WoW Classic is full of absurd items. We show you the 5 strangest weapons that have ever existed in Classic.
In World of Warcraft Classic, the game is still a bit strange in many areas. But “strange” often also means “particularly interesting”. Nowhere is this clearer than with the special weapons that players can earn in WoW Classic. Some of them are so powerful or have such absurd effects that Blizzard never returned to such mechanics in later versions of the game. We show you the 5 craziest weapons that WoW Classic has to offer.
Although many of the featured weapons are extremely difficult to find, none of them is the rarest item in the game – that place goes to a special pair of pants.
Place 5: Headmaster’s Charge
The Headmaster’s Charge can be obtained from Darkmaster Gandling in Scholomance – the last boss of a rather long dungeon. Like all weapons on this list, it has a very low drop chance but offers a unique effect.
Along with solid stats in stamina and intelligence, the weapon also has a “Use” effect. This increases the intelligence of all nearby party members by 20 for 15 minutes. Since the use effect has only a 10-minute cooldown, this staff effectively grants the whole party an additional 100 intelligence, almost permanently. This effect even stacks with other intelligence effects, like Arcane Brilliance from the mage.
Unfortunately, the staff has no bonus to spell damage, which is why many spellcasting classes will replace it relatively quickly. It’s a shame, as its effect is unique.
Place 4: Dark Edge of Insanity
Place 4 on our list is the Dark Edge of Insanity. A weapon that warriors are surely eyeing greedily, even though it drops late in the game. It takes a while, because it only drops from the Old God C’Thun, who waits at the end of the Ahn’Qiraj raid.
Although the weapon drops from a tough PvE boss and is quite useful in PvE, it shows its true strength mainly in PvP. Besides having a large amount of strength, agility and stamina, as well as a slow attack speed (which means hard hits), the weapon has another special advantage: it has a high chance to disorient the target for 3 seconds.
Especially in PvP, this provides a powerful buff. If the victim is disoriented for 3 seconds after being hit, they cannot escape during this time. However, the warrior will strike again after 3.5 seconds. So, when the weapon’s passive ability is triggered, it almost guarantees another hit on the target without the victim being able to put up much of a fight.
Place 3: Runeblade of Baron Rivendare
The Runeblade of Baron Rivendare drops – as the name suggests – from Baron Rivendare. He is the final boss of the Stratholme dungeon, at least for the undead side. The Runeblade has a fairly slow attack speed of 3.60 and no stats like strength or agility, but it has a unique equip effect: it increases movement speed and health regeneration rate.
The exact values for this are quite impressive. The regeneration rate increases by 20 hit points every 5 seconds (i.e. 4 hp/s) and is also active in combat, so it’s like a small but noticeable healing.
However, the real power comes from the second effect, as the Runeblade increases movement speed by a whopping 8%. In Classic, very few effects speed up a character’s movement. This means that in PvP, few players could escape when being chased by someone wielding the Runeblade of Baron Rivendare.
Additionally, the Runeblade looks really cool.
Place 2: Hand of Edward the Odd
The Hand of Edward the Odd is a mace for melee casters – basically paladins and shamans. It is a random drop and rarely appears in high-level dungeons and raids (like Molten Core, Scholomance, or Blackrock Spire).
Besides intelligence and willpower, it has another unique effect for Classic: The next spell within 4 seconds is turned into an instant cast. This is particularly interesting in PvP, where a paladin can turn a “Holy Light” into an instant cast without the attacker having a chance to interrupt.
Especially cool: Back before Patch 1.12 (in “Vanilla” WoW), the mace not only turned spells into instant casts but also had many other effects – including the hearthstone. This meant that paladins were attacked in PvP and, if defeated, could simply use their hearthstone instantly and disappear. No chance for the attacker to secure the kill.
Farming such items is part of the 7 Things We Love and Hate About MMORPGs …
Place 1: Blackblade of Shahram
The last weapon and our number 1 for crazy effects comes from Upper Blackrock Spire from General Drakkisath, the final boss of the dungeon.
The Blackblade of Shahram has the following effect on a melee hit: “Summons the Hellish Beast Spirit of Shahram.”
Strictly speaking, the translation is incorrect, as anyone who possesses the weapon knows that no hellish beast is summoned, but rather a fire whelp, as known from the Molten Core. This whelp has 6 different abilities, and one of them is randomly selected with each summoning:
- Curse of Shahram: All enemies in the vicinity are slowed (-50% movement, -25% attack).
- Power of Shahram: All enemies in the vicinity are stunned for 5 seconds.
- Fist of Shahram: The whole group increases speed by 25% for 8 seconds.
- Blessing of Shahram: The whole group receives a bonus of 50 mana and health every 5 seconds for 20 seconds.
- Will of Shahram: The wielder of the sword gains +50 to all stats for 20 seconds.
- Flames of Shahram: All enemies around the target are hit by a blast of flames.
All these effects were universally useful and had a positive impact. The Will of Shahram even had a chance to stack multiple times if the wielder of the sword was lucky.
Do you know any other weapons that you find particularly cool or crazy? What effects would you like to see come back in modern WoW?
