The Worgen

Have you ever wanted to run free through the forest at night, feeling the soil under your feet, and the moonlight on your skin? Ever wanted to howl at the moon? If so, the worgen might be the race for you. The worgen were made playable in the Cataclysm expansion, and they brought something unique to the Alliance roster; a beastial race. Worgen are, essentially, werewolves.

While the worgen curse is relatively new, the people who were afflicted with it aren’t. Gilneas is one of the seven human kingdoms to arise out of the collapse of the Empire of Arathor thousands of years ago. Gilneas is located on a peninsula in southwestern Lordaeron, and in the old days past, its people explored and settled in the islands that would become Kul Tiras as well.

Gilneas fought in the Second War, alongside most of the human kingdoms, the dwarves, elves, and gnomes. However, King Genn Greymane had a falling out with the Alliance in the aftermath of the war. Greymane saw no reason to keep the orcs alive in internment camps when they had caused so much destruction and death across vast swaths of the Eastern Kingdoms. In addition, Greymane believed Gilneans should have to pay to rebuild other kingdoms. This led to Gilneas withdrawing from the Alliance.

The Gilneans would build the Greymane Wall after this, a huge fortified wall that separated Gilneas from Lordaeron. With the wall to the north, and harsh cliffs, rough seas, and reefs all around its coastline, Gilneas had sealed itself off from the world, believing outsiders had nothing to offer and that Gilneas could withstand any challenge.

They were wrong.

As the Scourge consumed Lordaeron, the Greymane Wall found itself under constant siege. But the undead hordes were seemingly endless, and every day found their numbers replenished as they attacked the walls. At this point, Greymane authorized the use of a special weapon created by his court’s archmage, Arugal. Arugal had been studying and researching the worgen, feral, wild werewolves originating from the Emerald Dream realm. The savage worgen scoured the wall of Scourge, that much was true, however, the beasts also attacked Gilnean soldiers when found, and those who survived these attacks were cursed to become worgen as well. The worgen also spread through SIlverpine forest, north of the wall, infecting most of the remaining Gilnean and Lordaeronian villages as well.

King Greymane forbade all travel into and out of Gilneas at this point, in an effort to stem the spread of the worgen curse through the population. At this point, anyone becoming worgen completely lost their identity and was essentially a feral animal. During this time, Gilneas also endured a brief civil war when Lord Darius Crowley attempted to overthrow the Greymanes in order to open Gilneas up to the world again and seek help. The rebels would ultimately fail.

Also, during this time, thousands of refugees from Lordaeron would arrive at the wall, only to be greeted with silence. The gates never opened, their pleas falling on deaf ears. Most of these refugees would end up dying to the Scourge, the free Forsaken as they secured the area from the Scourge, or from feral worgen in Silverpine Forest.

During this turbulent period, the events of the Cataclysm would unfold, with the great black dragon Deathwing shattering many places in the world. The ensuing seismic destruction would shatter some of the reefs along Gilneas coast, and bring down a section of the Greymane Wall.

Sylvanas Windrunner saw this as a golden opportunity and her forces streamed into Gilneas, as well as landing on the now open southwestern coastline, to claim Gilneas for the Horde. During this time, Greymane’s court alchemist, Krennan Aranas, came up with a temporary cure to the worgen madness, allowing the worgen to maintain their identities even as worgen. This, in addition to help provided by the night elves, who had arrived in Gilneas in secret due to their connection with the ancient worgen curse (having originated as an order of kaldorei druids in the past), would offer a type of salvation to the Gilneans inflicted by the worgen curse. Finally, with the help of the kaldorei, the forces of Greymane and Crowley would join forces, many of them now worgen with self-control, and scour Gilneas City of Forsaken troops. However, this advance would prove short-lived, as Sylvanas would lead massive reinforcements into the city, as well as make liberal use of the Blight. At their worst moment, after the death of Greymane’s son, Liam, by Sylvanas, hope would arrive when Stormwind’s elite 7th Legion would break through the Forsaken navy and begin landing forces in Gilneas to retake the city. Eventually, the 7th Legion and night elf navies would evacuate the remaining Gilneans. Most would go to Darnassus, in Kalimdor, where the Night Elves would take them in. Some would also go to Stormwind, to set up a government-in-exile for Gilneas. Lord Crowley would deploy into Silverpine Forest and the surrounding areas to lead an insurgency against the Forsaken occupations there. 

From here, the Worgen would go on to lose their new home again when Sylvanas as warchief destroys Teldrassil, the world tree the kaldorei capital of Darnassus is built on. During the Fourth War, Gilnean troops would go on to help the night elves reclaim their lands in Darkshore as repayment for the night elves giving a home to the Gilneans. Now Greymane waits and prepares to return to his land and reclaim it once and for all, this time for the Alliance as well.

Worgen can play as warriors, death knights, hunters, rogues, druids, mages, priests, and warlocks.

Worgen racial bonuses are naturally tied to their new natures as werewolves.

1. Darkflight. Every 2 minutes, a worgen can take his true form and increase his movement speed by 40% for 10 seconds.

2. Viciousness. Being werewolves, the brutality and viciousness of their attacks means they are 1% more likely to inflict critical hits on their attacks and spells.

3. Aberration. Worgen are unnatural creatures born of dark magics. As such, they take 1% less damage from shadow and nature based attacks.

4. Flayer. Worgen have built-in skinning tools in their long claws. Skinning skill starts at 15 rather than 1, and they skin targets .5 seconds faster.

5. Two Forms. A worgen can switch between their beastial worgen form and their original human form. However, in combat, they will always take their worgen form.

6. Running Wild. In their worgen form, they can drop down on all four legs and run as swiftly as any ground mount, allowing worgen players to not have to use a mount for ground travel.

Worgen are a fun race to play, with their mix of Dickensian gothic architecture and style, to their use of top hats, unique accents, and of course, the ability to run around slaughtering things as a werewolf. Do you want to live on the wild side? If so, get gabbin’ or get goin’!