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Ars Arcanum: Corrupted Ashbringer

by - 9 years ago

Books have often been society’s only bastion of light for passing along knowledge that would otherwise be lost to time or convoluted by the oral tradition. In order to provide new and old adventurers with as much knowledge of what to expect on their journey in Sanctuary, we created this tome of knowledge – Ars Arcanum. We will regularly feature a Legendary weapon or armor piece, discussing its stand-alone powers and capabilities, as well as how it may synergize with new builds or other items.


In the past few weeks, we’ve been doing a great job of discussing items that are currently used in the meta or have potential to enter the meta sooner rather than later. This week, I’d like to eschew all of that and gab about a fun item. We’ve heard the cries before: “Don’t put your World of Warcraft in my Diablo!” But then when they added Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker? I saw a lot of happiness and no complaints. Round 2 in Patch 2.2.0. The hype is real.

Corrupted Ashbringer

Why is it good?

 

Why it’s good currently is because of its connection to WoW and general potential. Ported with similar characteristics to its WoW counterpart, there are a few things here that make the weapon interesting, in theory.

First, let’s analyze the Legendary power. Everyone always wants to know what it means when an item has “a chance” to do something. I will be the first to admit that nothing is more frustrating to theorycrafters than not having exact numbers to toy with. But, I digress. The weapon has a chance on kill to spawn skeletons and the chance seems pretty high. Utilizing area-of-effect clear often results in one to two skeletons spawning in my very limited testing. Once you reach five skeletons, they explode for 1000% weapon damage each, which is solid, and then the sword transforms to the true Ashbringer. In this state, you get a massive weapon damage boost of 5000%-6000% as Holy when attacking. The question still remains: Why is this good?

If the chance to transform is reliable enough, then it stands to reason that you will have a nice ebb and flow of power spikes. Combining the transformation effect with a Holy build could result in some serious damage output during the Ashbringer phase. Crusaders seem poised to take the best advantage of this, with Monks bringing it in for a close second. Both classes have had builds that revolved around Holy damage, but the former required a specific weapon already (Blade of Prophecy) and the latter ended up changing to not necessarily needing to go Holy and also having a key weapon (Incense Torch of the Grand Temple). Pair this up with Mirinae, Teardrop of the Starweaver and you’ve got some serious single-target Holy damage output.

Maybe the new Crusader set…

Who is it good for?

All classes except for the Demon Hunter can wiled two-handed weapons. That said (and as previously mentioned), I think this weapon will likely find its home in builds that can best leverage Holy damage and that would mean Crusaders and Monks.

Where can I find it?

This is the second of the two new two-handed swords to arrive in Patch 2.2.0. Once you’re at Level 70, this weapon has the potential to drop for you anywhere. It can also be gambled from Kadala. We even tested with fake Blood Shards on the latest Westmarch Workshop!

The Fluff

Stories tell of a great paladin who wore a single gauntlet of silver and wielded a mighty sword with a flashing jewel. He dispatched thousands of Risen Dead and Wretched Mothers, but fell to a tragic end. This sword bears some resemblance to the legends, but its jewel is dark and threatening. Perhaps there is more to the story?

Perhaps there is… Of course, this is a not-so-subtle shoutout to this weapon’s original home in the story of World of Warcraft. Fun fact, with the introduction of this weapon to Diablo, the Ashbringer is/was present in three of Blizzards games – World of WarcraftDiablo III, and Hearthstone. What are the odds we see Tirion and this sword make an appearance in Heroes of the Storm? I’m willing to bet it’s inevitable. Also, if you turn up the sound on your game, you can actually hear the sword whispering sweet nothings deadly and mysterious things to you.


JR Cook

JR has been writing for fan sites since 2000 and has been involved with Blizzard Exclusive fansites since 2003. JR was also a co-host for 6 years on the Hearthstone podcast Well Met! He helped co-found BlizzPro in 2013.


0 responses to “Ars Arcanum: Corrupted Ashbringer”

  1. Jason Rainwater says:

    Still no Ashbringer and if the Kadala Simulator mirrors my IRL RNGesus luck, I have 136k shards to go.

  2. Jason Rainwater says:

    Still no Ashbringer and if the Kadala Simulator mirrors my IRL RNGesus luck, I have 136k shards to go.