Some of the newest cat models do have whiskers, yes. So do the old lion models from the Barrens, for example.
It’s remarkably inconsistent, now that I think about it…
Good point, actually. Given Vol’dun is a hostile and dangerous environment, it’d make sense for Vulpera to have generally sharpened senses, including touch. Though that’s sheer speculation on my part.
I only make good points.
And eh, isn’t it the fun of the Vulpera to speculate? (As long as it doesn’t extend into making arctic vulperas.)
I’m curious about this one. I’m gonna guess death knight given their short stature and general reliance on each other rather than the feats of an individual.
I think most of the others are fair game though, they have to learn a lot to survive out in the deserts, and some of what they learn might be passed down from some of the zandalari exiles in the zone.
(Also this isn’t to knock people rolling vulpera death knights, it’s an option and I don’t personally have an issue with them <3)
Vulpera death knights are a bit tricky to pull off convincingly.
Yes, short stature and (probably?) lack of physical strength would be a knock against them, but the same could be said for gnomes as well - and these have a tendency to offset that with ingenuity and creative applications of engineering, generally.
Vulpera death knights can work in pretty much the exact same way - sure, they may not be as burly or powerful as an orc or a tauren when it comes to raw strength, but their adaptability can give them a real edge.
This, for instance, is a perfect example of “use what you have at your disposal in creative ways to overcome a challenge”.
As for the other classes, I think the most debatable choice aside from death knights is probably priest, since prior to Folk & Fairytales, we knew literally nothing about Vulpera beliefs and religion - do they worship the loa, the spirits, the desert itself or nothing at all?
We do know now that they apparently have things like last rites and the whole Wailing Bone stuff, which is better than nothing, but it still requires some…creative thinking.
My assumption has always been that since Death Knights are animated by magical forces to the extent that their eyes literally blaze with it that any death knights regardless of their race will exhibit supernatural levels of physical prowess. I expect that any vulpera Death Knight would have far greater strength than someone like Rykah or Ombashi for instance. Strength which is undoubtedly equal to most tasks even if they probably aren’t as physically strong neccessarily as Orc and Tauren Death Knights.
This is headcanon of course (at least I think so?) but I find it difficult to imagine this not being the case considering what an overtly supernatural thing their existence actually is.
Mage and warlock are the classes that usually raise some eyebrows, and I suppose it’s not without reason (how would you come to know about fel in the desert, for instance?). Death Knights were pretty much mass produced in the latest batch from people that fell in the conflict, so I don’t think they’d give too much regard to the quality of the deceased.
But even those two classes you can find reasonable justifications for, considering you find cursed relics all over Vol’dun (and the Zandalari aren’t exactly foreign to that sort of magic either). It means you’d likely never be a master wizard/warlock so long as you lived over the dunes, but you’d definitely have some grasp of the basics. It’s one of those cases where not every specialization of the class may be adequate for the race when you start.
Oh, I share that belief. A vulperan death knight is almost guaranteed to be physically superior to a regular vulpera, with undeath giving them vastly increased stamina and most likely also increased strength to boot.
My assumption about physical prowess was meant in relation to something like orcs and tauren, where I maintain that even a vulperan death knight can’t match an orc in raw strength.
Stamina, probably, but the undead murder fox is still more likely to lose against the ripped green-skinned war machine in an arm wrestling contest. 
Death knight (I am opposed to all midget-race DKs)
Mage (literally why DO they have this? ?? ? who knows)
priest (same as above)
shaman… eh, i kinda wish they had more lore than just 1 dude existing
monk and i feel this one is just obvious
We’ve never really seen any indication that death knights have supernatural strength at all, far as I know, so I wouldn’t really agree with this assumption.
I’m actually fine with, it works as a nice nod to the purge squads and the dark methods they at times employed.
Fair point, but when you need numbers quickly, you can’t really afford to discriminate. Which was at least the case with Bolvar’s death knights, and there were plenty of corpses to go around.
I’ll go with Vale’s explanation on that. A vulperan mage is unlikely to ever be as skilled as, say, a blood elf or a nightborne, but access to Zandalari ruins and scrolls in Vol’dun can give them enough to at least grasp the basics of arcane magic, and as has been said many times already, vulpera are adaptive and quick to utilize any resource to their advantage.
Not to mention that after leaving the dunes, no one’s stopping them from seeking out proper training.
I’d imagine a vulpera mage’s spells are more volatile and less controlled due to not having received ‘proper’ training, which may make them seem incredibly dangerous to skilled mages, but that’s speculation on my part.
Like I said, prior to Folk & Fairytales, we didn’t even know what kind of religion vulpera have in the first place, so I’m inclined to agree.
In my personal headcanon, shaman (or at least dunecallers / waterseekers) are an integral part of any (properly big) caravan, helping to navigate the dangerous territory and finding water for when it’s necessary. Like with mages, not properly ‘trained’ shaman, but some sort of basic version.
And usage of totems is pretty much a staple among vulpera, not just Kiro in particular.
That one I actually completely forgot about, and I’m 100% on board with. Pandaren-style monks make no sense for a race that has been isolated to a single place for (probably) thousands of years.
And I highly doubt any of the Bilge Rats would even bother with the concept.
The desert and what is hidden underneath together with its connection to the empire and sailors/pirates at the shores can be an explanation to almost any class but tbf some would need far more convoluted reasons then others.
I think the thought behind warlocks and priests is the shadow/void side of both since Voldun has such a strong connection to the old gods. But speaking of priest I must mention one of our guildmates, who made a dune priestess who calls the suns light for aid and believes that we all end up in the great oasis one day. Like so many things it is a fine line between backstory and headcanon but as long as you say that this is the lore of your own past caravan (and it doesn’t go too far (like to the arctic…)) then its fine. Especially since its just really well rp’ed.
That was my original thought with my shaman. A strong connection to the earth and by that the sand so he calls the dunes aid in seeking the next oasis or to see where the next big danger lies.
Yeah it can be explained away (in fact, every single race/class combination can), but that won’t really make it a cool aesthetic or a cultural fit.
I think you just described a warlock, which is a class they have that I am fine with. I just don’t gel with the desert rat vagrants having the bookish academic class
after what went down the last days, i am glad this thread exists.
Still happy to have made my Sand Shaman on day one of 8.3.
Let’s go Vulpera! Time to explore the world!
-Oari
Of course, I’m aware of that. And I do think vulpera death knights kinda skirt the line of being thematically fitting, but it’s what’s available to us.
And since Blizzard doesn’t really offer more than a barebones explanation, we kinda have to come up with our own.
That really comes down to the individual character in the end. I don’t believe there aren’t some vulpera who are inclined to expand their knowledge, but most of them didn’t really have an opportunity to do so when their primary focus was survival.
I really like the idea of something like a ‘scroll mage’ - someone who just collects random scrolls and books from the ruins and uses them to cast a variety of spells.
Not a properly trained and studious mage like we know it.
Then again, I’m not really well versed in mage lore to begin with, so please take all this with a grain of salt.
Was going to chime in about shaman as something that I feel like is spot on for vulpera (big reason why I created one), but you guys already did so very succinctly, so all I can really add is that I agree bigtime.
Yeah again like I said, anything can be theoretically justified. A Lightforged warlock for example or a mag’har paladin? Perfectly possible within the lore, and you can come up with reasons for why they’re that way.
But I won’t ever like it and prefer Blizzard not adding things that need a weird roundabout explanation and have 0 cultural fit with the race.
Yeah I don’t entirely disagree but the utter absence of lore for what used to be one of WoW’s most iconic classes is greatn’t.
Yeah, I agree with this specifically too, being a sore point, as much as I love this specific race-class combo. Here’s hoping for a bit more lore down the line, but I’m not going to hold my breath.
That would bring us back to the big problem of missing lore for them. Because If we would only go with the few bits we have about them, they couldn’t be anything else then rogue, hunter or warrior.
In fairness, the expansion directly following their introduction stagnated almost all of the lore. Fingers crossed for something once we stop waddling in the mess that is Shadowlands yes
Rogue, hunter, warrior, warlock is a perfectly fine list. Honestly as long as you have access to all armor types you’re at least better off than the Lightforged who can’t wear leather.
Hell I can throw 'em a bone and include shaman too, it doesn’t ENTIRELY clash, it’s just a bit unexplained, but at least one exists canonically.
It’s more than the gnomes had prior to WotLK.
But these days, we need diversity. Even if it makes almost zero sense lorewise.