when shadowlands comes out, i plan on leveling thematically, meaning i’ll be leveling a dk in northrend, a mag’har through WoD, a demon-hunter through BC (when they SHOULD have come out), monk through MoP, and so on… only, i have a small issue… i have no clue what race would fit best for Cataclysm. seriously, i’m at a loss here. anybody have any suggestions?
Night elves, since they blew up the planet the first time.
First reaction would be goblin or Worgen just because they unlock during that expansion
Second reaction the theme seems to be shaman so that goes to goblin shaman
But the legendary for that expansion is for rogues so that goes to Worgen or goblin rogue
maybe none of the above, but if it was a movie then goblin rogue feels right to me - new race, legendary weapon, starting zone tied in directly to Deathwing then finish with getting your revenge
i could see Night-elves being thematic for mount hyjal, but i dunno… not sure they’d make sense for uldum, vashyr, uh… that 4th zone i can’t remember…
edit: just remembered. deepholm. also twilight highlands.
Always thought that the Twilight Hammer ultimately became more a human dominate faction over all. So human for Cata. Human hunter even.
huh… i always saw the twilight hammer as a dark-iron faction. i mean, i don’t know how many of the firey-folks i killed when leveling through the cata’d old world, fightin the hammer. er… for the record, i’m talking about the current 80-85 (err… 90, forgot about scaling for a sec there) zones not the old-world ones.
A massive theme of the expansion is the elements so I would definitely go Shaman.
Dwarf Sham with Wildhammer customization if going Alliance
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hmm… not a bad idea, i mean, i hear there’s a lot of flying in those zones, so the wildhammer look would make sense.
And the shaman organization Earthen Ring is heavily involved in Deepholm and Vahsj’ir (where their tabard is available).
Probably Goblin. They have Deathwing involved in their starting zone.
Edit: And Goblins can be shamans.
There’s a legendary staff for casters from Firelands. They could use that as Elemental Shaman.
I think any core race could work well. All the current starter zones besides Belf and Draenei are cata themed. No one race had too much of a spotlight. Depends on what you want to do.
If you strictly sticking to the cata zones (hyjal, vashjir, uldum, twilight highlands, and deepholm) and not the revamped vanilla zones you could base it off of some of those themes.
Shaman and Druid are very fitting for the overall xpac theme. Shaman play very prevelent roles in many of the zones.
My top 3 “backstories” fitting cata would be these (they’re fairly generic since it’s just a basic idea for you to build off of):
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If you playing during shadowlands playing a troll using the new Shadow Troll customization could be a cool choice especially if you’re a druid or shaman. You could RP as one of the few surviors of the Shadowtooth tribe who lived on mt Hyjal and was destroyed by the twilight hammer. This would give you reason to not only do the hyjal zone but the others since you would want to not only avenge your tribe but also restore the elements (if playing shaman). Shadow Trolls are also know for being more at one with nature and less aggressive than the other tribes so it’d make sense that they’d side with Vol’jin over Zul for the 4.1 content “rise of the zandalari”.
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A similar approach could be taken if you play a dwarf using the Wildhammer customization as many of the settlements in the twilight highlands were ravaged and they also have access to shaman. Similarly they would want revenge as well as their shamanistic duty to the world. Also this was the expac that the council of three hammers was formed so there’d be a greater reason for the other
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Night Elf druid would be very fitting for Mt hyjal. It’s very much about protecting the world tree and helping the Night Elf aligned wild gods. Night Elf also fits somewhat for Vashjir since the main enemy there is the naga.
Those are the three that would be most fun but also fit IMO.
Some other fun ideas but that are a little more out there could be:
Void Elf. Obviously the #1 issue is they uhh… didn’t exist. But besides that little snafu Cata is when the old god stuff reached it’s climax. So you could be studying that power that’s ravaging the land. Also with the new High Elf customization you could be studying to harness the power of the void and becoming your “own” void elf separate from the main group that later shows up.
Zandalari. Though we don’t see it during the expac. Zandalar was hit hard by the cataclysm. You could set out in search of a more peaceful solution in opposition to Zul’s idea of conquest. Especially if you’re a shaman or druid you could depart by order or loyalty to the loa you serve, despite zandalar’s tendency for isolation.
Dark Iron. With the forming of the council of 3 hammers and Moira leading the Dark Iron to Ironforge this is when the Dark Iron first began integrating with the Alliance. Additionally with the return of Ragnaros you could seek vengeance against the Elementals of the Firelands who had enslaved your people for generations, as well as fight against the Black Dragonflight who had assulted your home and people for years.
TLDR: Many races can fit but most important IMO would be to play a shaman. All the zones are thematically pretty different but all of them are connected to the elements in some fashion.
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Dark Iron Dwarf, Elemental Shaman, Female
DI dwarfs come from black rock mountain, where all the trouble starts. Shaman have the closest relationship to the elementals (a major part of cataclysm storyline). Female because look at those guns. 
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The goblin starting zone is fantastic and is tied to the cata storyline.