Assessing the Effectiveness of Fyr'alath the Dreamrender Legendary Axe for DPS & Tanks

The Legendary Axe: Fyr'alath the Dreamrender

The World FirstFyr'alath the Dreamrenderhas been completed and plate wearers across the globe have begun their journey to obtain the legendary 2-handed axe. But how good is it compared to other weapons found in Amirdrassil? Our guide writers, Mandl (Blood DK) and Bolas (Retribution Paladin), break down the new legendary weapon to give a rough idea of how it works and its relative value for both tank and DPS.

• Fyr'alath the Dreamrender's Effect

Fyr'alath the Dreamrender's additional effect is split into two separate effects - a passive and an on-use charge + channeled damage effect. We will break down how each of them works, and more importantly, how they interact with each other.

Mark of Fyr'alath: Passive DoT Damage

Mark of Fyr'alath is Fyr'alath the Dreamrender's passive effect, and is always active. Any time you hit a target with either an auto-attack or an ability flagged as a melee skill, you apply Mark of Fyr'alath to your target. This does a decent amount of ticking damage and lasts 15 seconds. Its ticking damage is not hasted and cannot crit. For Death Knights specifically, this is applied by the following spells:

• Blood: Heart Strike, Death Strike, Marrowrend, Soul Reaper (initial hit), Consumption (all targets), Bonestorm (every tick)
• Frost: Frost Strike, Obliterate (main target only), Frostscythe, Soul Reaper (initial hit)
• Unholy: Scourge Strike, Clawing Shadows, Apocalypse, Soul Reaper (initial hit)

It is worth noting the issue with frost specifically - unlike both other specs, Frost Death Knights have no way to reliably and quickly apply Mark of Fyr'alath to multiple targets at once, due to a bug in how Obliterate gets copied through Cleaving Strikes.

Rage of Fyr'alath: Channelled Ability

The active on-use ability present on Fyr'alath the Dreamrender is complex, both in terms of behavior and limitations. It is composed of three effects:

• A charge (Rage of Fyr'alath)
• A channeled effect (Rage of Fyr'alath) that starts when the charge lands and ticks instantly and every 0.5s for 3s. Every time it ticks, it deals heavy damage to all enemies in front of you, split evenly between them. When this begins, this consumes all Mark of Fyr'alath present on any enemy and increases the damage of this channel by up to 50% - 10% for each mark. This channel is not hasted, and you cannot move while this channel is happening.
• A final detonation Explosive Rage in a 5yd circle around you at the end of the channel. This appears to also be split.

The channel is uncancellable and prevents you from doing anything else during it. You can still dodge, parry, and block while it is being channeled, however.

Implications & Verdict: Blood DK (Tank)

First, let's talk about the good: Mark of Fyr'alath is nice and predictable and scales the way you would expect as target count increases. Its non-hasted behavior and inability to crit are negative points reducing its power, but it's still fine. The problematic part is the on-use, and this is where this article will take a darker, more difficult tone: discussing how a forced 3-second channel on a tank is not always the best way forward. Fortunately, you are able to dodge and parry while channeling Rage of Fyr'alath, but this effectively locks you out of any ability or spell and prevents you from moving.

The ideal time to use the legendary varies. If it is safe to do so, use it as the third GCD of an encounter, just before Dancing Rune Weapon. If you are fighting multiple targets, add a Heart Strike before casting it to add more marks - and therefore more damage - to the channel. If it is unsafe to do so, or if you risk dying while doing so, use Fyr'alath the Dreamrender after your last GCD during Dancing Rune Weapon.

In terms of relative power level, it is tuned slightly above other cantrip items in the raid, at a decent - but not great - bonus DPS. However, the appeal of a legendary that essentially does the same thing with a slightly different color loses quite a lot of its sheen.

Implications & Verdict: DPS

For DPS specs, the main considerations when using Fyr'alath the Dreamrender are around how to use the active ability. Its DoT effect is applied passively to enemies damaged by most abilities, but since the on use effect locks you out of casting other abilities during its channel, a small amount of planning will be necessary. Since most cooldown effects don't buff these types of item effects anymore, it's generally better to use Fyr'alath the Dreamrender outside of regular cooldown windows for some extra burst damage.

Acquiring Fyr'alath the Dreamrender is a long process, but compared to the plethora of other cantrip weapons available this tier, it doesn't feel especially impressive. Legendary weapons need to be beyond just special effects to truly be Legendary, and Fyr'alath the Dreamrender falls short of that goal.

Conclusion

Is Fyr'alath Worth the Effort & Resources? Crafting Fyr'alath the Dreamrender is a long and expensive process. Considering the time, effort, and gold required to actually obtain it, Fyr'alath the Dreamrender should feel like an impressive effect on damage, but compared to other cantrip weapons available this tier, it doesn't. If special effects on weapons are now the norm, then Legendary weapons need to be actually special beyond that to truly be Legendary, and Fyr'alath the Dreamrender falls short of that goal. Now is the time to conquer the content that came with the Guardians of the Dream update! From running Mythic+ dungeons to slaughtering the mighty new bosses of the fresh Amirdrassil raid - all of that and beyond is one click away with WowCarry and its team of pro-players that will carry you through your journey!