Can demons use Arcane?

Argent Dawn
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The title is clear, no need explain more I guess.

2

Yes. There are numerous demons over the years that use arcane spells.

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Yes, even if it’s going to find some resistance within their body.

Those who focus on fel magic have a harder time weaving the arcane (if I recall correctly, the source is the Illidan novel)… it doesn’t mean you can’t cast it, but it’s something to be taken into account when using it before people go full multi-class mode.

There’s also the psychological factor. Fel and Arcane appear to affect the mind in different ways, too, as Fel is more intoxicating and inebriating. Someone casting arcane could find the magic of order underwhelming by comparison.

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Can you point at some? I guess I have missed them.

5

Illidan has been feeding his demons in the Black Temple with raw arcane instead of fel, to the point of them losing the connection to the Nether. So it’s possible and doable, even if with drawbacks.

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6

Medivh could still use his arcane spells despite having Sargeras as an unwanted guest inside of him.

Also wasn’t fel called a corrupted form of arcane?

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7

In old lore, yes. It’s not that anymore.

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Some of Kil’jaeden’s abilities are Arcane like https://www.wowhead.com/spell=235059/rupturing-singularity

This satyr uses Blink.
https://www.wowhead.com/npc=12236/lord-vyletongue

Immol’thar’s portals are arcane
https://www.wowhead.com/spell=22950/portal-of-immolthar

These guys got an arcane eyebeam
https://www.wowhead.com/npc=18694/collidus-the-warp-watcher#abilities
https://www.wowhead.com/npc=21894/xeleth#abilities
(indeed a bunch of the observers do)

There’s almost certainly more, that’s just a few examples. Shadow and fel are definitely the more common (and it’s often not explained how they’re making use of Fire magic when it’s orange fire instead of green) but arcane does crop up here and there.

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9

Unclear. There’s a Demon Hunter NPC who can’t use Arcane spells anymore. So if a Fel corrupted elf can’t, it would make sense that a demon can’t since demons are way more corrupted. After all, Fel and Arcane are direct opposites in the Cosmology.

But it’s Blizzard lore so you know, the answer depends on which writer you ask.

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10

Not quite what he says. The actual dialogue is

Before I became a demon hunter, I practiced the arcane arts. I still retain some of that knowledge, though the fel makes it all but impossible to use.

One thing I can still manage is the occasional glimpse into faraway places. You’ve seen me use the nether crucible to do this. I’m afraid that things don’t look too good.

https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/One_Battle_at_a_Time

Even with the difficulty of this massive loser of a demon hunter using it, he still has some ability to use it.

There’s also the somewhat headcanon’d (I believe) suggestion that the issues using arcane stem from the fel tattoos they use to restrain the demon within. Full blooded demons have no such restrictions, and so can use the Arcane freely.

Kael’thas is a felblood elf (though, like Jace, classed as Humanoid rather than Demon) and clearly makes use of the arcane during his Magister’s Terrace encounter.

Furthermore, Illidan supposedly casts a bunch of arcane spells during the Illidan novel. I’ll take wowpedia’s word for it; I’ve not read it myself.

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The Last Guardian (:nerd:) describes an orcish warlock creating a demonic hellfire by cutting his palm open and weaving it from his blood, which in hindsight seems to line up thematically with the warlock Hellfire ability where you used to sacrifice your own health to channel it.

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Aren’t those Arcane tattoo’s, though?

Pretty sure they always have been Arcane tattoo’s to? :thinking:

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DH’s tattoos are actually arcane tattoos.

Demon hunters mark their bodies with arcane runes to keep their fel forces in check
https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Fel

In general, some examples you gave are both kinda old + feel more like a game mechanic than actual lore. Immol’thar’s portal being classified as ‘arcane’ under game mechanics might not be super accurate lorewise, especially because it comes from a time where arcane and fel were the same thing.

I wouldn’t use them as a rock-solid example. In general, I would go with the idea they can use a few spells, but ideally they’d focus on darker forces like fel, death and shadow.

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14

Elenthas and the others have already said everything I would in terms of stated lore, so I’ll just chime in my own headcanon: we know that demons can use the arcane, but I imagine it takes a certain level of skill/precision that your standard imp can’t maintain. An Eredar wizard, though? That makes sense. Ancient and incredibly well-practiced, they can probably pull it off (with difficulty depending on the level of the spell and the energy expenditure required).

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Were they even demons after that? What happens when they die?

So if demon can use arcane after feeding on it, I wonder about Light and Nature, can they use it aswell after feeding upon it?

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They absolutely can, yeah. We’ve got a number of instances of demons using holy magic – shivarra, who effectively played the role of the Legion’s clergy, use it on a number of occasions.

Priestess Delrissa from Magisters’ Terrace and Mother Shahraz from Black Temple, off the top of my head.

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Well, old bosses can be just game mechanics, but Delrissa had the ability lorewise as far as I know, ye. It would just be better if there would be example in newer lore. Like Legion.

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I wonder if we can count Balnazzar using Light-based attacks while possessing Saidan Dathrohan.

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My guess is they did not change enough. I think the warlock was quoted incorrectly (too tired to check), but the idea was that they lost “the traditional fel aura associated with demons of the Legion” or something like that, not that they were no longer demons because they fed off arcane magic.

The dreadlord that worked for Illidan as Maiev’s jailer, for example, was killed and respawned in the Nether just fine.

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That would be fine, I mean at least for me the main trait of a demon is soul being bound to the Nether and respawning there after death. Feed on Arcane and use aura? Sure. Get Light fused? Sure, but as long as soul is bound to the Nether you are demon.