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Lichborne: Cataclysm pre-raid gear for death knight DPS
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. Join World of Warcraft's first hero class as we head into a new expansion and shed the new kid on the block label. Now that you've had a couple weeks to run heroic dungeons and grind reputations, chances are you're raring to start tackling raids. Whether you already have a raid group or whether you're trying to find one, one of the easiest things you can do to give yourself an edge is to make sure your gear is up to snuff. This week, we'll be looking at the best DPS gear options for death knights looking to break into Cataclysm raiding. Since gearing requirements for most raids are a bit more stringent, this list is going to be a bit shorter and more focused than the pre-heroic gear list. I've tried to make it clear what gear is best for what spec in the list, but we should probably go over it in general here, just to be clear. Unholy death knights' main focus should always be strength. They'll want to go for 8% hit, of course, but even that's not quite as potent to as stacking more strength. After strength and hit rating, haste and critical strike rating are their main secondary stats. 2H frost death knights are going to want to hit the 8% hit requirement and the 26 expertise dodge soft cap. Their main focus should then be strength, with haste and mastery as their main secondary stats Dual wield frost death knights also want to hit the hit and expertise soft caps, and strength is supreme for them as well. However, their main secondary stats are mastery and critical strike rating. As you can tell, each spec's gearing requirements are just different enough to make things complicated. I've tried to simplify it as much as possible with this list, but in some cases, you may want to take the "secondary" choice for your spec in order to hit the hit and expertise soft caps. Remember that you can also regem and reforge to hit those caps if needed, or to shed extra hit or expertise rating above those caps. Also, be aware if your race provides extra expertise for wielding a certain type of weapon, as it can often inform your exact gearing choices. Finally, keep in mind that this gear list may not be completely comprehensive. I have focused primarily on gear of item level 346 and above. Some gear that feels sub-optimal (such as gear with low strength) or seems like too much of a hassle or expense to get for what it offers (mostly blue crafted gear) has been left out deliberately. This is the raid game, so you should be making an extra effort to get properly geared. With that said, let's dive in!
WoW Rookie: Slotting your sockets with gems
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the resources they need to get acclimated. Send us a note to suggest a WoW Rookie topic.You're over level 60 now, and you're pretty hot stuff. You've ridden through the Dark Portal the old-fashioned way, swaggering into The Burning Crusade content in style. You'd done your reading; you knew these mobs were going to hit a lot harder, and you came prepared. You ran a few last dungeons before you shipped out, and you're respectably outfitted in BRD and URBS blues, along with a heady mix of new gear that appears to be dropping like candy.And then you looted a piece of armor with crazy-hot good looks but an odd, blank box among its stats – and the stats, strangely enough, appear to leave something to be desired. Nonetheless, your groupmates applauded your luck and seemed genuinely pleased for you. What in Outland have you gotten into now?My dear WoW rookie, you've just looted your first socketed item. Sockets allow you to truly customize your gear to either augment your strengths or brace up your weaknesses (or both). Whether you just want to get down the road with a decent set of gear or you enjoy endlessly tweaking your armor's performance, we'll help you fill your first sockets and make your character stronger than ever.
Lichborne: PvE Gems for Death Knights
Welcome to Lichborne, your weekly dose of Death Knight discussion.Now that we've covered most standard pemutations of gear gathering in past Lichborne columns, I figured this week would be a good time to start talking about taking the extra steps to really trick out your gear. This week, will focus on gems. Not only will this help you take your gear to the next level, but it gives me a good excuse to talk about some new discoveries and discussions going on as we try to figure out the best ways to squeeze the most DPS out of a Death Knight. So to start, let's talk about which statistics you'll want to focus on when you gem.
Shattered Sun Offensive reputation loot revealed
With the PTR up and running, information is pouring in faster than ever. The Shattered Sun Offensive's reputation vendor is ready for perusal, and World of Raids has already delivered a screenshot of the full loot list. The tabard looks like it's going to be a favorite for a lot of people, looking more elaborate than possibly any current player-wearable tabard. But looking good aside, what about the loot? Will it make you better, harder, faster, stronger? Let's find out after the break.
Talasites to be slightly less useless in 2.4
For those of you who like Spell Haste, I have good news! Patch 2.4 is bringing you a few new Jewelcrafting recipes to reduce your Global Cooldown. Noble Topaz, Dawnstones, and our good friends the Talasites all recieve a new cut. Quick Dawnstone - +8 Spell Haste Rating Reckless Noble Topaz - +4 Spell Haste Rating and +5 Spell Damage Forceful Talasite - +4 Spell Haste Rating and +6 Stamina While the effectiveness of Spell Haste is still up for debate, new options for gems are always good. I have a feeling this won't do much to help the Talasite market, the +Stam/Resil cut didn't even help much, but at least it's another use for the things. I'm pretty sure everyone who plays WoW has a stack of them sitting in the bank.Additionally, we have a few new metagems coming our way!
Insider Trader: A diamond is forever -- a consumer's guide to gems
Insider Trader is your weekly inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products. Got empty slots sitting wide open on your gear, simply because researching gem possibilities is so infuriatingly time-consuming and confusing? Get ready to get socketing! Our handy consumer's guide to gems will steer you to savvy selections in no time. While jewelcrafting can sound confusing as all get-out, we've rounded up some convenient tools and handy reference lists that simplify the process of figuring how to slot your gear with gems that work for you.In The Burning Crusade, Blizzard introduced jewelcrafting and the ability to augment items with gems. Many higher-end items feature sockets designed to be slotted with player-cut gems. A jewelcrafter can cut these gems, which grant your gear additional stat and effect bonuses. What color? What cut? What stats? What about meta gems? You need to figure out what's available, what works best for your gear and how to get your hands on what you need. Let's get to work ...
