Dwarf

Dwarves are the stout, bearded mountain folk of Khaz Modan and one of the four Alliance races in Classic. The Bronzebeard clan rules from the great forge city of Ironforge, and new dwarves begin in the snows of Coldridge Valley in Dun Morogh. Their racial traits make them tough, good with guns and hard to kill with poisons and bleeds, and their priests carry Fear Ward, a spell so valuable in raids that it shaped how Alliance guilds were built.

History

According to dwarven legend, and to discoveries made in Classic's own dungeons, dwarves are descended from the earthen, stone servants shaped by the Titans. Over time the earthen became flesh and blood, and the dwarves founded Ironforge inside the mountain of the same name. Two centuries before the game, a dispute over the throne set off the War of the Three Hammers between the Bronzebeard, Wildhammer and Dark Iron clans. The Bronzebeards kept Ironforge, the Wildhammers settled in the Hinterlands, and the Dark Irons retreated to Blackrock Mountain, where their sorcerers accidentally summoned Ragnaros.

Dwarves fought beside humans in the Second War, when the orcish Horde overran much of Khaz Modan, and they have been firm Alliance members ever since. In Classic, King Magni Bronzebeard rules Ironforge, and his Explorers' League digs across the world for clues to the dwarves' origins, especially in Uldaman.

Homeland and starting zone

Dwarves start at Anvilmar, a hall in Coldridge Valley in the southwest of Dun Morogh, which they share with gnomes. Sten Stoutarm hands new players their first quest, Dwarven Outfitters, and early work involves wolves, troggs and the Frostmane trolls who live in the valley. A tunnel leads out to the town of Kharanos and the rest of Dun Morogh, the snowy mountain realm around Ironforge.

After Dun Morogh, dwarves usually head east to Loch Modan, then north through the Wetlands or over to Westfall and Redridge Mountains in the human lands. The Deeprun Tram connects Ironforge to Stormwind City.

Capital

Ironforge is a city carved inside a mountain, centered on the Great Forge, a vast hall of anvils and flowing molten metal. In Classic it has trainers for every dwarf and gnome class, and its auction house was the busiest on many Alliance realms, which made Ironforge the social center of the faction. The Hall of Explorers holds the Explorers' League and the city's library, and Tinker Town houses the gnomes who fled Gnomeregan. Dwarves ride rams bought at Amberstill Ranch in Dun Morogh.

Racial traits

Stoneform is the trait that matters most. It removes and blocks the poisons of rogues and hunters' stings, bleeds such as Rend and Garrote, and diseases, which makes it a counter to rogues in particular: popping Stoneform cleans off Crippling Poison and Wound Poison and lets a dwarf warrior catch a fleeing rogue. Gun Specialization made dwarves the best Alliance hunters with guns, since five points of skill lower the chance to miss in raids. Find Treasure is mainly a curiosity, though it does help find chests in dungeons and in the open world.

Classes

Dwarves can be warriors, paladins, hunters, rogues and priests. They are one of two races, with humans, that can be paladins, and the only Alliance race besides night elves that can be a hunter.

Dwarf priests learn Fear Ward, which protects a friendly target against the next fear effect. Fear was everywhere in Classic raids: Onyxia and Nefarian fear the whole raid, and Magmadar in Molten Core does too. Warding the main tank meant it stayed on the boss while everyone else ran around in panic. Because only dwarf priests had the spell, Alliance raid leaders went out of their way to recruit them. Dwarves also share Desperate Prayer with human priests.

How dwarves play

Dwarves are the toughest-feeling Alliance race. A dwarf warrior or paladin with Stoneform shrugs off bleeds and poisons in player-versus-player fights and gains extra armor against physical attacks at the same time. Against Horde rogues, Stoneform is effectively a second trinket. Against an Undead warlock's fear or a priest's Psychic Scream, though, dwarves have no answer other than the honor trinket.

In raids, dwarf priests are prized for Fear Ward, dwarf hunters for gun skill, and dwarf warriors for Stoneform, which can clear a debilitating poison or disease from a tank. The frost resistance helps slightly in fights such as Sapphiron in Naxxramas.

Notable dwarves

Magni Bronzebeard is the king of Ironforge, and his brothers Muradin and Brann are a famous soldier and explorer. Muradin went to Northrend with Arthas Menethil and was lost there; Brann leads expeditions for the Explorers' League. On the other side of the dwarven family stand the Dark Iron Dwarves of Blackrock Depths, whose emperor Dagran Thaurissan has married Magni's daughter, Princess Moira.

Later history

Later expansions saw Magni turned to diamond, and the three hammer clans sharing rule of Ironforge in a Council of Three Hammers. The Wildhammer and Dark Iron dwarves both had their own roles and, in the end, the Dark Irons became a playable allied race.

Sources

• Dwarf on Warcraft Wiki
• Fear Ward on Warcraft Wiki