Gear Check is a random column that takes a closer look at Death Knight gear and weapons.

One of the first dungeons you’ll hit after entering Northrend is The Nexus. The Nexus isn’t the ideal instance to run in terms of Death Knight boss drops. There is actually only one useful drop inside the instance, the rest of the Nexus loot comes via quest rewards. However, if you are a DK (be it tank or dps) in need of a shoulder upgrade, this is your place.

Boss Drops

The only notable drop inside the instance comes off of Ormorok the Tree-Shaper. If you beat him and the RNG is in your favor (unless you have 3 other DK’s in your group) you will get your hands on Chiseled Stalagmite Pauldrons. I hope you like the way they look, you will only change the shading or coloring on them as you upgrade into other various shoulders. The shoulders are great for soloing and dpsing instances. You should see a few levels out of them before needing an upgrade.

DPS stats:

55 STR

48 STA

23 Critical Strike Rating

Quest Rewards

Quest rewards and The Nexus is where DK’s will see their payday. I’m not going to discuss them all, but since we are on the topic of shoulders I’ll mention Tundra Pauldrons. Tanks can rest easy knowing that they’ll get a nice shoulder upgrade for tanking. They have shield block on them, but other than that, they are clearly THE tanking shoulders to have for the 70-74ish tanking career.

Tanking stats:

1315 Armor

37 STR

56 STA

24 Defense Rating

25 Dodge Rating

The quest to obtain them is actually pretty easy. It starts with Librarian Serrah who is found in the southeastern edge of Coldarra in the Borean Tundra, just outside of The Nexus. The quest, Have They No Shame?, may not be available upon first contact with her, you may need to do the few quests she gives in the area (10 minutes worth of questing).

Want to model future Gear Check articles with your DK? Have a piece of gear that you think may be Gear Check worthy? Take a SS of your toon equipping whatever gear you think would be good for the article and put your name and server on it and send it in! I’d rather use DK’s from the community than ripping images from Wowhead (like the ones above).

Gear Check is a random column that takes a closer look at Death Knight gear and weapons.

Nothing makes leveling easier than a nice weapon! Once you’re in Northrend you get the opportunity early on for a weapon that will last a good 5-7 levels. The Axe of Frozen Death can easily be obtained at level 68, is a nice source of EXP while obtaining and gives a few other nice quest rewards in the process.

The quest lines for both Alliance and Horde are in Borean Tundra. Head over soon as you hit 68 and start your Northrend career in style!

Key Stats:

• 341-513 min/max damage
• 118.6 DPS and 3.60 speed
• 37 Strength 54 Stamina
• 28 Hit Rating 43 Crit Rating

Below is a table showing each factions quest chain as well as some of the notable rewards you get along the way:

Alliance	Horde
Finding the Phylactery	The Wondrous Bloodspore
Buying Some Time -> Death Knight’s Anguish	Pollen from the Source
Words of Power	A Suitable Test Subject
Last Rites	The Invasion of Gammoth
	Gammothra the Tormentor
	Trophies of Gammoth -> Mightstone Helm
	Hellscream’s Champion