đŸ„“ Worgen Lore - Ask me questions!

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77

An interesting question. I had to go look up the definitions for these specializations. From what I can gather, Arms expertly uses two-handed weapons and high mobility, Fury goes berserk with two weapons, and Protection uses shield-and-weapon to protect allies.

Fury :rage:

Fury may be the most obvious option for a worgen. This may use their worgen skills to the most advantage, and a worgen Fury would no doubt be stronger than a human Fury. A worgen’s sheer superhuman strength, speed, and of course rage is a common theme in all worgen, so there is no doubt Fury would be the cleanest fit. However, where Fury may have the post appeal to a worgen, there should be plenty of reason to lean towards one of the other fighting styles.

Arms :crossed_swords:

Arms seems to use twohanded weapons, ie longswords, heavy axes, and polearms.

Darius Crowley used only a rifle and his fists, until the worgen curse. When he became a worgen, he had the strength to wield a giant gothic longsword, far larger than any human could manage.

Genn Greymane is much more adaptive, and uses a few fighting styles. Sword-and-pistol, Sword-and-claw, or claw-and-fang.[2] Ingame, he is typically seen using a sword (Stormwind, Gilneas), until he shapeshifts into a worgen, when he either keeps or drops the sword in favor of free claws (Broken Shore, Stormheim). In Wolfheart, he leads the Gilnean Worgen into battle following Varian Wrynn, and uses a sword in his right hand, and the claws of his left. This comes in handy, using the sword to pierce Horde armor, and claws to rend flesh. While perhaps not canon to World of Warcraft, more of his combat style is seen in Heroes of the Storm, where he uses sword-and-pistol in human form and just claw-and-fang in worgen form.

Goldrinn Defenders[3] are the third possible example I can think of off the top of my head. While not worgen themselves, these tauren orcs and humans - just like Ian Duran and Tarik Ragehowl - worship Goldrinn and protect his shrine in Hyjal. They dress in armor and furs, and wield halberd-like polearms.

In all three examples, skill and experience is expertly used hand-in-hand with the worgen curse’s powerful gifts. Whether it is expertly wielding a formidable weapon suited to your body, or being adaptive to the situation.

Protection :shield:

I cannot think of a single worgen character that uses a shield. And I will not reference RP characters. However, I’ll look to Goldrinn for this one again. The traits of the worgen curse (from the fur to the rage) all come from the wild god the curse links you to, being the wild god Goldrinn. But Goldrinn is no mere savage, he is in fact described and depicted as a noble guardian as well. It is from Goldrinn that the worgen get all of their animal instincts, including Guardianship, which Varian himself - as Goldrinn’s champion - felt towards his son Anduin to the extent of over-protection.

His is the spirit of the hunter, the animal instinct that kicks in when wild things smell food or feel their children are in jeopardy.[6][7]

In this regard, a worgen may present themselves as not just a fighter, but a guardian. Be it warden of a territory, parent of a child, leader of a people, or a dutiful guardsman. In this case, if the instinct of guardianship is already strong in a character, it may be enhanced tenfold with the worgen curse.

Sources

[1] Darius Crowley’s Longsword

Comic:
https://i.imgur.com/wo2iXCZ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/4UYF3eB.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ZGUSkFI.jpg

[2] Genn Greymane

https://i.imgur.com/PZPpYUd.jpg

[3] Goldrinn Defender
https://www.wowhead.com/npc=39637/goldrinn-defender

:bacon: Thanks for the question! I haven’t had to consider worgen weaponry fighting styles for quite a while now. I’ll be on the look out for any worgen using shields, but I’m going to guess that any extra armor or shields would weigh and slow down a worgen, defeating a worgen’s primary advantage in combat; speed and agility. Races that are slow and strong to begin with, ie Tauren or Dwarf, have more in the way of shieldmen and shieldmaidens.

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78

This was really good information. I would just like to add, like I said in my post above, we see Worgen NPCs in the Darkshore warfront who shift from human form into Worgen form and use their sword and shield to fight against the Horde. So that’s one example of a Protection warrior Worgen.

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79

There we go. It took some digging, but I found what you’re talking about.

You’re right, that worgen’s definitely using a shield. That is an interestingly small shield though
 I wonder if they even use it when in worgen form.

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80

I mean, the question “is a worgen too savage to play anything besides a fury warrior” is fairly silly when Worgen of literally any other class exists. Sneaky Worgen Rogues, serene Worgen Druids (See: Celestine), and the various clothie classes available to Worgen show that there’s a lot more to them than blind Savagery. If a Worgen can be calm enough to be a druidic healer, or focused and intelligent enough to be a powerful Warlock, certainly they can focus enough to display expertise with a single weapon, or use a shield to defend themselves and others.

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81

I thought so too at first. But unlike a mage or priest, a warrior is litterally in the heat of battle. Even hunter and rogue depend on some amount of range and stealth preferring not to have the attention, and druid is either ranged or in a different form. So in this case, Warrior presents a unique situation for worgen. Face to face combat, and all the blood splatter that comes with it.

Again, Protection and Arms home some support. But thinkjnf back to any worgen content I’ve read, a worgen thrown into conflict or backed into a corner tends to react on full instinct. See Ivar Bloodfang, Darius Crowley, Genn Greymane.

In the same way, there is a close combat class worgen can’t be, and that is Paladin. There are many reasons why they cannot, and that is not what my thread is about, but the lack of control in the face of danger and conflict is but one of the likely reasons.

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82

Cleaning out my TRP3, but I’d hate to just delete this. So here’s some worgen lore bits.

Some claim the first worgen could not distinguish friend from foe. In truth, the first worgen decimated the Satyr army first, and it was only after Malfurion called them freaks of nature that they turned on him as well.

Some claim the same about the worgen summoned to defend Gilneas, that they could not distinguish friend from foe. Just as before, Alpha Prime and his pack decimated the undead scourge, then turned on the Gilneans who treated them as mere weapons.

The worgen attack on Gilneas was not an accident or an outbreak, it was intentional, planned, and organized by the Wolf Cult. Those that joined willingly helped systematically overthrow the kingdom, while the panicking Gilneans bitten in the process found much less control.

The Wolf Cult has a holy book called “Purity of Essence”, which includes rituals and philosophy on the worgen curse. This was written by Alpha Prime, and published in mass by Maxwell Higgens, a Gilnean journalist. The books were given to new aspirants. Different covers are used, including brown, green, and red.

Similar to the Wolfcult in Northrend, Gilnean Cultists were able to use human form to navigate Gilneas unseen, without using the Ritual of Balance.

Genn Greymane ordered Archmage Arugal to summon the worgen to defend the wall from the Scourge.

Archmage Argual did not go mad with grief, as is rumored. The Archmage spoke with Alpha Prime, who convinced the man to bend the knee and serve him instead.

While Archmage Arugal came to see his worgen servants as his “children”, Alpha Prime - even with his prideful title - considered even human-worgen as “brothers”.

At the behest of the Priestess Belysra Starbreeze, the Goddess Elune fuesed The Fang of Goldrinn and a staff imbued with Elune’s radiance into one artifact, creating the worgen curse. The Kaldorei know this relic as The Scythe of Elune, while the Wolf Cult refers to it as The Fang of the Father.

Alpha Prime, his Kaldorei-worgen, and his first human-worgen followers infiltrated Gilneas by digging tunnels under the wall. Tunnels then used by the Kaldorei.

Read all this and more in Curse of the Worgen.

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83

Can Worgens become Shamans?
The island Expedition worgen caster casts Lightning Bolts and Hexes.
I would love it if Blizz takes it a step further and let’s us role Shamans.
Perhaps tie it together through the Shamans’ connection of the spirits and the wild gods.

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84

Here are a couple more examples of worgen with shields:

https://www.wowhead.com/npc=102865/gilnean-shieldwarder from Legion pvp areas.
https://www.wowhead.com/npc=134199/gilnean-shieldwall from the scenario where Horde break into Stormwind to rescue Princess Talanji.
https://wow.zamimg.com/uploads/screenshots/normal/749286-the-stormwind-extraction.jpg Just look at that. Glorious!

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85

There is nothing in the lore to suggest that they can be.

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86

Worgen and Shamanism

The Old Ways

Just as every druid race has a different type of druidism culturally, the same applies to shaman races. It’s different by culture. And as for worgen and Gilneans, the closest would be Harvest Witches. An animistic pagan belief described as “crude forms of druidism and elemental shamanism” (Chronicle 1), which frequently references the spirits of wind and earth in quest text.

“The earth speaks to us, . It will not abandon us even in these perilous times.”
-Celestine of the Harvest, Moonfire(worgen)

Once bitten, a Harvest Witch finds their connection with nature amplified, thus why they’ve often gone on to learn Cenarion druidism.

Sabrina Pilgrim

While worgen ingame can’t be Shamans, there are a few who come close. Apart from Harvest Witches, there is also Sabrina Pilgrim in Ashvenvale, who works with four elemental lords, and is described as “trying to help the Earthen Ring”.

“The elementals here are now my allies. You must do as they ask if we are to prevent the destruction of the rest of Ashenvale.”
-Sabrina Pilgrim, Go with the Flow

“It is done. The power of fire is subdued and the four elements are returned to harmony.”
-Sabrina Pilgrim, Vortex

Goldrinn

The wolf god is the worgen’s patron spirit, and is indeed a big possible connection between them and shamanism, in various ways. Being t

First and foremost, as you mentioned, spirit wolves. Shamans ingame can take on ghostwolf form, which is much like the druidic lore ability to use Pack Form. Thrall and Akama are known to summon spirit wolves, and so have worgen. See Wolf Master Nandos from Shadowfang Keep.

Goldrinn has been recognized as an important figure in Orc culture on Draenor. Which is likely possible, since druids still had connection to the Emerald Dream on Draenor, and because one of Draenor’s gods tried to take over the Emerald Dream. https://wow.gamepedia.com/Anzu

The final icing on the cake, humans cannot sense auras, but worgen can. This is stated in the novel Wolfheart, when Genn boasts to Varian that the worgen curse did more than enhance their physical senses.

“Your quarry? You jest!” Genn sniffed at his opponent. “You think you can take him from me? Listen to me, Varian Wrynn! The curse more than heightened our senses. We see things that no normal human can. Some call you Lo’Gosh, though that they use a Taur-ahe title for you I find ironic. Still, it is but another name for Goldrinn, as we have come to know our patron spirit since our transformation. I saw the aura of that spirit around you the first moment you arrived at the banquet, and even though you gave every indication of crushing our hopes then, I still held out for our chances because I could see his touch upon you as if it were your own skin. . . .”

Wolfheart pg 267

So in conclusion, we have an example of cultural interest in elements, a couple she-worgen who speak of and interact with elements, worgen who summon spirit wolves, all worgen who can now see auras of spirits (important for communicating with elemental spirits), and a connection to a God that has long since been involved in shamanism. All in all, a worgen shaman should be possible. But not common enough to be added as a class mechanically.

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87

Beautiful!! I haven’t seen this yet :open_mouth:

88

Thanks so much for the awesome recap.
I really liked the lore for Pack form and their origin.
I really think feral spirits and ghost wolf form would make for a nice interesting lore addition for them.

89

I thought that the Harvest Witches were the Gilnean Druids and Sabin was a Druid there offering aid.

90

Yes and Yes, but not so straight forward.

Harvest Witches are humans that use crude forms of nature magic and elemental shamanism. Yes, once they become worgen they can become druids to rival that of the Cenarion Circle. The point here is that The Old Ways includes shamanistic attributes.

Sabrina does indeed appear to be a druid. It is never said that she is a druid, nor that she is a shaman. The point here is that it is she communing with these elemental lords, “helping the Earthen Ring”, and there is absolutely no Earthen Ring shamans around. She proves that worgen can successfully commune with elemental spirits.

So with these two points, we know that Gilneans have roots in shamanistic culture, and that worgen can commune with elements. Culture and capability. The two major necessities.

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91

It could be why the KT have tidesages and shaman.

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92

This is something I am sure has been debated, and probably answered here, but how long does it take to change after someone has been bitten?

We don’t really get a good time estimate in-game because we don’t know how much time passes between the player being bitten and when they change. Nor do we know how much time passed between when we see all the Gilnean NPCs that have changed and are fighting the guards, and when they were bitten.

The closest thing I can think of when it comes to how long before the change is Halford Ramsey in the Curse of the Worgen comic, it took like 3 days I think? I could be wrong. If we go by that does this mean the Worgen Assault on Gilneas, from the first quest in the starting zone, to when we change at the end in the Cathedral, it took at least 3 days?

93

You’re right, Curse of the Worgen does an excellent job of documenting Halford Ramsey’s progress, and it shows that he suffers for three days before a state of delirium and panic overtakes him, then triggered by the memory of his sister’s suicide.

The next best lore example of someone bitten would be Mardigan in Dark Riders. He is bitten during battle, and appears as a worgen not but a couple pages later, while his father and Revil are cleaning up the fight’s remains. So that could not have been more than a few hours tops.

The big variables here are willpower and environment. Notice Halford is a renowned detective, while Mardigan is a farm boy with rage problems as a human. Halford was bitten then kept indoors for storytime by candle light, whereas Mardigan was bitten and thrown into a chaotic skirmish afterwards.

Theoretically, how, when, and who you bite determines how long it should take. We know it can be within hours, or within three days. In roleplay, I like to say “Anywhere between three hours to three days”, but this is an estimate and for dramatic effect.

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94

So do we have an estimate on how long the Worgen assault on Gilneas was? I feel like it could be anything from a few hours to a whole day.

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Your guess is as good as mine there. Since that infamous (three week??) time-jump happens during the worgen assault.

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The only time jump I can say for sure happens is during the cinematic at the Cathedral, when the player transforms and then is captured. Based on that series of cinematics, I made sure to watch carefully and looked at the moon, about 6 weeks passes between the player turning into a Worgen and being captured and having their mind returned by the potion.

Unfortunately this doesn’t really help the issue of how long the Worgen assault on the city was. I don’t remember any hints about it in the comics either, Halford Ramsey shows up during the assault so we don’t know how long it had been going on for.