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How to say, shout, and generally get your message across in WoW
Newsflash! World of Warcraft is what's called an MMO or massively multiplayer online game. What this means is that you're constantly playing with other people, and a lot of them. And since you're playing with them, you're probably going to want to be able to communicate with them. Though this may seem like basic stuff, WoW has a number of different communication tools and they may not all be evident to the new player. (Please don't ask me how long it took me to figure out how to use chat channels. Because, uh, I don't remember. Let's go with that.) To start, most of the chat commands are typed into the game prefaced with a slash -- though just hitting enter will remember what type of chat command you last used and assume you want to keep speaking in the same way. So what are you waiting for? Let's get talking.
Getting started made easy with our Rookie Guide
With all of the late and end-game content we talk about daily, we have to admit that browsing WoW Insider isn't necessarily a newbie-friendly experience. That doesn't mean we want to leave new players out, but it can be challenging to find new player content mixed in with all the rest. So if you're just getting started with the game -- or you're trying to get a friend into it -- you ought to check out our newly-updated Rookie Guide. Here, we've compiled all of our best content for new players -- from what World of Warcraft is to player etiquette to breaking into PvP to getting started with dungeons and raids. So what are you waiting for? Check out the Rookie Guide and start your adventures in Azeroth!
The very best resources for players coming back to WoW
If you used to play World of Warcraft but you've been away for a while, coming back to the game can be daunting. With as much as WoW changes patch to patch (and expansion to expansion) you may not be joining a completely new game, but it can certainly feel like it. But catching up can be hard, as news and other sites tend to talk about what's happening right now more than what's changed over the last few years. But if you're trying to dip you toe back into WoW, we're here to say: don't be afraid! While there have been a ton of changes, it's easier to get up to speed than it's ever been with better in-game help and quests that help point the way when you need to go do something (like train riding or venture into a new zone). And on top of that, there are some great resources out there that can help you figure out up from down in the world of Azeroth and beyond.
9 newbie tips for running dungeons without looking like a newbie
We were all newbies once -- and some of us who have left the game and come back have found themselves being newbies a second time. And while there's no way to avoid newbiedom entirely, with a bit of foresight, even the newest player can run a dungeon without looking like a newbie. These 9 tips should help you get started on your dungeon running career -- and even if you're well on your way to being a professional, a refresher course never hurt. 1. Know your (instance) role If you've never been in a dungeon before, the idea of group roles may not be intuitive. But when you're working with a group, you'll typically have one person assigned to tank, one person assigned to heal, and the rest of the group dealing damage (DPS). Additionally, some classes have crowd control abilities they'll be called to use in instances -- if you've got one, make sure it's on a hotbar rather than hidden in your spellbook. Whether you're playing with friends or you've jumped into a random group, know what your role is before you go. Need tips on getting started? Here's some advice on getting started as a tank, getting started as a healer, and tips on improving your DPS.
Chain Pulling 101: Five tips to prevent you from pulling like a pillock
Chain pulling is one of those divisive things. It's a really fun way to put some excitement into tanking in content you know very well, to push yourself a bit harder, as well as being fairly key to taking on challenge modes. It's also something which, when done right, can earn you the respect of your peers in the few five-mans we're actually getting in this expansion. It's also, of course, the fastest way to get to that juicy valor reward at the end of the rainbow. However, it's also a very easy way to annoy people, particularly your healer, if it's not done right. So, in order to maintain the sanity of your group-mates, let's get started with WoW Insiders five tips to stop you chain pulling like a bit of a pillock. 1. Check with your healer Communication is the key to not pulling like a prat, and while you may be in full raiding epics, your healer might have snuck over the item level requirement with a bag full of BoAs, while wearing questing greens. Or they might have never healed on this character before, or never healed before, or never been in that dungeon before, or never been in a WoW dungeon before. Random matching means you don't know what your team-mates are capable of, and yes, you can inspect them and make assumptions, or you can ask. But an essay is not really needed. Just say that you're going to go fast, and that if it's too much, they should say so. A whisper is probably the best way to do this.
What reputation is, how to get it, and why you should care
If you've played for any length of time at all, you've noticed reputation being mentioned. Perhaps you've seen a message pop up when you killed a monster or completed a quest saying you'd gained reputation with this faction or that. But do you know what reputation is -- or what it can do for you? To get started, you'll want to click "U" on your keyboard to bring up the reputation panel. The list of names that comes up are factions you've interacted with, alongside your standing with each. Most groups -- or factions -- in the game have their own reputation, which ranges from hated to exalted. At hated, hostile, and unfriendly, members of the faction will be indicated by red text. At hated or hostile level, faction members will attack you on sight, but once you reach unfriendly they'll no longer attack -- though you still can't interact with them. At neutral, members of the faction will be indicated by yellow text meaning you can interact with them freely: talk to them, trade with them, or accept quests from them. At friendly, honored, revered, or exalted level, faction members will be indicated by green text. The trip from hated -- or even friendly -- to exalted is a long one, but almost always worthwhile, because as you gain standing with a faction you also gain rewards.
How, when, and where to get your very own mount
You don't have to have played WoW very long to have seen -- and admired -- your fellow players running around riding tigers, dragons, turtles, flying carpets, and dinosaurs, among other things. And if you're anything like us, your first question is "Where do I get one?!" Or maybe "When can I get one?" The answer to when is starting at level 20, but the answer to where is a bit more complicated, since mounts in WoW can be acquired in may different ways, from drops to vendors to quests. While this won't be a comprehensive guide on how to get every mount in the game, we will help you get started with mounts in World of Warcraft -- and point you towards some that you can pick up some awesome rides, even at lower levels.
WoW Insider readers' speed leveling tips
WoW Insider recently posted a Breakfast Topic asking readers for their speed leveling tips. Of course, leveling at top speed isn't everyone's preference, but WoW Insider readers seemed to have quite some insights into the fastest way to get from level 1 to level 90! We've been through the responses and picked out the most regularly mentioned and most intriguing to create this reader-inspired guide. The Basics 1. Rested Experience. Several readers commented on the importance of rested XP, and I totally agree that it's a huge deal. The bars seem to fly by when they're blue, or perhaps it's more that they seem to go so slowly when they're purple. How do you make the most of rested XP? One suggestion that came up a lot is to level two characters simultaneously. They don't need to be at the same level, necessarily, but the idea behind this is that when one character gets out of the rested XP zone, the next will have built up enough to last you for a while, or at least until the first character has built up some rested XP of their own. Make sure you log out in an inn or city, where the little "zzz" icon appears on your character's frame. Logging out anywhere in the world will grant rested XP, but nowhere near as much as logging in cities.
Everything you need to know about getting started with addons
If you're relatively new to the game or have only been playing casually, you may not have run into the concept of addons, much less used any yourself. However, addons can revolutionize your gameplay experience, making it easy to keep track of how much damage (or healing) you're doing, letting you know when your abilities are off cooldown, map out where you find gathering nodes so you can easily find them again later, or even just change the way things look in the game -- modifying the appearance of your map, buffs, or how your character information displays. While World of Warcraft's default interface is pretty good -- certainly good enough to get the job done -- you might find that addons take some of the tedium out of tedious tasks (like crafting or selling things on the auction house) and make it easier to see information you want (like how much energy you have or when one of your party members has a harmful effect on them that you can dispell). If your curiosity is piqued, we'll show you what addons can (and can't do) as well as walk you through finding and installing addons to boost your playstyle.
How to make gold without breaking (much of) a sweat
Making money in World of Warcraft can be a drag, requiring boring grinding or spending tedious hours watching price fluctuations in the auction house. And, while there's tons of advice out there on how WoW players can make piles of gold, it tends to be more involved than my attention span allows. (Though if your attention span does allow, you should go for it!) This is, after all, a game I am supposedly playing for fun: spending my fun time farming leather turns it into not fun time pretty quickly. However, fortunately for me (and those like me), you can turn a decent profit in WoW without jumping through many hoops -- even at low levels. All it takes is paying attention to the loot you find and following a few general guidelines, and you can make enough gold to buy (almost) anything you want as you level your way to greatness. Sound too good to be true? It's really not. So if you're a new character or rolling on a new server and want to be sure you have the gold to buy anything you might need on the trip to level 90, read on! (If you're already at max level, you may find a few useful tips here, but Gold Capped caters more to end-game players.)
How to get started with transmogrification and be the most stylish newbie on the block
When I first created my gnome monk, I immediately noticed that while the other class options had stylish starting gear, my monk had a sleeveless black shirt, plain black pants, and no shoes. I assumed that, as a monk, my gnome valued simplicity over flash -- but, really, a sleeveless shirt and bare feet in the endless Dun Morogh snow just seemed impractical. Wouldn't she get cold? Did I need to be concerned about frostbite? What if my poor gnome stepped on something sharp? Fortunately, I soon found a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of boots and was able to stop worrying about it. Until level 64 when, questing in Hellfire Peninsula, I received a pair of boots that was a huge upgrade from my old boots, but weren't quite boots. Instead, they were bright green bands that wrapped around the ankle and covered the top of the foot, but left the bottom bare: Hardly practical footware for exploring the demon-infested Outland. It was this that finally drove me to figure out WoW's transmogrification system, which lets you make one piece of gear (armor or weapon) look like another. Though this feature seems primarily designed for high level players who have had the time to collect numerous pieces of gear, you can start transmogrifying at any level. The only downside to starting early is that you'll be tempted to find and buy gear just for its looks -- which can be pricey! But if you're a savvy auction house trader, you can use everyone else's transmogrification obsession to make some cash.
How to get started building your own battle pet arsenal
No, we aren't talking about hunters today: the battle pet system allows all of us to have and fight with pets through a special battle pet interface. And though you're not likely find mention of pet battles before you hit Pandaria, you can start participating in pet battles as early as level 5. And even if you aren't a fan of the "gotta catch 'em all!" game on which the system is modeled, we think pet battles are a fun break from leveling -- and since you're walking right by battle pets to collect and fight as you wander through each zone, why not have your battle pets advancing at the same time you are? The concept behind battle pets is simple; your battle pets fight other battle pets throughout the game in a turn-based format, gaining levels (up to 25) and skills (each pet has 6). Whenever you see another battle pet -- or battle pet trainer -- you can fight to gain experience and, of course, the glory of victory. If that sounds interesting, let's get started on the road to becoming the fiercest pet tamer in Azeroth!
Seven things every newbie needs to know
While plenty of old hats might say the WoW newbie experience is easy mode now, I'd call it streamlined: rolling a new character or leveling an existing one has never been more straightforward. Gone are the days when you had to pull up Wowhead (or download an addon) to figure out every other quest, the days when you kill dozens of monsters for a single quest drop, the days when you had to run through high level zones to collect flight paths. If you don't remember having to run from across the Wetlands to pick up the Menethil Harbor flight path -- dying more than once along the way -- count yourself lucky, because those corpse runs were decidedly un-fun. However, even in this golden age of newbiedom, there are some aspects of the game that just aren't explained very well. So, whether you're brand new to the game or, like me, returning after an absence, here are a few things every newbie needs to know.
Six simple tips for getting started in healing
A little while back, we had six simple tips to getting started in tanking. In the brief introduction to that, I asserted that tanking was among the more stressful and pressured roles in WoW at the moment, just because of the low numbers of tanks compared to others in situations like raids, particularly the Raid Finder. While the same is not true for healers in the raid finder, you're the only one of your kind in 5-man content, where you're likely to start to learn to heal. Healing's a little tricky to get started with, just because there's not much scope to practice out in the world, without other players. I would definitely have a go with all your spells out in the wild, just to see what they do, but it's only going to be when you get into an instance that your skills are actually tested. Starting as you mean to continue One of the things that's going to affect your gameplay and learning experience as a healer is how you're getting started. Leveling a new healer from scratch is a great way to go, as the low level dungeons are pretty well stress free, and you'll get your abilities little by little, so you can learn how each one works and, just as importantly, weaves in with the other spells at your disposal.
Six simple tips for getting started in tanking
Tanking is arguably one of the more stressful roles in WoW, particularly in the raid finder. You can't just waltz in and hit some things or heal some things and everything will turn out rosy, you do actually have to know the fights. Not that healers and DPS don't, it's just that they can generally get along a bit easier if they aren't exactly sure what's going on. The same is, alas, not so true for tanks. The fact that there's only two tanks, and that, even in the heady days of Dragon Soul, they had to be relatively co-ordinated on some, if not all the fights, puts the spotlight firmly on their performance. Some groups are forgiving, some less so. The same applies in smaller dungeons, tanks are expected to lead the pack, to take control. Of course, there are exceptions to this, it's a generalization which is not true 100% of the time. But I don't think it's unreasonable. All this makes it a little harder to get started in tanking. So, WoW Insider has put together some tips for the novice tank. Pulling Pulling is the term given to getting a group of mobs to hit you, instead of that mage over there. For most early dungeons, and several of the later ones too for that matter, the pull is half the battle. As long as you can get those baddies latched on to you, you're doing alright. So how do you do it? Well, that is, of course, highly dependent on your class, but there are a few kinds of pull that I can run you through here.
What advice do you have for a player just returning to WoW?
Hello there. You probably don't know me because I haven't been around these parts for a while. My name is Fox Van Allen. Normally, I'm the one who writes advice in 1,000 word chunks to help make your game-playing experience better. But today, I'm the one who needs a hand. Care to lend one? I have a dirty little secret (that's not much of a secret): I haven't played World of Warcraft in quite some time. My characters -- two shadow priests, an elemental shaman, and a boomkin -- are sitting at level 85. None of them have left Stormwind (or Orgrimmar) since MoP launched. My account is a blank slate. So I'm asking all of you who are enjoying your 104-day head start and all the insight it provides: What should I do first? What are the must-complete quest lines? Should I roll a panda monk and experience the new expansion from the very start, or should I start with the content for my existing level 85 characters? What talents do you love more than any other? And, most importantly: Where all the fun stuffs at? Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
5 reasons expectant parents love playing WoW
So, you're a dedicated gamer who loves playing games. Then you get the fantastic news that you're expecting your own fresh little bundle of proto-gamer joy. Once you get over the heart-wrenching fear that your offspring will grow up to loathe video games and fantasy, you come to the equally heart-pounding realization that your gaming lifestyle is about to change. It's hard to raid when you're breastfeeding, changing diapers, and otherwise providing the love and adoration each child deserves. I'm here to shout that World of Warcraft is still a fantastic game for expectant parents, even if some of the activities won't be so easy once you're actually a parent. I'll cop that right away: Raiding is going to be tough. Competitive PvP is going to be tough. It's hard to balance time commitments, and those time constraints don't wait for the birth. What makes WoW awesome is that those two things (raiding and PvP) are just part of the game. The whole world of Azeroth is there for you. These are the top five reasons WoW excels as a game for expectant parents.
What is Mists of Pandaria?
You can hardly load up a WoW site without getting barraged by panda news. That information seems obvious -- after all, we're all sitting around drooling for the new expansion. But if you're the kind of player who prefers staying spoiler-free, then the substantive news about Mists of Pandaria versus the minutiae can seem overwhelming. So let's kick back on our armchair in the clouds and take a good, high-level look at the new expansion. First things first. Mists of Pandaria is the fourth expansion to World of Warcraft. We've already had The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Cataclysm. This is the (very, very) basic story so far: In The Burning Crusade, the Horde and Alliance went off to Outland to bring down the machinations of a handful of elves and demons. While they were gone, though, the Lich King rose back up and attacked. Once the Lich King was defeated, a big, bad dragon woke up and wrecked shop on Azeroth. In Mists of Pandaria, the Horde and Alliance have dealt with external threats and are now turning their eyes to one another.
Tips and tricks for taking great WoW screenshots
Azeroth is a world made of memories. Whether you're talking about mind-blowing scenery, incredible in-game experiences, or just good times with friends, you'll experience plenty of WoW moments that you'll remember for the rest of your life. Just like in real life, it's helpful to snap a quick picture to supplement your walks down memory lane. Taking screenshots in WoW is fairly simple. Just press the Print Screen button on a PC or Command+Shift+3 on a Mac, and the photo gets dropped in your game files. While that's all there is to actually taking a screenshot, there's a difference between getting a picture and getting an awesome picture. Let's take a few tips and tricks from seasoned photography pros and make our screenshots truly spectacular.
14 alternatives to "clunky" for describing rotations
The inimitable Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street, lead systems designer, recently hit the forums to talk about warrior balance. Along the way, he dropped some of that classic wisdom that spawned my eternal love for Ghostcrawler. He pointed out that you don't need hard numbers to describe how a rotation feels (though you do when talking about DPS competition), but he did say he thought the community would benefit from some adjectives other than "clunky." We completely agree. Describing the feel and sense of a rotation can be a tricky business, and clunky is the go-to adjective for most folks. There are other words we can use, though, that help provide a more refined sense of what you intend. We're here to help, so here's our list of alternatives to "clunky." Inelegant The rotation is serviceable but lacks poetry. It's like you can feel the rotation trying to be rhythmic, but it's constantly interrupted without meaning. A big proc counts as meaning, for the record. Twisted Because the flow of the rotation is interrupted to go backwards, it feels like your fingers get twisted up trying to achieve optimum. Think two steps forward, one step back ... now three steps forward, two steps back. Cumbersome So many button pushes are required in a short period of time (what's up, cat druids?) that it feels like you're so focused on your rotation that you can't see the game.
