WoW Forever: an old chest that goes off when you die

Martyr's Chain is a mail chest that has sat in Blackfathom Deeps since the beginning and has never done anything but add armour. In WoW Forever it has been given a line of text that changes what it is for: while it is worn, dying inflicts 420 Holy damage on every enemy within 15 yards. It is item level 28 and can be worn from level 23, with 9 Strength and 9 Stamina on it.

The old version of the same chest is still there to compare against. In Classic it is worn from level 21, carries 8 Strength, 8 Stamina and 5 Spirit, and has no effect on death at all. So this is not a rebalancing of numbers: the item has been handed a rule it never had.

That puts it in the same group as several other pieces this beta has quietly rewritten — old gear picked up for a reason other than the armour on it. The same build run has already produced dungeon gear that cuts the time professions take, and this chest is the same idea aimed at a fight rather than a workbench.

Two things are worth saying plainly. The effect is read from the game's own data and has not been listed in Blizzard's development notes, so it may still change. And it is close to useless in hardcore, where a death ends the character for good — it is at normal low levels, in crowded places, that a chest which hits back after its wearer falls will be noticed. The beta runs until 21 October, and WoW Forever opens at 23:00 UK time on 4 November, which is midnight on 5 November in Central Europe.