Night Elf Shaman?

[Beloren]

im completly fine with that, an expansion on their beliefs to open up that class option, it worked wonders with tide sages, something new and fresh.

but there just seems to me that the Devs are stuck in this one idea of "paladin", that strangles out any uniqueness any other race has or may have, and the one example of a kaldorei paladin we currently have, has completly soured the idea for me.
Id rather have cute moonwell totems than a night elf on a horse and uther armor

I'm fine with it too. I just want the shaman class on elves. If night elves get it, I hope they do it in a way that opens it up to Thalassians and Nightborne too. Maybe something based on the arcane?

So Moonguard are the legendary arcane fighters right? And the Duskguard are the Moonguard that stayed in Suramar right? So what if they used the arcane to do more than frost and fire magic? I see no reason why some trained experts can't use the arcane to manipulate earth and air. The difference is their source is not an elemental they have to pray too, plead with or bargain with but the arcane. And they use the arcane to summon elementals from the planes as we see mages are also able to do.

They however bind the elementals magically - some arcane users can respect the elementals as lifeforms which they are - i would wager the night elf/highborne/high elf types would do that mainly, others wouldn't care, blood elves in general wouldn't care, I think about half of the nightborne wouldn't care either, the other half would. same with the Highborne, the Darnasisan new highborne would, the Shen'dralar wouldn't, nor would the Moonguard ones.

They can effectively do all the things traditional shaman can do with the elements - they just do it themselves via the arcane while traditional shaman have to have elementals do it /infuse them with their power.

Same result, totally different sources. Elves would instead use arcane focuses (basically their version of totems), and they could have some cool designs for Blood elves (phoenix symbols etc), one for Nightborne (something to star related) , one for void elves and one for night elves (two designs, one foresty, one moon/star for Moonguard/highborne),

[gd8]

doesn't really work thematically

[Beloren]

Like you said, if Night Elves were shamans, they wouldn't likely worship the same beings and use the exact same powers as other shamans. I would guess that blizzard would present it as an extension of their druidic beliefs. We've seen druids control the wind, meld their druidic powers with elemental fire, and commune with spirits. It's not that far off.

I would imagine the shamanism would arise from arcane means, but it would adopt a druidic philosophy of harmony and balance.. because the Shen'dralar Highbonre have been with the Darnassians for awhile, and clear of corruption, and addiction they would be valuing balance, and then there's all the new Darnassian Highborne they trian, these guys although now mages, spent 10k years learning and respecting balance and valuing it.

So imo, they'll produce the elements via the arcane, and summon elementals too like shaman, but they'd actually not forcefully enslave, respecting the elementals will. It would be different if it's an enraged elemental though.

The arcane provides a readier and more established route to an elven version of shamanism, that can do exactly the same things via the arcane, however the ideological and philosophical disposition can be determined by their culture - harmony and balance for night elves, regard for life - power and control for blood elves.

[yana]

I'm fine with it too. I just want the shaman class on elves. If night elves get it, I hope they do it in a way that opens it up to Thalassians and Nightborne too. Maybe something based on the arcane?

So Moonguard are the legendary arcane fighters right? And the Duskguard are the Moonguard that stayed in Suramar right? So what if they used the arcane to do more than frost and fire magic? I see no reason why some trained experts can't use the arcane to manipulate earth and air. The difference is their source is not an elemental they have to pray too, plead with or bargain with but the arcane. And they use the arcane to summon elementals from the planes as we see mages are also able to do.

They however bind the elementals magically - some arcane users can respect the elementals as lifeforms which they are - i would wager the night elf/highborne/high elf types would do that mainly, others wouldn't care, blood elves in general wouldn't care, I think about half of the nightborne wouldn't care either, the other half would. same with the Highborne, the Darnasisan new highborne would, the Shen'dralar wouldn't, nor would the Moonguard ones.

They can effectively do all the things traditional shaman can do with the elements - they just do it themselves via the arcane while traditional shaman have to have elementals do it /infuse them with their power.

Same result, totally different sources. Elves would instead use arcane focuses (basically their version of totems), and they could have some cool designs for Blood elves (phoenix symbols etc), one for Nightborne (something to star related) , one for void elves and one for night elves (two designs, one foresty, one moon/star for Moonguard/highborne),

Nelf shamans can work by exploring wisps as ancestral spirits/Spirit elementals.

since shamanism is pretty much wielding spirit or decay to commune with the elements, maybe shamans can attune to their ancestors with the wisps, even using the potential to become a wisp in death to walk in the spirit realm.And since in teldrassil so many have passed on, a new type of ancestral worship could be born to cope with that lost and to heal the kaldorei lands ravaged by the elements.

Like tide sages mix priests, mages with a shaman core, these kaldorei shamans can have druid and priest roots (its canon elune has power over the tides and in wolfheart tyrande controls the tides to speed up the arrival of alliance ships)

[Beloren]

Nelf shamans can work by exploring wisps as ancestral spirits/Spirit elementals.

since shamanism is pretty much wielding spirit or decay to commune with the elements, maybe shamans can attune to their ancestors with the wisps, even using the potential to become a wisp in death to walk in the spirit realm.And since in teldrassil so many have passed on, a new type of ancestral worship could be born to cope with that lost and to heal the kaldorei lands ravaged by the elements.

Like tide sages mix priests, mages with a shaman core, these kaldorei shamans can have druid and priest roots (its canon elune has power over the tides and in wolfheart tyrande controls the tides to speed up the arrival of alliance ships)

It could, but then if they used that approach blood elves won't be able to get Shaman. Use the arcane route, then all elves can have access to shaman class in their own unique way.


Druids also wield elements in a different sort of way, they can cast cyclone , earthquake, volcano, it's not as focused as shaman but you could invent a group of druids that have developed the use of the Emerald dream to duplicate similar like effects tying into your wisp spirit elemental angle.

But again, this leaves no room for Thalassian and Nightborne based shaman. They could ofc do both approaches, if they have time and energy, Night elves could access shamanism both via the arcane and your wisp idea, while Nightborne, BLood/Void/High elves via the arcane - but that depends if blizzard will do two versions, when one will suffice. The arcane approach already has the necessary lore elements - you can use the arcane to wield elemental magic directly, rather than rely on elementals - that's already established, and arcane wielders are the ones that primarily deal with summoning elementals on the alliance side before Draenei shaman came in.

It's hard to think that night elves with the Highborne and Moonguard back or blood elves, nightborne and void elves won't be using this approach to get the same results faster.

All speculation ofc

[yana]

It could, but then if they used that approach blood elves won't be able to get Shaman. Use the arcane route, then all elves can have access to shaman class in their own unique way.


Druids also wield elements in a different sort of way, they can cast cyclone , earthquake, volcano, it's not as focused as shaman but you could invent a group of druids that have developed the use of the Emerald dream to duplicate similar like effects tying into your wisp spirit elemental angle.

But again, this leaves no room for Thalassian and Nightborne based shaman. They could ofc do both approaches, if they have time and energy, Night elves could access shamanism both via the arcane and your wisp idea, while Nightborne, BLood/Void/High elves via the arcane - but that depends if blizzard will do two versions, when one will suffice. The arcane approach already has the necessary lore elements - you can use the arcane to wield elemental magic directly, rather than rely on elementals - that's already established, and arcane wielders are the ones that primarily deal with summoning elementals on the alliance side before Draenei shaman came in.

It's hard to think that night elves with the Highborne and Moonguard back or blood elves, nightborne and void elves won't be using this approach to get the same results faster.

All speculation ofc

okay but I don't care about belves lol, I care about kaldorei shamans you can come up with your own concept thats arcane absed , but why should I give a rats ass if it's open to two horde races that have been seperate from the night elves for 10 and 7 k years? I genuinly dont care about them when talking about Night elves, those other groups are an historic footnote, not some important part of their culture.
I literally couldn't give. a rat ass about other elves when it comes to the night elves.
And also, the highborne are near spent idiots and the moonguard is neutral, they won't ever be important.

You know what is part of their culture? wisps, a lot of dead people and a conection to natural and wild things.

They are SEPERATE groups, only because you headcanon some kumbaya elven reunification doenst make it fact.

[Beloren]

okay but I don't care about belves lol, I care about kaldorei shamans you can come up with your own concept thats arcane absed , but why should I give a rats ass if it's open to two horde races that have been seperate from the night elves for 10 and 7 k years? I genuinly dont care about them when talking about Night elves, those other groups are an historic footnote, not some important part of their culture.
I literally couldn't give. a rat ass about other elves when it comes to the night elves.
And also, the highborne are near spent idiots and the moonguard is neutral, they won't ever be important.

You know what is part of their culture? wisps, a lot of dead people and a conection to natural and wild things.

They are SEPERATE groups, only because you headcanon some kumbaya elven reunification doenst make it fact.

Actually it was one of the biggest night elf fans that came up with the arcane approach, I really liked it as it worked for blood elves which is why I brought it up.

Another NElf fan suggested class skins, where Entropists were the elven versions of shaman and a night elf class identity for shaman used star /moon magic versions of elements. He called it identities and skins - so some where skins, some were new identities. The identities were completely new classes, that just used the gameplay mechanic of the shaman but weren't related to the shaman and elementals at all. Whiles the class skin was a different version of it, like Tidesages, but had a different aesthetic to it

[yana]

Actually it was one of the biggest night elf fans that came up with the arcane approach, I really liked it as it worked for blood elves which is why I brought it up.

Another NElf fan suggested class skins, where Entropists were the elven versions of shaman and a night elf class identity for shaman used star /moon magic versions of elements. He called it identities and skins - so some where skins, some were new identities. The identities were completely new classes, that just used the gameplay mechanic of the shaman but weren't related to the shaman and elementals at all. Whiles the class skin was a different version of it, like Tidesages, but had a different aesthetic to it

then you can have it for the blood elves, lol

[Wilykcat]

I would like to play a night elf shaman. It would be cool

[Sharnie786]

I would like to play a night elf shaman. It would be cool

it doesn't even break lore, right?

[Unholyground]

Wild gods are nature, not elemental.

I am sure they could create new ones that also represent the elements, problem solved.

[Aleksej89]

We have pandaren death knights...
ANY race/class combination is acceptable these days, blizzard has abandoned most such restrictions.

Since i love how nelves look and i was always a fan of the (unfortunate) shaman class i am definitely up for NE shamans.

[Krothar]

Night Elves have been friends with Tauren for a while and Tauren are known for their Shamanism. Even the Draenei are close to Night Elves and could teach them.

Night Elves were the chosen Druids meaning they're attuned to nature and it could be argued they control nature when being Druids.

The only reason I can think of, for Blizz, not to give Nelf Shaman is that they'll have too many options open to Nelf. However, Dwarves and Trolls have almost every option available to them.

Why do we not have Nelf Shaman yet? Some of you will know better than me, come educate me

Shaman don't control the Elements, they work along side them. Hence why Thrall can no longer command the Elements, they simply do not wish to work with him after what happened with Garrosh.

Could individual Night Elves learn to commune with the Elements? Sure. However most people learn to commune with the Elements after hearing the whispers of the Elements so the question is more like would a Night Elf listen if they heard the whispers.

Night Elves as a whole are a religious people and might incorrectly attribute the whispers to Elune.

So yeah, individual Night Elves might correctly identify said calling to be from the Elements, but at least at the moment I think it would be a stretch to say the entire race is suddenly going to accept Shamanism as part of their culture and religion.

[matrix123mko]

I am sure they could create new ones that also represent the elements, problem solved.

This way they can aswell make a new night elf tribe.

[Beloren]

Shaman don't control the Elements, they work along side them. Hence why Thrall can no longer command the Elements, they simply do not wish to work with him after what happened with Garrosh.

Could individual Night Elves learn to commune with the Elements? Sure. However most people learn to commune with the Elements after hearing the whispers of the Elements so the question is more like would a Night Elf listen if they heard the whispers.

Night Elves as a whole are a religious people and might incorrectly attribute the whispers to Elune.

So yeah, individual Night Elves might correctly identify said calling to be from the Elements, but at least at the moment I think it would be a stretch to say the entire race is suddenly going to accept Shamanism as part of their culture and religion.

They don't need to work alongside elementals to have access to the shaman class, they don't need to be traditional shaman like orcs and Tauren are.. we see this a lot. Tidesages aren't traditional shaman, Blood knights not traditional paladins, Drust druids and Zandalari ones aren't traditional druids etc

All they need to do, is be able to do roughly the same things, it doesn't matter if they go about it in a different way.

Elves' strongest area is magic, I really feel they should have access to all magical capable classes and they should be very good at it. They don't have to have it the same way other races do, but they should.

With regards to shamanism, elves are very familiar with it, remember night elves were created from Dark trolls, so why wasn't shamanism a thing of their civilisation? Because they mastered something that totally eclipsed it, the arcane, which can control and generate elements and so much more. Elves should be able to effectively create their own version of what effectively amounts to the shaman class.


Shaman:
Elemental manipulation has been part of elven magic from the beginning, through the arcane rather than begging/bargaining with elementals. Whether from raw handling of elements, to elemental augmentation of melee and even extending to restorative applications, it's hard to conceive Shamanism would be out of reach for elves.

My theory. The Moonguard developed and mastered many ways of fighting with magic, one of them was adept use of elemental magic using the arcane, while this wasn't all lost (seeing that modern mages wield fire and frost), expertise in air and earth, as well as their long lost battle triage methods that had actually discovered how to utilise water to heal. The rest of elven kind that we know of after the sundering though, developed to varying degrees, mastery over the elements via the arcane and how to summon and bind elementals willing or unwilling (as we witness in the mage class), however they still had areas of expertise lost and forgotten. One such was in restorative areas, which they managed without having priests, paladins and druids available to cover that area. Other areas like air and earth were also not as developed extensively or utilised as fire and frost (were).

The return of the Moonguard and the Duskguard (the version of the Moonguard that stayed in Suramar to protect those who stayed behind) bring back this knowledge and fighting style to the elves. Allowing access to the shaman class as elven elementalists. 10,000 years ago, the elves use of the arcane to control the very building blocks of matter included the elements to a degree that far outstripped the shaman of 10,000 years ago and the capability of many elementals having the ability to use all elements. But it's been 10,000 years, and shamanism has also come a long way, most recently coming in leaps and bounds through the exploits of Thrall during the events of cataclysm and the coming together of the Earthen ring that combined shamanistic knowledge from various traditions.

This caused the level of shamanism to grow even further, that by the time the Moonguard and Duskguard returned, what powerful shaman can achieve with the elements is close enough to rival the fabled elemental wielders of the elves. Basically, the rest of the world has caught up - well roughly - as far as combat applications are concerned anyway.

So the reason why shamanism wasn't available was because they didn't know how to use water to heal till the Moonguard/Duskguard returned to supply the lost knowledge and techniques, they also helped them develop air and earth manipulation which was an under developed area amongst arcane users.

Moonguard spread the knowledge to the Night elven Darnassian arcane users, the void elves also learn it from them as ties between the two groups strengthen. Meanwhile the Duskguard instruct new Nightborne recruits and their blood elven allies allowing all 4 elven races to be shaman.


Druid:
Basis: All elves love nature, and they all have a varying degree of practice with nature magic. Each group has a story that can extend this or open the door to druidism.

Void elves:
Seeking to protect the emerald dream from the void, night elf druids seek and consult void elves who are keen to extend their knowledge of the ephemeral realm and the study of the voids effect on it and nature. Botanical lovers amongst the void curious Thalassians, answer the call, training with the druids and bringing void expertise. They hope to cleanse void corruption from nature and the dream, strengthen nature and in particular the dream to defend against the void, but in addition to that, they also study void augmented nature as a tool and a means to preserve the nature, and study the adaptability of nature in this situation. This could yield new results, and is only explored in areas that are impossible to rid of the void's influence.

Void elves open new void/nature balance streams, healing nature of void via void displacements and reconstitution (including nature leveraged void healing) and augmenting animal augmentation with void as means of empowering Azeroth's feral allies against the malevolent force so they are not consumed by it but can utilise it instead to defeat the more seditious denizens from the void. Their efforts yield much fruit. Allowing void elf druids.

Nightborne:
They learn druidism from the Valewalker Farodin and take to it very well because of their connection to the Arcan'dor, balance between nature and arcane (and their inherent ancestral nature and arcane affinities). Because of this, the area of specialisation most excelled at, and the hallmark of Nightborne druidism becomes Balance druids. They also get instruction from Val'sharah druids who joined the Nightfallen rebellion during the Suramar campaign and remain friendly with the Nightborne. Val'sharah druids are not aligned to Darnassus, they're a neutral druidic culture of mostly night elves (with visiting dryads/keepers and returning night elf worgen ) that are more affiliated with the Cenarion Circle than Darnassus, they are fond of the Nightborne too like Farodin and enjoy reconnecting with their kin to teach them their philosophy of balance and harmony.

Nightborne botanists also take to druidism, especially restoration druidism, exploring solar , nature and arcane effects to aid the process. However feral druidism is rather weak amongst them, but a few Nightborne fascinated by the magic of shapeshifting (which was not possible in the pre-sundering earlier iterations of what would become the druid (12,00-15,000 years ago)) and those who are more in touch with their primal side as well as having a fondness for animals take to this branch of druidism.

The reason druidism wasn't immediately accessible when the Nightborne joined the horde, was that it took a little more time initially to adjust to operating in balance (for the race as a whole post Nightwell), a vital necessity for Nightborne but initially one that was not without its challenges, but in time, this was overcome and the Nightborne discovered they had great talent in this field.



Blood elves:
The blood elven nature enthusiasts and magical researchers absolutely refuse to refer to themselves as druids, they are Botanists, nature is their game and love , fascination and study, scientifically and magically (always a great interest to a blood elf) of nature hadn't developed as much (relative to the Darnassians) amongst the Sin'dorei due to the schism with the Long vigil society of which the druid Shan'do presided over, but love and research for nature is inherent to all elves, and despite the snub, blood elves ever keen to master all forms of magic and explore them, did not intend leave this one lagging behind indefinitely. Avenues that greatly increased their knowledge came to them in the years following the 3rd war - where they went into over drive to master all things magical and never be taken over again. After the events of TBC and WotLK, a group of Dryads/Keepers (the Northrend variety) made their way south and interacted with the Sin'dorei. They were able to find less terminal/more amenable solutions to the treants' problems with the Dead Scar and provided the key to finally being able to heal the Deadscar after a joint collaboration with blood elven botanists and Magisters. Fascinated by their knowledge, skill, and friendship and very grateful for their help, Quel'thalas offered friendship and open doors to them, the free dryads and keepers are often found visiting and teaching Botanists new and advanced nature techniques that are effectively druidism. Together much of Quel'thalas' forestry has been restored. [This comes with quests in the updated Quel'thalas zone]

But that's not the only area change happened, once the Nightborne took to Balance druidism, the blood elves were eager to learn from them, though unwilling to develop friendships with kaldorei , especially Darnassian druids, at least at first. The Nightborne Valewalkers were happy to extend and share their knowledge, teaching Sin'dorei botanists and arcanists with a love and preference for more advanced nature/arcane combined applications and studies. In time however, love and fondness for nature would overcome long and deep seated prejudices (at least amongst the Botanists), and grudging friendships based on mutual respect would grow between all those in the druid field - who are individuals that take to the harmony of nature - whether peaceful or violent. While the Sin'dorei generally avoid the Darnassian dominated Cenarion circle, Their Botanist order flourishes with their new allies.

It is curious that the Sin'dorei did not once ask for assistance from the gentle Tauren, whether from pride or looking down on them, the amicable Tauren did not get offended by the snub, but instead committed themselves to helping the Sin'dorei botanists (who had some struggles with the transitioning into the higher echelons of nature magic which is effectively druidism) master their extended studies in this field. Noticing that direct help was not appreciated or wanted by the blood elves from them, but unwilling to just give up on their horde allies, the wiser (than they appear) Tauren druids decided to assist indirectly, leaving knowledge clues making sure powerful techniques and advise were discussed within auditory range of blood elf botanists where casual conversations failed, and other such techniques to pass on knowledge without making it appear they were teaching or instructing. The Tauren's help was instrumental in helping the blood elves who greatly struggled initially with finding balance between nature and arcane, often over arcanising - and might have failed if not for their persistence. Their gentle persistence was instrumental in really turning around prejudices amongst the Sin'dorei towards the Tauren and in time allowed some dear friendships and appreciation to develop as well as new found respect for Tauren druids. This in turn actually slowly opened the door for Blood elf botanists to take part in Cenarion circle affairs, they would never admit or show they learn from night elves without superficial reluctance, but with Nightborne, Northrend dryads and Tauren by their side, they grew in this.




Paladins:

Basis: Unlike the other 2 classes, Paladins are very religion based, what this means is that it isn't unexpected for the version of paladin to be different for each group because of their underlying faith. As such it is better to have each paladin group operate slightly differently. The important thing is at the heart, or "under the hood" so to speak, they are paladins, though in lore they have unique names for the class. Like Tidesages did for Kul'tiran shaman, who are Tidesages not shaman but "under the hood" so to speak is the shaman class, so it is with these new paladin options.

Night elves:
Priestly warriors have not been anything new for night elves for the last 15,000 years, The Order of Elune has long had brave women and men who applied their divine and arcane powers to combat, however since the struggles of the sundering and the leadership of Tyrande, the augmentation has come to the rangers and hunters - and well the paladin class doesn't have a range retribution specialisation now has it. Well breakthrough came with the Night warrior ritual that transforms elven combatants to melee masters augmenting their powerful glaive strikes with void, arcane and light magic. This has opened all specialisations of the Paladin class to Night elves. And which is why it is now available.

While the sentinel army had melee combatants, most, while gifted with weapons were not with magic, it was the magic wielding priestesses , who also rode into battles with their bows and arrows, calling down the stars and arcane bolts of energy. But with the Night warrior combatants, , there melee based retribution comes with void and arcane energy, while their healing with Star Light and their protection augmented by arcane, void and star light.


Void elves:
Void elves have been able to use the void in combat to augment their melee attacks since quite early on. In fact it is quite common for void elf warriors to employ void magic in their attacks, however, some particularly excelled due to their near religious levels of devotion , moral rigour and steadfastness. Void elves easily eclipsed the Twilight counterparts in void applications for battle with the extensive and diligently gained and applied knowledge of their research as well as distinguished powerful instructors like Alleria and ethereal Locus walker. However the area that had stalled was healing applications of the void. It took a while for priests interested in the void to delve to the depths and understanding of utilising the void for healing and discovering ways.

They had long since theorised this would be possible, although before their void studies took off, most known applications from the shadowy realm were damaging not restorative. But encounters with healing and regenerating old gods, Black Empire armies, new knowledge from the Locus walker and Alleria were instrumental in helping the Priests and healers break their impasse and opening the door to far greater healing capability and utility. Now void elf priests are able to use the shadows to heal as effectively as Light priests, and some of them prefer to fight with weapons, these become the Void Knight healers, while the gifted warriors who excel at augmenting the void for melee combat whether offensive or defensive become the Void Knight Protectors and Vengeance knights (i.e. Retribution)

The Void knights use the void for healing, protection and retribution fully.


Nightborne:
While Tyrande's reticence and cold sternness was off putting and even upsetting for many, it had quite the opposite effect on others, Tyrande didn't spend all her time criticising the Nightborne during the campaign though she made her disgust of the Nightwell addiction quite plain - her beauty and chosen status as the voice of Elune has its powerful allure, and despite her attitudes, her Goddess was very interested in the Nightborne and Tyrande's intervention with healing and words from the Goddess were also very inspiring during her campaign in Suramar. The thing is because of her other attitude, the Nightborne were drawn to the Goddess and not quite as much the Darnassians. An ancient people very proud of their tradition and heritage as the Headquarters of the Order of Elune and still admiring Tyrande, Nightborne believers, saved by the hand of Elune during the invasion of Suramar, have rekindled their fire and devotion in a somewhat revival amongst their kind.

While it is true some a led by tradition with the reclamation of the Temple at Falannar, big strides were made when Val'sharah priestess refugees joined their cause and the cathedral of Eternal Night was liberated, there the liberated High Priestess Dejhanna (a ghost but with more behind that) under direct instruction from the Goddess, has aided the Nightborne in re-establishing and rebuilding their version of the Order.

Theirs is based on the pre-sundering version. Unlike Tyrande's Darnassian based branch, that's mostly martial with Sentinels and wardens, the Nightborne are a more temple and civilisation orientated priestly order as it was originally, committed to learning and extending knowledge of the goddess and the titans. However many ancient strands of the order's faiths such as Star Augurs, the constellas, and Star foretelling, star spiritual assignments and devotional predictions. The pre-sundering kaldorei used Order of Elune Star Augurs and fore-tellers to determine fortunes, careers, and outline plans for the lives of every night elf born, many ties star birth sign was tattooed magically on them , and you learnt to draw power from your star and often had names based on them. Many of these ways were not possible under a shield, and found revival with the order.

While their Darnassian counterparts having no need for such super structured lives had many of these branches of their religion minimised, they find revival amongst the Nightborne and with them come the Holy maiden warriors of Elune, an ancient warrior maiden military caste that specialised in melee combat, not range.

Inspired by Liadrin and her Blood knights, and very proud of their ancient heritage, the revived priest order under tutelage of their ancient heroes in the cathedral (though ghosts) have been training new priests and holy warriors with the ancient knowledge of the Order of Elune, these holy maidens (men now included as one of the changes from before) use the arcane power in the stars and the moon, combining with star Light to damage and heal their foes in close combat. Just like their blood elf counterparts use the light.

And thus the Nightborne Paladin or Star Lancers have become quite the thing

[FossilFree]

Night Elf shaman would be fitting post-Teldrassil. All of those dead elves=ancestor spirits.

[Sharnie786]

Actually, you've proved why they don't need shaman - druids already fulfil the principals of shaman, and their mages wield the elements magically

A night elf shaman is literally a night elf mage with a druidic philosophy. Druids can hear the elements, but a night elf doesn't need to beg an elemental to produce magic, he can do it himself via the arcane.

Knowing what they can do, introducing a shaman class in relation to other races would make no sense as they already can do all things shaman can through their druid and mage. All they need is a small group of night elves who combine both, and results in basically everything a shaman does and it has a unique name, like the Tidesages, but in character creation it's just Shaman.

- - - Updated - - -



Ah but they wouldn't need to, not with druids, in a sense the Draenei although they had mages, would need shamanism, they have othing like druidism that is about balance, and harmony, speaking to spirits of the wild/elements/dead - which druids can do, but in an elven tradition. The main differences elves know how to wield these magics themselves because of their great knowledge and mastery, whereas shamanic races depend on the elements doing the work or gifting them some of their magical ability with their native element.

There are races who have both Druidism and Mage aspects of their society, mainly Horde races like Trolls and Zandalari Trolls as well as Alliance races like Worgen and Kul Tiran. The 2 Troll races and the Kul Tiran even have Shamans.

I don't think there needs to be a lore distinction for each races classes, they could just be Night Elf Shamans.

[Beloren]

There are races who have both Druidism and Mage aspects of their society, mainly Horde races like Trolls and Zandalari Trolls as well as Alliance races like Worgen and Kul Tiran. The 2 Troll races and the Kul Tiran even have Shamans.

I don't think there needs to be a lore distinction for each races classes, they could just be Night Elf Shamans.

That's true, But I think they deserve a little more tbh.. They have such a big lore, that's the basis of all the elven races, and it's hard to imagine that Moonguard and Highborne types didn't achieve astounding feats with the arcane with regards to wielding the elements.. the evidence is in the mage class even though that only focuses on frost and fire.

AFterall our mage class template is based on the human mages who are taught by high elf mages who from the part of that night elf group who lost everything from their pre-sundering civilisation and were basically back to basics. Form there the incredible Highborne exiles who became high elves built everything htey had from scratch up, but with loads gaps in their knowledge compared ot the original elven civilisation.

Much was lost, it's possible they only managed to recapture some expertise in fire and frost (damaging water) but the skill in air manipulation and earth as well as water healing was lost. So it's likely the Shen'drlaar Highborne and Nightborne, but especially the Moonguard and Duskguard who've only recently returned have a lot of extra knowledge and techniques they've kept alive.

Able to teach night elves , void elves (Moonguard) and Nightborne/Blood elves (Duskguard) and thus voila Shaman. They're not shaman ofc, but it's effectively the shaman class.

Besides, the druidism and mage duality in Trolls is really different, both these disciplines are quite new and have totally different sources. Which is why when shamanism enters the elves, it would be alongside magecraft or from an avenue of arcane uses that makes it fit their theme well.. At least that's how I would do it.

What I would hate is if they just go uh "Night elves now commune with the elements and can be shaman - that approach seems to be redundant because of druidism and magecraft, so you're going to either go to it via druidism, which is fine, but if you do that, you can't bring shamanism to Thalassians and nightborne, or you go to it via magecraft, i.e. the arcane in which case all 4 of them can be shaman. Night elves could actually have it coming from elements of both magecraft from the Moonguard and there druidic sensitivities and reverence, which might allow them to be very exceptional in that field.. but it wouldn't matter, cos blood elves would be excellent too anyway if it comes from the arcane. Although i suspect the night elf combined approach would have nothing to do with power or skill, just approach, they'd generally have more reverence for the elementals they bind or summon and thus be able to relate a bit better to traditional shaman even if they are sourcing the power from the arcane.. it won't necessarily mean they're more powerful.. although blizzard could make it mean that.. but it would be irrelevant tot he player, because the player character himself is legendary levels of power above any NPCs save the racial leaders.

[Ielenia]

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A quick few points:

• Shaman. Elemental manipulation was never the night elves' type of magic. They could conjure fire and ice, but it was through the arcane. I know you mentioned that, but elemental magic is different from arcane magic. It's like fruit juice and artificial flavoring. The lore of the shaman is that the character gains their elemental magic through a binding contract between themselves and the elements, and about communion with their ancestors. The night elves, both now and before, do neither.

• Druid. Nightborne, blood elves and, by proxy, the void elves, aren't exactly "lovers of nature". Yes, there is a blood elf "druid" in Botanica, and Tel'arn in the Nighthold, but they are, for the most part, exceptions. They're botanists, doing what they're doing only to properly shape nature to their will. Those are highly arcane-based (void-based for VEs) societies, with 'nature' being little more than decoration and 'room dressing' for them, so I cannot see those races actually adopting druidism.

• Paladins. I honestly cannot fathom how void elves could be paladins. Void is the antithesis of the Light, and when both come together they violently react. So it would likely be incredibly painful to channel the light a VE paladin, and mortally harmful at worst. At least the way I see it. Night elves, yeah, okay. Especially since we see a NE priest actually becoming a paladin with no issues whatsoever happening in the lore. Nightborne, though... I'm more 'meh' about, leaning slightly toward 'no fit' than 'fit', but not bothered either way.

[Beloren]

A quick few points:

• Shaman. Elemental manipulation was never the night elves' type of magic. They could conjure fire and ice, but it was through the arcane. I know you mentioned that, but elemental magic is different from arcane magic. It's like fruit juice and artificial flavoring. The lore of the shaman is that the character gains their elemental magic through a binding contract between themselves and the elements, and about communion with their ancestors. The night elves, both now and before, do neither.

• Druid. Nightborne, blood elves and, by proxy, the void elves, aren't exactly "lovers of nature". Yes, there is a blood elf "druid" in Botanica, and Tel'arn in the Nighthold, but they are, for the most part, exceptions. They're botanists, doing what they're doing only to properly shape nature to their will. Those are highly arcane-based (void-based for VEs) societies, with 'nature' being little more than decoration and 'room dressing' for them, so I cannot see those races actually adopting druidism.

• Paladins. I honestly cannot fathom how void elves could be paladins. Void is the antithesis of the Light, and when both come together they violently react. So it would likely be incredibly painful to channel the light a VE paladin, and mortally harmful at worst. At least the way I see it. Night elves, yeah, okay. Especially since we see a NE priest actually becoming a paladin with no issues whatsoever happening in the lore. Nightborne, though... I'm more 'meh' about, leaning slightly toward 'no fit' than 'fit', but not bothered either way.

Tbh, these races can't be these classes currently in the form those classes exists. In order to make those classes available, you have to add new lore and connect bridges.

You don't have to give them the original form of the class either, just something that is good enough to allow them to use the basis of the class, like Tidesages, Moon Priests, Rangers etc do - these aren't the shaman, priests, hunters you play at all, however they are similar enough for the class you play to represent them.

You can't have these races access these classes without introducing new lore and making new connections. The question is , are the connections or the lore you make good enough?

Take Orc Mages - they learnt it from Libraries -- i Mean come on, really? worse race/class combo ever. In contrast, Zandalari druids, Worgen druids, Kul'tiran druids, Kul'tiran shaman, Night elf mages etc these were all very well done. We got some that didn't have real explanations, like Zandalari mages and human hunters.

but some were good. WHen you want to make a race take to a class combo, my hope is that they'd do it in an interesting and exciting way with a kit and icons complete with cool characters that really make you excited. Backstory is important.

You see for me, I'm not going to dig a story that has blood elves or night elves sitting down pleading with elementals to use their power, when the arcane aleady can be used in lore to wield elements. I just need to create the lore to show people elven arcane elemental wielding is not exclusive to only fire and frost and they somehow can't use any other. The mage class specialises in fire and frost, I will show them there is so much more to magic than fire and frost. Which is conceivable, afterall, do you not see mages using arcane magic to move huge rocks and displace air , not to mention water elementals aren't the only ones we've seen them summon, but earth ones and fire/air are not inconceivable.

It stands to reason there are other branches and applicatioins of arcane use that the mage class doesn't necessarily focus on. THis is why the elven shaman is not a traditional shaman, he is a type of mage that specialises in elemental magic, but uses the shaman classes playstyle. He doesn't put down totems, but arcane focuses, even though the spell says earch shock totem - the lore will show you arrcane focuses and tell you this is your arcane focus.

Void elves are not becoming Paladins, but void knights, under the hood it's a paladin, because it literally is using void instead of light to do exactly the same thing. On the surface, i.e. in the lore in the game, it's a different class, but it shows up as paladin, because that's what it's based on.

Now it would be cool if blizzard would give them void coloured effects instead of golden ones, I mean they give druids different forms based on race, why not make the same exception for these? And while they never called the Kul'tiran shaman a TIdesage on the character creation, that is exactly what it is if you've gone through the lore.


You can't do new class/race combos in a good lore way that is logical without creating new lore - the question is doing it in a way that fits the theme of the race. Why would any elf race need to go begging elementals for their power when they can wield the elements themselves using the arcane and have been for nearly 15,000 years? That fits the elf, so go with that, and make the elf shaman in lore actually a type of mage, an elementalist mage that has nothing to do with ancestral spirits or bargaining with elementals, yet he wields water, air, fire, earth with raw power or to augment his melee attacks like spell blades or to battle triage heal, and that is how the fabled Moon/Duskguard use to do it, except some of those techniques were lost, others fell out of practice, and it took them returning to bring a high enough level of expertise that was roughly equivalent to the shaman and so, this branch of arcane usage returns, in game lore they are call Elemental Arcanists (or <insert name>) in class selection, it's the shaman class.

The same explanation follows for druids and paladins, you're inventing something new, that makes the class available to the race.

Void elves, Blood elves, Nightborne - are not fanatics over nature like the druid orientated Darnassians. But there is evidence to show they love it. THalassians settled in a densely forested area, kept it in ideal conditions and looked after it, we see them with Botnaists, treants and other nature related beings - we can make ways for that knowledge to grow to the level that can access the druid class. We can also understand that the history of the exile is why there magic in this area did not develop into that class. But there are other avenues for this to happen.

The Nightborne it's even easier to see, The whole questline with Farodin, the ARcan'dor their new Nightwell, predicated on balance between arcane and nature, which is not only healthy but happens to be the founding pillar of Balance Druidism, not to mention assitance and co-habitation with druids from Val'sharah. And then they themselves took care to maintain their gardens and vineyards for 10,000 years cut off the outside world's ecosystem. That takes dedication, we see their botanists using quite an advanced form of magic, enough to make them very difficult to deal with. The love and natural connection is there, and there is evidence for it. How hard is it to see that Farodin and the Val'sharahn druids aren't teaching them?

At the end of the day, all elves come from night elves, and from night elves they inherit their arcane affinity, capability and nature love. And whether they realise it or not, blizzard has shown this to exist in the night elves before the sundering - so it will be in the Nightborne, and made it apparent in the Thalassians too. Just because void elves study the void mainly, doesn't mean they have no other interest..it's clear many study the void in relation to their given field whatever it is. Scholars and researchers interested in utilising the void in their field of study have joined the void elf ranks, is it so hard to believe Thalassian botanists and nature lovers aren't amongst them? Do you think they want the void to destroy everything? Quite the opposite, they want to use it defend and protect their world. And understanding it, utlising it across diverse fields is what they stand for.

This means void applications in any field of study that is connected to Thalassian elves, and it doesn't limit new ones either. So if Thalassians studied nature, void elves would have some who did. Same goes for magecraft, hunting, warriors, rogues, priests, locks etc, as long as it is a field that could conceivably have joined Umbric, or later come to the void elves, it would be possible.

The story of the group opens many avenues to make these classes available. What we hope blizzard do is make a good story out of it, - picking up a book and learning (aka Orc mages ) is not a good story, Elves turning into traditional orcish/tauren shamanistic ways doesn't fit the elven theme or lore when other options that fit it much better exist. So it's up to them whether to use it or not.

I just shared some of my favourites I've read on these forums, adding a little extra detail of my own in them. All based on existing blizzard lore. Unless you find it hard to believe that the druids - who were complete victims to the void in the dream, wouldn't want help to prevent that ever happening and strengthening themselves against it - what a perfect opening for void elf expertise and thus druidic access, but in it's own void infused flavour.

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And none of this discounts inventing totally new access to any of these classes @Ielenia in another way. What I hope they don't do is go

"Well a group of elves went to study with the orcs, and picked it up from them" - I mean really? You mean they couldn't use the arcane to do exactly the same thing ? Arcane elves have been using for near 15,000 years able to do all that stuff according to your lore and easily the easiest explanation as to why the evolved dark trolls, now called elves, never had shamanism as part of their ancient advanced magical civilziation - because the arcane could do all the stuff shaman could do and more. Yeh, they would have arcane wielders that wielded elements used elements to augment their melee attacks and used to heal - it's also likely this would have been one of many areas combat groups like the Moonguard would have specialised and hone in the thousdnas of years of their devleopment into the legendary group.

This knowledge would therefore be available in night elves and nightborne after we see the Moonguard and Duskguard become part of the factions and able to pass that knowledge to both the Darnassians and Void elves on the alliance, and the fledgling trainee Nightborne compatriates and new blood elf allies.