Dwarf Shamans in World of Warcraft
New Roles for Dwarves in the WoW: Cataclysm Expansion
Sep 26, 2009
The Dwarven race is one of the original Alliance factions in the massively popular online game World of Warcraft. In the recent announcements of the next game expansion, Cataclysm, players who choose the Dwarf race for their character will be able to select the shaman class. How is the addition of shamanism to the Dwarven race justified based on the lore of Dwarven culture in the Warcraft universe?
Emergence of the Shaman Class in the Dwarven Race
In the original release of World of Warcraft, the shaman class was limited to races within the Horde faction. With the release of the Burning Crusade expansion in 2006, the Draenei race, added to the Alliance faction, allowed Alliance players to experience playing a shaman.
At the 2009 Blizzcon event, Blizzard announced the development of the next World of Warcraft expansion: Cataclysm. This expansion will allow a wide variety of new race-class combinations, including Dwarven shamans.
Shamanism and Dwarven History
At first glance, the addition of the shaman class doesn't seem to make sense in terms of the Dwarven culture. Dwarves and humans were the only races in the original game release that could be paladins, and both races revere the Light.
While no in-game quests or events have provided any direct hints to the emergence of the shaman class, there are two areas of lore that could point to its link to the Dwarven culture. The first is the existence of the Wildhammer clan of dwarves, currently represented at Aerie Peak in the Hinterlands.
According to Warcraft lore, the Wildhammer clan was one of the dwarven clans involved in the War of the Three Hammers. The Wildhammer dwarves avoid technology, unlike their Bronzebeard counterparts, and revere spirits of nature. They have especially close ties to the gryphons of Aerie Peak. The Wildhammer clan has always been loosely associated with the Alliance faction, and have actively opposed the Horde faction.
In addition to the existence of shamanism in the Wildhammer clan, the events unfolding in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion have provided additional background on the creation of the Dwarves. Dwarves have an exceptionally close tie to the earth, and this tie may be explored in the next expansion through mechanisms such as earthen spirits. WoW.com has speculated that a Wildhammer clan shaman may offer his services to the Dwarven king during a pre-expansion event, but that remains to be seen.
While the addition of the shaman class to the Dwarven race initially doesn't fit the Dwarf stereotype, game lore and current game history show that the shaman class could easily slip into Dwarf culture.
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