WoW Forever: mages can make a sword that burns frozen targets

A new sword, the Coldflame Saber, has turned up on the WoW Forever beta. Getting it starts with Comprehension, a new mage skill in WoW Forever for deciphering scrolls; a deciphered scroll can then be used on a specific item or object in the world. One player, who showed the find in a video, deciphered 119 scrolls before one turned out to be the Scroll of the Saber, which is meant for the Blade of Silverlaine. The blade drops from Baron Silverlaine in the Shadowfang Keep dungeon, and for this player it dropped after about 12 runs. Combining the scroll with the blade creates the Coldflame Saber.

The tooltip shown in the player's video describes a main-hand sword with 17 to 32 damage at a speed of 2.00 and 7 Intellect. One effect increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 32. The unusual part is the second effect: melee attacks deal 98 additional Fire damage to frozen targets. The tooltip also shows the sword as Soulbound and requiring level 21. The beta opened with a level cap of 20, and Blizzard says the cap will be raised to 30 later in the test.

Mages in WoW have fought from a distance for more than 20 years, and Blizzard's own description of the class for WoW Forever, published on 22 September, still says they rarely engage in melee. Some players have long wished for a mage who fights up close, and players and press now see the sword as a possible start of a battle mage style, combined with the frost talents Fingers of Frost and Shatter or a shaman's Windfury Totem. This is a theory, not a plan Blizzard has shared: Blizzard has not announced a melee or battle mage, and as of 24 September we found no comment from Blizzard on the sword. It could also turn out to be simply an unusual weapon for levelling.

The Coldflame Saber is not the only WoW Forever weapon with an unusual new effect: Rockslicer, from the Deadmines, lets its wielder mine ore without the Mining profession. The beta runs until 21 October, and WoW Forever launches at 23:00 UK time on 4 November, which is midnight on 5 November in Central Europe. Blizzard has not said whether the Coldflame Saber will be in the game at launch.