Unholy Death Knight BiS Gear
Every slot, enchant and gem for the Unholy Death Knight at the Phase 4 ceiling: Icecrown Citadel 25 and Ruby Sanctum. Hover any item for the full Wowhead tooltip.
About this gear set
Details & alternatives
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HD preview · Miorey / Wowhead
Stat Priorities
- Hit
- Strength
- Armor Penetration
- Expertise
Caps & Requirements
17% spell cap minus 3% Virulence minus a 3% raid debuff (Misery/Improved Faerie Fire) = 11% needed from gear.
Tundra Stalker reduces the actual gear requirement.
Best Races
Blood Fury, and if you run an axe, +5 expertise from Axe Specialization. Expertise is a priority stat for every DK spec, so racial expertise is worth a lot of gear budget.
Sword / Mace Specialization covers 2H sword and mace users with +3 expertise; Every Man for Himself for utility.
Notes
Strength after hit/expertise requirements; use Etched only as needed for melee hit.
The Unholy Death Knight list in short
This is the Best in Slot list for the Unholy Death Knight in WotLK 3.3.5a Phase 4: the strongest realistic gear from Icecrown Citadel 25, Ruby Sanctum and Trial of the Grand Crusader. It covers 16 equipment slots with the enchant, the gems and the close alternatives for every piece, in 3 builds (Two Hand, Dual Wield and AoE).
In short: the Two Hand build uses the Shadowmourne as the main weapon and the Sigil of the Hanged Man in the sigil slot; its trinkets are Sharpened Twilight Scale and Deathbringer's Will; the head slot is Sanctified Scourgelord Helmet and the chest is Sanctified Scourgelord Battleplate.
Stat priority: Hit, then Strength, then Armor Penetration, then Expertise. The caps and the best races for this spec are in the panels above the notes.
3 builds for the Unholy Death Knight
Two Hand shown on the sheet
high confidence2H Unholy endgame profile with Shadowmourne.
Dual Wield
high confidenceDual-wield Unholy endgame variant with dual Havoc's Call; gear/caps differ from 2H Unholy.
All slots of this build
- Head Sanctified Scourgelord Helmet
- Neck Penumbra Pendant Alt: Ahn'kahar Onyx Neckguard
- Shoulders Sanctified Scourgelord Shoulderplates
- Back Winding Sheet
- Chest Sanctified Scourgelord Battleplate
- Wrist Umbrage Armbands Alt: Polar Bear Claw Bracers
- Hands Sanctified Scourgelord Gauntlets
- Waist Coldwraith Links
- Legs Scourge Reaver's Legplates
- Feet Apocalypse's Advance Alt: Blood-Soaked Saronite Stompers
- Ring Ashen Band of Endless Might Alt: Might of Blight
- Ring Signet of Twilight Alt: Ashen Band of Endless Might
- Trinket Deathbringer's Will Alt: Signet of Twilight
- Trinket Sharpened Twilight Scale Alt: Death's Choice
- Main hand Havoc's Call, Blade of Lordaeron Kings Alt: Shadowmourne, Glorenzelg, High-Blade of the Silver Hand
- Off hand Havoc's Call, Blade of Lordaeron Kings
- Sigil Sigil of the Hanged Man Alt: Havoc's Call, Blade of Lordaeron Kings *
AoE
high confidenceAoE-oriented Unholy profile; the 2H endgame item core is shared, while talent/glyph/rotation choices drive the AoE specialization.
All slots of this build
- Head Sanctified Scourgelord Helmet
- Neck Penumbra Pendant Alt: Ahn'kahar Onyx Neckguard
- Shoulders Sanctified Scourgelord Shoulderplates
- Back Winding Sheet
- Chest Sanctified Scourgelord Battleplate
- Wrist Umbrage Armbands Alt: Polar Bear Claw Bracers
- Hands Sanctified Scourgelord Gauntlets
- Waist Coldwraith Links
- Legs Scourge Reaver's Legplates
- Feet Apocalypse's Advance Alt: Blood-Soaked Saronite Stompers
- Ring Might of Blight
- Ring Ashen Band of Endless Might
- Trinket Deathbringer's Will Alt: Signet of Twilight
- Trinket Sharpened Twilight Scale Alt: Death's Choice
- Main hand Shadowmourne Alt: Glorenzelg, High-Blade of the Silver Hand
- Sigil Sigil of the Hanged Man Alt: Havoc's Call, Blade of Lordaeron Kings *
Common questions
QWhat is the best weapon for a Unholy Death Knight?
In the Two Hand build the pick is the Shadowmourne as the main weapon and the Sigil of the Hanged Man in the sigil slot.
QWhich stats should a Unholy Death Knight stack?
The priority for this spec is Hit, then Strength, then Armor Penetration, then Expertise. The caps to plan around are hit: ~289 rating (263 with Draenei); expertise: 26 expertise (214 rating base); armor penetration: 1400 rating (theoretical cap).
QWhich race is best for a Unholy Death Knight?
For the Death Knight the best races are Horde: Orc and Alliance: Human. The reason for each is in the Best Races panel on this page.
QWhat does this Unholy Death Knight list assume?
The Two Hand build assumes: 2H Unholy. Confidence in this gear set is high.