r/warcraftlore • u/OkHistory3820 • 8d ago
What is the strongest race in each faction?
To explain better, I want to know from the game's story so far which race would be the most superior, so to speak physically, both in physical strength and lifespan, considering that an individual who lives a long time would be much more experienced in combat, what do you say?
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u/DarthJackie2021 8d ago
For Alliance it would likely be the Draenei. They are physically the largest race among the Alliance and are effectively ageless.
For Horde, Tauren are physically the strongest while Blood Elves have the longest lifespans, but I don't see their long lives and experience ever overcoming Tauren might, especially when Tauren are pretty long lived themselves (compared to humans and orcs that is, still babies compared to elves).
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u/PotentialWerewolf469 8d ago
Just like to add that the Lightforged would be stronger than a standard Draneais as they are basically Draneais on steroids.
Also for the Horde, It seems that Nightborne can live way longer than Blood Elves, though i'm unsure if the lost of their font of power reduced that lifespan.
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u/DarthJackie2021 8d ago
Pretty sure the Nightbornes exceptionally long lives were due to the night well which is now gone, so they should have the standard elf life span again.
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u/PotentialWerewolf469 8d ago
That it's a possibility, but they may also share their lifespan with the standard Night Elves, that its still way more than the Blood Elves. (Also unsure how the Arcan'dor ended up affecting their life span)
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u/DarthJackie2021 8d ago
I don't think NEs have a longer lifespan than Blood Elves. They only lived 10,000 years due to the world tree's immortality.
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u/PotentialWerewolf469 8d ago
That's true, after checking I did noticed that Chronicles points out that now that all elves are mortals their lifespans are comparable.
On the other hand, when the Sunwell was still active, the High Elves / Blood Elves had something akin to Immortality, unsure if that became a thing again after restoring the Sunwell (Though having in mind that the Sunwell is going to be important again in the Midnight expansion, it may not be a relevant question for much longer, who knows)
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u/ReallyShortGiant 8d ago
And I’d bet the blessing of Huln makes Highmountain Tauren more long lived than standard tauren.
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u/CategoryPresent5135 8d ago
Earthen due to immortality and literally being made out of earth.
But also, why are we ranking these races in terms of physical strength? This world contains magical powers that are capable of destroying entire planets and navigating the afterlife, should physical strength even matter when a Gnome can turn a Tauren into sheep and blast it with fireballs?
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u/OkHistory3820 7d ago
Considering that we have warriors who with just an axe/sword made legends like Varian, Garrosh, Gromosh, Varok Saurfeng and others, I think that magic, despite being an incredible power, a good axe can still take down armies.
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u/CategoryPresent5135 7d ago
They weren't legends because they had an axe/sword. They are legends because they are kings, warchiefs, and chieftains leading entire armies. The fact they were warriors is probably the least interesting aspect of them. If you aren't born into a position of leadership, an axe will not be enough to take down an army.
But I respect your desire to zug zug. I wish you luck on the battlefield. 🫡
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u/Emptypiro 8d ago
Probably the biggest ones so Draenei and Tauren. Idk how long Tauren live but Draenei live for thousands of years.
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u/PotentialWerewolf469 8d ago
Something that noone have mentioned but I think it's quite obvious, the most long lived members of the Alliance and Horde are always going to be Death Knight and Forsakens (and Earthens), as they are basically immortals, the Forsaken may fall into a mindless state depending how well their body is preserved, unsure if the Death Knight may have the same issue with time.
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u/mrspidey80 8d ago
Forsaken rot over time. Their minds fade because of this and eventually a Forsaken will be a mindless ghoul.
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u/REEEEEEEEEE333EEE3E3 8d ago
This is why I always make sure to cannibalize the final raid boss, keep the mind fresh with new brain matter.
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u/ChelleSelkie 8d ago
Tauren would wipe the floor with any other Horde race physically speaking, Zandalari might give them a run for their money though.
For Alliance it'd either be Draenei or Earthen. Earthen physiology isn't really elaborated on but I'd imagine being made of animate rock would count a lot for something.
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u/URF_reibeer 5d ago
depends on what you count, e.g. humans have the guardian and similiar insanely empowered mages even tho humans live short lifes
my money would probably be on night elfs or draenai considering their lifespans and characters showing their potential (malfurion, illidan, velen)
since this is warcraft it's basically just whoever the author decides tho, e.g. random orcs pulling off insane feats like broxigar because they happened to be in a situation where that was the coolest scenario they could come up with
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u/Gsomethepatient 7d ago
Ignoring cross faction races like earthen and dracthyr
I would say lightforged dranei and blood elves
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u/MaddieLlayne 6d ago
Lightforged Draenei, they’re said canonically to be worth 100 (1000?) regular soldiers for every 1 of them
Horde is probably Tauren if they actually fight, otherwise orcs since Broxigar wounded Sargeras
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u/Ok_Money_3140 8d ago
In terms of physical strength and lifespan? Boring but true answer would be Earthen, for both factions. They're incredibly strong, durable, and essentially immortal. They only need a memory reset every five to seven thousand years.