Blood Death Knight Tank Gear and Best in Slot — The War Within Pre-Patch
On this page, you will find the best gear and best in slot items for your Blood Death Knight in World of Warcraft The War Within Pre-Patch.
BiS Gear for Blood Death Knights
Welcome to our Gear and BiS Page for Blood Death Knight for Dragonflight 10.2.6. Check this page to learn everything you need to know about gearing a Blood Death Knight, including the BiS Gear from all sources, Raiding, and Mythic+, information on the best Trinkets, Tier Sets, and much more.
We only provide a "Best in Slot" list as a mandatory requirement stemming from certain guilds and players thinking they absolutely need to blindly chase that one item in that one slot and nothing else will do. Sometimes, it is raid leaders enforcing a very strict "BiS list" for loot council without any nuance; other times, it is players themselves enforcing it on themselves.
Blood Death Knight gearing is very simple: you prioritize item level above everything else on everything except trinkets, as anything 6 item levels or more is virtually guaranteed to be an upgrade.
If you have a choice on the same item level, the alternative will not, in generic circumstances, make a difference defensively. As such, we recommend just simming the choice and going with whatever helps you do more damage.
There are exceptions to this rule, and encounter-specific situations where a stat is massively devalued. Whenever an encounter features a difference (such as a boss not having a parryable auto-attack or dealing pure magical damage) and is deadly enough to warrant recommending small gearing changes, we will highlight it in the encounter guides as an exception, not a rule.
Similarly, at the absolute cutting-edge Mythic+ key levels, a slightly more fine-tuned approach towards secondaries and key-specific trade-offs on secondary stats may occur. This is extremely rare, and very often, even these players eschew or illogically favor choices that prove to be major mistakes just by cursory log analysis.
We have covered some of the caveats in a more detailed fashion on the following page:
"Simming" Yourself as a Blood Death Knight
Throughout this page, we will regularly refer to the importance of simming yourself on Raidbots, as it is an indispensable aspect of optimizing your character.
While we do offer generic sim charts for Trinkets, this should not be a replacement for simming. These charts are generated in isolation, without including a second trinket. As a result, this can mess with - to name just a few:
- Cases where you have two on-use trinkets and the order in which they are used
- Cases where trinket cooldowns clash at specific points
- Cases where a certain trinket drastically impacts your rotation when it comes off cooldown
If you are new to simming and Raidbots, check out our detailed guide below.
BiS Gear for Blood Death Knight
BiS List for Blood Death Knight
This list contains the best gear setup from most sources for Blood Death Knight. Wherever possible, we made use of the ilvl 528 gear available from Mythic Vault of the Incarnates, Aberrus and Amirdrassil.
A couple of items on this list may be from Mythic+ and listed at 528. This item level - in other words, getting it from Great Vault - is a requirement on the item. We opted to do this rather than to list 522s, as they would frankly never show up. In true BiS fashion, the list is, indeed, true BiS.
Every slot that is socketable is assumed socketed, and every enchant is assumed acquired.
Slot | Item | Source/Note |
---|---|---|
Weapon | ![]() |
Fyrakk |
Helm | ![]() |
Mythic Raszageth / Mythic Magmorax / Mythic Tindral Sageswift |
Neck | ![]() |
Mythic Volcoross in Amirdrassil |
Shoulder | ![]() |
Mythic Smolderon in Amirdrassil (from Season 3) |
Cloak | ![]() ![]() |
Crafted |
Chest | ![]() |
Mythic Kurog Grimtotem / Mythic Zskarn / Mythic Nymue |
Bracers | ![]() ![]() |
Crafted |
Gloves | ![]() |
Mythic Volcoross in Amirdrassil (from Season 3) |
Belt | ![]() |
Mythic+ Brackenhide Hollow |
Legs | ![]() |
Mythic Assault of the Zaqali in Aberrus |
Boots | ![]() |
Mythic Magmorax in Aberrus |
Ring #1 | ![]() |
Mythic Eranog in Vault of the Incarnates |
Ring #2 | ![]() |
Mythic Broodkeeper Diurna in Vault of the Incarnates |
Trinket #1 | ![]() |
Mythic Broodkeeper Diurna in Vault of the Incarnates |
Trinket #2 | ![]() |
Mythic Smolderon in Amirdrassil |
BiS List from Raid Blood Death Knight
This list contains the best gear setup from Vault of the Incarnates, Aberrus and Amirdrassil specifically for Blood Death Knight.
Do you have a pesky raid leader who demands a BiS wishlist to be able to determine strictly what one item per slot you are entitled to? This list is for you.
Do not forget to remind them that every item is upgradeable to 528 (end-boss level) in Season 4, and that as a result, other pieces in the same slot are also very close side-grades.
Every slot that is socketable is assumed socketed, and every enchant is assumed acquired.
Slot | Item | Source/Note |
---|---|---|
Weapon | ![]() |
Fyrakk |
Helm | ![]() |
Mythic Raszageth / Mythic Magmorax / Mythic Tindral Sageswift |
Neck | ![]() |
Mythic Volcoross in Amirdrassil |
Shoulder | ![]() |
Mythic Smolderon in Amirdrassil (from Season 3) |
Cloak | ![]() ![]() |
Crafted |
Chest | ![]() |
Mythic Kurog Grimtotem / Mythic Zskarn / Mythic Nymue |
Bracers | ![]() ![]() |
Crafted |
Gloves | ![]() |
Mythic Volcoross in Amirdrassil (from Season 3) |
Belt | ![]() |
Mythic Assault of the Zaqali in Aberrus |
Legs | ![]() |
Mythic Assault of the Zaqali in Aberrus |
Boots | ![]() |
Mythic Magmorax in Aberrus |
Ring #1 | ![]() |
Mythic Eranog in Vault of the Incarnates |
Ring #2 | ![]() |
Mythic Broodkeeper Diurna in Vault of the Incarnates |
Trinket #1 | ![]() |
Mythic Broodkeeper Diurna in Vault of the Incarnates |
Trinket #2 | ![]() |
Mythic Smolderon in Amirdrassil |
Mythic+ Farmable (522) List for Blood Death Knight
This list contains what a BiS list would look like if you could only target gear that you could repeatedly farm from Mythic+. We have assumed infinite Catalyst charges, but otherwise, we have left the options open, with the one condition that every piece of gear apart from the two crafted gear pieces we have limited ourselves to are 522 upgraded Hero drops from Mythic+ and only from Mythic+.
If these items are obtained in the weekly vault on the Myth track they can be upgraded to 528.
This is an obviously unrealistic setup, as, by now, you can send sparks on crafted pieces to cover almost every slot. Still - it provides you with a simple idea of things to chase or a suitable farming spot for that one slot you still need.
Every slot that is socketable is assumed socketed, and every enchant is assumed acquired.
Slot | Item | Source/Note |
---|---|---|
Weapon | ![]() |
Fyrakk |
Helm | ![]() |
Revival Catalyst any Helm from Mythic+ |
Neck | ![]() |
Mythic+: Brackenhide Hollow |
Shoulder | ![]() |
Revival Catalyst any Shoulder on Myth track from Mythic+ (from Season 3) |
Cloak | ![]() ![]() |
Crafted |
Chest | ![]() |
Revival Catalyst any Chest from Mythic+ |
Bracers | ![]() ![]() |
Crafted |
Gloves | ![]() |
Revival Catalyst any Gloves on Myth track from Mythic+ (from Season 3) |
Belt | ![]() |
Mythic+: Halls of Infusion |
Legs | ![]() |
Mythic+: Algeth'ar Academy |
Boots | ![]() |
Mythic+: Neltharus |
Ring #1 | ![]() |
Mythic+: Halls of Infusion |
Ring #2 | ![]() |
Mythic+: The Nokhud Offensive |
Trinket #1 | ![]() |
Mythic+: Ruby Life Pools |
Trinket #2 | ![]() |
Mythic+: The Nokhud Offensive |
Embellishment Recommendations for Blood Death Knight
Embellishments are additional item effects present on profession gear,
either as a baseline (such as Elemental Lariat) or added
as an optional reagent when crafting (such as
Shadowflame-Tempered Armor Patch). These
grant a free, additional effect to the piece.
You may only have two embellishments active at a time.
Best Embellishments for Blood Death Knight for Raiding
For Blood Death Knights vying to perform optimally in Season 4 raiding, we recommend the following embellished pieces:
- As your first craft of the season, craft a
Vibrant Wildercloth Shawl and embellish it with
Shadowflame-Tempered Armor Patch.
- For your second craft of the season, craft
Primal Molten Vambraces and embellish them with
Shadowflame-Tempered Armor Patch.
Alchemical Flavor Pocket can be added to crafted items and does not
count as an embellishment.
Best Embellishments for Blood Death Knight for Mythic+
For Blood Death Knights vying to perform optimally in Mythic+ and wanting to focus on AoE damage instead of priority damage, we instead recommend the following:
- As your first craft of the season, craft a
Vibrant Wildercloth Shawl and embellish it with
Shadowflame-Tempered Armor Patch.
- As your second craft of the season, craft
Allied Wristguard of Companionship.
Alchemical Flavor Pocket can be added to crafted items and does not
count as an embellishment.
Blood Death Knight Tier Set - Risen Nightmare's Gravemantle
With the launch of Season 4, Blood Death Knights will be able to don the bonuses from Lingering Phantom's Encasement (Season 2 bonus) but with the appearance and name of Risen Nightmare's Gravemantle (Season 3). As usual, Head, Shoulders, Chest, Gloves and Legs provide the following set bonus:
Death Knight Blood 10.1 Class Set 2pc —
Heart Strike and
Blood Boil deal 20% increased damage and have a 10% chance to grant
Vampiric Blood for 5 sec.
Death Knight Blood 10.1 Class Set 4pc — When you would gain
Vampiric Blood you are infused with
Vampiric Strength, granting you 10% Strength for 5 sec. Your
Heart Strike and
Blood Boil extend the duration of
Vampiric Strength by 0.5 sec.
As of the time of writing you should aim to get the Head and Chest as soon as possible and equip 2-piece from Season 4 and Myth 4/4 2-piece from Season 3, as this works out to be the best defensive and offensive gain.
The 2-piece bonus essentially just gives you more damage for two key rotational abilities.
The chance to trigger Vampiric Blood for 5 seconds is largely superfluous
as it will not have any real impact on your decision-making and is just a nice bonus when it triggers.
The 4-piece bonus turns Vampiric Blood into a DPS cooldown.
Vampiric Strength
triggers both when you cast
Vampiric Blood and when you get a 2-piece proc.
PvP Gear Recommendations for Blood Death Knight
Obtaining gear from rated PvP can be a powerful boost to your item level early in the season.
All of these items have Versatility on them.
If you are wanting to obtain PvP gear, we would advise doing Solo Shuffle as Frost.
Trinket Recommendations for Blood Death Knight
Season 4 brings back all of the raids in Dragonflight and the 8 Dragonflight dungeons for Mythic+. Blood Death Knights get to re-discover a wide array of trinkets with different effects.
We strongly recommend using trinkets that suit the encounter at hand. For instance, if you are not able to line up a defensive trinket with a mechanic, or flat-out do not need it, pick a generic trinket instead!
General Purpose Trinkets
Caveat: All trinkets with a primary stat budget (Strength) or a secondary stat have defensive value. In fact, the bulk of any trinket's defensive value is in the Strength they have, as this provides armor and a noticeable amount of parry rating.
Manic Grieftorch is the trinket of the season. An old favorite returns
with new functionality. You can now move whilst channeling the trinket. This trinket
provides a very large amount of priority damage and has a small chance to cleave
to nearby enemies. Furthermore, the cooldown is reduced by 90 seconds if someone
in your team dies, making it that much more impactful for raid progression scenarios,
as the tank will be the last one alive most of the time.
Cataclysmic Signet Brand is by far one of the most potent trinkets
acquired in Amirdrassil, both for single-target and AoE. All of your
direct damage abilities have a chance to apply a very potent damage over time
effect to your target and grants you a stack of
Firestarter.
Each application of
Firestarter increases the damage of the
DoT by 2.5%, stacking up to a maximum of 15 times. Above 5 stacks, this DoT also deals 50%
of its damage to you (this is irrelevant in practice - effectively, more fuel for
Death Strike). At 15 stacks, all enemies within 8 yards of the DoTted target also
take 10% of the damage from the DoT, split between them. Every 5 seconds spent not
in combat causes a stack of
Firestarter to fade,
with all stacks fading after 15 seconds.
In raid, this is a completely fire-and-forget trinket. In Mythic+, its behavior
is similar to Elementium Pocket Anvil, where you have a very strong incentive
to stay in combat for as much as possible. Similar to last season, you can use
Worn Doll to spawn an attackable NPC that you can then hit to force yourself
in combat and prevent the stacks from decaying for 6 seconds.
Augury of the Primal Flame, the Very Rare DPS trinket from Fyrakk, simply
grants you a chance to deal bonus damage to your target with every critical strike. It
sounds boring, but it is very potent, with its 10 bonus item level compared
to the competition taking it one step further.
Storm-Eater's Boon drops from Dathea returns and is one of two
trinkets with uncapped AoE damage (the other being
All-Totem of the Master).
After activating the trinket, you will be rooted for 10 seconds and pulse damage around
yourself. Timing the use of this trinket well is an essential requirement, as if you do
not consider the next 10 seconds of the encounter, you may find yourself dying to otherwise
avoidable damage.
Elementium Pocket Anvil adds a chance for your
Heart Strike to deal
additional damage. The on-use aspect of this trinket boosts the damage from this proc up,
and this additional damage buff can stack up to 5 times. The buff from the on-use effect
will fade when you leave combat, and you have 15 seconds to keep the buff up.
Branch of the Tormented Ancient allows you to tether yourself to a target,
which slows you by 15% per root, with 4 roots total. This works out to a 30% slow
thanks to the passive effect from
Death's Advance. Every direct damage ability
damaging a rooted target deals a large amount of shadowflame damage, split between
all nearby targets.
Coiled Serpent Idol is a completely passive trinket that spawns hydras
that then damage your current target for 10 seconds. The targets have to be within 20
yards of the hydra for it to deal damage, and it will pick any target nearby if it
cannot hit the target it was spawned on. If the target it picked dies, the hydra
AoEs instead.
Gift of Ursine Vengeance is probably the most interesting trinket from
Amirdrassil. It is completely useless in raid. Every time
somebody near you takes direct damage, you gain a stack of
Rising Rage up to
once every 3 seconds. This grants you a decent amount of Strength.
When you reach 30 stacks, these are converted into Fury of Urctos, causing you
to lash out at any target within 8 stacks that damages you and regenerating a small
amount of health every second while this effect persists. The counterattack proc has
a 0.1s internal cooldown, allowing you to deal a significant amount of damage in AoE
with this. The Strength gained from the primary effect is also very good, particularly
as, unlike most stacking primary stat budget trinkets, this one also comes
with a full primary stat budget.
Season 4 also bring a number of stat stick trinkets. Rather than endlessly copying descriptions, we have instead created a table to represent what they do:
Trinket | Stat | Cooldown | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Cycling between all secondaries | Passive | Cycles every 12 seconds between secondaries and decays for 12 seconds thereafter. |
![]() |
A secondary stat of your choice | Passive | Buffs you and all other users of this trinket |
![]() |
Versatility | Passive | Buffs you and all other users of this trinket. The loss for yourself is larger than the gain to an entire party. In a raid, you should consider trying to scam your co-tank if they are not a Blood Death Knight, as Blood is the worst possible Icon buff bot. |
Defensive Trinkets
Season 4 brings back a few additional defensive trinkets to the mix. Most of them either have a very concrete (but niche) use case or deal enough damage to be considered hybrid. We have listed them here, along with their use case
Trinket | Use case | Notes |
---|---|---|
![]() |
Shield every 1min30 | Deals a high amount of damage to targets when used. You have a very strong incentive not to delay using this trinket. It is worth noting that if you do not need the shield, it is not worth using this trinket. |
![]() |
Shidld every 1min and usable on anyone | This trinket has seen some changes since the last time it was available in Season 2 and is in a now much more usable state. The cooldown got reduced from 2 minutes to 1 minute, however the absorb has been lowered. Overall this buffed the trinket in usability as you can rotate the effect in your cooldown plan more effectively. |
![]() |
Shield every 1min30 | A worse version of the above two trinkets./td> |
![]() |
A second cheat death? | In Season 4, this trinket is only available from Mythic0 and has an
item level ceiling of 515. If for some obscure reason, you think
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Flightstone Upgrades
Dragonflight Season 4 continues the same trend of item level upgrading which started in Season 2. They can also upgrade Crafted Gear up to iLvl 525, which is late-Mythic Item Level.
For more information on the new Gear Upgrades system, check out our dedicated page for it below.
As with Valor, the cost to upgrade scales differs per slot but now also increases quickly as item levels go up.
We recommend upgrading with the following priority list:
- Upgrade your crafted items (Bracer/Cloak).
- Upgrade your lowest item level slots or use a Raidbots Droptimiser sim to evaluate what to upgrade next.
- If you do not have
Fyr'alath the Dreamrender yet, upgrade your weapon with any spare crests.
Enchants and Sockets
Once you have obtained a piece of gear containing a prismatic socket or needing to be enchanted, you will need to know how to modify it. Details about these tweaks can be found on our dedicated gems, enchants, and consumables page.
A new helm enchant was added with the launch of Amirdrassil. Don't
forget to complete the raid-only quest to unlock access to
Incandescent Essence!
Changelog
- 23 Jul. 2024: Removed bullion section to prepare for pre-patch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Prepared for Season 4. Contains new BiS with all the S4 gear, cantrips, trinkets, bullions etc.
- 19 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Clarifying BiS lists, removing crafted from M+/raid tables.
- 03 Jan. 2024: Removing tuning disclaimers, adding Fyr'alath.
- 27 Nov. 2023: Adding in murozond's rise/galakrond's fall separate links.
- 07 Nov. 2023: Sporecloak got taken out back, so we update that.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Prepared for 10.2, all trinkets are in, all gear sets are in.
- 04 Sep. 2023: New format - and some clarifications + BiS lists for 10.1.7!
- 10 Jul. 2023: Added 10.1.5 info about mega dungeon and open world trinkets.
- 24 May 2023: Added timewalking section.
- 01 May 2023: Updated for Season 2 launch. Moved Onyx Annulet section to the bottom of the page (It's still good for damage!)
- 20 Mar. 2023: Added Onyx Annulet and clarified its use in content.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Updated for Season 1 launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
More Death Knight Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Mandl and Panthea.
Mandl is one of Acherus' Useful Minions and Blood Death Knight theorycrafter.
Panthea raids in Catalyst and is the author of TankNotes. He plays all tanks and is a "Useful Minion" for the Acherus Death Knight Discord. You can follow him on Twitter.
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