Practical Mounts

[Wiseman]

What I don't get is they don't look practical as in, riding into battle with one...can you help me understand why they'd choose a Hawkstrider to ride into battle with?

Mobility perhaps?

I can envision these creatures dancing around some other mounts.

[Krilari]

What I don't get is they don't look practical as in, riding into battle with one...can you help me understand why they'd choose a Hawkstrider to ride into battle with?

Because of their small and round bodies they are harder to hit and it is much easier to have armor to cover it. While its legs are much thinner and may be weaker, but they are also, just like the chest, harder to hit and may be more flexible.

[rentreality]

Also, to the point that Hawkstriders are not practical mounts. They actually make more sense than riding horses. Because of their small and round bodies they are harder to hit and it is much easier to have armor to cover it. While its legs are much thinner and may be weaker, but they are also, just like the chest, harder to hit and may be more flexible.

Yet, because they are smaller and two-legged, their lifting capacity and weight limit will not be as high as a horse's, limiting the amount of armor they can wear -- indeed, this theory is borne out by various visual hints: the Eclipsion Cavaliers, Illidan's non-Charger mounted cavalry, has very little armor on the steed. Another interesting point is that only the front of the creature is armored, unlike with say, the Charger or human epic mounts. The useless, ornamental wings of the flightless hawkstriders would impede the placement of armor on the beast's sides, leaving it virtually defenseless against a flank attack.

If I went to war against the blood elves, the first thing I would bring would be a bolas. It makes legs very, very easy to hit, and with little spindles like the hawkstriders have, the weight of their potentially armored body coming down hard would snap them like dry twigs. Cannon bolas could quickly destroy an entire force of Silvermoon's cavalry, while simultaneously throwing the riders to their death or serious injury.

If I were a Blood Elf, I would stay as far as possible from a hawkstrider for war. Parades, or traveling to a picnic? Sure. But not war. Never war.

[waffenbaum]

I think the Hawkstriders are terrifying mounts. They can run faster than any other land based mount (RP-wise, but not ingame where it would be balance-breaking). They have a sharp beak that can could likely puncture leather or mail armor with a rapid peck. (Consider that birds in nature will break open the darnedest things).

They also have sharp claws and can do some serious damage with them if the enraged bird charges at you. From atop the hawkstrider, the rider has a very broad line of sight which makes for easy and effective archery, and with a long sabre he can deliver fatal wounds near the chest, neck and head of the enemy while striding past them.

It's a perfect mount for fast-paced combat, and I feel that this only underlines the way that the elves fight. They do so gracefully and quickly, with form and finesse taking precedence over the strength and tenacity of the blows. Riding a hawkstrider through a line of enemies while delivering swift cuts alternately left and right could immobilize or kill several people before they knew what hit them.

Though they are not physically imposing, and might not fit the color scheme that many people who play blood elves seems to prefer, I still think it is one of the best and most reasonable warfare mounts in the game. Kodos would be huge but slow, elekks would (if anything like elephants) be prone to panic and rampaging through their own, and horses just aren't any use on a crowded battlefield where they become a large target.

It has both the speed, versatility and can apparently glide short distances in the air even tough its wings are unsuited for actual flight. What more could you really want from a mount? It even has regal colors that are exceedingly impressive and could make one think of the beautiful colored uniforms of the Napoleonic era.

So don't shun the Hawkstrider. If you ask me, they are the mounts with the most personality out of all the ones in the game. Even their idle animations are great to look at.

[rentreality]

I still have doubts.

They have a sharp beak that can could likely puncture leather or mail armor with a rapid peck.

Properly constructed chainmail armor bounces razor-tipped arrows off of it. I should know -- I used to make hauberks of galvanized 6-in-1 steel and fire a hunting bow at it to test the construction. I maintain healthy skepticism that a bird would be capable of succeeding with one peck where a 60-pound bow failed.

They also have sharp claws and can do some serious damage with them if the enraged bird charges at you. From atop the hawkstrider, the rider has a very broad line of sight which makes for easy and effective archery, and with a long sabre he can deliver fatal wounds near the chest, neck and head of the enemy while striding past them.

It's a perfect mount for fast-paced combat, and I feel that this only underlines the way that the elves fight. They do so gracefully and quickly, with form and finesse taking precedence over the strength and tenacity of the blows. Riding a hawkstrider through a line of enemies while delivering swift cuts alternately left and right could immobilize or kill several people before they knew what hit them.

Archery would be a more practical use of the hawkstrider than anything in close combat. Due to the plumage and gait of the bird, it would be impossible to pack them into a solid wall i.e. cavalry charge. By closing in for close combat on a hawkstrider, the mounted soldier would risk rapid death: duck, hamstring the bird, and when it collapses a few paces later, kill the stunned rider before he can escape the stirrups. Rinse and repeat.

Though they are not physically imposing, and might not fit the color scheme that many people who play blood elves seems to prefer, I still think it is one of the best and most reasonable warfare mounts in the game. Kodos would be huge but slow, elekks would (if anything like elephants) be prone to panic and rampaging through their own, and horses just aren't any use on a crowded battlefield where they become a large target.

Again, I have my doubts about this. Horses have proven their worth on the battlefield: they can be pressed together into a thin line for a charge, they can easily trample, and the capability of wearing barding makes killing them infinitely harder than killing a large, 2-legged, flightless bird that cannot be substantially armored.

It has both the speed, versatility and can apparently glide short distances in the air even tough its wings are unsuited for actual flight. What more could you really want from a mount? It even has regal colors that are exceedingly impressive and could make one think of the beautiful colored uniforms of the Napoleonic era.

When I think of the beautifully colored uniforms of the Napoleonic era, I think of the American minutemen laughing into their sleeves while their sharpshooters dropped British soldiers who had been kind enough to wear a uniform that placed a red "X" right over their heart. "Haha, hey guys, is this really fair? It's like they're pointing for us where to shoot!"

Cavalry of any kind has its downfalls. Just look at the Battle of Agincourt. I am in the camp of the horse as the superior beast, though -- after all, no race ever rode an ostrich into battle.