Drek'Thar


 * "The land will weep, and the world will break!"

Drek'Thar is a level ?? (Boss) elite located at Frostwolf Keep in Alterac Valley. He can also occasionally be found at the Mag'har stronghold of Garadar in Nagrand.

The elder shaman of the Frostwolf clan, Drek'Thar served as Thrall's tutor many years ago. Blind since birth, Drek'Thar had to prove his worth during the Horde's dark period, being one of the first shaman eager to learn the dark arts of warlock magic. He found the spirits of the elements to be close companions, so shamanism became his path to might. Despite his power over the elements, Drek'Thar always maintained his meekness and wisdom. He continues to shepherd the younger shaman of the Horde in the old traditions of his people. Currently Drek'Thar is the chieftain of the Frostwolf Clan, and the General of the Frostwolf armies in Alterac Valley, as well as one of the few remaining orcs from the old Horde in the current faction.

Early history


Little is known of Drek'Thar's early life, beyond the fact that some stories claim he was blind from birth, and others that he was an apprentice shaman to the Frostwolf far seer, Mother Kashur, for many years on Draenor. When Kashur was killed while hunting, Drek'Thar became the senior Frostwolf shaman. Unlike his chieftain, Durotan, Drek'Thar seemed willing to accept Ner'zhul's announcement (influenced by Kil'jaeden the Deceiver, the right hand of the Fallen Titan, Sargeras) that the draenei were plotting against them. When the elements abandoned the orcs following the beginnings of their genocidal campaign against the draenei people, Drek'Thar and the other shamans of the orcish race followed the evil Gul'dan and his apprentices from the Shadow Council into the path of the warlock. As such, he followed all assaults by the Horde on draenei hunting parties as well as on innocent civilians, including women and children. He has since those dark times been redeemed, however he still holds himself personally responsible for his actions.

With the Horde's opinion turning against Durotan and the Frostwolves for his public defiance of Warchief Blackhand and his refusal to partake of the Blood of Mannoroth — or allow any of his clan to do so — the Frostwolves were eventually exiled into the Alterac Mountains. It was sometime during this exile that Drek'Thar renounced the way of the warlock and rediscovered the path of the shaman. With the aid of the elements and a little patience, Drek'Thar managed to convince the white wolves of Alterac to come to their aid. Following the birth of their son, who would later be known as Thrall, Durotan and Draka travelled to the encampment to speak with Durotan's old comrade Orgrim Doomhammer, now Warchief and chieftain of the Blackrock Clan after assassinating Blackhand, where they convinced him of Gul'dan's treachery. Durotan and Draka were betrayed by the guards of Orgrim's Blackrock Clan who were assigned to lead them to safety, and Thrall was believed to have died with them. The guards were secretly under Gul'dan's influence and were instructed to lead Durotan and Draka to assassins as instructed by Gul'dan, unknown by Orgrim Doomhammer at the time. The guards were also killed along side the Frostwolf leaders. With Durotan and his heir gone, Drek'Thar assumed the chieftaincy of the Frostwolves.

Training the future Warchief
Twenty years later, the now-blind but powerful Farseer discovered Thrall had been found alive while attempting to search for his clan. Giving the torn swaddling cloth he had kept since he was found to Drek'Thar, the Farseer revealed that Thrall was the heir of Durotan — and the Spirit of Fire revealed to him at that first meeting that Thrall had potential as a shaman. After testing Thrall's humility as well as his pride — both qualities necessary for those who take the path of the shaman, he told the younger orc — Drek'Thar took the son of Durotan under his wing and began to train him in the ways of the spirits.

Shortly before he began Thrall's initiation, Drek'Thar sent his white wolf companion, Wise-ear, to locate the nomadic Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer and lead him to the Frostwolf camp. Doomhammer arrived as a cloaked stranger who spoke contemptuously of any attempts to free the orcs in captivity or fighting the humans. Enraged, Thrall challenged him to combat and defeated him; it was then that Doomhammer revealed his identity, and Drek'Thar revealed that he had set this confrontation up in order to convince Doomhammer to take Thrall under his wing when the Frostwolves united with the Warsong Clan to liberate the encampments.

During the battle for the fifth encampment — now the outpost of Hammerfall — both Doomhammer and Drek'Thar's old companion, Wise-ear, fell in battle. Drek'Thar convinced Thrall to put on Doomhammer's black plate armor to show that the Horde had a new Warchief. His advice proved to be sound, and the new Horde rallied behind their new leader. After the fall of Durnholde Keep, Drek'Thar travelled across the sea with Thrall to the rediscovered lands of Kalimdor, and resided for a time in the new orcish capital of Orgrimmar.

After the Third War
Drek'Thar helped Thrall found the kingdom of capital of Orgrimmar, and conducted many magical experiments in the surrounding landscape.

Drek'Thar was trying to create a potion which required shimmerweed, a rare herb found only in Thunder Ridge (named so for the thunder lizards which lived there). The Thunder Lizards had become increasingly hostile of late, so when Rexxar arrived in Orgrimmar, Drek'Thar instructed him to retrieve six bushels of shimmerweed. Rexxar did so and Drek'Thar rewarded him. However, Drek'Thar was puzzled by the increasing hostility of the thunder lizards, and assumed that perhaps there was an outside force behind it.

Drek'Thar went to investigate himself, and found that the behavior Rexxar had reported was true. At Thrall's request, Rexxar joined Drek'Thar in Thunder Ridge and collected several Thunder Lizard eggs to study. Upon further investigation, they found that humans had begun to harvest lumber throughout the region, and the upset ecology was driving the thunder lizards mad. Rexxar wanted to level the lumber mill, but Drek'Thar stopped him, saying that it would breach the non-aggression pact signed by Thrall. Instead, they had to kill the raging beasts despite Rexxar's reservations.

Return to Alterac Valley


Shortly after Rexxar departed to wander the wilds of Kalimdor, Drek'Thar returned to the Frostwolf lands in Alterac Valley, where he continues to lead the Frostwolf clan from the fortress of Frostwolf Keep. He leads the Horde and Frostwolves in the defense of Alterac Valley against the Stormpike Guard, who encroach on the northern edge of the valley.

To this day, he carries the guilt of his actions during the early days of the Horde, and has never forgiven himself.

Drek'Thar serves as Thrall's primary representative in the Eastern Kingdoms (which is good because Thrall has someone he can trust in charge); it is however inefficient, because Drek'Thar's home in the Alterac Mountains is not readily accessible to the main body of the Horde.

Journey to Nagrand


Since the sealing of the Dark Portal, one group of orcs retained their original brown skin and maintained the traditional shamanism of the orcish race. They are called the Mag'har, and are led by Greatmother Geyah, grandmother of Thrall. Upon hearing that there is a clan of uncorrupted orcs in Outland, Thrall immediately attempts to set out to the Dark Portal and travel to the plains of Nagrand, however his duties as Warchief delay his visit for some time. Later with his duties as warchief temporarily sorted, Drek'Thar and an honor guard of Kor'kron accompany Thrall from Orgrimmar to the Mag'har settlement of Garadar in Nagrand. This is probably Drek'Thar's first visit to Draenor (now Outland) since the Frostwolves crossed into Azeroth.

The Shattering
After the defeat of the Lich King, all hostilities in Alterac Valley had ceased as part of a treaty between the Alliance and the Horde. Shortly before the emergence of Deathwing, Drek'Thar, now senile and cared for by a young orc shaman named Palkar, started having visions. These included visions of the world breaking apart and an attack on a peace meeting between night elf and tauren druids. Drek'Thar pleaded with Palkar to send runners to Ashenvale to warn the druids that a band of orcs were about to attack a gathering of druids. Runners were sent and warnings were issued to the night elves, but no orcs were found in the area and it accomplished nothing except to make the night elves more suspicious of the Horde.

Two months later, Drek'Thar had a vision of the world breaking apart and the elements crying out in pain. Again, Drek'thar pleaded with Palkar, this time to send word to Thrall about the visions of the world breaking. Palkar, believing this to be part of Drek'Thar's senility, dismissed the visions. A short while later, Drek'Thar again had visions of the elements crying out and the world breaking apart, but as soon as he was about to share his vision with Palkar, senility claimed him and all he could remember was that something terrible was about to happen, but could not recall what.

A short time later, word came from Perith Stormhoof, one of the tauren Longwalkers, that an attack did indeed occur on a group of night elf and tauren druids in the spot that Drek'Thar had specified. Palkar realized that despite his senility, Drek'Thar was right, and resolved to send a message to Thrall of Drek'Thar's visions of the world breaking apart. A short time later, Drek'Thar had a vision of the Stormwind Harbor being hit by tidal waves, which wrecked ships, drowned people, and totally submerged the harbor up to its highest point. The vision shifted to Westfall, where a crack in the earth made a huge sinkhole. Drek'Thar wept, and had another vision of a mysterious person trying to break down the door to their residence. He instructed Palkar to bar the door and not let this person inside. Palkar agreed to the request, but wondered who the intruder was and why Drek'Thar was so adamant he not be let in.

Refusal to aid the Forsaken
General Drek'Thar makes a reappearance in Cataclysm alongside Captain Galvangar, where he is approached by the player on the behalf of High Warlord Cromush, for the assistance of the Frostwolf clan in dealing with the remaining Alliance within Lordaeron.

However, Drek'Thar declines, citing a refusal to work with the Forsaken. He references his own dark past, contrasting the regret and remorse he feels to the unrepentant actions of the Forsaken. Cromush is greatly dismayed by this turn of events, contemplating whether this refusal is Drek'Thar "forsaking" the Horde, and resolves to defeat the remaining enemies in the region without the aid of the Frostwolves.

He appears to be disabled and uses a wheel chair.

Abilities
Drek'Thar in Alterac Valley is a formidable opponent who can easily tear apart an unprepared Alliance force, especially with dedicated Horde defenders. He has two guard wolves, Drakan and Duros that respawn every time you pull Drek'Thar outside of his bunker, if they are not alive when he returns.


 * Spell Shadow UnholyFrenzy.png Frenzy - 167% damage increase and 50% attack speed increase. Duration of two minutes.
 * Ability Whirlwind.png Whirlwind - Inflicts weapon damage to nearby hostiles, two second cast time.
 * Ability GolemThunderClap.png Knockdown - Inflicts 60 to 80 damage to an enemy and its nearest allies, stunning them for 2 sec. Affects up to 5 targets.
 * INV Helmet 01.png Warmaster - Each Warmaster present increases Drek'thar's, Duros', Drakan's and all other Warmaster's health by 25% and damage by 25%.

Strategy
Contrary to popular myth, his guard dogs do not respawn when looted. They respawn when Drek is reset. The best way is to just rush in and tank him while a few of the attackers kill his dogs. That way you only deal with the dogs once.

Drek'Thar is relatively easy to tank by a single player, as he does not have any abilities that drop aggro. It is merely necessary to assure constant healing.

It is possible to kill Drek'thar with one or two warmasters still alive, it primarily involves having more than one tank and plenty of healers. If more than two warmasters are alive it is best advised to destroy the East and West Frostwolf Towers first.

To prevent perpetually resetting him, it is wise to have a few death knights inside Drek'Thar's fortress and have them keep pulling him back inside when he's about to run out and reset. Keep in mind that this will mean that whoever gripped him will have aggro for a few seconds so it is best to only assign this job to death knights who are able to tank properly.

Lord of the Clans

 * "They are watching. They must not lose heart. You must put on the armor at once, and show them they have a new chieftain." — to Thrall, shortly after the death of Orgrim Doomhammer.
 * "Of course you are what Blackmoore made you. And what Taretha made you. And Sergeant, and Hellscream, and Doomhammer, and I, and even Snowsong. You are what each battle made you, and you are what you made yourself...the lord of the clans." — to Thrall, when told of what Blackmoore had said before he died.

The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm

 * "The land will weep, and the world will break!"
 * "My sleeping furs...why did you move them? You are always disturbing my things, Palkar."
 * "Someone is breaking down the door! Bar it! Do not let him in!"

Alterac Valley
Aggro: Reset: Raid wipe: When fighting:
 * yell
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 * yell

Matters of Loyalty

 * say
 * emote
 * say
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 * say
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 * say
 * say
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 * say

Warcraft Adventures

 * Three great wars between the human Alliance and the orcish invaders have laid waste to the once proud realms of Azeroth. Twenty-two years have passed since Blackmoore found the young orcling. Secretly raising the orcling within the confines of his prison fortress Durnholde, Blackmoore planned to mold the orcling into the perfect warrior. A warrior conditioned to human thinking, but with all the savagery of an orcish heart.