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This article is about the blood elf playable race. For blood elves in general, see blood elf.

Blood elves
Icon of Blood
Character classes	Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Death Knight, Warrior, Monk
Main language	Thalassian
Secondary language	Orcish
Starting zone	Sunstrider Isle, Eversong Woods
Racial leader	Lor'themar Theron
Capital	Silvermoon City, Eversong Woods
Racial mount	Hawkstrider

The blood elves of Silvermoon City start in the Eversong Woods, the northern section of Quel'Thalas. Farther south is the Ghostlands, a level 10-20 zone.^[1]

According to WoW Census, blood elves are currently the most played race on the Horde.

Background

Long ago the exiled high elves landed on the shores of Lordaeron. They struck out to find a new home, and after many battles with the trolls, established the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas. Using a vial of sacred water stolen from the first Well of Eternity, the high elves created a fount of mystical power at a convergence of ley energies in Quel'Thalas. They named this fountain the Sunwell. The potent arcane magic fed and strengthened the high elves, and soon the wondrous city of Silvermoon was created.

Protected by a magical barrier, the high elves enjoyed peace for roughly four thousand years, but that peace was not to last. The Amani trolls gathered an immense army and assaulted the elven kingdom. Vastly outnumbered, the high elves hastily struck an alliance with the human nation of Arathor. During this time, the elves taught a small number of humans how to wield magic. In exchange the humans aided the elves in destroying the trolls' power base forever. Over the following years the high elves returned to their reclusive ways, but during the Third War, the diabolical Prince Arthas Menethil brought battle once again to their doorstep. Arthas required the power of the Sunwell to revive the necromancer Kel'Thuzad and raise him as a lich. He invaded Quel'Thalas and wiped out most of the elven population. Even King Anasterian Sunstrider lay dead among the carnage.

Additionally it became clear that the high elves had become addicted to the Sunwell's arcane energies. Now that the source of their magic was gone, the few remaining high elves quickly grew ill and apathetic. Prince Kael'thas, last of the royal line, returned from his studies in Dalaran to find Quel'Thalas in ruins. Thirsting for vengeance, he gathered the survivors, renamed them blood elves, and took a group of the strongest fighters to join Lordaeron's campaign against the Scourge.

Due to human prejudice, Kael'thas was forced to accept the assistance of Lady Vashj and her reptilian Naga. When the humans discovered that the blood elves had been working with the naga, Kael'thas and the others were imprisoned in Dalaran chambers and condemned to death. Lady Vashj soon arrived to set them free, leading them through a portal and into the wastes of Outland. There, the elves met the one being capable of putting an end to their hunger: the renegade night elf half demon, Illidan Stormrage. Certain that the blood elves would die without Illidan's assistance, Kael'thas agreed to serve unquestionably.

A lone representative, Rommath, was sent back to Azeroth with a message of hope for the blood elves remaining in Quel'Thalas: that one day Kael'thas would return to lead his people to paradise. Rommath had made great progress in teaching the blood elves advanced techniques in manipulating arcane energies. With renewed hope, the blood elves rebuilt the city of Silvermoon, though it powered by volatile magics. Emboldened by the promise of Kael'thas' return, the weary citizens of Quel'Thalas now focus on regaining their strength, even as they forge a new path into an uncertain future.^{TBCMan 12, 13}

Mounts

The racial mount for the Blood Elf is called the hawkstrider, although at first they were named 'cockatrices' as announced by GameSpot.^[2] Blood Elf Paladins (Blood Knights) have a darker version of the charger that has black skin with bronze and red armor.

Leadership in Quel'Thalas

Lor'themar Theron, Regent Lord of Quel'Thalas: Leader of the Blood Elves on Azeroth in the wake of Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider's betrayal.
Grand Magister Rommath, Leader of all Blood Elf Magi on Azeroth, and former servant of Kael'thas.
Halduron Brightwing, Ranger-General of Silvermoon/Blood Elven Military Commander on Azeroth and Leader of the Farstriders (an organization of Blood Elven rangers).

Lady Liadrin, Leader of the Blood Knight order of Silvermoon City.

Racial abilities

Arcane Torrent - (Instant) - 2 minutes cooldown: Activate to silence all enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds. In addition, you regain 6% of your mana. If you play a death knight or a rogue this ability restores 15 runic power/energy.

Arcane Affinity - (Passive): 10 point skill bonus to Enchanting (this raises the cap by 10 at each level of enchanting).

Magic Resistance - (Passive): Reduces the chance to be hit by spells by 2% (as of Patch 3.0.2)

Reasons for Racial Ability

Arcane Torrent comes as a natural manipulation of Arcane energy from the Sunwell, allowing the Blood Elves to feed off of surrounding magics. The elves have long delved into magical practices as evident by their cultural centerpiece of power, the Sunwell. Thus developing a Magical Resistance as a result of the overexposure of its magical presence, also making the Blood Elves naturally gifted in Enchanting too.

Appearance

Male Blood Elves are tall and slender, standing above the average human, and generally have a lean and muscular body type, making them seem somewhat thin when compared to larger races such as the Orcs or Tauren. Female Blood Elves stand shorter, just above a human male in height and have a slender, delicate build. They have a variety of hair colors from shades of blonde to dark blue to red and skin colors ranging from a pale peach to sunburnt to tanned. Blood elves have very long and thin ears, which differ greatly from their Night Elven cousins. The ears of a Blood Elf point vertically, whereas a Night Elf's ears point behind them. Blood Elves also have eyebrows that extend well off of their face like whiskers. Both males and females are what would typically be considered exceptionally beautiful, with chiseled, refined features. Males can also sport some facial hair, in the form of goatees. However, Blood Elves are mostly recognizable for their glowing green eyes, which represent the influence of fel energies they turned to after the Sunwell's destruction.

Classes

Blood elf characters can play as the following classes:^[3]

This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.

It is also quite likely that the decision was made to reflect the magic nature of the blood elves as all their classes use some kind of magical powers. (With the possible exception of rogues, although that class' description refers to them using a 'touch' of mysticism. Also rogues can be explained as a type of ranger.) Additionally, blood elves generally prefer to engage enemies at range - only three of their classes are melee fighters. Also, Mana Tap would not work with rage. However, with the recent addition of the death knight's runic power mechanic, this is no longer justification, as Arcane Torrent awards the very similar depleting-with-time resource of runic power, though runic power is magical, and not emotional energy.

As seen in the Undead campaign in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and the Blood Elf campaign in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, elven swordsmen with no mana do exist. Thaladred the Darkener and the Sunblade Vindicators(no relation to Draenei paladins) also appear to be warriors, both use warrior abilities, have no mana bar, and the former is wearing the Warrior tier 5 armor set.

Because of these examples, it is not unjustified that Warriors will become a playable class for Blood Elves in Cataclysm.

Starting Clothes

The starting clothes for blood elves vary depending on the class, for example, the caster classes, like mages, priest and warlock begin with a robe (each one resemble the colors of the class, i.e: red for warlock) while the melee classes begins with a war-like armor, made of mail, linked on the middle (for paladins) or made of leather with a bit of body armor for hunters and rogues.

The main colors for a blood elf's clothing are red, white, orange, green, blue and sometimes purple.

Most of the blood elf magisters use robes, with different colors, like red, green, and purple.

Starting attributes

	Base	Mage	Rogue	Warlock	Hunter	Paladin	Priest	Death knight	Warrior	Monk
Strength	17	17	18	17	17	19	17	105	20	??
Agility	22	22	25	22	25	22	22	75	22	??
Stamina	18	18	19	19	19	20	18	99	20	??
Intellect	24	27	24	26	24	24	26	32	24	??
Spirit	19	21	19	21	20	20	22	40	19	??

Connections to other Horde groups

Though not normally advertised, starting blood elf characters can use a Orb of Translocation to get to the entrance of Undercity. The Orb works both ways, so characters can easily travel between the two capitals without having to go through the Plaguelands, which are much higher level zones than the Undead and Blood Elf starting areas. Note that Blood Elf players begin with a "Friendly" status with the Forsaken.

Languages

Blood Elf characters may speak Thalassian and Orcish.

Trivia

It is interesting to note that the female blood elf dance is derived from the dance routine in the music video for Britney Spears' song "Toxic", which lyrics happen to be a very spot-on description of the magical addiction blood elves suffer. The male blood elf dance is almost exactly identical to the dance that Napoleon does in the movie Napoleon Dynamite.^[4]
Contrary to popular belief, blood elves still have a strong affinity with nature, especially the Farstrider rangers. Like the quel'dorei before them, the sin'dorei have druids, but they are not the same as kaldorei or tauren druids; the blood elf variety of druids are closer to traditional "medieval" druids, working to conserve and maintain the natural environment of Quel'Thalas. While most cannot shape-shift, they share some of the same druid spells such as Speak with Plants. However, there is at least one shape-shifting druid (High Botanist Freywinn).
Blood elf NPCs are the only Horde race that do not call out for help when an Alliance player attacks them. This is most likely due to an oversight by Blizzard during production of The Burning Crusade. Getting too close to or attacking a blood elf NPC will still summon guards to protect the town or city.
Blood Elf guards in Silvermoon City and other parts of Quel'Thalas have a distinctly different model and portrait than those used by playable blood elves and by other blood elf and high elf NPCs; their models were not updated from the ones used in the Burning Crusade beta. They share animations with male night elf models and have unique aggro and death sounds.
Blood elf guards are the only guards with mana.
All blood elf guards are male unlike guards for most other races of Azeroth, except for Ironforge guards. Conversely, all night elf guards happen to be female.
Although blood elf eyes supposedly glow green, their model's eyes do not actually glow in the dark. Possibly an oversight.
According to the WoW Census, there are just as many Night Elf characters as there are Blood Elf character, both sides equaling up to 17% of both the Alliance, and Horde's total player count.

Roleplaying a Blood Elf

Blood Elves are the epitome of elegance. Speak with poise and confidence but also a slight cockiness, too. Afterall, you are a race that is known for unquestionable beauty. Always be dressed in your best clothing of which colored a blood red to symbolize your respects to the slain elves during the Sunwell's destruction. Your faith is in the Arcane as well as the Light. You thrive off of magics, manipulating Arcane energies to your will.

Videos

References

External links

World of Warcraft Community Site (US) Blood Elf

World of Warcraft Community Site (EU) Blood Elf

[0] ttp://www.gamesradar.com/us/pc/game/news/article.jsp?articleId=20060511182141609017&releaseId=&sectionId=1006&pageId=20060511182923350087

[1] ttp://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/worldofwarcraftexp1/news.html?sid=6155696&tag=topslot;action;1&page=1&q=&q=

[2] Blizzard Entertainment 2010-11-24. Shaman and Paladins. Archived from the original on 2010-11-24.

[3] ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=066_q4DIeqk

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