Doomguard

The doomguard, or doom guard, is a demonic race. Many doomguard are members of the ered'ruin species.

It also appears to be a class, caste, or rank within the fiends. Doomguards are a part of the Burning Legion.

Background
When mortals recall the brutal terror of the Burning Legion’s armies, they would likely think first of the doomguard. These ironfisted demons serve as the Burning Legion’s captains and generals. Countless worlds have fallen to their brilliant and ruthless military tactics. A doomguard’s prowess at commanding large-scale battles does not reduce the demon’s hunger for personal combat. In any conflict, a doomguard brings their powerful demonic abilities to where they can do the most damage, viciously slaughtering enemy troops. While most doomguard remain unquestioning and loyal servants to the lords of the Burning Legion (nathrezim and pit lords, among others), some ascend to this tier of command themselves and are among the most powerful demons in the Legion. In fact, most demons that remain in Azeroth after the failure of the second invasion are now under the control of various doomguard lords, ruling from such places as Jaedenar, Mannoroc Coven, and the Tainted Scar.

The fearsome doomguard once served as Archimonde's personal escorts. Although they were often called upon to perform a number of duties for the Legion, their loyalties lay with him alone. The doomguard were left to their own devices after Archimonde's defeat at the World Tree on Mount Hyjal. They now roam the universe serving as mercenaries for whoever will have them. They enjoy wearing large breastplates emblazoned with the symbol of Archimonde despite his defeat. They believe he will one day return to rule them once more. Despite their appearance and disposition, doomguard are sought after for service. These monstrous, fiery warriors are nearly immune to magic and can defeat entire armies with their sheer strength alone.

Combat
Doomguard begin a battle by sizing up their foes. A doomguard generally uses shadow strike and unholy aura before entering combat, and focuses first on what it considers the most dangerous opponent, which is usually a spellcaster. It uses shadowburn or its quickened immolate to finish that opponent. After one enemy is down, the doomguard focuses on the second biggest threat, picking off each opponent one by one. It may also use area attacks such as rain of fire or hellfire, especially if the doomguard is accompanied by allies that are immune to fire damage, possibly showing concern for the survival of their allies.

They cast deeper darkness if they believe their opponents will not be able to see through it, covering their actions while they cast additional spells. Fire storm is their first choice against seemingly powerful opponents who might not be ready with abjurations against fire. A doomguard will even cast fire storm with itself in the area, taking advantage of its immunity to fire. Detect magic determines if greater dispel magic would be useful against particular opponents. Doomguard will cast immolation as soon as possible when facing multiple opponents who may not be immune to the flames or if opponents may try to use cold attacks against them. When there is enough time to prepare even more spells, doomguard cast unholy aura and dispel good on themselves. They follow these actions up by wading into melee.

When two or more doomguard work together, one will engage in melee while the others cast cripple on potentially dangerous melee foes. After that, they prefer to split up and engage separate melee targets. They doom stomp when faced with two or more opponents in range who might be dazed and knocked prone by the effect. They almost always doom stomp when faced with four or more potential targets in range. If the battle is going poorly, a doomguard will cast demonic doom on a remaining melee foe. Doomguard usually try to teleport without error to disengage once injured enough. They cast spells from a distance while their allies continue the fight. Once all doomguard are injured enough they all teleport without error to escape. If the battle is going well, doomguard take their time finishing off opponents. They cast unholy blight to watch and be amused as their foes are sickened by the effect. The doomguard are often armed with falchions, but individual doomguard have also been known to also favor scimitars, longswords, or greatswords (most of them similarly enchanted).

Description
Most doomguard are members of the ered'ruin race, who once served as Archimonde's personal escorts. Although they were often called upon to perform a number of duties for the Legion, their loyalties lay with him alone. The doomguard were left to their own devices after Archimonde's defeat at the World Tree on Mount Hyjal. They now roam the universe serving as mercenaries for whoever will have them. They enjoy wearing large breastplates emblazoned with the symbol of Archimonde despite his defeat. They believe he will one day return to rule them once more. Whether or not this will happen is a matter of opinion, but the fact remains that thousands of Doomguard still serve the Legion under Kil'jaeden's command. Unlike the felguard or many lesser demons, the doomguard have intelligence on par with most of Azeroth's major races, and are most often used as taskmasters to keep the felguard and infernals in line. A typical doomguard stands about 10 feet tall and weighs about 4,000 pounds, though some become much larger. Doomguard speak Eredun, and many also speak one or more languages of the mortal races as well.

Despite their appearance and disposition, doomguard are a sought-after service. These monstrous, fiery warriors are nearly immune to magic and can defeat entire armies with their sheer strength alone.

Not all doomguard come from the same race, the doomguard known as Overmaster Grindgarr, or Ambassador Hellmaw are from the demonic race known as fiends.

Man'ari eredar, ered'ruin, and daemons
Summoned Daemon in the Chess Event in Karazhan has the model of a doomguard, which appears to corroborate the assumption that daemons are, in fact, the same sort of pets players can obtain in WoW. With the Karazhan chess event, it is now known that there is no difference between the demons of the Burning Legion and the daemons of the first two Warcraft games (or at least the team chose to utilize a WoW model that most-closely resembled daemons from previous games). Though, the daemon design was essentially abandoned for Warcraft III. The first named demon encountered by players was Kil'jaeden in the Warcraft II manual. Kil'jaeden resembled the daemons, but was switched to an Eredar when the command structure and races were finalized. However, the D&D RPG blended the two depictions of Kil'jaeden into one explaining that he can take on any form that he chooses, for whoever he appears before.

Additionally, there may be some kind of connection between the man'ari eredar and ered'ruin since they share some physical similarities and part of their name, "ered".