I am curious, what sort of damage does shadow magic cause?
Let us say you fling a Shadowbolt against a wooden door, does it punch a hole through it? Or does it corrode metal/wither wood instead? Or is it a different effect entirely?
I know in fantasy, it is popular to have shadow magic accelerate the erosion/withering process(depending on the target/spell’s power), although from my understanding, fel magic already does have a withering/draining effect. Example being Gul Dan who absolutely loves to use drain life in books/the movie.
By contrast, void shadow magic seems to just have a purely disintegrating effect; while shadow magic in the case of shadowpriests seems mainly to replace the role of ‘psychic damage’.
What do you guys think/know? How exactly does the damage of shadow magic work?
We make the wood feel bad obviously.
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I was going to say this but your correct that fel does the same. Like fel void does leave a taint unless your separating void and shadow then I don’t know. I’m curious to hear everyone responses.
Depends on if “Shadow” refers to the DEATH domain, or the VOID domain I suppose? If its the prior, its likely necromantic (in that it decays). If its the later, it likely corrupts (so it warps reality). If you throw it at a door, it would then either decay the door … or it would twist the fabric of its existence.
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Could we argue about that Blizz just need a new magic school for death knights because I think there is a big difference between the shadow magic they use (decay) and the “original” shadow magic which shadow priests and warlocks (mostly just physical and psychical damage) use?
Decay which is used by Dark Shaman to control the Elements is outright called Void Magic in WoD’s Nagrand… The Void as such causes Decay.
Death Knights don’t have a Shadow Spec they have an Unholy Spec.
As for why their attacks deal Shadow Damage: Blood deals Shadow Damage as well and it is Life Magic.
Death Magic used by Yogg-Saron and the Green Troll Spectres all deal Nature Damage. Pure Death Magic is indistinguishable from Nature which is unsurprising since Death is Soul Magic.
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Shadow magic probably feels like a combination of frostbite and disappointment.
So basically what I feel when I walk to get groceries in -30c and think about BfA writing on the way.
Shadow mostly refers to Void or “lesser void” magic.
When Necromancy is refereed to as involving shadow magic, especially with the scourge, I think it’s their particular practices. (Combined with the term shadow just being a lot more vague back in those days). Hell we’ve seen the Shadowmoon clan in the alternate timeline raise some form of shadowy puppets from the dead that one might consider a form of necromancy. Point being it’s a lil messier than just “Shadow can refer to either Death or Void”.
Anyway, back on topic, I don’t think there’s a definite answer yet. We can certainly take guesses though. The effects that I’ve noticed shadow does is it corrupts in a similar way arcane does, even though it’s commonly compared to Fel both in and out of universe.
Fel also corrupts, but not quite in the same way. As the OP pointed out, fel mostly has a draining effect, meaning it’s more a transaction than any of the other magic types. That is why it’s most associated with fire, because fire is very similar in real life. A simple chemical reaction rather than a material in itself.
Now when we go back to shadow, what we’ve seen it do is have effects on the soul, both of the living and dead. The power of shadow is usually associated with insanity and madness. This is shown in the psychic side of shadow we see in shadow priests, especially in the early days of wow. But what does that mean for how the magic does physically?
Well, that’s the thing, like the Light it touches on something grander and more vast than even the very universe the franchise takes place in. It doesn’t necessarily leave a clear indication of exactly what it does, but in it’s very nature it does leave some clues, of which I laid out. I’m not entirely sure what to make of it myself, so feel free to use this information as you will (or even disregard it entirely).
Shadow magic comes in about as many flavors as ice cream, even with the clarification in the lore that it all technically falls under some type of void. The abilities of shadow and how they manifest, the sensory elements of shadow (such as hot vs. cold), the side effects of exposure (like deterioration), and whether or not its physical or purely psychic: it all depends on who is using it and how it’s being used.
We know that when exposed to a sentient creature that isn’t attuned to shadow, it causes immense discomfort, some magical corruption, and affects them mentally and emotionally in a purely negative way, but most of the mind/spirit effects are metaphysical and left for speculation. Physical effects, however, are a different story.
You can call it conjecture on my part, but I’d say that with any type of raw magic (be it arcane, fel, holy, shadow, nature, etc.), a concentrated ball of energy would have an output of force when cast and fall into a sensory extreme in temperature when touched. Shadow varies in temperature, but I specifically recall shadowbolts being described as incendiary. It’s a safe bet that a shadowbolt – proportional to the amount of power poured into it – would either punch a hole through the door at its strongest or sear it at its weakest.
I’d be willing to say it tears holes in matter on a molecular level and literally pulls apart material from it’s-self, both organic and non-organic. Like, say, Thanos’ “snap”.
Edit: and when people refer to it ‘burning’, I’m willing to also get it’s akin to a dry ice or hydrogen. Velf’s racial hints towards this as their bonus causes Shadowfrost damage.