BiS - 5.4 Blood Death Knight

[Veraxys]

Siege of Orgrimmar Best in Slot for Blood Death Knights!

Survival Build (Mastery/Stam/Avoidance):
The following setup follows what I consider the more "Traditional" build since Active Mitigations introduction to Blood at the start of Cataclysm. The strategy here is to obtain a great deal of Mastery, while supporting it with a good deal of Avoidance, large Stam gains thanks to the massive Trinkets and allowing us to maintain/achieve both Hit/Exp caps. The focus with this build is to optimize proper timing of Death Strikes to build the largest shield possible within the smallest time frame with as few Runes as possible.

Blood 4-Set Bonus will still be quite good despite the many nerfs/retweaks it has received and should be obtained, especially with the Runic-Power cost being removed from Dancing Rune Weapon

Stat Priority for this build:
For Heavy Mastery - Stamina(To safe point; personal preference)>=Mastery>Hit(7.5%)=Exp(7.5%)>Parry>Dodge>Haste>Crit
For Heavy Stamina - Stamina>Mastery(250% Unbuffed)>Hit(7.5%)=Exp(7.5%)>Parry>Dodge>Haste>Crit
Reforge Priority will essentially follow stat priority: Excess Hit/Exp into Mastery>Parry>Dodge>Haste

We gain 31.25% Mastery from Blessing of Might and buff equivalent.

SLOT	ITEM	DROP LOCATION
HEAD	Faceguard of Cyclopean Dread	Thok the Bloodthirsty
NECK	Juggernaut's Ignition Keys	Iron Juggernaut
SHOULDER	Krugruk's Rigid Shoulderplates	Galakras
BACK	Qian-Ying, Fortitude of Niuzao	Wrathion; Legendary Questline
CHEST	Chestguard of Cyclopean Dread	Sha of Pride
WRIST	Bracers of Sordid Sleep	Immerseus
HANDS	Handguards of Cyclopean Dread	General Nazgrim
WAIST	Untarnishable Greatbelt	Spoils of Pandaria
LEGS	Legguards of Cyclopean Dread	Paragons of the Klaxxi
FEET	Treads of Unchained Hate	Immerseus
RING	Devilfang Band	Thok the Bloodthirsty
RING	Galakrond Control Band	Galakras
TRINKET	Vial of Living Corruption	Malkorok
TRINKET	Rook's Unlucky Talisman	The Fallen Protectors
2H-WEAPON	Gar'tok, Strength of the Faithful	General Nazgrim

RUNEFORGE:
Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle (Use if you want/need more HP)
Rune of Swordshattering (Use to boost Avoidance - does not suffer from Diminished Returns, which gives you 4% Pure Free Parry!)
Rune of the Fallen Crusader (Use to boost DPS, gain a slight heal on proc, and also contributes to Parry due to Str->Parry conversion. Comes out to around 1.5-2.4% since it will suffer from DMR.)
Rune of Spellshattering (Great on Magic-Heavy Fights)

Gemming for SURVIVAL Build:

COLOR	PRIMARY	ALTERNATIVE
YELLOW	Fractured Sun's Radiance or Fractured Serpent's Eye (JC Only)	Use Puissant Wild Jade if you desire more Stam.
BLUE	Solid River's Heart or Solid Serpent's Eye (JC-Only)	Puissant Wild Jade
RED	Fine Vermilion Onyx	You can use Defender's Imperial Amethyst if you desire more Stam.
META-GEM	Indomitable Primal Diamond or Austere Primal Diamond	Effulgent Primal Diamond Excellent for Heavy-Magic Fights however with the change coming to Indomitable Primal Diamond which will reduce Magic Damage as well, go for the Legendary if you have access.
PRISMATIC	Fractured Sun's Radiance or Fractured Serpent's Eye (JC Only) / Solid River's Heart or Solid Serpent's Eye (JC-Only)	Puissant Wild Jade or if for some reason you cannot land right on target with Hit/Exp caps use Sensei's Wild Jade, Confounded Wild Jade, Keen Vermilion Onyx

Note on Socket Bonuses: If Bonus is only going to provide a smidgen of a stat (in the area of 60-90 of a stat) or a stat you feel you don't need, then feel free to ignore socket bonus and gem for desired stats. I advise on items that provide high amounts of Stam/Mastery (120-180+) to enable those bonuses through proper gemming.




Mastery/Haste Build:
There have been some that follow a different playstyle which is totally acceptable. A few have mentioned once they reached a safe Mastery point, they went straight haste to not only aid in Rune Regen, but to help pump out additional DPS as well. This is very acceptable and to quote Raegwyn:

As far as I've seen from personal experience on Heroic 25 ptr testing you reach a point at about 200%-240% mastery depending on boss were more mastery would just be dumb because you often reach the point even without tank switching in which your bloodshield will be capped on you max hp while you are actively tanking a hard-hitting boss. Since that is the case, mastery gets less valuable at that point making haste the most desired stat. but I have to agree you will totally max out stam at first

From this, the goal would be to obtain at least 200% Mastery, but no more than say 250% - then focus on Haste directly while grabbing as much Stamina as possible.

Blood 4-Set Bonus will still be worth obtaining, however if focused on primarily grabbing Haste after a set Mastery point then you can opt to drop 4set. I would still highly recommend obtaining the 4set due to the changes to Dancing Rune Weapon, which is essentially a mini-version of Empower Rune Weapon. Definitely still worth obtaining.

Stat Priority for this build:
Stamina(To safe point; personal preference)>Mastery(200-250% Max Raid Buffed)>Hit(7.5%)=Exp(7.5%)Haste>Parry>Dodge>Crit>Mastery

Reforge Priority will follow Stat Priority: Send Avoidance to Hit/Exp>Haste>Mastery

We gain 31.25% Mastery from Blessing of Might and buff equivalent.

Note on the Legendary Cloak: I highly advise sticking with Qian-Ying, Fortitude of Niuzao for the sake of having more tank stats as well as having a Life-Saving Proc if things do indeed get nasty. However if you see your survivability being a non-issue (or have bosses on farm) then feel free to use Gong-Lu, Strength of Xuen

(Considering 4-Set)

SLOT	ITEM	DROP LOCATION
HEAD	Faceguard of Cyclopean Dread	Thok the Bloodthirsty
NECK	Juggernaut's Ignition Keys	Iron Juggernaut
SHOULDER	Shoulderguards of Cyclopean Dread	Siegecrafter Blackfuse
BACK	Qian-Ying, Fortitude of Niuzao	Wrathion; Legendary Questline
CHEST	Chestguard of Cyclopean Dread	Sha of Pride
WRIST	Blood Rage Bracers	Malkorok
HANDS	Handguards of Cyclopean Dread	General Nazgrim
WAIST	Demolisher's Reinforced Belt	Iron Juggernaut
LEGS	Legplates of Unthinking Strife	Garrosh Hellscream
FEET	Malkorok's Giant Stompers	Malkorok
RING	Devilfang Band	Thok the Bloodthirsty
RING	Bloodclaw Band	Kor'kron Dark Shaman
TRINKET	Vial of Living Corruption	Malkorok
TRINKET	Thok's Tail Tip	Thok the Bloodthirsty
2H-WEAPON	Britomart's Jagged Pike	Thok the Bloodthirsty

(Alternative build for those only Considering 2-Set)This will allow those looking to pick up more Haste the ability to do so at the cost of sacrificing 4set, while maintaining the Mastery/Haste priority.

SLOT	ITEM	DROP LOCATION
HEAD	Thranok's Shattering Helm	Galakras
NECK	Juggernaut's Ignition Keys	Iron Juggernaut
SHOULDER	Shoulderguards of Cyclopean Dread	Siegecrafter Blackfuse
BACK	Qian-Ying, Fortitude of Niuzao	Wrathion; Legendary Questline
CHEST	Chestguard of Cyclopean Dread	Sha of Pride
WRIST	Blood Rage Bracers	Malkorok
HANDS	Corruption-Rotted Gauntlets	Immerseus
WAIST	Demolisher's Reinforced Belt	Iron Juggernaut
LEGS	Legplates of Unthinking Strife	Garrosh Hellscream
FEET	Malkorok's Giant Stompers	Malkorok
RING	Devilfang Band	Thok the Bloodthirsty
RING	Bloodclaw Band	Kor'kron Dark Shaman
TRINKET	Vial of Living Corruption	Malkorok
TRINKET	Thok's Tail Tip	Thok the Bloodthirsty
2H-WEAPON	Britomart's Jagged Pike	Thok the Bloodthirsty

RUNEFORGE:
Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle (Recommended for Mastery/Haste build for a minor boost in Armor+HP)
Rune of the Fallen Crusader (Use to boost DPS, gain a slight heal on proc, and also contributes to Parry due to Str->Parry conversion. Comes out to around 1.5-2.4% since it will suffer from DMR.)

Gemming for MASTERY/HASTE Build:
(Still aim to Gem for Mastery where needed or till you hit between 200-250% Mastery or hit a comfort zone. Most likely you'll obtain Mastery gains from Hybrid-Gemming while picking up the Haste! I advise following the Meta-Gemming from the Survival build for obvious reasons (have to Survive), which is once more included here.)

COLOR	PRIMARY	ALTERNATIVE
YELLOW	Quick Sun's Radiance or Quick Serpent's Eye (JC-Only)	Forceful Wild Jade
BLUE	Forceful Wild Jade	Solid River's Heart or Solid Serpent's Eye (JC-Only) / Puissant Wild Jade if in need of more Stam/Mastery.
RED	Fierce Vermilion Onyx(Good for activating Socket Bonus if item has Red Socket + any other combo.)	You can use Defender's Imperial Amethyst if you desire more Stam.
META-GEM	Indomitable Primal Diamond or Austere Primal Diamond	Effulgent Primal Diamond Excellent for Heavy-Magic Fights however with the change coming to Indomitable Primal Diamond which will reduce Magic Damage as well, go for the Legendary if you have access.
PRISMATIC	Quick Sun's Radiance or Quick Serpent's Eye (JC-Only)	Wicked Vermilion Onyx, Guardian's Imperial Amethyst, Lightning Wild Jade to aid in hitting Hit/Exp caps if needed.

Note on Socket Bonuses: If Bonus is only going to provide a smidgen of a stat (in the area of 60-90 of a stat) or a stat you feel you don't need, then feel free to ignore socket bonus and gem for desired stats. I advise on items that provide high amounts of Stam/Mastery/Haste (120-180+) to enable those bonuses through proper gemming.




Special thanks to Shells, Soularpower, DarkStarUndead, Raegwyn and everyone else for their input!!!

[Sunnydee]

how can you have a BiS list to a role that requires different stats depending on fights? and some tanks favor haste/critt insead of d/p so a BiS for tanking as dk? meh couldnt be more waste of logic

[Veraxys]

how can you have a BiS list to a role that requires different stats depending on fights? and some tanks favor haste/critt insead of d/p so a BiS for tanking as dk? meh couldnt be more waste of logic

Not sure if this is trolling...but here it goes.

BrewM want haste/crit for quicker resource regen + faster gains in Elusive Brews
Prot Pallies, well this is obvious - faster gains for HP = More ShoR uptime
Druids - similar situation to BrewM
Prot Warriors - Stam/Mastery/Parry (Currently)

Blood DK on the other hand want as much HP initially (to a desired safe point) then go all out Mastery. We could stack haste to aid in rune regen, but we would need so much that the return would be less than stacking mastery. Experimented with this on my DK and was able to get Rune Regen down to around 6.8 Seconds, but my mastery suffered greatly (bottomed out to around 130% roughly). I ended up taking more frequent bursts of spike damage than having a higher mastery pool (251% properly gemmed and reforged) thus Mastery beats haste for Blood DKs for one obvious reason: Larger Blood Shield per Death Strike. Nothing more amazing than managing to land a 380k+ DS BloodShield after perfect timing from a large intake of damage.

Have to remember, Blood DK Stat priority pretty much the following:
Stam(to personal safe point)>Mastery>Hit(7.5%)=Exp(7.5%)>Parry>=Dodge>Haste>Crit

[shells]

Lets not get carried away here with your stat priority list. I highly doubt there will be a time this expansion when you will need 250% mastery. Additionally, the amount of mastery you need is also a safe point, not stack it as high as you can. In the current state avoidance is total crap for DKs even in heroic mode ToT. There has been some talk about the value of riposte in the ptr thread on these forums. So far it hasn't proven to be any more valuable than a haste/mastery build. Stam/mastery will be ideal for cutting edge progression. You mention self heals, how about this trinket: Thok's Tail Tip
Far better than a situation based stam trinket that reduces aoe damage.

[Soularpower]

Not sure if this is trolling...but here it goes.

BrewM want haste/crit for quicker resource regen + faster gains in Elusive Brews
Prot Pallies, well this is obvious - faster gains for HP = More ShoR uptime
Druids - similar situation to BrewM
Prot Warriors - Stam/Mastery/Parry (Currently)

Blood DK on the other hand want as much HP initially (to a desired safe point) then go all out Mastery. We could stack haste to aid in rune regen, but we would need so much that the return would be less than stacking mastery. Experimented with this on my DK and was able to get Rune Regen down to around 6.8 Seconds, but my mastery suffered greatly (bottomed out to around 130% roughly). I ended up taking more frequent bursts of spike damage than having a higher mastery pool (251% properly gemmed and reforged) thus Mastery beats haste for Blood DKs for one obvious reason: Larger Blood Shield per Death Strike. Nothing more amazing than managing to land a 380k+ DS BloodShield after perfect timing from a large intake of damage.

Have to remember, Blood DK Stat priority pretty much the following:
Stam(to personal safe point)>Mastery>Hit(7.5%)=Exp(7.5%)>Parry>=Dodge>Haste>Crit

You realize he's not saying you shouldn't stack MASTERY, but that maybe you shouldn't stack AVOIDANCE like parry/dodge? I stopped stacking avoidance a while ago and I much prefer haste, although I don't ignore parry/dodge if it lands on me. No, I'm not some world first DK tank, but we made it 7/13H before we started doing some pre-5.4 roster cleaning/lost a few players.

The extra damage AND the extra mitigation I get from haste offsets the RNG dodge/avoidance and feels smoother to me. I like 15% haste.

Especially in 10m content, the need for stacking dodge/parry is not really a need, but a preference. Mastery>hit=exp>Haste>Dodge/Parry

WITH THAT SAID, again, it's very comp dependent. You have to partner with your healers and if keeping you up is not an issue, fire away with some haste.

For what it's worth, I think:

HEAD - Faceguard of Cyclopean Dread
NECK - Juggernaut's Ignition Keys
SHOULDER - Tier(Bld): Shoulderguards of the Cyclopean Dread
BACK - Qian-Ying, Fortitude of Niuzao
CHEST - Chestguard of Cyclopean Dread
WRIST - Bracers of Sordid Sleep OR whatever bracers fit your itemization needs (Blood Rage Bracers are some good exp/parry ones, e.g.)
HANDS - Handguards of Cyclopean Dread
WAIST - Demolisher's Reinforced Belt
LEGS - Legguards of Cyclopean Dread
FEET - Malkorok's Giant Stompers
RING #1 - Devilfang Band
RING #2 - Bloodclaw Band
TRINKET #1 - What drops / what the fight calls for
TRINKET #2 - What drops / what the fight calls for
WEAPON - Britomart's Jagged Pike


The difference is, if a piece has dodge/parry ONLY on it, I would rather take MASTERY/HASTE or MASTERY/EXP or MASTERY/*.

This tier, our 4pc seems so solid that I'd go for my 5pc first, and take whatever Warforged piece I can fit in to the build, as it doesn't really matter.

Trinkets will depend on what drops/what the fight calls for - I've been using DPS trinkets for a while in heroics for quite a few fights this tier, if it makes sense next tier I'll do it again.

I used to prescribe to the Stam>Mastery>parry>dodge>hit=exp cap > haste > crit model too. But it Or what you said, with hit/exp caps up.

Regardless... I don't think it matters what we wear. Just slap some armor on, reforge for your raid comp/size, and be happy. BIS for a tank like us just doesn't make sense.

[Veraxys]

Lets not get carried away here with your stat priority list. I highly doubt there will be a time this expansion when you will need 250% mastery. Additionally, the amount of mastery you need is also a safe point, not stack it as high as you can. In the current state avoidance is total crap for DKs even in heroic mode ToT. There has been some talk about the value of riposte in the ptr thread on these forums. So far it hasn't proven to be any more valuable than a haste/mastery build. Stam/mastery will be ideal for cutting edge progression. You mention self heals, how about this trinket: Thok's Tail Tip
Far better than a situation based stam trinket that reduces aoe damage.

Another fine trinket - definitely one worth keeping on hands or even using over the AoE trink. Reason I am for upping stam where I can (mainly from trinkets) then throwing in as much mastery as I can is to not only increase the effectiveness of each Death Strike Heal/Bloodshield, but to also increase the max value I can reach considering the highest your bloodshield will ever go is based on max HP.

Trinkets I've always seen as a wildcard - we can use pretty much any trinket we want. I'm aiming for +300% Mastery so that I can mitigate heavier hits come time for Heroics in SoO.

On live, I often find myself using pure DPS trinkets just for the sake of allowing us to plow through a boss faster, along with the Fallen Crusader rune.

DK's have some flexibility - just a shame crit does nothing for us. Let us hope we can get Blood Shield crits one day!

- - - Updated - - -

You realize he's not saying you shouldn't stack MASTERY, but that maybe you shouldn't stack AVOIDANCE like parry/dodge? I stopped stacking avoidance a while ago and I much prefer haste, although I don't ignore parry/dodge if it lands on me. No, I'm not some world first DK tank, but we made it 7/13H before we started doing some pre-5.4 roster cleaning/lost a few players.

The extra damage AND the extra mitigation I get from haste offsets the RNG dodge/avoidance and feels smoother to me. I like 15% haste.

Especially in 10m content, the need for stacking dodge/parry is not really a need, but a preference. Mastery>hit=exp>Haste>Dodge/Parry

WITH THAT SAID, again, it's very comp dependent. You have to partner with your healers and if keeping you up is not an issue, fire away with some haste.

For what it's worth, I think:

HEAD - Faceguard of Cyclopean Dread
NECK - Juggernaut's Ignition Keys
SHOULDER - Tier(Bld): Shoulderguards of the Cyclopean Dread
BACK - Qian-Ying, Fortitude of Niuzao
CHEST - Chestguard of Cyclopean Dread
WRIST - Bracers of Sordid Sleep OR whatever bracers fit your itemization needs (Blood Rage Bracers are some good exp/parry ones, e.g.)
HANDS - Handguards of Cyclopean Dread
WAIST - Demolisher's Reinforced Belt
LEGS - Legguards of Cyclopean Dread
FEET - Malkorok's Giant Stompers
RING #1 - Devilfang Band
RING #2 - Bloodclaw Band
TRINKET #1 - What drops / what the fight calls for
TRINKET #2 - What drops / what the fight calls for
WEAPON - Britomart's Jagged Pike


The difference is, if a piece has dodge/parry ONLY on it, I would rather take MASTERY/HASTE or MASTERY/EXP or MASTERY/*.

This tier, our 4pc seems so solid that I'd go for my 5pc first, and take whatever Warforged piece I can fit in to the build, as it doesn't really matter.

Trinkets will depend on what drops/what the fight calls for - I've been using DPS trinkets for a while in heroics for quite a few fights this tier, if it makes sense next tier I'll do it again.

I used to prescribe to the Stam>Mastery>parry>dodge>hit=exp cap > haste > crit model too. But it Or what you said, with hit/exp caps up.

Regardless... I don't think it matters what we wear. Just slap some armor on, reforge for your raid comp/size, and be happy. BIS for a tank like us just doesn't make sense.

Though avoidance is absolute garbage for the most part, it works along side our Bloodshield - nothing more amazing than stacking a bloodshield and it continues to last cause you ended up fully avoiding the next few swings, thus allowing you to cap it out, or sit on the next few runes and let it drop some then re-stack, thus prolonging bloodshield uptime and maximizing your mitigation.

Only reason I put up a list is to help other Blood DKs out that look for such lists, as well as offer what I feel has been great for me, which is Stam/Mastery.

[Soularpower]

Fair enough - not bashing you. I put together my own BIS list.

This tier it was a bit too easy. edit: That is, SoO BIS list was very easy to pick out for myself. 4pc being good and decent stats on all 5 pieces... yea. Pretty simple

Btw, the reason people don't like avoidance (in general) is it's66 not damage smoothing. At least haste can smooth a bit of damage (rune regen, of course). Haste always does SOMETHING. Avoidance has a chance of doing NOTHING.

[Veraxys]

Fair enough - not bashing you. I put together my own BIS list.

This tier it was a bit too easy.

Btw, the reason people don't like avoidance (in general) is it's66 not damage smoothing. At least haste can smooth a bit of damage (rune regen, of course). Haste always does SOMETHING. Avoidance has a chance of doing NOTHING.

I agree and also could go along with your BiS - again the only reason I made a post was because no one had or was willing to yet. I just wanted to contribute to the DK community is all.

Perhaps I am one of few players that have had decent luck with RNG on the avoidance front.

But the reason I am an advocate for some avd as well, is because it bolsters out Army of the Dead CD cause during the cast, the combo of dodge/parry equate to damage reduction. With DRW up against a raid boss I have about 66% avoidance thus with AoTD casting, I take 66% less dmg for 4sec.

I see alot of Blood DK's use AoTD on the pull >.< I use it for DMG CD as it should be if/when needed on progression kills.

[Ikrekot]

You can't make bis list for tanks because everyone tank prefer other playstyle. Bis for dps is easy because they want highest damage. Tanks want surv, dps. They could use haste/stamina/mastery or avoidance build. Everyone have other playstyle, dps have one.

[Kamiyomi]

I agree with a BiS list, but i think you should have pointed out your stat priority list before the gear list. We can use this thread to show multiple different priorities and the gear that they will be using. I'd be interested if we could get a concise list of all the gear we might be using sorted by slot with who drops it. I was looking through stuff yesterday and every site i saw made it a pain in the ass to look through it all.

[Veraxys]

I agree with a BiS list, but i think you should have pointed out your stat priority list before the gear list. We can use this thread to show multiple different priorities and the gear that they will be using. I'd be interested if we could get a concise list of all the gear we might be using sorted by slot with who drops it. I was looking through stuff yesterday and every site i saw made it a pain in the ass to look through it all.

I'm working on a heavily revised version as of this writing, along with drop locations, etc etc. This will be more detailed soon.

I just wanted to get a list up quickly and get it going. Plus some of the feedback has allowed me to make note of viable alternatives to specific slots.

[DarkStarUndead]

I'm working on a heavily revised version as of this writing, along with drop locations, etc etc. This will be more detailed soon.

I just wanted to get a list up quickly and get it going. Plus some of the feedback has allowed me to make note of viable alternatives to specific slots.

I think if we did two lists, a list heavy on dodge/parry, and one heavy on haste, would be good (well, you already have the dodge/parry one done, thanks for that)

I probably will be picking up more dodge/parry gear as my raid group progresses considering I tank next to a BM monk, all the dodge parry gear would either be going to the arms warrior in our group for OS or to be DE'd for gems; and if dodge/parry is doing just as well as haste, I might as well get the tank gear for now, and replace it with haste/mastery gear if no one needs it (ret pally in group is going to need haste/mastery gear for MS and OS (tank)).

[Veraxys]

I think if we did two lists, a list heavy on dodge/parry, and one heavy on haste, would be good (well, you already have the dodge/parry one done, thanks for that)

I probably will be picking up more dodge/parry gear as my raid group progresses considering I tank next to a BM monk, all the dodge parry gear would either be going to the arms warrior in our group for OS or to be DE'd for gems; and if dodge/parry is doing just as well as haste, I might as well get the tank gear for now, and replace it with haste/mastery gear if no one needs it (ret pally in group is going to need haste/mastery gear for MS and OS (tank)).

That's literally what I had in mind considering a handful of peeps have mentioned they do the whole haste thing as well. The list I put up primarily focused on allowing gaining as much Mastery as possible, while gemming for it at the same time as bulking up on stam passively so to speak so we can build stronger, larger blood shields. while at the same time aiming for Hit/Exp caps.

[Cryopathy]

I appreciate your contribution, and it's already been said in this thread for the most part, but a BiS list for a tank has dubious value. Tanks need to gear differently for different situations, and they need to balance their need for survival with the need for DPS, especially in 10-man raiding. This balance shifts based on how good the rest of your raid's DPS is, how good your healers are, and other variables. A good tank gets as much gear (especially trinkets) as he can, and swaps gear around based on the situation he is in.

With your list in particular, you end up with so much Expertise that you can't reforge it down to 7.5%. Expertise above 7.5% has essentially zero effect on survival and is worse for DPS than either haste or crit. Your list is valid as a list that shows which piece has the most mastery for each slot, but it is dangerous to post these kinds of things as "the best" as people tend to see a simple list, take it as gospel, and then gear/play non-optimally as a result. A tank who wore this gear and gemmed for mastery/avoidance would be almost unkillable, but his DPS would be atrocious.

[DarkStarUndead]

Siege of Orgrimmar Best in Slot for Blood Death Knights!

HEAD - Thranok's Shattering Helm
NECK - Juggernaut's Ignition Keys
SHOULDER - Darkfallen Shoulderplates
BACK - Qian-Ying, Fortitude of Niuzao
CHEST - Chestplate of Congealed Corrosion
WRIST - Bubble-Burst Bracers
HANDS - Corruption-Rotted Gauntlets
WAIST - Demolisher's Reinforced Belt
LEGS - Legplates of Unthinking Strife
FEET - Malkorok's Giant Stompers
RING #1 - Asgorthian Blood Seal
RING #2 - Bloodclaw Band
TRINKET #1 - Thok's Tail Tip
TRINKET #2 - Vial of Living Corruption
WEAPON - Britomart's Jagged Pike

wowhead comparison for stat totals (before reforging and socket bonuses)
http://ptr.wowhead.com/compare?items...:102306:103968

This one I went haste, and avoided the tier set pieces. I heard the tier set is pretty good, so I would suggest the Helm, Shoulders, Chest and Gloves for tier items if you want the set bonuses.

*Edited- Legendary cloak, dps legendary effect was nerfed for Blood.

[Veraxys]

Siege of Orgrimmar Best in Slot for Blood Death Knights!

HEAD - Thranok's Shattering Helm
NECK - Juggernaut's Ignition Keys
SHOULDER - Darkfallen Shoulderplates
BACK - Gong-Lu, Strength of Xuen
CHEST - Chestplate of Congealed Corrosion
WRIST - Bubble-Burst Bracers
HANDS - Corruption-Rotted Gauntlets
WAIST - Demolisher's Reinforced Belt
LEGS - Legplates of Unthinking Strife
FEET - Malkorok's Giant Stompers
RING #1 - Asgorthian Blood Seal
RING #2 - Bloodclaw Band
TRINKET #1 - Thok's Tail Tip
TRINKET #2 - Vial of Living Corruption
WEAPON - Britomart's Jagged Pike

wowhead comparison for stat totals (before reforging and socket bonuses)
http://ptr.wowhead.com/compare?items...:102306:103968

This one I went haste, and avoided the tier set pieces. I heard the tier set is pretty good, so I would suggest the Helm, Shoulders, Chest and Gloves for tier items if you want the set bonuses.

One flaw with this setup is the Legendary Cloak - reason being is we WANT that Tank Cloak: it's proc is a life saver. Nothing better than gaming a major incoming hit to take advantage of it. Also a boss ability sorta requires it (General Nazgrim Heroic: Execute - Executes a player for 3,000,000 Physical damage. This attack pierces immunities and cannot be dodged, blocked, or parried.)

I know this is just one ability off of one boss, but the tank legendary cloak is great to have nonetheless. Any tank not using the Legendary Tank cloak would not be optimal.

But back to Mastery/Avoidance - I think alot of people are forgetting about Riposte. When you dodge or parry any attack, you gain 75% of your Parry and Dodge as additional Critical Strike for 20 sec. With that, we should be critting more frequently if the focus is on tank dps. But the role of a tank first and foremost IS Survival. Thus again: Heavy Mastery Build w/Avoidance will allow for Larger Bloodshields with less Death Strikes along with a slightly larger chance to avoid attacks while building up a Larger Bloodshield and maintaining it>>>More Death Strikes, smaller blood shields.

[Lighto73]

I would change the title and first post to showcase that this is a BiS list for max Survivability with Stam/Mastery as the core stats.

Having said that, it looks pretty solid to me.

[Veraxys]

I would change the title and first post to showcase that this is a BiS list for max Survivability with Stam/Mastery as the core stats.

Having said that, it looks pretty solid to me.

I agree - this is my first time ever doing this and as I stated, I've been wanting to do something like this for a good while now to give something back to a community that has helped me grow as a player.

Everyone's feedback here has been more than appreciated and I thank you all for it.

Special thanks will be provided on the update to this guide! I plan to have it finished by tomorrow and in a better format!

[DarkStarUndead]

One flaw with this setup is the Legendary Cloak - reason being is we WANT that Tank Cloak: it's proc is a life saver. Nothing better than gaming a major incoming hit to take advantage of it. Also a boss ability sorta requires it (General Nazgrim Heroic: Execute - Executes a player for 3,000,000 Physical damage. This attack pierces immunities and cannot be dodged, blocked, or parried.)

I know this is just one ability off of one boss, but the tank legendary cloak is great to have nonetheless. Any tank not using the Legendary Tank cloak would not be optimal.

But back to Mastery/Avoidance - I think alot of people are forgetting about Riposte. When you dodge or parry any attack, you gain 75% of your Parry and Dodge as additional Critical Strike for 20 sec. With that, we should be critting more frequently if the focus is on tank dps. But the role of a tank first and foremost IS Survival. Thus again: Heavy Mastery Build w/Avoidance will allow for Larger Bloodshields with less Death Strikes along with a slightly larger chance to avoid attacks while building up a Larger Bloodshield and maintaining it>>>More Death Strikes, smaller blood shields.

Yeah sorry about that, I had forgotten that the DPS cloak took a hit on the proc rate in blood. Editing for the Tanking cloak.

I think Riposte will be ok, my biggest problem is tanking next to a BM Monk who is stacking crit. He can peel the boss off of me too easily, I just want to be able to hold the boss when I'm tanking and I think the crit bonus should help alongside the change to taunts.

[Kamiyomi]

Riposte is barely any DPS gain at all. and its looking like we'll be able to have both cloaks, thus allowing us to switch on a per fight/attempt basis as needed.

Edit:
also I still think even with a Mastery>avoidance>haste build, Id rather take a mastery/haste or mastery/* bracers and boots over the ones listed in the original post, though as a 10M tank, Ill be running mastery>haste an for trinkets im going tank cd reduc+str amp trinket.