Atiesh and the new Naxx
by Mike Schramm 
Aug 28th 2007 at 4:16PM
Considering that Kel'Thuzad is basically "the boss of shipping WoW" (according to Metzen at BlizzCon), then Atiesh, the Legendary caster item that once belonged to Medivh, is the greatest item in levels 1-60. But we're at level 70 now, and when we get to level 80, Atiesh, a Legendary item, might end up looking more like a stick than anything else. So Asheen asks, knowing that Naxx is set to be "repurposed" for our trip to Northrend: will Atiesh make a return?It's a cool idea. Bornakk says, "Maybe." There are a few tangles in the plan: currently, Atiesh requires a trip to C'thun in AQ to get the base (I believe because Brann Bronzebeard put it there), which is a 40 man raid that most guilds don't want to bother with. And of course the stats would need some updating-- it's a nice staff, but not exactly a Legendary level 80 any more. And finally, the staff provides a portal to Karazhan, and at level 80, will that really be as amazing as it used to be?
Bornakk also says the lore needs to be set in place, but that's a copout-- Blizzard can do whatever they want (what if the Kirin Tor decided to repurpose Atiesh and combined it with a new base that didn't need to come from AQ40?). But the biggest issue with bringing back Atiesh is that there's so many other good items that could just replace it. Medivh's staff is hardly the most important item in the game any more, and as Bornakk points out, even though Medivh had great power, it didn't necessarily all come from his staff.
I can't wait to see Naxx's new purpose in WotLK, but there are too many old items floating around for Blizzard to worry about updating. I'd rather see new legendaries, and maybe even some artifacts, come out of the new Naxx and Northrend.
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Guilds, Blizzard, Expansions, Lore, Leveling
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Todd Aug 28th 2007 4:33PM
I don't know of many people, let alone many guilds, who bothered to put together Atiesh. Sounded like a great caster weapon, but seeing as how Naxx was bypassed by lots of people, it was not seen as worth it. Everyone went through MC. Everyone tried out Onyxia. Lots of people tried AQ. Naxx was a blip. I think caster artifact, which has better odds of being obtainable, is in order.
Frank Smith Aug 28th 2007 4:33PM
It would be nifty if I could do something with these 26 orange splinters, but I'm not expecting anything :D Still, can't delete 'um! Represents too much time invested.
Todd Aug 28th 2007 4:37PM
That's a lot of time invested. Try getting a group of 40 people, beg them to spend the month learning Naxx or AQ40, and then further explain to them that you want all the splinter drops for yourself. Sure... that'll happen. :)
Michael Aug 28th 2007 4:51PM
It's unclear what's happening with the old Naxx. Will it move (leave EPL forever), or will it appear in both places simultaneously (like Onyxia does)? If it moves, does that remove all the original Naxx items from the game, no more Tier 3 tokens? That would probably make having a full Tier 3 set the biggest trophy piece in the game.
Jon Aug 28th 2007 5:10PM
Personally, i'd really love to see it be in both places at once ... as I don't like there to be content that's "closed off" or what have you. Naxx was put in vanilla wow, moving it and updating it would take that part of the game away forever. Yes, it's all bright and shiny, but what about those people with 39 fragments just itching to finish up, if just for nostalgia.
The counterpoint is that Blizzard is not concerned that there are items in the game that cannot be obtained anymore by anyone (resonating crystal mount if AQ is open on your server, the one legendary necklace that dropped ever in MC, etc) so they very well might move it over entirely. It *does* float, after all.
Daghol Aug 28th 2007 7:55PM
Sound like an opportunity to reset AQ as an instance for 25 lvl 70s or maybe a 10 man lvl 80? I would prefer if they made it a new 5 or 10 man for lvl 50 to 60. Would love to actually have an opportunity to go there.
Actually, since Tier 3 was supposedly replaced by lvl 70 in BC, would AQ40 be much easier, especially at 80? You can get that base is probably 10 to 15 players, or at least your raid of 25 going into the new Naxx.
I agree, Tier 3 will suddenly be collector's items if they get rid of the old loot.
KaonNemesis Aug 28th 2007 7:46PM
Atiesh had its time as a legendary, now is the time for Ashbringer!
Dan Aug 29th 2007 1:22PM
I'd like to see tier 3 designs used again, especially for Warriors. It's my favourite set.
IKoNN Aug 29th 2007 6:30AM
It would be very hard to change either of the AQ instances into something so small. Even going in there now with just kara and gruul gear would take about 15 people possibly more. The fights are so unique and class specific. You would need atleast 3 tanks for the first boss alone and the 4 anubisath pulls are ridiculous.
Naxx on the other hand you would need atleast 30 to fully complete the dungeon especially the 4 horseman. You have to have 4 tanks there as well as heavy DPS so that you can surely down them.
These lvl 60 40 man dungeons are still hard to an extent. Tuning Naxx to a 25 man for the first lvl 80 dungeon is going to be a challenge in itself if you are going to try and keep the fights somewhat the same. For Razuvious you need at least 2 priests with some +spell hit/penetration. 3 well geared tanks so that you can focus heals on the adds being CC'd.
If you ever went into Naxx you got the spend a lot of time learning these new fights that were so intricate and extremely unique. A lot of the things they did in Naxx they put into TBC just because they were such good ideas. The first actual boss in Heroic Mech had the +/- charges that was a huge part of the Thaddius fight.
As far as legendary items go I would like to see some in Naxx and maybe some that aren't for just 1 single fight at lvl 70 too. I highly doubt that there will be any artifacts in Naxx considering that it is going to be the first 25 man at lvl 80. I would like to see them bring back that unique artwork that the items in Naxx had that made them so ridiculously awesome. Can you say the castigator.
Venkman90 Aug 29th 2007 6:40AM
Since they are resuing item models from Naxx Im hoping for updated versions of some of the drops, I always wanted a Misplaced Servo arm or Iblis ;)
John Aug 29th 2007 8:52AM
Legendary necklace?
nav Aug 29th 2007 10:45AM
Necklace in question - http://www.wowwiki.com/Talisman_of_Binding_Shard
malganos Sep 16th 2007 4:12PM
do u think we will be able to get the atiesh with out doing naxx lvl 60, since with my guild tryed to do it at lvl 70 with 25 ppl and was hard as hell, and thats my queston: ppl will be able to get atiesh in other ways?? with out doing naxx lvl 60???