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