Thread by @Portergauge

Had some thoughts on troll heritage in the wake of this, since trolls and draenei are likely to get their heritage at the same time.

For troll heritage, I honestly want something much simpler: for the player to undergo the trials to become a Shadow Hunter.

My first instinct for a troll heritage would be for it to be the meeting of the tribes to re-establish where they all are, and to give the Darkspear a proper narrative moving forward.

But I honestly think that needs to happen independent of heritage, and available for all.

Ideally, I'd hope that could happen *before* troll heritage, alongside the return of Vol'jin (as loa of whatever he ends up being)

Vol'jin is incredibly important for the Darkspear, but I really don't want their heritage to be more "look, the trolls are mourning Vol'jin" plot.

The Kosh'harg worked amazing for orc heritage, because they are defined by their unity as a people *alongside* their clan identity.

The trolls don't quite have that same unity, and the identity of the player troll group has always been Darkspear, so my goal is to focus on that.

A big thing I think the troll heritage in particular needs to accomplish is re-establishing Darkspear identity in particular, because they've lost so much of it.

Not just Vol'jin, but their aesthetics and culture as a whole got wholly overshadowed by the Zandalari in BfA.

The most egregious offense in that regard is the fact that Bwonsamdi is effectively no longer their patron loa. He is the Loa of Kings for the Zandalari, with Talanji as his avatar, and only saved Zandalari souls in the Other Side.

It's been a rough go for the Darkspear lol

So for their heritage, I think that the Darkspear's connection to the loa as a whole should be something to focus on and re-establish.

And I think there's no better way to do that than to have the player themselves undergo the trials to connect to the loa in the highest regard.

The biggest question for this would be *where* it would be.

The interesting thing is that Vol'jin's short story implied that First Home, the location where shadow hunters undergo their trials, survived the collapse of the Darkspear Isles unscathed, so my ideal would be there.

The obstacle obviously becomes actually *making* a location for that.

But in my wildest dreams, a fully fledged island scenario seems like the perfect thing to go all out on for heritage, especially with how many modern troll assets the game has now.

It's there that I think the player troll could undergo trials to connect to the loa in their two distinct forms: the loa who are Wild Gods, and the loa who are troll spirits.

For the first, I'd love it if the player would get to choose a patron loa for themselves to guide them.

There's a huge repertoire of loa to choose from, and ideally they would all get their day in the sun here.

But out of them, the big ones I really hope would be included are Shadra, Gonk, Hi'reek, and Shirvallah.

Gonk is self-explanatory, he's already the druid patron. Hi'reek and Shirvallah are two loa worshipped by the Darkspear and uniquely *not* connected to the Zandalari.

And for Shadra, I'd love a plot where she distanced from the Zandalari in the wake of their betrayal.

Bwonsamdi I think is simply the loa that applies to all Darkspear, he wouldn't be a matter of *choice* for a patron.

Also... please just retcon the Dambala stuff from Shadowlands. Say it was a mind controlled manifestation of Hakkar or something just. Please fix that lmao

In the same vein a lot of the heritage quests have added extra little toy goodies, I think this would be a nice little place to add a cosmetic totem for trolls, themed around whatever loa they choose.

Just as a neat little flavor thing, it would be cute.

Their connection to a loa like them would establish their connection the traditional troll arts (after a trial to prove yourself).

But from there, I think what should make the Darkspear truly stand out should be their connection to *troll* loa, the ancient spirits of the dead.

What has always made them unique amongst trolls to me is their connection to death, good and bad.

They have a will to survive, a will to accept their losses, and an intimate connection with their very god of death that no other tribe cared to do beyond a need for power.

Alongside Bwonsamdi, the true trial would be to prove themselves to these ancient spirits to gain the their favor.

And in the process earn make the Darkspear distinct from the other tribes: Their living manifestations of the loa's power as Shadow Hunters.

Shadow Hunters are essentially the only thing *not* totally ripped from their culture and made into a Zandalari thing during BfA, and I'll forever be grateful for that.

It is *the* iconic Darkspear class, and it's the perfect way of celebrating the player as their champion.

The ability for troll players of any class to become one would similarly show the adaptability of the Darkspear that the other troll tribes lack.

In the same way they adapted to the world and thrived, their highest of arts would adapt to encompass all of their martial ways.

It also ties into the armor itself: There's really no other choice other than to give trolls Shadow Hunter armor.

Variants to add things like the Witch Doctor garb should be included, but at its core Shadow Hunters are their iconic visual from WC3 to now.

Rokhan, the Darkspear, and non-Zandalari trolls as a whole definitely need a proper spotlight in the future, but like I said, I hope that is a proper story within the plot that anyone can do ala the Baine quests.

For their heritage, I think simple and focused is the better move.

Oh, and as a bonus:

In the same way worgen join the Greyguard and humans join the Lionsguard, it would be a great opportunity to let the troll player be a member of the Siame-Quashi to show their status among their tribe.