Honestly, while I do feel Void Elves have some big issues (asspulled out of nowhere, shoddy lore, originated from Blood Elves instead of High Elves, etc), I think most of any negativity shown towards them by pro-high elf fans stems from Void Elves replacing High Elves as the allied race we got for BfA pre-order. Had we gotten High Elves and later Void Elves, I don’t think you’d see any vitriol from the pro-high elfers.
As for the “same goals and characteristics”, I’m not really sure why you’d think that. Void Elves have their own fantasy that is decidedly nothing like the High Elf fantasy. Void Elves also have their own goals that have nothing to do with the goals of the High Elves. And finally Void Elves are former Blood Elves. They originate from a decidedly different perspective than the High Elves we are asking for do.
I like Void Elves, and despite their flaws, I think they have potential. But ultimately, the Void Elf fantasy is so far removed from the High Elf fantasy, that even in the unlikely event that Blizzard gave Void Elves High Elf customization options (which I really don’t see happening), they still wouldn’t “scratch the itch” that the High Elf fantasy would.
As for the High Elf npcs we see in the rift, as far as we know, currently there is no way to make more Void Elves. Blizzard devs said the Void Elves are looking into ways to make more. But right now there isn’t any way to make more and even if a way is discovered, you’d be hard pressed to find any significant number of sane individuals willing to undergo the process and have maddening whispers forever in their head.
Even if you write Wrath trainers off, there’s still Champion Isimode, Caladis Brightspear, Frostfencer Seraphi who was just added in this expansion (so much for “Wrath was elf-happy”), Mehlar Dawnblade before he became a Blood Elf, and probably Thalorien Dawnseeker, even though as an NPC he uses Warrior abilties, he was a member of the Royal Guard and had a mana bar.
I’m also inclined to say that Karam Magespear’s eyes were a mistake since they put him in Alliance-themed armor with lions plastered all over it.
And there’s Arator.
Yes, he’s a half-elf, but he’s pretty much a high elf roster character. If a high elf can be a paladin, so can a high elf.
And there’s even generic high elf paladins in their class hall. Once you get a generic NPC for a certain class, IMO, it’s pretty much confirmed that class is not restricted to special individuals.
I like this kind of thing when the character’s background is known, so we understand why he’s unique. Like Valeera, for instance. When we have no knowledge of a character’s past, it’s just confusing.
tbf, the elves of quel’thalas were allies of the original alliance of lordaeron during wc2. who later on would become completely apathetic to the plights of their allies and secede from this alliance
it was after this the silver covenant elves, who very FEW in number, would migrate to human cities. theyve only been separated for 24 years. thats not very long and definitely not long enough to have become distinct enough from the blood elves and quel’thalas they originate from. they are just another flavor of blood elf ater all
besides political affiliation they are completely the same. they are kind of like relics, referring to themselves as queldorei still. which literally means from quel’thalas, and the people of quel’thalas renamed themselves sindorei to honor all they lost during the scourge invasion
its a very strange narrative blizzard has given them. we still dont know what they want or are trying to do as a people because they arent really out there like the other races. theyve been relegated to flavor NPCs. i dont think blizzard knew what to do with them and thats why they came out with void elves and have been focusing on that narrative with umbric and alleria, who are both void elves now, in bfa
Yeah, my first game was Warcraft II as well. I fell in love with the Ranger units and Alleria Windrunner, which was the big inspiration for my character, his class, and his appearance. Its one of the reasons that if we do get playable High elves I hope they get tattoos as well.
Arator is a half-elf, and son of Turalyon. That is why he is a Paladin. I don’t count him and neither should you. He’s a rare race and rare case.
Silver Hand Shield-Bearer sounds about as dubious and generic as any flavor NPC I’ve seen. Hardly a precedent for a class.
Rulen Lightsreap is again, one of the trainer NPCs I referenced, who is tandem with Summoner Nolric as a case for a Warlock. They are two Silver Covenant aligned instances of the respective classes.
Cellian Daybreak is not mentioned or referenced to be a Paladin, anywhere. A title like Master of Arms lends himself to being a Warrior, but again, dubious.
Champion Isimode, and his Sunreaver counterpart Champion Faesrol, are literally jokes about Paladins, specifically retribution, being an “easymode”, “faceroll” spec (and having played one at the time, they sort of were, especially when Divine Storm did pure unmitigated Holy damage and Judgement hit for stupid on the beta).
I don’t see this list as a very strong case for High Elf Paladins at all. I write off most of Wrath-era content and NPCs that haven’t been used in 10+ years, and that includes the two on this list as well as people like Auric, because it’s clear someone on the design team in wrath couldn’t stop painting it with elves.
So if we’re talking about recent precedents, you’re going with Arator and a generic Silver Hand shieldbearer as sufficient?
The greater point is Thalassians getting Paladins was a huge break in the lore, from Metzen’s own mouth, and they wrote lore to make it work by having Blood Elves directly subjugate Light magic and wield it as such.
Handing it to High Elves would be a handout and infringment on a major facet of Blood Elven lore.
Also, if we’re going to go off recent precedents, Legion set the stage for Night Elf Paladins as the Alliance’s next race to use that option, in a much stronger way than a generic Silver Hand flavor NPC does for an unplayable race.
Stated that High Elven Mage-Priests and Sorcerers/Sorceresses stayed in the Alliance. Which is obvious in the Warcraft III human scenario.
Point 2 - Silver Covenant Elves migrated
This is incorrect. The High Elves we see in WoW are Elves who stayed in the Alliance Military, Elves that were part of the Alliance Military and went with Jaina to Theramore, were part of the Kirin Tor and survived Dalaran’s sacking, Were part of Alleria’s Ranger Corps and went to Outland, High Elves from lodges like Quel’danil Lodge.
Logically it would also include High Elves who were refugees after the Undead Campaign of Warcraft 3 and stayed in the Alliance as well as High Elves that abandoned Silvermoon when they joined the Horde and started installing Fel Crystals in Silvermoon.
The Silver Covenant - We don’t know their start date but they’re first visible in Wrath and are just those High Elves coalescing into one place.
Point 3 - Few in number
Enough to form battalions for the Silver Covenant that can counteract the Sunreavers and support actions in Suramar
Not that it matters. WoW’s population of any race is always, “As many as necessary” and has no bearing on allied races.
Point 4 - 'Quel’dorei literally means from Quel’thalas"
No. Quel means “Children of Noble Birth” in Darnassian or, "High Elves’ in Thalassian. Quel’Thalas in Thalassian means, “High Home.” The Quel’dorei were formerly the Highborne of the Kal’dorei who were banished.
Point 5 - “We don’t know what they are doing or who they are”
Silver Covenant Reputation Tooltip: A militant core of high elves that rejects the admission of blood elves into the Kirin Tor. They’ve united under the banner of Vereesa Windrunner and joined the Alliance forces in Northrend.
Since then they’ve gone on to counter the Sunreavers.
Point 6: I don’t think Blizzard knew what to do with them.
They have no problems in this regard and have included the Silver Covenant in each expansion.
/Fyrebusche Mode - There you go. I’ve corrected the majority of your “False Narratives” with the actual lore. So TBF your post is “Debunked.” /Fyrebusche mode off.
You need to come off this argument because you know, I know, EVERYBODY KNOWS that if there wasn’t a good example of a generic then you would say “four or five guys doesn’t justify adding the class” because that’s exactly the kind of debater you are, mister “blue eyed Tauren.”
He wields a two handed weapon and has a mana bar. I suppose he was a monk? In WotLK?
So was Zen’kiki. Still the only named Darkspear Druid, BTW.
i disagree with many of this. mostly the stuff that cant be backed anywhere but in headcanon. the main thing that needs to happen is distinguishing how are they distinct from blood elves besides political affiliation and arent just another flavor of blood elves. no one has established this, including blizzard
Lydon, this point you’re trying to make is painfully weak.
I get the feeling that you know that’s it’s not rational. Time to give it up.
Not sure why you’ve decided to make, “Don’t believe your eyes! or the evidence in game about Paladins that aren’t Blood Knights” the hill you want to die on.
The original point is they had Paladin and Warlock precedent, as both are Silver Covenant NPCs, and that if you were to use the Wrath era NPCs as jusification, then you must also agree Warlock has justification as well.
Can just go up the chain and read it. I had issue with the notion Paladin had lore precedent and Warlock did not, despite the evidence for both, via the Silver Covenant specifically, being equal.
![:joy:](https://d38bqls1q93fod.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/joy.png?v=6" ":joy:")
![:grin:](https://d38bqls1q93fod.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/grin.png?v=6" ":grin:")
/Fyrebusche mode off.![:rofl:](https://d38bqls1q93fod.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/rofl.png?v=6" ":rofl:")