Are still pretty high in terms of Classes for Dark Iron fantasy?
If I remember my lore correctly, Dark Irons are generally faster and less morally concerned compared to the other Dwarf clans.
Renowned for their sorcery. Though in BFA Blizz seems to be forcing Shamans down our throats.
I think we’ve reached this weird point where lore and classes don’t mix that well anymore.
Dark Iron really like their fire elementals… but does that make them suited as Shaman?
Shadowmoon Orcs do a lot of Void Magic… but the other priest specs really don’t mesh with Orcs.
Kul Tirans love their water healing but all other aspects of Shamanism are questionable.
Feel like Class skins could solve a lot of those problems, but it’ll never happen.
If it did, they’d probably be a store item.
The sad thing is lore is becoming less important these days by Blizzard cause the only thing that seems to matter is endgame stuff. It not the journey or the character building but dungeons, raids, pvp, mythics, etc. That’s all that seems to matter. So the little things like what makes a certain race that is a certain class different from the other races of the same class gets pushed aside. In the end, your toon is a different skin that performs similarly to every other race.
The shaman thing is due to many years of serving ragnaros and working side by side with earth and fire elementals.
But generally speaking, lore wise, dark irons tend to be less physically strong than wildhammer/bronzebeard dwarves, but are more cunning and not opposed to using dirty and underhanded tactics to win. They have a large number of rogues and warlocks in that regard.
Couldn’t have said it any better. 
To respond to some people’s concerns over lore. I understand where you are coming from but at some point our characters, the heroes, should outweigh what lore dictates. Heroes are the outliers and should not be dictated by their culture.
Blizz even has us doing things that certain races and classes wouldn’t normally do. I placed Fel infused metal under my characters skin for a profession in Legion. Any light worshiping character would never do that but here we are. lol Another instance would be when Bronzebeard dwarves learned how to become Warlocks. Bronzebeards were at war with the Dark Iron for a long time. Why would they suddenly go to them to learn the dark arts? Sounds like a good way to get booted from your clan. lol
I see both sides of the argument. Having played D&D when there were stringent racial restrictions to when you could be whatever class you wanted, I find I prefer the latter. I’m here to play a hero. 
Bronzebeard mages and warlocks are explained though. When moira brought the dark irons back into an alliance with the other clans, and the dark irons started taking their place in ironforge again, they had a skill that the bronzebeard dwarves didnt: they knew how to be mages and warlocks. Its their contribution towards reconciling with the other clans to teach what they know.
Same thing with Void Elves. It’s also the reverse for Lightforged Draenei.
Oh, I totally understand that. The thing is Blizz says the classes races can be are based on their culture and the problem is changing one’s culture takes a long time. I don’t see how it would have happened so fast. One moment they are enemies and next thing Moira pushes her way back into Ironforge and a civil war nearly breaks out. Simply bringing Dark Iron back to Ironforge would not change how the majority of the Bronzebeards feel. There was hatred and resentment. At least with regards to Wildhammer they were an ally of the Alliance.
Dark Iron joined the Alliance in Cata but it wasn’t until well into BfA they solidified their allegiance. That’s why I feel it’s questionable for Bronzebeards to be Warlocks based on what Blizz says. Am I happy they are able to be Warlocks, Mages and Shaman? Of course! It expands what our heroes can be. That’s always good.
I always just figured it was a small handful of open minded dwarves that chose to learn from the dark irons. I mean, dwarf mages and warlocks are still an incredibly rare character combo to come across
The idea is that the factions are cross training each other. The examples here are proof that the races are capable of learning these talents… and thus could expand beyond that.
Yes, a Dark Iron likes his Fire Elemental - but it’s not just that. It’s proof of concept that he can bend the elements to his will, so why wouldn’t he be able to do Air, Earth and even Water if he were so inclined and practiced really hard.
Aesthetically, it’s a bit of a mess… as a Dark Iron Resto Shaman is next level cringe… but there’s technically no reason it couldn’t exist.
I’ll mirror the call for Class Skins - being able to turn Resto healing to appear fire/lava based would really go a long way to making something like a Dark Iron Resto Shaman feel more natural. Cauterization/Soothing Flames/Magma Infusion… etc. etc.
Kul’tirans also like the lightning parts.
There were always Bronzebeard warlocks/mages, they were relatively few though(and more importantly, just not playable). Just check Nethergarde keep in classic and you will find one.
Similarly there were plenty of human hunters, it is just gameplay wise there were not a class you could not play until cata. I expect the same was true of shaman dwarves.
And how is that different with say Forsaken priests? Gameplay has always taken presidence over lore.
We did have Dark Iron shamans running around in places like Searing Gorge and Burning Steppes, and especially down in Blackrock Depths with all the various elementals running around.
Technically, Emperor Thaurissan would have been a shaman with his abilities and a servant of Ragnaros.
That’s a good way to look at it and I agree. It’s an uncommon class from a fantasy standpoint. Years of collecting figures for D&D have shown the vast majority of dwarven figures are warrior types. It’s a bigger part of their culture then magic. A dwarf in plate armor is a classic look. 
Side note. I was on my dwarven mage in a dungeon run and someone in the group was surprised and happy to see a dwarven mage. They are rare indeed. 
Very true. Blizz always cites lore and culture for what dictates who we, the heroes, can be. When we bring up how an NPC is a particular class Blizz usually says that they are a special, usually named, NPC. It’s nice to be able to counter their argument with their own stuff.
When players were debating on what classes Dark Iron would be, paladin was brought up based on the Anvilrage Officer in Blackrock Depths which used Divine Shield. How annoying it was to burn them down only to have them bubble. lol
There are reasons for and against what classes races can be. I’m happy to see there are far more reasons for what we can be then against.
Nothing lore deep, but I found survival hunter fits pretty well with class fantasy. Throwing explosives is right up there with Dark Irons only class that does that on a consistent basis. Get engineering and helm with explosive barrage. swoons
That’s why my goblin hunter is survival. Bombs. Everywhere.
I was really happy when Gnome hunters brought us mechanical pets. As an engineer it was nice being able to make the item that allowed me to tame pets. It’s a fun aspect of the game that fits quite well. Now just give us a mechanical bear pretty please! 
Because they are shamans. They summoned rag.
Sorcery is definitely in their background hence Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissan who lead the summoning of Ragnaros. His wife was believed to be a sorcerer as well.