Necrolord in generally is among the worst Covenants power-wise for virtually every class and spec. There are exceptions, but generally that is the case. The lack of representation is more likely due to that than aesthetic.
If players could pick the Covenant they like without actually picking a weaker option, I doubt you’d see as many “meta” picks as the OP lists.
How blind do you have to be not to see a very clear connection between BiS covenants and what the vast majority of those players picked?
An example for Mages:
Fire BiS is Night Fae - 77% picked Night Fae
Arcane BiS is Night Fae - 69% picked Night Fae
Frost BiS is Venthyr / if people want to duel spec it’s Night Fae - 58% picked Venthyr, 33% picked Night Fae
I just can’t think of many people who would pick it for aesthetics… but maybe it’s because I find it just so ugly. So strong personal preference. I definitely wish people wouldn’t feel compelled to pick against their tastes for metas.
I think Blizzard intentionally put the most tempting power in the “correct” Covenant for class fantasy because they wanted to have Eylsian Hold full of Paladins and Ardenweld Druids. Those places just seem like where those characters would want to go after their job selection in life. I mean, without the powers I think there would still be a strong trend for Kyrian Paladins and Night Fae Druids. It’s a bit stereotypical, but yeah, I dress my paladin like an angel, so I’m not judging.
This is the true takeaway from the data. Hunter has been a two spec class ever since Legion.
Well I picked it for aesthetics for the DK. There’s also a lot of people who like the aesthetic, and also like the theme - outright war and, honestly, among the most down to earth NPCs.
They didn’t actually put the, “correct” power in every situation though. It does work in some cases for Kyrian with Priests (and certainly with Paladins for Ret/Holy), but for Blood and Frost Necrolords isn’t among the top choices, for example. Others are in the absolutely blessed category of, “it’s all close enough so pick what you like” for the most part, whereas others… aren’t.
I don’t think it’s intentional, but if it is, it’s scummy.
Meanwhile most Warlocks are hanging out in Ardenweald due to y’know, the classes strong connection with nature.
Night Elf Warlocks when?
Nothing bad has ever happened when Night Elves use dark magic.
Yeah I could see it working for a DK, or any Forsaken character. The counter on Wowhead showed Necrolords as the top pick for Unholy and Frost Dks. It is a super fitting pick for an Unholy DK, but I don’t play my DK that way. He’s a demon-themed Frost DK, so I am having him go Venthyr, since it’s essentially very close to the Hell themed setting I took him from.
None of my characters really perfectly fit Necrolords, but mine is going to be my Shadow priest, since he’s the only character I had who was supposed to be grody and tempted by power enough to go with it. All these afterlives are a terrible fit for him, so it’s okay.
Of course, I really like Heaven and Hell themes, so I mostly will be picking a lot of Kyrian and Venthyr, with a couple that would be Night Fae. I can’t really decide if my Rogue, based on my DnD character who is a tiefling with a fae based familiar will ultimately be Night Fae or Venthyr though. I could make an argument for either.
Well it looks like I am part of the 86,000 and the 5500
Given the class/cov combos you highlighted, I’d say a lot of them picked for theme/aesthetic… not because of the strength of the covenant abilities.
But who are we to say.
I think there’s a unifying theme behind most druids/hunters being NF and most paladins being kyrian that has very little to do with their abilities that a lottttt of people are ignoring, lol.
…you think the fact that the vast majority conveniently picked the stronger Covenant is an aesthetic choice?
Hey some people just have to run into the glass door to find out it is shut even after being told it is.
I like comparing Blizzard to a moth, and the lamp being terrible game design. It’s like they’re magnetically drawn to it.
I actually plan on having a hunter in all 4 so when the xpac is over and hopefully alll the covenant sets go into general transmog I will have them all .
I think Hunters/Druids picking Night Fae, Paladins picking Kyrian, and DKs choosing Necrolords isn’t all that shocking, despite what the abilities may be.
And I never said a vast majority of anything. The numbers just aren’t everything.
I’m sure it’s a complete coincidence that people picked the most thematic Covenant for their class when it happens to coincide with that being the strongest, but opt out of thematics when it isn’t as good as the other options.
Most Warlocks are either Night Fae or Kyrian.
There is no covenant that directly dovetails with warlock thematics the way kyrian does for paladin or necrolord does for DK.