Best Elf race for each class?

[Mace]

If you were to roll an elf from each of the 4 choices for each class! Which one would you pick and why.

For me:

Hunter: Blood elf - cos of the farstriders, even tho we can roll high elf void elves they arent as established yet or as re-organised a group since Wc3 as the blood elf who have since face many more challenges with success and determination. Night elf female comes a very close second, the long vigil Darnasssian type is at home in the forest and with animals, shed win as a beast master, but the Farstrider will edge out as a marksman, it's a tie for survivalist despite, though you may give the Nelf the edge cos of the Lo g vigil, which was a 10k year survival marathon, but then the blood elf did go through the gruelling exile without magical enhancements etc so, but blood elf wins because of the notoriety of theFarstrider


Mage: Nightborne. for me night elf comes a close second but only if it was a Highborne you were playing , void and blood elf come close 3rd/4th - tbh they all make great mages, but then a void elf mage is void empowered in addition to great arcane skills, it's a tough one. By school, Fire would be blood elf, frost void/high elf, void void elf, arcane Nightborne/Highborne.

Warrior - Night elf female - and even they're bit weak, wow elves arent the greatest warrior material, but sentinels can be pretty rad. The other faces dont come close

Priest:: Night elf female: Sisterhood of Elune amongst the Elves has the longest and most distinguished priestly tradition, most of the blood elf priests abandoned the light in after the scourge invasion and became Paladins, the high elf ones have no specific order, the void elves while close to shadow priests, have no trace of any religion or philosophy they employ, they're more mage scholars and hunter/rogues than priests. Nightborne were disconnected from their Elunite order until the shield came down, it would take a while for that to gather steam if ever..This leaves night elves. While the post vigil order of Elune was dominated by their sentinel and martial wings, the casters still remained at the highest echelon and is still a women's only elite group, as Tyrande shows, they are very very powerful casters, the most powerful elven priests I've seen, even thought they are few.

warlock Blood elf - of all the elven groups they've had the longest exposure and acceptance of the use of fel in a loving way. The Illidari are better as a half demon elf race whether half night elf or blood elf, but blizzard hasn't quite allowed them to play as their own special brand of warlock, so for now it goes to blood elf. Void elf would be a close second cos half of the warlock kit is shadow magic anyway, maybe most of it, but again problem with void elves is they really havent delved into them fully and I doubt they will, we can on only intuine. Nightborne come 3rd, night elf last.


Rogue Very tough one here. All but nightborne seem very good. Night elves have the shadowmeld and the night shroud you in darkness thing, void elves have the rift walking, so they pip the blood elf. Wardens can be considered pseudo rogues anyway, and we do get a lot about night elf spies. I'm tempted to say night elf but the void does give what would already be great high elf or blood rogues an extra advantage. I would say night elf might just pip because of experience, but void elves are smaller, so. And dont forget the killer instinct on blood elves and void elves..

Monk Also tough, you could say night elves are philosophically closest to Monk ways, but that's irrelvant! Its really down to the individual and night elves had no monk traditions. They're all on a level playing field here. The question is who is most adaptable. Blood elves have the drive and tenacity to win this one, while night elves have the ingrained philosophy of balance to make being monks feel second nature. I just dont think night elves would generally choose being a monk over a druid tbh, so I think it would draw more blood elves wanting to satisfy their ancient elven connection to nature without picking up druidsm.. void elves I think would be more interested in the void or advancing monk studies with the void to be particularly good at this, though who's to say. A high elf monk could be very good looking for new ways. Nightborne also have a thirst for the outdoors after being cooped up theyd be keen on being monks. But my pick is Blood elf, closely followed by a high elf void elf.

Death Knight Blood elf - they'd be more, and they'd take to it faster, altho dark rangers and Ravencrest show night elves can do the undead thing pretty formidably, and the thought of a void knight could be terrifying, but sadly it isn't explored so we would be guessing, they could be the greatest or just out of sync, presumably it's a fresh start when raised, but still, it is you afterall. Blood elf wins again here for me.

Demon Hunter: Night elf easy one, they invented the class, have been at it much longer, and sem to have the biggest axe to grìnd against the Legion

Druid Night elf again, they are the only ones that can be, but even if nightborne joined later and even void elves, it would still be night elf.

Paladin Blood elf atm, but if void elves could become a void knight void version, or the high elf customisation made accessible fully for Paladin, then I would vote Void elf/High elf, but for now, blood elf especially since many a returning to their original light roots with help from the events with the Naaru and Draenei etc.

Elves cant be shaman, but if they could, it would entirely depend on the story blizzard chose to make it happen for each group.. if its tied to the arcane, then I'd follow the mage order unless other factors played a role. If it was traditional shamanism I'd lean towards night elf because of the synergy of the philosophy of balance, followed by Nightborne who rely on this because of the Arcandor .

[Varodoc]

Void elves are better for Priest because Shadow Priest is just a perfect combination. Void elf monk are also a unique and very good idea when you think about it. None of the elf races fit monk that well, but void elves would actually benefit a lot from the monk training, since becoming more at peace with yourself would help you better control the whispers. For warlocks, I think void elves fit much better than blood elf. Nowadays BEs are such holier than thou saints that void elves, with their shadowy theme as dark exiles, are a much better fit for a user of the dark arts.

All that you suggested was Night elf, Blood elf and Nightborne.....How boring....Can you try something different than just elves?

Then go open a separate thread for your favourite race. This thread is about elves. Don't like the premise? No one's forcing you to post in this thread.

[Pakheth]

Void elf for Shadow priests, but Nelf for holy and discipline.

Agree with Belf for paladin and Marksman hunter, while Nelf works well for Beastmaster hunters.

Void elves for rogues as well.

I feel both Belf and Nightborne works for mage since both have a large affinity for magic.

Agree on Belf for warlocks even if some Nightborne dappled in it as well.

Both Nelf and Nightborne seem to have good warriors.

Monks I have no idea because as you said it's a very new thing to all of them.

Death Knights I feel fit the Belves best. They are the closest to the vampire elves in Northrend.

Agree on Demon Hunter but I love my Belf DH too.

[Mace]

Void elves are better for Priest because Shadow Priest is just a perfect combination. Void elf monk are also a unique and very good idea when you think about it. None of the elf races fit monk that well, but void elves would actually benefit a lot from the monk training, since becoming more at peace with yourself would help you better control the whispers. For warlocks, I think void elves fit much better than blood elf. Nowadays BEs are such holier than thou saints that void elves, with their shadowy theme as dark exiles, are a much better fit for a user of the dark arts.

I agree with you but only for shadow priests. Truth is o void elf priest character is known, they are mostly and primarily mage scholars, with others like hunters and rogues.

Still, priests are quite scholarly so they are bound to have a few, and shadow would be their speciality, I wouldnt be surprised if they developed void elves further, we saw them developing powerful healing techniques using the void to rival most holy and discipline priests, just like I expect Lightforged Draenei to develop powerfully offensive applications of the light to match shadow for damage. But whether this will make it into the game as priest skins for the specs will remain to be seen.

Then go open a separate thread for your favourite race. This thread is about elves. Don't like the premise? No one's forcing you to post in this thread.

Well said.

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Void elf for Shadow priests, but Nelf for holy and discipline.

Agree with Belf for paladin and Marksman hunter, while Nelf works well for Beastmaster hunters.

Void elves for rogues as well.

I feel both Belf and Nightborne works for mage since both have a large affinity for magic.

Agree on Belf for warlocks even if some Nightborne dappled in it as well.

Both Nelf and Nightborne seem to have good warriors.

Monks I have no idea because as you said it's a very new thing to all of them.

Death Knights I feel fit the Belves best. They are the closest to the vampire elves in Northrend.

Agree on Demon Hunter but I love my Belf DH too.

If I were to go by spec:
Rogue:
Subtlety- void elf/night elf
Outlaw - Night elf (think Warden)/ blood elf pirates
Assassination : Blood elf

WARRIOR
Protection: Night elf
Fury: Nightborne (think Aluriel)
Arms: Night elf

Mage - see OP
Arcane: Nightborne/Highborne
Fire: Blood elf
Frost: HElf/Velf
Void: Void elf

Hunter: see OP
BM - Night elf
MM - Blood elf/VElf
Survivors: Nelf/HElf

Warlock
Affliction - Void Elf
Demonology - Void elf
Destruction - Blood elf

Monk
Brewmaster: Nightborne (cos of arcwine)
Windwalker: Blood Elf
Mistweaver: Night elf

DK -
Blood - Blood Elf
Unholy - Blood Elf
Frost - Void elf

DH - all NElf
Druid - aall Nelf

Priest
Discipline : Night Elf
Holy: Night Elf
Shadow: Void Elf

Paladin - All blood elf
( if Helves got Pala as a unique class customisation on the void elf, then Protection and Holy will be Helf and Ret blood elf. If a void version of the 3 were available, then void self would take Holy(called Void), Ret probably a tie, while blood elf would take protection

If they could be shaman
Elemental - Void elf (think entropy)/Nightborne
Enhancement - Night elf/blood elf (farstriders would find wi dwalker monks useful)
Restoration - Night Elf

[Shiza]

I would argue that Void Elves make better Marksman Hunters than Blood Elves. Alleria after all was the best Farstrider in WoW Lore and the former wielder of Thas'dorah. With the Blood Elves, we have no real notable example of any Farstrider, most of them are random npcs and Halduron, who is kind of a joke. I could give Blood Elves Survival because Lor'themar seems to be one.

Priest absolutely goes to Void Elves because they are just the shadow users in Lore.

With Warlocks, I would also say Void Elves because they have the biggest affinity to shadow magic.

[Melorandor]

Biased since I main a Night Elf Mage, but I love Night Elf Mages. Originally masters of the Arcane arts on Azeroth, created the largest and grandest of empires on Azeroth ever seen (Not counting the Black Empire!)

Demon Hunter:
Both Specs: Night Elf

Death Knight:
Frost - Night Elf
Unholy - Void Elf or Blood Elf
Blood - Blood Elf (Obviously)

Druid:
All Specs Night Elf, but I could see Balance being opted for Nightborne if they were given the chance to be Druids, as with High Elves/Blood Elves

Hunter:
Marksmanship - Night Elf or Blood Elf; I lean Night Elf though
Beast Mastery - Night Elf. Could see a Menagerie themed Nightborne collecting "pets and exotic beasts"
Survival - Night Elf and Blood Elf, I lean Night Elf again.

Priest:
Shadow - Void Elf or Night Elf. More on the Void Elf side, on this, but Night Warrior Shadow Priests and Priestess though.
Discipline - Night Elf, fits the Elune theme
Holy - Blood Elf

Paladin -
Retribution - Blood Elf, but if Night Elf Paladin become a thing I can see it.
Protection and Holy - Blood Elf and High Elf

Mage:
Arcane - All the Elves, but I prefer Nightborne and Night Elf
Fire - Blood Elf
Frost - Lean towards Void Elf and Night Elf

Warlock:
Demonology - Blood Elf and Nightborne
Affliction - Blood Elf and Void Elf
Destruction - Blood Elf and Void Elf

Rogue:
Assassination - Nightborne, really no explanation needed. Night Elves I can so easily too
Subtlety - Void Elf and Night Elf
Outlaw - Any Elf, more so Blood Elves

Warrior: Really all the Elves

Monk:
Brewmaster - Ditto Nightborne
Windwalker - Night Elf
Mistweaver - Night Elf

[Tanaria]

For me, it's this:

Mage: Blood Elf or Nightborne.
The Blood Elves have held a supreme mastery over the arcane, ever since they were High Elves and before them, the Highborne. One of the best and most useful creations ever, came at the hands of the High Elves with Ban'dinoriel. The Orcish Warlocks were growing ever so weaker the further they went into Quel'Thalas as were the corrupted red dragons. The Blood Elves took this to new heights with the study of Blood Magic and have been developing ever since.
The Blood Elves' ancestors also held off the Amani, despite being outnumbered and only needed help when the Amani began weaving their own spells which was able to counter the Elves. Again, these developments and the help they provided in establishing the Kirin Tor with the Convocation of Silvermoon was something that only bolstered their mastery over arcane magic.

Nightborne are also skilled Magi and make up the Horde's most talented telemancy arcweavers. I haven't seen much in the way of them using Fire or Frost Magic though, so I'd say the Blood Elves come first and the Nightborne a very close second. Void Elves are third and Night Elves are last.

For specs, I would say:
Arcane: Blood Elf, Nightborne and Night Elf
Frost: Blood Elf, Void Elf and Night Elf
Fire: Blood Elf

Warlock: Blood Elf.
The Blood Elves make up the most disciplined Warlocks with both expertise, but also being extremely careful. The Black Harvest's most powerful Warlocks involved a Blood Elf and she was also part of the Horde group that took on Cho'gall (in accordance to the lore.)
The Sunfury army also boasted a range of skilled fel weavers and part of their army was stationed at Karabor to help the Illidari Initiates with fighting demons. This likely took place before they digested a demon's heart. The big difference with these Sunfury Warlocks is that they remained loyal to Illidan whilst the others sided with the Legion and Kael'thas. Also - those who sided with Kael'thas, took their experiments with fel magic too far, whereas those in Silvermoon and at Karabor used those talents for huge benefits.

It's likely the Sunfury Warlocks at Karabor were far more stricter on the Illidari Initiates, whereas those in Silvermoon were possibly more calm and perhaps, more friendly to be around.

For specs, I'd say:
Affliction: Void Elf
Demonology: Blood Elf
Destruction: Blood Elf

Personally, I don't like Darnassian-based Warlocks. I would think it's better to give Nightborne the Druid class, as we see Nightborne Grove Tenders in the Nighthold and keep the Warlock class for the Thalassian Elves.

Priest: Blood Elf or Night Elf
Both races have very established Priesthoods. Night Elves do have a lot more exposure of recent and we are seeing a dark side to their goddess, which we can't really see with the Holy Light, unless one turns to the Void.

For specs, I'd say:
Holy: Blood Elf
Discipline: Night Elf, Blood Elf and Nightborne (disc priests could easily take up the idea of a Scholar, which is how I view Nightborne Priests.)
Shadow: Night Elf and Void Elf

Hunter: Blood Elf, Void Elf or Night Elf
All the elves work as Hunters, but they aren't typical hunters like Draenei, Orcs or Trolls. I do like the idea of a Farstrider and what gives Void Elves the edge is that they aren't typical, LOTR-elf archer like how blood elves could be perceived. Blood Elves do have a wide variety of Farstrider organizations, such as the Blood Hawks, the Rangers in the Ghostlands as well as the Sunfury Hunters and Rangers who returned to help the Quel'Thalas farstriders in dealing with the Scourge and securing the land.

Night Elves have the Sentinels and they also have a wide variety of organizations which relate to the Sentinels. The first ones we meet are the Shadowleaf Sentinels in Ashenvale under Tyrande's command. Then we see Sentinels take up an active role in ever expansion, since WoW launched such as the Silverwing Sentinels, the Sentinels in Outland, the Sentinels which worked with the 7th Legion and the Druids in WoTLK and the list goes on.

For specs, I'd say:
Marksmanship: Blood Elf, Void Elf and Night Elf
Survival: Night Elf and Blood Elf
Beast Mastery: Night Elf

Druids: Night Elf.
This is quite obvious and doesn't require a big explanation. All specs work for the Night Elf Druids.

Paladins: Blood Elf.
Like Druids, this is obvious as we've seen the Blood Knights and their skills ever since TBC and they do make up a large bulk of the Thalassian Army. All specs work for the Blood Elf Paladins.

Demon Hunters: Night Elf and Blood Elf.
Both races work. The greatest trainee of the Illidari was a Blood Elf whilst the Night Elves are able to take up the art without learning from Illidari or Illidan. Both specs work for both races.
Blood Elves, being Night Elf descendants, easily took to the art of the Demon Hunter and despite success rates being low for both races, they still exceeded.

Monk: Blood Elf (if we have to pick one.)
The reason why I say this is that I have seen a piece of lore saying the Blood Elves of Quel'Thalas took to the art of being a Monk very quickly - faster than the Night Elves.

For specs, I'd say:
Brewmaster: Doesn't work for any.
Windwalker: Blood Elf
Mistweaver: Blood Elf and Night Elves.

Death Knights: Blood Elf
Blood Elf Death Knights have a very certified place in the lore, due to them possibly being fallen High Elves during the Third War or they could be fallen Blood Elves, who died either during the Scourge invasion before WoTLK or possibly during the Illidari's assault on Icecrown. Blood Elf Death Knights also had some sort of close identity with Sylvanas and the Dark Rangers, which integrated them further into the lore.

For specs, I'd say:
Frost: Blood Elf or Void Elf
Unholy: Blood Elf
Blood: Blood Elf

Rogues: Nightborne and Night Elf
The reason for this, I'd say is that both are very apt at staying hidden under darkness. The Nightborne have the Duskwatch which I suspect would have some very skilled stealth assassins. The Night Elves have the Sentinels, so again - staying in the shadows is something very natural to them.
Blood Elves do have the Pathstalkers which are kind of, rogues - but they aren't nearly as developed as the Rangers or Farstriders. They are likely part of the Farstrider army, but we don't know how they work. We've only seen Rangers like Lor'themar and Sylvanas fight. We do have Valeera, who is a skilled blood elf rogue.

For specs, I'd say:
Outlaw: Nightborne
Assassination: Blood Elf and Night Elf
Sub: Nightborne and Night Elf

Warriors: All Elves
All the Elves work as Warriors. The Kaldorei army has a group of strong warriors, who are known for their agility and speed. The Sin'dorei army has a group of powerful warriors and spell-breakers. The most powerful blood elf warriors were amongst the returned Sunfury and they also joined Kael'thas when he left to join with Garithos. The Nightborne have the Duskwatch and Victorie seems to be an impressive Nightborne Warrior and leader of said army. The only ones who haven't got much attention are void elf warriors - except we've seen some of them amongst the 7th Legion stationed in Nazjatar and Zin-Azshari.

For specs, I'd say:
Protection: Blood Elf and Nightborne
Arms: Night Elf and Blood Elf
Fury: Nightborne and Night Elf

[SniperCT]

Nelf rogue cuz...she's been my main since 2004 lol

I wanted alliance, purple hair, and a class that thematically was close to the SWG smuggler.

Hunter I've played Nelf, Belf and Velf. Thematically I feel like Nelf suits them best and I keep thinking I'll race change my hunter back to a nelf (she's currently a velf)

Mage Nightborne, fits very thematically, though my mage is a belf and I don't want to change. Belf Mages are very thematic too

Warrior: Nelf, again feels most thematic to me. I've rolled like a dozen warriors over the years, I'd say of the elf races the Nelf felt the most right to me.

priest: nelf or belf, I haven't enjoyed priest since Wrath, and mine is now an LF lol

warlock: definitely blood elf, when I faction changed mine I went belf and didn't look back

Monk: don't like any elf for this class though animation wise I'd go with nelf. I really can't see any race but human or orc for monk tbh

DK: Nelf is fun from a corruption standpoint

Paladin: WHERE IS MY NIGHT ELF PALADIN BLIZZARD WHERE IS IT YOU KEEP TEASING IT AND MY WIFE HAS WANTED TO PLAY ONCE SINCE 2005 SHE EVEN RP'D ONE THEY DID A WHOLE THING LORE-WISE THEY HAD PLATE WEARING WARRIOR PRIESTS DURING THE WAR OF THE ANCIENTS IF TAUREN COULD BE PALADINS SO CAN NELVES

Druid: Nelf for sure, I have a hard enough time seeing non nelf/tauren as druids as it is

[Dancaris]

Void elf priests, heh. They cant use holy magic, and even in shadow spec there are holy spells. Mages and warlocks - it is the only choise

[doodle90]

I would say:
Warrior: Night Elf
Rogue: Blood elf and Sub: Void Elf
Priest: Holy: Blood Elf; Disc: Night Elf; Shadow: Void Elf
Mage: Arcane: Nightborne; Fire: Blood Elf; Frost Void Elf
Paladin: Blood Elf
Druid: Night Elf
Hunter: Night Elf and Marks: Blood Elf
Warlock: Blood Elf and Affliction: Void Elf
DH: I'd so both fit pretty well.
Monk: Brew: Nightborne, WW: BE/NE; MW: NE
DK: Blood Elf All due to being part of quelthalas.


I didn't include high elf because they are just blood elfs. I also didn't separate blood elfs by type of magic they are addicted to because that seems pointless. Also while Highborne were mages I feel like they are eclipsed by Nightborne in that department.

[Ardenaso]

if it was a Highborne you were playing , void and blood elf come close 3rd/4th - tbh they all make great mages, but then a void elf mage is void empowered in addition to great arcane skills, it's a tough one.

the Shen'dralar were pretty much paled and stagnated compared to Blood Elves; the Shen'dralar just discovered what a transistor can do while the Blood Elves are already on 3G internet

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regarding Paladins, Blood Knights are way superior than High Elf Silver Hand Paladins; the Blood Knights have figured it out how to be Paladins by themselves and not only that, they can command the Light to their will meanwhile High Elves would most likely need to pray and since they are kicked out of Quel'thalas they would have separation anxiety and they would have mental health problems and they wouldn't have enough faith to do holy magic. Also since the Blood Knights can command the Light on their own, theoretically, they can "command" the light inside Lightforged Draenei to fluctuate, expunge, and combust - effectively imploding the Lightforged from within. Real Metal.

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I didn't include high elf because they are just blood elfs. I also didn't separate blood elfs by type of magic they are addicted to because that seems pointless. Also while Highborne were mages I feel like they are eclipsed by Nightborne in that department.

Blood Knights are superior anyway compared to High Elf Paladins, who are ingrained with human tradition

[Frontenac]

Well, it's at least a different take on a subject that has seen a lot of iterations. I have dismissed the hero classes, because I deem that thoses classes are also their own faction, rather than part of their races. A Night Elf Death Knight is more a member of the Ebon Blade than a citizen of Darnassus. So all races work for them, and in any spec. When I say Blood Elf, I also mean High or Void Elf, because I do not think that the difference between them are so huge. I only name the Void Elves when it really makes a difference.

Druids
All specs: Night Elf, obviously, since they are the only ones that can be druids.

Hunters
Beastmaster: Night Elf, I guess, because of the hippogryph riders and the owls.
Marksmanship: All fit well. Elf hunters are rarely depicted with pets in game. They are all archers.
Survival: Night Elf, because they are associated more with wilderness. And no, I do not consider the tame forests of Quel'thalas as very wild...

Mage:
Arcane: Nightborne
Fire: Blood Elf
Frost: Blood Elf/High Elf. Before the Scourge, water and frost were prefered by both the Kirin Tor and the High Elves.

Monk:
Tough one. Elves in general do not fit well with the monk.
Brewmaster: Nightborne, maybe. Arcwine, beer, it's all booze anyway...
Windwalker: None
Mistweaver: Night Elf, maybe. For the herbal medecine theme, but that's tenuous at best.

Paladin:
Blood Elf for all, of course, since they are the only elves that can play that class. However, if the Night Elves get them after Shadowlands because of the Night Warrior story arc, I would say that Retribution would fit them well...

Priest:
Discipline: Night Elf. Priestesses of the Moon were very martial too. It fits well with the two sides of Elune.
Holy: Blood Elf.
Shadow: Void Elf, of course.

Rogue:
Assassination: Blood Elf
Outlaw: Nightborne, maybe. The urban setting of Suramar kinda meshes well with swashbuckling duelists.
Subtlety Night Elf. Stalking in the shadows, ambushes in the woods, it fits well with the Night Elves tactics.

Warlock
It seems to me that Blood Elves (for the fire theme), Void Elves (for the Void theme) and Nightborne (for the demon/Legion theme) work well for all specs.

Warrior
Arms: Night Elves. Sentinels look like great weapon masters, more that sword-and-board warriors.
Fury: None really fit. I can't see any Elf wielding two two-handers and being enraged. Well, Night Elves, maybe.
Protection: Blood Elf. We see lots of sword-and-board warriors and they are now more about fighting in open fields.

[Dunkelzahn]

All Classes
Dead Elf

[matrix123mko]

Nightborne specialise in illusions. I think that would fit rogue.

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All Classes
Dead Elf

All hail the Banshee Queen!

[McNeil]

Hunter: Night elf and Blood elf

Mage: Nightborne and blood elf

Rogue: Night elf and Nightborne

Warrior: Night elf

Druids: Night elf

Paladin: Blood elf

Priest: Void elf

Warlock: Blood elf

Death knight: Blood elf

Demon hunter: Night elf

[Nize]

I very much disagree with Void Elf Priests, even if sticking to Shadow Priests. Yes, void spec for void race does make sense at face value, but given Blood Elf society and the story of the Void Elves, the ones who turned over seemed to be more power hungry blood elves that were mages and warlocks.

Night Elves and Blood Elves both have greater priesthoods

[Mace]

I would argue that Void Elves make better Marksman Hunters than Blood Elves. Alleria after all was the best Farstrider in WoW Lore and the former wielder of Thas'dorah. With the Blood Elves, we have no real notable example of any Farstrider, most of them are random npcs and Halduron, who is kind of a joke. I could give Blood Elves Survival because Lor'themar seems to be one.

Priest absolutely goes to Void Elves because they are just the shadow users in Lore.

With Warlocks, I would also say Void Elves because they have the biggest affinity to shadow magic.

Alleria yes, but the rest? Anyway, presumably void elves would be just as good as blood elves or high elves, since iti s bloode lves and high elves that become void elves so.

Question is, does the void give them an advantage?

[Delano]

Void Elf Rogue all the way.

[Nightstalker]

Different approch: What doesn't work at all.
Female Bloodelf Warriors. Stick figures shouldn't wield weapons 3x their body mass. Play eastern RPGs for that, not WoW.

[Mace]

Hunter:
Marksmanship - Night Elf or Blood Elf; I lean Night Elf though
Beast Mastery - Night Elf. Could see a Menagerie themed Nightborne collecting "pets and exotic beasts"

That's an interesting thought about the Nightborne, I mean pre-sundering night elves had pretty great hunters too (presumably) although stuck in Suramar for 10k years, with no evidence of sport and very short supply of animals ( only the menagerie, it's got to be limited if you ask me. But natural talent for it? 100%. They're elves afterall.

Biased since I main a Night Elf Mage, but I love Night Elf Mages. Originally masters of the Arcane arts on Azeroth, created the largest and grandest of empires on Azeroth ever seen (Not counting the Black Empire!)

Agreed on that one, very often over looked because of the Darnassian community's strong hunter/druid/priest community, but they forget that theirs is not the only community, the shen'drlaar, and Moonguard continued in the tradition and practice - feverishly and intensely according to the lore (for the Shen'dralar), and that the night elf it self is naturally very talented in the arcane, it's where the Thalassian elves and ofc Nightborne (who are the night elf subrace get their magical arcane talent from).. and the lore has the Shen'dralar having reforming and replenishing their Highborne numbers by recruiting talented night elves.

I guess most people are waiting for blizzard to show off Darnassian Highborne, but I thought Farondis and the Moonguard had quite an impressive display, and Queen Azshara and Illidan are so notorious, as wella s Xavius, you simply can't or shouldn't ignore a kaldorei as serious mage master race - even if most of the Darnasisans don't practice, those that do are very talented at it and the race has a natural disposition and affinity for it, that's as pure in talent as that which gave rise to Azshara, Illidan, Elisande, Darth'remar, Vashj, Farondis, Xavius, Madivas etc who's notoriety as casters came as night elves (regardless if some of them got morphed into variants)

Priest:
Shadow - Void Elf or Night Elf. More on the Void Elf side, on this, but Night Warrior Shadow Priests and Priestess though.
Discipline - Night Elf, fits the Elune theme
Holy - Blood Elf

Intersting you did blood elf as holy, I initially discounted them because how weak the priesthood was in the blood elf phase of Silvermoon as opposed to the High elf phase, but then things have progressed, in theory the part divine energy of the Sunwell should mean powerful holy priests, sadly, they've really only shown powerful paladins in the game.

You make a good point about Night Warrior shadow priests, I would say they probably more formidable than void elf priest, again, people don't seem to be registering that void elf priests have not been shown to be a thing, they only connect void elves to priests because the shadow spec uses void magic and so do the void elves, but we really see no priests amongst them. There must be ofc, I'll give them that, but the main thrust of the void elf is a mage. Still, a priest or lock I presume would be very talented and easily beat the other races, except for maybe the Night warrior Shadow priest.

Good catch.

Mage:
Arcane - All the Elves, but I prefer Nightborne and Night Elf
Fire - Blood Elf
Frost - Lean towards Void Elf and Night Elf

While I agree with you on all elves with magic, Nightborne definitely seem to be the frontrunner on arcane alongside the Highborne night elf, while Nightborne did glut themselves on arcane magic, which altered and cursed them, the Shen'dralar by comparison were healthier and notorious for being schorarly community, despite their misfortune - to me the survivors of the cities would in theory retain a higher mastery than those in Suramar when it comes to the arcane itself. Their experiences would be different. The Shen'dralar would also have had more challenges and exposure to outside knowledge to add to theirs, and like the Nightborne, their city retained most of the knowledge - at least until very very recently. Nightborne have the chronomancy advantage.

It's probably too close to call.

Not sure why Night elf would make frost though, although it really fits them imo, the cold of the void, and high elf kirin'tor frost specialism for me leaned frost towards Void elf/high elf.

Warlock:
Demonology - Blood Elf and Nightborne
Affliction - Blood Elf and Void Elf
Destruction - Blood Elf and Void Elf

Curious why you added Nightborne to demonology or void elf to destruction? We destroyed the Felborne, and despite their great talent at mastering magic, they're relatively very new to fel say compared to the Blood elf or void elf.

Rogue:
Assassination - Nightborne, really no explanation needed. Night Elves I can so easily too
Subtlety - Void Elf and Night Elf
Outlaw - Any Elf, more so Blood Elves

Oh I need an explanation. Seeing I picked Blood elf ( although I was thinking of Valeera). I kinda agree with you on Outlaw, not sure Nightborne would fit though, they seem to be a pretty together community, united, although there might be a city feature or characteristic that lends itself to outlaw that I missed ? Whiles they weren't the most morally pure group, outlaws were punished with explusion.. but then outlaw rogues can also be duelists, and fighters that aren't warriors.

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For me, it's this:

Mage: Blood Elf or Nightborne.
The Blood Elves have held a supreme mastery over the arcane, ever since they were High Elves and before them, the Highborne. One of the best and most useful creations ever, came at the hands of the High Elves with Ban'dinoriel. The Orcish Warlocks were growing ever so weaker the further they went into Quel'Thalas as were the corrupted red dragons. The Blood Elves took this to new heights with the study of Blood Magic and have been developing ever since.
The Blood Elves' ancestors also held off the Amani, despite being outnumbered and only needed help when the Amani began weaving their own spells which was able to counter the Elves. Again, these developments and the help they provided in establishing the Kirin Tor with the Convocation of Silvermoon was something that only bolstered their mastery over arcane magic.

Nightborne are also skilled Magi and make up the Horde's most talented telemancy arcweavers. I haven't seen much in the way of them using Fire or Frost Magic though, so I'd say the Blood Elves come first and the Nightborne a very close second. Void Elves are third and Night Elves are last.

For specs, I would say:
Arcane: Blood Elf, Nightborne and Night Elf
Frost: Blood Elf, Void Elf and Night Elf
Fire: Blood Elf

I know your view on the Highborne - which I disagree, but I don't want to go into it, between you and Ravenmoon on the other topic, it's been beaten to death, suffice it to say we disagree, and I see you haven't changed your mind.

But why would blood elves be up there with Nightborne? Potentially, sure, they can, no doubt, but practically, it is clear Suramar is leagues ahead in magic (as it should be) than anything the blood elves have - this is kaldorei empire standard that has continued on - it's basically what the Shen'dralar would have had in Eldre'thalas if we didn't meet it in ruins, and it's well beyond anything we saw in Silvermoon.

Even in the encounters between the two, the magic of the blood elves was described as very powerful, but it could not rival the Nightwell, and that was only in power, in terms of technique, skill, knowledge, advancement in a host of other areas (not just combat, which is what the quests were talking about) the Nightborne were leagues ahead arcane wise.

Not sure how the blood elves figure there though. Even the spell breaker that helped us break that Nightborne's shield was possible because it was both unfamiliar and he was terribly arrogant and thus got sloppy. And again, that was combat related, and it didn't prove blood elves were just as good or better, it just proved they were capable of surmounting difficult odds against superior opponents, and yes the Nightborne were superior opponents, it's just like how we take down superior opponents like Kil'jaeden, or Azshara and others, we're not better at magic than they are because we beat them. We found a way in, and were able to seize the advantage catching htem off guard, often with help, a b it of luck or a breakthrough in a fight.

Warlock: Blood Elf.
The Blood Elves make up the most disciplined Warlocks with both expertise, but also being extremely careful. The Black Harvest's most powerful Warlocks involved a Blood Elf and she was also part of the Horde group that took on Cho'gall (in accordance to the lore.)
The Sunfury army also boasted a range of skilled fel weavers and part of their army was stationed at Karabor to help the Illidari Initiates with fighting demons. This likely took place before they digested a demon's heart. The big difference with these Sunfury Warlocks is that they remained loyal to Illidan whilst the others sided with the Legion and Kael'thas. Also - those who sided with Kael'thas, took their experiments with fel magic too far, whereas those in Silvermoon and at Karabor used those talents for huge benefits.

It's likely the Sunfury Warlocks at Karabor were far more stricter on the Illidari Initiates, whereas those in Silvermoon were possibly more calm and perhaps, more friendly to be around.

For specs, I'd say:
Affliction: Void Elf
Demonology: Blood Elf
Destruction: Blood Elf

Personally, I don't like Darnassian-based Warlocks. I would think it's better to give Nightborne the Druid class, as we see Nightborne Grove Tenders in the Nighthold and keep the Warlock class for the Thalassian Elves.

Some very good points, I didn't pay much attention to the Sunfury warlocks that joined Illidan and not the Legion, very good point, they must have rejoined Quel'thalas, or some of htem, I think a lot of them went on to join Kael'thas after Illidan's defeat, remember SWP comes after, but a few would not have. Do you have definite proof on this? Or are you assuming? Either way I hadn't factored in that part.

AS for demonlogy, the reason I had void elf there, is because of void minions, they seem to be very good at summoning nad handling those, and they are often classed as demons, the void walker for example is a void minion, this would make void elves a natural at demonlogy.

Priest: Blood Elf or Night Elf
Both races have very established Priesthoods. Night Elves do have a lot more exposure of recent and we are seeing a dark side to their goddess, which we can't really see with the Holy Light, unless one turns to the Void.

For specs, I'd say:
Holy: Blood Elf
Discipline: Night Elf, Blood Elf and Nightborne (disc priests could easily take up the idea of a Scholar, which is how I view Nightborne Priests.)
Shadow: Night Elf and Void Elf

While the potential for Nightborne priest is the same relaly as any other, especially night elf, sadly we have no idea what faith they're off.. Are they Moon Priestesses? (which makes sense except they're horde - but then that didn't stop druidism going to horde races) are they holy light prietrseses - which could work because of the blood elves? But they already have a far more ancient order, aare not hooked up to the Sunwell, and seem to like the night and the moon/stars too much. There is also the star aspect of the kaldorei religion heavily tied to the arcane that Tyrande's lot kinda laid to rest for a long time (according to some hints) but obviously seem to be picking it all up again since the WC3 and then the ban lift, and then the recovery of their main Cathedral.. so who knows.

Hunter: Blood Elf, Void Elf or Night Elf
All the elves work as Hunters, but they aren't typical hunters like Draenei, Orcs or Trolls. I do like the idea of a Farstrider and what gives Void Elves the edge is that they aren't typical, LOTR-elf archer like how blood elves could be perceived. Blood Elves do have a wide variety of Farstrider organizations, such as the Blood Hawks, the Rangers in the Ghostlands as well as the Sunfury Hunters and Rangers who returned to help the Quel'Thalas farstriders in dealing with the Scourge and securing the land.

Night Elves have the Sentinels and they also have a wide variety of organizations which relate to the Sentinels. The first ones we meet are the Shadowleaf Sentinels in Ashenvale under Tyrande's command. Then we see Sentinels take up an active role in ever expansion, since WoW launched such as the Silverwing Sentinels, the Sentinels in Outland, the Sentinels which worked with the 7th Legion and the Druids in WoTLK and the list goes on.

For specs, I'd say:
Marksmanship: Blood Elf, Void Elf and Night Elf
Survival: Night Elf and Blood Elf
Beast Mastery: Night Elf

Yeh hunters was a tough one, you do make some good points though, it's hard to think the night elf is not amongst the MM, I felt a bit wrong for giving the Farstrider the edge, they're at least on par. The sentinels is a multi-class operation though, it's clear some are warriors, some are hunters - inevitably they could be their own class too, since we see they also do mounted combat like Knights - and that usually isn't a wariorr thing (although it could be)

Monk: Blood Elf (if we have to pick one.)
The reason why I say this is that I have seen a piece of lore saying the Blood Elves of Quel'Thalas took to the art of being a Monk very quickly - faster than the Night Elves.

For specs, I'd say:
Brewmaster: Doesn't work for any.
Windwalker: Blood Elf
Mistweaver: Blood Elf and Night Elves.

Well that statement about them taking to the art very quickly is a good basis to have the blood elf at the front for the monk, I wasn't really sure, can you find where you saw it? However I would be careful about claiming it is "faster than night elves or any other race" although you could use the statement to imply that , it doesn't really compare, it's more a description of the acumen of the blood elves than it is of any other races and how good at monks they might be. But it is noteworthy that something is said specifically wrt this and blood elves.

it's also worth noting how many NPCs of other races are used as monks.

Rogues:[/B] Nightborne and Night Elf
The reason for this, I'd say is that both are very apt at staying hidden under darkness. The Nightborne have the Duskwatch which I suspect would have some very skilled stealth assassins. The Night Elves have the Sentinels, so again - staying in the shadows is something very natural to them.
Blood Elves do have the Pathstalkers which are kind of, rogues - but they aren't nearly as developed as the Rangers or Farstriders. They are likely part of the Farstrider army, but we don't know how they work. We've only seen Rangers like Lor'themar and Sylvanas fight. We do have Valeera, who is a skilled blood elf rogue.

For specs, I'd say:
Outlaw: Nightborne
Assassination: Blood Elf and Night Elf
Sub: Nightborne and Night Elf

You do make a good point about hidden under darkness and using darkness, wem ay not have seen Nightborne employ this the same way, but the name implies it, and they'd have the same skillset access of darkness the night elves have , which is certainly not something exclusive to the long vigil, it would have bene there from long before and contd in the Nightborne.

There is also there illusion magic someone mentions later I completely forgot about, and bing quite skinny and thus lighter weight would make them excellent.

I still don't know why you don't have Void elves in at least subtelty, given how much shadow magic, and manipulation of shadows they have, the riftwalkers have the extra advantage of the void to employ and the use this to great effect , very great effect in BFA in some of the alliance quests.

Warriors: All Elves
All the Elves work as Warriors. The Kaldorei army has a group of strong warriors, who are known for their agility and speed. The Sin'dorei army has a group of powerful warriors and spell-breakers. The most powerful blood elf warriors were amongst the returned Sunfury and they also joined Kael'thas when he left to join with Garithos. The Nightborne have the Duskwatch and Victorie seems to be an impressive Nightborne Warrior and leader of said army. The only ones who haven't got much attention are void elf warriors - except we've seen some of them amongst the 7th Legion stationed in Nazjatar and Zin-Azshari.

For specs, I'd say:
Protection: Blood Elf and Nightborne
Arms: Night Elf and Blood Elf
Fury: Nightborne and Night Elf

Good job on the insight, you see, generally I have felt Elves weak for being warirors, but that's not technically true is it, their "warriors" are magic empowered in every case and every situation.

Whether pre-sundering priestess, Moonguard, kaldorei army, whether long vigil sentinel (with their Elune conection) or Blood elven with the spell breakers, Nightborne too in the pre-sundering Kaldorei vein with spell blades ( also a thing amongst the Thalassians), they aren't pure physical warriors, because brute strength is not their forte, but empowered by magic, sort of like an enhancements shaman has magic empowering his melee, they definitely qualify.

And 7th Legion is no joke to join, so void elves proving their worth if they can make the 7th Legion so soon - unless there is numbers deficit.

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Void elf priests, heh. They cant use holy magic, and even in shadow spec there are holy spells. Mages and warlocks - it is the only choise

At least a few of us are seeing this. People just see shadow does void and that some how means void elves must be the greatest shadow priests, despite never actually seeing a group of void elf shadow priests - but seen tons of void elf mages, and hunters and rogues and warriors.

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the Shen'dralar were pretty much paled and stagnated compared to Blood Elves; the Shen'dralar just discovered what a transistor can do while the Blood Elves are already on 3G internet

There is no evidence for this, we just haven't seen the Shen'dralar themselves in action in-game, only been described what they can do. Well Estulan did throw an impossibly long range frostbolt at an ogre -but that's all we saw.

if you have evidence of this please state. And don't say Azshara-zone night elf mages, we are told those are not shen'dralaar but the new Darnassian kaldorei mages they had started training (what must have been only a few weeks ago - since they only got accepted just as the cataclysm was happening) - those night elves you fight are either brand new mages only weeks into training or mages who haven't practiced in over 10k years who stayed with the Long vigil group respecting the ban and the reasons behind it, now picking their ancient talent up again once the ban was lifted.

Secondly, you saw how powerful Farondis and the Moonguard wielded magic, the Shen'dralar and the Darnassian new mages aren't the only examples, you also have many powerful night elf mages in history incl Queen Azshara, Illidan, Xavius, Elisande, Farondis, Darth'remar, Mordant Evenshade, Mardivas and others - even though some of these actually started their own elven sub-race or aberration version - they are powerful magic wielders as night elves.

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I didn't include high elf because they are just blood elfs. I also didn't separate blood elfs by type of magic they are addicted to because that seems pointless. Also while Highborne were mages I feel like they are eclipsed by Nightborne in that department.

Still I'd like to see what your results were if you did factor in High elves, Void elves and Highborne (think pre-sundering kaldorei, think Shen'dralar, think Farondis, think Moonguard, think Xavius, Estulan - that's Highborne, you can even think of most Nightborne before they started looking more like Nightborne than night elves.)