Friday, November 6, 2015

The Great List of Artifact Weapons

The Artifact Weapon list is now available on the WoW website. Here's a quick and dirty list with brief descriptions if you want them all on one page:

Death Knight:

Blood: Maw of the Damned - 2H Axe
Wielded for ages by a Mo'arg Demon, the soul of the axe's creator remains within the weapon, and thirsts for life-force.

Frost: Icebringer and Frostreaper - 1H Swords
Forged from the shards of Frostmourne. While most of Frostmourne's trapped souls were released, a few remain in these shards.

Unholy: Apocalypse - 2H Sword
Forged by the Nathrezim (Dreadlords,) one of the Guardians of Tirisfal tried to wield this but could not contain its corruption. It wound up in the possession of the Dark Riders at Karazhan.

Demon Hunter:

Havoc - Twinblades of the Deceiver - 1H Glaives
Varedis Felsoul, who was slain at the Black Temple, was raised again within the Twisting Nether by Kil'jaeden himself, and given these nifty warglaives.

Vengeance - Aldrachi Warblades - 1H Glaives
The Legion tried very hard to corrupt the Aldrachi people on some other world, but the Aldrachi proved incorruptible. Sadly, this spelled their doom. These weapons were forged by their greatest champion, who fell in battle with Sargeras himself. Later, Kil'jaeden gifted them to a demon hunter who swore to serve him.

Druid:

Balance - Scythe of Elune - Staff
Forged from a tooth of Goldrinn, the Wolf Ancient, this staff basically created Worgen as they exist today.

Feral - Fangs of Ashamane - Daggers
The fangs of one of the first Wild Gods who fell to the Legion in the War of the Ancients. She's presumably what the Cat Form is based on. And yes, Druids seem to be dual-wielding.

Guardian - Claws of Ursoc - Fist Weapons
Forged from Titansteel by Watcher Freya and given to Ursoc when he fought the Legion in the War of the Ancients. While Ursoc faded away after his death, his claws remained.

Restoration - G'hanir, the Mother Tree - Staff
This is a fragment of G'hanir, the first tree. Kept by Avianna, the forces of the Nightmare want to see it destroyed thanks to its connection with the Emerald Dream.

Hunter:

Beast Mastery - Titanstrike - Gun
Created by Mimiron, this gun harnesses the power of storms to blast foes with lightning energy. It houses within it the Thunderspark (holy crap my Dwarf Hunter is going to be happy about this one.)

Marksmanship - Thas'dorah, Legacy of the Windrunners - Bow
This is the ancestral weapon of the Windrunner family, and was wielded by Alleria when she disappeared from Outland.

Survival - Talonclaw, Spear of the Wild Gods - Polearm
Forged by the Highmountain Tauren, this spear has served in battle along with many of the Wild Gods (aka Ancients) and has received their myriad blessings.

Mage:

Arcane - Aluneth, Greatstaff of the Magna - Staff
This was Aegwynn's staff, the longest-lived and only female Guardian, who fought the Legion on many occasions.

Fire - Felo'melorn - ...2H Sword?
The ancestral weapon of the Sunstrider dynasty, this was reforged by Kael'thas and traded blows with Frostmourne, but was lost in the retreat from Icecrown.

Frost - Ebonchill - Staff
Staff of the first Guardian, Alodi, who retired but kept the staff before leaving it to the Kirin Tor.

Monk:

Brewmaster - Fu Zan, the Wanderer's Companion - Staff
Watcher Freya planted some of the first trees in Pandaria, and from the first of those, she fashioned a walking stick. She later passed it on to the Monkey King, who would hang his most prized possessions from it.

Mistweaver - Sheilun, Staff of Mists - Staff
The staff of the Last Emperor, Shaohao, who used it as he prepared to protect Pandaria from the Burning Legion during the War of the Ancients. It was kept by the monks at Tian Monastery.

Windwalker - Fists of the Heavens - Fist Weapons
The Tol'Vir smith Imaat tried to infuse these weapons with the power of elemental air. Not amused, Al'akir overloaded them with such power that when Imaat tried to use them, he created a great whirlwind that scattered the weapons to the winds.

Paladin:

Holy - The Silver Hand - 1H Mace and Off-Hand (Libram.)
A weapon wielded by Watcher Tyr. Tyr discovered Loken's corruption and stole the Discs of Norgannon, fleeing Ulduar. He was eventually tracked down and killed, and the place where he fell was named in his honor - Tirisfal (CALLED IT!)

Protection - Truthguard - 1H Sword and Shield
Created by Archaedas and Tyr. When they discovered Loken's corruption, they gave these to a vrykul champion who held off many of Loken's minions to allow the Watchers to escape. Later, the vrykul went to Stormheim and he and the sword and shield were entombed in the Path of Kings

Retribution - Ashbringer - 2H Sword
It's the Ashbringer. Forged from a holy-infused crystal by Magni Bronzebeard. Tirion Fordring has carried the sword ever since he destroyed Frostmourne with it... which does not bode well for Tirion.

Priest:

Discipline - Light's Wrath - Staff
A failed attempt by the Scarlet Crusade to create a second Ashbringer. The dreadlord who had infiltrated the crusade caused to overload and explode.

Holy - Tuure, Beacon of the Naaru - Staff
Created by the Naaru to fight the Legion, Tuure was lost on one of the worlds that the Draenei had fled from.

Shadow - Xal'atath, Blade of the Black Empire - Dagger
The claw of an Old God... holy crap. It's the claw of an Old God, used for sacrifices during the reign of the Black Empire (Aqir? Something new we haven't heard about?)

Rogue:

Assassination - Angusih and Sorrow - Daggers
Blades given to Garona Halforcen by Gul'dan, these are the daggers that killed Llane Wrynn. Overwhelmed with grief at her actions, Garona gave the blades to Meryl Winterstorm.

Outlaw (Yes, you read that right, Outlaw, formerly Combat) - The Dreadblades (Fate and Fortune) - 1H Swords
Apparently they're a pair of cursed cutlasses who empowered a pirate admiral after she found them in the waters around Booty Bay.

Subtlety - Fangs of the Devourer - Daggers
The fangs of Goremaw, Sargeras' personal hound. After the hound fell in combat, Mephistroph fashioned them into daggers to be used by the Legion's Akaari assassins.

Shaman:

Elemental - Fist of Ra-Den - Fist Weapon and Shield
Aman'thul entrusted his greatest servant, Highkeeper Ra-Den, to use these to imbue life into the Mogu race, and Ra-Den used it to fight the Black Empire. Eventually lost to him, it was recovered by Xuen.

Enhancement - The Doomhammer - 1H Maces
Forged from Elemental Lava, this hammer was the legacy of the Doomhammers before it passed to Thrall. Not sure where the "elemental echo" comes from.

Restoration - Scepter of Azshara - 1H Mace and Shield
Used by Azshara before she was transformed into a Naga, this was eventually found by some Azsuna Night Elves who had no idea of the restorative power the weapon held.

Warlock:

Affliction - Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester - Staff
Staff of Satiel the Harvester, given to her by Sargeras himself. She was the first Necrolyte on Azeroth. After slaughtering her way through Deadwind Pass, the Guardian of Tirisfal turned the Scythe on her, and it wound up in Karazhan, used by the Dark Riders.

Demonology - Skull of the Man'ari - ...um ... um... one-handed... uh... floating skull?
A skull of the pre-Legion Eredar Thal'kiel, who reached into the void and gained great power from creatures his people had never seen. Archimonde (described in the blurb as "demon lord," but I don't know if that makes sense unless the Eredar were demons for a while before actually joining the Legion or we've been told a massive lie) smacked the guy's head off, where it went off to float as a warning to others. It's now wielded by Mephistroph.

Destruction - Scepter of Sargeras - Staff
Created by Sargeras' servants, this was lost beneath the waves for eons before Ner'zhul took it and used it to make the dimensional portals that ultimately destroyed Draenor.

Warrior:

Arms - Stromkar, the Warbreaker - 2H Sword
The sword of the barbarian human who would become King Thoradin, founder of the Arathor. It was eventually lost battling a C'thraxxi Monstrosity beneath Tirisfal (maybe those are the monsters sent to kill Tyr by Loken?) and has been drinking in dark magic ever since.

Fury - Warswords of Valajar - Swords (not sure if they're 1H or 2H)
Forged by Watcher Odyn, these sword were stolen by Helya and infused with her rage. They are used by her servants to hunt down heroes and drag their souls to Helheim.

Protection - Scale of the Earthwarder - 1H Sword and Shield
A scale of Neltharion from before his corruption was fashioned into a shield and wielded by Magnar Icebreaker. The Vrykul king would never fall in battle until he was betrayed by the Val'kyr Helya, and he is buried with it.

EDIT - SOME ANALYSIS

So there are definitely some pre-established pieces here. The Scepter of Sargeras was a pretty big deal in Beyond the Dark Portal, and a lot of these are attached to important lore figures.

However, it also looks like we're getting some hints at new lore - some that might have something to do with stuff in Legion, but also some that might hint at future plots.

First off, we're seeing a lot of references to the Ancients as "Wild Gods," which might just be a nice, more precise explanation for what they are.

We hear a great deal about a demon called Mephistroph, though that might just be the quest objective for players who need to get artifacts off of him.

I'm most fascinated by references to the Black Empire. I don't know if we've heard this term before, but it might refer to a time period in which the Old Gods ruled over Azeroth. I don't know what a C'thraaxi is, but it doesn't sound too nice, and might have something to do with C'thun.

There's also a lot of references to Odyn and Helya, the latter being a sorceress who was "betrayed" by Odyn. I really wonder if one of these guys is a clear good guy, and if so, who. (Also, I think I always assumed Hodir was the Odin equivalent among the Watchers.)

Lots of Staves here, but WoW's always been kind of staff-heavy. I have no idea what weapon type, if any, Skull of the Eredar will be. But if it's yet another thing to hang around my Warlock along with by Wrathguard and Wild Imps, I'm happy to add another member to the team.

I think there's only a single axe, and no two-handed maces, which is a shame as I feel like this would have been an opportunity to have some real war-hammers (ok, Doomhammer fits, though a 2H mace in the same vein would be nice.)

Also, only one spec seems to have been renamed. Combat was always a boring non-descriptor, but I really expected to see one of each of the Frosts, Holies, Protections, or Restorations get a re-name to prevent redundancies.

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