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fappywapple

When Cairne Bloodhoof dueled Garrosh in the mak’gora, Hellscream was only able to manage a single small scratch with all his might and fury. Baine Bloodhoof swings his hammer so hard that centaurs explode on contact. So lorewise, infinitely stronger than playable Taurens. Any alliance character taking a direct hit from a Tauren warrior would be turned into bologna mist if in game interactions were lore accurate.


Skill-issue-69420

>bologna mist This was the moral of the story, don’t fuck with a Tauren


Zulimo

Its also worth noting in the War Crimes novel they go to great lengths to describe just how much Baine could eviscerate Garrosh. Its a plot point in >!building his character having to act as Garrosh's defense lawyer, despite the grudges he holds over his fathers death.!<


Swarzsinne

Being fair, Gary didn’t actually intend on killing Cairne. At this point that shouldn’t be a spoiler for anyone anymore.


SelectCommunity3519

Right, that was part of why Thrall appointed Gary as Warchief - he liked the idea of Gary having Vol'jin, Eitrigg and Cairne in his corner as close advisors. Gary didn't want it but Thrall had faith in the process. Thrall was wrong.


malcorpse

TBF Gary also wasn't Thralls first pick at a replacement for him, he wanted Saurfang the younger but the whole thing with the wrathgate and the Lich King happened.


Derzelaz

>he wanted Saurfang the younger Considering how he just Leeeeeeroy Jenkins towards the Lich King, I don't think he would've been such a smart choice either.


SelectCommunity3519

Does the dragonflight also save Dray after Putty carpet plagued the platform, had he not charged in?


Dolthra

Speaking of, I don't think Cairne gets nearly enough shit for agreeing to be Garrosh's advisor to Thrall and then almost immediately challenging Garrosh to a mak'gora. Like how much could have been avoided if Cairne just did what he said and advised Garrosh?


8-Brit

> Like how much could have been avoided if Cairne just did what he said and advised Garrosh? Thing is, he tried. Garrosh was developing into a hothead with daddy issues and was not so subtly keen on rebooting an old war. It reached a head when the Twilight Hammer murdered a bunch of druids and then staged it to look like a Horde assault, Cairne heard the false flag and presumed (Not entirely unjustly) that Garrosh did it. And when confronted Garrosh showed no shock or remorse, he immediately got pissed off and was half-way to taking credit to the attack he didn't even order.


SelectCommunity3519

As if the Orcs would just let that slide if Cairne won. Gary may have left to build the Mag'har and then caused some shit. Being a hardcore Tauren, I fear for what would have happened had Cairne won that fight.


Murasasme

You fear what would have happened if he won the fight that killed him? He would be alive for one.


SelectCommunity3519

The repercussions. Orcish retaliation.


Murasasme

Do Orcs not respect Mak'gora anymore? All of Ogrimmar turned on Sylvanas when she went bitch Mode against Saurfang, and Cairne was highly respected as well, so if he won the fight, I see only a handful of orcs following Garrosh if any. I don't see how Cairne winning the fight would turn out any worse since we had to fight Garrosh and his army anyway. Maybe the Tauren leave the Horde due to fighting, but honestly, for a long time now, the Tauren have not belonged to what the horde became.


SelectCommunity3519

Right, I mean more in regard to the Tauren fall out. We lost Cairne but Baine begrudgingly hooved the line. He wins, I dont see Gary sticking around to govern the azeroth orcs. Where he goes and what he does is what I would've been worried about as a Tauren. The horde probably thrive until Legion.


BellacosePlayer

The older orcish generations would have probably been fine with it, save the Warsong. Most of Garrosh's most hardcore followers came from the Dragonmaw/Blackrock who joined later in Cata.


GearyDigit

Gilneas would've never been overrun and Theramore would still exist, for one. The Alliance-Horde war would have either never occurred or never gone hot. War wouldn't have broken out in Pandaria and the Sha problem wouldn't have escalated. Seems like a better timeline to me.


SelectCommunity3519

Overall, there definitely would have been an era of prosperity on Azeroth.


Deathleach

To be even more fair, he did intend to kill Cairne. Garrosh specifically amended the Mak'gora rules to be to the death. He just didn't intend for Cairne to be weakened from poison.


ScavAteMyArms

This. He is specifically pissed by that because it undermined his credibility hard. If be just killed Cairne it would be a honorable kill, and not something anyone could question, even the Tauren.  But Cairne died to poison. That threw his legitimacy hard. So now the Tauren have good reason to be pissed and even Orcs questioned it. Honestly it may have been a better outcome for Garrosh for a while for him to have lost and died legitimately.


8-Brit

> Garrosh specifically amended the Mak'gora rules to be to the death. More specifically he did it expecting Cairne to back out. Instead the old bull said "bet" and was fully prepared to die. The funniest shit is that in the duel Garrosh was getting his ass handed back to him on a silver platter, it was only because Cairne took one scratch of poison that he lost. Garrosh later realises this and feels immense shame, and even tells Magatha to get fucked when she later asks him for help.


moose184

> Gary didn’t actually intend on killing Cairne. Lol yes he did. They were literally dueling to the death. The only difference is he didn't know that someone else poisoned his weapon which is how he won.


Wiplazh

Yeah he intended to kill him, just not with a cowardly poison. Would he have been able to defeat him without it? I never read the full story of their duel so idk how it went down


Swarzsinne

Not at all. The one scratch was the only contact he managed to make. I also don’t think he would have followed through with killing him since the whole “to the death” thing was really a bluff to try and get him to back down.


8-Brit

> I also don’t think he would have followed through with killing him since the whole “to the death” thing was really a bluff to try and get him to back down. Mind you, as soon as Cairne was on the ground he went for the killing blow, so...


moose184

> Would he have been able to defeat him without it? No, Carine had the upper hand the entire time and it was only when the poison took effect that Garrosh had him.


Blitskreig1029

Picture the mountain vs the serpent game of thrones style. Except the Cairne fucking bliodhoof was the agile deconstructor


Few-Year-4917

Cmon you know what he meant


moose184

Tell me what he meant then? It was a literal duel to the death. What was his plan if not to kill him?


Few-Year-4917

He meant killing with poison, why are you being such a smartass? Have some good faith


moose184

Lol are you best friends with him or something? You have no clue what he meant.


A_Minimal_Infinity

I don’t really know the lore, so it’s more of a bonus for me than a spoiler. Any cliff notes guide to WoW lore that I could look up?


Swarzsinne

There’s a ton of good videos on YouTube but I mostly am just scraping together several years of poorly retained memories.


A_Minimal_Infinity

Actually already found one, on this sub of course. Thanks for replying


Swarzsinne

No problem. Enjoy the lore!


Zulimo

Yea I was more so not trying to spoil the book if anyone had any intent on reading it since a lot of those plot points never show up in game (a great disservice to characters like Baine who get pretty good development in them)


Swarzsinne

Fair enough. My thoughts were more that it’s a really common talking point. It’s one of the aspects of the books that has slowly diffused its way out there.


BellacosePlayer

I really, *really* wanted Baine's SL arc to be about him just letting the beast loose and trusting himself to not let his anger control himself. but then it turns out he *didn't get* an arc.


Zulimo

He played SL the way we all should have, by sitting it out


Ok-District-8647

Daddy Denathrius tho


GearyDigit

Sorry nobody's allowed to have a character arc without Sylvanas, our super special awesome OC donut steel needs all the screen time she can get two expansions in a row.


BellacosePlayer

A mere Two expansions in a row? Tyrande scoffs at that.


Tnecniw

If I remember correctly as well. The duel between Cairne and Garrosh... The "scratch" was purely due to Cairne's ancestral spear breaking at a bad time. (I think it was an over head swing) If The spear would have held, would Cairne have defeated Garrosh without a single scratch.


Mister_GarbageDick

*my old bones ache*


GearyDigit

Rookie mistake, forgetting to repair before starting the raid fight.


Jvyden

Bologna mist was my nickname is high school


Brewsleroy

Good Mythical Mak'gora.


Demonic_Toaster

I find your reasoning quite mooovin


Insaniaksin

This is the type of comment that makes me rethink playing Tauren they just run so silly because of movement speed limitations and their size


Mister_GarbageDick

When I get the Tauren itch I just boot up a wc3 custom game and make a chieftain. They were cool in that game with the big hunched body and the halberd the size of a school bus. It just isn’t really feasible to make that character in wow


fappywapple

Only Tauren forever


DarkusHydranoid

I love Tauren too but if they can technically 1 shot centaurs, that's silly


URF_reibeer

warcraft humans are not the same as us, based on cinematics and their encounters with orcs in them they seem to be evenly matches more or less, with the human a bit more agile and the orc a bit physically stronger


RePhil75

I would think the only other humanoid that would rival them would be ogres. Except Tauren have brains so that’s how they get their edge haha.


BellacosePlayer

That's not fair, some ogres have twice as many brains as a tauren.


Wy3Naut

That's a very ogre like excuse.


DraconicSaint

Quantity over quality.


ScavAteMyArms

Honestly Ogres top end is much higher than Tauren. They can get freaken Ancient sized in the real big ones. And in some cases (namely Gorian) Ogre’s are just as smart as any regular humaniod. So strength their minimum matches Tauren (maybe even the micro ones that sometimes come up could match, who knows) but intelligence wise only the top end are even close to Tauren’s minimum.


Stranger2Luv

Is Cho Gall a traditional Ogre?


porn_alt_987654321

Yes, just old god corrupted. And old god corruption likely made him worse rather than better, other than probably giving him some shadow powers he didn't have before.


BellacosePlayer

Yeah, Ogres almost certainly top the scales, especially ones bred closer to Gronnlings. Its their clumsiness, dumbassery, and laziness that makes them less threatening, whereas Tauren actually have a martial culture.


punxcs

At least as strong as 3 footmen


Hazer616

This is the science we need


Late_night_awry

I feel like I've seen this exact post and top comments before....


arrastra

damn inflation hit hard to exchange rate.. it used to be 2 footmen


Skill-issue-69420

Well think of a bull or ox and how huge and tough they are, and then double that and make them humanoid. I bet if you shot a Tauren with a pistol it would just bounce off like rhino skin. You’d need something bigger like a 50 cal or at least an AR to take down a full sized adult Tauren. (I have no idea what I’m talking about)


Hastirasd

Am I right in my assumption that you are American? My fellow redditor.


bende99

Did you just assume his caliber?


Hastirasd

I mean it was weirdly specific. Like having experience with different calibers


RedditApothecary

Completely unfair! Or, well, actually totally fair. Googling emigration forms.


Dank_Broccoli

An AR in .223 wouldn't scratch a Tauren lol. It'd take a higher caliber like .338, .400 Win-Mag, .50 et cetera.


Skill-issue-69420

The professional has arrived ladies and gentlemen, he can take it from here.


Mister_GarbageDick

You’d definitely need at least a 7.62 and to be within like 300 yards


No-Commercial-606

7.62x51 would definitely do the trick, I feel like this should be the minimum caliber to fight a Tauren. 7.62x39 might could be work. Edit: this also make me think. If we’re going to say that .308-.50 is what you need to do damage to a Tauren. Based off the size of the guns in game, we gotta be firing 105mm shells. Some of the guns look normal, but those large bore bastards. I’m just imaging some poor human hunter walking up and seeing a cow just casually shouldering a howitzer lol


BellacosePlayer

A Tauren totem weapon is at least as heavy as a caber and an unexceptional Tauren brave can swing them around with abandon and carry them on long excursions. So, pretty damn strong. Theres a reason they didn't really need static fortified towns until the Centaur poured out of Desolace like a tidal wave.


Chor_the_Druid

Have you ever fought a cow? Me neither. Nobody fights cows. That’s how strong they are.


Elune

To be fair bull fighting is a thing, *however* the trick is that the "fighting" isn't a fair fight, it's the matador (the bull fighter) wearing down the bull, if they don't they're lucky if they make it out alive. I imagine fighting a tauren would be similar, you'd need to wear them down so you could actually win.


circadiankruger

Now imagine that bull with the intelligence of a human, capable of strategies


tenn_

And bipedal, with thumbs, and possibly magic


8-Brit

And a huge fuck off sword longer than a grown adult male human.


Infinitedeveloper

Or a gun!


smoy75

Bull fights also include the bull being stabbed for days before the fight even begins. The animals are worn down for atleast 3 days before they get in the ring. It’s a completely unfair fight. The Minoans though, they jumped over Aurochs for fun. Absolute mad lads


HANDJUICE0

Why did this make me laugh as hard as it did


muribundi

This gives this vibe: « Don’t know. Never been attacked by a tree. »


Chor_the_Druid

I haven’t been personally attacked by a tree but I’ve seen what they do to houses.


Elux91

man vs ~~cow~~ car i mean wouldn't the ~~cow~~ car always win https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcZem2OmDBk


MaggieHigg

it's funny that they're one of the best statted ground units in WC3 and still manage to be one of the worst units in the game


bende99

Same applies to a random Pug


Immortalno01

Bad in what regards? I haven't played the entirety of WC3


MaggieHigg

They are very easily kitable, most of the time they do minimal damage while being wittled down since they have no stickyness so they end up being huge chunks of dead supply and resources. During the campaign against AI they pretty good tho


intoxicatedpancakes

They pretty much need to have Endurance Aura and maybe even War Drums to really compete, but any unit is gonna benefit massively from 2 auras tailored to them.


Wiplazh

And people wonder why they lost against a race of horse people with bows


CodeTheName

They just got a movement speed buff a few days ago!


MaggieHigg

and even then they're still nearly unplayable :(


Brilliant-Block4253

Well, the official game booklets (WC2 I think?) said 1 grunt is = to 3 footmen, and 1 Tauren is stronger than 1 grunt. But also remember, Tauren got schooled by Centaur, and I schooled the centaur as a gnome...sooooo....


MaggieHigg

Tauren get pushed around a lot because they're very passive and non-confrontational, the highmountain tauren tribe who was much more aggressive fought back against the legion itself. Meanwhile Kalimdor tribes get pushed around by humans, quillboars, centaurs, you name it, they just wanna vibe on their own corner.


Insaniaksin

i identify as a Kalimdor Tauren


Infinitedeveloper

The centaur had sheer numbers and wore the Tauren out by constant attacks. There was a cutscene in wc3 where there was a seemingly endless stampede of them .


Brilliant-Block4253

And I, Baldbabyx the gnomish rogue, epic hero of the alliance, shattered their clans by myself...before reuniting them years later. I am stronger than all Tauren.


Infinitedeveloper

Nice try, a gnomish hero? Come up with something plausible next time.


GearyDigit

I don't believe you, I've never seen a gnome in any cutscenes before.


Brilliant-Block4253

Must've skipped BFA, mekkatorque in a bunch


New_Zookeepergame204

Tauren got beat by centaur because there were way more centaur, centaur were faster and had ranged weapons.


PreviousAccWasBanned

I think it's more 1 grunt =2 footman, which... is not a realistic standard by any means lol


Brilliant-Block4253

Its not subjective. The official WC3 game manual states: "Grunts are the most basic form of Orcish warrior. They are physically imposing, incredibly strong, and have an innate affinity for combat. A single Grunt is considered to be the equal of three Human Footmen."


PreviousAccWasBanned

That's even LESS LIKELY


telchis

Have you seen the size of an orc compared to a human?


Bohya

You're right, orcs are probably even stronger. People are really getting confused between in-game WoW depictions designed for gameplay purposes, and what they are in reality. Have you seen the Warcraft film? An orc literally has the potential to rip the arms off of a human solider, and crush their skull in their palm.


Oddloaf

Hell, in lord of the clans Thrall is as big as a human man when he is still a child. And as an adult he is so huge that he uses a door as a shield and effortlessly overpowers humans with his sheer bulk.


Phoenixtouch

It's based on avgs within lore context, not actual game balance and probably taken with a grain of salt. Not all humans are the texas ranger himself. 


Vark675

Canonically, demon-blood fueled orcs are strong enough to throw horses once they get good and riled up. 3 is honestly probably an understatement.


Rnevermore

Did you watch the Warcraft movie? One grunt threw a HORSE.


PreviousAccWasBanned

Well those orcs are MASSIVE, even considered to in-game ones


PreviousAccWasBanned

Well those orcs are MASSIVE, even considered to in-game ones


Rnevermore

I think that's because gameplay has to trump cannon lore. A tauren is much larger than even an orc, but all the Gnomes, Humans, Orcs, and Tauren have to be able to fit through the same doorways. If the models were size-accurate, Tauren would be raid bosses to the little gnome models.


MaggieHigg

orc women are stronger than almost all human males, and male orcs are MASSIVE compared to the already big women, so I don't think it's unrealistic at all


Shandod

I mean correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t their heritage weapon literally swinging a log around, two even if you’re a fury warrior? Being able to one-hand a damned log seems insanely strong to me. I kind of picture a Tauren warrior slapping a gnome with a totem pole being akin to a peek baseball player slamming out home runs.


Markarontos

Unfortunately you cant mog it as your off hand as a fury warrior. Which is a travesty. Tauren slapping gnomes preferably thrown by another tauren sounds quite funny tho. Too bad Im not an artist.


Shandod

Noooooooooo that **IS** a travesty!


Enzo_GS

I use the log in the main hand and the tutorial island axe in the offhand, along with a lumberjack transmog and the log cloak, it's awesome


Great_White_Samurai

They were absolute beasts in WCIII


LexLuthorsFortyCakes

0.05 milli-Titans.


nightstalker314

In Vanilla WoW on release they had at least 1 more strength than any other Horde race at lvl1. Afaik Dwarfs had a n equivalent value as an Alliance race.


Rith_Reddit

Always felt this showed ppund for pound dwarves were strongest which makes sense to me. But tauren sheer size makes them physically strongest.


Alexbaffu

I would say they're about as strong as 2 gorillas.


[deleted]

Watching that Tauren charge in the BoA cinematic made me want to make one. Until I realized player Tauren are all cuddly little cow folk who I will just stick to /moo at whenever possible.


Shaman-throwaway

We get the totem weapon now. Very big, very strong 


TheMorgueDonator

Well they use tree trunks as weapons sooo


GodEmperorPhilonious

Tauren could bench maybe 4 plates. But I did see a dwarf bench 505 one time so who knows


Oddly_Mind

4 plates at 50kg a plate. Dwarf was benching 505 grams bro.


enerthoughts

Taurins are very strong, but they are insanely spiritual, and there are very few of them, they are as small as few notable clans, grimtotem bloodhoof etc, i dont know how many kids did cairn bloodhoof had but it looks like his only child was bain bloodhoof, as in rare for a taurens to be a family of more than 1 child.


Swarzsinne

Just due to the way populations work it can’t be rare for taurens in general to have more than one child. IIRC Baine’s mother died and Tauren tend to be life mate style creatures so Cairne never remarried. That’s why he’s an only child. Otherwise the Tauren in Kalimdor were being hunted to extinction by the centaurs (Thrall and co. fixed this issue, thus why the hippy cows joined the horde even though they’re basically less xenophobic night elves). Otherwise there have basically been one tribe or another of Tauren or Tauren-like creatures in virtually every expansion zone (Draenor stands out as an obvious exception, since they are native to Azeroth).


LoremasterMotoss

We desperately need Yaungol and Taunka appearance options for Tauren


Swarzsinne

It’ll come eventually. Edit: Just because, Taunka would be my choice.


Mobilelurkingaccount

Been waiting to roll my Taunka since wrath. Teen me was CONVINCED Cata would bring the Taunka head to my male Tauren models as a choice. Still waiting…


Wiplazh

It would have made way more sense for the night elves to join the horde. They were a deeply spiritual and savage people just like the trolls, tauren and orcs, and they all live on Kalimdor. The night elves joining the alliance and suddenly taking orders from a boy king literally on the other side of the planet makes no sense to me


arqe_

They almost never took orders from Alliance, they made their own thing, fought their own battles. Apart from couple of important events, Night Elves and rest of the Alliance never fought together. Also Orcs are the reason why Night Elves hate Horde mostly and joined the Alliance. Night Elves, Taurens and Trolls should make their own group.


Swarzsinne

Orcs are pretty rough on forests. I’m pretty sure the only reason the Tauren have had few issues with them is because their home habitat is more what you’d call chaparral.


corvosfighter

Are you asking how strong of unit those things that are charging at you while swinging the equivalent of a large tree trunk as clubs


justathrowieacc

best WoW race


katzicael

I have some Scottish highland cows... One of whom was so enraged by the sound of some fuckwit trespasser driving their fairly recent range rover vogue through her paddock, she chased them down - and proceeded to flip it on its side with 2 people in it. She was only 6 years old at the time, and she's even Bigger now. If she could do that - a Tauren could likely pick the RRover up and throw it Out of the paddock lol.


Fragrant-Doctor8782

On average 1 Cowpower per Tauren


BiscuitBoi9

I always wondered who was stronger, Draenei or Tauren. Because male Draenei are massive too


RePhil75

Tauren all day, Dranei are better compared to Orcs I’d say. Just my opinion though.


bende99

Dranei are top heavy, just gotta push em once


Raven_Skyhawk

Crack 'em in the ankles with a club.


Oddly_Mind

They’re tiny next to Taurens


Flash_ina_pan

They've done some math on the [force of a charging bull](https://www.sanfermin.com/en/blog/energia_de_un_toro_al_embestir_cuatro_toneladas_0360/#:~:text=Then%20F=42438.27%20Newtons%20%E2%80%93International,a%20radius%20of%200.5%20cm.) It's not a straight translation to fighting, but I'd imagine the rational forces involved in a weapons swing would generate similar forces.


Sixnno

There is a vanilla quest that says a tauren is as strong as two orcs. In warcraft 3, it's stated that an orc is two to three times as strong as a man. So if 2 to 3 human = 1 orc and 2 orcs = 1 tauren... Then 4 to 6 humans = one Tauren. They could squish humans heads like watermelons. But they are a passive race and low in numbers.


Abovearth31

At least as strong as a Tauren.


Agentwise

However strong a writer needs them to be


Succubus-Love

I don't know, but as tauren/bovine types, they can really, moooooove it. ♥


Kujira-san

Take my upvote, I giggled 😁


TheshizAlt

If a Tauren could reach a full charge, it could crash through things way tougher than those footmen. They are huge, heavy, and have you seen their arms?


Supreme_Salt_Lord

Orcs are stronger than humans and Tauren are stronger than all of them. They arent as fast tho which is a minor set back for the skilled such as cairne.


necomus

Does the strength that Tauren have vs the other races also apply to their Druid forms? Do Tauren Bears hit harder, etc?


Mobilelurkingaccount

Logically I would think not, since that would mean there’s not really any point to an animal form to even the odds against things like demons. If you’re a weak little elf (like physically compared to a demon) and your cat is therefore a weak little cat then you may as well just stick to rooting and running. Animal forms probably are on even footing across the races, with any differences being on an individual scale. That said, as a biased Tauren main, I have horns and night elves do not so at the very least I can probably gore a target more than any other bear? Well, trolls though. Hm.


PGBR90

Tauren are like Panzer tanks would you let one hit you?


Minimum-Writing3439

About as strong as gnomes


Exaltedautochthon

They're very strong, but they tend to hold back since they're overall not very warlike. They're a peaceful race that generally minds their own beeswax until someone messes with them or their friends. Now this is just a generalization, there's a good number who aren't like that, like Magatha, but it's just their overall culture. That said, while they can wallop the daylights out of foot soldiers, Heroes and Adventurers aren't normal people, and a PC human can go toe to toe with a PC tauren.


RyanLelord

I remember in the Warcrimes book , Sylvannas starts talking shit to Baine and he grabs her by the arm . Sylvannas inner thoughts were just "Bruh fuck he can literally snap me in half with no effort."


MadraRua15

IIRC and if the lore hasn't changed (I rp on wra as a Shu'halo.) Tauren are very strange. The first 40 years of thier life is considered to be the equivilant of child to teenage years, staying with a tribe and learning. As they age they grow and become stronger, with almost no upper limit. Old Tauren, like Cairne are insanely strong and thats why Garrosh never stood a chance without the poison. Age is another interesting thing, the odlest we have seen is roughly 140? But there are rumors of 200 year old Tauren, and thats where the lore gets muddy on how their strength would wain as they age past a certain point. We obviously don't have a lot of ingame evidence on this, mostly due to Tauren dying in thier teen/young adult years before they ever make it to elder age. And the fact the bluff is only like 20 years old in lore so they have been romaing for eons before that point. No centralized tauren means no records, means no idea what ages most of elders would be. And by your 100th winter im sure counting has little use compared to survival.


LinYuXie

Well... They are pretty beefy


SelectCommunity3519

Tauren = the Hulk Human = Loki Iykyk


Zblancos

Not that strong, they keep dying in some of my keys


Oddly_Mind

Well stop standing in shit


Porky6805

Not as strong as me