Val'anyr being scaled up in patch 3.2
by Alex Ziebart 
Jul 10th 2009 at 9:00PM
- Val'anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings: This item's stats and level have been increased to match the power level of healer weapons coming from the Coliseum 25-person normal difficulty instance. In addition, each time Val'anyr is equipped, Blessing of Ancient Kings will be placed on a 45-second cooldown before it can occur.
Like I said though, the proc is incredible, so you would be keeping the weapon around for that, not for its stats. Which is what the nerf portion of the Val'anyr change addresses. Once healing weapons have finally outpaced Val'anyr, what most players would have ended up doing is equip Val'anyr until Blessing of the Ancient Kings has procced and expired, switch in your other weapons while the proc's inner cooldown passes, then throw Val'anyr back on when the proc is able to be used again. That sounds like a hassle, but you can bet your dupa that Healers would jump through those hoops to make the most out of the proc. There are still healers that use the Scarab Brooch on certain fights, and Val'anyr's proc is almost a straight lift of that.
So the buff and nerf go hand in hand here. The buff is to give the weapon some longevity through Tier 9, and the nerf is a measure to make sure it's not being used forever. Or at least if it is being used forever, you're making an active choice to do so. You don't get to pair the proc with a weapon that has better stats. You use it, or you don't. I suspect Healers will be using it right through the end of Wrath of the Lich King, and possibly beyond. But when we're hitting the endgame of the next expansion, Healers probably won't forego the stats on a level 90 epic weapon for the Val'anyr proc, except in extreme circumstances. If you could use both in tandem, level 90 healers would be going back to Ulduar every single week to churn out a Val'anyr to pair up with their Godshammer of Godhealing from Nazjatar or whatever crazy place we end up visiting in the next expansion.
For those interested, here are the stat increases we'll be seeing on the weapon:
- 3 more Stamina
- 3 more Intellect
- 34 more Spell Power
- 3 more Critical Strike Rating
- 3 more Haste Rating
Patch 3.2 will bring about a new 5, 10, and 25 man instance to WoW, and usher in a new 40-man battleground called the Isle of Conquest. WoW.com will have you covered every step of the way, from extensive PTR coverage through the official live release. Check out WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2 for all the latest!Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Charlie Jul 10th 2009 9:07PM
Gives people a reason to keep going back into Ulduar if there a few peices away, but haven't quite gotten it yet.
Good call.
With the proc I see it lasting until icecrown hardmodes probobly.
epsilon343 Jul 10th 2009 9:11PM
Not a bad change in my eyes. It just makes sense that after all the work required to get this thing that you'd make the weapon something that you wouldn't just replace the minute you stepped into the CC.
Task Jul 10th 2009 9:12PM
It will, a lot more guilds who have done Ulduar and/or going through it the 1st time will be more than motivated to snag Val'nayr, once its fully completed.
Taedran Jul 10th 2009 9:24PM
Makes sense. Haha, only 23 more to go...
Trueheart Jul 10th 2009 9:29PM
Except that Blizzard, early on, stated that the proc was what made the item legendary, not the stats. GC and others went out of their way to explain the proc so guilds could make informed decisions about who got the shards to make one first.
Shards were collected. Maces were crafted.
And the complaints began.
The proc turns out to be very, very buggy. Or probably more properly, it doesn't work the way Blizzard explained it.
The post in the Dungeons & Raids forum that offered the in-depth explanation of the proc has been de-stickied & buried--or deleted.
To my knowledge, Blizzard has not acknowledged any of the reports, complete with combat logs, that prove Val'anyr is not working as intended.
And now the ilvl/stats are buffed.
The Blizzard healing forums are currently discussing that this probably all adds up to Blizzard giving up on the proc and making the item "legendary" by slightly superior stats.
I'd love to be proved wrong on this.
Maus Jul 10th 2009 9:48PM
Not many have the weapon, but a bunch of guilds do, yeah. I'd say on average about, what, 2 per server?
Jack Spicer Jul 10th 2009 9:53PM
How does that compare to the number of people that received the legendary bow from SWP?
Nick S Jul 11th 2009 12:07AM
From what I've heard, the buff is:
- too random
- very buggy (i.e. sometimes occurs but has no actual effect)
and
- often doesn't get consumed
So yeah... the consensus seems to be that you're better off just getting Constellus and letting other healers blow their DKP on fragments.
codexx Jul 10th 2009 10:22PM
I've always felt that Legionaries should last to the end of an expansion, and still be Best in Slot. Perhaps Blizzard feels different.
As for across expansions, I'd love a way for them to be upgraded, perhaps through a long series of quests, etc, that still requires some guild effort, but then people will go back to old world raids to get them and then to the chains to upgrade them.
The real issue is, only one or two legendaries per expansion. Especially now that Atiesh is unavailable, casters no longer have theirs, even if it was from old world raiding.
Krick Jul 10th 2009 11:28PM
I always wanted to have gear that increased stats by a percentage instead of a fixed amount. That way, you could get something nice from raiding at level 60 and it would still be useful at level 80. It seems to me that legendaries should use this sort of percentage based stats, or at least scale with level like heirloom gear.
...
Krick
http://www.tankadin.com/forum/
Heilig Jul 11th 2009 1:52AM
By that logic, tanks would still be using Thunderfury. i don't know about you, but I wouldn't enjoy using the same sword for 4 years. Upgrading is half the fun of the game. That's why heirloom items aren't as good as raid level gear.
Nonny Jul 10th 2009 11:40PM
I still think they should add spirit to the weapon.
Nick S Jul 11th 2009 12:09AM
...Why?
To spend the item budget on a stat that doesn't remotely benefit half the healing classes?
Wyred Jul 11th 2009 6:35AM
Got to agree with Nick here, that benefits 2 out of the possible 5 healing classe/specs, resto droods and holy priests. No use for pallies and shaman, and not much for disc priests. As it stands the stats benefit all classes, though the weightings might change some with the inc replenishment nerf. My major problem with this legendary is the proc is almost wasted on a disc priest (what I play) as such a large part of our 'healing' is actually mitigation and shields and doesn't use the proc. Healing class leader of my guild and I'll never see the only legendary I've been playing long enough to have a chance at, because it's so much better used on any of the other healers.
ironferal Jul 11th 2009 1:54AM
What a horribly bad Legendary Item, first time I saw this I wanted it so bad till I found out what the proc was and that is what made it legendary. Lawl. I'll keep my staff on my priest. So much better. Never thought I'd see the day when I'd prefer a staff over a main hand off hand, but those stat sticks are impressive indeed.
Julie Jul 11th 2009 4:42AM
When I first hear about the legendary mace, I was like, ooh, aah :) But then I found out you had to farm Ulduar (heroic) for months to get the fragments. And then you had to beat the dungeon on hard mode :/ Which, would have been OK, except -- the weapon is just not impressive at all. Ok, it's a legendary, and it's got a neat (but totally unnecessary) proc. Beyond that, you are really not any worse off just getting any other weapon, particularly when you don't have to dance on ball while going down a tightrobe to get those other weapons :p
I am glad it's being buffed. But it's still underwhelming. It's just too much effort for so little reward. What would be cool is if the mace was BOA, and it adjusted item level to match your level. Now that would be something :) And btw... I DO believe legendaries should be irreplaceable. What's the point of a legendary, if well, it's not legendary? But obviously, the developers would want to put some kind of limit, like phase it away so you can't get it after patch 3.3 or something. It doesn't have to be the best item in the game either, just good enough you can keep using it as long as you play the game.