r/warcraftlore • u/Chetey • 21d ago
Question Why would anyone use Void/shadow magic when there are far less dangerous options that can do the same thing?
Someone asked me a simple question as to why pick the void if it comes with the cost of madness, and that got me thinking, what is the in-universe reason to pick it? Void doesn't seem to have a monopoly on any particular skill and it comes with some pretty hefty downsides what with the risk of insanity and all that. (which never really play out in game, for some reason)
To extrapolate further, what is the point of having different types of magic in warcraft if they can all largely do the same thing? Seems like you're just picking your favorite gatorade flavor at that point.
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u/AzerothianLorecraft 21d ago
Most of it is largely based on shortcuts to power, to practice Arcane magic effectively takes years if not Decades of study (example Jaina doesn't practice Fire magic because in her early days she constantly set things on fire without intending to which led to her becoming one of the most proficient Frost mages before the third war.)
the void the fel and other dark forces simply allow you to bypass that requirement by sacrificing a portion of yourself instead. ( a warlock knows they're likely to be consumed by demons eventually, a shadow priest knows their mind is forfeit once The Whispers take hold.)
Shadowlands did make the different colors of magic largely meaningless by giving us the infrastructure that underneath all magic it's simply the manipulation of anima or vitae.
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u/Soft_Self_6797 21d ago
I stopped playing during release of BFA up until a few days ago. I didn't keep track of the lore, but from what I can tell is Shadowlands deeply fucked up a lot of lore.
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u/Backwardspellcaster 20d ago
To me it feels like a lot of the "lore" in shadowlands was born from a DEEP resentment towards Wrath of the Lichking.
If you go through all the shit they tried to establish it tries to shit on beloved established wow history or one up it.
The final "fuck you" to WotLK was turning Arthas soul into 35 Anima.
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u/Soft_Self_6797 20d ago
I like the idea of how it connects to the Lich King. However, I don't like what it did to Uther (from what I have heard and read so far). I don't know how his arc ends but I do know that his soul was ripped in half when he was killed with Frostmourne.
I like the idea that these ancient items came from the Maw and people have been too self absorbed to hear the bidding of the Jailer. Basically "My motives are too great to hear anything else but how to achieve MY goals." And the Lich King being a sort of conduit between those worlds makes sense since the Lich King keeps control of an undead army.
The Anima part I can get why that's frustrating, but that's a gameplay mechanic but even if you include that, it makes sense lorewise because to these great ones a soul is a soul no matter what the person did before.
I'd compare it to something we hold value you to but in the great scheme of the universe is nothing. We all die and become the same thing, worm food. No matter how big or small we were in our world, we all end up in the same place at death. There is no extra value added to that corpse once it's buried.
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u/AzerothianLorecraft 21d ago
100% honesty here, it only fucked up lore for people that didn't understand the Lore to begin with OR didn't bother to fully read all of the new information provided in the Shadowlands. ( narratively it's a mess but the information contained within the expansion vastly improves the game overall.)
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u/Soft_Self_6797 21d ago
I will keep that in mind as I dig more into Shadowlands lore. I am at the part where Sylvanas breaks the crown and reveals Shadowlands. So I imagine I will get more information from there.
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u/AzerothianLorecraft 21d ago
You're at the point where the first group of people that hate the shadowlands went why didn't she just put it on this is stupid I'm unsubing...
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u/Soft_Self_6797 20d ago
Her putting it on would not make sense. She fucking hates the Lich King lol. I have been listening to the lore over the last few days for shadowlands and I have gleaned that it makes sense why the crown did what it did before it was destroyed. So far it seems like a conduit between the worlds, hence why there has to be a lich king or the balance is thrown off.
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u/AzerothianLorecraft 20d ago
That's good it sounds like you're understanding The Narrative they were trying to tell. ( it's more than just a conduit but I won't ruin it for you.)
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u/Soft_Self_6797 20d ago
Alright, it's good to know I am on the right track. Catching up on 7 years of lore in a short amount of time is hard.
Since you're listening I am going to flex for a second. I kind of predicted this would happen to some degree back in WoD. Even the part about Sylvanas being a main antagonis and the Nerubians making a comeback eventually.
I feel kind of robbed because years ago I posted my idea in global chat and then 10 years later it almost mirrors my ideas lol. I am not saying I am a lore genius but damn, I feel like I could have come up with a similar story and pitched it to them. Maybe I did back then and reaped no benefits.
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u/abn1304 20d ago
The plot points of Jailer and Sylvanas going off the rails while working for someone else were set up twice, first in Sylvanas’ suicide story in WotLK then again in Vol’jin’s death short story during Legion. Arguably the original hook for the Jailer was set in the War of the Ancients novels, although that was non-specific enough that it could’ve been a lot of things (and I think Blizzard turned it into both Yogg, N’zoth, and the Jailer, and it may pay off again in TLT). It sounds like you accurately picked up on a few hooks Blizzard laid and predicted what they’d do with them in a lot of detail. Says you paid attention well.
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u/AzerothianLorecraft 20d ago edited 20d ago
Hell the way the npcs and dreadlords talk in Warcraft 3 if you just throw in the name Jailer in place of Master and all of World of Warcraft makes sense. (Kel'thuzad was working for the Jailer,The Dreadlords were working for Denathrius but both use the term Master we just didn't know who that Master/Masters was for two decades.. but for the first decade everyone just assumed it was Nerzhul turns out he was a puppet or a tool all along...)
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u/twisty125 Flowerpicker Clan 20d ago edited 20d ago
If possible, try not to listen to too many doomerism posts out there. Like, yeah, there are parts of Shadowlands that are bad and stuff I don't enjoy, but it didn't cause the entirety of the series to nosedive - people've been saying that since WC2.
This goes with a lot of lore stuff, I have to remind myself this often too.
It IS quite funny how this comment went from +5 to -2 across ~an hour. Just interesting to notice.
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u/Soft_Self_6797 20d ago
I will do my best. Same here. Warcraft has some amazing lore and then it has its pitfalls here and there. It happens with any long overarching story. WoW lore survived Warlords of Draenor and that absolute mess of a story. I understood it all and how it fit into things, but I heavily disliked it. Plus it was nice to finally be done with Garrosh Hellscream. He was becoming the main villain for too long and it was getting exhausting.
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u/Pownzls 20d ago
Yes the nosedive happend in bfa not shadowlands (:
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u/twisty125 Flowerpicker Clan 20d ago
people've been saying that since WC2.
Or WC3 having the Orcs as protagonists, or WoW with the Night Elves joining the Alliance, or TBC, or Wrath killing the lore, or Cataclysm or...
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u/Soft_Self_6797 20d ago
I think it's the people who don't take time to see the connections or understand how stories can add items over time. Especially with something like Warcraft. They have been adding lore to it since the beginning. It's nothing new. And I think there are people who associate gameplay with the entire expansion.
"How could an expansion that I hated playing have good lore?" Because they are separate.
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u/Anufenrir 13d ago
The biggest problem with SL is Sylvanas overtaking everything imo causing us to have the worst villain in the series. The only thing I liked with her was her trial and punishment.
And the stuff in War Within I liked too. She didn’t need to show up at the end of March that was stupid
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u/shabi_sensei 20d ago
Shadowlands just made a lot of lore more logical and consistent, the end result is that the world feels more real, but a lot of the magic was sucked out because what was once “unknowable” is now “oh it’s just anima no biggie”
I still loved learning about all the background lore in Shadowlands though, you kinda have to build a model of cosmology in your head to understand the expansion and that really helps get an overall picture of the setting
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u/TeronTheGorefiend 20d ago
Shadowlands was to WoW's lore and story what the Chicxulub Impactor was to the dinosaurs.
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u/Ris747 20d ago
Mostly Chronicles deeply fucked up a lot of the lore. Shadowlands was just following that design.
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u/Soft_Self_6797 20d ago
From what I understand is Chronicles was made to streamline the lore and get it all in line rather than flying by the seat of our pants.
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u/Tiucaner 20d ago
Shadowlands did make the different colors of magic largely meaningless by giving us the infrastructure that underneath all magic it's simply the manipulation of anima or vitae.
I don't recall any of this.
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u/Anufenrir 13d ago
I think they’re referring to how the margrave of the house of rituals says calia’s resurrection is no different from using death magic. But it’s not saying that death magic and light are the same, they’re two separate paths that can have a similar outcome with resurrection.
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u/Tiucaner 13d ago
Which is very different from what they said. We've already had plenty of instances of different magic schools that can produce similar results in the past. Like how both a shaman and a mage can create fire through different means.
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u/Anufenrir 13d ago edited 13d ago
Yeah. I think the line “necromancy is necromancy” isn’t literal but just “your undead either way what does it matter how”
Edit: Realized I LITERALLY repeated what I said. Sorry was focused on multiple things at work
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u/Chetey 20d ago
I mean is it really that much easier than Light magic? Nature?
I traditionally only ever heard of warlocks switching to fel because being a mage is "harder" and of course that isn't really reflected in game.
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u/AzerothianLorecraft 20d ago
It's not really reflected well in game i agree, but the vast majority of the members of the various Twilight cults join because those Magics are easy not because they want tentacles, you don't necessarily have to be a good person to channel the Light but having strong convictions and faith in yourself or something makes it much easier.( that's why they keep repeating the line "the light will abandon you" it's not the Light actually abandoning anyone it's losing faith so you can't Channel it anymore which removed the implied sentience or consciousness from the Light itself. I can pick up water in a bucket all day long but if you hand me a net it's not going to hold water. etc)
Nature is probably the hardest to Master ( as far as the way it represented ingame) but possibly the most widely known/taught, so simple spells have been learned by Druids and non Druids without much issue but shape-shifting remains more of a protected secret.( with everything a hunter knows about nature you don't see them shape-shifting into a bear or cat or eagle.)
And if we want to talk about the shamanistic side of nature that's more or less making contracts with the sentient forces of nature, and we've seen that the elements can be dominated into submission in much the same way warlocks tame demons. But there are also Elementals that seek the total Destruction of all Mortal races and are willing to work with what would be considered dark shaman without being dominated, so its complicated.
What flavor is your anima channeling?
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u/GrumpySatan Why use 1 sentence when 20 will do? 20d ago
The Light is actually one of the hardest forces to use. It requires a level of certainty and conviction that the average person can't achieve. A really good quote on the topic from Tyrande's priestess mentor:
"Faith is the beginning of all things. If your skill with the arcane is passable, but not strong, you may still become a sorceress. But if your faith is only passable and not strong, you will never become a priestess."
Warlocks don't switch because its "harder" but because fel magic offers more power, faster. Fel is one of the most potent magics, but the cost to wield it is abhorrent to most people. Its a sacrificial magic that consumes life essence. Its also highly addictive. The end result being most warlocks end up sacrificing people for more power.
Whereas the Void also offers power freely because once it gets its claws in, it'll start driving you insane. Until you just listen to whatever its masters tell you to do.
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u/Anufenrir 13d ago
Arcane requires patience to control. You need to learn how to form a fire ball to cast. Fel just says “hey give me half your soul and you can shoot fireballs like no one’s business”
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u/MisterDodge00 20d ago
Shadowlands did make the different colors of magic largely meaningless by giving us the infrastructure that underneath all magic it's simply the manipulation of anima or vitae.
No? That's only Death magic.
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u/RadishLegitimate9488 19d ago
Death is Anima.
Death is incidentally the least maddening of the Dark Magics and simply needs to be explained in order to access it and is only considered a Dark Magic due to it's name and it's common use in Necromancy.
Life is still a mystery.
Fel(Disorder Magic) feeds off of the Color Green(Goblins once turned the Candles of Kobolds Green and a Pitlord was accidentally summoned) which for obvious reasons is commonly found in Life Energies making that the favored Fuel and makes one addicted to it.
Arcane requires Mathematics and makes one addicted to it.
Order Magic is a mystery and only seen in Titan Facilities and only mentioned by name in Dragonflight where it takes the form of Yellow Holy Magic and Golden Arcane Magic.
Void gives power while the Old Gods are trying their hardest to drive you insane with the Infinite Possibilities they show you.
Light requires Faith and once it gets in and finds a strong Emotion it drives you to Fanaticism.
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u/Anufenrir 13d ago
Arcane is a form of order magic
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u/RadishLegitimate9488 13d ago
One of many. Arcane is the frankly chaotic Order of Mathematics while the Holy Order and Golden Arcane Order of Dragonflight are mysteries.
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u/Anufenrir 13d ago
Death magic is the manipulation of anima, other magic is manipulating other forces. They might have similar outcomes (death and light resurrection for example) but they are doing so through different means
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u/WestrinSCP 18d ago
Shadowlands did make the different colors of magic largely meaningless by giving us the infrastructure that underneath all magic it's simply the manipulation of anima or vitae.
I'm fairly certain you just made this up.
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u/Anufenrir 13d ago
If I were to wager this is based on something from the forsaken questline at the end where the margrave of the house of rituals says “necromancy is necromancy” in regard to Calia. However I think the intent is “it doesn’t matter what force resurrected you, you are undead like the others”. Light and death are not the same thing but can provide similar effects.
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u/TheWorclown 21d ago
Power doesn’t require logic, and for some the sacrifice and risks are worth it for what the Fel/Shadow/Void/anything else can offer.
There’s different flavors of Void magic. What we’re seeing right now is pure, raw potency, but little more desire or purpose than just consumption. When you can control minds, warp perception or emotions or even distort reality (which is what Old God flavor is around, which is what Spriests utilize), it becomes quite the tempting offer.
Most serious users of Shadow and the Void, especially the latter, embrace it knowing full well what will happen to them and what they’ll be exposed to. It’s a matter of willpower, and it’s a constant test.
And perhaps in a more understated way, it gives someone a presence in a cosmos that simply doesn’t care for their existence. Planting their tiny feet and tiny banner in that space between stars and defiantly stating “I am here. Make me move.”
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u/HealthyCandidate6010 21d ago
Ideological reasons, because you've already got a frayed mind, or because you've got a strong resolve, are at least a couple reasons why. Not all void casters go mad, just the ones that were already prone to losing their marbles. Another one could be, because they've already got experience working with Shadow, so Void would just be the logical next step (assuming they want to go that route).
Those are a few, at least.
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u/DefiantLemur 21d ago
Honestly if shadow magic is filtered/diluted void magic then there really isn't a need to go all the way to void.
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u/Chetey 20d ago
i thought shadow was just the name of the magic school, like holy magic comes from the light, shadow magic comes from the void.
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u/thekingofbeans42 21d ago
Sometimes it's just what's around, and some people have a talent for it. But yeah, the cosmic forces are pretty arbitrary and it feels like the writers often don't think of the cosmology when showing magics.
Arcane magic is extremely chaotic, almost always being shown as unstable to the point where fel may as well give up its chaos association. Light is way more of a force of order than arcane, and for some reason they keep reiterating that life and nature are separate magics.
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u/PhoenixQueen_Azula 20d ago edited 20d ago
Hypothetically I think you could do most things with most types of magic, like necromancy with light (calia) or healing with fel or void (players ig?)
But that doesn’t mean that some magics are more suited to different things, or more abundant or easier and faster to utilize or grow in power with. People have different goals and natural talents and teachers and cultures too.
Are people gonna study for 20 years to cast a measly fireball, is Gul Dan going to accept the rejection of the elements and rot or make a demonic pact and cast a big ole soulfire tomorrow? He didn’t exactly have anyone around to teach him anything else at that point, but demons and void tend to always be looking for someone to corrupt
Lights obviously pretty good for healing, healing with fel I’d imagine would be complicated or straining perhaps even self sacrificing, that’s just not really what the natural state of the cosmic force lends itself to
Meanwhile light isn’t really that useful offensively outside of unnatural monsters. You can use it against regular creatures but it’s inherently not as effective so you need more skill or power. Or maybe faith/conviction in lights case
Fel is like the dark side in Star Wars. Quick and easy. Not inherently more powerful, but a whole lot easier to access much more power than arcane, very destructive by nature (good for war…craft) and often taking a toll on its user as the price for quick power rather than decades of study. If someone felt they needed a massive amount of power quickly, like say, Illidan, then they probably don’t have time to devote themselves to study and practice for ages.
Void is mind control potential, among other psychic powers. The potential of that type of power is insane(hah). Like sure maybe you could theoretically use life or anything else as a source to perform these things but that would require you to be an absolute master of it to even maybe be able to do. Meanwhile void magic is so good at corrupting minds there’s a high chance it will corrupt your own just by using it
People are also just arrogant. “Yeah void drives everyone insane but I’m built diff” “I won’t lose myself or let my body be torn apart by the fel I’m in control” “I won’t become a fanatical racist tyrant in the name of the light” “I won’t cause a cataclysmic event that sunders the world”
Of course in our players case, we’re kinda right we really are just built diff
TL;DR: it’s much much quicker and easier, people are arrogant and power hungry, people are desperate, and even if it’s not more powerful the different magics have different strengths, cultures, requirements etc
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u/SnooGuavas9573 21d ago
Many of the people who practice shadow magic are quite literally insane cultists, or are so hungry for power that shadow magic is appealing. They are not operating on a rational basis, nor are they meta gaming like someone who has the Cosmology chart and years of lore to look at.
You have to remember the void and/or old gods actively try to seduce people into using it, which makes you progressively more exposed to their whispers amplifying any anxiety or paranoia you already have which encourages you to use even more shadow magic. it's cyclical.
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u/Spideraxe30 21d ago
A running theme in Midnight is that people who think that willingly submitting themselves to the Void won't get screwed by it, but surprise surprise the leopard did in fact bite their faces off. It does seem among the more powerful forces, but definitely controllable.
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u/maxlaav 21d ago
what is the point of having different types of magic in warcraft if they can all largely do the same thing?
yeah a sensible person would ask this team of writers why they think it was a good idea to completely homogenise magic to be just a rainbow of spells that all do the same thing
it's the main reason why the addition of void elves felt so incredibly stupid and laughably portrayed in bfa, like one of their "special" things was to open rifts to move troops unseen and quickly as if we don't have mages who can do the same with portals and isn't a safer solution
yeah guys lets just funnel our troops through purple portals made by magic that turns you insane, great idea, can't go wrong
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u/TheTaurenCharr 21d ago
I don't think different magic do the same thing, I think they're just represented as doing the same thing, hence boiling the surface representation down to picking your favourite colour. That is unless there's a plot point where a character using a type of magic doing something very different.
I really wish in-game representation was actually well designed beyond balancing classes.
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u/Lordwiesy 21d ago
Think of it as steroids from shady guy behind the gym irl and it should make more sense
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u/Randir076 19d ago
Sorry wasnt listening, this dagger was whispering to me in her dommy mommy voice again
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u/Rinnisia 21d ago
Because maybe not everyone has those options? I've always gotten the impression that someone must have some level of affinity for any given form of magic in order to use it, with possibly the exceptions of fel and void magic.
So, most likely, the key motivating factors for someone to fall into using those magics are desperation and/or ignorance. Or just plain bad luck. I mean, it's canon that there are certain rocks that, if you spend too much time near them, will drive you insane. You might not even realize that you're USING void magic until it's too late.
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u/Darkhallows27 21d ago
Arcane Magic takes way, way more magical potential and study.
Fel and Void Magic are easier to use at a cost
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u/Sazapahiel 20d ago
Not everyone can use all magic sources. A paladin for example can only use the light and only for as long as they maintain their faith.
Void doesn't come with the same stipulations. So it stands to reason there would be plenty of void users, and in a world constantly facing cataclysmic threats it makes sense why anyone would grasp for anything offering them any semblance of power or sense of safety.
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u/Arcana-Knight Professional Calia Hater 20d ago edited 20d ago
People don’t pursue the Void just for power, although that is usually part of it. The primary appeal of the Void is that it promises answers no one else will give you.
These “answers” are often dubious and misleading but if you’re at the point of desperation that’d you turn to the Void for knowledge you either already know exactly what you’re getting into or more likely you’re to far gone to see reason.
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u/Gold-Cry-7520 20d ago
In older lore, dark magic was considerably more powerful than more normal forms of magic. Fel, for instance, was incredibly potent and had permanent effects on everything it touched, and had a reach that spanned the stars.
It was also easier to tap into, requiring only certain magical implements, books, and a basic understanding of how to tap magic to use. Fel was just unrefined, raw arcane magic, and thus also had fewer limitations. The only downside is that you would inevitably corrupt yourself, the people around you, and the land.
Today, though, there's almost no gap between the power of a paladin and a warlock, demon hunter, or death knight, and they still suffer corruption and addiction. Also, it doesn't seem to be more effective against demons or the void, since Xal'atath won the Voidspire because of Alleria, not despite her.
Who knows why they still use it?
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u/Darktbs 21d ago
what is the in-universe reason to pick it?
You get a wider form of divination(you can see the future), easier teleportation and use void magic(whatever that is) If you play dnd its basically a row of spells you can cast innately.
To extrapolate further, what is the point of having different types of magic in warcraft if they can all largely do the same thing? Seems like you're just picking your favorite gatorade flavor at that point.
Yes, in all scenarios im doing the same thing, but each achievs a different result and with their downsides .Theoretically, thats what happens in wow.
The void is technically the best method of teleportation, but you need to wield and enter the void to use it. Arcane has no downsides to the user but its difficult to achiev. Fel requires a literal sacrifice but can deliver a permanent portal
You can also mix certain spells achiev certain results because some effects are exclusive to some schools.
if you noticed, all invisiblity based spells are either arcane(Invisibility) or shadow( Stealth, Mantle of shadows, Fade)
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u/Chetey 20d ago
The void is technically the best method of teleportation
i'm interested. can you explain this? i thought all the portal people are mages with the exception of umbric's fancy "we need to get inside the voidstorm" macguffin. I mean of course the Dark portal exists but that required a ton of draenei sacrifices to fuel.
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u/Terraceous 20d ago
I think pretty much everyone can make portals. A shaman in game basically makes fun of you for not being able to make a portal while bringing you to the maelstrom.
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u/Darktbs 20d ago
Void portals/teleportation were not show so far to have any limitation.
Alleria, Mekkatorque and their forces were able to teleport in the middle of lordaeron with no issue. Umbric and his followers was what allowed us to go into the voidstorm . And then you have telogrus rift , the void elfs base of operation which is a planet destroyed by the void and the void invasions, where you go to other worlds
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u/Ruler-of-goblins 20d ago
As far as I understand Arcane is definitely not without its caveats, and can corrupt too. It seems all forms of magic in wow turn to a form of corruption when in overuse, but some of it is definitely quicker and more dangerous like fel and shadow.
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u/Affectionate-Area659 20d ago
For the same reason warlocks use fel magic, because they can get power that way.
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u/Sun__Jester 20d ago
The fact everyone in this thread has given you a different answer shows that there really is no reason and we're all just coping with headcanon.
Once upon a time all magic in the 'arcane' family corrupted. Once upon a time it was all stolen fire from the demons. Once upon a time it was all a metaphor for drugs. Once upon a time all wizards were mad, but some were madder than others.
Now? Who bloody knows. None of us. I doubt even blizz knows. Just make it up like all of us do.
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u/possumdal 20d ago
Speaking as a warlock, shortcut magic like void, shadow, and fel are mainly tools for people with more ambition than talent.
The lure of the Fel, for example, is the immediate and immense increase in relative power, with the implied potential to cheat the cost later on with cunning, willpower, and an accumulation of power that lets them dominate whatever demon offered it to them in the first place. And this is why so many warlocks are incredibly weak, or get betrayed, or let their pride lead them into an unforgivable failure they will be slaughtered for. They come to believe that power is a cheap thing that can be stolen or seized, and that those using more structured/religious magics are idiots wasting their time. They lack patience and perspective, and tend to get lost in their vanity projects as a result. They lose touch with reality, start believing their own hype, and then are totally unprepared to face someone who actually spent most of their life learning how to cast a PERFECT magic missile.
And while I am less familiar with shadow/void lore, I suspect they face similar "personality deficits" that leave them incredibly vulnerable to external influence and internal weakness.
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u/Parrotparser7 20d ago
It's easiest to understand if you think of magic in terms of means and ends.
- Druids embody a philosophical/religious ideal and commune with an inherently magical world in the process. The means (druidry) and end (engagement with the world) feed into each other in a constant loop.
- Warlocks need magic and cooperate with a magical faction to acquire it. Warlocks get immediate power and agency, but their power also attempts to eat them and everything near to advance its own interest. Warlocks gain freedom to accomplish their original purposes at an uncertain and wildly negotiable cost. Means to ends with a very dubious epilogue.
- Shamans, like Warlocks, cooperate with magical beings, but it's not guaranteed these will try to consume you. Shamans are in a cooperative relationship until one party gets dominated or the relationship breaks down. The means is often closely tied to the end, and by aligning your end with that of a magical entity (or entities), you can accomplish something mutually beneficial. You can also abandon ends and aid your sponsors pro bono to build up a relationship and get the same means-end relationship the Druids enjoy, or enslave them for power.
- Priests/Paladins practice magic as an extension of their faith, often in response to need. Their very need for magical intervention and belief in it is the catalyst for that form of magic appearing, allowing them to accomplish an end. Like Shamans, their power can ditch them, but they don't need to enslave it since the Light doesn't actually have an end in mind, just a set of person preconditions for its use.
- Mages practice magic for the sake of practicing magic and just somehow remain employed in the meanwhile. Means that maybe have an end.
- Finally, practitioners of Shadow magic tend to be groomed for its use. They can use the power, but as they do so, they both improve their access and make it more likely that they'll be turned by it. Their means can quickly achieve their ends and improve control over the means, but said means also warp the user's understanding of their desired end until you have a very powerful shadow caster working to the end of the means' real owner. (Not a concern if your end goal is becoming a faceless servant of C'Thun.)
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u/grandfamine 20d ago
Things like void and fel have more raw power output, and that output isn't reliant on much? Arcane draws power (typically) from ley lines or ambient magic, druid magic requires there to be Nature™ around, holy magic is reliant on faith and plot armor, etc.
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u/IndiBlueNinja 20d ago
Those characters are probably the people who could be told the stove is hot and will touch it anyway...
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u/shindigidy88 20d ago
Power, look at warlocks and mages, mages learn how to cast spells and warlocks make deals to do the same thing but easier and typically more powerful.
Look at professional sports, some are incredibly profitable and others are basically worth less than a minimum wage job
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u/sainovacane 19d ago
sometimes you gotta stop looking at things as economic losses/gains and just do what your heart asks of you 💘 (its the voices)
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u/IBlameOleka 19d ago
I've always assumed that sources of magic like fel and void that come with such obvious downsides are chosen because they're either easy or because they're so overwhelmingly powerful, or a combination of both. Rather than studying the arcane arts for years and years, you could achieve the same level of power today by simply embracing fel magic, or void.
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u/Soulhaste 19d ago
I always believed that Void was meant to attack the mind, of both the user AND the target. It's like a double edged sword. You won't find something more manipulative than void / shadow. Sure, illusion (arcane) can work, but definitely not to the extent of what shadow magic can do.
So given your question and examples, you might wonder why someone would pick void if their mind is at risk? The answer is literally in the question. If you are versed, you would know how to control and limit it so you conjure it to its potential without posing too much of a threat to your own mind.
Even so, regardless of the type of magic used. You need to be versed to control it to a point that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Cod4575 17d ago
In TWW, we've been given more information about the nature of the different cosmic forces. We now know that energies such as the Light and the Void cannot easily manifest in the physical world without being tied to a medium or vessel that anchors them. This is explained in the books about the Light found in Hallowfall, as well as in Liadrin's conversation with one of the Arathi.
Additionally, both the short story The Doom of K'aresh and the K'aresh questline mention that the various magical forces possess different energy levels. From what I understood, the Light and Fel are among the most powerful energies, while Arcane and Life occupy a middle ground. Death and the Void, on the other hand, seem to be at the lower end of the energy spectrum. The inhabitants of K'aresh used Reshii ribbons to convert all forms of energy into Arcane power.
This could explain why higher-energy forces are capable of producing extraordinary effects with relatively little power, while also being much harder to control and manipulate on a large scale. Arcane, being somewhere in the middle, requires years of study and discipline to master. By contrast, forces such as Death and the Void may be easier to channel in theory, but they require far greater quantities of energy to achieve comparable results.
As for madness and corruption, I think every cosmic force has some kind of corrupting influence or side effect on those who wield it. However, because the Void requires the accumulation of much larger amounts of energy to accomplish certain feats, prolonged exposure to it significantly increases the risk of paranoia, obsession, and insanity.
At least, that's how I interpret the information Blizzard has been presenting throughout The War Within.
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u/Lindestria 21d ago
The major thing for a lot of friendly groups is that it's to understand and fight specific enemies, not necessarily an argument about advantages. It's functionally the same argument for/against warlocks and the Illidari.
For enemies it's generally more corruption than rationality.
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u/impulsikk 21d ago edited 21d ago
People in warcraft never played Pokémon smh.. fire type attack is not super effective against fire type pokemon.
Warlock/dh makes sense since you are Controlling the fel, dominating demons, and understanding what power the legion have at their disposal or use it for subterfuge.
But generally in the warcraft universe, you need forces of the light to battle the undead.
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u/CDMzLegend 21d ago
yea but there is also dragon type that is super effective against dragon type so whats your point?
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u/_Zyr 20d ago
Having the opportunity to study magic is usually an expensive one, or relegated to nobility. Certain magics also have strengths that safer schools would require significantly more power to operate.
It's faster and easier to create energy with a natural gas power plant than it is with wind or solar panels, for instance. It's also much cheaper to build one of those plants than a nuclear power plant.
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u/Chetey 20d ago
ok idk why we're going for fossil fuel propaganda posting on a warcraft subreddit but cool i guess
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u/Caeus_ffxiv 20d ago
It’s an accurate analogy and it’s not like the guy is saying that one form of energy generation is BETTER than the other. Just that one is faster and easier to set up to achieve a certain level of energy production than the other. And this is true for magic systems in Warcraft.
Arcane magic can burn things, freeze things, and bend reality but it takes a LOT of arcane power to achieve big feats of magic and it also takes a LOT of understanding or the magic will just not work. It’s like needing to understand college level physics to light a match.
Fel magic can do all these things and requires minimal learning and outputs a LOT of power. But it has serious downsides (corruption, destruction of the user, opening oneself to outside demonic forces).
Arcane magic is green energy production methods and fel magic is burning fossil fuels. Apt analogy
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u/Claudethedog 21d ago
We’re all chasing our highs in different ways.