Champion  693.256 APE (Hard)
2. Obsidian Greathelm  632.579 APE
3. Iron Riveted War Helm  610.574 APE
4. Conqueror’s Darkruned Helmet  603.886 APE (Set)
5. Dragonsteel Faceplate  576.359 APE

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

1. Warhelm of the Champion  693.256 APE (Hard)
2. Iron Riveted War Helm  610.574 APE
3. Conqueror’s Darkruned Helmet  603.886 APE (Set)
4. Dragonsteel Faceplate  576.359 APE
5. Valorous Darkruned Helmet  566.95 APE (Set)

Unholy - Top 5 Best in Slot Helm: Hit Capped

1. Warhelm of the Champion  639.576 APE (Hard)
2. Obsidian Greathelm  632.579 APE
3. Conqueror’s Darkruned Helmet  603.886 APE (Set)
4. Dragonsteel Faceplate  576.359 APE
5. Valorous Darkruned Helmet  566.95 APE (Set)  

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

1. Warhelm of the Champion  639.576 APE (Hard)
2. Conqueror’s Darkruned Helmet  603.886 APE (Set)
3. Dragonsteel Faceplate  576.359 APE
4. Valorous Darkruned Helmet  566.95 APE (Set)
5. Iron Riveted War Helm  557.774 APE

Unholy APE Values for Tier Set Bonuses

• T7 2pc  78.3 APE
• T7 4pc  160.2 APE
• T8 2pc  37.92 APE
• T8 4pc  115.7 APE

Notations

• (Hard) – This comes from a boss on Hard mode.  This will not be easy to get.
• (Set) – Remember to account for the 2 and 4 Piece Set Bonuses.  This will adjust the ranking of this item.
• (Crafted) – This should be easier to attain if you have the gold and can find a crafter with the recipie.
• (Emblems) – This can only be purchased through Emblems at a vendor.

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 ADD IN SET BONUSES!!!  At the end of each Spec’s section, there is a listing of the APE values of the set bonuses.  When you attain a bonus you can then add in that APE to item values.  Remember it is not a bonus per each Tier item.  For example if you got 5 pieces of T8 Unholy you would add a total of 153.62 APE to your toon, and no more.
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.  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  that 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 available.
7. Agility adds armor, so if you have the Bladed Armor talent this can be adding AP as well as Melee Crit %.
8. Hit and Expertise 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. 213.2 Expertise Rating is equal to 26 Expertise (this is the Expertise cap).  172.2 expertise rating  (21 skill) will hit the cap when talented.
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