Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsA discussion in defense of new race/class combinations, pt. 4
by Michael Sacco 
Aug 18th 2009 at 1:00PM
GNOME PRIESTS:
DW: On the subject of Gnome Priests, I'm going to point out that Gnome healers of a type do exist in game. There's been Gnome Medics spotted in Gnomeregan, and more recently in the Howling Fjord as part of the Alliance's Northern Fleet. If you really want to be thorough, you could point out that Gnomeregan offers a Gnomeregan Bonesaw as one of its Argent Tournament rewards, and a bonesaw is traditionally a healer's tool.
MS: Yeah, absolutely. Gnomes clearly have the ability to heal, though we've not necessarily seen it magically done before. One the other hand, it's not as if other gnome magic users are few and far between.
DW: I definitely agree, which is why my final word on why Gnomes should be Priests would probably come from Northrend itself.
MS: Yeah, Northrend has certainly been eye-opening for the gnomes, or at least for those gnomes that choose to believe what they've seen in Borean Tundra and Ulduar.
DW: Right, the Gnomes have had a very interesting time of it there. They've had their whole origin and original purpose laid out before them at Fizzcrank's Airstrip in the struggle with Gearmaster Mechazod. Given that they now know where they come from, they need to come to grips with that. Are they horrified that they're descended from near-mindless Automatons and Machines, or are they proud that they were once the perfect machines of invention and innovation? Those are the type of questions a new Gnomish religion would work on answering.
MS: True; Blizzard has said before that religion might be beyond gnomes, but they've been interacting with other religious races for a long time now. Maybe they could take a step away from the drawing board and into more abstract concepts.
DW: Yeah, exactly. I'm going to raise the flag in support of Comparative Religion and Mythology in Azeroth again. I'd like to see the Gnomes not worship the Light, but rather start a Church of Innovation and Discovery, with Priests of the same preaching the virtues of said ideas.
MS: The Holy Light is comparable to Mimiron's Spark of Imagination, really, when you get down to it.
DW: Yeah, the idea of Gnome Priests being able to heal and harm via pure belief in the power of thought is actually scarily cool to me.
MS: And hardly as outright scary as some other stuff gnomes have done!
DW: Haha, right. But hey, if it comes down to it, I can deal with Gnomes depressed by their origins seeking solace in the Light too. But it would be cooler to have that whole Church of the Imagination concept, and would open up a lot more interesting lore and storytelling possibilities.
Priest columnist Matt Low's perspective: With the inclusion of Gnomes, every race in the Alliance will have access to Priests. It's very difficult to hate a Gnome (some exceptions may apply depending on faction loyalty). It's possible to see these knee biters as Priests. We already see them wielding arcane powers and demonic spells in the form of Mages and Warlocks.
For naming a Gnome Priest, might I suggest the likes of Gnoheals, Gneedmana, and Gnoblegnome?
From a tactical perspective, the Expansive Mind racial effect increases Intellect by 5%. That in itself is great as Intellect ties into Shadowfiend, Hymn of Hope and Replenishment. Escape Artist could very well rival Stoneform in terms of PvP racials. Lastly, Priest Engineers will have a head start.
DW: I'm really very excited for what all these new race and class combinations could mean not only for immediate gameplay options but for the long term story of the Warcraft Universe. With Arthas probably dying in Patch 3.3, we're entering a whole new chapter of the story, and it's a perfect time to shake things up. With new religions, new paths, and new philosophies permeating the races and stories of Azeroth, I'm very excited to see where the lore team can take the story next.
MS: Definitely. I think that while these additions are more overtly for gameplay reasons, to facilitate more choice in faction switches and to encourage rerolling in a game where we've had the same class options for years, they also show that Blizzard isn't afraid to advance the game lore and mix things up a little. Hopefully these are just one small step toward making that happen on a large scale.
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 7)
Amaxe Aug 18th 2009 10:57PM
It *doesn't* fit lore as it stands. Some should be allowed, such as the Belf warriors and human hunters (which was probably forbidden due to game balance), but Nelf mages... I have to call bullshit on that one given the Nelf/Belf rift over magic. Likewise Troll druids and Tauren pallies. As the culture stands, there is no room for these race-class combos.
So, unless
Now it can be *worked into* the lore. Azeroth has become more multi-cultural and the result is that class choices are opening up. For example, with many members of the Horde races working with the Argent Crusade, it is indeed possible for some members of the Horde races to embrace the teaching of the Light and become Paladins or priests and the like. Likewise Alliance races who become priests... if they can accept the light they can become priests and paladins.
Another thing that can work is if we assume the Dark Iron Dwarves and the other dwarves enter the Dwarven governing again, we can have a justification for dwarves learning some new skills and new classes.
From this we can also assume that certain Nelfs might be intrigued by forbidden magics and study abroad to learn them.
Of course logically this would mean that a character could not learn some classes in their home starting zone (or else like the warlock trainers or the shaman trainer in SW), they are tucked away from the "decent folk"
If Blizz goes this route, then it seems like it can work and work well. If they try to work it in with existing lore, it will be nothing more than a failboat retcon.
As I see it this expansion will be great if Blizz works at justifying it. It will totally suck (IMO) if they try to slip it in and pretend it fits with the past instead of creating a justification from the present.
Jaakmis Aug 19th 2009 1:28AM
I think what the article is really trying to say is that the supposed race/class combos are plausible. The characters that have associated themselves with a particular class may not be good enough reason for all of that race to become that class, but why dismiss the idea that there may be an explanation later on? Just because it can't be proven now doesn't mean it won't be proven.
SarahTheGnome Aug 19th 2009 4:20AM
Sorry, this does not shut me up, this article just proves that only by stretching the lore, you can make it fit. It should not be like that.
Also, a little note. These 'lore purists' that supposedly do not read this. How do you think we know the lore? By watching a clip? No, by reading a million things. I read critical blogs and such, and often I do change my opinion or admit that I am wrong, I have no issues with that at all.
But this article, I am sorry, should not change any lore nerd's opinion, because again, it is such a stretch of the lore that it loses all credibility. But hey, this is not the first time that has happened. What I do find a shame, is that these columnists defend the combos instead of actually giving a critical article, not full out critical, not dissing just to diss, but at least a fair one. This is a bit fanboy-ish, I am very very sorry to say.
Olicon Aug 19th 2009 8:40AM
Seeing how indiscriminate the Light and Shadow is, I have to question why the Gnomes haven't been able to tap into the light before rather than why they should be able to.
Anyone devoted enough can tap into the Light. Even those crazy ass Scarlet Crusaders can do it, just out of sheer fanaticism.
And let me ask--what race as a whole is more fanatical, obsessive little bastards than Gnomes? Few races are willing to kill themselves because they're curious about something. Goblins might risk their lives for money, and Draenei might attempt to protect a life at a cost of their own--but they'd want to live afterward.
The Gnomes, on the other hand, have a reckless disregard for life so long as they can discover and invent new things--see Gnomish inventions. There is no purer form of fanaticism than that!
Lysias Sep 1st 2009 6:40PM
Justification for Gnome priests? Easy.
Gnomes love technology. The Naaru have some sweet technology(see: the Exodar). In their desire to learn more about the sweet technology of the Naaru, the gnomes also got lessons about the Light. They became priests.
Wasn't that easy?
Nagi Aug 18th 2009 1:29PM
I'm already making preparations to roll a troll druid. All I really have to say is, Blizzard, if you're listening, PLEASE make the trolls' melee DPS form a raptor instead of a cat. It would be both highly appropriate and absolutely epic.
Amritrao Aug 18th 2009 1:37PM
OMG! That would be awesome!
Boombaclot Aug 18th 2009 2:33PM
Dude that would be incredible and make perfect sense. I mean nightelves right cats and can turn into them, why cant Trolls!! Jamaican me crazy mon!
xnn Aug 19th 2009 12:48AM
Oh holy crap... that would be awesome. I feel more than likely though, due to the already existing names for the forms, and icons for talents and spells, we will end up with some type of cat (hopefully a friggn' tiger!), and a bear (closest thing I can imagine is the amani war bear mount).
Flight form I could see as a bat though. =P
Either way we can hope.
Evelinda Aug 19th 2009 1:36AM
you know what, i for one hope they dont do that. Yeah, i would be TOTALLY cool, but tell me, what makes trolls so special that they get bats and raptors and god knows what instead of bear, while tauren get the exact same animals as night elves? Trolls should just get interesting looking cat/bear forms, just like the nelves and tauren just got.
Nagi Aug 19th 2009 2:25AM
Well, from a lore perspective, the tauren picked up most of their druidism from the night elves if I recall correctly, so it would make sense for them to have similar forms. The trolls, on the other hand, have their own form of druidism based on voodoo and their loa spirits. Even between the various troll tribes, their chosen animal spirits are vastly different.
More than likely, yeah, troll druids will just get bears and cats too. But while we're still speculating and commenting on an article about reconciling the new combinations with lore, we may as well throw out ideas that make more lore-based sense. The Darkspear revere raptors over just about all other animals and don't care for bird spirits (which is ironic, considering how biologically close dinosaurs and birds are...at least outside of Azeroth), so for them to have a raptor DPS form over a cat and a non-bird flight form just make more sense from that lore perspective.
Andrew R. Aug 18th 2009 1:31PM
Humans don't get a 10% bonus to exp gains. They get a 10% bonus in rep gains.
There would be so many threads on the forums about how OP humans are.
mtsadowski Aug 18th 2009 1:31PM
What about the Draeni? I thought they would be able to go Druid to keep the balance.
Boydboyd Aug 18th 2009 1:33PM
Worgen will.
Nagi Aug 18th 2009 1:46PM
I half suspect the reason the Horde is getting two druid races while the Alliance still just has night elves is a means of balancing out the raw population of druids across both factions. Night elves are one of the most popular races in the entire game, with nearly twice as many night elves as tauren, so it would stand to reason there are probably nearly twice as many Alliance druids as Horde druids. Giving another Horde race access to druidism might be Blizzard's way of shoring up the number of people rolling druids on the Horde side so that the population is more balanced with that of the Alliance.
It might also be a way of encouraging more people to roll the least popular race in the game (trolls), by giving them newfound access to one of the game's more popular classes.
RogueJedi86 Aug 18th 2009 1:41PM
On the Draenei note, it is a bit of a shame that Draenei are the only race to not get any new classes. Poor old squidbillies. :(
micgillam Aug 18th 2009 2:09PM
True, but the draeni started with a fantastic selection of classes. Warrior, Pally, Shammy, Hunter, Priest, Mage...that's a pretty epic option set.
snowleopard233 Aug 18th 2009 2:18PM
I want my lolore Draenei druid! Imagine how big and blue the bears would be!
Letharginator Aug 19th 2009 6:20AM
As much as I love the Draenei, I think adding any other classes would be too big a stretch. Warlock is simply out of the question. At that point you might as well sign up with the legion as an Eredar. Rogue's fight a little too dirty for the Draenei. Also being sneaky with hooves is probably hard (ask the tauren, they have to become a completely different animal to stealth). Druids are a tough call especially because people like to make the comparison to Shamans. But keep in mind that Draeneic Shamanism was created entirely by Nobundo. Like the broken, the idea is not entirely accepted in their society. Most of their time as a species was spent traveling between worlds, and they've witnessed the destruction of at least two planets. The natural world probably isn't something they feel terribly connected to.
Valorum Aug 18th 2009 1:35PM
I would have liked to see them address the fact that there could be more Horde races with druids than Alliance. Right or wrong, regardless of what your opinion is, I think it's an interesting point.