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Our must-have Warlords of Draenor addons
There are some addons that we all know, love, and use -- and have for numerous patches and expansions now. I'm talking about mainstays like Deadly Boss Mods or Recount. But with the new features in Warlords of Draenor (not to mention new addon development), it's worth taking stock of your current addon collection to see if there's something new that might make your gameplay a little easier. This collection of addons is the WoW Insider team's favorites -- and must-haves -- for tackling Warlords of Draenor content. It doesn't list every addon we use, just our personal favorites and the mods we find particularly useful this expansion. Have your own necessary addons? Let us know about them in the comments!
Get started with fishing in Warlords of Draenor
Virtual fishing may not seem like the most exciting thing to do with your in-game time, but it can be a useful profession to have. And in Warlords of Draenor, even if you've never picked up fishing before, you'll find it's been streamlined to make it easier to level. Fishing in Draenor is also the path to the water-walking mount Crimson Water Strider and the unique Land Shark pet (as well as a number of other unique pets and mounts if you decide to trek back through older content). Plus, fishing can help you quickly advance cooking and first aid (with which you can create handy Healing Tonics)... and even make some decent gold on the side by selling fish to everyone who thinks fishing is too time-consuming to bother with. Still, the profession does have its downsides. Because there are three sizes of fish, multiple kinds of fish-specific bait, fish flesh, and plenty of miscellaneous extras you can fish up, fishing can take up a lot of space in your bags -- we wouldn't recommend going on an extended fishing trip without an empty bag to hold everything you fish up. Also, it's definitely not excitement central, which can put a lot of people off. But in our opinion, it's an excellent task to work on while catching up on social networks or watching TV, because you can turn up ambient sounds (i.e. the splash of your fishing lure) and mostly ignore the game -- just clicking to pick up your catch and throw your line out again. And did we mention how useful fishing can be? And the amazing Land Shark? Focus on that! Have you got your heart set on leveling fishing and unlocking the level 3 Fishing Shack to give you access to all of the fishing fun Draenor has to offer? Read on for how to get started, no matter what your skill level is.
WoW guides to help you through the new year
The end of the year is a time in which we all look back and reflect, and in the case of WoW Rookie, that means looking back and reflecting on the guides of the year. While Warlords of Draenor has changed much of the game we've been playing -- like all expansions before it -- we have plenty of getting started that are good resources for players new or returning to WoW. If you're feeling a little rusty on your essentials, here are our favorite guides from 2014. Pet battles. It's no secret: we love pet battling. The collecting, the leveling... it's like a miniature version of WoW inside WoW. Whether you're looking to get started with Warlords-level battling, power-level your pets, or brush up on battle pet basics, we've got you covered. Collecting. There's a lot more to collect in the game than pets! We've got guides to help you grow a potential collection of mounts and titles. If you're looking to collect transmog gear, you'll want to work on soloing classic dungeons. Leveling. If you're leveling a new alt and not just boosting to 90, the leveling grind can be tedious, so you'll want to check out our advice on spicing up your leveling game -- though if you've been gone from the game for a while, you may want to check our guide on how to get back into WoW. And, finally, once you get to level 100, you'll definitely want to check our list of what to do at level 100. Garrisons. As soon as Warlords of Draenor arrived, everyone had questions about garrisons -- and we've got answers. Check out garrisons 101, what you need to know about garrison followers (and garrison follower abilities), how to get resources, which buildings to choose, and where to get level 3 blueprints. Have anything you'd like to see WoW Rookie cover? Drop us a line and you may see it covered in a future WoW Rookie! Just because you don't know everything there is to know about World of Warcraft doesn't mean you can't play your A-game. Visit the WoW Rookie Guide for links to everything you need to get started as a new (or returning) player, with new sections on garrisons and what to do at level 100.
Getting started with pet battles in Warlords of Draenor
Though the basic battle pet system hasn't changed, if you're a pet collector heading into Warlords of Draenor you'll find plenty of new pets to collect, six new tamers to beat, daily battles at your garrison's menagerie, new achievements, and a new pet-centric currency. So where's a potential pet tamer to begin? We'll walk you through all of the pat battling Warlords has to offer. Find and fight Draenor's pet tamers There are six new tamers to battle in Draenor, one for every zone (excepting Tanaan and Ashran). You can fight each tamer once a day in exchange for 4 Pet Charms, which you can use to buy pet-centric gear at your garrison. In addition to fun toys like costumes and pet treats, you can buy bandages, and battle-stones. Amongst that gear, of the most interest to pet levelers will be: Marked Flawless Battle-Stones for 15 charms, Flawless Battle-Training Stones for 3 charms, and Mystery Bags which a random family battle-training stone for 2 charms. Here's who you'll need to fight (and where you'll need to go) for your pet charms: Cymre Brightblade, Gorgrond (51, 71): Strategy Ashlei, Shadowmoon Valley (50, 30): Strategy Vesharr, Spires of Arak (46, 46): Strategy Gargra, Frostfire Ridge (67, 64): Strategy Taralune, Talador (49, 81): Strategy Tarr the Terrible, Nagrand (56, 10): Strategy
What to do after hitting level 100
Congratulations on hitting level 100! But after 10 levels of fairly directed content, what to do next can be a big question mark for many players. So to help you get started, we've built a list of just where you can go from here, whether you're interested in soloing, raiding (though raiders-to-be may also appreciate this guide by our friend Matticus), collecting... or just about anything else. Wondering what to do next? Let's dive in. Pick your level 100 talent After going for ten levels without any new talents or skills to deal with, you might forget that you get a new talent when you hit level 100. (I know that I did.) Be sure to select yours for both talent specs if you tend to switch back and forth.
WoW Rookie guide updated with garrison guides
If you're just jumping into WoW -- or back into WoW -- for Warlords of Draenor, you may be a little lost when it comes to the addition of garrisons to the game. But whether you're trying to figure out what to build or how to best gather resources, we've put together a section of the Rookie Guide that's all about garrisons. And for the players just hitting level 100 and trying to decide what next, we have a section to help out new to 100 players, too. So why wait? Head over to the Rookie Guide and get caught up on what's new in Warlords of Draenor now. Of course, Warlords of Draenor is still brand new and there will be more content on both of these fronts in the weeks to come. If you have burning questions about what to do or where to go in Warlords, send them our way and we'll look into covering it for a future WoW Rookie! Just because you don't know everything there is to know about World of Warcraft doesn't mean you can't play your A-game. Visit the WoW Rookie Guide for links to everything you need to get started as a new (or returning) player, with new sections on garrisons and what to do at level 100.
Warlords of Draenor: Garrison basics
If you're venturing into Draenor for the first time, there's no avoiding the new garrison feature: it's at the heart of all of your adventuring into this new world. But before it can become a hub for questing, professions, and missions (more on that later), you'll have to build it. Fortunately, it's not very hard: as soon as you make your way through Tanaan Jungle, your first task will be establishing a garrison in Shadowmoon Valley (alliance) or Frostfire Ridge (horde). If you want to know more, we're about to cover the basics of Warlords of Draenor's garrison system. Though no story spoilers follow, if you want to head to Draenor without knowing what comes next, you'll probably want to skip this post. Now, onward, to Draenor!
Leveling your battle pets into a formidable pet army
Last time, we covered a ton of details about how pet battles work -- but now it's time to put that knowledge into practice to get your pets leveled. It's tough starting at level 1 and building up a team of pets high enough level to collect the pets you might be interested in, much less pick up achievements like Taming the World (which grants you the Safari Hat that will help you level even more pets) or World Safari (which grants you the Zookeeper title). Getting your pets up to level 25 so you can take on anything the game can throw at you (pet battle-wise, at least) will take time -- but it's a somewhat less daunting task if you combine it with another in-game project. Are you working the loremaster achievement? Thinking of leveling another alt? Because you'll be traveling zone to zone, both of these are a great time to work in some battle pet leveling -- and since you get experience from winning pet battles, they can help with leveling, too. Wherever you are in your leveling journey, we can help you get closer to 25.
Battle pet basics to get you started building your pet collection
Though I started working on an article about how to collect battle pets much in the same vein as collecting titles and mounts... I quickly realized it was going to be a lot more complicated than that. Though you certainly can collect plenty of vanity pets by buying them, farming for drops, and getting achievements, the bulk of pet collecting in WoW needs to be done by capturing wild pets for yourself. So if you want to amass a fine collection of WoW pets, what you need to do is get into pet battling so you can find and capture your own pets. However, it's a daunting prospect if you're starting from level 1 and want to pick up pets from Northrend or Pandaria. We've already walked you through the very basics of starter battling and some tips on advancing through the levels, but today we'll walk you through the battle pet details you'll need to go from 1 to 25 and collect as many pets as you'd like along the way.
What Blizzard needs to keep casuals playing in Warlords
Being called a casual in World of Warcraft is sometimes -- okay, often -- tossed out as an insult, but let's face it: a lot of the gamers fall under the casual banner. They have jobs, they have families, they have kids, and they can't necessarily afford to spend countless hours a week focused on a single game. It's not that casuals want free epics or need to learn to play, it's that MMOs can demand a lot more time than the average adult has available for gaming. No matter how much we love Warcraft, spending time with family and working enough to pay the bills has to come first. (After all, if we can't pay the bills, we can't play in the first place.) This is especially true in World of Warcraft which is approaching its 10-year anniversary. Players who started playing in their early teens are now college graduates working for a living, while players who started playing during college may be starting (or growing) their own families. Demands like that just don't leave a lot of time to game -- and they definitely don't leave time for a game that forces you to sink a lot of hours in before you can start having fun. Even those of us who enjoyed doing 40-man raids back in the vanilla days -- complete with the grinding for repair money, resist gear, potions, flasks, and everything else you were expected to do to be part of a raiding guild -- might have trouble making the time these days. World of Warcraft is more casual-friendly than it used to be, and by necessity: many of the playerbase are more casual than they used to be. But while it's more friendly to casual players, there are still plenty of things the game could do to keep the casuals around from level 90 and beyond -- so let's talk about what Warlords of Draenor needs to keep new and casual players in the game.
Get started collecting mounts in WoW
It's a slow time in World of Warcraft right now, without new raids, dungeons, or anything else. But this is the perfect time to focus your attention on collecting in-game items. This is a time-consuming hobby that doesn't provide the kinds of rewards you might get from running a dungeon or winning a PvP match, but it can be fun -- assuming you've got that "gotta catch 'em all" personality that drives you to collect in the first place. We've talked about collecting in-game titles, and now we're moving on to another collection favorite: mounts. The World of Warcraft is packed with different in-game mounts that can compliment your transmog or just look awesome. Though even the most casual player has probably collected quite a few mounts by the time they've hit level 90, there are always more to pick up. Typically, special mounts require either grinding up to exalted reputation with a particular faction or getting a lucky drop in a dungeon or raid -- but many can be acquired completely solo, so long as you're patient. And best of all, as you collect more mounts, you unlock even more mounts with rewards for achievements when you've collected 50, 100, 150, and 200 mounts. If you're just getting started, expect it to take some time to get all the way to 200, but whether you're looking for quantity or quality, we've got you covered with a bunch of ways to build your mount collection.
Get started collecting titles in WoW
In World of Warcraft's current content lull, you may find yourself wondering what to do once you finally hit level 90. You can, of course, quest, raid, or PvP to your heart's content, but what do you do when you get tired of running the same dungeons and battlegrounds? While you could -- and many do -- wander off to explore other games, a common answer to slow content times in WoW is to pick up collecting. While collecting isn't a primary game element, the game is full of things to collect -- and some of them even have achievements to be earned or special in-game collection interfaces. Sound like an interesting use of your WoW downtime? We're going to start off with some of our favorite time-consuming achievements -- all with cool titles to adorn your character -- that will definitely help you fill up the hours while waiting for Warlords of Draenor. And, of course, you get to customize your character with some awesome titles to boot.
How to go to BlizzCon 2014
Hooray -- BlizzCon 2014 is officially coming to the Anaheim Convention Center on November 7th and 8th. That may seem far off, but if you want to head out to BlizzCon this year you need to start planning now, because tickets are going on sale in May. And if you want to get a ticket, you'll have to act fast because they tend to sell out in minutes. So just how can you get to BlizzCon this year -- and do you even want to? We'll take a look at your options for going to BlizzCon or keeping up at home -- as well as what it's going to cost you.
WoW Rookie guide updated with upcoming content info
There's a lot of new content for World of Warcraft on the horizon, but if you're a new or more casual player it can be dizzying to keep up all of the announcements, blue posts, and data mined info. That's why we've just added a section about new content to our Rookie Guide, so that those of you who don't keep up with the day to day news can still know what's important about the next expansion. So why wait? Head over to the Rookie Guide and get caught up on Warlords of Draenor now. Have new player questions we haven't answered yet? Or maybe you're looking for something you can't find in the rookie guide? Drop us a note and we'll look into covering it for a future WoW Rookie! Just because you're a newbie doesn't mean you can't bring your A-game to World of Warcraft! Visit the WoW Rookie Guide for links to everything you need to get started as a new player, from the seven things every newbie ought to know to how to get started as a healer or as a tank.
What is data mining and why is everyone talking about it?
The recent release of the alpha client for Warlords of Draenor means that there's a lot of talk about data mining that's going around the community. But if you aren't up on your tech jargon, this might not mean much to you -- and Googling the term will send you to a Wikipedia page that tells you data mining aims "to extract information from a data set and transform it into an understandable structure for further use." Even if you are up on your tech jargon, you might not grasp what that means, especially in the context of World of Warcraft. So let's start with a straightforward definition: data mining is the process of digging through WoW's data files and looking for information like maps, graphics, models, or sounds. It's not hacking or exploiting the game, just looking at the game files -- often, but not always, files that are publicly available -- to see what's there. These files can be from the current game client or come from a PTR or beta build, any of which could have new content that players can't access in the game world. Similar to looking up filming photos from a favorite TV show or movie, data mining gives you a sneak peek at game content that hasn't been publicly released, which can range from hints at the next patch to hints to the next expansion. Hungry for information, plenty of players turn to data mining for answers -- but because Blizzard can change, remove, or expand on unreleased content without any warning, anything data mined needs to be taken with a pretty big grain of salt. So should you be paying attention to data mined info? In the end, the choice is up to you -- but we'll give you some background on just what WoW data mining might tell you.
Stats 201: Getting your secondary stats just right
Though we did an article covering the game's basic stats that will guide you through leveling any character, once you hit level 90 you need to start considering your secondary stats. These stats, like hit and expertise, become more important when you stop leveling through content and gear to stop at top-tier content. Unfortunately, figuring out what these stats are, what they do, and what you need isn't exactly self-explanatory -- sometimes even requiring you to consult an addon or website to figure out whether a new piece of gear is really an upgrade. Fortunately, Blizzard is working on simplifying the system with Warlords of Draenor, removing a some secondary stats and the ability to reforge gear -- which will make it a lot easier to tell what gear is an upgrade and start using it immediately. Unfortunately, if you're a new 90 or you've just boosted a new character to 90, you still have to deal with the current system, so we'll lay out just what the secondary stats on your gear mean -- and how to tweak them to your liking with reforging so you're ready to hop into LFR or whatever else you want to do.
How to get started in LFR whether you're a new 90 or a boosted 90
If you've just gotten your first character -- or your second or third -- to level 90, you might be looking to check out the raiding game. Fortunately, the looking for raid (or LFR) tool makes it easier than ever to jump into raid content without a lot of complicated scheduling and planning... but that doesn't mean LFR is easy mode. It's true, LFR has simplified versions of boss fights compared to flex or heroic raids -- but when you're gathering up 25 random players who might not even speak the same language, simplifying things is a must if the group is going to progress. However, despite their relative ease, there's still some work to be done to do your best in LFR -- and in the process make the raiding experience easier on you and your group mates. We'll walk you through the game's LFRs and what you need to do to get there.
Using the Dungeon Finder to level in a flash
If you're exhausted of leveling through the same old zones, it may be time to head to the Dungeon Finder for some of World of Warcraft's speediest leveling. How speedy are we talking about? Last night I spent about an hour with a just level 15 -- the minimum level for dungeons -- priest dungeon running and walked away with five levels and sacks full of loot. Admittedly, I had a stock of rested XP and a few heirlooms, but even without either, you should find dungeon leveling to be pretty zippy -- and a nice change of pace from the daily questing grind. The downside? While you're here, you'll be playing in a group of five -- typically a tank, a healer, and three DPSers -- and you'll need to learn how to play well in a group, which can be a bit different than playing solo. Though dungeons -- especially low level dungeons -- are easier than ever, there are some tips that will help ease your way. So let's take a look at what you need to hit the dungeons so you're ready to take advantage of that sweet, sweet Dungeon Finder XP.
How to solo dungeons for fun and profit (but mostly fun)
Lots of people who hit level 90 are stuck wondering what to do next as the game offers a plethora of choices but no clear must-dos once you've finished the leveling grind. One of our favorite options is soloing old content. If you never had a chance to raid or run dungeons earlier in the game, now you can do many old world raids completely solo. It's a fun way to check out content you've never seen, experience new bits of the game's story, gain reputation (useful for that Beloved title), and pick up pets, mounts, and great transmog gear. Oh, and did we mention money? Even though most of the better loot you'll find in these dungeons is bind on pickup -- meaning you can't toss it on the auction house -- it will sell for gold to vendors. That means if you clear out your inventory so you're prepared to pick up and vendor everything you come across, you can make a pretty decent profit grinding through old dungeons. It's not the most time-efficient way to make gold, but it can be a lot of fun. So if you want to try your hand at some solo content -- whether you're level 90 or not -- keep reading for the tips you need to succeed with soloing.
How to keep leveling when you're just tired of the same old quests
By now, most of us have leveled alts, and probably a lot of them. And while the leveling game was probably fun the first time and even the second, by the third, fourth, fifth and beyond, you're probably painfully bored of doing the same quests again. And again. And again. Sure, there are all sorts of tricks you can use to speed up your leveling, but what do you do when you just can't stand to quest through the same zone again? That's when you turn to alternative leveling methods. These aren't the fastest or the most efficient ways to get to max level, but they do all have the advantage of not being the same old quest grind. So whether you're leveling a character up for the first time or the hundredth, here are our 6 favorite alternative ways to get the XP you need.
