Sorry, transmog fans: Artifact appearances are tied to specialization in Battle for Azeroth

In today’s Q&A, Ion Hazzikostas crushed the hope of many transmoggers, because Artifact appearance transmog will be locked to specialization in the upcoming Battle for Azeroth expansion. That means you’ll only be able to use whatever appearances you’ve unlocked for an Artifact when you’re in the specialization required to use that Artifact. However, if you read that and said “But that means I can’t use my Artifact appearance because I’ll be using different weapons!” hold off on the panic for a second.

It’s true that you can only transmog to a specific Artifact appearance when you’re in that spec. Holy Paladins can’t transmog to the Ashbringer while they’re Holy, and if you want to use Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester on your Warlock it’s Affliction spec or bust. However, to compensate players for this limitation, Artifact appearances will be able to break the otherwise inviolate rules of transmog. If, as an example, you’re a Holy Paladin using a sword and shield, you can still transmog the Silver Hand Artifact over it, even though it’s a two-handed mace. You’ll appear to the world as someone using a giant hammer even though you aren;t. This is the same for a Mage who wants to use Aluneth for his arcane spec despite using a sword and an offhand, or a Druid who wants their Guardian Druid to use the Claws of Ursoc in order to unlock the Werebear form while tanking with a polearm. If you’re in the right spec for the Artifact, you can transmog to that Artifact even if it doesn’t match the type of weapon you’re using.

So yeah, I can see people being a bit disappointed, but at least you’re free to use that Artifact appearances you’ve unlocked whenever you’re in the right spec no matter what you have equipped.