This thread is deprecated with 3.2 - most categories in here leave out important pre-raid gear.

Since people apparently can't read, I'm deleting the list as well.

I'm surprised to see you don't have [Sword of Justice]

It is the best DK weapon for DPS pre-Naxx. I used it until I obtained my [Betrayer of Humanity]

It is currently the slowest weapon in the game with the highest end damage, good strength and stamina on it and it can be gemmed. The only other weapon that would be better is the Titansteel if you wanted to farm the mats.

Absolutely! I suspect I overlooked it because I'm an orc, but it is probably the second best pre-raid two-hander. Thanks for the help.

There's a Waist in The Nexus (Heroic) which is, imo, the best before raids: [Flame-Bathed Steel Girdle].

Definitely. I suppose I forgot to count gems when I did the waist search, thanks for the catch.

What about [Pendant of the Outcast Hero]? Costs 25 Emblems.

You should include the T7 pieces since they're available to badges.

This is a good starting reference list.

Please add [Heroes' Scourgeborne Gauntlets] and [Heroes' Scourgeborne Battleplate].

Due to the high value of our 2 piece set bonus, these items have extremely high priority for pre-raid Death Knights doing heroics.

I just want to point out that T7 2-piece bonus is only really good for 2h specs.

I know this is probably pretty obvious, but just want it out there.

Yeah. I mentioned them at the top, but I suppose I should put them in the list too.

Yeah, but the stats on them are better than anything else you can get without raiding too.

[Saliva Corroded Pike] is probably a decent weapon choice as well, at least it's clearly superior to the runeblade of demonstrable power. Unfortunately it's a VH drop and so is fairly unreliable like that.

[Necklace of Arcane Spheres] is a decent neck although again because it's violet hold hc it has a low drop so might not be worth putting up.

[Darkheart Chestguard] off ebon blade exalted is also clearly superior to some of the crafting chests you mentioned. Since we tend to get ebon blade exalted anyway for the boots it's a convenient item to get as well if you're lacking a decent chest.

[Gold Star Spaulders] off Oracles revered is pretty good as well especially if you're already hitcapped.

I think [Trollwoven Spaulders] is also worthy of note for pre-raid shoulders.

I would say [Sharp-Barbed Leather Belt] is a great pre-raid belt for those looking to reach the expertise cap.
drops from heroic UK

I had left out a lot of leather because it's only good for certain specs, but i'll add it in the list and comment on that fact at the top now.

How would the crafted Titansteel ring and/or necklace be? It's also cheaper than getting the Kirin'Tor ring.

Aye, with a strength gem, that is definitely one of the better pre-raid rings.

Just want to add a few comments.

The Vengeance Bindings are the best wrist slot item until 25man naxx and the one you obtain in 25man naxx is only a small upgrade from them (just get some stam a slot little bit more Hit and crit but loose some str)

The Sigil of Haunted Dreams is getting changed to +crit rating in the patch instead of the +haste.

You also forgot to put in a separate list for the Tri spec / DW specs as they need more Haste / Hit than anything else. People will think all the haste is good for the 2h specs when it is not, its only meant for the DW.

Other than that good list.


On a side note, make sure when gearing up your DK that you find out the best gear for that spec, i see way too many DK's with the wrong gear for the spec, or the right gear with a messed up spec.

Blood needs: Str / Hit / Crit to the variable of 295 hit rating for the abilities and can stop there and very slow max weapon (3.6-3.8spd).

Frost needs: Str / Hit / Crit to the variable or 365 - 425 hit for the Always having IT and HB landing on the target. 3.4-3.8spd weapon

Unholy needs: Str / Hit / Crit to the same as Frost, but makes better use of a 3.4-3.6spd weapons.

I didn't put in a separate list for DW (any of the three main DW specs) because they're all terrible until you have decent gear - someone struggling to make raiding gear requirements has no business trying to run a DW spec.

In general, I assumed that people would get what gear they could, and then pick the spec that goes with their gear - anyone worrying about 1-2 dps differences among pieces of gear because of their spec ought to be manipulated the wow filters directly - making a comprehensive list for DKs is virtually impossible. DKs entering raids should really all be either 2h Blood or 2h Unholy - Unholy has the damage advantage by around a hundred dps. Blood beats 2h frost by a similar amount, but hysteria on the top dps makes up for it (unless you're all just starting to raid).

Haste is terrible for every spec. It's just in there because a lot of the decent gear comes with it.

I'll get the vengeance bindings in there, and I guess I might as well list the sigil (its usefulness depends on the rotation).

edit: I see that I already had the bindings in, I guess you were just commenting on them. >.<

Yeah you got the Bindings and the Sigil in there, was just making cross comments on them just to make people aware of them specifically and the impact the Sigil will have when the patch comes out.. If ever it does.

This seemed like a good place to point out that the Sigil of the Dark Rider is far worse than the tooltip would indicate - the damage bonus from this Sigil is spread out over the static and disease bonus portions of Blood Strike, and it would require 4 diseases to get the full 90. Which hasn't been possible since beta.

I think the Red Sword of Courage (Heroic Pinnacle off Ymiron tank sword) is worth mentioning as a 1-hander for DPS or even DW tanking. Also, the Mobius Band from heroic Chrono Lord in CoT: Strat is a nice ring.

You can actually just not even bother going for the sword of justice or the skull clad axe becasue the drop rate is so low its not even worth it in my opinion. Just save your money for the Titansteel Destroyer, its your best bet.