Legendaries Guide

Legendaries Overview

Val’anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings

Shadowmourne

WotLK sees the introduction of 2 incredibly powerful legendary weapons: Shadowmourne for strength-based two-handed weapon damage dealers (Fury & Arms Warriors, Unholy Death Knights, Retribution Paladins) and Val’anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings for healers. These weapons are highly sought after due to their powerful stats and even more powerful effects, though unfortunately only a select few may get them, as they are scarce.

These legendary weapons are more than a mere stat upgrade — you get more than just a little extra spell or attack power. They have unique effects, which make them tremendously powerful, and they even change the way you play the game slightly. Players with these weapons will typically do more damage or healing than those without. All of these make them a very highly desirable commodity.

Legendaries in Wrath of the Lich King

Blizzard moved away from the model of legendaries being random boss drops in WotLK. Both legendaries are created by players after collecting enough fragments and completing a quest chain, similar to Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian from Classic. Gone are the days of praying for that 2nd Warglaive of Azzinoth to drop so you can complete your set — you WILL get your legendary weapon eventually, by slowly building up your shard / fragment count every week.

While the fact that you are now virtually guaranteed to get your legendary weapons is undoubtedly a huge upside, this system unfortunately also has a major drawback: legendaries are now slightly more scarce than they used to be, as you similarly can’t get lucky and get several of them in a row.

Most guilds will thus decide on which person will get the next legendary (usually the most dedicated or best performing player) and give them the shards that drop on any given week, until they’ve completed their weapon. The decision of which class should get each weapon also players a bigger role than before, and this guide will briefly cover that, which the individual legendary weapon guides go into more detail.

Val’anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings

Val’anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings is a one-handed mace, and the first ever healer-centric legendary weapon. It can only be used by Priests, Druids, Shamans and Paladins. It will be added to the game with the release of the Ulduar raid, in Phase 2 of WotLK Classic. It can only be acquired in the 25-man version of Ulduar; you cannot get it in the 10-man version.

The titans created Val’anyr and gifted it to Urel Stoneheart, the first earthen king — which he then used to create and give life to the rest of his brothers, the ancestors of the dwarven race.

Val’anyr’s unique effect allows you to place shields on players when healing them, for an amount equal to 15% of the healed amount. It is incredibly powerful in the hands of a Holy Paladin or Restoration Druid, and very powerful when used by a Restoration Shaman. Discipline Priests unfortunately cannot really make good use of this weapon, and will typically be the last person in a guild to get it, if they get one at all.

You can acquire Val’anyr by collecting Fragment of Val’anyr, which drop from bosses in Ulduar 25. When you collect 30 fragments, you may combine them into the Shattered Fragments of Val’anyr, which starts a quest — Ancient History — that culminates with you restoring Val’anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings after defeating Yogg-Saron, the last boss of Ulduar, in a special way.

For a detailed guide on how to obtain Val’anyr & how its effect works, please check out our Val’anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings guide!

Shadowmourne

Shadowmourne is a two-handed axe, and the second strength-focused two-handed legendary weapon added to the game. It can only be used by Warriors, Paladins and Death Knights. It will be added to the game with the release of the Icecrown Citadel raid, in Phase 4 of WotLK Classic. It can only be acquired in the 25-man normal or 25-man heroic version of Icecrown Citadel; you cannot get it in the 10-man version.

Highlord Darion Mograine, in a desperate gambit to defeat the Lich King, forges an axe for the player and imbues it with holy and unholy artifacts, including shards of the Frozen Throne itself. He ultimately succeeds in creating Shadowmourne, an axe to rival the Lich King’s infamous Frostmourne.

Shadowmourne‘s unique effect allows you to build up strength over time, eventually culminating in a powerful explosion which deals huge Shadow damage to enemies around you. In raids, it is incredibly powerful in the hands of a Retribution Paladin or Fury Warrior, and very powerful when used by an Unholy Death Knight. Arms Warriors, Retribution Paladins and Unholy Death Knights will all highly desire it for PvP, as it famously distorts the PvP metagame with its unbelievably high damage output.

The way you acquire Shadowmourne is slightly convoluted. First, you must complete a quest given by Highlord Darion Mograine (The Sacred and the Corrupt) in order to craft Shadow’s Edge, the weapon that will serve as the basis for Shadowmourne. You then empower Shadow’s Edge by feeding it the souls of defeated enemies in the Icecrown Citadel raid, and defeating bosses in a special way. Finally, you upgrade it to Shadowmourne by collecting 50 Shadowfrost Shards from bosses. This quest chain can only be advanced in the 25-man (Normal & Heroic) version of Icecrown Citadel.

Stay tuned for a detailed guide on how to obtain Shadowmourne & how its effect works!

For a detailed guide on how to obtain Val’anyr & how its effect works, please check out our Shadowmourne guide!