The Dwarves of Ironforge
Do you like beer? Do you like beards? How about brandishing guns, hammers, and axes around with reckless abandon? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’ll probably like playing a dwarf in World of Warcraft. The stalwart dwarves have stood by the humans and Alliance through thick and then. Stout, sturdy, and always implacable, dwarves are always up for an adventure, whether it’s a dungeon dive into a forgotten Titan facility or holding a battlement against a thousand screaming orcs, dwarves are a fun choice to play.
Like the humans and gnomes, dwarves are children of the Titans, descended from the stone-skinned Earthen created by the Titans to help shape and order Azeroth in its infancy. As the millenia went by, and the dwarves came to be (in and of itself a long story relating to the Titans, the Old Gods, and the Curse of Flesh), they carved a great city for themselves in Ironforge.
Ironforge prospered, and over time they began trading with the humans to their north in Lordaeron. However, a brutal civil war would rend dwarven society when High King Anvilmar died without an heir. Three factions attempted to take the throne, leading to the creation eventually of two more dwarven kingdoms. The Bronzebeard clan controlled most of the military and commercial power in Ironforge, in addition to having some blood ties to the Anvilmar line. As such they believed the throne was rightly theirs. However, two more factions would grow into separate clans vying for power. First were the Wildhammer dwarves, mostly dwarves who had settled in the hill country around Ironforge and were the explorers and scouts of dwarven society. The third faction in the civil war were the Dark Iron Dwarves. These ashen-colored dwarves lived in the shadows of the mountain and in the dark places of Ironforge. They also controlled the gem market, becoming wealthy off the endless mining of Ironforge.
The war between these three factions would be known as the War of the Three Hammers, and would end with the Bronzebeards reigning in Ironforge. The remnants of the Wildhammers went north to found the mountain hold of Grim Batol, while the Dark Irons went south and built a city in the Burning Steppes called Thaurissan. In time, the Dark Irons, who never forgot their loss in the War of the Three Hammers, would attack both the Bronzebeards and the Wildhammers. This brutal surprise attack led to an alliance between the Wildhammers and the Bronzebeards that would endure to this day, and together the two dwarven kingdoms would drive the Dark Iron armies back from Ironforge and Grim Batol. However, as both armies closed in on Thaurissan, Emperor Thaurissan succumbed to his anger and rage, and in so doing summoned the Firelord Ragnaros. Once in the material plane, Ragnaros quickly destroyed Thaurissan; both the man and the city, leading to the destruction of the Dark Iron kingdom. The surviving Dark Irons withdrew into Blackrock Mountain and built a new city deep in its caverns’ Shadowforge City.
The coming of the Horde and the creation of the Alliance brought the dwarves into the world stage at large. They proved to be not just steadfast comrades-in-arms for the humans and high elves, but also brilliant engineers, creating firearms and tanks that gave Alliance forces a massive advantage initially over the primitive orcish Horde. After the second war, when the orcs fled to Kalimdor, the dwarves began to take a keen interest in their history, sending explorers to delve into the dark chambers left behind by the Titans. As World of Warcraft’s story unfolded, the dwarves became some of the foremost experts in Titanic technology and the hidden Titanic history of Azeroth. They would also open their city to the Gnomes, long their neighbors, when the Gnomes rendered their city of Gnomeregan uninhabitable.
In time, peace would be made between the three dwarven clans, bringing the Dark Irons back into the larger dwarven society, and even eventually bringing the Dark Iron military to bear in helping the ALliance during the Fourth War, but that is a story for another time.
Dwarves are one of the Alliance’s most versatile races. They can play as warriors, paladins, death knights, hunters, shamans, rogues, monks, mages, warlocks, and priests. Indeed, there are only two classes they cannot be, demon hunters (entirely an elven class) and druids.
Dwarven racial bonuses are based on their lives in the mountains, harsh climates, and the hidden places of the world:
1. Stoneform. Every two minutes, a dwarf can harden their skin into rock. This decreases damage taken by 10% for 8 seconds, in addition to removing status effects like poison, disease, curse, and bleed effects.
2. Might of the Mountain. Living in dwarven society breeds strength, from the harsh, cold mountains, to the burning hot forges, and the cold, dark caverns. Dwarves do 2% more damage with their critical strikes and 2% more healing from their healing criticals.
3. Frost Resistance. Dwarven resilience gives them the ability to take 1% less damage from frost damage than other races.
4. Explorer. Dwarves have a passion for exploring ruins and forgotten places. They gather more fragments when using archaeology, and their surveying speed is faster than other races.
Dwarves are always a fun choice in a fantasy game. And World of Warcraft dwarves are certainly no exception to that. Sometimes you just want to crack open a cold one with the boys (and a fight, because if there’s one thing dwarves enjoy, it’s ale...and a fight), or just enjoy the simple pleasure of searching for lost treasure and knowledge. Or maybe it really is all about the beards. For Khaz Modan!
Like the humans and gnomes, dwarves are children of the Titans, descended from the stone-skinned Earthen created by the Titans to help shape and order Azeroth in its infancy. As the millenia went by, and the dwarves came to be (in and of itself a long story relating to the Titans, the Old Gods, and the Curse of Flesh), they carved a great city for themselves in Ironforge.
Ironforge prospered, and over time they began trading with the humans to their north in Lordaeron. However, a brutal civil war would rend dwarven society when High King Anvilmar died without an heir. Three factions attempted to take the throne, leading to the creation eventually of two more dwarven kingdoms. The Bronzebeard clan controlled most of the military and commercial power in Ironforge, in addition to having some blood ties to the Anvilmar line. As such they believed the throne was rightly theirs. However, two more factions would grow into separate clans vying for power. First were the Wildhammer dwarves, mostly dwarves who had settled in the hill country around Ironforge and were the explorers and scouts of dwarven society. The third faction in the civil war were the Dark Iron Dwarves. These ashen-colored dwarves lived in the shadows of the mountain and in the dark places of Ironforge. They also controlled the gem market, becoming wealthy off the endless mining of Ironforge.
The war between these three factions would be known as the War of the Three Hammers, and would end with the Bronzebeards reigning in Ironforge. The remnants of the Wildhammers went north to found the mountain hold of Grim Batol, while the Dark Irons went south and built a city in the Burning Steppes called Thaurissan. In time, the Dark Irons, who never forgot their loss in the War of the Three Hammers, would attack both the Bronzebeards and the Wildhammers. This brutal surprise attack led to an alliance between the Wildhammers and the Bronzebeards that would endure to this day, and together the two dwarven kingdoms would drive the Dark Iron armies back from Ironforge and Grim Batol. However, as both armies closed in on Thaurissan, Emperor Thaurissan succumbed to his anger and rage, and in so doing summoned the Firelord Ragnaros. Once in the material plane, Ragnaros quickly destroyed Thaurissan; both the man and the city, leading to the destruction of the Dark Iron kingdom. The surviving Dark Irons withdrew into Blackrock Mountain and built a new city deep in its caverns’ Shadowforge City.
The coming of the Horde and the creation of the Alliance brought the dwarves into the world stage at large. They proved to be not just steadfast comrades-in-arms for the humans and high elves, but also brilliant engineers, creating firearms and tanks that gave Alliance forces a massive advantage initially over the primitive orcish Horde. After the second war, when the orcs fled to Kalimdor, the dwarves began to take a keen interest in their history, sending explorers to delve into the dark chambers left behind by the Titans. As World of Warcraft’s story unfolded, the dwarves became some of the foremost experts in Titanic technology and the hidden Titanic history of Azeroth. They would also open their city to the Gnomes, long their neighbors, when the Gnomes rendered their city of Gnomeregan uninhabitable.
In time, peace would be made between the three dwarven clans, bringing the Dark Irons back into the larger dwarven society, and even eventually bringing the Dark Iron military to bear in helping the ALliance during the Fourth War, but that is a story for another time.
Dwarves are one of the Alliance’s most versatile races. They can play as warriors, paladins, death knights, hunters, shamans, rogues, monks, mages, warlocks, and priests. Indeed, there are only two classes they cannot be, demon hunters (entirely an elven class) and druids.
Dwarven racial bonuses are based on their lives in the mountains, harsh climates, and the hidden places of the world:
1. Stoneform. Every two minutes, a dwarf can harden their skin into rock. This decreases damage taken by 10% for 8 seconds, in addition to removing status effects like poison, disease, curse, and bleed effects.
2. Might of the Mountain. Living in dwarven society breeds strength, from the harsh, cold mountains, to the burning hot forges, and the cold, dark caverns. Dwarves do 2% more damage with their critical strikes and 2% more healing from their healing criticals.
3. Frost Resistance. Dwarven resilience gives them the ability to take 1% less damage from frost damage than other races.
4. Explorer. Dwarves have a passion for exploring ruins and forgotten places. They gather more fragments when using archaeology, and their surveying speed is faster than other races.
Dwarves are always a fun choice in a fantasy game. And World of Warcraft dwarves are certainly no exception to that. Sometimes you just want to crack open a cold one with the boys (and a fight, because if there’s one thing dwarves enjoy, it’s ale...and a fight), or just enjoy the simple pleasure of searching for lost treasure and knowledge. Or maybe it really is all about the beards. For Khaz Modan!
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