Midsummer Fire Festival: Frostscythe of Ahune stats to remain uncool
by Mathew McCurley 
Jun 21st 2011 at 5:30PM
Many players were concerned with the Frostscythe's stats because of its inflated +700 stamina instead of plus intellect, which casters obviously prefer, since stamina has been normalized across gear. To be fair, I think it is completely fine to have this holiday fluff item be a non-ideal, cosmetic item that players can wear for it's on-use effect and prestige-luck. Not every item that drops has to be the ideal, especially during a holiday that is coinciding (potentially) with patch 4.2 dropping. That staff you want to be ideal so badly isn't going to be exactly ideal in week if the patch hits June 28. For now, it was an easier alternative to just scale the item opposed to tinkering around and making something perfect. I'd say just leave it as a fun, unique item.
Making it ideal (stat-wise) now and it would stomp all over ZA/ZG weapons. It's fairly trivial to obtain so we're just not really willing to do that.
The solution we're considering would be to make it a 346 blue, but there are some designer-y issues and side effects of what a change like that would cause. Either way I don't think we would be keeping it purple and giving it Int or otherwise making the stats more ideal.
But anyway, those cloaks are pretty sweet, huh?
The solution we're considering would be to make it a 346 blue, but there are some designer-y issues and side effects of what a change like that would cause. Either way I don't think we would be keeping it purple and giving it Int or otherwise making the stats more ideal.
But anyway, those cloaks are pretty sweet, huh?
The news is already rolling out for the upcoming WoW Patch 4.2! Preview the new Firelands raid, marvel at the new legendary staff, and get the inside scoop on new quest hubs -- plus new Tier 12 armor!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
josh Jun 21st 2011 5:35PM
if it doesn't matter since 4.2 is coming out next week, just let it be ideal for casters and whomever. it's not like it matters. za/zg is placeholder stuff anyway so people can get 359 gear in raids.
they should let it be useful instead of not. all the casters are going after the legendary anyway.
Liyly Jun 21st 2011 5:52PM
it's still useful... unless Ahune happens to break yours, of course ;)
I see no reason not to use it if you don't have anything better. I mean, yeah, 700 stamina is less ideal than intellect, but it's not going to hurt you by any means.
Xaklo Jun 21st 2011 6:04PM
@Liyly
700 stam instead of int isn't just less than ideal, it's absolutely worthless. Int is a PRIMARY stat, there's really no reason a primary stat should be done away with for something as trivial as Stamina (for casters no less!). To say that it's not going to hurt you is just plain ignorance.
Would a melee class be fine with no agility/strength on an item? Or perhaps a full 400 damage off a weapon (as that's pretty much the equivalent for the loss of SP on the scythe). The answer of course, is no. This item is a complete joke.
Sunaseni Jun 21st 2011 6:40PM
"This item is a complete joke."
Well, yeah. It's an easy to get item, and its main purpose is just its look and not its effectiveness. The old level 80 version also was similarly underbudgeted, nothing new here.
librariankay Jun 21st 2011 6:58PM
@Sunaseni
Easy to get? Really? You are aware it can no longer be "farmed", right?
It only drops from the bag. You can get 1/day. That's it, end of story. And it still has a "rare" drop rate. And a 2.5-week window.
Talking about the item supplanting ZA/ZG items, especially considering the timing, is nonsensical.
Sunaseni Jun 21st 2011 7:01PM
"Easy to get" as in it doesn't take a lot of skill to get. Of course I'm aware you only get one chance a day.
It's a vanity item that happens to moonlight as a weapon if you're desperate. Never been anything more than that.
sprout_daddy Jun 21st 2011 7:04PM
I may be in the minority here, but last year I scored the old version on my lock, and I thought is was an excellent weapon for a non-raiding caster. If your standard for assessing it is the value of top-tier 5 or 10 mans, well then of course it is undervalued - it should be, even if it is a chance drop from a once-a-day encounter. But if you're not a raider, and you wanted something that would provide decent stat contribution for a caster, there was nothing wrong with the LK version.
I think Blizzard could have made this change in a variety of less sucky ways. This way, I end up with a cool-looking staff that I would have no earthly reason to equip (which stinks, because the frost effect is pretty darn cool).
Noyou Jun 21st 2011 8:43PM
Last year's weapon was completely viable if you were trying to gear an alt. With the scarcity of this weapon actually falling into your casters hands I don't think you can say it's easy to obtain. I know plenty of people who have been playing 5+ years and have never got a holiday mount. The kick in the pants is even though it's got 1800 spell power the loss of intel on it makes it all but completely useless vs one of the 325 blue staffs that are available through quests or dungeons. It would be cool if at some point they made a decent intellect enchant to go on a 2H weapon. The reasoning that it would stomp ZA/ZG weapons
is laughable at best. It's one weapon that you have a scarce chance at getting. I really wish they would just say this is what we feel we want to offer instead of designing some half ass cock and bull story.
loop_not_defined Jun 21st 2011 9:07PM
librariankay: "It only drops from the bag. You can get 1/day. That's it, end of story. And it still has a "rare" drop rate. And a 2.5-week window."
You realize your point here only reinforces the Scythe as a rare gimmick item, right?
Luis Alluren Jun 22nd 2011 1:56AM
"easy to get" -- last night a healer and I (caster) got into a group that had wiped twice before =)
Xakkar Jun 22nd 2011 1:09PM
It seems silly that they do not want it to be too good when it is a somewhat random occurence, yet they let the troll archaeology sword be awesome despite much of the smae randomness.
Eirik Jun 22nd 2011 2:25PM
"Would a melee class be fine with no agility/strength on an item? "
I'd give it a go. Especially for PvP.
lidstrom Jun 21st 2011 5:35PM
not sure what all the fuss is about.
it's clearly a hunter weapon, anyways. :b
Aggrajag Jun 22nd 2011 11:26AM
Oh the shame! :-)
I've actually got this on my hunter main. It's in the bank as a vanity item after I greed-won it last year in PUG where no-one wanted it.
Shinae Jun 21st 2011 5:40PM
I know something it'll be useful for, besides looks! Item level padding! ...for those who have yet to get better than a 346 weapon.
(I really hope I get one on my undead mage this year.)
Fox Van Allen Jun 21st 2011 5:48PM
What I don't like about this item is that it's a one off -- a weapon that's itemized far differently from all similar items in a way that makes it hard for a non-theorycrafting player to know the actual worth of equipping the staff.
The stats on the staff make it quite comparable in terms of DPS output with a level 318 blue like the Spire of Defiance. The Frostscythe is not an item that you should be equipping to DPS, and there's absolutely no indication for beginning players that this is the case.
If Blizzard wants to make sure that this doesn't replace ZA/ZG stuff, that's cool. Just design a weapon that's an on-use toy only. But this solution here ... it's the worst of all worlds -- a useless weapon that masquerades as something more powerful.
Shinae Jun 21st 2011 5:59PM
That's a very good point, Fox. A typical player is going to think it is automatically better than any blue weapon they have simply because the item level is higher. I've seen this attitude many, many times in PUGs.
Matthew Jun 21st 2011 6:24PM
I will admit that I didn't realize it doesn't have int until it was pointed out to me just now. I mean . .. why make a caster staff that doesn't have int? I use spellpower to help decide between gear usually - now I'm going to compare int too !
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on you. and me.
Hunters! Makes sure your weapons have Agility!
Britty Jun 21st 2011 6:41PM
...Shinae brings up a very good point actually. Which reminds me of something else.
Surely I'm not the only one who has had tanks, healers, or DPS with items just superficially boost their item level to get into heroics? I remember very vividly having a DK tank with rainsong equipped, and a few others needing on agility/int trinkets as tanks while I was gearing in normals, who specifically mentioned it was for that reason.
I could see this being a potential problem with the scythe now unless they lower the item level.
I believe I rather it be itemized for spell casters and be decent rather than something which could be nothing more than people trying to boost their item level for ZG/ZA.
Dboy Jun 21st 2011 7:54PM
Great point, Fox. I thought they were trying to make this game easier to understand for new players.