World of Wardrobe: More plate look-alikes for death knights
The Burning Crusade was the first expansion for World of Warcraft, featuring a wholly foreign landscape to traverse and all-new armor to pick up and proudly wear. Well ... sort of. Though the zones, dungeons and quests were incredibly detailed and entertaining, the gear itself was a little lacking in variety. Green gear drops were simply recolored versions of existing models, and nothing really went together -- which led to the infamous Burning Crusade "clown suit" effect that most people experienced while leveling through the expansion.
That didn't mean there was a complete lack of matching gear, however. Burning Crusade dungeons contained plenty of recolored tier sets from classic World of Warcraft, to the delight of many players who simply didn't raid in vanilla and therefore didn't have access to that tier. The other nice part about the tier recolors was that they weren't class-restricted, so any class could pick up the look of another class with relatively little difficulty.
This turned out to be very good news for death knights, who didn't appear on the scene until Wrath of the Lich King. Though a class call was added to Nefarian over in Blackwing Lair for our death knight friends, tier sets were not. Last week, we covered a few of the recolored plate offerings that death knights can pick up -- but don't worry, death knights. Last week's offering of plate tier goodies was only part 1! There are a few more plate tier look-alikes to be had out there in The Burning Crusade.
Tier 2
Tier 2 is still a favorite of many players. The classic look and stylistic design of each set makes tier 2 a popular choice for the upcoming transmogrification feature. Though there is no death knight tier 2, there are a couple of plate recolor options for those death knights who would like to wear these iconic sets.

- Vambraces of Daring are the bracers for this set. They can be found in the chest that appears after beating Vazruden and Nazan, the final encounter in Hellfire Ramparts. These bracers drop in heroic mode.
- Stop next door at The Shattered Halls for your next two pieces of gear. Greathelm of the Unbreakable drops from Grand Warlock Nethekurse, the first boss in the instance, and the Greaves of the Shatterer, the leg piece for this set, drops from Warchief Kargath Bladefist, the final boss. Both of these items drop in normal mode.
- Girdle of the Immovable is the belt for this set. It drops from Quagmirran, the final boss in The Slave Pens, on heroic mode.
- Fanblade Pauldrons, the shoulders for this set, drop from Shirrak the Dead Watcher in Auchenai Crypts. Shirrak is the first boss in the instance, and the shoulders drop on heroic difficulty.
- Next door in the Mana Tombs, you can find the Boots of the Colossus on Pandemonius. Pandemonius is the first boss of the instance, and he must be defeated in heroic mode for the boots.
- Fly out to Netherstorm and head to The Arcatraz for the gloves for this set. Thatia's Self-Correcting Gauntlets drop from Dalliah the Doomsayer, the third boss in The Arcatraz.
- The final piece of this set can be found next door in The Mechanar. Jade-Skull Breastplate, the chestpiece for this set, drops from Nethermancer Sepethrea, a boss located at the top of the elevator in The Mechanar.

- Head to Hellfire Ramparts for the first two pieces of this set, both found on heroic mode. Justice Bearer's Pauldrons, the spaulders, can be found on Omor the Unscarred, second boss in the instance. Life Bearer's Gauntlets are found in the chest that drops after defeating Vazruden and Nazan, the final encounter in the instance.
- Next door in Blood Furnace, Virtue Bearer's Vambraces, the bracers for this set, can be found on Broggok, the second boss in the instance. These bracers drop in heroic mode.
- Girdle of Many Blessings is the belt for this set, and it can be found on Rokmar the Crackler in The Slave Pens on heroic mode. Rokmar is the second boss in the instance.
- Mask of Penance is the helm for this set, it drops from Mekgineer Steamrigger, the second boss in The Steamvault.
- Cassock of the Loyal can be found in the heroic version of The Underbog. The legs for this set drop from Hungarfen, the first boss in the instance.
- Breastplate of Many Graces can be found in Shadow Labyrinth -- this chestpiece drops from Grandmaster Vorpil, the third boss in the instance.
- Boots of the Watchful Heart are the last item in this set, and they can be found on Captain Skarloc, the second boss of Old Hillsbrad Foothills. Skarloc should be killed on heroic mode if you're looking for these boots.
Tier 5
That's it for old-school tier sets. Sadly, there was never a recolored version of tier 3 offered to players during The Burning Crusade; that came later in Wrath. As for set 2.5 and its bizarre bug theme ... honestly, I'd be glad I didn't have one of those sets, if I were you! Tier 4's only recolor options were the PVP sets, and these were also class-restricted. Fortunately, tier 5 offered a couple of recolored looks for those death knights who would like to take advantage of the sets available.
Keep in mind that these are not full tier sets. As with their predecessors, they only include five items. But also keep in mind that sets don't always have to have an exact match; you can always check sites like WoW Roleplay Gear for off-set items that go with the set pieces.
Both sets listed here can be found in Serpentshrine Cavern and The Eye in Tempest Keep. We've already covered strats for the various bosses in these raid zones; while most classes may find it difficult to solo raid content, death knights are far better suited for the task. If you're up to the challenge, take a shot at soloing, but you may also want to take a look at the guides provided for Serpentshrine and The Eye for more information on defeating the various bosses in these raid dungeons before you go rushing in.

- Pauldrons of the Wardancer drop from Hydross the Unstable in Serpentshrine Cavern.
- Krakken-Heart Breastplate drops from Lady Vashj in Serpentshrine. Lady Vashj isn't really a boss that is easily soloed; consider bringing a friend in to help out with the fight.
- Fel-Steel Warhelm can be found on Void Reaver in The Eye.
- Greaves of the Bloodwarder can be found on High Astromancer Solarian in The Eye. Remember to clear the trash around her before engaging the boss!
- Royal Gauntlets of Silvermoon can be found on Kael'thas Sunstrider in The Eye. This is a fight with a lot of phases; check out the guide from Tempest Keep for more about this boss. I'd recommend also looking around for soloing guides on this boss if you're up to the challenge.

- Brighthelm of Justice can be found on Hydross the Unstable in Serpentshrine Cavern.
- Glowing Breastplate of Truth drops from The Lurker Below in Serpentshrine.
- Pauldrons of the Argent Sentinel are the spaulders for this set, and they can be found on Morogrim Tidewalker.
- Glorious Gauntlets of Crestfall can be found on Lady Vashj.
- Lastly, Blue's Greaves of the Righteous Guardian can be purchased with 390 justice points from either Anwehu in Shattrath City or Smith Hauthaa on the Isle of Quel'Danas.
That's all for plate tier recolors. Death knights, we'll see you again in Wrath tier, where you should feel right at home among the other classes. Though death knights were absent for the original game and first expansion of WoW, nabbing recolored tier can at least give the impression that your character was there in one form or another. Next week, it's back to raiding content with a trip to Black Temple and a face-off against the not-so-final boss of the expansion, Illidan Stormrage.
Filed under: World of Wardrobe






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Sumadin Nov 3rd 2011 5:09PM
Just in case this hasn't already been linked.
http://www.thedailyblink.com/2011/08/youre-a-death-knight-charlie-brown/
Oh and btw as a dwarf paladin i just wanna say, if you are willing to wear the T5 recolour, TAKE IT! Please keep it. We don't want it. Not that i would understand what DK would it but hey.
Quidamtyra Nov 3rd 2011 5:20PM
dawww poor guy!
my DK is definitely going with either purple judgement or red lawbringer! most likely purple judgement because purple rocks... and my rogue gear is currently purple, as well as the glory of the firelands raider hawk... it's a fantastic purple overload!
Zaet Nov 3rd 2011 5:21PM
HI
I love this column, reallt helpfull.
Are the dungeon set from BC gona be mencioned here?
Revrant Nov 3rd 2011 9:51PM
Shh shh, how did you get out of your chair, gram gram? Come on, this way now.
Aticus Nov 3rd 2011 5:32PM
Farmed the Purple Judgement set the moment I heard about xmog. It looks wicked great on my female blood elf DK :D
Nopunin10did Nov 3rd 2011 5:33PM
It really is a shame about Purple Judgment. It's such an amazing looking set, and it can take several days of dedicated BC farming to get all the drops.
But you're probably right; it's awesomeness is going to be diminished by its proliferation.
HappyTreeDance Nov 3rd 2011 5:57PM
I was going to not farm up the purple judgement set because I feel like everyone else would be using it. Then I remembered I don't really care. ;)
I'm using it for my pally's healing off set. That way I won't be looking at it all the time (since her mains spec is ret) but I can see it often enough to make me smile. I found an axe to transmog my healing axe into. Just need the shield and I'll be good to go!
Amanda A. Nov 3rd 2011 6:45PM
'Several days?'
It may have been bad luck, but I was exalted with lower city and nearly exalted with Aldor from running Shadow Labs over, and over, and over. (I decided to do full clears, since I was there anyway and leveling a tailor.) It must have taken me over 20 runs....
Melvyl Nov 3rd 2011 6:56PM
I have been curious about how many people will take the time. I really want to pick it up for my Draenei DK and she still has her Claymore of the Prophet in the bank. I did try to pick up the normal pieces one afternoon and had no luck.
Marbles Nov 3rd 2011 8:40PM
I collected the whole set on my Paladin at the tail-end of Wrath, when had nothing else to do. Still got it in bank, though unlikely to be Transmoged owing to the likely ubiquity of it. I know of at least three people who claimed they'd be grinding it.
I also collected the Might recolour, but ended up vendoring at start of Cata, since ran out of bagspace.
As it stands, no real idea what I'm going to be using for transmog - got lots of old armour sets (most of Tiers 1,2,6,7 & Dungeon set 2) but also recently finished Tier 12 + lookalikes, which is decent on a Paladin. Will see at the time. Need Void Storage before can even thing of trying to organise my bank, or grind new items.
Bobby Earl Nov 4th 2011 8:52PM
I've killed Heroic Hungarfen almost 40 times now and no Cassock. Is this just bad luck that defies all probability or have they removed it from the loot table and didn't tell me?
Marshal Nov 3rd 2011 7:29PM
Really wish there was a similar looking items from the Warrior Warbringer set. Especially the helmet. Would have loved it on my DK.
Mystfire Nov 3rd 2011 7:48PM
So, when are we going to see some armour-set look-a-likes for Monks? They're at such a disadvantage :O
Helston Nov 4th 2011 12:05PM
Probably a shortly before MoP launches.
Helston Nov 4th 2011 12:05PM
Probably shortly before MoP launches.
Unexplained Bacon Nov 3rd 2011 8:59PM
I may be missing something, but is there any reason you can't use class restricted tier items? For example Tier 5 warrior for a DK. Get the token, trade it in for the item, and then use it for transmog. Isn't the fact that both items have stats and are the same type or armor enough?
Pazazu Nov 3rd 2011 9:24PM
You have to be able to actually equip the item you're taking the look of with transmogrification, so no, you can't use the actual warrior piece to xmog your DK's gear.
Unexplained Bacon Nov 3rd 2011 9:30PM
Dang.
Literaltruth Nov 4th 2011 1:22AM
Even if it wasn't the case that you had to be able to equip the item, teir gear vendors only show items for your class anyway. So you wouldn't be able to trade your token.
Marbles Nov 3rd 2011 9:24PM
Tiers are limited, either by quest (as in Ahn'Qiraj sets, or Tier 3 historically), or by vendor.
Can be seen in Cataclysm. Everyone used the same Justice Point vendor in Orgrimmar/Stormwind, but that vendor only sell that class's Tier. Is same for all the other vendors, from TBC onwards.
Even if you could get around that someone how, all modern Tier sets have "Classes: Warrior" or the like on them, thus limiting the Tier items from Vault of Archavon or Baradin Hold.
Lookalikes are the closest off-classes are going to get - fortunately, is a lot of them:
- TBC 60-68 contain many Dungeon 1/2 lookalikes (Warlock absent)
- TBC 68-70 Heroic contain many TIer 1 & 2 lookalikes (again, Warlock 1 absent).
- Karazahn contains many Dungeon 3 lookalikes
- and from Black Temple onwards, most raids contains same-Tier lookalikes.
Completes sets of lookalikes are rare though, see the White Crystalforge above, where substantial gap need to be filled (with Dungeon set 3 lookalikes in that picture - clearly seen on the Legs).