Healers (and ambitious damage dealers), rejoice! The new Legendary hammer Val’anyr has finally arrived in WoW Classic WotLK phase 2 courtesy of the release of Ulduar. This massive weapon offers a very unique proc and some incredible stats, making it very sought-after. So how do you get Val’anyr in Wrath of the Lich King Classic?
Here’s what you’ll need to craft Val’anyr in Phase 2 and all the surrounding details including drop odds and the most likely ways you can get your hands on this potentially game BIS weapon as soon as possible.
What is Val’anyr?
Val’anyr, Hammer of the Ancient Kings, is a legendary 1-handed mace crafted from materials gathered in the Ulduar raid. This weapon boasts the following stats:
- 258 Item Level
- +62 Stamina
- +64 Intellect
- +53 Crit Rating
- +52 Haste Rating
- +701 Spell Power
- Equip: Your healing spells have a chance to cause Blessing of Ancient Kings for 15 sec, allowing your heals to shield the target absorbing damage equal to 15% of the amount healed. (Proc Chance: 10% with a 45-second internal cooldown.)
This combination far outpaces other weapons from Ulduar for nearly all healers, though this weapon will be much more useful for specific specs. In general, Holy Paladins lead priority for Val’anyr given the specs’ massive burst healing, overall single-target throughput, and mana sustain making sure no procs are wasted. That doesn’t mean it’s not good for other healing classes, in fact, far from it, as it’s essentially universal BIS. Even better, for some classes, it’s arguably game BIS that will last even through the massively scaled-up ICC gear.
With so much at stake, how do you get Val’anyr in Ulduar?
Val’anyr Requirements: Fragments of Val’anyr, Drop Rates, and Questline
To craft the Legendary Val’anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings, you’ll need to collect 30 Fragments of Val’anyr, a BoP item that can drop from any Ulduar boss.
In general, Fragments of Val’anyr have a drop rate of roughly 12%, but players have a higher chance of seeing these fragments in hard-mode fights. Remember, however, that Fragments of Val’anyr only drop in 25-man difficulty, so you won’t be seeing them in 10-man no matter how hard you try.
Once a player gathers all 30 Fragments of Val’anyr, they will then be able to combine them into Shattered Fragments of Val’anyr, thus obtaining the Ancient History quest. This quest simply tasks players with bringing the fragments to Ulduar. Once this quest is completed, players will receive the Val’anyr, Hammer of the Ancient Kings quest, and must then throw the Unbound Fragments into Yogg-Saron’s mouth during the cast of Deafening Roar.
After Yogg-Saron is defeated, a quest item will then be lootable, and it can be redeemed for the legendary weapon.
Best Ways to Get Val’anyr in Phase 2
In practice, this all means that players looking to form Val’anyr, Hammer of the Ancients will need to be reliably able to loot all 30 Fragments in whatever raid group they frequent. This will be incredibly difficult in PUGs, especially without hard reserving Fragments, leaving some more likely options for gathering all 30.
One of the most likely ways to reach Val’anyr, Hammer of the Ancient Kings in Ulduar is via GDKPs, which is a loot system that has absolutely taken over the WotLK raiding scene. This loot system works exactly like the DKP bidding system, but instead of DKP, players bid gold instead, with all the bid gold being dispersed in a pot at the end of the raid. Players who have multiple characters to grind gold with can use this method to collect shards but at the cost of a lot of time and some stiff, unpredictable competition for groups that don’t offer pre-bought fragments.
Another likely way to reach Val’Anyr, Hammer of the Ancient Kings is to join a guild as a high-priority candidate. The legendary weapon may be BIS for all healers, but it goes plenty of extra miles on the most fitting specs, a list led by Holy Paladins. Most guilds or reliable raid teams will want to put their first Val’anyr on a Holy Paladin to get the most use out of the item, making this spec a great option to play in the chase to wield it.
Finally, there’s always the opportunity to start your own raid team or guild, and hard reserve the Fragments as they come. This, of course, poses challenges to recruiting, but many players see the work as worthwhile for a potentially game BIS weapon in just Phase 2 of Wrath of the Lich King Classic.
Regardless of how you approach the hunt for Val’anyr, being able to push hard mode versions of as many Ulduar bosses as possible will mean a nice extra chance at seeing Fragments of Val’anyr drop. Anyone looking to craft the legendary as soon as possible will want to make sure they’re in an environment to push hard mode limits each week. With the average Val’anyr taking around 10 weeks to craft, it’s a long-term investment and a long road for players looking to wield it. Thankfully, like some other Legendary items before it, Valanyr, Hammer of the Ancient Kings is a game-changing weapon that will stand the test of time as new phases come and go.
