Blood Death Knight Tank Gear and Best in Slot — Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.3

We do not currently provide a Best in Slot list. You should aim to prioritize item level above everything else, as anything 10 item levels or more is virtually guaranteed to be an upgrade.

If you have a choice on the same item level, the alternative will likely, in generic circumstances, not make a difference defensively. As such, we recommend just simming the choice and going with whatever helps you do more damage.

There are some exceptions to this rule and encounter-specific situations where a stat is massively devalued. You should keep an eye on the raid encounter guides to be aware of this.

Throughout the lifetime of Patch 8.3, all items available to you may have a chance to become corrupted, granting them additional effects. These effects also carry a Corruption cost, which leads to harmful effects.

As a tank, you are recommended not to step over 20 corruption unless the encounter you are facing has no strict positional requirement, as the 20+ harmful effect requires you to step out of a circle (and therefore move whatever it is you are tanking). As such, your choices will be limited by this.

The effects themselves are still being tuned, and as such, there is no final word on how good some of them will be when the raid comes out. We will update this page when it does.

A favourite since the effect rescaling of Patch 8.2, Geti'ikku, Cut of Death is a weapon worth much more than its item level indicates, and is definitely worth considering despite the lack of secondary stats on it.

On the other end of the spectrum, both Sk'shuul Vaz and Devastation's Hour should be avoided if possible, due to their lackluster effects and exceedingly high corruption costs.

The raw destructive power of both Merektha's Fang and Grong's Primal Rage deserve a specific mention for Mythic+. As we are not GCD-locked, we have natural gaps in our rotation that allow us to use these trinkets without a loss. Merektha's Fang in particular also befits the class particularly well, as the passive from Death's Advance allows us to move while channelling it.

Defensively, Idol of Indiscriminate Consumption is a very solid pick. The ability to heal yourself for a very sizeable chunk of health every 2 minutes can turn the tide in quite a few pulls.

There is no real valuable trinket from Ny'alotha, unfortunately. If the passive from Lingering Psychic Shell applied in Mythic+, it would make the list; sadly, it does not.

Generally, as most of the item budget on a trinket is on its primary stat, you will still be going by item level, save a few exceptions.

Listed below are a few examples of trinkets you may be interested in:

• Jes' Howler is more of a party cooldown than a personal cooldown, in that it provides a hefty amount of extra damage to your group if used while offensive cooldowns are up.
• Diamond-Laced Refracting Prism is a solid throughput trinket that will rarely waste its effect, thanks to the absorb stacking as high as 5 times the base value.
• Sinister Gladiator's Badge and Sinister Gladiator's Medallion are all excellent choices, if you can do PvP content. Just keeping up with weekly Conquest rewards will reward one Trinket of your choice per month.

Please read this post for information on how Benthic gear is acquired and upgraded.

All Benthic pieces have a unique Equip effect. The following are the pieces that are notable for Blood Death Knights.

• Bracers: Waveblade Farseer's Armguards — A very potent damage proc.
• Back: Shirakess Drape — Frost damage taken is reduced by 3% while in Nazjatar or the Eternal Palace.
• Hands: Zanj'ir Scaleguard Gauntlets — Shadow damage taken is reduced by 3% while in Nazjatar or the Eternal Palace.
• Hands: Zanj'ir Scaleguard Fists — While in Nazjatar or the Eternal Palace, your critical strikes have a chance to heal you for a small amount over 10 sec.
• Hands: Poen's Deepsea Handguards; A very potent damage proc.
• Belt: Vim's Scalecrusher Girdle; A frequent, AoE physical damage proc.
• Boots: Akana's Reefstrider Boots; While in Nazjatar or the Eternal Palace, your critical strikes deal increased damage.

It is worth noting that virtually all of the offensive items on this list will be BiS irrespective of item level when fully upgraded, if they have a socket. You should keep gambling to obtain one.

A unique set bonus is available in the form of two generic all-class trinkets from Ny'alotha. This effect is quite strong, but one of the trinket effects is non-existent for tanks, as it requires the player to not take damage to maximize. As a result, while it is not completely dead, it is pretty lackluster for us.

For information about what Azerite traits to choose and what the best items are, see our Azerite page.