Could a shaman lorewise oppose a warlock/mage/spriest?
I’ve been trying to read about it and its not entirely clear. So far dark shamans make more sense to me than regular shamans.
A Shaman’s source of power can be defiled and rendered useless (ironically by Dark Shamans) and easily beaten, as shown during the Siege of Ogrimmar.
A Warlock would have no problems or moral quandaries with annihilating an area of its elements just to destroy their opponents.
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That.
Shamans are in their right, are extremely powerful. But have also a lot of weaknesses/ counters / safety locks that keep them from being too much.
They can overwhelmingly be powerful since it’s making a pact with beings of godly-power.
Problem though is it’s borrowed power coming from them, not on your own like the light & arcane
At any unexpected time, it can be stripped from you
There must be a little more to it, since elements can be channeled on dead planets and the like, it was said there power was weakened, but they still had power.
Shamans are weaklings who’s power relies on the elements being in a good enough mood to help them. So they basically have to make friends with the elements otherwise it will be like relying on that friend who is unreliable half the time and leaves you hanging.
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They’re not as powerful as Mages or Warlocks, but at the same time it doesn’t take a 12th level intellect and a natural affinity for magic to be a good Shaman. You just have to meditate and have a bond with the elements, who will lend you their power, and you have to be skilled enough to properly channel that power.
If you’re a Dark Shaman, you essentially have to intimidate and torture the elements into submission. There’s not much we know about Dark Shamanism, but I presume that because the elements are giving you power unwillingly, you run the risk of losing your grip over them and you’ll lose all of your power in that moment.
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They are as powerful as the elements will it.
They borrow strength, they don’t command it like other casters. In this Mages and Warlocks have an edge. However piss off the elements enough and I believe they could overtake both Mages and Warlocks.
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Short answer, no.
Mages are canonically the most powerful beings alive. The Titans are made of pure Arcane energy and are considered to be the most powerful beings in the universe aside from Elune herself. (which we don’t know anything about.)
Mortal and immortal mages are the causes of most of the issues in the Warcraft universe. Sargeras, Archimonde, Azshara, Malygos, Kael’Thas, Illidan, Medivh, Xavius. These are all mages, and they’re all bad guys. (To a certain point of view.)
They can alter the very fabric of space, time, and reality to their will. Mortal mages who are classically trained under Dalaran have limitations put upon them by the council and the community that prevent them from destroying the universe. (Limited time manipulation and teleportation. Rules regarding transmutation Ect…)
That being said; even with all of their limitations they are generally regarded to be the most powerful class as far as lore goes.
Warlocks next. Warlocks are generally considered to be the second most powerful class from a lore standpoint. The thing about Warlocks, is that they don’t have the moral issues or rules that a mage might have, and therefore are able to use all of their power all the time. The problem with Fel magic though is that it has a low skill cap.
To put it into perspective I’ll put it like this. An apprentice mage would have to study for several years in order to do what an apprentice warlock could do in a matter of months. (Power wise.) But that warlock will cap out, and the mage will over take him and get significantly more powerful with time. (Apprentice mage starts at power 1, Apprentice Warlock starts at power 5. Mage will take a while to get to power 5. Warlock caps at power 10, while mage caps at power 50… If that makes sense.)
Basically Warlocks are drawn to Fel because it’s easy, quick power that they can use to unleash destruction with really quickly. But they can really only get so powerful before they just can’t anymore. Where as Mages practice Arcane for years to get decent with it. It’s a slow burn, but then with enough time and practice your power sky rockets, and there is theoretically no limit to how powerful they can become.
Even Gul’dan who is regarded as the most powerful Warlock is no match compared to Archimonde who is a mage.
And you might say “But Archimonde is in a league of his own. Not many people can contend with him”. Archimonde isn’t that powerful though. Not when you compare him to other mages. During the War of the Ancients Ysera; who is the weakest Dragon Aspect; was putting all of the demons she was fighting into arcane prisons, and Archimonde couldn’t break them out using his own magic. So Archimonde is weaker than the weakest Dragon Aspect, and Gul’dan is weaker than that.
Fel magic is extremely strong, but caps out.
Shadow Priests use void magic. We don’t know a whole ton about it other than it’s the same stuff that powers the Old Gods.
Shaman use Elemental magic. They literally gain their powers from Elementals. They basically ask permission to use the power from them, and the Elementals channel it through them. This is why Thrall said he felt weird and had a hard time using his powers when they first got to Draenor. Different Elementals that didn’t know Thrall. They eventually abandoned him when he used their power to kill Garrosh calling it his own power. He wasn’t respecting the Elements and they abandoned him.
The Elemental Lords are weaker than the Old Gods. Now, neither Shaman or Priests get their powers from their respective hierarchy, but it’s safe to assume that Void magic is stronger than Elemental magic.
Not to mention Shadow Priest magic is generally all mind related stuff. Game play wise it just deals damage, but lore wise their in your head giving you a seizure. Hard to throw lava when your brain is melting.
While mages and warlocks can twist and corrupt the elements around them, the elements themselves are much bigger than they are, a shaman in tune with the world well enough, could likely overtake either - or both.
Shamans could probably be very powerful but if they are like the elements of Draenor then they are just as likely to take away that power as give it. So I would consider it not a very reliable power.
I don’t consider them the most powerful class though from what I’ve read. Mages seem OP asf.
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This is my understanding of it as well. One minute a Shaman could flood an entire city but that would be the last time they might be able to do it.
If they are on a kamikaze mission then the Shaman won’t care about the relationship with the elements.