Iron Dwarf paladin/blacksmith hybrid?

[Gomloth-argent-dawn]

Hi everyone.

I am completely new at RPing but want to give it a serious go. I am going to level a Dark Iron Dwarf character specifically for this, and am very split about Warrior or Paladin.

My goal is to RP a Blacksmith type character, and if I had the option I would prefer the Paladin class because of the ram mount the class get (and simply because I prefer being a healer if I want to do current content with him as well).

However I see a couple of issues with a Paladin.

I get the feeling that a Warrior would be better suited for Blacksmiths since they are weapon experts and doesn’t have any “religious ties” to the light. But I don’t fully understand how Dark Iron Dwarves are connected to the light in their culture and whether it suits them.

A in-debt google search couldn’t answer my question either, and any race/class combo guides have ESSAYS explaining all the other classes, where as Dwarf/pally gets only a paragraph saying “Pally Dwarves are a great combo”

Also, I found this on WoWheads class break down for Dwarf/class combos:

There are dwarven Paladins, all Bronzebeard. Because of their believing in the Holy Light, but also their views on martial prowess, Paladin becomes a perfect choice for many dwarves. For in-game: I see most as Retribution, using holy magic to smite and enemy, along with their weapons. However, Protection Paladins are almost as common.

However, from what I can read up on there has always been Iron Dwarf Paladins called “Marshals” which existed to “harshly” upright hold the law. So not in the same sense “religion” based as human/bronzebeards, but more “will” based.

In theory… Dwarves are in general blacksmiths, miners, and archeologists… So I could imagine that no matter the “class” they are, they would have these professions still. In general I can’t imagine that Dwarves are as “religious” in their way of handling the light as Humans are. But still, if I am aiming at becoming a straight up Blacksmith then I don’t know how well the Pally class suits it, even for a Dwarf.

Even if I went as a Pally/blacksmith hybrid, would I need to RP in a “holy Warrior” sort of way, or can I stay unconnected to the “dutiful nature” that paladins usually have and “just be a blacksmith”?

I’m aware that the light is given to a being simply through “will”, if the being believe it is doing something that he/she considers the right thing to do, but I’m having trouble with matching it to a Dark Iron Dwarf blacksmith.

Does this mean that “Dark Iron” Dwarves are a no-go as Pallys?

On a side note, since I don’t know the difficulties of RPing different classes, would it be too hard to RP a Paladin as my first RP character?

Thank you.

[Galgrum-argent-dawn (Galgrum)]

The Dark Iron clan has been seen wielding the Light since Vanilla. We don’t know how its use started (it’s speculated that it could have started with Moira) but nevertheless it is used. So just at the most basic level, being a Dark Iron Light-wielder is perfectly fine.

However, there is no dominant religion that we know of within the Dark Iron clan meaning there’s no clan-specific ‘holy order’ for your character to be a part of, but that invites a lot of freedom:
Perhaps your paladin has become part of the Church of the Holy Light, joining the humans and Bronzebeards, and has to reconcile their shady cultural identity with the righteous tenets of the Church? Or perhaps they’re more secular in their belief system, such as the Marshal example: Their faith in ‘the law’ is such that they can invoke the Light and do so to meet out violent, authoritarian justice on criminals and the like - basically Judge Dredd, but with dwarves and Holy powers.

@Gomloth-argent-dawn

I’m aware that the light is given to a being simply through “will”, if the being believe it is doing something that he/she considers the right thing to do, but I’m having trouble with matching it to a Dark Iron Dwarf blacksmith.

In what way does it need to match? Why can’t a paladin also be a blacksmith? As a profession, it’s not exactly mutually exclusive with being a paladin - if anything it compliments it quite nicely, given the kind of equipment paladins use. I feel like you might be overthinking this a bit.

@Gomloth-argent-dawn

Does this mean that “Dark Iron” Dwarves are a no-go as Pallys?

On a side note, since I don’t know the difficulties of RPing different classes, would it be too hard to RP a Paladin as my first RP character?

Paladins aren’t a “no-go” for either Dark Irons or first RP characters. But if you find their dearth of lore and relative open-ness daunting, then playing a Warrior is a perfectly good substitute.

Naturally, they can be a blacksmith and can still be religious (if that’s the route you’d want to go down with a paladin), they just won’t invoke the Light. And them being a warrior needn’t be permanent either. Part of your character’s concept could be them wishing to become a paladin and that being something you work towards over time.

[Lytherael-argent-dawn]

Every second dwarf you see is a smith. Wether it’s a hobby or a dayjob, there’s so many of them the economy on smithing wares would be completely ed in half the Eatern Kingdoms.