On Outland upgrading
Yes, you can get upgrades from Outland, even from Hellfire Peninsula. No, you don’t have to take them. If you prefer form over function and plan to blast straight through Outland, you should be able to get away with keeping your blue gear til 70. If you do upgrade before Northrend, you will be in danger of looking like a clown, though, especially since the devs say they have no intention of itemizing for Death Knight specific gear sets before Northrend.
Still, if you’re don’t mind looking silly, there’s some good upgrades to be had in Outland. Here’s a few quest upgrades from Hellfire Peninsula, Nagrand, and Zangarmarsh:
Battlemaster’s Breastplate: This breastplate out of Hellfire Peninsula is at the end of a long quest line for both Horde and Alliance, but it’s a very nice upgrade from Saronite War Plate, with a good amount of extra AC and strength easily making up for the lost parry rating. It shows a lot of skin on most races though, even the males, so grab a tabard to cover it up.
Defender’s Gauntlets or Suntrider’s Gauntlets: Gained by a quest from either Falcon Watch or the Temple of Telhamat, these gauntlets have different names depending on your side, but the same stats. The upgrade from Bloodbane’s Gauntlets of Command is much less apparent than it was with the breastplate, but it’s a slight upgrade all the same, with a little bit of armor and a little bit of agility.
Studded Green Anklewraps: Yes, they’re leather, but for pure DPS, they’re a nice upgrade over Greaves of the Slaughter. You lose some critical strike rating, but 10 extra strength, some hit rating, some dodge rating, and some agility should take off the sting of that. You’ll get them from the Cenarion Post.
Helboar Carving Blade: Yes, losing the Greatsword of the Ebon Blade sucks, but the carving blade here has better weapon damage and comparable stats. If you can bite the bullet, it’s probably worth it. This is another reward from the Cenarion Post.
Bladefist’s Breadth: From the quests to kill Arazzius at the Pools of Aggonar, this is a more than worthy DPS replacement for Signet of the Dark Brotherhood. Keep the signet around for tanking until you can find better.
Honed Voidaxe: The Ring of Blood in Nagrand is still an amazing chunk of XP and gold if you can get the group together for it, and the blue weapons it provides will take you right up to 70 with little difficulty. If you can get a group together for it, do so, as the voidaxe is an amazing upgrade.
Halaani Claymore: If you’re lucky enough that your side controls Halaa a lot, this could be the perfect “congratulations for dinging 66″ present for yourself. It’s actually arguably a bit better than the Honed Voidaxe (especially for Humans), with a slightly higher top end damage and the critical strike rating which works on a wider variety of Death Knight abilities than the voidaxe’s agility.
If you’re planning to tank before Northrend, you can also pick up some stuff from quests such as Flintlocke’s Piloting Pants and the Fearless Girdle, but you may be better off waiting for better stuff out of Northrend. Blacksmithing especially looks like it will offer some nice starter defense gear for the aspiring tank.
This is by no means a comprehensive list, though we may have one of those later, so as you level, keep a lookout for any other quest rewards that seem useful to you. Hopefully today’s column has slightly demystified you to the world of Death Knight gear — and hopefully it’s not too obsolete by the time Beta’s over and done! Happy gearing, and may your trip through Outland be quick and painless.