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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsAsk a Lore Nerd: And two stealthed rogues
by Alex Ziebart 
Sep 7th 2008 at 3:00PM
We'll start off with Cole's write-in question...
Why can Rogues use Maces but not Axes? What's so sneaky about hammers but not about edged blades of death?
Well, this is likely more game mechanics than anything. They need to split up which weapons can be used by what classes evenly, or you get a severe loot imbalance. If you want to justify it in-character, maces are really, really good at stopping your opponent, rendering them unable to fight back, or fight ever again. A cut leaves a scar, a shattered bone leaves a cripple.
The Mace Spec that everyone hated so much in PvP? That's pretty much how it goes with maces in real life. You thonk someone on the head, and they're out of it. I could see a Rogue playing dirty like that. Coming up from behind, cracking someone over the head, then swinging low and shattering the next guy's kneecap.
Why can't they use axes? Probably no compelling reason besides game balance, though I'm sure they would be harder to use in a Rogue-y fashion than swords, daggers or hammers. Axes are probably the most unforgiving of all of the bladed weapons. You want a hard swing, not so much an elegant stroke, a well-placed shiv, or a busted joint. Axes tend to be more about being heavy and using momentum to cut, rather than sharp edges. Not always, but that's their tendency. Maybe they weren't graceful enough to make the cut*? Who knows.
Eternauta asked...
Why did they retcon the Draenei lore from WCIII to WoW BC? What was wrong with the original lore (ugly, thin, primitive Draenei).
I'm pretty sure the biggest reason for it is that they had a cool idea and they rolled with it. There was no conspiracy or plot, or anything like that. I kind of have to agree with it, too. As much as I dislike retcons, I think this one worked out for the better. I loves me some Draenei.
Even if they used the old Draenei, the Lost Ones, they would need to do some storytelling anyway. We knew very little about them, or how they became shriveled little beasts. I don't think this retcon was a terrible one, since they wove the 'new' Draenei with the 'old' Draenei rather well, with Akama being a nice focal point for that. The only issue is the "Which came first, Sargeras or the Eredar?" thing. Chris Metzen himself said, in different words, 'We had an idea, we liked it, we went with it and mixed some stuff up on the way. We like this better though, so that's how it'll be.'
Who are those Draenei acolytes all around Auchindoun? Why are they hostile, aren't Draenei supposed to be 'good guys'?
Every races has its oddities. Think of the Auchindoun Acolytes as a cult, similar to how Lordaeron had the Cult of the Damned. You cannot possibly have a large civilization without having people who are eccentric, people who go against the grain, have different beliefs. Auchindoun is the perfect environment to birth that sort of situation, considering there have been multiple massive wars there, the territory has changed hands multiple times, the Burning Legion's involvement, and the whole D'ore soul-sucking bit. Just because the player race Draenei are 'good guys' doesn't mean their species lacks diversity.
I would call the Humans (of Stormwind) 'good guys' (though many will disagree) when they're not being used and manipulated by the Black Dragonflight (though even through that, they generally fight for what's 'right'), but you still get the Defias and such.
I-R-PALADIN? asked...
What's Medivh up to these days? I haven't heard much about him since WCIII. He wasn't even mentioned in the expansion.
Well, he's certainly in The Burning Crusade, though his 'present' self isn't. Nobody knows what he's doing right now, in the present day, or even if he's still alive. He's probably vacationing on a beach somewhere, sick of that Guardian crap.
Muxecold asked...
I'm a troll arcane mage. As I know trolls hate arcane for 10K years, know that it corrupts and think of it as of a big no-no. While being frost/fire mage is more or less OK for a troll, it is kinda elemental I feel that shamies in Orgrimmar would banish me if they knew I'm arcane, any ideas?
I haven't seen or read anything about Trolls being against the Arcane. Do you have a source? Maybe there's quest dialogue somewhere that I missed, but as far as I know the Trolls don't actively have anything against the Arcane. I see that in the early Troll quests it mentions they believe that magic has the power to corrupt, but that's not exclusive to Trolls. I think almost everyone in Azeroth believes that, including the Kirin Tor of Dalaran.
Bryan wrote in to ask...
What happened to Turalyon and Alleria after the events of "Beyond the Dark Portal?" The book acts as if they should still be hanging out in Outland, but WoWwiki says they stepped into the twisting nether in a scene that is similar to what happened in the book, but they came back from the portal.
They're on another portal world, supposedly. Neither Draenor nor Azeroth. They were originally going to be in The Burning Crusade, but squeezing in another world didn't fit the pace of the expansion, from what I understand.
Dawn wrote in to ask...
I was wandering around Northern STV while levelling an alt and noticed (again), those really big doors that are sitting closed in the water to the north, on the border of Westfall & STV. Any clue as to what those giant doors are closing up?
Those doors are the back of the Deadmines. That's the way Van Cleef and the crew were going to get their brand new ship out of there. Through those doors, down the river, then up to Stormwind to lay siege.
*Not a pun.
Ask a Lore Nerd is here to answer all of your questions about the lore and story of the Warcraft universe. From the religions of the universe to the 'evils' of Azeroth, everything is fair game. If you want more in-depth answers to some of your questions, you may find what you're looking for in Know Your Lore or the WoW Insider Directory.Filed under: Rogue, Analysis / Opinion, Draenei, Lore, Ask a Lore Nerd
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
Radiophonic Sep 7th 2008 6:50PM
There's a quest for that. ;-)
Thiosion Sep 8th 2008 3:13PM
High five for another Orc paradox! I love old-timey Blizzard and their nonsensical lore...
How exactly did the Dragonmaw Clan get their name? Were they named after Deathwing came to Draenor?
riftsrunner Sep 29th 2008 11:04AM
It might have to do with the Red dragons that are guarding the instance (well an instance opening at least) in the Wetlands.
Milktub Sep 7th 2008 3:32PM
In my lore, rogues use daggers.
That is all.
venumus Sep 7th 2008 4:58PM
yeah i know what you mean thats why my paladin only uses maces.
for me thats all they should use
Darnodus Sep 7th 2008 8:07PM
Paladins are knights, not clerics.
Knights use bladed weapons and blunt weapons, Clerics only blunt.
Calybos Sep 7th 2008 3:36PM
"Why can Rogues use Maces but not Axes?"
Short answer: Because Hunters can use axes, but not maces.
mcgayver Sep 7th 2008 3:43PM
My question:
Why o why did Jaina Proudmoore convince people from other human nations to flee to Kalimdor, when those nations have remained fine and healthy?! Why not flee to Kul Tiras, Gilneas (she managed to get there somehow), Stromgarde (was still healthy at that time) or Stormwind of all places?
Only the Scourge threat was known. Burning Legion in Kalimdor was unknown at that time.
Always been bugging me :-) Thank you for reading!
Meira Sep 7th 2008 4:06PM
Because Medivh warned Jaina and Arthas to do so, to avoid the Plague of Undeath. And before that, Medivh had already warned Terenas Menethil (spelling?), Arthas father, but never took the Last Guardian seriously... and see what happened to Lordaeron.
Jaina only dis what was obvious to her.
Tuhljin Sep 7th 2008 4:08PM
The only way to stop the Burning Legion was to defeat Archimonde, which it seems was only going to happen on Kalimdor. The orcs, humans, and night elves had to unite to pull it off.
mcgayver Sep 7th 2008 4:35PM
@ Meira
Fair enough, I can understand why she tried to convince the other nations to flee, seeing as she thought they would be next.
That didn't happen. The other nations have remained untouched by the Scourge and Plague. Why haven't they returned home?
That whole part of exodus in the game is a bit blurry to my memory. Poorly explained.
ILikePvPbuthatePvPers Sep 7th 2008 4:59PM
That's because Jaina resides in Dalaran. If you noticed Medivh was warning people in the NORTHERN kingdoms.
Jaina only took people from Dalaran/Lordaeron with her since those were the areas affected by the Scourge.
Meira Sep 7th 2008 5:10PM
As the person above said, only people from the Northern Kingdoms (Jaina from Dalaran and Terenas/Arthas from Lordaeron) were warned by Medivh and those were the only nations victim of the Scourge/ Burning Legion. Alterac had already fallen because of Perenolde's treachery, and Gilneas constructed the Greymane Wall to protect themselves from the Plague of Undeath, and rumors that reached Brann Bronzebeard told that the Naga ravaged the place.
And they didn't return because Theramore flourished, being one of the most important Human strongholds.
mcgayver Sep 7th 2008 5:26PM
@ ILikePvPbuthatePvPers
No. In game shows brigade troops from the Kul Tiras, Gilneas (and Stromgarde too, if I remember correctly) nations to be part of Jaina's exodus. Only Stormwind didn't participate.
onetrueping Sep 8th 2008 1:31AM
Actually, Jaina is originally from Kul Tiras, an island kingdom that exists between Ironforge and Gilneas. Her father, in fact, was the Admiral of the Kul Tiras navy, and when he came to try and take over her little outpost, Theramore, he took the rest of the Kul Tiras navy with him. Incidentally, however, she was a member of the Kirin Tor. One of the more powerful ones, at that.
CuppaGodot Sep 7th 2008 3:43PM
Two mentions of the Defias this week, but it seems odd that you mentioned the Human race being manipulated by the Black Dragonflight and then made them the exception instead of the example. I think, even before they added the new quests to Dustwallow, that they were being used by Onyxia in the same way the Blackrock Horde was being used by Nefarian: to instigate a new war between the Alliance and the Horde.
Remember, Van Cleef's fancy new boat was captained by a traditionally Horde ally race, and its first mate was of a race known for their stalwart devotion to the Horde.
And that it was, y'know, an Orcish Juggernaut from the second war.
Wulf Sep 7th 2008 4:06PM
For the Rogue-mace thing, just play any of the Thief games and experience the pure joy of whacking people round over the head with a Blackjack. They go down, stay down and don't wake up until you're miles away with all the loot.
@ mcgayver: Jaina took her expedition to Kalimdo pretty much because Medivh persuaded her to, and he presumably did that so that human forces were at the Battle of Mount Hyjal, thus helping to save the world.
From the point of view of the other humans, im sure some did flee south to Stormwind. Options were limited though, and given the ease with which Lordaeron and Dalaran had been dealt with, there was no gurantee that Stormwind would be a safe refuge (indeed it seems the place was mostly just lucky in that was overlooked being south of the action). Gilneas had closed borders and again, was not exactly a safe bet so its perhaps not surprising that there were plenty up for fleeing to another continent.
Antiquity Sep 7th 2008 4:46PM
RE: Well, this is likely more game mechanics than anything. They need to split up which weapons can be used by what classes evenly, or you get a severe loot imbalance.
I can tell you this, there is a severe loot imbalance already.
Rogues basically get any DPS daggers. For competition on 1 hand maces and swords, rogues will get those now also since a lot of Fury warriors might be going with two 2H.
Meanwhile with Dks coming in, I don't see many going for dual wield, so now even more classes will be rolling on 2H's while rogues have it made with most of the 1's going to them.
The Hammer Sep 7th 2008 5:02PM
There's a nice questline that explains all of that.
It was basically summoned to cope with problems the birdmen faced, but grew into something even more horrid.
kanubis Sep 7th 2008 5:59PM
If Jaina fled south, the scourge would have followed and wiped out the human lands. Remember that WoW is a few years later than WC3 and they still haven't completed rebuilding Stormwind from the second war (hence the incomplete harbour.) It's safe to assume therefore that in WC3 Stromwind was utterly unprepared for such an invasion.
The Nightelves however had had 10k years to rebuild after the sundering, and because of their immortality many remained who remembered how to fight the Legion. Therefore manipulating Jaina and Thrall to lead the Legion there was the one move that would ally the three races and give them a chance against the legion.