The Unofficial Saurok Playable Race Discussion Megathread! 🐊

Bagzak-rexxar · June 29, 2019, 12:01am

Good news! My summer class is close to finishing, so I may find some more time to do more Saurok research and write some for this thread. Speaking of, I was thinking of some possible adversaries for playable Saurok.

As I mentioned before, the Mogu would be a likely choice, given the history between Saurok and Mogu. We know there are Mogu in BfA collecting azerite, and they could explore to find more territory, discover where the playable Saurok tribe would reside, see how far they have advanced as a species, and try to wipe them out as they perceive them to be a threat. I honestly feel like this would have great storyline potential and meaning, given Saurok history. If the Mogu are armed with azerite equipment, it could put the playable Saurok tribe at a disadvantage, making them more likely to seek help with the Horde, who would have landed on the continent in exploration.

Another choice of adversary would be the Skumblade Tribe. I could see them possibly advancing in civilization as well, but, given their society, are hellbent on destroying those they find as “lesser” in the name of Kros, their god, and are engaged in a war with the playable Saurok tribe. A reason for said war could be because the playable Saurok tribe could worship another devilsaur god, though they would still know that the Mogu created them, that is an adversary to Kros. I feel like this would take some creative writing, but could be something interesting if done right.

Between the two, I lean more towards the Mogu being the main enemy of the playable Saurok. I feel like such a rivalry could be very memorable and have great potential.

I’ll write more when I get the chance. Right now, I have more studying to do…blarg… x- x

Fallynn-wyrmrest-accord · July 4, 2019, 2:19am

Hmmm, I wonder what classes would be good for these folk. Once again I want to say druid, because I think they’d make AWESOME druids. They have to have some semblance of connection to either the dream, nightmare, or drust though, which isn’t currently a thing. Luckily, perhaps a story can be made later. The lore is open ended right now.

Bagzak-rexxar · July 4, 2019, 9:22pm

This gives me a good idea to do what I did in the Ogre megathread and go over each of the current classes, typing up my opinion on if each class fits or not.

For Saurok Druids, I do have a hard time seeing them although I am not opposed to them at all. In order to make them work, I would guess that one way is that the Saurok would realize that there is no hunt if they kill all the animals, and are making sure the habitats are protected so that the cycle of life can continue. Not so much tree-huggers but environmentalists in a sense, given how important hunting and meat would be to them.

It could also be something similar to how Zandalari Paladins or Gnome Priests are in game, in which they function differently from what you would expect from said classes, Gnome Priests being field medics for example instead of actual priests, but for game mechanic purposes, are called that.

I do agree with this. Seeing as Saurok would need a lot of creative writing when implementing them as a playable race, it’s possible to have a tribe/civilization that could fit different classes, so arguments could be made for Saurok Druids, Mages, and such.

Although I gave my opinion in the first post over the classes I see Saurok having, I’ll do a more thorough examination of all the classes in the near future. To anyone reading this, feel free to post opinions in this thread on classes you’d like to see Saurok have or think fit them also!

In the meantime, it’s currently the 4th of July at the time of this post, so I’m going to unleash my inner Saurok and munch on a bunch of BBQ meat.

Bagzak-rexxar · July 9, 2019, 3:08am

So like I did with Ogres in the Ogre megathread, I thought I would go through all the current class choices and talk about my thoughts regarding each choice. Bear in mind that this is all my opinion and would be happy to see others talk about what classes they particular would like for Saurok.

On that note, because a lot of creativity would need to be written for playable Saurok, many of these class choices could be debatable because the lore could be open ended. With that said, here are my thoughts:

Death Knight- Maybe. If Saurok were an allied race, likely not. As a core race, it might be debatable if some that sailed through the mists around Pandaria might have run into the Lich King’s armies and became their servants. More than likely, as much as I’d like to see Saurok Death Knights, I’m not sure if they would be possible at all. It also depends how Blizzard will deal with new Death Knight races in the future, also.

Demon Hunter- Nope. Demon Hunters, at the time of this post, are still an elf-only club. Besides, Saurok would be able to rip demons to shreds quite easily without becoming a Demon Hunter.

Druid- Nope. This is a class that might become debatable depending on what new Saurok lore comes out. As it is, right now, I don’t see Saurok caring much about protecting nature outside of regulating habitats and ecosystems for prey for their hunts. Who knows what will happen in the future, though?

Hunter- Yep! Saurok love to hunt, and they’ve been shown to have pets in some tribes. These hunters would not be weak, as shown in the Skumblade Tribe, and would instead be fulfilling a role for their civilization by helping supply food and such. As of right now, I view the red basilisk I mentioned previously as their starting pet.

Mage- Nope. In my opinion, I don’t see Saurok that dedicated to reading spell books and practicing mage spells. It would really depend how advance their civilization gets. I will admit, I still need to do some research on Saurok mob classes to see if any are mages, but as it stands, I just personally don’t see it. Again, a debatable class.

Monk- Yep! Saurok would likely know how to fight with their claws and tails, and coming from Pandaria, I don’t see why they wouldn’t be able to be monks. If anything, joining the Horde would mean Pandarens that help teach them, much like they have with other Horde races.

Paladin- Nope. I don’t see Saurok being Paladins. Most would likely be more concerned with gathering meat from fallen prey or enemies than engaging in moral philosophy. Even thinking in terms of Zandalari Paladins, I honestly don’t see it.

Priest- Yep! Saurok Priests do exist in some tribes, like the Skumblade Tribe. They might act as a higher tier religious figure for a god they worship compared to other classes. I also see them being Shadow Priests easily.

Rogue- Yep! Saurok I see as being capable of being sneaky and ambushing prey they find. They could act as scouts or even assist hunters in hunts for more meat.

Shaman- Yep! Given Saurok civilization, the Shaman class seems like a natural fit. There are plenty of Saurok mobs that are shamans, also, and if they join the Horde, I could see the other races’ shamans working with Saurok shamans as they both learn from each other.

Warlock- Yep! While I don’t see Saurok as mages, I can see them as warlocks. Given they were created using a form of dark magic, it’s possible on their raids on the Mogu that they could’ve come across warlock artifacts or spells and manage to decipher them to start working with fel magic.

Warrior- Yep! Obviously, the warrior class is a natural fit for Saurok. They will charge into battle and get in nice and close to the enemy. Maybe even sneaking a bite here and there, if they are particularly hungry.

My final verdict: Hunter, Monk, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, and Warrior.

As I said before, all of what I typed previously is my opinion so please feel free to give opinions on classes you would want for Saurok.

Vorawsoul-moon-guard · July 9, 2019, 3:11am

Isn’t there a female saurok in Hearthstone?

Bagzak-rexxar · July 9, 2019, 3:14am

Yes there is! I linked it in the first post, but I’ll link it again:

Female Saurok in Hearthstone

Hearthstone does do some things differently from WoW, but many aspects or ideas have been inspired from Hearthstone. If we got female Saurok in WoW, they might look different from in Hearthstone.

Sinjo-amanthul · July 9, 2019, 3:16am

Blizzard should have known they were opening Pandora’s box by introducing Allied Races in BFA. Now every time a new race is introduced we’re going to see 1000 post “Official!” Threads for people wanting the new races to be playable.

For god sake people not every race in the game needs to be playable, WoW literally used to have a total of 4 races per faction and we did just fine.

Fallynn-wyrmrest-accord · July 9, 2019, 3:18am

Excuse us for expressing the want for an addition to the game. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to play it. There’s nothing wrong with sharing ideas and enjoying the idea of more diversity in races being added into the game. It’s not like we’re destroying the lore of something like some ideas, in this case we’re trying to add to it.

Bagzak-rexxar · July 11, 2019, 2:40am

I’ve been looking into the current scale colors for the Saurok models in game, and wanted to post a few I’ve found on Wowhead:

I’m likely missing a few other colors, which as I look up Saurok mobs for research, I’ll try to collect and post them.

Something else that might be fun is to look up are different types of lizards in the real world with neat color patterns that would go well on a Saurok. I’m sure there are all kinds of patterns that would work very well for them. I’m assuming that were Saurok to ever get to be playable, new models would be made for male and females, since in-game it’s just an edited male Worgen model being used for male Saurok. Some previously NPC-only races, like Nightborne, got different player models compared to their NPC models in-game, and it would allow more customization options, in my opinion.

More Saurok research to come as I slowly find stuff.

Laeth-hakkar · July 11, 2019, 9:06am

GASP They fused O.O

Byucknah-agamaggan · July 12, 2019, 2:38pm

I have always found the Lizard Man race to be an interesting one ever since my days of EQ. Now, personally, I played Everquest Online Adventures because I didn’t have a PC capable of running EQ back then so I never got to play as one but they were an NPC race in EQOA.

Needless to say, I always thought they were super cool and back then was rather jealous that PC EQ got them as a player race and we didn’t.

One of the posts in this thread I really enjoyed reading, because it makes reference to the Iksar who were the Lizard race of EQ, can be found here.

Lizard Fold have always had a place in fantasy and have been a staple of games like D&D for ages. Honestly, more unique and interesting races like the Saurok would be cool to see in WoW and I am honestly glad we live in a time where Allied Races, as a system, exist

Nothing wrong with that, I know this is an old post but races don’t have to be for everyone

Alamara-goldrinn · July 12, 2019, 2:44pm

I know, I was just giving my input. People are free to disagree.

Byucknah-agamaggan · July 12, 2019, 2:49pm

Kinda defensive when I said, again…

I was not attempting to invalidate your opinion on the matter in any capacity, I was giving my input just as you had done.

Bagzak-rexxar · July 12, 2019, 3:05pm

Found another Saurok scale color/pattern on Wowhead:

Still missing some more, I am sure.

Lizard men have always been one of my favorite races, and is a big reason I started this megathread. Happy to see there are other Lizard Man fans.

I never knew the Iksar were in EQOA at all, since to my knowledge Kunark wasn’t part of that game. I never played the game either, though I did look up some aspects of it back in my EQ1 days. I should look that up to see what they did with them in there.

WoW, in my opinion, would benefit greatly from having a playable lizardman race. There are many ways to customize them, and they would be very unique. Saurok do have an uphill battle, as I mentioned before, but it isn’t like writing for them would be impossible. After all, races like the Gilblins use to just be all male Goblins mooks that gathered treasure and attacked everyone, and now they’re a potential allied race.

That said, it’s good to see another Lizard Man fan and a fellow Everquest player! Welcome to the megathread!

Byucknah-agamaggan · July 12, 2019, 3:34pm

They were hostile NPC’s in the Ogre starting zone in the Frontiers expansion, I remember clearly because of a certain quest that sent you to a tower to kill one at the top of a tower… that blasted quest… I will never forget it.

Elìas-wyrmrest-accord · July 15, 2019, 10:58pm

This is a good point. Things like Gilgoblins have been shown previously as just bitter enemies to anyone they’ve come across, but this patch we’ve been able to see their actual story. I feel like there indeed is room for a story for Saurok too. I know that there’s quite a few that desire some Pandaria races, and rolling a Saurok would be a whole lot of fun. Since chances are we’ll never get playable dragons, this would be the next best thing for sure.

Nøkken-dalaran · July 16, 2019, 1:29am

Saurok colors are greenish, blue, green, orange, and white

https://coinsh.red/ipfs/QmTJaBsgR28g3QiBbtSjoQDrkZja5ik3DQueqRkqUWJjL2

Bagzak-rexxar · July 16, 2019, 1:06pm

With any new race getting to be playable, regardless of who they are, new lore is either going to be created or will be edited to fit the narrative. It’s how we got NPC races, that were previously angry enemy mook usually with just a male model, to be playable and fleshed out. For Saurok in particular, it would be needed to make it work, and it isn’t impossible. The main theme regarding new races is that the devs state they add them when it fits the story, and if there was one story that fit playable Saurok being inserted, then they would be. Same with other races that would become playable in the future.

A post I plan to make in the near future is looking at the different Saurok tribes out there. There are about 16 of them, though most don’t have much to them and just serve as angry mooks to kill for questlines and really wouldn’t fit the bill as the playable faction of Saurok.

I mention this because one idea I had was a group of Saurok that assisted the Saurok rebellion against Mogu command and helped to take on the Mogu Empire, but then noticed that different tribes formed, squabbling over territory. Given all the different tribes crowding Pandaria, and that the Mogu were actively hunting them, this particular tribe just gathered everyone willing to come with them and figured out a way out of the mists around Pandaria, as one of the other Saurok tribes did, to find fortune and survival elsewhere.

If Saurok were to become an allied race, I could see the rep grind needed for them to at least fit a narrative. Likely, they would be distrusting at first when the Horde first meets them, getting to be more friendly after some story events, and then events would happen that would cause them to consider joining the Horde. I see some interesting story potential, while fleshing out this particular tribe’s civilization.

As I said before, Saurok have an uphill battle, but not an impossible one. Posting ideas and discussions help to inspire creativity, and while the existence of this megathread is not a guarantee that Saurok would become playable, it is something and that is better than nothing at all.

Trihexa-silvermoon · July 16, 2019, 5:50pm

Some notes about the pirates. Brinescale appears to be the tribe they are from. Also the captain of the Bilge Rats crew that they belong to is a Vulpera. The quartermaster is a Saurok though. This apparently makes him second in command and the ships helmsman.

Also considering the majority of Saurok pirates use water magic makes me think they fullfill the same role as the sea priests and shamans do on Kul Tiran and Zandalar vessels.

Also the Kul Tirans locked them up like the other pirates. They weren’t really treated any differently than Dwarf or Worgen pirates.

There could be a more peaceful Saurok tribe that worships the Tidemother.

Also out of the 5 reptilian races they probably have the least model issues.
Naga and flamewalkers have snake tails. Sethrak would need most helmets redesigned. Tortollans shells would get in the way.

Bagzak-rexxar · July 17, 2019, 2:07am

That would make 17 different Saurok tribes then. It’d be interesting to see why they worked together with the other NPC races in that pirate crew. I’m sure that the Bilge Rats were just made to act as mooks for questlines while generally being an annoyance to players in the area they reside, and likely not much thought was put in it other than it being cute to have a Vulpera pirate captain with some currently NPC races as their crew. I doubt these pirates would become anything more than that.

Saurok strike me as being amphibious, in that they work well on land and in the water, but would they be that attuned to the water? I know one of the tribes, the Deepscale Tribe, managed to get past the mists surrounding Pandaria possibly by swimming, but they’re the ones newbie Pandarens fight on the Wandering Isle. I also don’t recall them using much in the way of water based attacks, though it has been awhile since I made my Pandaren characters.

It’s a neat idea, for sure. Maybe whatever god the playable Saurok worship can be an amphibious and ferocious looking creature that promotes hunts on land and in the sea. I imagine Saurok fishing involves grabbing harpoons and hunting in the waters for fish as opposed to sitting around with a fishing pole and bait.

A lot would depend on what customization options Saurok would get. The main issues I could see are if they get horns or spikes and if they get frills. Likely, most of these would just disappear when wearing armor.

Still, very neat ideas to think about!