Chi is a secondary resource used by monks. It is the Pandaren word for “Spirit”, the same primal life force used by shamans to heal and to commune with elementals. Monks harness their inner chi (i.e. inner spirit) to power their abilities, while using their bodies as their main weapon: the chi is directed to control the battlefield by enhancing own’s movement and restricting foe’s, healing allies while simultaneously damaging enemies, or invoking celestial spirits to aid in battle.
Monks are differentiated from shamans in their inability to ask the elements for help.
Like it said, it is channeled through the Celestials.
Also, are Elementals inherently living things? No, they aren’t. They are literally inanimate objects kept “alive” by that (same) energy.
I don’t think that’s wholly correct.
By allowing all races to be all classes (mostly, so far) they’re actually contributing a point of lore to the overall Warcraft universe. Namely, that magical elements/forces are external elements that operate on higher rules, such that they can be harnessed regardless of your own personal implicit magical characteristics.
So, a Lightforged Draenei is implicitly associated with the Light, and have inherent powers that utilize their nature. However, Fel or Void or Light magics don’t rely on inherent characteristics, but broader principles, and can be utilized regardless. It’s like the idea that a Knight (associated with swords or lances) is fully capable of pulling a trigger on a gun. The gun’s use isn’t limited by the inherent traits associated with the Platonic idea of “a knight.”
Likewise, while we started out with significant racial class restrictions, this was cultural, rather than hard limits. Night Elf characters couldn’t be mages originally, despite Night Elf mages existing in the game since vanilla (in Dire Maul). Despite possibly the most powerful mage to ever live on Azeroth (Azshara) being a Night Elf. Players couldn’t be mages because the Night Elves players got to be came from a particular culture that forbade it.
So, in the two decades since vanilla, a lot of the old cultural distinctions have vanished, and many different races have been integrated into the Horde and Alliance: extremely cosmopolitan organizations that serve as a kind of melting pot.
Most races can be most classes because of the perpetual march of centralization and globohomogeneity.
Given the time scale that some of these races have implemented their belief systems and entire civilizations (10,000 years) that makes no sense to just radically alter your culture in basically a day.
After the sundering, the Night Elves (who used to have tons of mages) retreated into the woods and hid for ten thousand years. Their druids were asleep for most of that time. In modern times, they STILL live partially in the ruins of their past civilization and partially in trees. They were post apocalyptic survivors until soon after the Dark Portal opened, when they rejoined civilization.
Also I think it’s canon that the reintroduction of Night Elf mages in Cataclysm was due to integration of the Shen’dralar (who never stopped using arcane magic), but then the floodgates opened.
How many peoples who came to America became fully integrated Americans within a generation or two? An entire culture can change when a single generation of kids become the new adults.
And most of those people who held those beliefs for 10000 years still do. But most is not all, and now they’re reproducing children and not immortal, and now they’ve seen hope for the future, and met new people whose power outstripped their own. Now they’re integrated into factions that are more powerful than they are, now they’re forced to look at their own culture in light of all the new developments they’ve seen in the past 20 years. In the face of renewed Legion invasions, in the face of new Cataclysms, in the face of the threat of the destruction of the soul of the planet itself.
You’re not going to maintain perfect insular cultural homogeneity in those conditions.
I rolled a Lightforged Draenei Warlock during MoP Remix as a throwaway character and ended up keeping him in the end. It’s absurd that such a race/class option even exists in the game.
If you do the Forsaken Heritage quest when seeking allied help in maldraxxus its explained. Necromancy is necromancy, either through means of death, light or whatever other type of magic is used. Trying to differentiate between how its performed doesnt matter.
While this is true I’m not entirely sure that applies in this case. The Lich King (Bolvar) is using death based necromancy regardless when he makes his Death Knights. So its still a Light and Death interaction with LFD. Its still not a problem for the reasons I mentioned above but the Lich King sure ain’t using the Light to do his undead making.
