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WoW Rookie: Training up

Lisa Poisso
Updated ·4 min read

New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the basics of a good start in the World of Warcraft. Visit WoW.com's WoW Rookie Guide for links to all our tips, tricks and how-to's.

Training up your spells and abilities used to be fairly complex -- not the process itself, mind you, but figuring out where to go. Trainers were tucked into obscure nooks and crannies all over the world, a real incentive to go exploring. Several infamous profession trainers were even located inside instances; you had to fight your way in, bags stuffed with all the mats for the next batch of recipes you hoped to train, and skill up like mad so you could buy the next available recipe while your group kept the area clear.

Training is much simpler in today's World of Warcraft, but it's hardly intuitive. We've pulled together a few notes on training for class spells and abilities, professions, riding skill for mounts and weapon skills, to help steer you to the right place at the right time.



Once you've made your way up to the grand old age of level 4, you can anticipate new spells or abilities every two levels until you reach level 60. From 60 onward (The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King content), you'll get new powers every level. Class trainers are normally found in Old World capital cities -- but beware that class-specific idiosyncracies abound. In general, look for your trainer in the capital nearest where your character started life. If you're a rogue or a warlock, look for a cellar, basement or other secretive location. When in doubt, right-click a city guard for directions or right-click the tracking button on your minimap.

Class trainer locations


If you are level 40 or above and have purchased Dual Talent Specialization, be sure to change to and train your second spec before rushing off to test your new powers. The trainer only shows spells or abilities linked to your active spec, so switch off and retrain every time!

Your class trainer can also train you for Dual Talent Specialization and can reset your talent specs so you can choose new talents.

Profession trainers
The profession training system has changed significantly since the game was first created. Today's training locations are much more standardized than they used to be. Certain aspects of some professions (Heavy Frostweave Bandages, for example) still require a drop or quest to complete.

In general, you'll serendipitously run across your first profession trainer in a small town near your starting area. Sometimes, you won't run into a trainer until you make it to the big city. Once you're there, though, you can count on finding an Artisan-level (skill 200-300) primary profession trainer. Artisan trainers are found in every capital city now. Field trainers found in remote areas throughout Azeroth now also train up to Artisan level.

At the Master level (skill 275-375, The Burning Crusade content), you'll need to track down a trainer located in the early Burning Crusade areas (usually Hellfire Peninsula). For players who've not yet chosen a faction in Shattrath City or for those who've chosen the Scryers, Loremaster Skosiris on The Scryer's Tier oversees bookshelves that act as master trainers for every profession and secondary skill. (Incidentally, the loremaster is named after the founder of the wowhead.com WoW database.)

At the Grand Master level (skill 350-450, Wrath of the Lich King content), you'll find trainers in the starting towns of Northrend (Valgarde and Valiance Keep for the Alliance, Vengeance Landing and Warsong Hold for the Horde) as well as Dalaran.

Riding trainers
Discovering where to train your riding skill and buy a mount can seem somewhat mysterious to new players. Stables and trainers are not located in the main cities. Consult a list of riding trainer locations and read up on all the details in our WoW Rookie mounts guide.

Weapon masters
Also somewhat mysterious to new players are the locations of weapons trainers. When you're a brand new player with limited flight paths (even with the addition of new boats and blimps and connections), hopping over to another capital city can be a big project. While the issue of weapon training can sometimes be left to happenstance for casters, melee characters will want to have the skills to use any weapons they may run across as loot. We recommend visiting wowwiki.com's weapon master page to chart out exactly where your character needs to travel.

Visit the WoW Rookie Guide for links to all our tips, tricks and how-to's.WoW Rookie walks you through all sort of new-player concerns, from game lingo for the beginner to joining your first guild as a mid-level player and on to what to do when you finally hit level 80.