The nefarious Blood Elves sabotaged the Draenei's ship, and it crashed through dimensions into Azeroth, just off the coast of the Night Elf land of Darkshore. As it tumbled towards the sea, it shed bits of the crystals from which it was built and escape pods blossomed from its girth. It is from these crystalline pods new Draenei emerge when they begin the game, with a duty to aid their injured comrades. Along your path, you'll learn the sorrowful history of the Draenei.
In the starting zones of the Draenei (three areas called Ammen Vale, Azuremist and Bloodmist), fledgling adventurers will be confronted by challenges suited to the first 20 levels of play. Resembling the Night Elf starting zones, only much brighter and sunnier, the tree-saturated hills of Ammen Vale are dotted by chunks of crystal debris cast off from the Exedar. Eventually, as Draenei travel through their new-found home, they'll discover their main city, the wreckage of the crashed Exedar (similar to Darnassus for Night Elves and Ironforge for Dwarves).
The Draenei are assisted by their Naaru-friendly heritage as they progress and have racial abilities that reflect this. The infusion of Holy Light grants the Draenei +10 shadow resistance and their Heroic Presence boosts party members chances to hit with spells or physical attacks by 1% (depending on the class of the player). The Blessing of Naaru is an innate racial ability that Draenei can call upon to heal themselves or others and its healing powers scale as the player gains experience (similar to a priest's Renew spell). Living in an environment surrounded by crystals has endowed the Draenei with an affinity for gem-cutting and jewel-crafting.
May 11, 2006
