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Lichborne: More death knight loot from patch 5.2's Throne of Thunder

Daniel Whitcomb
Contributor
Updated ·7 min read
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Lichborne More death knight loot from patch 52's Throne of Thunder

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done.

We continue our loot preview this week by delving into the Forgotten Depths and Halls of Flesh-Shaping in the Throne of Thunder. The same disclaimers apply as did last week. Since this is based on PTR information, drops can change. In addition, this preview focuses on normal gear, so your gearing priorities may change if you get Thunderforged gear or heroic gear.

With that in mind, lets dig in and see what the next six bosses of Patch 5.2's Throne of Thunder raid have to offer.


Tortos

  • Amulet of the Primal Turtle has hit and critical strike rating, which are fair to middle choices for most DPS specs, but what really makes it shine is the gem socket. That gem socket, if properly used, will probably boost it over other choices for you.

  • Shoulderguards of Centripetal Destruction have haste and critical strike rating, making them especially great for two handed DPS death knights. However, especially with only one gem slot, you may want to consider them a stopgap measure until they get their tier shoulders.

  • Shellsplitter Greataxe suffers from critical strike rating, which is strictly a bottom-of-the-barrel stat for dual wielding death knight DPS. That said, a better weapon remains the best way for a physical DPSer to upgrade in just about all cases. If you get one of these, reforge that critical strike rating away and it should work for you.

  • Shell-Coated Wristplates suffer the problem of having no gem socket. However, if you reforge the dodge to mastery, they're a decent stopgap pair of tank bracers until you can get better.

  • Backbreaker Greatcloak suffers from not having a gem slot, but it does have mastery. You may want to reforge the dodge rating to parry rating, but once you do that, this cloak should serve a blood tank well.

Megaera

  • Plated Toothbreaker Girdle has equal amounts of dodge and parry, but what it really has going for it is 2 gem slots. Get some mastery up in those, reforge the dodge to mastery, and you will have a very, very solid tanking belt.

  • Rot-Proof Greatplate does have a huge chunk of mastery, making it not unlikable choice for a blood tank, but you'll probably still want to hold out for tier armor, especially since tier armor has one more gem slot as well.

  • Spinescale Seal is, unfortunately, cursed with no gem slot and with the middling stat of critical strike. Unless you are starving for hit rating, you can get better.

  • Hydrascale Choker's biggest weakness is that it has no gem slot. Other than that, reforge the dodge to mastery, and you'll have a passable tank necklace.

Ji-Kun

  • Fabled Feather of Ji-Kun has a good amount of hit rating for those who need it, and the proc is hard to beat with the massive amounts of strength it provides, especially since the ICD is only 22 seconds. It's a bit tough to give up looking like a giant troll, though.

  • Talonrender Chestplate should be considered strictly stopgap until you get your tier chest. With one less gem slot than the tier chest and the middle-to-low-tier stat of critical strike rating, it's second rate.

  • Greaves of the All-Consuming Maw have the unfortunate combination of critical strike and mastery, which is not optimal for any DPS spec. Still, if you need your tier bonuses, you'll want to wear these anyway. Otherwise, there is better.

  • Legguards of the All-Consuming Maw have parry and hit rating, which makes them a solid pair of tanking pants. Reforge some of the hit to mastery and you're good to go.

  • Egg-Shard Grips have parry and expertise rating. Tanks will probably find that they prefer to use their tier gloves for the set bonuses.

  • Ji-Kun's Rising Winds will be a good choice for tanks who need all the health they can get, though one might wish for a better stat on there than expertise. Expertise isn't useless though, so you can always reforge to mastery if needed and still have a solid tanking trinket.

Durumu the Forgotten

  • Caustic Spike Bracers are another set of random enchantment plate bracers, much like Bracers of Constant Implosion before them. It might be a relatively savvy bet to guess that one set will feature tank modifiers and the other DPS modifiers. Either way, get a good modifier on these bracers, and they may end up the best of this tier for you.

  • Legplates of the Dark Parasite have haste and expertise, making them arguably better for two-handed death knights than tier leggings, at least on pure stats. Of course, you may still need to wear tier leggings for the set bonuses. If not, these are a good option.

  • Artery Rippers give tier gloves a run for their money, with dodge and parry rating and 2 gem slots. Tier gloves will probably still win out due to the set bonuses, but otherwise this is an solid set of tank gloves once you reforge to mastery.

  • Treads of the Blind Eye have dodge and mastery, but it's the gem slot that will probably make them your go-to tank boots for this tier.

  • Reinforced Mirror-Sheen Cloak has dodge and parry, but it also has a gem slot, which should push it slightly above other options in many cases.

Primordius

  • Band of the Scaled Tyrant has a gem slot and a solid mix of haste and hit rating, meaning it should end up your best DPS ring option when properly gemmed.

  • Primordius' Talisman of Rage has critical strike rating, which is not the best stat for any death knight DPS, but the strength proc is among the most powerful of the patch.

  • Hydra-Scale Bloodcloak has critical strike and expertise, but the gem slot may help push it over the edge into viability anyway.

  • Pathogenic Gauntlets not only have the solid hit and haste combo, they have 2 gem slots. Based on pure stats, these gauntlets will beat out tier gauntlets for DPS. The question on which you wear will remain based around the set bonus. You will want to go for that 4 piece set bonus.

  • Metabolically Boosted Shoulderplates technically have more pure defensive stats than tier shoulders, but they don't have mastery, they only have 1 gem slot, and they don't offer set bonuses. You will probably end up wanting tier shoulders here.

  • Black Blood Legplates have oodles of dodge and parry along with 2 gem slots. Reforge the dodge to mastery, and you got a decent pair of tank greaves until you get better stuff or your tier piece.

Dark Animus