The Warrior’s Charge: The case for Titan’s Grip and Artifacts

Okay. So we know a few things about Legion. But one of the things we absolutely don’t know yet is what our Artifact weapon is going to be. We had some fun debating possibilities last time, but as things stand right now, we’re sort of in the dark as to what our Artifact will be. And that means that we don’t know what playstyle will be officially supported for Fury. We know that Protection/Gladiator Warriors will get a sword and shield (we’ve even seen hints as to what it will be) and we’re pretty secure in the knowledge that whatever Arms gets, it will be a two-handed weapon.

But we have no idea what Fury will get. We’ve seen Frost Death Knights  get a pair of one-handed weapons, leaving 2h Frost out in the cold for Legion. This is a concern for Fury Warriors, because we have two playstyles as well — we can use two 1h weapons with Single-Minded Fury or we can use two massive 2h weapons with Titan’s Grip.

Now, let me be clear. This isn’t me arguing that one of these is better than the other. Lots of warriors like using 1h weapons as Fury. I support you and would prefer that the Fury Artifact supported both choices. But I don’t expect it to, based on what happened to Frost DK’s, simply because in my experience Warriors never get that level of support. So I expect one of the two to get supported, and I argue that it should be Titan’s Grip.

I have three reasons for this. I’ll detail them below.

Uniqueness and distinctiveness

Warriors, as a class, lack a lot of the uniqueness that distinguishes other classes. Paladins and Death Knights wear plate as we do, Paladins tank with a shield and weapon as we do, Death Knights, Shaman, Monks, and Rogues can all dual wield 1h weapons as we do. Soon we’ll have Survival Hunters up in the melee mix using a 2h weapon, just like Retribution Paladins and Unholy Death Knights do — and even Blood Death Knights, who actually even go one better and tank with a 2h weapon. Each of these classes then adds a bit of flair or unique flavor to how they do these things that we lack, be it holy magic, necromancy, the elements, martial arts, or stealthy assassination.

Let’s be honest. There’s one class ability Warriors don’t share with any other class. It’s not Charge — Druids have a form of that. It’s not Heroic Leap — mechanically it’s a targeted Blink that does damage. Some of our talents are unique, but in terms of visual flair, Warriors who want to distinguish themselves from the Holy Light spewing set or the Zombie Lovers have one recourse, and it’s Titan’s Grip. Titan’s Grip is the one thing Fury Warriors can do to set themselves apart from all other melee DPS — it’s the one thing only Warriors can do. When you see a Warrior with two Ashkandi strapped across her back, you immediately know it’s a Warrior.  You can’t confuse her with a Paladin or Death Knight.

That is to my mind a pretty solid reason to have the Fury Artifact be a pair of 2h weapons. But it’s not the only reason.

General performance

First let me say that so far, in Tier 18 raiding Fury Warriors using SMF and Fury Warriors using Titan’s Grip have been very close in terms of DPS. You can check out Simcraft’s Raid Results and see that for the most part, they’re neck and neck. It’s much better than we’ve seen in previous expansions. That being said, you can also see that in almost every single case, TG outperforms SMF. It doesn’t outperform it by much, but it does outperform it.

I get that many players like the faster paced style of two 1h weapons. And in a perfect world, the Fury Artifacts would resize to fit your desired playstyle through some means or mechanic. I would support that. But if we have to pick one, why not go with the one that generally does better every single expansion anyway? It seems inherent to the two options that given enough time and gear, TG is going to pull ahead of SMF, even if it’s by less than a thousand DPS. Does this mean that you’re not currently leading your raid in DPS as a SMF Warrior and beating TG Warriors? No, it doesn’t. It means that you’d probably do more DPS as TG, but for once, Warlords has actually done a better job than any other expansion in terms of balancing the two options. Historically, TG does more damage. Why risk being stuck with the option that does less?

That’s my second reason. What’s my third?

Rule of cool

This one’s incredibly subjective. And it ties into point one, to a degree. But to my mind, Titan’s Grip is just plain cooler than SMF. We see a lot of discussion of the fantasy of playing various classes in Legion, and if we’re talking fantasy, the idea that the Warrior class has people in it strong enough to carry two of these behemoth weapons in it just works for me. It’s a clear, concise, visceral visual example of what the Warrior class is all about, overcoming obstacles with brute force and weapon skill. Arms Warriors are your disciplined weapon masters, using precision and skill to overwhelm an enemy’s tactics. They’re the fencers of the Warrior class, and even they use a two hander. Think about that — the precise, methodical weapon master of our class is holding a sword the size of a small boat.

Protection/Gladiator Warriors go 1h because they’re all about hitting things with a shield the size of a car door. It’s still a brutal, punishing spec, but it conveys that brutality through heavy armor and raw impact. Protection Warriors use themselves as battering rams and smash you in the face with a shield.

And Fury? Well, I think Titan’s Grip personifies the spec in a way that SMF doesn’t. It’s not just that almost anybody in World of Warcraft can dual wield 1h weapons, although they can — it’s that SMF doesn’t invoke the same kind of awe that Titan’s Grip does. People have rolled warriors just to play a TG Fury Warrior.  Titan’s Grip looks badass, to be frank.

Again, I understand that this is a subjective thing. But I don’t think you can argue that wouldn’t look less awesome if he was using two one handers. The unrelenting power hinted at by the two massive weapons clutched in his fists really speaks for itself — it’s a visual shorthand for an aspect of the class, that it relies on power and weapon strikes to destroy its enemies.

Plus, a lot of 1h weapons sheath on the hip, and it doesn’t look good. It works for Protection, but having two big 1h swords on the hip just looks weird to me.

Warrior specs are currently at their most diverse. We essentially have four and a half specs — Arms, Protection, Gladiator, Fury SMF, and Fury TG. I’d personally like to see us go into Legion with all intact and playable. But if we have to pick a Fury subspec and run with it, it should be Titan’s Grip. It’s the most visually unique and cool ability Fury Warriors have. It instantly sets us apart from other classes. It looks badass. And it usually outperforms SMF, even if not by much.

Still, perhaps the best possible compromise would be Fury Artifacts that don’t specify if they’re one- or two- handers, that are really freaking huge, and which sheath on the back. Also, while we’re at it, let 1h weapons mog to 2h and vice versa. That would be nice.