Mativh wrote: ↑Sun Oct 29, 2023 6:30 pm
To clarify regarding Tauren and their Shamans/Druids and the Priest suggestion, let's see the spiritual leaders of each race:
Human
Church of the Holy Light; with Holy Priests in the society, Paladins in Battle
Night Elves
The main one appears to be the Sisterhood of Elune, so female "Holy" Priests (that weren't properly implemented in
WoW except for some racials), in lore they are Priestesses+Huntresses, they are co-leaders with the Druids of the Cenarius Circle although Druids seem more relevant in peaceful times or when the home of the Night Elves is threatened, and the Priestesses in war time and if the Night Elves themselves are threatened. Druids give importance to wildlife and plantlife and the overall abstraction from which it sprang which is the mystical force of nature, sometimes demigods personifying these things, with less emphasis on ancestors, spirits or the elements compared to Shamanism.
Dwarven
Although they've learned about the Holy Light ftom the Humans, it's the members of the Explorers League dealing with the Mystery of the Makers that fill the niche the best, with Brann Bronzebear at the head, their faith lies in seeking riches and exploring their past led by their leader, so technically Dwarven Warriors with mining.
Gnomes
Closest would be Arcane Mage Gnomish Engineers, or simply their main leader. They put their faith in their capacity to reason employed by their passion for innovation. Their ancestors were created to be stewards of knowledge by the keeper Mimiron, who was himself empowered by the titan Norgannon, the Keeper of Celestial Magics and Lore. Further elaboration under the Goblins.
High Elves
Alah'Belore; Both Holy Priests and Arcane Mages, although in their unique way. In ancient time before the great sundering, Elune was the mother of the night, and Belor was the father of the day. While Elune hides her children in the night, Belor uncovers secrets in the day; although it is not literal worship like the nigh elves have the lunar deity, but rather the reverence of the sun and what it represents; the thirst for high knowledge and the transcendental power to understand and shape the world almost akin to the Titans, they've learned about the Holy Light from the humans but approach it in a less dogmatic way, it evolved to be an intertwining of the light as a validstion for their high-born superiority but without malice, thirst for magic and with a hint of vestigial reverence of the force of nature.
Orcs
Shamans. Shamanism has various aspects; reverence of the inorganic concepts of nature called the elements, sometimes referred to as spirits, that is also used for representation of wildlife and deceased ancestors. Orcs deal with all of these but with a special focus on the elements.
A minority of Orcs cling to the elden days of demon worship, for those it'd be Warlocks.
Undeads
Shadow Priests of the Cult of the Forgotten Shadow. They dive deeper into the Shadow school of magic than any other race, both academically and philosophically. (Most turned away from the Holy Light that has forsaken them, but some still practice it, even if to complement the Shadow as they are opposite sides of the same coin.)
Trolls
Witch Doctors and Loa Worship, expressed ingame mainly as Shamans but also as Shadow Priests, although similarly to Night Elven Priests, they were given standardized classes fundamentally designed lore-wise for other races and as an afterthought they were given some racials. This should be ammended with further race-specific changes to Troll Shamans and Priests, instead of the lore-wrecking standardization spread to other races. Lore-wise their Spiritual Leader should've been a Witch doctor class with the druids shapeshifting, the Priests Shadow tree and an amalgamation of the Shaman into the third tree.
Tauren
Shamans. Quite similar to Orcs except the focus shifts from Elements to Ancestral Worship and the overall personification of nature that includes plantlife and resembles Druidism, but not enough for the actual Tauren Druids that were recently allowed in the Cenarion Circle and learned Druidism from Night Elves to topple the Shamans that were always their Spiritual Leaders. The Druids of Tauren are basically Shamans that expanded on their understanding of nature, but aren't co-leading like the preistesses/druids of night elves. Also, sun worship specifically never existed before Cataclysm, it was a cheap excuse to add more race/class combo just for the sake of new content without creativity, and even if it did it'd fall into Shamanism, and would have nothing to do with Priests concepts related to the Holy Light, let alone anything related to Shadow Priests.
Goblins
Some say they are similar to Gnomes, but I think they go beyond by far, definitely the least spiritual race, with a focus on rationalism and materialism for the sake of obtaining personal benefit without the hindrance of consciousness. But the gnomes curiousity about the nature of things for their own sake is in a way a spiritual endeavour, highest tier theoretical mathematicians and quantum physicists and inventors are often philosophical theists. Goblins on the other hand would be the equivalent of bankers, CEOs and industrial moguls exploiting whatever they can and using science as means to do so, that's where their faith lies. Closest ingame would be
rogue/warrior goblin engineers. Paradoxically, they have the most interest in the world around them and it makes them the least interested in the world around them.
So Tauren shouldn't be Priests, their spiritual leaders are Shamans. Some of those Shamans became Druids in
WoW to give Druids to the Horde to equalize the Alliance having Warlocks and not have more than Paladins/Shamans being faction-restricted.
Regarding that my point I've made before stands, I'll mention it here since it touches the Tauren classes, and it is that; either restrict Tauren Druids and Human/Gnome Warlocks, or also allow Dwarven Shamans and Undead Paladins.
