Know Your Lore: Hunter Artifact lore in Legion

For Hunters, currently in the Legion Alpha you can only play as Survival, so I haven’t had much direct hands on experience with the quests to gain the Marksman and Beast Mastery Artifacts. But I have done the Survival Artifact, and I think I’m on firm ground when I say that Hunter Artifact lore is aimed at trying to make the differences between the three class specializations absolutely distinct and clear. Furthermore, at least as far as the Survival quest chain is concerned, there’s definitely a sense of trying to codify class lore. The quest through the swamps to find and reclaim Talonclaw sets a tone for the spec and makes you understand the long tradition the weapon embodies. If all three Artifact quests work the same, you’ll actually feel the difference between Marksmanship and Beast Mastery and Survival by doing them.

So now, let’s talk about Hunters, and what kind of lore we’re going to see for them in Legion.

Titanstrike

From the official site:

A peerless example of techno-magical engineering, the Titanstrike was designed by Keeper Mimiron, a titanic watcher and brilliant inventor. Securely housed in the heart of the rifle, a relic known as the Thunderspark powers the Titanstrike, harnessing the essence of storms and focusing it into concentrated blasts of energy. The rifle’s power source can also be credited to Mimiron, who devised it for his comrade, Keeper Thorim, in ages past.

Okay, I’ll admit, this is a weird item for the Beastmaster spec. I’d kind of expect something made out of a primordial beast of legend. Still, I do like that Mimiron made a really badass gun. I just wish there was something here about why Mimiron made it. Was it made to slay some ancient threat? Compared to some of the other Artifacts this one needs more lore, more of an identity.

It’s also hard to really talk about the weapon because as yet its quest is not in the game. I’m hopeful that there will be as big a lore reveal when doing this weapon’s quest as the quest for Talonclaw — do we go to Ulduar to get it? Perhaps there’s a secret chamber there where the Thunderspark waits for us to reclaim it, in a series of challenges that will require a skilled Hunter and her faithful pet to work as a well oiled machine, and perhaps we’ll even learn the secrets of Gnome Hunters in the process. Perhaps it’s not a new discovery at all, but an ancient Gnomish tradition.

Thas’dorah, Legacy of the Windrunners

From the official site:

A proud heirloom of the Windrunner family, Thas’dorah was carved from a bough of the mother tree of Eversong Woods shortly after the elven kingdom of Quel’Thalas was founded. Handed down to the eldest of each generation, the bow was last wielded by the high elf Ranger Captain Alleria Windrunner. It disappeared along with its owner following the destruction of the orcs’ homeworld, Draenor, and the subsequent formation of Outland.

Like, say, this weapon. The Windrunner family is a storied one in World of Warcraft, and with Alleria Windrunner being so long lost, this weapon promises the resolution of a story left untold since the end of Warcraft II. Where has the bow, and presumably the bow’s wielder, been since Draenor became Outland? Was the Mother Tree an attempt to make another World Tree before the High Elves settled on the Sunwell instead? I’m eager to see how this one plays out, and for you Horde Hunters, let me know if Sylvanas gives you the stink-eye for using her family Artifact in front of her.

What’s really interesting about Thas’dorah is, once it’s available for testing, we’ll finally know something that’s been teased at since The Burning Crusade, or at least be one step closer to knowing. It’s an amazing thing to imagine that at last we may actually find Alleria Windrunner. It’s hard to imagine it happening.

Talonclaw, Spear of the Wild Gods

From the official site:

The Highmountain tauren crafted this spear, which predates the first demonic invasion of Azeroth more than ten thousand years ago. Talonclaw’s wielders have fought alongside many guardian animal spirits, also known as Ancients, to defend the world of Azeroth and its wildlife in particular. Over the millennia, these Ancients have bestowed their blessings on the weapon, imbuing it with a portion of their power.

At Gamescom this year they introduced this as the Eagle Spear, weapon of Huln Highmountain. I don’t know if it’s still intended to be the same weapon or not. It could be — Huln fought during the War of the Ancients — and whether or not it is it sounds like it’s going to be a big deal in terms of its relations to the Ancients and thus the Highmountain Tauren.

Indeed, once you do the quest for the weapon you find out about its history, and that of Dakarr, Highmountain’s Bane, the ancient enemy that slew the greatest chieftain of the Highmountain tribe so long ago. There’s a lot of lore here for the digesting, and I’m not going to dump it all on you now, but suffice it to say that the initial battle is only the beginning of what Talonclaw has to teach us about the Wild Gods, the Highmountain clan and Hunters in general. Your adventure in Stormheim gives you a glimpse into a weapon that personifies a specialization, ultimately.

Just in case you missed them, don’t forget to check out our coverage of the other Artifact weapons we’ll be seeing in Legion:

• Death Knight
• Demon Hunter
• Druid
• Mage
• Monk
• Paladin
• Priest
• Rogue
• Shaman
• Warlock
• Warrior