So youāre saying you like Saurok?
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Saurok Saurok Saurok!
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Saurok Co-ā¦playable raceā¦
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I have successfully paid my respects to Kroshik for that one achievement!
I had to keep checking each day to see what was up. The first day was just the baby and sacrificed versions, the second day was the baby, egg, and sacrificed versions, the third day was just the baby, and the fourth day had the adult version I needed.
I also found that the adult version is attackable, mostly for hunters to tame it I assume, so my advice is to check each location of what you need each day and maybe wait a few minutes to see if the Adult version spawns. I couldnāt find the spawn timer for it, so I donāt know how long it takes for him to respawn.
On the subject of achievements, there are a few more for-fun Saurok related achievements.
This one just requires you to be on the Heroic version of MoguāShan Palace, located right below where the Lorewalkers reside in the MoP version of Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
After the first boss, you go down some steps to the next section. Eventually, a Glintrok Scout will pull a Metal Gear Solid and spot you, causing a 5 minute timer countdown. You just need to rush where Gekkan is and kill him and the other Saurok bosses to get this achievement.
There are a few other non-Saurok related achievements for the Heroic version of this dungeon, one of which is a bit hard to do solo for most classes, for those looking to do some achievements for fun.
This one is an annoying one that Iām still working on. It involves going to where the Skumblade Saurok are on Isle of Thunder and squashing roaches. Really helps if you have the Saurok form unlocked for the area, as well as tracking the achievement on your screen as itāll both tell you the number of roaches you squashed and a timer when you begin (both reset if you fail). Itās also a required achievement for those looking for the āStormbreakerā title achievement reward.
Speaking of the Saurok form, I finally got that daily! The way it works is when youāre not mounted or in combat in the Skumblade area, itāll automatically turn you into a Saurok after a few seconds. If you attack a mob, youāll have to get out of combat and wait a second to get the form back. Your jump turns into a giant fast leap, which is a fun way to travel. Iāll have to do some exploring when I get the chance. It only works in the Skumblade area also.
Still hoping for a day I can have a real Saurok character that I can travel with across all the word (of Warcraft!). In the meantime, Iāll continue to look for more Saurok-related things of interest! 
More Saurok research to continue in the future! 
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AHAH. I remember this.
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I was doing some dailies on Pandaria for various reps, and I came across an interesting quest! It involves a daily quest for the August Celestials where you have to beat up some named Saurok thatā¦were allowed in the area and also behave themselves. I think I found yet another interesting find!
First, the link to the quest, given to you by Xuen, one of the August Celestials:
So you can likely tell this is a humorous take on pick-up groups, but itās something worth analyzing!
The Saurok in question are these three folks:
I canāt really tell what tribe they are from at all. Talking to them just gives some humorous flavor text making fun of the whole tank-healer-dps holy trinity that is present in pick-up groups.
Despite being a jokeā¦we have some actual friendly Saurok here interacting in a civilized society among other races. Letās analyze, shall we?
First, they are at Xuenās Temple of the White Tiger as guests. Somehow, they had to approach the area and be friendly enough to be allowed in.
Second, obviously theyāre on their best behavior. Attempting to eat the denizens there would likely be frowned upon and not make them popular at all.
Third, they donāt immediately try to eat your face when they see you. Theyāre pumped up for a fight, but they wait until youāre ready to do so.
Fourth and last, even when they lose, they arenāt really mad at you. Theyāre annoyed with each other, which plays again on the whole P.U.G. joke, but talking to them afterwards has them mention training to become better next time you meet them. Theyāre determined to get better as opposed to all āRAWR HOW DID I LOSE I AM NOT THE WEAKLING HERE RAWRā youād likely expect.
So not only do we have Saurok able to be part of a civilized area peacefully, itās during MoP! So they have some intelligence and restraint to be able to function in a society of some sort! It seems like there may be some friendly Saurok on Pandaria afterall, and somehow contact was made between these three Saurok and one of the Celestials. I really wish I knew what tribe they came from and more of their backstory!
ā¦and yes, I mentioned this before, but I know the whole thing is a joke making fun of pick-up groups, likely not meant for nerds like myself to think too deeply on. Itās funny how a lot of interesting things Iāve analyzed about Saurok come from things meant as a joke or to be silly. Still, we have more evidence that Saurok are capable of working with others and also obey rules of a society! An interesting find, to be sure!
Iāll continue looking around Pandaria for more Saurok-related stuff, but despite this being meant as a jokeā¦I think itās a pretty awesome find.
More Saurok research to continue in the future!
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You likely have heard by now, but the Shadowlands official release date is the 26th for the US (27th for Europe). You can see a global release time and date here:
As I mentioned before, I donāt really expect much Saurok related during Shadowlands, other than some really dead (and likely hungry) Saurok around, but if I happen to see anything, Iāll be sure to report it here. Maybe Iāll get to tease Lei Shen and other Mogu in the afterlife for their mistreatment of the Saurok in general.
I did think some about Kroshik, who constantly is hatched from an egg and is sacrificed in the Skumblade area on the Isle of Thunder, and whether he kept going to and from the Shadowlands as he reincarnates. As it turns out, he apparently gets defiled and twisted while becoming a boss in the Siege of Orgrimmar raid:
This is the text during the raid that mentions it, said by a named Skumblade Saurok prisoner:
Akolik yells: Stop, my brothers! Do you not see the beast of burden before you?
Akolik yells: Do you not see the light of Kros? He has been defiled!
Akolik yells: We must consume his flesh, for he is weak! The cycle must continue!"
Another thing of interest is that Nesingwary may have tamed him as a pet at some point after he reincarnated again:
My guess is because of this, Kroshik is likely alive and not constantly being sacrificed, which seeing as he was allegedly a gift to the Skumblade by Kros, I have to wonder what theyāve been up to since then. Likely nothing good, and I doubt theyāre too happy about the situation.
At first, I figured we might see Kroshik in the Shadowlands (and he likely wouldnāt be friendly to us at all), but in this case, Iām guessing heās alive and well currently. He is likely helping against the undead invasion by chomping them along with Nesingwary and his other pets.
Regardless, this is an interesting find to see Kroshikās fate. Kros is still around in some fashion I assume, and it still brings the idea of there being other wild gods that different Saurok tribes could follow. An interesting opportunity for story potential in terms of playable Saurok, of course.
More Saurok research to continue in the future!
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In the story you get from completing the āBetween a Saurok and a Hard Placeā achievement from Lorewalker Cho, a bunch of reptiles walk around to represent the Saurok before they were turned into what they are currently. I managed to find a video that has a closer look at those lizards.
They appear around the 51 second mark in this video if the video does not load around that time:
Looks a lot like basilisks, donāt they? Itās possible that some basilisks were used in the creation of the Saurok, but according to Wowpedia, it mentions this with regards to the lizards used for Saurok creation:
āThe mogu chose several particularly sturdy varieties of local reptiles, and twisted them in body and mind, imbuing them with an upright gait and sufficient intelligence to wield weaponsā
This text, according to the source cited, came from an official Blizzard article, called the āMists of Pandaria Beastiary,ā which goes over several races and species found on Pandaria:
So could basilisks have been used? Itās certainly a possibility seeing as there are some basilisks that inhabit Pandaria, granted Saurok donāt have a petrifying gaze Iām am aware of. Any basilisk features could have been changed or removed with the flesh-shaping magic the Mogu used, seeing as Saurok only have two legs and two arms instead of having second pair of arms or legs.
I do think that basilisks werenāt exclusively used, as mentioned by the text I linked above with the term āvarieties.ā I think the Mogu used whatever reptiles they found. Itās why we see Saurok with different features, such as frills and different scale colors or patterns.
In terms of playable Saurok, having different features and varieties in customization options would play into the idea that several kinds of reptiles were used in their creation. Not to mention that real life reptiles have a lot of great features that would translate well into customization options. In my opinion, there are a lot of customization ideas that would be amazing to work with and design, especially given how the character creation process is being revamped in a few ways. I could really see playable Saurok being able to become very diverse.
As for the basilisks in that story, I think it was just used to make things simple for whoever designed and programmed the story sequence. After all, the important thing was watching the story unfold as opposed to a nerd like me analyzing it to such a degree that I can type several paragraphs over that one detail. Still, it was something I felt was worth mentioning.
Since Iām again at three posts in a row, if someone could make a post in this thread, I would again be appreciative of it so I can continue to make more posts. Iāve been finding a lot of interesting things so far in my journey across Pandaria, and Iāll be continuing to post some more Saurok-related findings.
More Saurok research to continue in the future!
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I suspect that if Blizzard went back and redid that scene right now theyād use the large lizards you see around KulāTiras and Zandalar instead.
Or as you postulate basilisks and other lizards were combined to make them.
Its interesting thoughā¦
What if a playable Saurok, werenāt necessarily āSaurokā but a basilisk version with a stun based racial gaze attack?
Though Iād probably rather that we see Saurok with different skin tones and features to represent being made from multiple lizard types. 
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Basilisks as a customization option would be neat, but in my opinion, they shouldnāt be the sole reptile they are based on.
The idea behind Saurok in general is that they come from multiple reptiles the Mogu used to turn them into what they were, and as such should have a wide range of customization options to represent that fact. Not to mention that people likely would want to make a Saurok based on what theyāve seen of them currently as opposed to being specifically basilisk based.
Imagine there being playable Saurok and running into different player characters. One chose a neat horn and spike design while another might have a magnificent frill or other features. Itās something that offers a lot of creative customization options and would really be fun to design characters around. Itās why being based on multiple lizards is a really awesome part of Saurok backstory. If Blizzard can make some neat differences between the MagāHar Orc tribes, Iām sure a lot could be done with Saurok. 
The racial idea is a neat idea to go with the different types of lizards that make up Saurok, though I donāt know how that would work with regards to balancing and such. I figure something more likely is something similar to Zandalari, where you can choose between different racials that work best for different classes. Sorta how I thought up my tail equipment idea. I do like the idea of different racials based on what reptile your Saurok was created from, though.
Still, I do like the idea of basilisk features being a customization option, as basilisks were likely some of the lizards used in Saurok creation. I just want there to be a variety of customization options based on multiple lizards and for playable Saurok to be very similar in design to how they are currently as NPCās is all.
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Now that would be neat. Different types of Saurok clanā¦ If they went all out they could update tribes like the Scumblade and Clearscale to be more unique to one another. (and all the other tribes) use the features to show what tribe youāre from.
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Different Saurok tribes sounds really cool. Iād love to see more lore like that.
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There are quite a few Saurok tribes, though there isnāt much to most of them. There is a full list here:
I think if Blizzard were to go with existing tribes as the playable race, the best and easiest thing would be to have them all unite together against as one tribe against a huge threat, likely Mogu related, that is constantly hunting them down. The Skumblade would need to kick out their zealot leaders and start cleaning up their living areas before you could do anything with them, however. I donāt see them being friendly at all otherwise.
In such a scenario where they start getting hunted down by Mogu, it would give all the tribes a reason to band together as well as actually communicate and work with the Pandaren who have tried to make peace with them constantly, according to Lorewalker Cho. It likely would give a new Saurok rep to grind out and some pretty neat quest ideas, such as riding Galleon and blasting enemies, assisting the Glintrok in strikes against the enemy, and other things that relate to existing Saurok tribes and NPCās. It would also give roleplaying opportunities to have your Saurok be from one of the previous tribes.
Even if Saurok werenāt destined as an allied race during BfA, it wouldāve been more interesting to see them and a few other Pandaria races coming together to fight against Nāzoth. Instead, we get the Clearscale as a primitive form of Saurok that nobody thinks about helping to save them. Itās especially apparent when you do the questline with Chen, who is more concerned with his booze. I suppose I could try to explain my plan to Li Li, but sheād probably look at me funny. Of course, I try to free the Clearscale, and they just try to attack me afterwards, which is different than the Saurok slaves on the Isle of Thunder who previously just attack Mogu when you free them. Go figureā¦
Working with the current Saurok tribes as the playable Saurok faction is possible, though it would take some creative writing. Not impossible, of course, though Iām not sure if it would be easier with a brand new tribe elsewhere on a new expansion continent or with an older existing tribe or tribes. Really depends on what Blizzard would want to do with playable Saurok as an expansion feature.
Either way, as long as I get playable Horde Saurok, Iām happy.
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Fingers crossed that someone does look into all the work you put in and gets a good idea ^^ Never know. I still would roll a Saurok in a heartbeat.
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If and when we get Saurok Iāve already been planning out several characters for playing on an rp realm. A saurok warrior who scavenges mogu ruins for weapons and armor to repurpose and a savage swamp/jungle themed saurok rogue. Also a guild themed around a saurok warband lead by my warrior.
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I have at least three Saurok characters in mind to make if they become playable with certain classes, with a potential fourth. I havenāt thought too much on their backstory or design, as it would depend on what playable Saurok backstory in general would be as well as customization options.
I remember when I first got into Everquest 1, seeing a website for an Iksar-only guild in the game. I imagined leading a whole group of Iksar on a conquest across the different continents and raiding the different towns and stuff, even if it wasnāt a practical thing to actually do in the game. Iād be curious if anyone would create Saurok-only guilds, especially on role-playing servers. I think there would be a lot of role-playing opportunities for them.
Maybe if they become playable, I should help lead some Saurok attacks on Alliance cities. The sight of all the Saurok causing chaos in Stormwind would be really fun and make for some awesome screenshots and such.
Hopefully, playable Horde Saurok will become a thing someday. I know Iāll keep marching my support for them as best as I can.
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If there is one thing Iāve learned from my adventures on Pandaria, is that the Mogu are jerks!..and that they also have a potential to make for great villains. Iāve mentioned before that playable Saurok should have enemy Mogu involved in their story, but there is an important thing about them than just a great story.
With Mogu as villains to playable Saurok, it helps give Saurok both an evolved personality as well as gaining sympathy from players while getting invested in the Saurok storylines.
The Mogu make pretty good villains in general. Theyāre made for you to hate them and also have the power to back up their talks. Theyāre also versatile enough that they would work as villains of a smaller part of an expansion, something along the size of Mechagon, or would work great as a main villain of an expansion in general.
The Mogu are all about domination of everything and subjugation of everyone, whether it is through life or death. There are many instances of them using mind control or even spirits as slaves.
One example in-game is this rare in the MoP version of Vale of Eternal Blossoms:
Heās flanked by two Paleblade Saurok who are under mind control. Sadly, killing him doesnāt free the two Saurok with him. Not to mention that the Mogu are trying to mind control the Paleblade Saurok in that area to be slaves.
There are also Saurok slaves under mind control on the Isle of Thunder Iāve mentioned a few times:
Freeing them from the Mogu that drag them around in chains just causes them to go RAWR and despawn. They apparently use to attack other Mogu mobs and likely despawning when their target dies. I always free them whenever I go through the area.
Then there are the Clearscale mobs, who I can only assume are under a mind control of some kind:
There is something about the idea of a villain who thinks because they created you, through a painful manner of course, that you are theirs to serve and not even death will save you that is utterly terrifying. It does however have an opportunity to give some character to Saurok.
Imagine a tribe of Saurok that left Pandaria to get away from the Mogu, seeing the in-fighting with other Saurok getting in the way of fighting against the Mogu, and you go to a secluded, uninhabited continent. For many years, they form a civilization with their own beliefs, culture, and such that is miles better than being former slaves. Then, all of a sudden, your sworn enemy finds you and begins to destroy everything you have built in order to enslave you again.
Sounds like a pretty epic story, doesnāt it? Itās something that would certainly give sympathy from the players to these Saurok, which would also help to get them invested in the storyline. It also helps play into the Horde getting involved, many members of which were former slaves themselves with some likely seeing parallels with what the Saurok have gone through with themselves, such as the Orcs. The Mogu would be a threat not just to Saurok, but the whole world if they were gaining in power again, and for something like the Horde, they obviously would fight against being enslaved both in life and in death.
There is a lot of great story potential reintroducing Mogu as huge villains again, and through that, it can really add a lot to playable Saurok backstory and personality. Not to mention that eventually defeating villains that you love to hate would feel really awesome at the finale of the expansion. As such, I feel like evil Mogu should be involved in playable Saurok storylines. Until then, when I see enslaved Saurok, Iāll be sure to free them.
More Saurok research to continue in the future!
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That story offers the option for playable Mogu to the opposite faction.
Maybe not the exact ones being the villain but it could be used to give a race to both sides.
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They can certainly do something similar to the Rajani on the Alliance side. It would also spark more of the faction war between the Horde and Alliance if Saurok did join the Horde and having their mortal enemy on the Alliance side.
In all honesty, playable Mogu would make me worry about playable Saurok chances, especially if they put Mogu on the Horde. Saurok working alongside Mogu willingly, even if said Mogu arenāt anything like the evil Mogu weāve seen, is something I personally canāt see ever working and it is a reason I was very worried when I made the post about the Rajani Mogu as a potential allied race when we first discovered them.
However, I will say that I have seen people want Mogu playable and have see them mentioned more than Saurok. There is nothing wrong with wanting Mogu playable, after all we all have races we want playable, but my own personal opinion is that Mogu make for much better villains than something weād see as a playable race.
As long as it doesnāt hurt playable Horde Saurok chances, low as it is already, then Iām not entirely against it. Again, just my personal opinion.
It has been awhile since I did a real life lizard analysis in order to gain some playable Saurok idea inspiration. For this post, Iām going to look at the Komodo Dragon!
First, a few videos about them:
With these videos, letās see what kind of features they have that would work with Saurok.
First, komodo dragons are venomous. I donāt believe there is anything in-game that would imply that Saurok were venomous, unless a specific type of lizard got turned into a Saurok by the Mogu. Venomous features, in my opinion, are a thing better left for Sethrak, as itās more character defining for them.
Second, Komodo dragons have tough scales for protection. Another reptile that supports the idea that Saurok should have natural armor of some kind as a passive racial.
Third, komodo dragons are excellent swimmers. Something that Saurok in general should also be with fast natural swimming and can hold their breath longer than other races.
Fourth, komodo dragons are excellent hunters while utilizing their tongues as a way to track others. This is something Saurok could use in order to have some innate form of tracking as a racial. Itās also something that would work well with Sethrak.
Fifth, komodo dragons are sadly hunted illegally. This did give me the idea of quests Saurok could get of Alliance hunters trying to hunt them for their scales to make scale armor of some kind. I suppose Nesingwary could also be involved, but Iād prefer to stop him in this particular hunt as opposed to joining him on his rampage against lizards.
Sixth, komodo dragons are able to climb very well. Not sure if this is something that could be utilized in the game for Saurok, except in very specific locations, but worth mentioning.
All in all, some ideas that Iāve mentioned before with a few new ones. There were some beautiful scale patterns in the videos to show off as well. Iām sure there are many more reptiles to look at for more Saurok inspiration, which I will do more of in the future.
More Saurok research to continue in the future!
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