Fists of the Heavens

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The Fists of the Heavens,  [Al'burq] and  [Alra'ed], are the artifacts used by windwalker monks in World of Warcraft: Legion.

Description

Thousands of years ago, the famed tol'vir smith Irmaat crafted a pair of magnificent handblades. Unsatisfied with his work, Irmaat tried to capture the essence of Al'Akir the Windlord to infuse into his blades. Al'Akir was not amused. To spite the smith, Al'Akir poured unspeakable amounts of raw elemental fury into the handblades. When Irmaat attempted to unleash their might, a great vortex sprang up, engulfed his city, and scattered the weapons to the winds.[1]

History

Concept art (from left to right, top row: Upgraded, Valorous, War-torn, and Hidden).

The Fists of the Heavens were originally created by the famous tol'vir blacksmith Irmaat. The weaponsmith was skilled in creating magical instruments of war for the Titans' creations in Uldum, believing his hands to be extensions of the titans' will. Despite his great skill, he was prideful and sought to create the ultimate and most unstoppable weapon of all using  [Elemental Air]. He bound the four djinn of the Conclave of Wind into four scimitars of great power, yet he was unsatisfied. Convinced that he could bind Al'Akir the Windlord himself in a pair of fist weapons, he used a ritual to steal the elemental lord's power from his home in Skywall. Iramaat believed he had done the impossible and named the two fist weapons  [Al'burq] and  [Alra'ed], the Fists of the Heavens.

But Al'akir was cunning, and anticipated Iramaat's prideful attempt to steal what he could not control, having learned from the imprisonment of the Conclave. The Windlord indeed gave Iramaat's weapon his power, but filled them with such chaotic energy that when Iramaat attempted to wield them, he and the surrounding city were annihilated in a storm of raw elemental fury. Any other tol'vir who attempted to take up Irmaat's weapons suffered the same fate, and so the Fists of the Heavens were buried away deep within the desert.

Centuries later, after the great Cataclysm, Al'akir fell during the War against Deathwing. His death created a power vacuum that caused a civil war among the remaining air elementals, squabbling over who was strong and clever enough to take his place. One amongst them, Typhinius, sensed Al'akir's lingering essence within the weapons and uncovered them, using to end the civil war by cowing those who respected Al'akir's legacy and overpowering those who did not. While the Fists of the Heavens had calmed somewhat with Al'akir's death, they were still unstable; it took all of Typhinius's efforts to keep their chaotic energies from tearing him apart. Drunk with power, he attempted to launch yet another invasion of Uldum while most of Azeroth's champions were preoccupied with the Legion Invasions. Wishing to finish what Al'akir started, he led his forces against the Ramkahen tol'vir but was swiftly defeated, the power of the Fists alone proving insufficient to win his war.[2]

Typhinius retreated to Skywall, where the Monk Grandmaster and Li Li Stormstout tracked him down and finally killed the mad djinn. The Grandmaster held the Fists of the Heavens and, using the monks's teachings of balance and harmony of spirit, they were able to wield the Fists as Typhinius and Iramaat could not, using them in battle against the Burning Legion.[3]

Following the Legion's defeat, the Grandmaster sacrificed much of the weapons' power to remove the corruption from the Sword of Sargeras.[4]

Artifact traits

Fists of the Heavens interface.jpg

Base

Ability Ranks Linked powers
[Crosswinds] 1 Healing Winds; Tiger Claws
[Dark Skies] 1 Power of a Thousand Cranes; Rising Winds; Strike of the Windlord
[Death Art] 4 Light on Your Feet; Rising Winds
[Fists of the Wind] 4 Gale Burst; Light on Your Feet; Spiritual Focus
[Gale Burst] 1 Fists of the Wind; Light on Your Feet
[Good Karma] 1 Power of a Thousand Cranes; Rising Winds
[Healing Winds] 4 Crosswinds; Strength of Xuen; Tiger Claws
[Inner Peace] 4 Spiritual Focus; Tornado Kicks; Transfer the Power
[Light on Your Feet] 4 Death Art; Fists of the Wind; Gale Burst
[Power of a Thousand Cranes] 4 Dark Skies; Good Karma; Strength of Xuen
[Rising Winds] 4 Dark Skies; Death Art; Good Karma
[Spiritual Focus] 1 Fists of the Wind; Inner Peace
[Strength of Xuen] 4 Healing Winds; Power of a Thousand Cranes
[Strike of the Windlord] 1 Dark Skies
[Tiger Claws] 4 Crosswinds; Healing Winds; Transfer the Power
[Tornado Kicks] 1 Inner Peace
[Transfer the Power] 1 Inner Peace; Tiger Claws
[Windborne Blows] 1 None

Hidden trait: [Lightning Burst]

Empowered

Ability Ranks
[Ferocity of the Broken Temple] 1
[Split Personality] 4
[Master of Combinations] 1
[Thunderfist] 1
[Concordance of the Legionfall] 50

Appearances

Inv hand 1h artifactskywall d 01dual.pngInv hand 1h artifactskywall d 01.png Classic

Achievement:  [Fighting with Style: Classic]

Fists of the Heavens.jpg
Fists of the Heavens2.jpg
Fists of the Heavens3.jpg
Fists of the Heavens4.jpg
This is the default appearance Recover one of the Pillars of Creation Recover  [Light's Heart]
N [10-45] Light's Charge
Complete the first major Campaign effort with your order
N Monk [10-45] Rebuilding the Order

Inv hand 1h artifactskywall d 02dual.pngInv hand 1h artifactskywall d 02.png Upgraded: Al'Akir's Touch

Achievement:  [Fighting with Style: Upgraded]

Al'Akir's Touch.jpg
Al'Akir's Touch2.jpg
Al'Akir's Touch3.jpg
Al'Akir's Touch4.jpg
Complete the monk Order Campaign
 [Forged for Battle]
Unlock every artifact trait
 [Power Realized]
Research the full history of the artifact
 [Part of History]
Obtain eight rare archeological finds
 [This Side Up]

Inv hand 1h artifactskywall d 03dual.pngInv hand 1h artifactskywall d 03.png Valorous: Spirit's Reach

Achievement:  [Fighting with Style: Valorous]

Spirit's Reach.jpg
Spirit's Reach2.jpg
Spirit's Reach3.jpg
Spirit's Reach4.jpg
Complete the Balance of Power questline
 [Improving on History]
Kill eight world bosses
 [Unleashed Monstrosities]
Complete a Mythic Mode Dungeon using a level 15 keystone
 [Keystone Master]
Earn the achievement  [Glory of the Legion Hero]

Inv hand 1h artifactskywall d 04dual.pngInv hand 1h artifactskywall d 04.png War-torn: Shado-Pan Legacy

Achievement: Alliance  [Fighting with Style: War-torn]/Horde  [Fighting with Style: War-torn]

Shado-Pan Legacy.jpg
Shado-Pan Legacy2.jpg
Shado-Pan Legacy3.jpg
Shado-Pan Legacy4.jpg
Participate in Player vs. Player combat and reach  [Honor Level 10] Reach  [Honor Level 30] Reach  [Honor Level 50] Reach  [Honor Level 80]

Inv hand 1h artifactskywall d 06dual.pngInv hand 1h artifactskywall d 06.png Challenging: Xuen's Enforcer

Achievement:  [Fighting with Style: Challenging]

Xuen's Enforcer.jpg
Xuen's Enforcer2.jpg
Xuen's Enforcer3.jpg
Xuen's Enforcer4.jpg
Complete the The Fel Worm Menace questline Defeat Heroic Kiljaeden after unlocking a Challenge artifact appearance Win 10 rated battlegrounds after unlocking a Challenge artifact appearance Defeat all Legion dungeon bosses after unlocking a challenge artifact appearance

Inv hand 1h artifactskywall d 05dual.pngInv hand 1h artifactskywall d 05.png Hidden: Stormfist

Achievement:  [Fighting with Style: Hidden]

Stormfist.jpg
Stormfist2.jpg
Stormfist3.jpg
Stormfist4.jpg
Acquire  [The Stormfist] Complete 30 Legion dungeons after unlocking a Hidden artifact appearance Complete 200 World Quests after unlocking a Hidden artifact appearance Kill 1,000 enemy players after unlocking a Hidden artifact appearance

Videos

Notes

  • The Fists of the Heavens seem to change into a different kind of fist weapon with each of their upgrades. The default Fists of the Heavens look like Japanese Tekkō, both "Al'akir's Touch" and the "Shadow-Pan Legacy" resemble stylized Indian Bagh naka, and the "Spirit's Reach" are similar to Kattari .
  • Highmountain Spiritwalkers comment on the weapon.
  • The names of the weapons are likely based on the words buraq (الْبُرَاق), meaning lightning or brightness, and ra'id, (رائد) meaning pioneer or leader.

Speculation

Questionmark-medium.png
This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.
  • A monk using a weapon tied with the lore of Cataclysm may tie in with the fact that a large part of Mists of Pandaria's story dealt with dealing with the political, social, and physical after-effects of the Cataclysm.

Patch changes

References

es:Puños de los Cielos fr:Poings des cieux