I’m not big on paladin lore but if a race can be a priest and a warrior shouldn’t they be able to be paladins?
Priests wield a torch called the light
Paladins are the torch. They are an unwavering beacon. They are the fuel to the torch. They are a conduit.
Its not the same
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smears buffalo sauce on forehead
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Well originally, Paladins were created when The Northshire Clerics proved too weak to stand up to the martial might of The Horde. Human Priest began learning how to fight with weapons combined with their holy powers, and The Human Paladin was the defining factor in the original Hordes defeat.
This is similar to how Blood Elves became Paladins, Priest to Paladin converts. And we see this with Delas Moonfang a Night Elf in Legion.
So you’re right. Most priest races without Paladins just haven’t made the transition or can’t.
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Not necessarily. Light priests are mainly seen as healers and religious guides. Not every culture really militarizes them into paladins. Different mindsets.
They’re also physically different. Paladins are ritually infused with the Light and carry it inside them. They aren’t just priests who pick up a sword and plate armor, they’re beacons of the Light. Whereas priests use it externally, like a mage channels the arcane. Paladins again are just not a thing of interest or necessity in some societies. They haven’t all crossed that line.
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But couldn’t that priest, that is wielding the torch, use the torch to become a paladin?
No
Just cuz you go to church and pray to jesus before you eat your tacos doesnt mean you have the unwavering devotion to become a deacon
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I thought they hijacked a Naaru and just sucked the Light out of him.
Originally yes
After the burning crusade and the cleansing of the suntwell theyve been using that
In one of the books I forget which one, we follow Liadrin as she’s a priest, she makes the transition to a paladin during The Scourge conflict, she starts by picking up a hammer and saving someone.
She makes some kind of statement “One of you will teach me how to wield this, yes?”
That would be my take too, but I am guessing there is more to it.
Personally this late in the game it wouldn’t hurt to loosen the class/race restrictions.
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There really isn’t. People forget Human Paladins, the core and posture child paladin race, literally became Paladins by training their Clerics in martial skills.
Only difference between Paladins and Priest are Priest simply don’t dedicate their efforts to the martial skills, they focus more into the power and mind.
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Liadrin went from priest to warrior to pally. She became a warrior after she briefly lost her faith in the light but still wanted to fight Scourge in the Ghostlands.
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Only the best can become paladins and the ones who can play a paladin are the true races, with humans the #1
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I have no idea why Night Elves can’t be paladins… given the whole Warrior of Elune narrative and the Tauren Sunwalkers and Zandalari Paladins as precedent from deviations on Pally lore.
Maybe it will be too jarring for them to be cosmetically wielding bright-yellow powers?
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In theory yes. But some races have been given priest for convenience like gnomes, so they could be given Paladins too. Just wouldn’t have as much lore behind it.
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If I recall correctly, gnome priests are field medics… I’m not quite sure how they heal with magic, but there is even a gnome priest npc in SW dressed in surgeon’s garbs.
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You’re absolutely right.
North fleet medics. So I guess for them it’s more of an application of their intelligence that makes them priests.
Like others have pointed out Priests wield the Light while Paladins are a conduit for it.
Granted there isn’t much of a reason that if a race can wield the Light that they can’t make the jump to Paladins in the same way that Humans did after the first war when they realized it was a tad problematic to put all of their clerics in cloth on the front lines so they started teaching them martial combat.
There is even a case in lore of there being an Undead Paladin in Sir Zeiliek. However being that Paladins are a conduit, being an Undead Paladin is a bit like setting yourself on fire in the hopes of burning your enemies.
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Yeah, and plus… if everything for Holy doesn’t make sense, there are Forsaken and Void Elves that technically (without maybe a few exceptions) can only bask into the Shadow spec.
TBH Priest is the only class in WoW that has opposite powers within their specs.
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