Priest-Necromancers?

[Piken]

I'm really not good at writing out very long posts(Note why I've never made -any- attempt at a 'guide'), so really, it comes down to.. look at the topic.

I'm no lore-buff by any means, and I've haven't done many Forsaken quests, nor do I even remember any of the quests I -have- done(except for dailies.. /sob).

I guess what I'm asking everyone is, does this seem viable to you? From what I'm told, as well as what I've looked up, there really isn't a lot of lore on Necromancers at all. There is some saying it is a type of Arcane, as well as it being a variant of the Arcanist, but I've seen people bring up very good points for it.

I'd like an open discussion about it, please. :) Note the 'discussion': Not ranting, or taking jabs at other people who don't agree with you. Not even snarky, elitist remarks. Keep it nice, civil, and educational for all. ^.^

[Zhaei]

It's definitely Arcane. "Necromancers twist arcane magic to manipulate the power of death." from Here.

I don't think divine magic can achieve what Necromancry can, but they may be able to do a lesser form of it? Perhaps using Shadow magic to control the already-raised? There's also the Forgotten Shadow who 'repair' the Forsaken. Perhaps they have some control over undeath.

[Kira13]

The idea struck me, as well, some days ago. Me, having a necromancer already, don't really see a problem with it, since many necromancers use shadow instead of arcane.
Furthermore, if you look here, you can see some examples of NPCs that use different magical fields. Out of which, many are, indeed, shadow.

So, all in all, shadow priest being a necromancer? Why not.

[Caravan]

The way I see it, the Light actually brings people/things back to "full life" (resurrection, regeneration, etc).

The role the arcane (being a mage) plays in necromancy is that the animation is an echo of life -- it's a very large, sometimes permanent, illusion but an illusion nonetheless.

[Piken]

My personal feeling is that there has to be a certain degree of mental magic involved with Necromancy, as they're controlling undead. Along with other Necromancers taking control from one 'master' to another. Like 'freeing' Scourge to join the Forsaken.

[Loxmardin]

The idea struck me, as well, some days ago. Me, having a necromancer already, don't really see a problem with it, since many necromancers use shadow instead of arcane.
Furthermore, if you look here, you can see some examples of NPCs that use different magical fields. Out of which, many are, indeed, shadow.

So, all in all, shadow priest being a necromancer? Why not.

I don't know for sure, but I've seen discussions in the past about there being a difference between "arcane shadow" and "divine shadow".

I'd need sources and more information about this before making a certain statement, though, and I'd appreciate anyone with knowledge on the field to help me out here or shoot it down before it takes flight.

[Kira13]

Oh right, I do remember something like that as well, though not the name, nor the outcome. I do know for sure that, at one time, we agreed upon there being two kinds of shadow, arcane and divine.

[Bovel]

Necromancy has it basis in demonic magic, lorewise. The legion taught it to the fallen shamans and it has through them spread.

[muhaha8]

I've brought this up a few times with various GMs. Each time, I've been told that it isn't allowable. /shrug.

[McKnighter]

The idea struck me, as well, some days ago. Me, having a necromancer already, don't really see a problem with it, since many necromancers use shadow instead of arcane.
Furthermore, if you look here, you can see some examples of NPCs that use different magical fields. Out of which, many are, indeed, shadow.

So, all in all, shadow priest being a necromancer? Why not.

I don't know for sure, but I've seen discussions in the past about there being a difference between "arcane shadow" and "divine shadow".

I'd need sources and more information about this before making a certain statement, though, and I'd appreciate anyone with knowledge on the field to help me out here or shoot it down before it takes flight.

Aye.

From what I've been taught, Necromancers(As well as Warlocks and my variant class Shadowmage) use arcane to reach into the Realm of Shadows and gather their power from there.

Shadow Priests draw their divine shadow from faith! I dunno. /shrug


So I say nay!

[CappnRob]

Personally, I'd be more poised on using warlocks as an OOC class for Necros, given their similarities as classes. Just change fire to frost, and demons to undead, and there you go. Curses and such evils are a staples of both.

[Beltharean]

Depends on whether or not you're talking about a Troll Priest, really; A Priest of the Light? A Priest of the Forgotten Shadow? No, I don't particularly think so. They could in the RPG Books, but that's a completely different story! Doesn't really count anymore. Troll priests though, yes. There are quite a few Troll Necromancers in WoW, as well as a few Loa that deal specifically in the dead and undeath.

[Reigen]

From what I understand on Necromancers, it's a school of arcane magic which makes it somewhat off-limit to priests unless you go into the realm of multi-classing. What lore I do find on it all points to them using the arcane.

Channeling their knowledge of the arcane into manipulation of the forces of life and death, these men and women were instrumental in the forming of the Scourge in Lordaeron.

Necromancers twist arcane magic to manipulate the power of death.

However, there is a section that says that Necromancers are important to the Forsaken and the people often go to priests for repair. I'm unsure if it means that the priests can heal them without necromancy, if the priests are necromancers or if all necromancers are considered priests. I can't really find any more information on it because the link from there leads to RPG stuff.

The Dark Lady, Sylvanas Windrunner, realized how valuable necromancy was to their cause. Though Forsaken heal naturally, many go to the priests of the Forgotten Shadow for "repairs".

I'm inclined to say that they mean the first one, that priests can heal them without needing necromancy, because they go out of their way to call it a priest rather than a necromancer. It's hard to assume things though.

[Duraza]

From what I've been taught, Necromancers(As well as Warlocks and my variant class Shadowmage) use arcane to reach into the Realm of Shadows and gather their power from there.

Shadow Priests draw their divine shadow from faith! I dunno. /shrug

Hrm. How I've always understood it is that Shadow Priests all draw power from the Shadow Plane as do necromancers, just that necromancers use arcane to do it. Maybe 'faith' in some way acts as a medium for shadow priests to draw that energy as well.

What throws a wrench in the idea of shadow priests being necromancers for me is... well it's not what they are trained to do. If you want to learn necromancy you see a necromancer and chances are they are going to have you use arcane/death magic to summon the dead, etc. When you want to be a priest you look within yourself and your faith and learn a lot about healing, the mind, pain suppression, control, etc. Priestly powers have much to do with inner discipline imposing your will upon others.

It isn't a large stretch of my imagination to see a priest raising dead (I do have quite the imagination though) but there isn't a really good reason why a priest would do it. They should be more worried about their own religious wellbeing and the religious wellbeing of those in the community. Besides, who needs an army of mindless zombies when you can raise a crusade of fanatic zealots?

[LostStranger]

Spoiler:

I must stress that a diametric distinction between "arcane" and "divine" magic is a holdover from Dungeons & Dragons.

The article of Wowpedia that Vee referenced and Reigen discussed is indeed sourced in the D&D spin on Warcraft lore.

The quotes are almost directly taken from its rulebooks, and nowhere besides such books is there a line drawn between "divine" and "arcane" magic.

I would call it fanon we cling to as holy scripture, and I believe we do so partly because the CotH website endorses a couple'a guides of authoritative tone that declare this divide to be so.

• ...Magic, as displayed in-game, is categorized by a type of damage or energy, as well as class, with each type displaying a thematic nature and each class its own magical tradition and lore background.
  
  And before the mighty MMORPG was brought to bear, the only polar scale of spellcraft depicted in Warcraft was the clash of holy and unholy.

Admittedly, mages have always leaned toward the unholy side of things...

...but of course, shadow priests were invented...

If we're going to cry bloody murder over multiclassing of any sort, I would like to point out that mages can't cast shadow spells in-game. Unlike shadow priests, they can't cast vampiric spells, inflict any form of disease, or any other iconically necromantic action...

I don't see any reason to give mages exclusive access to death knight powers. Their only tie is their frost tree and that Kel'Thuzad used to be a mage.

• While that latter thought may be ample reason at first glance, bear in mind that many warlocks were at some point mages before they turned to a moderately different flavor of Forbidden Arts than necromancers. Which sounds like only more reason to make necromancers a mage-only variant, right?
  
  ...Even if you stand by the divine vs arcane argument, you realize that most of the older orcish warlocks used to be shaman, right?