Comments

Comment by 824970

This will probably be the staff Blizz talked about that could shapeshift you into Staghelm's fire cat druid form.

Comment by Nulgar

Renamed again, this is now "Fandral's Flamescythe", confirming even more that this is supposed to be the staff that drops from former Archdruid Fandral Staghelm, now Majordomo Staghelm in the Firelands.
Still missing in the tooltip are:

Equip: While in Cat Form, transforms the wielder into a molten cat.
Class: Druid

Comment by blowtorch

@Revisen, afaik, it only transforms you into fire cat form if you are a feral druid.

Comment by 88457

This weapon is called Fandral's Flaming Spire on the mmo-champ DB at the moment so this is looking more likely.

http://db.mmo-champion.com/i/69897/fandrals-flaming-spire/

Comment by Shampane

When a druid has this equipped and enters combat, their cat form changes into a fire cat.

Comment by mewse

Here is a screenshot of the flaming cat form, from the PTR:

http://i.imgur.com/DTeD3.jpg

Comment by withmyrice

Obviously a hunter weapon.

Comment by chrth

Dear Druids:

We will make you a deal. If you don't buy the Ranseur of Hatred from the AH or roll for it when it drops off of trash, we will not roll on Fandral's Flamescythe.

Love,
Hunters

Comment by goreblade

dis weepon is 4 hunters

Comment by Stomped

This staff is hot.

Comment by Kazlehoff

You know whats gonna REALLY make feral DPS kittys sad?

Bis Feral tanks.

Sorry 'bout that.

Comment by 778895

Unless you are of the AHAA (Association of Hunters Around Azeroth) you do not necessarily have the right to represent all hunters, and the druid equivilant: ADAA, for druids, Yes Druids and Hunters are easy to play, yes they do seem to get buffed often, but so have every class, For all you QQ'ers out there, there is no real "King Class" that totally dominates, the only time a class dominates is when someone who knows what they're doing is playing it. Now back to the "Scythe" in question. It is a Druid-only staff that does transform you into, in my opinion, the ultra-cool Fire-Kitty WHEN in Cat form, no other time. Also, a parting thought: if you really want to get into a heated argument over a staff that is completely awesome and relatively hard to get for most players that are not full-time raiders, do it on the actual wow site where people actually fall for stupid trolls without wanting to post on the topic anyway.-.-

Comment by Smoka

This item dropped for us tonight and I noticed a few things about it:

First of all, the buff is only present while in combat and only if you are default attacking. If I use swipe without default attacking, there is no fire form.

Second, the staff seems to have a hidden /use effect that triggers the Druid of the Flames out of combat. Cooldown is 2 hours but buff lasts until you shift out of the form. What fun would it be if you couldn't show it off around town?

Its also worth noting that anyone using Potion of Illusion can steal the buff and run around as a fire cat themselves. Druid + .Potion of Illusion + Swift Flight Form = Flying Fire Kitty!

Comment by 667699

Really too bad that it doesn't work in flight forms. WTB Phoenix form.

Comment by 683852

I want to shed some light on the "hunter vs. druid weapon" debate. My raiding character is a survival hunter, but I'm also actively playing a feral druid, as for what bias I may have.
Here are some likely scenarios, and my thoughts about who should have the staff:

Both feral druid and hunter wielding older weapon
Obvious druid priority. Druids benefit from the weapon DPS, hunter's don't, it's a much better upgrade for druids.

Feral druid wielding Ranseur of Hatred, hunter wielding older weapon
In terms of DPS, there is an obvious hunter priority here. Druid would mostly just change haste to mastery (which stat is better for a feral druid is debatable, but the general consensus is that the difference is small) and get a cosmetic upgrade, hunter would benefit a lot from the stats.
However, many druids want this item purely for the looks (just like many hunters want certain pets for looks), if you're a hunter who find yourself in this scenario, you got an older weapon while the druid got the Ranseur of Hatred, but badly wants Fandral's Flamescythe, you got an excellent opportunity to make a friend.

Feral druid and hunter both wielding Ranseur of Hatred
Updated, I underestimated Item - Hunter T12 4P Bonus, new simulations show that haste becomes a much better stat for survival hunters with this bonus.
Survival hunters need very specific haste ratings, or their DPS is significantly affected. They want to reach certain plateaus, and currently the only achievable plateau is at roughly 757 haste rating (the next is at roughly 4148 haste rating). Any haste rating between haste plateaus is almost completely wasted. It is difficult to find good items without haste for hunters, this weapon is close to a must for not bypassing 757 haste, which makes this weapon pretty much BiS for survival hunters.
In terms of DPS, survival hunters would most likely benefit more than druids in this scenario. Personally I would let the druid have the staff because it would probably make one very happy druid, yet I would not condemn any survival hunter who would roll on the staff.
If survival hunters don't have Item - Hunter T11 4P Bonus and not Item - Hunter T12 4P Bonus, then 757 haste is optimal. Item - Hunter T11 4P Bonus already push Cobra Shot past the 1.67 sec cast barrier and Item - Hunter T12 4P Bonus makes haste a significantly better stat. Hence it's only survival hunters who got neither of these bonuses (when I first wrote this post I was in this situation, a bit tunnel vision for you there) that would benefit more from the Fandral's Flamescythe than Ranseur of Hatred.
Beast Mastery and Marksmen hunters also got haste plateaus, but those specs are more forgiving on not reaching a certain haste plateau (in fact, their haste rating is highly fluctuating, due to Improved Steady Shot and Focus Fire, and they may get Hunting Party/Improved Icy Talons/Windfury Totem from other players, survival hunter haste is constant). Unlike survival hunters, these hunter specs can reach other haste plateaus, and such hunters should let the druid have the staff first.

Addendum:
Who should have the staff first depends on what they already got
I'm baffled to read that people still comment that "druids should have the staff first because they benefit from the damage, hunters don't". It is correct that hunters don't benefit from the damage, but they do benefit from the stats, and if a druid already got Ranseur of Hatred then changing to Fandral's Flamescythe would only be a change in secondary stats, the DPS and primary stats (agility, stamina) are exactly the same.
So speaking from a strictly raid DPS point of view, you can't say "druids should have priority", it depends on what the druid and the hunter already got.

Since someone mentioned rogues/warriors rolling on ranged weapons, it is the same there:
If a hunter got Lava Bolt Crossbow and Arbalest of Erupting Fury drops, a rogue with a 346/359 item level ranged weapon would benefit more than the hunter, if both got a 378 item level ranged weapon then it depends on which of them will benefit more from the stats. If both got 346/359 item level ranged weapon, hunter would benefit from the ranged damage while rogues would not, and it would be a better upgrade for the hunter.
A warrior should in general never roll on a ranged weapon with agility, unless they either don't have a ranged weapon or the one they got is really, really bad.

Comment by 150773

I have learned the following regarding the Buff from this staff, "Druid of the Flames."

While under the effects of the 'use' buff, entering and exiting combat cancels your buff, and the staff has a 2 hr cooldown on the 'use' effect. Don't swipe the random critters.

Shifting out of catform while under the effect of the 'use' buff keeps the buff on you for at least ~~10 minutes~~, 1 hour, the longest I have tested so far. It was retained through my hearthstone and a portal.
More to come as I learn it.

EDIT 1: It appears as long as you don't enter and exit combat, the 'use' buff remains indefinitely. It has survived logging out over night in catform.

Comment by 426611

~~Thundercats~~ Firecats HO!

Comment by Cariea

Four screenshots of flaming cats, zero screenshots of the actual weapon.

What does it look like, anyways?

Comment by 375396

Looks more like a trident

Comment by 274624

FYI: For those of you saying the stats are the same for both hunters and druids:

YOU ARE WRONG. Feral dmg is based off of weapon dmg. Hunter damage is unaffected by thier melee weapons dps, only thier ranged weapon slot. So thats an entire category of difference. If you are upgrading from heroic Malevolence, its 703.6 dps to 744.1

Its just a stat stick for hunters. For druids, its a direct increase in damage. Those of you comparing a rogue rolling on a bow vs a hunter have it right. This is druid comes first, hunter second.

Second: A couple of you are really messed up on how bears work. For a feral tank the best secondary stats on a weapon are Mastery then Crit. Flamescythe is the bear tanks BIS. Ironic, considering bears can't be fiery. The Ranseur is a distant second. Haste is completely worthless for a bear, even reforged, thats half of secondary stat slot that is completely worthless. Also, crit is secondary to mastery... Flamescythe = big win.

Comment by Andygorus

I wish this would alter our flight form as well (or wish anything would).

Many people enjoy all their different mounts, and while druids can use them just the same, our flight form never visually changes.

WTB Phoenix Flight Form.

Comment by AveryZan

If only my Panther Cub Turned into a mini fire cat with me!

Comment by 298971

I made a list of gimmick items which you can use to transform your character into a different form or race or even gender to play around with. I didn't add items like weapons that provide a procc with a transform effect that only lasts a few seconds even though I know about them. My intention was to list all items with controlable transformations. Feel free to let me know if I missed an item!
I want to thank all the people below my lists who pointed out items I missed! This list grows thanks to your effort as well! Thanks guys, you're great!

Item Name:	Transforms you into:	Duration:	Cooldown:
Fandral's Flamescythe	Molten cat while in cat form (Druids only)	Til shifting out of form	-
	Molten cat while in cat form (Druids only)	Til shifting out of form	2s
Glyph of Mutilate	Any human you pickpocket (Rogues only)	5m	-
Glyph of Arcane Barrage	Anyone else (Mages only)	2m	30m
Leyara's Locket	Druid of the Flame	5m	1h
Kalytha's Haunted Locket	Ghostly female Highborne	30m	15m
Blessing of the Old God	Qiraj	20s	10m
Burgy Blackheart's Handsome Hat	Gostly pirate gnome	Til unequipping the item	-
Orb of the Sin'dorei	Blood elf	5m	30m
Orb of Deception	Race of opponent faction	5m	30m
Bones of Transformation	Male Naga	20s	10m
Pygmy Oil	Voodoo gnome	10m	-
Deepstone Oil	Stony appearance	Til cancelled	1s
Stave of Fur and Claw	Furbolg	3m	1h
Carved Ogre Idol	Red Ogre	10m	10m
Magical Ogre Idol	Red Ogre	5m	30m
Savory Deviate Delight	Ninja or pirate	60m	-
Noggenfogger Elixir	Skeleton	10m	-
Gordok Ogre Suit	Ogre	10m	-
Super Simian Sphere	Gorilla in a bubble	5m	1h
Iron Boot Flask	Iron Dwarf	10m	1h
Muradin's Favor	Frost Dwarf	10m	30m
Vial of the Sands	Sandstone Drake	Til cancelled	-
Heart of the Nightwing	Obsidian Nightwing	Til cancelled	-
Potion of Illusion	Someone else	2m	-
Winter Veil Disguise Kit	Snowman	Til cancelled	-
Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest	Blue dragon	Til cancelled	-
Dire Brew	Dark Iron Dwarf	Til cancelled	-
Wisp Amulet	Wisp	20s	10m
Time-Lost Figurine	Arakkoa	5m	30m
Lifegiving Seed	Random herb	Til cancelled	-
Frenzyheart Brew	Wolvar	5m	30m
Hook of the Master Angler	Fish	Til cancelled	-
Magic Eater	Basilisk, locust, whelp, or whisp	1m	1s
Underbelly Elixir	Wasp, Tuskarr	10m	-
	Moonfang the wolf	10m	1h
Rituals of the New Moon	Giant wolf	2m	10m
Rituals of the New Moon	Black wolf	2m	10m
Rituals of the New Moon	Red wolf	2m	10m
Rituals of the New Moon	White wolf	2m	10m
Orb of the Blackwhelp	Black whelp	15m	-
Faded Wizard Hat	Apprentice of a different race (Horde only)	30m	30m
Arcanite Ripper	Guitarist of the Tauren Chieftains	10s	1m
Arcanite Ripper (NEW)	Guitarist of the Tauren Chieftains	10s	1m
Vrykul Drinking Horn	Bigger and with saronite helm	10m	1s
	Gives you a wolf helmet	10m	1h
	Stony appearance	10m	1h
	Like a targeted player when using	10m	1h
	Mister Smite	30m	2h
	Makes you nearly invisible	10m	1h
	Doctor Theolen Krastinov	30m	2h
	Beach Clothes	30m	2h
	Mogu stature	5m	2h
	Forest Sprite	10m	10m
Demon Hunter's Aspect	Demon Hunter	5m	30m
	Panda cub	10m	-
	Skeleton mariner	10m	2h
	Ordon Fire-Watcher	Til cancelled	1h
	Celestial Defender	15m	2h

The following items you cannot get anymore. Only to complete the list.

Item Name:
Transforms you into:
Duration:
Cooldown:

Gnomeregan Pride
Gnomeregan Infantry (Alliance only)
30m
4h

Darkspear Pride
Darkspear Warrior (Horde only)
30m
4h

Enchanted Moonstalker Cloak
Moonstalker
5m
-

Murloc Costume
Murloc costume
Til cancelled
-

Dartol's Rod of Transformation
Furbolg
3m
1m

Comment by Veratus

So, I finally got this on my feral today, and of course the /use effect looks amazing!

But the 2hr cooldown seems a bit harsh when compared to the other vanity items.

Comment by dracula

How it works:

Whenever you enter combat you will gain the aura Druid of the Flames; whenever you leave combat you will lose the aura.
Besides that, once every 2 hour you can manually activate the aura by right-clicking the staff. It will last indefinitely until you enter and leave combat again, and you can freely shapeshift around, but it only has any visual effect in Cat form.

Comment by pabob

Well... im a bear, its BiS for me (excluding the heroic version obviously) And from what i hear the Ransuar is acually BiS for a mm hunter atm... me and a hunter in my guild have already made a deal, he had a ransaur, i get the staggy staff i dont udnerstand why a hunter would want it, maybe after a few weeks a hunter could get it, but.. omg.. gear your tanks and healers first... ive already won the staff, im just waiting for it to drop.

Comment by Losna

The actual buff associated with this staff is Druid of the Flames. This buff seems to be governed by some odd rules. There are two (really, 3) different ways to get the buff, and they each follow different rules.

1a. Combat Method

Go into combat (in any form) with Fandral's Flamescythe equipped. You will keep this buff in any form (including caster form) until you leave combat, but the Fire Cat graphic will only show when you are in Cat Form.

What will remove the buff:

Leaving Combat
Dying
Right-clicking off the buff

What will NOT remove the buff:

Changing Forms
Changing Weapons (!)

1b. Combat/Zoning Method

This is an extension of the Combat Method and it is arguably the "best" out of the three versions of the buff. If you zone out of a battleground or instance with the Combat Method Buff (Method 1a) active, you will keep this version of the buff. In general, it's better not to leave a LFG group in combat or AFKing out of a BG, as can hurt the group you're leaving. Kirkus's method below is the more polite method to get this buff.
(Thank you for the correction, Kirkus!)

What will remove the buff:

Entering, then Leaving Combat
Dying
Right-clicking off the buff

What will NOT remove the buff:

Changing Forms
Changing Weapons (!)
Time

2. Use Effect Method

There is hidden /use effect on the Flamescythe. The Flamescythe's use effect has a 2 hour cooldown, and can be used outside of combat. The graphic still only shows when you are in Cat Form.

What will remove the buff:

Entering, then Leaving Combat
Dying
Right-clicking off the buff
Changing Weapons

What will NOT remove the buff:

Changing Forms
Time

NOTE:
There is one thing you should note in these mechanics that is particularly interesting. Changing weapons while in combat lets you keep the combat version of the Buff. This means that even if you upgrade to something other than this staff (Say, in 4.3 or even the next expansion), you can still keep your Fire Cat form. All you have to do is enter combat with the Flamescythe equipped, then switch to your better weapon (at the cost of 1 GCD), and you'll keep the Fire Cat buff for the duration of the encounter.

Flaming Ferals Forever!

Comment by Rtucci

The fire cat form should've been saved for the druid legendary. And I want to see a fire boomkin and a big ass tree form forest fire.

Comment by 865139

Hmmm, do we really need to argue this?

This is a DRUID weapon. I don't care about stats, dps increase, druids vs hunters, etc.,blah, blah, blah... Blizzard created this weapon for Druids, hence why you get the pretty fiery kitty form.

And to those who b!tch that it's just a vanity form; or that it doesn't increase dps, etc.... ummm, I take it those people only, ever use one mount? And don't have pages upon pages of mounts in their books? Haha, fat chance. Yes, it's a vanity piece! For druids! You want fiery kitty form, stop b!tching, roll a druid... jump into a raid and take your best shot at obtaining this special staff.

In the meantime, Hunters, go to your local Auction House, type in search "Ranseur of Hatred" and buy to your hearts' content.

If the staff drops in your group with a Druid... Kitty comes first. If not, then I guess you have something to show off in Stormwind in the meantime (but not pretty fiery kitty form :-P), but no, a hunter should never roll for this over a Druid. Enough said.

~Desired

Comment by Qoko

Haha, can you imagine. Since 4.2 I rerolled from my rogue to my druid, and currently I run in bear feral ms and balance offspec. Yesterday our guild had guildfirst kill on Staghelm, and in this fight I was playing moonkin. The staff drops, and with the lack of hunters and other druids in the raid I roll offspec on this and loot it.

Funny thing is, new I am as druid, I was not aware of this staff's pwnage. Only about two hours of Ragnaros fights and Molten Front dailies on my rogue later I find out about this staff's passive and use effect. Not less happy than any other feral druid, just a tad bit more surprised.

Comment by Psychowolf

Note that Fandral is itemized 5 secondary points higher than Ranseur, making it better in general.
276+265 = 541 for Fandral
282+254 = 536 for Ranseur

All this being said, there's 4 scenarios that can occur with both a hunter and druid in a group, and what would be better overall for the group:

1) Both Druid and Hunter have an MH weapon <ilvl 372: Druid gets weapon, no questions asked.
2) Hunter has Ranseur and Druid has lower ilvl MH item: Druid gets weapon, no questions asked. DPS weapon > stat stuck
3) Druid has Ranseur and Hunter has lower ilvl MH item: Hunter should get this weapon with no questions asked. Druid gain is minimal while hunter gets a decent stat boost.
4) Both Druid and Hunter have a Ranseur: Roll off. The gain would be almost exactly even for either class.

Also having both a Feral Druid and Hunter mains (Technically my main raid character now is a Hunter but I still play my Druid and mained him BC, WotLK, and early Cata until my raid needed another ranged DPS, hunter in particular and we had too many melee), I believe Fandrals is the better item overall for either class.

And I also believe a Druid should get Ranseur over a Hunter on first drop, Hunter get the Fandral if a second Ranseur doesn't drop.

Comment by Kazlehoff

Alright! time for a comment that doesn't involve hunter vs druid!

Enchants don't look right on this weapon.

+130 agil doesn't rotate with the staff head.... leaving 4 green dots surrounding the head of the staff.

i'll put a screen in showing the enchant weirdness.

Comment by Thanetor

Now here's the question. If you transmogrify your staff into this staff, do you get fire cat form while not equipping the staff, but having the model?

Before you argue that "It's an equip", it does not show with the equip, but instead, is an invisible bonus. Similar to the Hood of the Malefic (Warlock T6) that occasionally pops out demonic wings. It does not show as an equip effect, but rather, is invisible like the feral fire cat.

Therefore, the Hood of the Malefic wings are part of the animation, does that mean that Fandral's Flamescythe is also part of the animation?

EDIT: Judging from the Blizzcon interviews, no, you won't.

Comment by Hourglass

The fire kitty look is hot (sorry, had to)...I wonder if Blizzard would consider making a companion pet with that model? Like the Wintersaber Cub or Nightsaber Cub, but flamed.

Comment by Chromite

As of 8/30/11, you can't sustain the buff by leaving a BG with it on you :(

Comment by Goats

I just got this as a resto druid. Luckily for me, my guild isn't filled with "huntards". Win!

Comment by 738950

Actually, Ransuer has higher weap dps, and technically is like a 2dps increase from this staff. But the vanity will last a lifetime. As someone who's played since classic, I know I will keep this forever.

Comment by 172622

This is not a scythe.

Comment by Knewl

Another easy and interesting way to get and keep this buff, without quitting Battlegrounds or Dungeons:

1 Take the Hyjal portal (at The Eastern Earthshrine)
2 Paw-punch the nearby elemental
3 Run bak at the portal!
4 Profit

Comment by WebDev

Would be awesome to have Flame forms for all the druids forms. At least for the main ones, not including swimming form for example.
I mean, Flame Bear, Flame Moonkin and Flame Tree of Life.
I feel it's kinda not fair that best feral tanking weapon has no visual effect on them.

Comment by Achloryn

It should be noted that simply entering combat with this item equipped will NOT shift you into fire-cat form. You have to actually single-target melee attack something. (Even swipe spamming in trash won't set you ablaze). Took me a while to discover this for myself, as i'm usually a tank.

Comment by 847809

To all hunters: Ferals get better benefits from this than you, plus a supercool firecat form. So let the Druids get this. :) and the hidden effect is for DRUIDS not hunters, blizz should make this for this item :
Classes: Druid

Comment by aggixx

I didn't see anyone mention this, so I figured I would:

The fire kitty form is not invocable in any way, shape, or form for non-druids. If this weapon is going to get sharded you can't use it for vanity (unless you want the normal model for transmog, etc).

Comment by 180619

Here's a note if it wasn't mentioned already, if someone uses a Potion of Illusion next to a druid using the buff Druid of the Flames, the imbiber will also turn into a feral druid of the flames. =)

Comment by 912341

Warning: Do not wear this staff in pvp.

I repeat, do not wear this staff in pvp. Doing so will alert the enemy when within 5 meters due the feel of a smothering heat in the back, and will trigger him to attack you.

You have been warned...

Comment by 270768

I have tested the transmog deal with this staff, and here's my results:

Fandral's sythe into something else = fire cat
something else into fandral's sythe = no fire cat

to clarify: only the original staff, changed or not, will give the fire cat

Comment by 913054

Since patch 4.3 the buff gotten from this weapon has been changed, all versions of the buff are now lost when you change zone or relog so you can't go into combat and leave bg/instance to keep it and if you click on the weapon and get that buff then use a portal to another city or if you relog to a different character the buff is removed the second you go offline.

bit of a shame them doing this really a nerf of a completely cosmetic fun item that wasn't really affecting anyone else? no-one got anything from this change to the buff just took away a little fun that druids had with it to themselves.

Comment by brandmire

Did anyone ever truly clarify that if you transmog anything into this staff you would be able to get the fire cat form? It seems such a waste for such a wicked use effect to be forever worthless

Comment by zknm7

When this finally dropped, our hunter and feral druid got in an argument over who should get it.... I'm the raid leader for our raid group, and an arms warrior besides.... I decided that since mastery/crit are an arms warrior's best stats, that I would just take it and settle the argument for them. They didn't like it, but hey, I'm the raid leader, so too bad! YEAH!

Comment by abbabetzalel

Afk'ing out of a BG does not keep the effect as if you /used it.

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Quick Facts

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Fandral's Flamescythe

Item Level 378
Binds when picked up

Two-Hand	Staff

1,428 - 2,143 Damage	Speed 2.40

(743.96 damage per second)
+408 Agility
+611 Stamina
+265 Mastery
Durability 120 / 120

Requires Level 85
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 276.

Sell Price: 34 90 85

Fandral's Flamescythe

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