My guess is that the top contenders are as follows (not in any particular order):
Kirin Tor (High Elves & Humans)
Blood elves
Draenei
Nightborne
Personally, I’d say that the Nightborne win.
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Either Highborne Night Elves, or pre-Legion Eredar are my vote.
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Titans I’m pretty sure
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Elisande and Azshara were the most powerful Arcane Users in WoW I do believe… followed by the Player Mage, Jaina and Khadgar.
The Greatstaff of Aegwynn had implied that the Player Mage was strong enough to tear down Dalaran and Suramar which indicates that the Player Mage is Guardian Level if going all out(which apparently he/she isn’t if what Aluneth says is to be believed).
Elisande flaunts her Arcane prowess casually and Azshara tosses out Arcane Bombs and in Mythic creates a revolving Arcane Beam that kills all on contact when she decided that the Raid had to die ASAP(though still wasn’t enraged enough to direct a specific One-Shot at the Players One by One).
No one in WoW goes all-out except N’Zoth who unleashed the full might of his tentacles and when that failed unleashed the full extend of his Void Magic and Mind Control powers only losing because the Raid Leader broke free and used the Heart of Azeroth to Re-Originate him.
The reason for Elisande holding back is obvious: The building wouldn’t survive her going all out.
Azshara not going all out is due to laziness: throwing out a revolving beam to One-Shot everyone is less effort than spamming the One-Shotting Spell she uses when a Player directly annoys her.
The Player not going all out is out of consideration of his/her Allies: No Allies means no Quests.
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Assuming we’re only talking traditionally mortal races, since otherwise titans would obviously leave everyone else in the dust. Blue dragons too; pre-Cataclysm using arcane magic was basically like a physiological part of them, but it’s hard to say if that’s still the case with their Aspect since de-powered and their flight rendered mortal.
If we’re to only account for modern-day still-existent civilizations, then I’d say Dalaran. They benefit from basically trading in knowledge between many magical civilizations for the purpose of collectively benefiting everyone, while the magic-using elf nations tend to have their magic proficiency and knowledge tangled up in familial class hierarchies and the draenei left most of their widely society-benefiting magical knowledge and tools behind on Argus.
If we’re to consider for all time (thus far anyway), then definitely the eredar civilization on Argus. It’s part of why Sargeras, a titan, sought them out after all. They basically mastered the arcane to the point of uniting their entire world as one society, not only harnessing magic as mages but also letting their people as a whole benefit from widely availability magitech and artifice rather than having most arcane access hoarded by gatekeeping castes/classes of spellcasters, scholars and/or noble families.
Uniquely powerful individuals don’t necessarily make for the most magically advanced society. Azshara and the Highborne were known to hoard the best magic for themselves and at their strongest were more interested in harnessing the arcane for their own personal glory and power than trying to further uplift night elf society as a whole. Even at the height of kaldorei civilization, the truly mighty magic was basically funneled into either the Highborne families or the noble military castes. Night elf civilization in general didn’t seem to have access to the really good stuff like the sort of teleportation networks enjoyed by the Highborne, as the Highborne had segregated themselves to the point of basically having their own special cities apart from the rest of their people.
Elisande at her most powerful was using the Nightwell to power her spells, which again isn’t indicative of what the Nightborne as a whole could do. Like the Sunwell, access to the Nightwell was tightly controlled by the ruling class and the only direct benefit the masses really gained were ambient (and halfway comprised of just sating the very addictions those same Wells’ energies had caused.)
I’d say Dalaran by sheer virtue of their multiculturalism. They’ve welcomed at the very least humans, elves and dragons into their number, and we know that those three races perceive the study of magic somewhat differently. By sharing that knowledge they likely strengthen each others… and their multiculturalism has only continued to grow with their recent neutrality, accepting Alliance and Horde mages into their ranks.
But I’d say all four listed powers approach parity when it comes to their mastery of the arcane. From a story point of view I’d say that while I -think- Dalaran has a slight edge in terms of magical advancement, the others are certainly not lagging behind or somehow at a disadvantage.
To be fair, Sargeras was eyeing up the Highborne elves in a similar manner during the War of the Ancients. Plus the Burning Legion was more of a blunt instrument - apart from the Nathrezim - prior to finding the Eredar (so Xal’atath says, but she’d have nothing to gain from lying about that).
Though if we take Mannoroth’s words at face value, according to him only Archimonde, Kil’jaeden or Sargeras could outmatch Azshara in magic. So when it comes to race, I think the Draenei take the top spot for most powerful arcane magic.
When it comes to the race most powerful with Arcane magic, my vote goes to the Draenei.
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Sargeras’ use for the Highborne was predominantly as a means to reach Azeroth, and possibly as just more demons to corrupt into servants thereafter; he sought out the eredar specifically to transform the Legion from a rabble of disorganized demons into a cohesive fighting force with infrastructure, coordination and competent leadership. The power of their arcane magic wasn’t what most attracted him; it was their complex mastery and understanding of that power.
And yeah, at the time Mannoroth said that (thought it, more accurately), he may have been right. But he was making that observation several thousand years before the first Guardian of Tirisfal existed. By the time Aegwynn donned that mantle, the power of the Guardian had become vast, having accumulated through generations of past Guardians and Councils of Tirisfal.
Archimonde and Kil’jaeden as lords of the Burning Legion aren’t really reflective of their power as mortal eredar, and therefore aren’t representative of how powerful the draenei are in the arcane. Sargeras made them exponentially more powerful than they’d ever been before when he transformed them into demons, while the actual modern draenei were forced to abandon much of their people’s stored knowledge and creations on Argus (and then lost a bunch of stuff again on Draenor), effectively forcing them to start over nearly from scratch twice by supplementing many of their magics with local tools and materials just to make them work halfway properly on other planets.
The unique eredar/draenei mastery of the arcane didn’t so much come from the usual mystical angle of having the best spellcasters; it came from their civilization having figured out the “science” of the arcane better than any other mortal race. They’d basically achieved an understanding of arcane energy more in line with the titans’ own (though still far short of that), rather than still treating it as a mystifying force relegated to the domain of clandestine mages specially attuned to its use. Hence the eredar were able to introduce that “scientific” way of magical thinking to using the fel when they joined the Burning Legion, applying organized systems of language, runecraft and technology to the harnessing of a form of magic that even the other demons hadn’t fully understood up to that point.
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Why not the Nightborne?
I find it interesting that they haven’t been raised as the lead contender. The way they work arcane into everything is amazing. They are the purest form of the Highborne’s magical evolution, too. Now, one may say that that’s a detriment—living in a vacuum excludes you from the developments shared by those outside of the bubble, but, whilst diversity has its pros, all these elves have been using is the Arcane; nothing else. Practise just one thing for ages and you’re bound to be outstanding.
Side note: if only the Highborne of the Shen’dralar had waited a few years. I feel as though they’d be far more welcome in Suramar (after it’s troubles in Legion) then amount the kaldorei.
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They were, you raised them as the lead contender haha.
My reasoning as to why they’re not right at the top is due to their isolation. I’m not saying they’re bad at magic by any means - far from it, they wield it with tremendous sophistication. But they’ve done so, literally, in a bubble. With no outside influence.
It puts me in mind of something I remember reading; a conversation between Kalecgos and Jaina in Tides of War
Kalec blinked. In the mirror, he saw Jaina’s reflection and his own.
“You did mention a mirror. I assume there is more to this than a way to discreetly tell me I need to shave?” he joked.
“Much more,” she said. “It operates using the same methodology, the same math”—she bowed slightly—“that a portal does. Except it’s much simpler and more basic. Portals actually have to be able to physically transport someone somewhere. The mirror just allows viewing of a different place and, if the timing is right, other people. I’m going to use this to contact
Varian. Let’s hope he’s nearby, or we will have to try again.”
Kalec shook his head, again marveling at the wonderful lack of complexity of the younger races and their spells. “I know of this sort of spell. Very old, and very simple. Just like the ‘costume’ spell the thieves utilized to hide the Focusing Iris from my detection.”
“Yet your flight doesn’t use such things?”
“Most would think it beneath them to use a garden-variety spell like this one,” he said, adding quickly, “but I think it’s brilliant.”
“I’m trying not to be insulted,” said Jaina. She said the words lightly, but her brow had furrowed again.
“I,” said Kalec, reaching for her hands, “am both clumsy and rude. I do think it’s brilliant. We dragons…” He struggled to explain the mentality of dragonflights, especially that of the blues. “Dragons seem to think that the more complicated a thing is—the longer it takes to perform, the more ingredients it has, and the more people it requires to participate—the better it is. That goes for clothing, meals, magic, art—everything. They would rather sit down for days and design a laborious spell to teleport a thing directly to their hands than simply get up and fetch the saltcellar.”
Now admittedly that’s about Blue Dragons. But like the Blue Dragonflight, the Nightborne are very old, their culture is steeped in magic, and they see everything through a very precise and mathematical lens. In doing so, they sometimes forget the obvious, overlook certain things, in their search for perfection.
So, with that in mind, I’m not convinced the Nightborne are THE most powerful magic users any more than the Blue Dragonflight are. I think they just have a very specific and isolated approach TO it.
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In terms of arcane society the nightelf highborne. No empire was even near the posibility to rival the titans expect the highbornes. The eredar even with felbonus were underlings compare to the highborne master mages.
They were one if not the one most advantage arcane sociaty of mortals
The answer is whichever your favorite arcane race is.
And therfore my answer is none. All of them suck. Though the draenei are okay.
Between the elves and the original Eredar it is a close tie. But I would give the benefit of doubt to the elves since they had the advantage of the well of eternity. That makes them top tier in the field of being a professional mage.
The idea is to leave God races out of the comparison.
I am not whether that was the race or mostly Azshara herself.
The eredar played the game of deference to the Highborne mages as part of their con game but even the Highborne that went against them were wheat to be scythed.
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It was the entire race.
The demon-eredar were much more powerfull then their former “Arcane Society” and were equal to the highborne mages or even partly beyond them in terms of magic abilitys…so its hard to say but…we know that the society was on their way to rival the titans. (The highborne)
I have to agree that overall, the ancient Eredar were the most powerful/skilled arcane users. Current day, I’d go with either Dalaran or the Blood Elves.
Currently it may actually be the Kirin Tor or Sin’dorei. Nightborne being behind both mostly since we don’t know where they stand in terms of power since kicking the addiction to magic and the nightwell and allowing its power to fade away.
The Eredar count only after the pact with Sargeras, pre-pact, there’s nothing particularly distinctive… culturally advanced but not magic powerhouses.
As far as Dalaran, only the Violet Council counts as any real shakes among magic users… the bulk of the population are no more magical than the residents of Goldshire.
I’d argue it’s the opposite. Originally, they were so gifted with the arcane that they attracted Sargeras’ personal attention. He was so impressed by the eredar that he wanted to recruit them to be the elite leaders of the Legion. Once they accepted, they abandoned the arcane and embraced the fel.
So how would Dalaran stand vs. Stormwind in your view? Stormwind has it’s own dedicated mages, as seen in the Mage Quarter. Would you consider them to be of equal strength, magic-wise?
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