wow A Look Back at the Incredible Handclaw and His Armor Sets

[Starym 3,800]

 

We've recently seen many fan-made armor sets, from today's Simaia-made "class skins" project, to the always awesome Sercan Özyurt and his many takes, but the undoubtedly most massive and probably most impressive has to be Arthur "Handclaw" Lorenz.

We first ran into Handclaw with the immediately insane and colossal "racial armors for each class and race combination in the game", but there has been plenty more after that, so I thought I'd put them all in one place. So if you haven't seen these before, enjoy, as they are some of the best armor concepts out there, and if you have already seen them, well, enjoy again!

We'll start with the most unique one made, our own Icy Veins Ogre Death Knight set, made for our big Handclaw interview (also this one has to be my favorite, but I'm clearly biased):

Then it's on to the "new" stuff, in case you didn't see it, as Handclaw added Death knight Allied Race options to his huge all class/race armor combo project a little later on:

 

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On Kul Tirans I thought about going with a "raised from the sea" direction, but I enjoyed the back piece which draws from the "Sun" in the Kul Tiran banner so much, so I decided to go with that instead. But as always, there are often various options of what a set could look like, this is just one option I chose.

The Lightforged was the most difficult as I had to find a compromise to make it not accidentally look like a Paladin. In my first approach I still used blue effects but it simply didn't fit in well for a being 'forged by the light'.

Finally, on the Pandaren, I've drawn a bit of inspiration from Chinese culture: the Alliance version is in part inspired by the Jiang shi, the hopping  vampires, who are often depicted with a paper talisman on their head. The talisman is meant to immobilise the vampire, which felt like a good fit to the very disciplined and self-controlled Tushui Pandaren.

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Zandalari Trolls draw again from Bwonsamdi while also taking a more regal approach with its inclusion of gold.

For the Mag'har, it didn't feel right to have one clan in particular for this class, but still I was able to draw from WoD: the Botani. Their infested orcs offered a unique direction to include in this set, making it distinct from other races.

While on the Horde Pandaren version, I decided to use white as a main colour as it is in some instances associated with death. The Mogu elements served to give it an darker feel and with Houjin being more practical, they wouldn't be above using anima like the Mogu.

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And then there's the genuinely insane, 189-strong original race/class combo set:

GNOME

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- The Warrior was one of the first sets created in this project. I had a Wielding Mask inspired helm on my mind for years.
- From the very beginning, I wasn't too happy with the hunter design. After finishing all core races, I took a look at it again and decided for a new jetpack themed outfit. (Disengage in style!)
- For the rogue I wanted to create something whimsical at the time. A "stealth suit" with a little mechagnome nod.
- For the monk I enjoyed the idea of using a cog as the strawhat equivalent to the pandaren style.
- (Mage) Back when designing this, I wanted to create a magister type of set with a gnomish flair.
- Many gnomish "priest" npcs have been called medic so for them I went for a literal approach. One thing I experimented with was having untypical shoulder pads via the drones.
- Back then, I thought I needed at least one set with a pointed hat, and Warlocks got the honor.
- (Tinker new class) Before this project began, I had a test run with a few different races. The tinker armor was one of them. It originally was meant to be a starter type gear for a gnome tinker, but I've updated it to include the tinker backpack and added details.

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TAUREN

WORGEN

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- (Warrior) I wanted to create a footman equivalent for the worgen. Gilneas would embrace the symbol of the wolf and incorporate it into its armor, making it easier for human and worgen soldiers to work together as both have a "wolf head"
- (DK) For the second version I wanted to add more of a wolf theme to the set to make it distinct for worgen, As well as adding a long coat.
- (Hunter) It is pretty clear that this is based on Greymane's master skin in Heroes of the Storm. To me, that is just the right design direction for worgen hunters.
- For the Rogue I wanted to experiment with asymmetry using the collection model system. Primar design direction was a Jack the Ripper inspired set for the worgen. In early drafts I even had loose chains hanging from his hands.
- For the druid I wanted to find a middle ground between Gilneas and Druidisms. A set that could be worn by the gilnean Harvest Witches.
- (Mage) This one was meant to have a very aristrocat-ish aura to him. Fine clothing, gold adornment all around.
- (Priest) A design element that was everywhere in early concept art of Gilneas were the lanterns.

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TROLL

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- (Warrior) For this set I wanted to explore a full set of armor made of wood inspired by the Spiritshield Mask helmet in Zul'aman
- (DK) The Darkspear introduced as to Bwonsamdi during Zalazane's Fall, so it felt just right to have this set based on the Loa of Death.
- (Shaman) At the time I drew a bit of inspiration from a troll seen in the cinematics, often referenced as "Zappy Boy" in the community.
- (Druid) As the first troll druid to appear in WoW was using a tiger form, I went for that theme. This first draft was a bit too cartoony and hence I revisited it.

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DRANEI

BLOOD ELF

DWARF

GOBLIN

Warriors get two versions in this one, the Bruiser and Footbomb.

NIGHT ELF

FORSAKEN

ORC

HUMAN

PANDAREN (Alliance)

PANDAREN (Horde)

KUL TIRAN

ZANDALARI

DARK IRON DWARVES

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- I felt that the current heritage armor set is a good fit for warriors already, so I explored a different theme. I decided for a blacksmith inspired design to give its own distinct identity.
- The set is meant to along with the Dark Iron Paladin mount. As the Dark Irons are a more darker/sinister race, I want its design to be more threatening. On the back he would have the libram hanging from his belt.
- (Shaman) Ragnaros is a big part of the Dark Iron lore, so I thought fire would be a good thing to design around.
- (Hunter) It started out with a more simple dark iron version of a rifleman. But I've been reminded of the corehounds and thought, they could be a neat hook to spice it up.
- For the dwarven rogues, it was important to me to leave their beards exposed. Since I didn't want another hood, I went with a mask, which was actually inspired by Fable Bandits.
- To give the dark iron monk a unique spin, I went for an innkeeper theme. I wanted to avoid a brimmed hat, so I tried out the
- (Priest) The "Black Anvil" is an important artifact for the Dark Iron dwarves, so it was a good fit as a theme for the set. I tried also a helmet version instead of the hood, but I decided the hood worked better.
- (Mage) I went for a king-y approach as Sorcerers have an important role in Dark Iron society, including the Sorcerer-Thane Thaurissan in BRD.
- (Warlock) My initial design went for a pure fiery look with a lot of reds and yellows. Overtime, I realized that it didn't stand out so I tested other options: after testing fel green I went with this shadow flame direction.

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MAG'HAR ORCS

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- (Warrior) This set is based on the Blackrock Clan while taking aspects from Blackhand's design. While there is already a pretty good Blackrock Set, the newest tech allows new possibilities with 3d elements for the gloves and boots.
- (Shaman) I decided to go with a Frostwolf clan themed set. While there was a Frostwolf set in WoD, it was only available to leather classes, while Shaman & Hunters were unable to use it.
- (Hunter) This one is based on the Thunderlord Clan. Similar to the Blackrock set, there was a set themed around them already in the game. But with the new tech available since Legion, new ways to design armor are possible.
- (Rogue) This one is based on the shattered hand clan encountered in WoD. Since the armor is intended for player characters, I refrained from replacing the hand, to allow players to use any weapon they want.
- (Monk) My initial plan was to make a Burning Blade monk like I did with my orc armor line. But some of the WoD "monks" were Laughing Skull orcs, so I decided to give this direction a go.
- This one focuses on the Shadowmoon Clan and their Darkcaster Shadow Priests. The helmet is also in reference to Ner'zhul's skull facepaint.
- (Mage) The Bleeding Hollow clan didn't receive a proper design of their own in WoD, instead using armor from classic. For that reason I wanted to base on set at least around them.

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HIGHMOUNTAIN TAUREN

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In comparision to the Thunderbluff Tauren, I decided to not use Totems as part of the design. That is due to various totems being available either trough the heritage armor or useable items from a vendor in their capital city.
- (Warrior) Themed after the Bloodtotem Tribe.
- (Shaman) Based on the Rivermane Tribe.
- (Hunter) Based on the Skyhorn tribe.
- (Druid) Based around Eche'ro. As Cenarius blessed Huln Highmountain due to him saving Eche'ro, I thought it would be a fitting theme for the Druid set.
- (Monk) Based on the Drogbar. As the Stonedark Drogbar played their part in uniting the Highmontain tauren, I wanted to give them a little nod through one of the sets.

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NIGHTBORNE

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- (Warrior) Based on Spellblade Aluriel of the Nighthold Raid, I felt this direction offers a distinct design with a more elite appeal. I was thinking of going with a more regular Suramar guard look, but I felt it would be look like low level gear.
- (Hunter) Based on Nighthuntress Syrenne, rare spawn and hunter champion.
- Inspired by Arluin, an NPC you encounter during the Suramar questline. For rogues I wanted the gear being based more on the style worn by the civilians instead of the military/royalty.
- (Monk) This design is based on the Arcan'dor tree. As storywise it represents the nightborne being freed from their mana thirst, I felt it would be a good fit for the monk.
- (Priest) Based on Star Augur Etraeus. While he isn't a priest, I felt the design would be a good and distinct fit nonetheless.
- (Mage) Inspired by some nightborne gear as well as Grand Magistrix Elisande
- (Warlock) Went with a general nightborne design with the legion colour scheme. Initially I was thinking about mixing in some Nightfallen design elements like rags, giving them an outcast vibe, but I decided against it in the end.

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LIGHTFORGED DRANEI

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- For the warrior I wanted to keep the Crystal elements to a minimum to differentiate it from the Paladin. In the first designs I wanted to give it "armored forehead" akin to the Aegis set from Ulduar, but it evolved into a full helmet over time.
- For the Lightforged Paladin I wanted to make a set inspired by the WoW Judgement set, but mixed with Draenei/Naruu design elements.
- (Hunter) With the regular draenei I had a "ranger" approach to its design. For the Lightforged I wanted a more high tech design, hence the stronger use of crystals in its design.
- (Mage) In the first draft, the colour scheme was very similar to the Priest set. To make it more distinct I decided to use silver as the main colour.

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VOID ELF

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- The warrior draws the most from the existing heritage armor, but also influenced by armor worn by the Highelven Swordman unit in the warcraft 3 campaign. Also, making stronger use of the "void crystals".
- (Hunter) For the ranger I wanted to make something akin to a ranger, but with a twist of their own. What if instead of a quiver, they used the void to create arrows from nothing? To help that idea I gave him one "mutated" arm.
- For the rogue, I made the decision to not give him a mask in a traditional sense. Why cover your face if you can hide it in a shroud of void energy?
- (Monk) The eye motif was born from the idea of the "third eye". I initially wanted to have the helmet be a third eye, but wasn't happy with the results. In general,
- (Priest) Influenced by Voidcallers and one of the first Voidelf items found in the files, a lantern off-hand, I decided to make lanterns a design element for this class.
- I wanted the mage to be more traditional than the other voidelf classes, so I didn't go crazy with Voideffects. One thing I am curious about is if it possible to give players similar sleeves like Lor'themar Teron in his newest model in WoW
- The Warlock is meant to be the most liberal user of Void energy, displayed by void tentacles grasping from his shoulder pads into our reality.

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MECHAGNOME

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- As Mechagnomes have replaceable limbs, I wanted to use the fact to give the Warrior "beefier" arms. This one is of a more experimental nature because of that.
- (DK) A small nod to the Terminator Skeleton felt like a good fit to Mechagnomes.
- (Rogue) For them I wanted to go with the Junker theme. Gnomes going through the heaps and stealing parts.
- (Monk) The general idea with the Mechagnomes was: How would a Mechagnome enhance himself for his role? As the 'martial art' class, I decided to give the monk additional arms as part of their "shoulderpads".
- For the Mage I combined gears into his design, which should spin and possibly glow during spellcasts.
- (Warlock) As part of this character I felt he needed a fuel tank filled with fel energy to further enhance his capabilities as a warlock.
- (Tinker new class) As always, there is my little push for Tinkers on Gnomes and Goblins. The backpack is inspired by the robot fought at the end of the Mechagon dungeon.

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VULPERA

There's one re-do here as well, as Handclaw took another swing at Tauren Paladins:

  

And finally, while this technically isn't part of the race/class combo project, it's more armor sets from Handclaw so that's always a good thing. These are from the "Barrens Warfront" project, which also features weapon models, siege weapons and more, which you can check out here.

Plate:

Mail:

Leather:

Cloth:

These are all amazing and are 100% my personal favorite fan armor concepts so far, so I really hope we can get something more from Handclaw. Meanwhile, you can check out some of his other projects over on Artstation.

[Dejo93 1,023]

Bruh, I'm gonna commission this guy for some races I'd like added to WoW 😄

imagine humanoid T-Rexes 

[Starym 3,800]

49 minutes ago, Dejo93 said:

Bruh, I'm gonna commission this guy for some races I'd like added to WoW 😄

imagine humanoid T-Rexes 

Crab people or gtfo!

[Dejo93 1,023]

29 minutes ago, Starym said:

Crab people or gtfo!

Makrura 😉

 

 

[Forcefulpuspus 8]

I didn't realize the artists name was Handclaw at first and was imagining armor sets for the hand mount

[Dalkongp1 0]

Oh! Thats cool!

I want that class heritage armor!

When release it? In 2022?

[Pregrowth 46]

The stuff this guy is making is f*ckin ranke one stuff, sooooooooo good man, these people need to hire you, and wow would be a better game

[Arcling 898]

19 hours ago, Dejo93 said:

Bruh, I'm gonna commission this guy for some races I'd like added to WoW 😄

imagine humanoid T-Rexes 

We still don't have any race that isn't a mammal, not to mention all of them were either directly or indirectly made by Titans. I wonder if such departure from common theme is ever going to happen.

Some of these sets look really nice, but if they still haven't added heritage armor for every race there is, then it's very unlikely for them to make a set specific for class/race combo. Many of such combos are underplayed, so it wouldn't be deemed "cost effective".

[Dejo93 1,023]

1 hour ago, Arcling said:

We still don't have any race that isn't a mammal, not to mention all of them were either directly or indirectly made by Titans. I wonder if such departure from common theme is ever going to happen.

Some of these sets look really nice, but if they still haven't added heritage armor for every race there is, then it's very unlikely for them to make a set specific for class/race combo. Many of such combos are underplayed, so it wouldn't be deemed "cost effective".

I genuinely wonder why a multi-billion dollar with the world's most successful MMO wouldn't try to make a race or class that is completely out of the usual. Are they playing it safe?

[Turmoil 8]

When some random guy on the internet has more creativity than the last 2 expansions made by a megacorp... =(

[Starym 3,800]

2 hours ago, Dejo93 said:

I genuinely wonder why a multi-billion dollar with the world's most successful MMO wouldn't try to make a race or class that is completely out of the usual. Are they playing it safe?

It's just a practical thing probably, whatever they make HAS to have all armor fit without having to change every single armor piece in the game (hence no Sethrak/Naga).

[Dejo93 1,023]

18 minutes ago, Starym said:

It's just a practical thing probably, whatever they make HAS to have all armor fit without having to change every single armor piece in the game (hence no Sethrak/Naga).

ah yeah

now it makes sense

[Arcling 898]

3 hours ago, Dejo93 said:

I genuinely wonder why a multi-billion dollar with the world's most successful MMO wouldn't try to make a race or class that is completely out of the usual. Are they playing it safe?

Other than mentioned difficulties in implementing different armor shapes for different bodies, it might be due to game having more limited budget and manpower compared to some of their upcoming titles. Likely Diablo 4 has currently the most resources being put into it. It seems their games have to remain really massive in order to get more support, if this is not the case, their funding is greatly reduced.

[Starym 3,800]

45 minutes ago, Arcling said:

Other than mentioned difficulties in implementing different armor shapes for different bodies, it might be due to game having more limited budget and manpower compared to some of their upcoming titles. Likely Diablo 4 has currently the most resources being put into it. It seems their games have to remain really massive in order to get more support, if this is not the case, their funding is greatly reduced.

Nah, WoW is and will be the no.1 priority for Blizzard for a looong time. It's by far the biggest team since it requires the most devs and in terms of priority, $15 a month +mictoransactions is a comical amount of money compared to ANY new game launch, even if it's a hit.

[Arcling 898]

1 hour ago, Starym said:

Nah, WoW is and will be the no.1 priority for Blizzard for a looong time. It's by far the biggest team since it requires the most devs and in terms of priority, $15 a month +mictoransactions is a comical amount of money compared to ANY new game launch, even if it's a hit.

I wonder though, a lot seems to be pointing out for them to be "cost effective". It often feels like they could have done so much more if they truly had a higher budget and bigger team than now. Of course, other factors are possible, like mismanagement. We are experiencing some content drought and even some baseline stuff is only getting pushed now to smaller patch. While funding might still be quite huge, it looks like it's lower than Diablo 4 (and they are still planning to support it after launch), expansions also don't have nearly as much content as new release. Hearthstone is still making a lot at a fraction of its cost, which might have effect on their priorities.

[Starym 3,800]

5 hours ago, Arcling said:

I wonder though, a lot seems to be pointing out for them to be "cost effective". It often feels like they could have done so much more if they truly had a higher budget and bigger team than now. Of course, other factors are possible, like mismanagement. We are experiencing some content drought and even some baseline stuff is only getting pushed now to smaller patch. While funding might still be quite huge, it looks like it's lower than Diablo 4 (and they are still planning to support it after launch), expansions also don't have nearly as much content as new release. Hearthstone is still making a lot at a fraction of its cost, which might have effect on their priorities.

I can't say I have any inside info on this but there is absolutely no way any Blizzard game has a higher budget/dev count than WoW IMO. Maaybe in like the final push to get a game out they shift some people over, but D4 isn't anywhere close to that.