This item is acquired in-game. See its sources below.
Encounters that drop this item, from the game's own dungeon journal. Drop chances are not stored in the client data we mine, so none are shown here. The tags show which difficulties each encounter can award it on.
Cruel Barb is not traded on the Auction House, so it has no live market price. Its first-party game data (identity, effects and sources) is read from the official World of Warcraft client build.
In the Appearances collection, Cruel Barb is listed as Boss Drop. Appearance ID: 720. 3 other items wear the same appearance:
Read from the World of Warcraft client build files.
In their in-game specialization descriptions, these specs name swords among their preferred weapons:
The 10 items nearest to Cruel Barb (item level 12) in item level among Weapon > Sword, from item level 5 to 20.
| Item | Item Level | Requires Level | Stats | Lowest Listed Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cruel Barb (this item) | 12 | 7 | 1.7 DPS, +2 Agility or Strength, +2 Stamina, +2 Critical Strike, +1 Haste. Boss Drop | Not listed |
 Defias Rapier | 12 | 7 | 1.7 DPS, +2 Agility, +3 Critical Strike. World Drop | 20 gold on 63 realms |
| Blackwater Cutlass | 12 | 7 | 1.7 DPS, +2 Agility, +2 Critical Strike. World Drop | 5 silver on 67 realms |
 Fangblade | 15 | 2.1 DPS, +3 Agility, +1 Stamina. World Drop | 169 gold on 51 realms | |
 Bronze Shortsword | 15 | 9 | 2.1 DPS, +4 Agility. Crafted with Classic Blacksmithing | 40 gold on 57 realms |
 Fighter Broadsword | 17 | 10 | 2.7 DPS, +3 Agility, +4 Stamina. World Drop | 20 gold on 54 realms |
 The Butcher | 19 | 12 | 3.1 DPS, +4 Agility, +3 Stamina | 2,800 gold on 61 realms |
 The Black Knight | 19 | 12 | 3.1 DPS. World Drop | 225 gold on 54 realms |
 Heavy Copper Longsword | 5 | 3 | 0.6 DPS, +1 Agility. Crafted with Classic Blacksmithing | 156 gold on 55 realms |
 Sword of Decay | 20 | 13 | 3.5 DPS. World Drop | 4,998 gold on 58 realms |
 Zealot Blade | 20 | 13 | 1.5 DPS, +3 Intellect, +5 Stamina, +7 Versatility. World Drop | 323 gold on 57 realms |
Sword of Decay has the highest item level here (20). The lowest listed price among them is Blackwater Cutlass at 5 silver in the US Auction House.
Next item levels up from Cruel Barb among Weapon > Sword: Ebon Scimitar (item level 23), Furious Falchion (item level 24), Shortsword of Vengeance (item level 25), Phantom Blade (item level 25) and Bloodletter Scalpel (item level 25).
Nearest lower item levels below Cruel Barb among Weapon > Sword: Distinguished Blade of Cartel Al (item level 1), Lost Blade of Spacial Descent (item level 1), Drakonid Striker's Cutlass (item level 1), Wingcrest Scimitar (item level 1) and Primal Revenant's Frostblade (item level 1).
Built from the World of Warcraft client build files and recorded Auction House snapshots.
Cruel Barb is in the Classic Era game data, the era World of Warcraft: Forever is built on. Blizzard describes Forever as vanilla World of Warcraft plussed up: its story sits in year one, characters level to 60 and stay there, and it launches November 4, 2026. Blizzard has not said which vanilla items appear in Forever, so nothing here is a Forever claim; it is the Classic Era record for Cruel Barb next to the live retail market on this page.
Read next: World of Warcraft: Forever is Classic+, launching November 4 · Forever's class revamps and new race and class combinations · Classic Era page for Cruel Barb
First-party render from the game files. Model © Blizzard Entertainment.
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