Val’anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings — Overview
Val’anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings is a legendary weapon from Wrath of the Lich King, prized by healers for its strong stats and unique absorption effect.
When you heal a player, you have a 10% chance to gain Blessing of Ancient Kings for 15 seconds. While the blessing is active, your heals create a shield that absorbs damage equal to 15% of the healing done to the target over 8 seconds. Multiple Val’anyr users can contribute to the same shield, but it cannot exceed 20,000 absorption.
How to Get Val’anyr
Keep killing bosses in Ulduar (25-player) to collect 30 Val’anyr fragments.
After you have all 30 fragments, combine them into Shattered Fragments of Val’anyr to receive the quest Ancient History, then bring the fragments to the Archivum (behind the Assembly of Iron room) in Ulduar.
In the Archivum, you will receive the quest Val’anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings. You must throw Unbound Fragments of Val’anyr into Yogg-Saron’s mouth while he is casting Deafening Roar during Phase 3, with 0–3 Titan Keepers active. Kill Yogg-Saron, but note: you cannot complete the quest if all 4 Keepers are helping you.
After you defeat Yogg-Saron, loot the quest item and return to the Archivum to receive Val’anyr. Obtaining Val’anyr also grants the achievement Val’anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings (Feast of Strength).
Weapon Effect and Usage
Your healing spells have a chance to trigger Blessing of Ancient Kings for 15 seconds, allowing your heals to protect targets by absorbing damage equal to 15% of the healing amount.
How the Proc Works
When the proc happens (a 10% chance when a direct heal or a HoT tick actually heals, with a 45-second internal cooldown), you gain the Blessing buff on yourself. For the next 15 seconds, all of your heals apply an 8-second absorb shield equal to 15% of the heal size. The shield stacks with itself.
Important details:
- The heal must actually heal to trigger the Blessing proc. HoT ticks on a full-health target cannot proc it.
- Once Blessing is active, the shield is based on the size of your heals, not the effective healing. Overhealing will add to the shield while Blessing is up.
- The shield is capped at 20,000 total absorption.
Examples
Example 1
A Paladin casts Holy Light for 10,000 on a tank and Blessing procs. That heal immediately adds a 1,500 absorb shield. The tank dodges the next hits, so no damage is absorbed. The Paladin then casts another heal for 8,000, but it only restores 600 HP before the tank reaches full health. The shield still increases by 1,200 (15% of 8,000), for a total of 2,700 absorption over 8 seconds.
Example 2
A Druid applies Rejuvenation to a tank and Blessing procs on the second tick. The shield includes 15% of that tick and also 15% of every remaining Rejuvenation tick while Blessing is active. If Lifebloom and Regrowth are also ticking, those ticks contribute as well. If the shield expires (8 seconds) or is fully consumed, it can be built again while Blessing remains active (15 seconds total).
Multiple Val’anyr Users in the Same Raid
All Val’anyr users contribute to the same shield on a given target.
Key point:
- HoTs that do not actually heal will not trigger Blessing in the first place. This prevents fishing for the proc on a full-health target before a pull.
- However, once Blessing is active, all of your healing contributes to the shield even if the heal is fully overheal.
Weapon Swapping
If you swap weapons during a fight, you must wait 30 seconds before Val’anyr can proc again. If you weapon-swap (for example, during Lich King transitions), re-equip it early enough to have a chance to proc for the intended window.
Does Blessing Proc from Judgement of Light?
No. Judgement of Light should only trigger Blessing (shields) when the Paladin (the Val’anyr user) heals themselves from their own Judgement of Light. Absorption should not be applied to raid members who heal themselves from the Paladin’s Judgement of Light.
Healer Priority for Val’anyr Usage
Holy Paladins are the top priority for Val’anyr. Constant tank healing plus Glyph of Holy Light splash healing produces excellent shield value across multiple targets.
Restoration Druids are second priority. Once Blessing procs, every HoT tick keeps adding to (and refreshing) shield value, which aligns well with a Druid’s kit, especially when HoTs are rolling across the raid.
Holy Priests can also perform very well. Smart healing through Circle of Healing and Prayer of Mending can stack shields efficiently due to their targeting behavior.
Restoration Shamans are close to Druids in proc consistency thanks to Chain Heal, which naturally targets injured players. The downside is that once targets are topped, smart healing may shift elsewhere and the shield may not be maintained as consistently without follow-up from other healers.
Discipline Priests are generally the weakest Val’anyr users because Blessing is triggered by healing, not shielding. Proccing via Glyph of Power Word: Shield or switching into direct healing is possible, but maintaining the effect often conflicts with Discipline’s primary mitigation role.
