Was Thrall nerfed? Is he now an average hero?

[ravenmoon]

A number of indications about this, especially him being the hrode counterpart to horrific visions.. either that or Alleria is being raised up in profile.

[cparle87]

Yes. He suffered a dramatic loss of power following his duel with Garrosh, to the point where he handed over the Doomhammer in Legion and retired for a quiet family life until Saurfang convinced him to come back.

[Varodoc]

Alleria consumed the heart of a dark naaru and became the first mortal to successfully defy the shadows' whispers. We don't know how strong she is. For all we know she could be as powerful as Jailer-empowered Sylvanas (though we don't know that for sure because their fight was interrupted before it started). It's not unreasonable to believe she is around the level of power of Cataclysm Thrall (strongest version of Thrall).

[Kyphael]

Thrall definitely got nerfed as @cparle85 already point out, and @Tenebra the War Criminal mentioned, Alleria got majorly buffed when she absorbed the heart of a Dark Naaru. Alleria might be on Sylvanas' level, and together they could be on Thrall's level in Cataclysm, though not Thrall handling Dragon Soul, of course. Just plain Thrall with Doomhammer in his prime.

[Zyky]

Yes. He suffered a dramatic loss of power following his duel with Garrosh, to the point where he handed over the Doomhammer in Legion and retired for a quiet family life until Saurfang convinced him to come back.

The family that didn't even live with him? He probably lost them too.

[Soon-TM]

Of course he was nerfed, along with all the Horde cast. Horde can't possibly have anyone at the same level of power of Malfurion, Jaina or Alleria, because Horde Bias™. And no, pre REEEEEEE Sylvie doesn't count, since her greatest display of power as Warchief was easily countered by Anduin Sue in BfA's intro. She had also failed badly against Genn already, so it really doesn't look like she became DBZ-tier powerful until she gtfo'd after kamehameha'ing Sadfang.

[Rendark]

Thrall's duel and power loss was one of the only good things to come out of WoD story wise. I may still like Thrall but he should have been the one to die in legion, not Vol'jin. So yes he did get nerfed.

[Kyphael]

Of course he was nerfed, along with all the Horde cast. Horde can't possibly have anyone at the same level of power of Malfurion, Jaina or Alleria, because Horde Bias™. And no, pre REEEEEEE Sylvie doesn't count, since his greatest display of power as Warchief was easily countered by Anduin Sue in BfA's intro. She had also failed badly against Genn already, so it really doesn't look like she became DBZ-tier powerful until she gtfo'd after kamehameha'ing Sadfang.

All that power and Malfurion has never done shit with it. Always getting captured and having to be rescued. Sylvanas meanwhile, a Horde character through and through until recently, just solo'ed A Lich King (not THE, A Lich King, but still.) Sylvanas was also toying with Genn. Don't forget Thrall in Cataclysm's power level was over 8,000, even if he also wasn't technically Horde anymore, he was still more associated with The Horde.

[Shelly]

The family that didn't even live with him? He probably lost them too.

He sent them away because he knew something was coming. He didn't realize it was assassins from Sylvannas or just Saurfang seeking to bring him back into troubles.

I think Thrall is going to get re-powered here soon. Maybe not in Shadowlands but possibly in the expansion after it, when he reforges his bonds with the elements. Right now he thinks that the elements have turned their back on him, but I think that he's turned his back on the elements and he needs to rediscover how to listen to them again to gain their favor and powers once again.

Basically think Thor Ragnarok.

And given the difficulties of Thrall vs Alleria fights I'd definitely say he's depowered in comparison. Stormwind across the board is just harder than everything in Orgrimmar though. With Alleria, Shaw and the void mage all being standouts each more difficult than Thrall even with all the other bosses down.

Although part of that is that my computer doesn't want to render the ground swirls for where Alleria shoots her arrows so I take excess sanity damage.

[Kyphael]

Thrall's duel and power loss was one of the only good things to come out of WoD story wise. I may still like Thrall but he should have been the one to die in legion, not Vol'jin. So yes he did get nerfed.

They needed Vol'jin to die to promote Sylvanas' rotten ass to Warchief so they could use the whole thing as a stepping stone for Shadowlands because we needed an unnecessary Faction War that took the focus away from what should have been the main plot elements (Azshara, N'zoth and Azeroth.)

[Rendark]

They needed Vol'jin to die to promote Sylvanas' rotten ass to Warchief so they could use the whole thing as a stepping stone for Shadowlands because we needed an unnecessary Faction War that took the focus away from what should have been the main plot elements (Azshara, N'zoth and Azeroth.)

I know why they did it but they shouldn't have. If they wanted to push Sylvanas into a more shit roll then there are more ways to do it. Thrall dying to save the horde would have been way better then having him in limbo for all of legion.

[Soon-TM]

All that power and Malfurion has never done shit with it. Always getting captured and having to be rescued. Sylvanas meanwhile, a Horde character through and through until recently, just solo'ed A Lich King (not THE, A Lich King, but still.) Sylvanas was also toying with Genn. Don't forget Thrall in Cataclysm's power level was over 8,000, even if he also wasn't technically Horde anymore, he was still more associated with The Horde.

Yeah, and that's why all those uber-powerful Alliance characters have to be incredibly dumbed down so that Horde can at least pretend it has a chance against them. Because in reality, the odds are so tilted in Alliance's favour that the mere thought of another AvH war would have flopped instantly. It would have been something like "Brazil declaring war on the US" levels of stupid (and it was nonetheless).

[Super Dickmann]

Yes, much like with the draenei genocide, killing Garrosh was an act so morally repugnant in the eyes of the elements that the shaman responsible lost his powers.

[Kyphael]

I know why they did it but they shouldn't have. If they wanted to push Sylvanas into a more shit roll then there are more ways to do it. Thrall dying to save the horde would have been way better then having him in limbo for all of legion.

I agree, Thrall and Varian dying on Broken Shore would have been symbolic as the end of an era, but I guess they have plans for Thrall or feel he's too iconic to kill off since he was Warcraft III's heart and soul. Plus, the High King and Warchief dying was probably symbolic enough for Blizzard.

[sam86]

The family that didn't even live with him? He probably lost them too.

don't give me that hope
regarding topic
literally every single character in wow is nothing compare to the awesome titan slayer the player, we killed every single thing in our path

[thesmall001]

Thrall also wasn't the god-like power most people believed him to be to begin with. Most people don't understand that the power he wielded in Dragon Soul was borrowed power that any Shaman with the right mindset could have done. He was uniquely positioned to do so, because of what he'd gone through in the Elemental Bonds storyline and the Charge of the Aspects short-story, as well as the Shattering and the Thrall novels, but his power was never magnified beyond that of a powerful (but not even the most powerful) Shaman in the Earthen Ring. Certainly he never reached the "merge with Azeroth" powers that Magni or Malfurion have reached.

Thrall is definitely something of a "chosen one", prophecy character but he's also a very well rounded character with a lot of flaws and who's been allowed to make severe mistakes and step back. He remains one of the best characters in WoW specifically because he's not written as a god-like flawless being.

[Hobbidaggy]

I think he was at his prime when he was in cata. He was aware of his role and his strength and he embraced it. Once he lost his connection to the elements after his fight with Garrosh I think he has had to work hard to completely re-establish his strength. Yes he has the ability to do what he did still but he is nowhere near as strong as he was. His own self-exile has also probably waned his powers as well. His spirit broke and now he has to heal himself and work on it

[Thage]

Yes. He suffered a dramatic loss of power following his duel with Garrosh, to the point where he handed over the Doomhammer in Legion and retired for a quiet family life until Saurfang convinced him to come back.

This. So far, Thrall is, for whatever reason, unable to fully access his abilities as a shaman--in the Legion Shaman quests, he mentions extreme difficulty getting the elements to heed his calls for aid. So now he relies on his training as a warrior (which, to be fair, was quite thorough as it took up the lion's share of his formative years, since Blackmoore intended for him to lead the Horde to conquer in Blackmoore's name).

[Syegfryed]

He had/have crippling depression

[Thage]

Yes, much like with the draenei genocide, killing Garrosh was an act so morally repugnant in the eyes of the elements that the shaman responsible lost his powers.

I'm still not convinced Thrall isn't projecting. Dude's always had a serious problem accepting responsibility for his fuck-ups, and using the elements to cheat in the mak'gora (with NPC chatter in 8.2.5 regarding Sylvanas's use of magic, we have at least some evidence to go on that it's apparently bad form to use magic in a mak'gora when the rules are unspoken) would be the sort of thing his subconscious would dwell on even as he consciously rejects responsibility for it. My take, entirely hypothesis right now, is that he cut himself off and just isn't in the headspace he needs to acknowledge that, instead blaming it on the elements.

Or Blizz's hack writers struck again and for some reason the elements in AU Draenor and the elements in MU Azeroth chat on Discord, and the AU elements considered using magic to kill Garrosh so superduper evil they just had to make sure the MU elements also withdrew support.