Official High Elf Discussion Megathread

[Rhlor]

congrats to everyone for your victory

now that the Alliance can get 90-100% High Elves, I want something in return; perhaps in my signature

the horde need alterac humans!

[BaumanKing]

If they do give void elves a blonde (I mean I'd be surprised if they didn't) I hope it's the lighter one you have in the top row and not the more yellow one in the bottom row. The top one seems more muted "every day joe" blonde and less of a "bright and sunny" blonde.

Assuming the hair colors end up just being ports from blood elves, and not brand new or from other races, These are the ones I'd like to see:



That would cover the basic range of human hair colors.

Imho pure red is way too iconic for blood elves. Velves will get maybe bright copper.

[Varodoc]

congrats to everyone for your victory

now that the Alliance can get 90-100% High Elves, I want something in return; perhaps in my signature

They are enemies of both the Alliance, whom they consider their mortal enemies, and the Horde, whom they consider mere brutes good for nothing but slave labor. As a result, the Syndicate is now hunted by both factions, with the Banshee Queen Sylvanas Windrunner, in particular, placing a bounty on their heads - guaranteeing that all captured Syndicate members will be summarily executed. In addition, Horde Warchief Thrall ordered a number of his agents, including Krusk, Drull, Tog'Thar and their leader Gol'Dir to launch an investigation into the nature of the Syndicate and its activities, but they were captured in Durnholde Keep and Gol'dir was brought to Strahnbrad, only Krusk managed to flee and now tries to free them. Thrall as well ordered to recover a necklace that belonged to a dear friend of his, Taretha Foxton - a necklace now worn by Elysa, the mistress of Lord Aliden.

You sure you want them in the Horde? Literally no one in-universe wants that. Not Thrall, not Sylvanas, and not the Alteraci themselves...

[Rhlor]

You sure you want them in the Horde? Literally no one in-universe wants that. Not Thrall, not Sylvanas, and not the Alteraci themselves...

I want Alterac humans for the horde

[Varodoc]

I want Alterac humans for the horde

You're not a character in the universe

[Vaedan]

Mmm - possibly.

It was just the last time I heard anything, Blood Elf Warriors were the main bulk of the "returned Sunfury." I believe it was stated that the Sunfury were Kael's "most powerful warriors", but that sentence was dependent on how you interpret "warrior."

I guess Sunfury were Kael's finest, be it warriors, astromancers, magisters, warlocks, rangers... the best of best who came with him to Outland, and most loyal and zealous. Naturaly, finest elven swordsman would be there as well. If I recall it correctly, Sunfury rejoined Quel'thalas in a period between TBC and WotLK, but playable warriors were available since Cata, so there is a delay. Not sure if it means something. On the other hand, you don't really need a canon explanation for a warrior class at any race, even on blood elves. Elven swordsman were known before Third War. Probably Lor'themar decided to revive their trainings. Some of the old school swordsman probably joined Blood Knights, so they were not that common at the time of TBC.

And the Blood Elf situation is better than the Night Elf one, because at least the Blood Elves do get patches where they are visible and are capable of leading by themselves. Look at 5.2, 7.1 and 8.2.

Night Elves have always had it bad, because they are second to Humans. Then, everyone else comes below the Night Elves.

It is better, but not that much. At the moment, night elves will be probably in some spotlight because of recent Elune involvement and foreshadowed "vengeance or renewal", which no doubt will end up with renewal. Blood elves on the other hand does not have any unresolved storyline, so they have to wait for what general story of the expansion will bring them. Their story is over for now. On the other hand, they are not the only race with such state. For that reason, world revamp/time skip feels like a good experiment at this point.

https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Sun..._Quel.27Thalas

According to this, the Sunfury provided aid to the Farstriders, which meant that the Quel'Thalas Rangers were less strained with protecting the borders of their lands.
It's dependent on how you choose to interpret this. Did the Sunfury cover the magical defenses and scry to help the Farstriders, or were they Warriors and Hunters who had joined the Sunfury to boost the Farstrider numbers in the defense of Quel'Thalas.

Well, these two interpretation does not contradict themselves, both could easily happened. Sunfury rangers, rogues and warriors reinforced and rejoined Farstriders, an organizations which suits their needs. The rest could be stationed on sanctums and other important spots or be responsible for defense of setlements in Ghostlands or just clearing the remaining Scourge. I guess Sunfury would not be really trustworthy at the time, so giving them that dangerous job which nobody wants to do seems as a way to attone for their involvements with Kael's betrayal... but it's just speculation on my part.

I can also imagine that former Sunfury who were in touch with Higj Astromancer Solarian and probably went to a research of the Void later joined the Umbric's group and formed void elves later on. They were shown to move around Ghostlands because of their research of Dar'Khan's knowledge. Just speculation, but it kind of makes sense.

[elbleuet]

Ear size and natural hair color ? Huge win for us.

Now I will finally get the impression to play a real high elf.

Thanks Blizzard. At long last !

Void elf are now one of the most appealing races in Warcraft.

[Kyriani]

Imho pure red is way too iconic for blood elves. Velves will get maybe bright copper.

I'm not married to the red, tbh I'm hoping if there's any sort of red at all its darker, more of a brick red. Less bright.

[elbleuet]

Silver haired high elf > *

[Varodoc]

I still can't believe Blizzard did not give Void elves a white hair colour option when they got released.

Like, literally why, their leader and sole iconic figure literally has white hair in her Void form:



Better late than never I suppose...

[ravenmoon]

undead blood elf? I can accept that the san'layn cannibal monsters before serving the lich king and now the jailer were blood elves. but the dark rangers were high elves.
the undead have their own faction is the forsaken faction. the blood elves have their own faction the kingdom of quelthalas.

there are also high elves warlocks and there are even high elves as part of the cult of the damned or serving the old gods. the important thing about being a blood elf is to be a patriot and fight to protect quelthalas and the sunwell, are there warlocks between blood elves? yes, as there are human warlocks.
do you know a warlock blood elf organization? None because they are a small minority who were never important in the Quelthalas society and they do not have a leader because I repeat they are not important and there are very few.

Those high elves are one offs, the high elves don't do warlock, it's very against them.. they are probably classed as high elf because they were were in Scholomance in their weird cult while everything was happening and just haven't changed identity.

it's like human warlocks before wow, it wasn't part of the culture.

[Tanaria]

Those high elves are one offs, the high elves don't do warlock, it's very against them.. they are probably classed as high elf because they were were in Scholomance in their weird cult while everything was happening and just haven't changed identity.

it's like human warlocks before wow, it wasn't part of the culture.

Except we've seen High Elf Warlocks who are part of Burning Legion groups, such as those in Darkshore working for Athrikus Narassin and Cult of the Dark Strand. Also High Elves in the Blasted Lands who were Warlocks.
Plus, we've got the Silver Covenant High Elf Warlock.

But all of this is to say, that "Warlock" isn't a big thing in Silvermoon society either. It's on the same level as the Stormwind/Human Warlocks.

If anything, I've mainly seen Void Elf Warlock NPCs in Telgorus Rift - I suppose they make the most sense in terms of being Affliction Warlocks and summoning in Voidwalkers and Voidlords.

Again, I think people dwell too much on the Sunfury of TBC and possibly thinking that Blood Elf Warlocks look really cool. Now, yes they do, but as far as Silvermoon and the Horde goes, Blood Elf Warlocks of Silvermoon just have never played any meaningful role in Horde endeavors. It's always been Blood Knights, Mages and Hunters.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

If they do give void elves a blonde (I mean I'd be surprised if they didn't) I hope it's the lighter one you have in the top row and not the more yellow one in the bottom row. The top one seems more muted "every day joe" blonde and less of a "bright and sunny" blonde.

Assuming the hair colors end up just being ports from blood elves, and not brand new or from other races, These are the ones I'd like to see:



That would cover the basic range of human hair colors.

Good picks! I would be happy if we got those TBH.

Personally -as in we have 5 slots! what are your faves?!- I wouldn't go for the brighter shade of blonde either, but if we do get BE colors, I do think it's likely we will get it, for how much it resembles Alleria's hair color. And the brown shade we get will likely be the more default one that we have also seen on HE NPC's like Kris Goldenlight rather than the newer one.

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I'm not married to the red, tbh I'm hoping if there's any sort of red at all its darker, more of a brick red. Less bright.

My choice for red depends a lot of whether we get BE hair colors, or from other race, cause if we don't get BE hair colors, I really think the kultiran wine red would be perfect; being less saturated, it would combine very well with the more bluer skins. Here's the full edit I made a while back showcasing the KT hair colors on VE.



Funnily, even though I'd like most of these, the white one should be lighter to be perfect haha.

[Kyriani]

Good picks! I would be happy if we got those TBH.

Personally -as in we have 5 slots! what are your faves?!- I wouldn't go for the brighter shade of blonde either, but if we do get BE colors, I do think it's likely we will get it, for how much it resembles Alleria's hair color. And the brown shade we get will likely be the more default one that we have also seen on HE NPC's like Kris Goldenlight rather than the newer one.

Funnily, even though I'd like most of these, the white one should be lighter to be perfect haha.

Yea if we do get a "white" hair color I want it to be actually white and not grey. In the edit I made of your mockup, I actually tried to brighten the white so it looked less grey.



And yea I like that kul tiran red more than the red from the blood elf pic I posted, but I'll be happy if we get something at least close to the above colors.

[Zaelsino]

"...and became the Legions pawn" very interesting how you cut out the phrase by half, as if to obfuscate its complete meaning.

Those are the two crimes the book levels against Kael'thas, I just cited the half pertinent to this discussion. Because draining fel magic is explicitly not characteristic of blood elves in general.

Proximity to fel radiation altered their eyes, as it altered the orcs' skin, but even Kael's most fel-addled sycophants weren't spontaneously sprouting horns, wings, scales, tails, and fangs until the Legion let them gorge for days on raw demon blood. It's a unique requisite with obscene connotations. I'd also argue it saps too much from the demon hunter aesthetic, which embodies the fantasy you're after in a way that actually jives with the story.

Sure we even had a Warlock character on WoD speaking of how she was in route of helping Liadrin's forces in Aunchindoun before joining our garrison. As if blood elves hold no prejudices or segregation solely based on class. Man, this whole narrative that the fel was a secret just doesn't add up.

This isn't the gotcha you think it is; the militaries of both factions employ warlocks. Aeda soldiering for Liadrin is as telling as Christine Silver soldiering for Varian. Which is to say, not very.

Okay but the bit about "you could take Blood Elf warlocks out of the story and wouldn't change anything" did make me laugh. I mean sure, lets just take away the neon sign that literally said "beware of elves now, they are rude now." Like, the whole level of missing the point to not understand the function of BE Warlocks as the bare bone-est signifier that Blood Elves are the edgy version of High Elves and that they will do anything to survive.

Fel obviously played a role in the blood elves' story, you're just grossly exaggerating it. Their narrative in BC would have played out in the same way, with the same repercussions and resolution, even if "warlock" was removed from their class pool. Rommath (a mage) and his magisters (his mages) shoved fel in crystals to keep the city afloat, kept schtum about it, then got rid of them. I'm pretty sure the one and only mention of fel magic in the entire blood elf questing experience is here, and the tone of this quest is rather more in line with my take on this topic than yours.

Like for real, I just do not get the notion that a race HAS to have one single narrative direction/motivation. It's entirely unrealistic to believe that. Silvermoon was rebuilt on fel, and thankfully, unlike fans like you, Lor'themar is not going to oust its users as long as they are law abiding citizens.

I'd like to think Silvermoon's strict stance on the void indicates tighter regulations on dangerous magic in general. "Law-abiding citizens" presumably aren't emulating the behaviour of an elf-demon-zombie whose glutting of fel nearly doomed their race.

In the meantime, I will keep hoping for more Fel, undead and farstrider options for Blood Elves, and you can clutch your pearls if you want to.

San'layn and felblood elves are both such staggering departures from the core "blood elf" fantasy I'm not sure how realistic either subrace is as baseline customisation. A difference of clan or skin colour is easier to handwave than the fundamental question of your PC's mortality and biology. I can see the clown fiesta now: lizard elf paladins with demonic horns and bat wings, one eye aglow with crimson fire, the other brimming with holy light. The TRP writes itself.

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

Yea if we do get a "white" hair color I want it to be actually white and not grey. In the edit I made of your mockup, I actually tried to brighten the white so it looked less grey.

And yea I like that kul tiran red more than the red from the blood elf pic I posted, but I'll be happy if we get something at least close to the above colors.

Like if I could chose, I would go for the KT hair colors over the BE ones, I just like how overall they are more muted, and I think that serves both the HE and VE fantasies -the white just needs to be lighter-

But yeah, I think it's more likely we will just get BE hair colors. Really just one of those things where what you'd like it's not the same than what's more likely.

Like I would have really loved High Elves as an AR, buuut since VE's were introduced, it was far more likely that any HE options would be introduced through them

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I'm pretty sure I did these with the KT textures, so yeah! The KT grey one just lightened up a bit more would be great.

[Rhlor]

Those high elves are one offs, the high elves don't do warlock, it's very against them.. they are probably classed as high elf because they were were in Scholomance in their weird cult while everything was happening and just haven't changed identity.

it's like human warlocks before wow, it wasn't part of the culture.

SC warlock

[Kyriani]

Like if I could chose, I would go for the KT hair colors over the BE ones, I just like how overall they are more muted, and I think that serves both the HE and VE fantasies -the white just needs to be lighter-

But yeah, I think it's more likely we will just get BE hair colors. Really just one of those things where what you'd like it's not the same than what's more likely.

Like I would have really loved High Elves as an AR, buuut since VE's were introduced, it was far more likely that any HE options would be introduced through them

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I'm pretty sure I did these with the KT textures, so yeah! The KT grey one just lightened up a bit more would be great.

Yea, I'm not expecting Blizzard to do more than the minimum amount of work that they have to to give void elves natural hair colors, but who knows? They may surprise us. I mean they absolutely can't just copy/paste blood elf hair textures into the void elf folder because it would look bugged on any hairstyle with tentacles. So some amount of work will have to be done to the textures. That being the case, I'd imagine they could simply copy the relevant sections of any hair texture that exists and paste them into a void elf hair texture file so the tentacles are accounted for. It might look something like this as an example:



In any case that means some amount of work MUST be done, so they might actually take the time to not half ass it? Hopefully?

[MyWholeLifeIsThunder]

Yea, I'm not expecting Blizzard to do more than the minimum amount of work that they have to to give void elves natural hair colors, but who knows? They may surprise us. I mean they absolutely can't just copy/paste blood elf hair textures into the void elf folder because it would look bugged on any hairstyle with tentacles. So some amount of work will have to be done to the textures. That being the case, I'd imagine they could simply copy the relevant sections of any hair texture that exists and paste them into a void elf hair texture file so the tentacles are accounted for. It might look something like this as an example:



In any case that means some amount of work MUST be done, so they might actually take the time to not half ass it? Hopefully?

Okay actually I was just thinking, what if they go about it the other way around?

So instead of editing the texture, they edit the hairstyles themselves so the tendrils and bangle load the VE texture, and and the hair itself ate made to load BE textures. Like how they made the VE model load the BE skins so they separated the jewelry, Imagine if they just separated what part of the hairstyle read what texture lol.

Usually I would just believe they would create new texture, but the fact that they have already just repathed the skin tones and the eye colors, makes me believe they kinda just do that bhahaha.

[Kyriani]

I guess we'll just have to wait and see! I hope that the 9.1.5 PTR happens soon though so we can see what we're actually getting.