Prefacing this with a very quick disclaimer that I’m absolutely down for opening up paladins to more races if it’s done properly. I’m a massive proponent for racial identity, and feel it’s something that has been lost a lot in Dragonflight’s characters feeling very “samey” in how they act. But every race has its set of religious beliefs in some way, and having a champion of those beliefs (a more traditional or non traditional fantasy paladin rather than that of a human Paladin), and it’s been very heavily implied that that’s the direction we’re bound to go eventually.
So with that in mind, let’s address one of the biggest concerns going around the community at the moment in relation to this, mainly brought about by the recent rise to prominence of Tyr and soon, in 10.1.7, the subsect of the Silver Hand, the Tyr’s Guard. The concern is that other races may come to have access to paladins through the Tyr’s Guard/Silver Hand - and this is possibly one of the worst ways that the class could be expanded.
The concern isn’t unfounded. Legion’s paladin order hall already smushed every existing variant of paladin (Sunwalker, Blood Knights, Vindicators and regular Paladins) into one, stripping the former two of what made them unique and making them funky-looking humans that wear the same armor, hold the same principles and beliefs. The priest order hall suffered this as well to some extent.
With that in mind, you can probably see where I’m going with this: to open up paladin to other races via Tyr is to repeat the same mistake, essentially turning every other race into the same “type” of paladin rather than delving deeper into what could make each of them unique. There’s a plethora of ways other races could get this class without normalizing it under the one banner of Tyr, and it doesn’t even imply wholly new cosmetics - not at first, at least, provided the concept is explored properly first.
This thread is an example of how this expansion of the class could be done in a tasteful manner that doesn’t flatten the race it’s given to. It’s far from the only one of its kind. It’s also not necessarily the most accurate, or even the best of ways, but it shows that there is something more interesting than dressing every race in the same human armor and core values when it comes to enriching the lore.
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Idk, I see suddenly appearing new sects of paladins more jarring than people joining an existing group in the world who greatly helped during Legion. It makes total sense for adventurers of all races to see the work those in the Paladin Order Hall, or any class hall, do and become interestes in joining.
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In a vacuum it could make sense, but these things don’t happen in a vacuum. Not only does said organization has a history with some of these races, it directly opposes some of them in lore. Orcs, for instance, have fought back the Silver Hand and its affiliates for years, and with the Silver Hand being a human organization, it would be beyond jarring for them to consider joining.
These sects don’t have to come out of nowhere, because every race already has access to priest. Through deepening the lore behind those, it’s already much easier to make way for something like paladins, even if the trigger for doing so was originally Tyr.
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The come out of nowhere thing would be coming from no where mentioned previously. Yes in lore they could create an origin for them but still they would suddenly show up in the game. Where were they before? I guess the lore could be the creation of the paladin sect. Idk.
Just from a gameplay perspective I’d want them to just rip the bandage off and make the option available rather than twiddle their thumbs trying to think of lore or making excuses not to give more Paladin options. They already made other class options for classes. Even though people complain about (Lightforged Draenei Warlocks)
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It’s a weird situation since Paladin is similar to Priest in the sense they show off the faith and thus part of the culture of their respective races more than any other class. Tyr is very much the Human paladin origin with the legend of the Silver Hand and while fits some of the other races there are others that would not fit.
I’d like to see some differences with paladins even if it is minor in the form of quest or gossip text. Something all paladins should share in the end is carrying out that faith and meteing out justice. Orc paladins could be an extension of the priests that were added earlier this expansion being closer with the spirits. Night elves would of course be related to Elune and could have a mentality similar to the Wardens. Darkspear trolls have their Loa they can serve or even relate it to the return of Vol’jin who happens to have the remnant of Rezan with him who is the Loa for Zandalari paladins. Calia looks like the obvious “in” for Forsaken paladins.
There are some races where just following Tyr would do. Races like Gnomes or Worgen (who are humans) and mainly worship the Light in the traditional sense.
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Some spoilers below for the contents of 10.1.7 in continuing with these concerns.
Spoilers
And in continuing off of that, the latest in 10.1.7 with the (re)introduction of the Tyr’s Guard.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=AVMhFZt90vs
A Kul Tiran and a Lightforged Draenei joining a primarily Alliance-based banner under the Silver Hand is at least understandable, but both a blood elf and a Zandalari troll make just no sense in this context. The antagonistic relationship of the Blood Knights and Silver Hand allowed them to stand apart as unique, and a Zandalari joining a human religious sect after they raided their city and murdered their king just a few years prior (especially when said trolls already have their own religious practices for paladins) comes across as weirdly out of touch with the continuity of the lore.
Pleaaaaase don’t have this be the conduit for opening up paladins for other races, the same way orcs were allowed a proper explanation to their having priests.
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