by DANIEL WHITCOMB
Today, we'll be discussing some of the best quest upgrades for a Death Knight in the first few zones of Northrend, but before we do that, I'd like to mention one more gear-related thing from our tanking column last week: The Cobalt "set."
It's not technically a set in that it doesn't have a name or set bonuses, but it's 8 pieces of crafted armor, made by Blacksmiths at 375 skill and equippable at level 70, that provides tons of strength, stamina, and defense. It won't get you to the level 70 Defense cap of 490, but it will come pretty close, close enough that if you can pick up a piece of defense jewelry or a trinket or two, you'll be set for tanking up until the mid 70s or so.
The pieces, specifically, are helm, shoulder, chestpiece, bracer,gauntlets, legplates, boots, and belt. Grabbing these will mean that you're probably almost ready to tank Utgarde keep the moment you hit level 70, and should catch you up in effectiveness to your average level 70 pre-heroic BC-era tank, at least. It only takes a total of 37 Cobalt Bars to make %26#8212; that's less than 2 stacks. If you've been keeping on on your mining on any of your characters, or if you have a bit of leftover daily money, it's well worth getting this stuff crafted.
Oh, and one more thing on Death Knight itemization before we start: Haste and Expertise just aren't as good for us as they are for many melee, especially for 2-hand wielders. For one, we do a very large portion of our damage as spell and disease damage, and these are pretty much completely unaffected by either stat. Expertise is going to be most effective for Death Knight tanks, who are still going to want to keep from being parry-gibbed. For the other part, as 2-hand wielders, most of our remaining damage is done with instant-cast strikes which don't need haste to be effective. Our white damage is a very small part of our ability. Keeping that in mind will probably affect how we decide what gear to pick up.
Now, on to the quest gear.
Weapon
In the Borean Tundra, you'll find The Axe of Frozen Death. It's a very nice blue with the perfect stats for a Death Knight, and it's pretty straightforward to get: Just follow the basic recruitment quest for your side in either Valiance Keep or Warsong Hold. Eventually, you'll be sent out into the field to do a bunch of stuff, eventually ending in a group quest on either side that will get you the axe as one of your quest rewards. Alliance will get it from Last Rites, while the Horde will get it from Hellscream's Champion, a fedex type quest you'll get after finishing everything else Garrosh has for you to do.
If you'd like to stick to the Howling Fjord, you can pick up theCragthumper, which is arguably a slight bit better than the axe for Death Knight tanking, since it has a good amount of stamina, as well strength to convert into parry rating. It's also much easier to get, requiring only a very basic starting quest on either side. Rescuing the Rescuers is the Alliance Quest, while Landing the Killing Blow is the Horde quest. If you're giving dual wielding a try here, you can pick up the Coldstone Cutlass from this quest instead, which should make a passable main hand weapon.
If you're looking for the best possible one-handed weapons, though, consider the Edge of the Tuskarr from Borean Tundra. This one has a slower speed, making it much better for dishing out the strikes and Blood Caked Blade procs. This you'll get from the Tuskarr themselves, namely the quest The Tides Turn. For a one-handed offhand, you want speed for triggering Killing Machine procs and the like. Luckily, you can also pick up a good off hand in Borean Tundra too, the Lobstrok Striker, which comes from rescuing tadpoles.
Helm
In the Borean Tundra, you'll be able to quest for the Mightstone Helm, which is a very nice Death Knight helm with plenty of our two main DPS stats, critical strike rating and strength. Alliance get it from The Hunt Is On, and Horde get it from the Trophies of Gammoth.
If you're in the Howling Fjord, you can grab the Runeplate Helm, but, as we said earlier, haste isn't our best stat by a long shot, and this helm has a good amount of it. Still, it'll do in a pinch, and is probably better than whatever you picked up in Outland. If nothing else, it does outdo the Mightstone Helm in pure strength. Alliance get it from Mission: Eternal Flame, while Horde get it from Adding Injury to Insult.
Shoulders
In the Borean Tundra, you have a few choices as far as shoulder armor goes. Chilled Pauldrons are completely devoid of Stamina, but do have a good amount of strength and critical strike rating. You can get them fromRe-Cursive for the Alliance, or Neutralizing the Cauldrons for the Horde.Chilled Shoulderpads have a bit less strength, but a good chunk of stamina, which many levelers overlook to their own peril, and a bit more critical strike rating. They can be gained from Stop the Plague for the Horde, or There's Something Going On In Those Caves for the Alliance.
In Howling Fjord, Alliance will probably wanted to consider picking up the Feather-Lined shoulderpads, which offer as much strength as the Chilled Pauldrons and some hit rating, which many levelers also overlook. 5% hit or so while leveling works wonders on making sure your hits connect. The other Howling Fjord plate shoulder option is theRamshorn-Inlaid Shoulders, but they suffer from the problem of haste rating. If you're Horde, you'll probably want to go to Borean Tundra for the best shoulders you can get.
In the meantime, I should also mention that tanks might want to do a little dungeon diving for some new shoulders some time in their early 70s. The quest Have They No Shame sends you into The Nexus, off Borean Tundra, to recover some lost research, with one of the rewards being Tundra Pauldrons. While said Pauldrons have slightly less defense rating than Cobalt Shoulders, and some shield block value, which is useless to us, they also have much more stamina and armor and a bit of dodge rating, which should make them a pretty clear tanking upgrade regardless.
Chest
In the Howling Fjord, you can pick up the Worgblood Berserker's Hauberk by assisting Ulfang via your faction's questgivers at the Steel Gate, which balances a good bit of strength with a good bit of stamina. Once again, though, your better options are going to be in the Borean Tundra.
The Battle Leader's Breastplate out of the Tundra is a DPSer's dream come true, with strength, agility, and critical strike rating in abundance. The Alliance gets it from Surrounded!, while the Horde gets it from What the Cold Wind Brings%26#8230;. If you find yourself a bit low on stamina though, you might want to go after the Mightstone Breastplate, which has no agility, but almost as much strength and critical strike rating and a good bit of stamina. It's gained from Enemies of the Light for the Alliance and Bury Those Cockroaches! for the Horde.
Bracers
If you're the Horde, you'll want to grab an Utgarde Keep group to get your best possible bracers. The Vambraces of the Vengeance Bringer are gained from the Horde-only quest A Score To Settle, and are tailor made for a plate DPSer. Both sides can also get the Shaleground Bracers by clearing out the Vykrul settlement of Skorn via Westguard Keep or Camp Winterhoof.
Once again, you'll find the better non-dungeon option in Borean Tundra. The Freed Shackles are from the Tuskarr quest Leading the Ancestors Home, and provide a very nice chunk of strength and some hit rating.
Gloves
Early quest glove upgrades in Northrend for a Death Knight DPSer seem to be sparser than other slots for some reason, but there's still a few options. In Borean Tundra, you'll be able to get the Bogstrok Plate Glovesby helping a guy in a Murloc suit, which provide a good chunk of strength and some expertise. Less desirable but still a solid upgrade over Outland gear are the Onyx Grips from Howling Fjord, obtained by Stopping the Ascension of the Thane at Skorn.
If you're tanking on your Death Knight, you'll once again want to consider some dungeon diving in The Nexus. The quest Postponing the Inevitable will get you the Gauntlets of the Disturbed Giant, a clear upgrade over the cobalt gauntlets, making up what they lack in strength with hit rating %26#8212; and as everyone knows, you can't gain threat if you can't hit your target.
Belt
Belts are actually about as sparse as gloves, and for once, the Howling Fjord option might slightly edge out the Borean Tundra option. The Gold-Plated Coldsteel Girdle offers a sizable amount of critical strike rating, with some strength and hit rating to sweeten the deal, making it a solid DPS choice. You get it by getting the quest to slay Necrolord Mehzen at Westguard Keep or Camp Winterhoof.
In Borean Tundra, consider grabbing the Girdle of Ripped Space fromMonitoring the Rift: Winterfin Cavern. It doesn't have any hit rating, and it has less strength and critical strike rating that the coldsteel girdle, but it does have 58 Stamina, at the least making it decent for tanking if you decided not to spring for some Cobalt.
Leggings
For leggings, Howling Fjord once again probably wins out for pure DPS. You'll actually get the Antique Reinforced Legguards rather soon after you get off the boat or zeppelin, either from the Anguish of Nifflevar for Alliance or The New Plague for Horde. They have the most strength of the plate leg quest rewards.
In the Borean Tundra Also in Howling Fjord, look for the Cold-Forged Bronze Legplates, which make up for having less than half the strength of the Antique Reinforced Legguards with a whopping 53 critical strike rating and 45 stamina. You can get them from Hasty Preparations for the Horde or Down to the Wire for the Alliance.
Boots
Howling Fjord completes its dominance of lower body DPS options with the Master Artilleryman's Boots, which provide a very sizable amount of critical strike rating and strength, and are probably the best of the normal quest rewards for DK DPS. Horde get them from Brains! Brains! Brains!, while the Alliance gets them from Preying on the Weak.
You do still have a few options in Borean Tundra. The Chilled Greaveshave a small amount of strength and critical strike rating, but no stamina and some haste rating. Still, they're a solid choice for DPS. The Moral Sabatons gained from helping the DHETA are good in their own right as well, but they have raw attack power, which means you won't get the usual parry benefits from them. Still, 76 attack power is nothing to sneeze at, and it comes with stamina and critical strike rating as well.
Once again, Tanks are going to want to get a Nexus group. The questQuickening gives the reward of the Boots of the Unbowed Protector, which provide a bunch of defense, dodge rating, and stamina, a clear upgrade over Cobalt Boots for tanking.
Gearing up and Rolling out
As you might have guessed by now, Borean Tundra is probably a slightly better choice for a Death Knight to begin their Northrend career in terms of quest gear, but Howling Fjord has some strong choices, and you probably won't go wrong leveling through either zone. Myself, I'm still leveling in Howling Fjord for now because I enjoy the lore, the scenery, and the music more than Borean Tundra, but even even I'm nipping over there to grab that axe.
Either way you choose, welcome to Northrend, Death Knight. Now's when the real fun begins. We'll see you in Icecrown Glacier.