Artifact Weapons
One of the strangest, yet most inspired ideas introduced into WoW to date are Artifact Weapons. Weapons will no longer drop in Legion, instead each class specialization will be entrusted with a mythical Artifact Weapon that will be upgraded throughout the player’s journey. The weapon is given out at the beginning of the expansion and will follow the player all the way until the end. Artifacts play a central role within Legion’s story and play a major part in the player’s character developing new and extraordinary abilities.
From the moment you first step foot on The Broken Isles with your artifact in hand, the weapon is upgradable. By completing certain quests and defeating rare spawn enemies, you’ll receive items that will imbue your weapon with experience or Artifact Power. Artifact Power can be spent on upgrades for the weapon which will enhance not only the weapon itself, but also the character’s attributes and abilities as well. In many ways, one’s Artifact Weapon can be seen as another talent tree, unlocking new powers as it gains experience and levels up.
Each weapon has three available Relic Slots as well, which can be slotted with relic items that will add points into specific nodes on the skill tree and increase the weapon’s item level (thus giving it higher stats making it even more powerful). Relics can be acquired as weapons were in the past, from quests, vendors, and as boss drops. Finally, Artifact Weapons can be transmogrified by completing certain quests or raising the weapon’s level high enough. Each artifact has four unique models with four color palettes per model available to unlock and be switched at will.
