Ravager Biology!

[Teigan]

Ok, so I'm sitting here trying to write some Ravager emotes...and for me to write emotes, I kinda need to have some idea of the kind of animal I'm working with. I can't decide what a Ravager is...
Is it warm blooded? Cold blooded? Does it have an exoskeleton like an insect? The legs look chitinous, but not the body...
Altogether a puzzling creature...
What is your take on the mighty Ravager?

[Turgus]

They appear to have an exoskeleton due to all of the armor plating they have.
If you include their legs, they really look like an insect. A real nasty and odd looking insect, but an insect non-the-less.

There are many insects that can thermo regulate, but none that I know of are true endotherms. aka "warm blooded"
Since there are varying degrees of thermo regulation in both ectotherms and endotherms, it is really anyones guess just where Ravagers fall.

I personally would assume that they are endotherms since they are very active predators.
But, really who knows?

Take it whatever way you want to, its an alternate universe with magic. So have fun.

[Lisaara]

Ravagers.....i think they're cold blooded personally.

[swordoath]

Ravagers seem to be built like an insect; they have segmented legs and one of their junk drops is their carapace. That beng said, their jaw structure is similar to humanoids and higher beasts rather than insects, with a maxilla and a mandible. Their long fangs and seemingly low center of gravity suggest a hunting style similar to a sabertooth cat that would involve quickly rushing down prey and pinning it, delivering fatal blows quickly and precisely, then eating at leisure.

Their spines are mobile and seem to act as a communicative display tool. Rattling them together makes noise, and the way a ravager positions and moves its spines would likely indicate mood or be used as a signaling mechanism. Based on the animals' close proximity to each other in the wild, they are likely pack animals that hunt in groups; one thing that concerns me is the lack of prey animals in Hellfire, with the best candidate being the helboars. With their brambled nests in close proximity to Zangarmarsh, I could see them also hunting sporebats in the wild, and their diets are probably augmented by carrion scavenging as they seem like the type of animal to take what they can get.

The flexible upper body is likely the result of overlaid plates of carapace. The model isn't great for seeing this detail, but there's a bit of a seam at the base of the head, and a large plated covering at the waist where the upper body curls forward, so it seems likely. Actively predatory animals are usually warm-blooded by design; internal regulation of body heat is crucial for prolonged energy.

Hope this was helpful. This just comes from me studying the in-game behaviour and comparng it to animals in the real world, so it's all speculative, but it should help you for a start. I don't really consider them an "insect" in the truest sense, but they definately seem like an arthropod.

[Lisaara]

You guys are making me want one....

[swordoath]

I'm looking to pick one up, but there's not really a color scheme I like. The orange and black one is okay but the texture along the sides seems a little blurry.

[Lisaara]

I'm looking at the Red black one or the green/purple.

[SpiritBinder]

green/purple.

I think I'm probably the most partial to that one too, but then I like the "extra" spikey models that the dark green, red and purple one have...

Hey if ya gonna go spikey, might as well go the whole hog... errr hellboar.

[Lisaara]

green/purple.

I think I'm probably the most partial to that one too, but then I like the "extra" spikey models that the dark green, red and purple one have...

Hey if ya gonna go spikey, might as well go the whole hog... errr hellboar.

This is true! Also I've found the green/purple isnt as 'bright' as the others so its easier to have on the screen. XD

[Zaphoed]

I prefer my Skeeter He is a Green one with the red glowing eyes out in Hellfire Pen.

Just my two cents

[FuzzyDolly]

Warm blooded. I say that becuase one day there might be an albino one somewhere in Northrend in a place with lots of snow.... You're in a blinding snowstorm and a white ravager with dark purple accents comes running out of nowhere. That'd be neough to make me need to go for a bio lol. Anyway I see ravagers as warm blooded with a shark's ferocity and focus, and an Alien or Predator's intellect.

[Cerah]

I see Ravagers as very zerg-like, they look a lot like Hydralisks, only with legs. Maybe by looking up zerg biology you might get some good ideas.

http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/StarCraft_Wiki

Anyway, definately insect-like, but more alien than any current Earth insects. They are fast, active predators, and much larger than any RL insects as well.

[Teigan]

Great ideas, guys! Thanks!

[Saturo]

I see Ravagers as very zerg-like, they look a lot like Hydralisks, only with legs. Maybe by looking up zerg biology you might get some good ideas.

http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/StarCraft_Wiki

Anyway, definately insect-like, but more alien than any current Earth insects. They are fast, active predators, and much larger than any RL insects as well.

Please add a /pet spins around, snapping at enemies while snapping with it's pincers. It then regurgitates creep around itself before burrowing.

[Antares]

I love Ravagers! I believe they are a sort of insect, alien ones. I think of them more like the bugs from Starship Troopers. and they are all about instinct, less intellect.


This are my favourite model. I've had Ravagers solo players in BGs before. I always spec them for +damage and movement.

[Siliverin]

i have a pruple/black on but might change it for a green/purple since it would match my pet colors a bit more xD

[Worba]

Hmmm. I'd vote "planar species spawned initially from inchoate mortal nightmares about bugs and orcs", e.g. an unlikely amalgam of forms common to nervous alliance sleepers that come together from out of the drifting nether of possibility that exists in Outland.

Most telling is the lack of any real digestive area - the parts just kind of twist together in this spindly little knot that doesn't look like it would store let alone process food, and so it exists by grace of magic... and fear.

[Loridon]

For me they are just a ugly head on legs.Bah I never shall want one.

On topic:Ravagers look like a insect but they only have 4legs.
I think they are a underdeveloped alien race.

[Teigan]

and so it exists by grace of magic... and fear.

Quoted for truth.

[swordoath]

Most telling is the lack of any real digestive area - the parts just kind of twist together in this spindly little knot that doesn't look like it would store let alone process food.

Arthropods have little in the way of a dedicated digestive system, so the shape of a ravager's body doesn't really strike me as impossible. For example, take a look at these pictures of a spider, and a crayfish. Both of these creatures have large abdomens, but neither one is designed with any kind of food storage or digestion in mind; the actual digestive tract is very small and underdeveloped, with only basic stomach space and a primitive intestine.

Ravagers have a small abdomen that folds forward under their legs, but a relatively large thorax in comparison to living arthropods. By this token, a ravager likely has proportionally similar internal organs and would not have any more trouble digesting food than any other carnivorous arthropod.