I was playing a void elf shadow priest, and it got me thinking, If paladins originated as holy warrior priests, why is the same not possible with the shadow, Death knights are kind of like paladins for death, you have guardian druids for life.
So what would a shadow equivalent be?
Horde Paladin.
Paladins branched off from priests to become paladins purely based off of holy light, they have absolutely zero relation to shadow/void in anyway at all.
It would be akin to asking why orc shamans don’t use fel magic since most orc warlocks started out as shamans on draenor.
Don’t think they’ll exist as a playable class. Even though they’d technically be completely different to a Death Knight from a lore perspective, I feel the core fantasy is already covered.
On the other hand, plenty of “melee shadow plate” NPCs out there, both in the Twilight Cult and Old God type areas.
Im asking why there isn’t, what is stopping a shadow priest from picking up a sword and and roughly following the example of the first paladins but instead of using light using the void?
Nothing at all; just as there isn’t anything stopping a mage from wearing full plate and fighting with a mace.
The difference is that a paladin isn’t just an armoured priest. Paladins are defined by their belonging to an order; The Silver Hand, The Vidicators, The Blood Knights, The Sun Walkers, and Rezan’s Chosen. Paladins by nature take an oath to serve The Light through the order they belong to, and follow said order’s tenets.
Priests, on the other hand, are spiritual casters. They exist in every society on Azeroth, whether they be Holy Light priests from Northshire, Elune priestesses, or Loa witch doctors. This is why every race used to have their own “priest racial”, to represent how each race worships a different form of divinity.
The reason there are no Void paladins is because it would cease to be a paladin; paladins serve an order to channel the Light (even when that Light is given via An’she or Rezan), as opposed to worshipping a plethora of deities like priests often do. Paladins and Light go hand in hand - once they stop using Light, they stop being paladins.
EDIT: Worth remembering WoW was heavily based on DnD. In DnD, the line between a paladin and a cleric was that a paladin serves an Order, whilst a cleric directly serve a God. This is why the distinction between paladins and priests in lore is the fact every paladin race introduced has also has an associated Order added with them.
Riftblades exist. I would say, the melee / soldierly version of shadow users is Sub rogue.
A shadow user won’t likely equip big armour because shadowform & dispersion are more than enough protection. They operate with alacrity, stealth and trickery.
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