I posted this on reddit as well, but I just wanted to get some insight from the community on the forums as well. Basically, I’m trying to get immersed in playing a human warrior and justify character strengths:
I’m trying to find reasons why this combo wouldn’t be boring and super basic. I love the Footman/Knightly vibe Human warrior units had in Warcraft 3, but it’s hard to see how they would even stand a chance against the more prominent Human Paladins, who can be both skilled combatants and harness the Light–and I don’t really feel like playing a Paladin.
For example, what advantages would a skilled, elite Human Knight have over an elite Human Paladin in combat? Would it just flat-out not be a fair fight?
I have one of every class at level 110 or above. Except a Warrior. I have no Warriors. So I can not really help. Other than to say there must be an appeal.
Perhaps it is some purely physical aesthetic? Devoid of mind and soul and magic, while being purely of physicality and martial prowess? That does not appeal to me, but I can see how a different person might see an appeal.
Nothing beyond the slight extra time not learning to use the Light that can be used to train in combat more.
That said, a warrior can still be greater than a paladin in spite of their abilities. That’s just the nature of different fighters and their skill level. Aptitudes just vary. Someone might not have the temperament to use the Light. Yet still is a good enough fighter that they overcome those who do.
Most Paladin tricks in lore depend on their opponent being of a special dammed category, undead, demons, or being EEEVIL. They don’t have any special advantage against normal Humans. Also Paladins are prone to the same kind of self destruction as seen in Thrall, if they start to doubt their worthiness, they tend to short-circuit themselves.
Straight out Warriors though are not saddled with that baggage. With them it’s all technique, strategy, and awareness.
Did you ever get bored watching a sword fight in Highlander? Because save for what happens at the end… .it’s just two elite fighters pounding on each other.
Warriors represent a focus on raw martial power, so much so that their ingame abilities represent a skillset based in, to pull from TvTropes, “Charles Atlas Superpowers.” Warriors can stomp the ground hard enough to daze nearby opponents, produce a shockwave, charge at great speed in heavy armor, leap a great distance and cause a crater when you land, sunder an opponent’s armor to enable more damage, even rally allies or demoralize your enemies through battle shouts.
What can warriors offer? The cleaving capability to slice through a demon weapon, demon breastplate, and a demon’s skin in one, rage-induced strike.
Warriors also have a pretty wide range of weapons available to them, if you want to read that as “have mastered many fighting styles” (because despite the game animations, fighting with an axe or hammer is very very different from fighting with a sword).
You remember that scene, in Legion, where Illidan destroys X’era, and Turalyon, the uberpaladin, charges him and swings with his sword, and Illidan catches it, and then drops an edgy, badass line?
A warrior would just throat punch him after their sword was caught.
we are the only class able to use every weapon type. what one would bring to the fight that a paladin wouldn’t depends on the fight.
on a flat plain, straight up fight, a warrior wouldn’t bring much but there’s a lot of implications when you give us the tag “master of all weapons” because it opens the possibility that we bring exactly the weapon needed for this hypothetical fight and it wins the day.
like if you were to just randomize a warrior and a paladin and put them in a ring, there’s a possibility the warrior shows up as a master of guns and just shoots him in the face.
Not all the paladins are held back by doctrines. It seems you never heard of the Brotherhood of the Light.
False. In Rise of the Lich King is stated that the light reduces the weight of the paladin weapon, thats how they can use big hammers without much effort.
Paladins can also do miracles. Dranosh couldnt do anything against Arthas. Tirion defeated him twice. Uther almost defeated him too.
Warriors are all about courage and confidence in themselves and their abilities. A paladin relies on their belief in an other worldly power. In theory a warrior would bring, strength, endurance and dogged determination.
I don’t know. Who do you think would win in a fight? Varian or Tirion? Do remember that Varian oneshot a giant Fel Reaver and cut of a dragon’s head in one hit.
I like to headcanon that Warriors in WoW aren’t like irl really skilled warriors, I take the class abilities and the stuff Warriors like Varian or Saurfang do as canon. And the lore reason I give for why you can jump far enough in full plate and stomp the ground until it breaks is the spirit element.
Just like monks’ abilities are enhanced with chi, it makes sense people who always try to go over their limit like Warriors would have an abnormal normal of spirit element allowing them to enhance their physical capacities.
The thing that warrior could offer over paladin would be the training.
I like to imagine that Paladin’s are largely trained in the basics, and perhaps some of the advanced courses, but that is about it. The Light can likely fill in the gaps or ease their impact.
The warrior, however, must focus on those things, so they perfect the basics, the advanced and the master aspects of combat. Things like striking at the weak points in an enemies guard, pressing an opponent on uneven ground to set them off balance. More technical aspects beyond just weapon use and stances.
And the point could be made that in the time it would take for 1 paladin to be trained and ready for war, 2-3 warriors, if not more, could be trained in that same time frame.
