For starters, I say this as someone who has never really mained a Class that can wear both Warglaives nor plan to so I don’t really have a horse in this race. I am literally as unbias in this situation as I can get.
WITH THAT SAID–
I 100% think that this is a bad move and continues to prove the point that Blizzard is really REALLY inconsistent with their choices lately in a bad way… (Which I brought up in my Long Boi thread that got locked (rebel MVP for life))
To start with, I want to focus on the inconsistent part of this all. The Warglaives were introduced in The Burning Crusade and could be equipped by Warriors or Rogues. Demon Hunter’s would not come into existence in the game for another ~11 Years, well after their conception.
These iconic weapons, still very visually impressive to this day, are beloved by many and you can still see players using them in TBC time walking weeks. These were weapons that Warriors and Rogues took great pride in acquiring, weapons that people still love to wear and show off to this day and are now being limited by a class that was added ~11 years after the fact.
Now, I say its inconsistent because there are other examples that could be made where Blizzard did NOT make this decision!
Shadowmourne. Its a Legendary Weapon that was added in Wrath of the Lich King that is VERY heavily Death Knight themed and I would argue that from a narrative standpoint, not a gameplay/mechanical standpoint, is absolutely a Death Knight weapon first and foremost. Yes, Warrior’s and DK’s were allowed to make them but I argue that was for gameplay reasons as no legendary before had been restricted to a single class, not even the Bow which I believe one of the word first drops of that went to a Warrior or Rogue over a Hunter as a stat stick.
So… Why isn’t Shadowmourne Death Knight only? Following Blizzard’s logic and reasoning for the Warglaives, being iconic to DH’s, shouldn’t Shadowmourne also be Class locked to DK’s considering its basically an attempt at creating another Frostmourne type weapon to combat Frostmourne? Do I think it should be? No, but I am making a point of inconsistency here.
How about Thunderfury? A weapon introduced in Molten Core and a VERY iconic weapon to the game. Jump forward ~11 years, in the same expansion that introduces Demon Hunter’s we get the Artifact Weapon System along with multiple weapon skins/variations. It just so happens that Outlaw Rogues got a very specific skin for their Weapons in the form of Thunderfury.
So, using the same logic applied to Demon Hunter’s, Thunderfury is clearly a Rogue weapon according to the game then yeah? So then, shouldn’t the original Thunderfury be locked to just Rogues as well using the Demon Hunter Warglaives logic? Personally, I disagree but I bring this up to point out inconsistencies with this decision.
I get WHY Blizzard is making this decision. They went through the effort of making this unlock “questline” (not literal) for Demon Hunter’s in Legion that took some effort and luck to get done and it would be really cruddy to just invalidate it. However now you have put yourself in this really really bad situation where you are taking something away from players, something many of them have earned upwards of ~11 years ago, for a class that has only existed for ~3 years.
It comes off as both lacking foresight, being inconsistent, and to a degree feeling kind of lazy in the sense of “The DH unlock process already exists, why do more work?”
Personally, I think there is a medium that can be reached here and really think that Blizzard should re-consider its stance on the Warglaives and their transmog restrictions and I would like to offer up my personal suggestion.
First, let everyone who can use the Warglaives transmog them if they desire.
Second, give a new exclusive reward for anyone who has finished the unlocking process/does the unlocking process in the future in the form of a DH exclusive, 2020, HD remake of the 2007 Warglaives of Azzinoth for transmog.
We have seen Blizzard do HD remakes and how drastically better they look (Looking at you ToS Tier Sets) and I feel this could be a fair compromise. Let players transmog the original 2007 Warglaives and give DH’s who do the unlock process get exclusive, shiny, HD versions of the original Warglaives instead.
I get it, Warglaives are Demon Hunter weapons. They are iconic to Demon Hunter’s and Demon Hunter’s already are way behind in terms of how many Warglaive appearances exist in game. So give them something nice for going through the original unlocking process, the Warglaives of Azzinoth are ICONIC and I feel like that would be a fair trade.
This way, everyone who has the Warglaives and can use them can enjoy them as transmog while rewarding the Demon Hunter’s who went through the original process, and any future Demon Hunter’s who do, can enjoy an exclusive treat for their efforts much in the same way Rogues have their exclusive Thunderfury Artifact skins (In a few different colors)
I honestly believe that the above suggested change would result in a far happier medium than where we sit now. I think it would be far more considerate for players who have had Warglaives for years. I think it would be far more consistent with the rest of the Legendary weapons. I think this would be a good change.
Teacher’s pet, right.
I can’t even use the original ones…