Legendary items in an MMORPG: where to get one and why it beats an epic

An orange name in the loot window is the moment many people play MMORPGs for. A legendary item is the top of gear: stronger than an epic, rarer than anything else and almost always with a story. Let’s look at what legendaries are, where they come from and why players hunt them for months, in Zarhold, a card MMORPG in your browser.

What a legendary item is

In Zarhold, as in many MMORPGs, items have rarity, and the colour of the name gives it away: grey, green, blue, epic (purple) and legendary — orange. The rarer the item, the stronger its stats at the same level:

• an epic is about 1.35 times stronger than a blue;
• a legendary is about 1.8 times.

Every legendary has item level 280 — the top of the scale; nothing in the game is higher. For comparison, the best epics of the season from mythic raids and Mythic+ are 245. How rarity and item level work: Item rarity.

Like all gear from green up, a legendary is personal: it belongs to the hero who got it. You can’t buy someone else’s legendary on the auction house — only earn it or forge it yourself.

Where legendaries drop

Final raid bosses. The final boss of each of the five raids holds its own named legendary. The chance is 0.8% per kill, on a separate roll that doesn’t take a slot from the rest of the loot.

World bosses. Every level 60 world boss drops one of the raid legendaries — the same item, with the same 0.8% chance. So a hunter after a specific legendary has two roads to it.

A few rules worth knowing:

• World residents never take a legendary — if your party has companions, the legendary goes to the live players.
• On heroic and mythic the legendary chance is the same as on normal, but each mode has its own daily or weekly lockout — so you get more tries. How difficulties work: Difficulties in an MMORPG.
• Where each legendary drops and with what chance is shown in the Item Atlas, the reference of every drop in the game.

How to forge a legendary yourself

The top of crafting is legendaries forged by players at profession skill 300: two for blacksmithing and one for engineering. To keep legendaries legendary, forging has three rules:

1. A rare reagent — each legendary has its own; it drops from a boss no more than once a week per hero.
2. One forge a week — a hero can forge each legendary once a week.
3. Personal at once — a forged legendary can’t be sold or passed on.

The road to skill 300 and the forging itself: Profession levelling.

Relics: legendaries earned by deeds

Four legendary relics don’t drop from bosses — they are earned. Each has two special properties.

| Relic | How to get it | What it does | |---|---|---| | Crown of the Conqueror | the “Sovereign of Zarhold” achievement: level 60, all lands, all locations and all world bosses | +1 crystal at the start of a fight, your first card costs less | | Cloak of a Thousand Battles | the “Merciless Gladiator” achievement for the top of the arena | once per fight stops a blow from taking you below 30% Health and adds a shield | | Hammer of the First Forge | forged by a blacksmith at skill 300: a blueprint and 12 Shards of the First Forge | returns part of the damage as a shield, every third hit in a row is stronger | | Medallion of Zarhold | level 85 of the Path of the Hall, free track | once per fight removes the most dangerous harmful effect and adds a shield |

The Medallion is an especially nice one: it sits on the free track of the battle pass, for levels earned by playing. More about the pass: MMORPG battle pass.

Unique items: rarer than legendary

There is one more rarity — unique (turquoise) items: shirts, tabards and trinkets awarded for deeds, such as the brands of the season’s best arena players. One such item per account, item level 260. They are valued not for power but because almost nobody has them. More in Legendary and unique items.

How to hunt a legendary

1. Pick a target. Check in the Atlas which legendary suits your class and who drops it.
2. Visit final raid bosses and world bosses every day — on normal and on heroic: they have separate lockouts.
3. Don’t forget mythic — it has its own weekly lockout and the same legendary chance.
4. Work on relics in parallel: achievements, arena rating, the Path of the Hall, blacksmithing skill.

Legendary items FAQ

What is the chance to get a legendary?

0.8% per kill of a final raid boss or a level 60 world boss — a separate roll on top of the other loot.

Can I buy a legendary on the auction house?

No. Legendaries are personal: you get them from bosses, forge them yourself or earn them by deeds.

Why is a legendary better than an epic?

Its stats are about 1.8 times a blue item’s versus 1.35 for an epic, its item level is 280, and many have special properties.

Do legendaries drop in dungeons?

No. Legendaries drop from final raid bosses and level 60 world bosses; dungeons don’t have them.

The bottom line

A legendary in Zarhold means item level 280 and stats almost twice a blue item’s. You get one from final raid bosses and world bosses (0.8% on a separate roll), forge one at skill 300, or earn a relic through achievements, the arena and the battle pass. Open the game — may the first orange name in your loot window be yours. How to gear up before legendaries: Level 60 gear guide.