PvE Blood Death Knight DPS BiS (Best-in-Slot)

Fresh 80

With the release of the Titan Rune Dungeons, you have plenty of viable options as a fresh level 80 for your head slot that can massively enhance your overall performance compared to the previous options from Phase 1.

The most accessible item that can be acquired even before reaching level 80 is the Spiked Titansteel Helm. While it doesn’t grant any Stamina, it grants a large amount of Strength, and quite a high amount of both Hit Rating and Critical Strike Chance, making it a perfect beginning item. The Hit Rating will be crucial, especially since you won’t have a lot of it in the beginning of your gearing phase.

In case you can’t find any Blacksmith or any offer on the Auction House, you can use the Planetary Helm as a viable alternative since it grants similar stats. While it does not grant raw Critical Strike Value, it offers a similar amount of Hit Rating, and very large amounts of Agility and Stamina to compensate.

Once you gain access to the Titan Rune Dungeons, the best possible option will be the Heroes’ Scourgeborne Helmet. This is due to the overall high stats that the item grants, with both baseline stats and secondary stats having high values. The item also grants you access to the T7 item-set bonuses which will empower you further. However, since it grants a lower amount of Hit Rating than the other options, you will want to use this item in conjunction with other items that have a high amount of Hit Rating.

If you still have issues with your Hit Rating and you can’t get the T7 helmet yet, you can also use either one of the Helm of the Unsubmissive or the Helm of the Vast Legions as viable options. They both grant a good amount of Hit Rating while also providing you with stats that result in a similar damage output to the T7 helmet.

Lastly, if you already have plenty of Hit Rating and you can’t get the T7 helm, the Titan’s Outlook is the best possible alternative, as it grants a very high amount of both baseline stats and secondary stats. While the item doesn’t have any gem socket for your Meta Gem, the Critical Strike Chance/Armor Penetration combination it offers will provide almost the same damage output.

Pre-Ulduar

For the Pre-Ulduar phase, the Phase 1 BiS will remain the best option, namely the Obsidian Greathelm. This is due to the large amount of baseline stats that the item offers, being the highest among the Phase 1 helmets. While the item doesn’t grant you access to the T7 item-set bonuses, it will grant you a large amount of Expertise Rating which will aid you in reaching your Expertise Cap, and a considerable amount of Critical Strike Chance which will increase your overall damage output.

The Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet is the next-best alternative since it offers similar baseline stats, access to the T7 item-set bonuses, and quite a decently high amount of secondary stats. Rather than Expertise Rating, this item grants you Hit Rating, which is a better fit if you severely lack Hit Rating from your other item slots. Since the T7 4-item set bonus is not that spectacular, you can simply choose to use this item until you can get the Obsidian Greathelm, or simply keep it until you manage to gain an upgrade from Ulduar.

The Heroes’ Scourgeborne Helmet works in the same way the Valorous Scourgeborne Helmet works, being its precursor. The only difference is the raw amount of stats the item gives, being slightly lower than its upgraded version. You will want to take this item as its extremely easy to gain with the addition of the Titan Rune Dungeons.

In case you simply don’t want to bother farming the T7 helmet or the Obsidian Greathelm, you can use the Fire-Scorched Greathelm as a great alternative. This item grants the highest possible baseline stats paired up with a large amount of secondary stats, however, it doesn’t offer any gem sockets. Since there is no gem socket available, the only drawback of this item is that you will no longer be able to benefit from a Meta Gem. With Meta Gems being quite powerful, this can result in a serious issue.

Lastly, Titan’s Outlook is another viable and great option that will provide you with a similar damage output when compared to the other options. Once again, just like with the Fire-Scorched Greathelm, this item doesn’t grant you any gem sockets. Even without a Meta Gem, this item will grant you high amounts of Critical Strike Chance and Armor Penetration, resulting in a very similar damage output to the other items.

Best-in-Slot

The best possible choice for Phase 2 will be the Conqueror’s Darkruned Helmet! This is mainly due to the high baseline stats paired up with a perfect combination of offensive secondary stats, Critical Strike Chance/Armor Penetration. The item also grants you access to the T8 item-set bonuses, which are very potent, especially when combined with the previous set.

Depending on whether you can already activate the T8 4-item set bonus, you will want to use the Valorous Darkruned Helmet as the next-best alternative if you can activate it, or the Warhelm of the Champion if you can’t yet activate the 4-item set bonus. In any case, in order to gain the Conqueror’s Darkruned Helmet, you will still need the Valorous Darkruned Helmet as a prerequisite.

The Warhelm of the Champion is the better overall choice if you still need a large amount of Hit Rating! If you still need a large amount of Hit Rating and don’t have access to the Warhelm of the Champion, your next-best option will be the Iron Riveted War Helm. Its baseline stats are almost as high as the Warhelm of the Champion, providing a very similar damage output when compared to it.

Lastly, if you already have enough Hit Rating, Mimiron’s Flight Goggles are a stronger choice than the Iron Riveted War Helm, however, they offer a lower damage output when compared to the other 3 options. You can consider them as an intermediary item that you can use until you manage to acquire the Valorous Darkruned Helmet.