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On your second point, Garrosh was a last resort. Originally Thrall had wanted Saurfang's boy to be the next Warchief but the Wrathgate happened. He knew the Horde liked Garrosh, after all, he was the leader of the Horde's offensive in Northrend, and the Lich King was slain and victories for the Horde were won, plus he is the long lost son of the great Orcish hero Grommash Hellscream. He also left him the wise council of Cairne, Vol'jin, and Eitrigg.
It just went really poorly.
Edit: On the first one, in the Leader Short Story Heart of War Garrosh gets told by an angry orc woman about how living in Durotar sucks and how the Night Elves attack their caravans, the humans of Northwatch Hold and the Dwarves in Bael'modan are too close for comfort, and some of Admiral Proudmoore's old goons are still hanging around in a fort and occasionally raid Razor Hill. Garrosh thinks that's bullshit and that's when he starts hating the Alliance.
Semi-related Side Note: All the short stories are back on the Main Website. I highly recommend this one.
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/story/short-story/dark-mirror
>The distant clash of steel against steel grew into a cacophonous din as they entered the War Quarter. Trainers barked at a fresh batch of newly raised recruits hacking away at target dummies—and the occasional Alliance prisoner.
That takes place around the beginning of Legion.
You absolutely have to read her leader short story. During Cataclysm they wrote these for each of the racial leaders and there's a ton of important character motivations contained in them. This will give you a lot of insight. It takes place immediately after the fall of the Lich King.
Beforehand, everything she did was because of the Lich King. From securing a place in the world for her people when she & the Forsaken were freed from his control, to participating in the campaign against him and making sure the monster that was responsible for everything was eliminated. But what then? Once he's gone, what's the point of her continued existence? This story answers that question.
You should read it first, but as far as your question for if she's after personal power: [She's doomed to hell. After everything, when she dies, an eternity of torment is what awaits her. So she's trying to secure immortality to avoid this fate. That's what's up with her and the Val'kyr since Cataclysm and what she was doing during the Stormheim quests. So this is a huge motivation for her, and trumps a lot of other priorities.](/spoiler)
Most races have some background in Shamanism, it comes from observing the elemental spirits of a world. In some, like Draenor with weaker-than-average elementals, it takes longer - it's why it didn't take off until the Orcs, rather late in Draenor's development. On Azeroth they're much more powerful, and early cultures like the Trolls recognized the elements and honored them as Shamans.
The story on how the Draenei got Shamanism can be read in "Unbroken" by Mickie Nelson, an official short story detailing how Farseer Noboundo went from Paladin, to Broken, to Shaman.
It's at the last page: link
Sadly there has never been more information revealed about the immortal Orcs and the war against Old Gods and Legion. Love to see the horror in cinematic or something.
Leveling itself will give you some background on the High/Blood Elves. I also recommend the short story of Lor'themar Theron (Blood Elf racial leader). https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/story/short-story/leader-story/lorthemar-theron
No novels focus on them that I can think of. Maybe Day of the Dragon would help by seeing how Vereesa treats humans in the first half of the book. A lot of High Elf story-telling is either in-game or in the comics/manga.
It's all right here: https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/story/short-story/leader-story/sylvanas-windrunner
So far as I know, there hasn't been anything to overturn this perspective of Sylvanas and her motives.
Between Tyrande and her mate, Malfurion has displayed by far the most power. For example, on Sardor Isle he called down multiple bolts of lightning, each of which killed at least two dozen naga:
"How easily these fools forget defeat," the high priestess muttered through clenched teeth.
"We must give them a reminder, then," Malfurion said. Tyrande gave a quick nod. Lightning crackled through the air as the archdruid began to craft his spell. The clouds above the isle blackened even further, and the naga's heads shot up in alarm. Szenastra hissed out an order, and the naga army advanced on the pair of night elves.
Malfurion watched, unperturbed, waiting for the energies to coalesce. When the storm was fully formed, he slowly tilted his antlered head to the sky, and the heavens poured their wrath down upon the naga forces. Lightning shot to the earth—each bolt splitting into forks that seared through dozens of hapless myrmidons. As the troops dispersed in chaos, Tyrande began closing in on the sorceress."
He also kept an entire corner of a continent from collapsing into the ocean after the Cataclysm:
And if you've read Stormrage (which is written poorly, but still) there are some very impressive things in there as well.
Lord of His Pack, page 5.
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/story/short-story/leader-story/genn-greymane#5
>Crowley had not accepted the [Greymane Wall] with grace. He had defied Greymane and had even aided the Alliance during what was now known as the Third War by sending the “Gilneas Brigade” to Lady Jaina Proudmoore.
Rise of the Horde, definitely. It covers a fair bit about the Draenei, and the beginning of their persecution by the orcs. One of the better novels. Mind you it's been retconned a bit with WoD and Chronicle Vol 2.
Speaking of Chronicle 2, that's also worth reading. It's not a novel, but it covers the Draenei history from Argus to the Orc genocide.
Beyond the Dark Portal has a bit about Draenei but only a little IIRC.
Finally, there's the great short story Unbroken, about Farseer Nobundo.
General novel recommendation:
The Last Guardian (regarded as the best-written novel, focuses on Medivh and Khadgar in the First War
Lord of the Clans (I remember this being pretty compelling - all about Thrall's life up until the start of WC3. Originally planned to be an adventure game that sadly got canned)
Illidan (you can probably guess what it's about)
Arthas: Rise of the Lich King (also self-evident)
But I will warn you that the novels aren't great. They're entertaining if you're a fan but they're not exactly great literature, even as fantasy novels go. My advice is to avoid anything by Richard Knaak unless you really want to read all of them. His writing has got progressively worse, somehow.
Why do people say Khadgar isn't Alliance? Even Blizzard thinks Khadgar is alliance : https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/story/character/khadgar
I personally think you are underselling the Alliance bias this expansion, literally all of the "world heroes" is Alliance affiliated except for Illidan. Malfurion/Velen might be more willing to act in a neutral capacity but they are still Alliance racial leaders, that's just a fact.
It was actually a combination of the comic that video is about (the comic itself can be found at https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/20179680/new-comic-world-of-warcraft-legion-4-anduin-son-of-the-wolf ) and a vision that Velen had in the short story Velen: Prophet's Lesson ( https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/story/short-story/leader-story/velen ); the comic doesn't say who they're fighting, and only shows Anduin on and Velen preparing for battle aboard a Draenei vessel. The vision in the story is of an armored figure, presumed to be Anduin, leading the Horde, the Alliance, and pretty much every other Light-aligned being they could find, into a grand battle with the Void.
I think it's stated that he doesn't care anymore because they're undead. I'll link you a short story you can read that touches on their relationship if you want to read it yourself.
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/story/short-story/dark-mirror
You can read about it here: https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/story/short-story/leader-story/sylvanas-windrunner
Sylvanas tried to kill herself after the Lich King was killed. She didn't want to continue living as a banshee now that she had gotten her revenge. After she died, she found herself basically in hell. The Val'kyr brought her back to life and in exchange she gave them a new purpose now that the Lich King was gone.
> But I digress. To get back to your question. Moonfire, Lunar Strike, Starsurge, and Starfall deal arcane damage in-game due to game mechanics that go back to Classic WoW and spell resistance.
There is no indication that this is a game mechanic. They even emphasize the arcane nature of the spells with the current class fantasies. Since spell school resistances have been gone for a very long time, they've had ample time to move away from that suggestion of arcane, but instead they have moved closer.
> The elements that carve form into the universe are fluid forces of nature. Some beings seek to bend the power of these natural elements to their will. Druids, however, worship the protecting spirits of nature. Long ago, nature’s equilibrium was thrown out of balance, leaving the world vulnerable to catastrophic events, including the first invasion of the Burning Legion.
> By leveraging the sacred powers of the moon, the sun, and the stars, balance druids access arcane and nature magics—made more potent still through shapeshifting, when the spellcaster takes the form of the moonkin—to aid in the fight against imbalance that threatens the natural order of all things.
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/19956929/legion-class-preview-series-druid
Tried to bold 'arcane' magics there. That's not a in-game tool-tip, that is writing explicitly worded to emphasize what that class is.
We should consider that nature on Azeroth is not the same as nature on Earth. Magic (arcane magic) has always been key in the development of nature on this planet. We should also consider that Elune may not be as one-dimensional in that she only offers/uses on type of magical power.
Well, here is how Blizzard described Brewmaster lore in the Legion Class Preview series:
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/19964703
>The brewmaster is a quirky character, though dangerous when underestimated. Brewmasters may seem to struggle with balance as they chug their concoctions in the middle of a fight, but this unpredictable behavior is far from foolhardiness. Most opponents barely have time to process the erratic nature of the brewmaster’s fighting tactics before they find themselves laid low—possibly the result of a keg smash to the head. When an opponent actually manages to land an attack, it’s often unclear how much the brewmaster feels it . . . if at all.
I have no idea if this is good or not but someone did do that. I have no idea what it is like but I remember seeing it before.
Back when Varian Wrynn was still learning about peace and becoming more diplomatic. But what about before that? Why was there not even a mention about the Alliance's far greater military might?
Why did the Siege of Orgrimmar require the Horde's assistance to begin with?
It's too plot-holey.
> Yeah, but it wouldn't really matter if it's near the end of WoW's timeline.
It would be a devastating way of losing franchise followers. Who would go for a Warcraft IV if it doesn't provide that standard orc vs. human combat? I mean they're clearly not giving up on that identity, just looking at the front page of the Battle for Azeroth website.
I disagree for a couple of reasons.
> I doubt it's from fel because than all eredar would look like that.
My theory is that inadvertent fel exposure can lead to devolution. Willingly accepting fel energy into your body seems to result in beneficial mutations like what we see in the Man'ari, whereas inadvertent second-hand exposure leads to negative side effects like the Broken. The only known cases of Eredar becoming Broken are because they were actively fighting against the fel.
>I suggest it is a similar state draenei become for multiple afflictions.
I don't think this is the case. In Blizzard's short story about Farseer Nobundo, the Draenei shunned the Broken because they thought that the degenerative state was a contagious disease that could be spread from merely being near a Broken. If devolving into Broken was a general flaw in their DNA as a result of multiple afflictions, a race as old and technologically advanced as the Draenei would have records of Eredar devolving long before they came in contact with the Burning Legion.
>Example would be Red mist as apposed to what happened on argus.
The red mist was a version of the red pox specifically altered by warlocks from Shadow Council, so I think it's safe to assume that the added fel is what altered the Draenei. If the red pox could have mutated the Draenei like the red mist did, there would have been records of Draenei (specifically Rangari) devolving when the disease was spreading like a plague among the Orcs.
Kind of closer to a Discipline priest.
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/19941176/legion-class-preview-series-priest
"Discipline
Some priests pride themselves on pragmatism. They understand that light casts a shadow, that darkness is defined by light, and that true discipline stems from one’s ability to balance these opposing powers in services of a greater cause. While these priests possess many holy virtues to aid their allies, they also dabble in the dark arts to debilitate their enemies—always exercising immense discipline to keep themselves away from the brink of insanity. Many would say the ends justify the means; scriptures both virtuous and vile should be studied and understood to protect the congregation."
Crap, sorry, those show up as links on mobile huh, I just noticed that. On the pc it shows up at spoiler bars, gotta keep that in mind. If you want to know about those parts that were barred, you should try the Silverpine storyline (and Andorhal (Western Plaguelands)), and read two short stories titled "Sylvanas Windrunner: Edge of Night" and the "Dark Mirror". Both stories should be available on the WoW website. Good reading :)
EoN: https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/story/short-story/leader-story/sylvanas-windrunner
DM: https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/story/short-story/dark-mirror
Frost is a part of them, it is integral to their creation. Where a human is some large percentage made of water, they have ice in their veins, and on their hearts.
> Unlike mages who learn to harness frost magic to great effect, these death knights are born of it, rime gripping their decaying hearts.
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/19955663/legion-class-preview-series-death-knight
I'm fairly certain this is not a metaphor for being 'cold-hearted' but is a literal, and physical attribute of having magical ice course through their veins.
As others have alluded to, it is likely that the nature of the Lich King's creation had something to do with this attribute. Kil'Jaeden was described as searching deep into the Nether to find the block of ice that would encase Ner'Zhul's soul. I would imagine that this ice had particular magical properties of it's own, and led to some of the defining characteristics of the Lich King and his followers.
As for Ner'Zhul being a shaman having something to do with it? I'm not so sure. The descritiption of his creation mentions that his magical abilities were enhanced, suggesting it was simply enhancing his existing powers. Though if that were the case, it seems odd that neither he nor any Death Knight would use any other element. No fire, earth, lightning/air? Maybe air, since that could be considered the thing that pushes the ice forward from the Death Knight. Just seems odd that their powers would be limited to only water. And that they seem to show no control over regular non-frozen water.
Based on this comic, I'd say its very safe to say Anduin may be staying king for a very long time.
I can recommend Archengeia's Twitch stream: https://www.twitch.tv/archengeia
He's currently doing a lore playthrough of WoW and talks throughout about the history of each zone he's playing in. Really interesting stuff. He seems to stream every day.
Something crazy as hell is going on at Amazon, listings going over $100+ one for $1000+. Some people must think it's a collector's item?
Here is a listing from B&N
You can also check goodreads for more sites that sell it: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/283866.The_Last_Guardian
The Archive that emdeemcd posted is also a great book if you plan on continuing the story.
I actually found that list on a Reddit thread and on Goodreads.com I searched for a good order to read the books in because I had no idea where to start!
well, i brought the whole 10.000 orcs thing from here actualy
"Once on Draenor, you’ll face the might of great orc warlords like Grommash Hellscream and Kilrogg Deadeye, who command a legion of 10,000 orcs from Draenor’s united clans—but you won’t have to take on this desperate mission alone. "
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/11473826
seems small, something like 200.000 or more will make alot of sense
I would actually chock that up to Gallywix knowing better than to fire it, and not make his stuff a target.
It actually brings to mind what he was doing in Pandaria, gathering rare and powerful objects for the Horde, and hiding those that are too powerful away from Garrosh. There is a nice short story about it that inspired my only Goblin character actually.
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/story/short-story/destination-pandaria/blank-scroll
Canonically the Exodar is fully repaired. It was undergoing testing as of the Cataclysm, in Velen's short story (https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/story/short-story/leader-story/velen). In-game they appear to have scrapped it, probably because they didn't want to turn an alliance city into a neutral hub.
We actually already know that, from here.
It's (/spoiler)[Hunter, Mage, Monk, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Warrior] for Nightborne.
https://vk.com/album-97800267_240697404
As seen at the Chronicles Vol.1 , the Titans are depicted as cosmic beings composed of celestial bodies (yes, the Marvel Celestials reference may apply). This may be theoritcal or conceptual, but I guess is that Blizz themselves said that Chronicles are the "update canon". In terms of visual accuracy though the book artworks may be conceptual.
Although I personally imagine Sarge being having a resemblance to Unicron from the Transformers universe.
I always enjoy some good theorizing on the future. However, a few things I'd like to "um actually".
The Old God you're referring to is named N'Zoth
You didn't really explain how we defeat the Legion "as we know it". You mention that we attack Kil'jaeden in his citadel on Argus, which makes sense. But you don't specify if we defeat him. Then you go on to state that Kil'jaeden is still "in charge" of the Legion moving forward.
Even if we were to defeat Kil'jaeden thoroughly in irrevocably, he's not the leader of the Legion. Sargeras is. Losing Kil'jaeden would be a blow to the Legion, no doubt. But it wouldn't end anything. And I highly doubt we're going to just "finish off" the Legion anytime soon. They're the main recurring villain in the Warcraft universe, and Blizzard has made it clear several times that we will be fighting the Legion long into the future (Click here to read a fantastic comic that confirms this directly from Blizzard)
- Everything you mention about N'Zoth and the next expansion being Old God-centric, however, is quite likely. Unless Blizzard goes in a completely different and surprising new direction. Which I wouldn't put past them. They know what the fans want and they know people will play through another "filler" expansion or two to get to the good stuff (see Mists of Pandaria and Warlords of Draenor, when everyone wanted to fight the Legion after Cataclysm). Not to say the filler expansions were pointless or unwanted, of course. I enjoyed MoP and am still a diehard WoD apologist. But those expansions did not directly address the "big stuff" that a large majority of the fan base has been patiently waiting for, i.e.: The Legion, Kil'Jaeden, Alleria & Turalyon, Army of the Light, etc.
Edit: fixed some stuff and clarified my statement about "filler" expansions
I started with this book.
It's basically a collection of stories that span from shortly before the first war to the end of the second war.
Seemingly, no: https://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Exploring-Azeroth-Kingdoms/dp/1950366278 Dunno why, though. That's pretty unusual.
https://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Chronicle-BLIZZARD-ENTERTAINMENT/dp/1616558458
>World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 is a journey through an age of myth and legend, a time long before the Horde and the Alliance came to be. This definitive tome of Warcraft history reveals untold stories about the birth of the cosmos, the rise of ancient empires, and the forces that shaped the world of Azeroth and its people.
Definitive.
Not "opinion of an in-universe character".
Sorry you don't understand what objective means.
The problem is that the stylesheet is already too big, it's literally impossible to add any more code to it. At night, I personally use both f.lux to reduce the overall luminosity of my screen as well as the browser extension Sunglasses to lower the luminosity of the web page itself. Works perfectly.
Darn it! I had the title up there! It auto populates when I copy and paste the imgur album, or at least I thought it did. I can’t edit this in after the fact, can I? Also, if you have Crusader Kings 2, check out the mod to see the map. https://www.moddb.com/mods/warcraft-kings-of-azeroth/downloads
> Is that a trump quote? The sentence fragment nature of it makes me think trump.
Yes, it is. This was his exact response in an interview regarding the violence that had occurred at Charlottesville earlier this year.
>A warlock or necromancer who uses a shadow spell isn't calling upon fel
Wrt, Blizz is a bit ambiguous on this...
>Affliction warlocks are masters of shadow-touched powers, but unlike shadow priests—deadliest when pushed to the brink of insanity—these warlocks delight in using fel forces to cause intense pain and suffering in others. They revel in corrupting minds and agonizing souls, leaving enemies in a state of torment that would see them undone in due time. Even the most battle-hardened warriors can be deceived, landing blow after blow against the warlock, only to succumb to their suffering as their very vitality is siphoned away by the dark spellcaster.
Emphasis mine, in essence what I'm trying to say is that player Affliction Warlocks (who are the ones discussed anyway) are using some measure of Fel mixed in with Void, or perhaps they are using Fel powers augmented by Shadow techniques.
it might be even cheaper to get the Warcraft: Archive which comes with the original four novels in one text.
I think it's important to note the differences between Azerothian and Draenic elementals, since you mentioned the shaman on Draenor.
Spirit, AKA chi, AKA the fifth element, AKA the Spirit of Life, is necessary to bring balance to the elements. However, early on during Azeroth's development, the planet's world-soul ate a lot of the Spirit, throwing the elements into imbalance, which is why they're so violent and chaotic and why they were constantly fighting each other on primordial Azeroth.
Draenor, on the other hand, didn't have a world-soul, leading to an abundance of Spirit which calmed the elements and prevented them from taking on physical forms. The abundance of Spirit also accelerated the evolution of life, leading to the birth of the Sporemounds. Grond eventually defeated most of the Sporemounds, but was killed in the process. The stony debris that fell from his body contained much life essence, leading some boulders to arise as colossals, as well as the elements of fire, air, earth, and water, which coalesced into pools of power from which the elemental spirits were able to take on physical forms for the first time in Draenor's history. If the Sporemounds hadn't devoured much of the Spirit of Life, this wouldn't have been possible.
As a result of this, Draenor's elementals are naturally harmonic and try to work together to keep Draenor in balance, while Azeroth's elemental forces are enveloped in constant rage and chaos. The Game Guide probably puts it best:
> Unlike some other mystics, shaman commune with forces that are not strictly benevolent. The elements are chaotic, and left to their own devices, they rage against one another in unending primal fury. It is the call of the shaman to bring balance to this chaos.
They use both Light and Void magic. The Class Preview series of blog posts Blizzard put out prior to Legion do a good job of explaining what Blizzard's current goal with each spec's Class Fantasy™ is.
Here's the Discipline description from the priest preview.
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-gb/news/19941176
>Some priests pride themselves on pragmatism. They understand that light casts a shadow, that darkness is defined by light, and that true discipline stems from one’s ability to balance these opposing powers in services of a greater cause. While these priests possess many holy virtues to aid their allies, they also dabble in the dark arts to debilitate their enemies—always exercising immense discipline to keep themselves away from the brink of insanity. Many would say the ends justify the means; scriptures both virtuous and vile should be studied and understood to protect the congregation.
Way better than the posture of other Horde males imo.
Warcraft 3 Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne (you should play this anyway if you care at all about the warcraft story).
WoW: BC questing in Eversong Woods, Ghostlands and Outland and Isle of Quel'danas. (obviously), some quests in Northrend, Pandaria; Landfall questline, Isle of Thunder.
Blood of the Highborne, part of World of Warcraft: Paragons, a e-book collection of short stories.
The Sunwell Trilogy comic (might be hard to get a hold of)
They have supporting roles in the novels Arthas, Day of the Dragon, Night of the Dragon, Tides of Darkness, Beyond the Dark Portal, Illidan and the Word of Warcraft Comic.
This is the comic I was talking about if you haven't read it, along with the other Legion ones on that page the Madefire version with your sound on is the best way to read it. It's also worth noting that he says "The Light will triumph over the Shadow" in the coming battle so it could be against the Old Gods and not the Burning Legion, and he's still referred to as High King at that point.
You can find more information about Gul'dan pact with the Nightborne Here and the comic attached. It goes into the rational behind everything and how Thalyrssa ended up where she did. The cutscene at the start of the zone actually summarizes the comic.
The goal in Suramar for us is to retrieve the Eye of Aman'thul, which sits at the top of the Nightwell. Gul'dan is using it for something [that appears to be putting Sargeras' spirit into Illidan's body, essentially creating a new Avatar of Sargeras](/spoiler). But without the Eye we can't close the portal at the Tomb of Sargeras.
Gul'dan also seemingly wanted something from the Nightwell itself, which likely involves potentially summoning Kil'jaeden to Azeroth.
And? Everything has been written in Chronicles are still cannon. Its just about our perspective should be changed when looked at them.
So, there is an upcoming Chronicles-like novel this spring. That we will see the Cosmic Shitstorm through the eyes of a Broker:
https://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Grimoire-Shadowlands-Beyond/dp/1950366502
May be in this upcoming novel, the lore hints at the Collectors Edition would be expanded. ^^
Ok, now that I have it straight that there's two short stories here, I read the one OP was actually on about.
Personally, I adore Golden's writing. This one picks up the thread from the last novel where the two began their relationship. And it's a segue to the upcoming relase about their upcoming adventures together.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1950366278/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabt1_WkxUFb601R8GS
They're planning on releasing a <em>Grimoire of the Shadowlands</em> written by Sean Copeland in July 2021. From the description, it sounds like it'll be pretty similar to Chronicle.
Hi. I have been interested in the new shadowlands book. I haven't played much since BFA let me down but Shadow lands looks awesome.
So Amazon is grouping Illidan, Before the Storm, and Shadows rising
Is this just an arbitrary group or are these specific books connected in a way that I should read them together like a series? I know there's a ton of warcraft books. I am interested in Illidan, but less so before the storm. I can't make sense why Amazon only grouped those three instead of all of the books.
Hey my bad, it's actually "Twilight of the Aspects" novel - poor memory. Most of the Archbishop's reveal was in that novel, by the time you meet him in Cata he's full big bad mode already. https://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Thrall-Twilight-Aspects/dp/143919663X
Is coming out next month. It is targeted at a younger audience, but may still be entertaining for a Warcraft fan of any age.
If you haven't read the movie literature, I recommend it. Christie Golden wrote both the prequel Durotan and the novelization of the film. Both are good, though I particularly liked the prequel novel. Durotan and Draka are amazing characters.
That was exactly how it was sold to us originally. Now it turns out that he was actually, secretly, working to take down the Burning Legion all along!
... but of course he didn't tell anyone because... we needed a villain during the Burning Crusade expansion!
/s
It's all in the new novel that came out recently titled Illidan, appropriately enough.
I'm not going to spoil anything for you, but I will warn you: the direction they're taking Illidan in is so fucking Blizzard that they already did the same plotline in another Blizzard game and it was cringe as fuck there too.
Sometimes the writers just love their clichés.
If I may ask, after doing a little bit of searching, i feel like a good place to start would actually be from either Warcraft chronicle volume 1 OR Warcraft: Durotan. However, I feel that the Chronicle volume one could be better. Would you happen to know which is better?
I found the two on Amazon linked below: https://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Chronicle-BLIZZARD-ENTERTAINMENT/dp/1616558458/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1468161194&sr=1-1&keywords=warcraft+chronicle+volume+1
>I didn't include that one because it's an e-book. Was it ever released on paperback?
Yeah, here's a link where you can purchase it on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Aspects-Richard-Knaak/dp/147676137X
> This is covered in the Illidan novel which released in March this year.
Are you referring to this book?
And ok.. so in the CGI trailer, it's Illidan that Gul'dan is resurrecting?
There is both. Durotan is the prequel, Warcraft Official Movie Novelization is released also. It came out around the same time as the graphic novel. They really front loaded the written lore for the movie universe, lol.
https://www.amazon.com/Warcraft-Official-Novelization-Christie-Golden/dp/1783295597
In the books, there's really not much. There may be some in Wolfheart, which takes place at the start of Cataclysm. All of his real development takes place during parts of Cataclysm and his whole questline in Mists of Pandaria.
They're a few Youtubers to help you, but Nobbell is probably the 'best', although it is personal preference.
The books are not as expensive as you think, you can get them all on Kindle or used from Amazon. Quick google search found me The Shattering for $0.40 - Also remember, it will add up yes, but the ammount of books, you'll buy one, read it then buy another, by the time you've finished chances are you'd have enough saved for the next.
Because you're new, I personally wouldn't recommend doing it all at once, find an era and focus on that, then expand from there. The Arthas stories are probably my fav. You'll pick up a few character names and then just get a deeper knowledge casually. You WON'T learn it all in a day so don't even try, take your time :)
I'm by no means an expert, however just from playing, personal study and reading the books / watching the youtubers I've got a good understanding on each story - I'm sure you could do the same :)
Have fun.
I'm not sure if you've seen it, but you can get Of Blood and Honor and Lord of the Clans together in the Warcraft Archive. It also includes The Last Guardian and Day of the Dragon, but unfortunately I don't think they sell the two titles you're looking for individually anymore.
Most of what I mentioned is covered in the book.
It covers everything in Arthas' life really, pre-WC3 through WC3 and Frozen Throne, and ends where he wakes up at the start of the WotLK cinematic.
Wrath is definitely worth leveling through once, but it is also my favorite WoW expansion (also cuz Arthas is my favorite WC character), but with my DK I really enjoyed leveling through Wrath.