Allied Race: Dragonmaw Orcs

Now, I know it’s a long-shot to expect Blizzard to “double up” on core race representation, but given that it was overtly stated that Wildhammer Dwarves remain a possibility, I would assume that their counterparts remain so as well.

“But the Dragonmaw Clan died with Zaela and Garrosh,” you say! Not so! If you pay attention to the representatives at the Horde’s PvP Artifact Appearance ceremony quest, you’ll notice that Gorfax Angerfang, formerly a Wetlands rare, is present as the Dragonmaw envoy. Thus revealing that Blizzard has gone out of their way as recent as the the current expansion to point out that the Dragonmaw Orcs are still around and still a part of the Horde.

“But they’re already represented with Mag’har!” Nope! Those are Blackrock Orcs. For reasons unknown, Dragonmaw Orcs were entirely absent from the alternate Draenor.

Just like Dark Iron Dwarves gave Dwarf players another aesthetic choice while leaving the Wildhammers conspicuously absent, the Dragonmaw Clan was conspicuously absent from Warlords of Draenor as a whole, and is thus not currently represented by the Mag’har Allied Race. Given the cultural differences between the New Horde’s Orcs (the recovering), the Mag’har (the uncorrupted), and the Dragonmaw (the unconquered), I believe that there’s a lot of potential here for storytelling if and when the Old Gods and the Twilight’s Hammer begin to make their move, as well as providing a counterpoint to the Wildhammer introduction.

Wildhammer Dwarves would make an excellent counterpoint addition.

A short concept, if you’ll indulge me.

Dragonmaw Orc

Story : Holding the Twilight Highlands for the Horde, the Dragonmaw Clan has held firmly in Azeroth since the Second War - for them, a war that continues to this day. With the Alliance on the offensive, it’s time for these renowned dragon-riders to take to the skies once more in defence of the Horde!

Now led by Gorfax Angerfang, those of the Dragonmaw who did not foolishly follow Warlord’s Zaela’s hasty call to arms are called upon by the Horde to deal with the dual threats of the increasingly bold Wildhammer Dwarves and a seemingly regrouping Twilight’s Hammer…

Appearance : Ashen-skinned, yellow-eyed Orcs, this Clan brands themselves to mark the first dragon they’ve broken. They adapt various body parts of slain dragons into adornments.

Heritage Set : A mixture of dragonscale and bone, wings draped over the shoulder, a tail from the belt, a partially skinned skull for the helm. Branded arms exposed. Colour variations representative of the flights that have come to heel under the Clan.

Classes : Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Shaman, Mage, Warlock, Druid (Dragonkin Forms)

Racials :
Dragonstrike : Order a tamed dragon to strike an area, doing damage and disorienting all affected.
Branded : 1% Fire Resist
Soul-marked : Gain a 10 point bonus to Alchemy and Enchanting due to lingering exposure to the Demon Soul.
Dragon-Tamer : Dragonmaw Hunters may tame dragonkin. (Unlocks account-wide once Dragonmaw Orcs are recruited.)

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As much as Dragonmaw Orcs look cool and your ideas are well thought-out, I’d rather have something fresh, not another recycled current race. Plenty to choose from.

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Can you do Wildhammer Dwarves?

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A fair point, but as far as we’ve seen, Allied Races seem to be expounding upon existing assets rather than being completely new additions.

I don’t view them as competing for a “new race” slot against Ogres, Arrakoa, Naga and the rest of the oft-requested species as those are entirely different requests that require much more work.

Allied Races do seem to be expanding upon what we have with rather than giving us entirely new additions.

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That being said, I think we should be done with Allied and just go with new races altogether. You just listed 3 of my top 5 most wanted playable races.

Dragonmaw weren’t formed until after orcs came to Azeroth. That’s why you dont see them on Draenor.

The point is, Allied Races are relatively easy endeavours. Entirely new races are a different beast altogether. I don’t see them as in competition with each other - Allied Races build upon existing framework whereas new ones build that framework. Related, sure, but very different in scope.

I wonder if it would be easier for them to expand customization of the base orc race to include all the various clans, rather than create new allied races.

Same goes for the other races that have multiple subtypes.

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That was my impression of the lore as well until Golden canonized their existence pre-Portal.

I know that. I was cool with a few of the current ones but I really didn’t want the concept to explode and in a few years, we end up with 4 different types of Orcs, etc.

I guess I’m fine with 1 recycled version of each but after that, please… fresh stuff. I’d love to be a Naga Shaman.

I must’ve missed that. They were probably off hiding with the Mok’Nathal.

Speaking of which I would rather have them as a playable race opposed to Dragonmaw.

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I mean, I’ll give this my seal of approval - you covered your bases and clearly understand their lore. But you’ll have to throw out the Druids. That isn’t fitting from a lore perspective.

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Hell yeah, I’m so down!

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Much like there are multiple expressions of zealous warriors that the game categorizes as Paladins for mechanical purposes, so too are there multiple expressions of shapeshifters.

From the tried and true Cenarion Druids, to the peripherally cursed worgen, to the Loa-gifted troll dinomancers, many different cultures are slapped into the “Druid” class for mechanical purposes.

So too it would be for Dragonmaw Ascendants.

How so? We’ve never heard of an Orc shape shifting in the history of WoW.

Maghar are basically dragonmaw. If you want fel orc skins I think they should add skintones tot he base orcs to make them more popular.

There are examples on that Dragonmaw island in Outland.

I’ll have to go there and check myself later but google shows nothing of the sort.

I’m all about more anything Orcish.

Dragonmaw Orcs. Tuskarr Orcs. Vulperan Orcs. Orcish basset hounds. Orchish chandeliers. Orcish paper stationaries.

I WANT IT ALL

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They’re admittedly throwaway NPCs, but it’s not like that small precedent hasn’t been acted upon before, as we’ll soon see with Zandalari Paladins.