The announcement of Artifact Weapons as a new feature in World of Warcraft: Legion brought about a feeling of excitement. However, the excitement was mixed with healthy dose of fear. These new weapons, overshadowing any other weapon we have ever wielded, will truly be something special. They will also change the game as we know it; perhaps forever and maybe not totally for the better.

Sure, Artifact Weapons seem to be a solid idea, glorious really; wielding a weapon of legend against the Burning Legion. That doesn't mean that we should ignore the player concern about the probable drawbacks of these weapons and what they will mean for the game. Read onward to explore with us 5 of the major potential pitfalls players see lurking beneath the shiny surface of Artifact Weapons.

Visual Monotony

In Legion every single player will get an Artifact Weapon. This will be the one and only weapon your character will use throughout the entire expansion. While the thought of getting a weapon of legend for your own is exciting, the excitement factor dwindles a bit when you start to think about every other person having the same thing. Just think; rows and rows of Paladins with Ashrbinger.

Of course, players will have the option to change their Artifact a bit. With several different models and tints available, they won't all be exactly the same. However, this seems like a far cry from the diversity we have seen in the past. Of course, it has been said that Artifacts may be able to be transmogrified; but who really wants to turn the legendary Ashbringer into a Worn Shortsword?

Hard Act to Follow

Artifact Weapons are pretty cool. In fact, they may be some of the coolest weapons we have ever had the chance to use. With the coolness factor so high, this is going to be one tough act to follow. With the knowledge that another expansion will come after Legion we can't help but wonder if we will have to hang up our Artifact for a more mundane weapon.

Even if the Artifact remains with us, it holds its own set of problems. How will it feel to never get another new weapon? Will leveling up the same weapon feel as worthwhile? Finally, if one weapon forevermore is the new trend, how long before armor follow suit?

No Fresh Drops

Artifact weapons are the weapon in Legion. It is likely that no other weapon will even drop in the upcoming expansion. Which seems pretty okay since we will have this super epic weapon to call our own. However, will upgrading our weapons feel as worthwhile as obtaining a brand new weapon?

Weapons have been one of the few items that really had the potential to have a real impact on your stats. This made them super important and seeing one drop was a big deal. Maybe upgrading your Artifact will have that same wow-factor, but we can't help but wonder if maybe it won't.

Content Drudgery

There is a lot going on with your Artifact. After obtaining it you will need to increase its power and add relics to it as well. This has some massive potential for some seriously cool content. Tying it into the Class Orders and integrating it into dungeons, PvP, or other aspects of the game could make Artifact Weapons one of the coolest things we have done thus far.

With that being said, it could also go horribly wrong. Artifact Weapons could turn out to be the Garrison of Legion. A chore you feel obligated to do. Even worse, upgrading your Artifact could be a total grind,. Collect 33 of those, 200 of them, and 500 of this! If this method is indeed used, players will quickly hate their Artifacts, a real problem since this will be the only weapon we see throughout the entire expansion.

Special Snowflake Syndrome

Artifact Weapons are super special. They are supposed to be weapons right out of lore that we have to prove ourselves worthy to wield. Being the heroes that we are, we totally deserve the honor. With that being said, these weapons directly tie into special snowflake syndrome. From what we can tell, Artifact Weapons are supposed to feel super special and exclusive.

Except, they really aren't. Every single other player in your class is going to have the same exact weapon. There will be thousands and thousands of Ashbringers running around the world at any given time. They may look slightly different and be at different power levels, but they will ultimately be the same exact weapon. This takes a lot of the glow out of this supposed super special weapon and leaves us to wonder if Legion will be another expansion where we have to pretend that we are the only ultimate hero in the game.

What Artifact Weapons will turn out to be remains to be seen. While we explored a lot of negative possibilities in this article, Artifacts could turn out to be the stuff dreams are made of. More than likely they will be a mixture of both bad and good. We will just have to wait for Legion to see.