As per the new Thrall cinematic. Which shows rogues ACTUALLY turning invisible.
I always thought turning invisible was just the way the mechanics of WoW represented rogues physically sneaking around. You know, hiding in the shadows, jumping from one hiding place to the next, avoid watchful eyes, etc.
But this cutscene shows that, no, it’s not just a physical skill, rogues can actually magically turn invisible like a Predator.
Was this a surprise to anyone else?
That means druids can too!
And night elves!
I suppose a Night Elf can Shadowmeld in the middle of broad day light in a grassy plain with no shadows to meld with other than their own?
Neat.
Night elves per the lore literally vanish if they stand still for too long at night, that’s the whole idea behind Shadowmeld.
But Dark Rangers can apparently still compete with them in their own forests.
I always assumed they used some sort of magical item. Maybe all rogues carry an unlimited number of invisibility potions?
This or some basic shadow magic.
I always thought they were just sneaky.
I was never sure why people assumed otherwise. Intuitive magics abound alongside incantations and runic magics in this universe. When in doubt, assume the most simple, obvious interpretation of what is presented. Game shows characters go invisible and doesn’t state something otherwise? Don’t assume otherwise.
I liked Saurfang’s truesight being represented in the cinematic, myself. Reminded me of Metal Gear Solid’s boss commentary on optic camo not working on veterans of combat.
What they didn’t show was those were actually Ghosts from Starcraft that got sucked into a wormhole and popped out in Outland.
Yes, the entirety of the night elf race, is basically Drax. They even have reflexes on par with his!
BRB making a male nelf that’s a Drax rip-off.
Maybe some use magic to turn invisible, maybe others use a combination of sneaking ability. Probably a combination of things, and it varies from rogue to rogue.
I veiw it as more blizzards writers not having an imagination or any clue about symbolism.
Because it’s the way it is in most other RPGs.
Rogues in, like, D&D and Everquest have NO magical powers. But when they “enter stealth” in video games, they disappear. For no other reason than because it’s the simplest way to represent the ability without building in a full-on stealth system like the Thief games.
I always just assumed WoW was the same way. Rogues in early WoW didn’t really have magical abilities. And those that seemed like magic generally required consumable poisons and powders. Vanish wasn’t you magically disappearing, it was literally you throwing vanishing powder.
I’ve never heard any indication from a lore source that it was any different. Lorash isn’t like “I’m a rogue, so I walked past those two guards with my invisibility powers.” He’s like, “I’m sneakily creeping along these tree branches, hidden from the eyes of those below.”
Fair enough. That is a lot of background to inform that intuition. Its just that in D&D’s case, world building and guides outright made sure that info was known. WoW’s runners have always been vague with everything so I just default to occam’s razor with it all.
Plus, original night elf rogue quests made the class pretty interwoven and indistinguishable from the race and it was clear in their case they had magical stealth. So that was my early association.
By the time we get to Lorash though, it seemed even more obvious it was magical stealth. From Legion making Sub spec overtly shadow magic, to the BfA short stories depicting the Forsaken rogues sneaking up on guards on high alert in the middle of rooms.
The subtlety tree used to be described as using shadow magic or mysticism to conceal yourself or something like that.
I thought they were always just misdirecting like magicians.
It’s stated they use a mixture of poisons and shadow magics if I’m not mistaken
I eagerly await the addition of nuclear strike as a dps cooldown.
Basically, when a mage goes invisible, they seem to briefly enter another realm or reality. So if a mage stood still, cast invisibility, and continued staying still, not only would other people be unable to see them anymore, but could then stand on the very same spot the mage was standing on and not come into physical contact with them.
This would contrast with rogues, who do everything that the mage does, sans entering another realm. Note how Saurfang was able to pluck one of the rogues from the air while Thrall threw dirt at another. They would not be able to do that if the rogues had truly gone invisible.
So stealth, as it is depicted in game, is just a lesser form of invisibility where the rogue makes it difficult, but not impossible to be seen.