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World of Warcraft Beginner’s Guide 2024

13.05.2024 - 23:43:55
Game Guides , World Of Warcraft , WOW Gameplay Guides

Created - 13.05.2024 Updated - 15.11.2024

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It’s hard to believe that World of Warcraft is turning 20 this November. Millions of players are still logging into the world of Azeroth. Nine expansions have been launched since the game’s release and if you’re new to the game, you’ve got literally hundreds of hours worth of content ahead of you.

A lot of gamers try to avoid WoW because it’s honestly so intimidating to dive into such a large game with an even larger and dedicated fanbase. If you want to try it out, fret not as we’ve got an updated beginner’s guide that will make your first couple of hours in the game much easier.

Realms

To put it simply, realms are servers in WoW. Without realms, all players will be put into a single server and that would make the game very laggy and crowded. When you create a new character, you’ll be randomly placed into a realm but you can change this eventually. Now, there are a few reasons why you’d want to choose your realms carefully.

First off, there are two types of realms: Normal and RP. There are no rules or unique restrictions in Normal realms. RP or role-playing realms are mainly focused on those who want to role-play in WoW. Hence, there are a few restrictions that you need to be wary of but we won’t dig deep into that.

Another reason is that you can only play with your friends if you’re in the same realms. That means if you’re going to party up with someone, you need to be on the same servers as them.

Lastly, some people want to avoid realms that have too many players for fear of getting PK’d or if they simply want to play in peace. It’s completely up to you where you want to play and beginners don’t usually worry about realms up until later on in the game. There are websites that show the current status of realms so you might want to check that out before logging in.

Choosing A Faction

One of the biggest and most important choices you’ll make in your WoW journey is choosing a faction. You can either choose between the Alliance or the Horde. This matters because some races are specific to one of the two factions. While you can change alliances, this service comes much later in the game and it will make you skip out on a ton of content.

Choosing a faction will essentially affect the things. First off, it will affect which races you can play as. There are some races specific for the Alliance, as well as the Horde. Second, it will affect who you can play with as you’ll be basically locked into a certain region alongside other players in the same faction as you. Last, the faction you choose will affect your starting area.

The only exception here is the Pandaren race. If you choose this race, you’ll start in Pandaria and will only make a Faction choice once you reach level 10. The story of both factions all lead to the same path and faction choice matters very little in the end.

The Dracthyr is available for both factions and you can choose as early as the character creation, unlike the Pandaren class. If you really can’t choose, why not create a character from each faction?

Choosing A Race

This is even more important than choosing a faction. While the freedom to build your character is completely up to you, certain races are better for certain classes. What we mean by this is that some races in the game work better when built for a specific class or gameplay. There are also some races that can’t use certain classes. The only exception here is the Dracthyr as they can only play as the Evoker class which is exclusive to them. Below is a chart of the classes you can play as, as well as their recommended classes.

Faction	Race	Classes
Alliance	Human	Warrior, Paladin, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Mage, Warlock, Monk, Death Knight
Alliance	Dwarf	Warrior, Paladin, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Shaman, Mage, Warlock, Monk, Death Knight
Alliance	Night Elf	Warrior, Paladin, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Mage, Monk, Druid, Death Knight, Demon Hunter
Alliance	Gnome	Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Mage, Warlock, Monk, Death Knight
Alliance	Draenei	Warrior, Paladin, Hunter, Priest, Shaman, Mage, Warlock, Monk, Death Knight
Alliance	Worgen	Warrior, Paladin, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Mage, Warlock, Druid, Death Knight
Horde	Orc	Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Shaman, Mage, Warlock, Monk, Death Knight
Horde	Undead	Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Mage, Warlock, Monk, Death Knight
Horde	Tauren	Warrior, Paladin, Hunter, Priest, Shaman, Monk, Druid, Death Knight
Horde	Troll	Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Shaman, Mage, Warlock, Monk, Death Knight
Horde	Blood Elf	Warrior, Paladin, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Mage, Warlock, Monk, Death Knight
Horde	Goblin	Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Shaman, Mage, Warlock, Death Knight
Neutral	Pandaren	Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Shaman, Mage, Monk
Neutral	Dracthyr	Evoker

You can change your race in the game by purchasing one from the premium store. Unfortunately, you can’t change the race of your character for free.

Classes In WoW

Classes are the heart and soul of your character in WoW. There are several classes in WoW and each has its own distinct playstyle. As you progress with that specific class, you’ll be able to unlock Specs or Specializations. Each class in the game grants you access to several Specs each. As there are varying gameplay styles per class, we highly suggest reading through the table below so that you have an idea of how each one feels.

Class	Description	Roles	Weapons
Death Knight	Death Knights or DKs are a class that’s unique to WoW. This is a melee-focused class that uses brute force, necromancy, and magic. You can think of it as the polar opposite of Paladins. Or even a mix of Warriors and Necromancers from other games.	Tank, Melee Physical/Magic Damage Dealer	- One-Handed Axes - One-Handed Maces - One-Handed Swords - Polearms - Two-Handed Axes - Two-Handed Maces - Two-Handed Swords
Demon Hunter	As per the name, Demon Hunters are expert at tracking and taking down demons. Their skillset is focused on dealing damage up close.	Melee Physical Damage Dealer, Tank	- Fist Weapons - One-Handed Axes - One-Handed Swords - Warglaives
Druid	Druids are regarded to be some of the most versatile characters in the game. They can be heavy damage dealers using spells, they can be tanks with their shapeshifting, and they can also be healers because of their support magic.	Ranged Spell-Casting Damage Dealer, Melee Physical Damage Dealer, Tank, Healer	- Daggers - Fist Weapons - One-Handed Maces - Polearms - Staves - Two-Handed Maces
Evoker	This is the latest class to be added to the game and it’s exclusive to the new Dracthyr race. This new class can do a lot of powerful buff spells for their allies, making them perfect for raids.	Ranged Spell-Casting Damage Dealer, Healer, Support	- Daggers - Staves - Fist Weapons - One-Handed Swords - Two-Handed Swords - One-Handed Maces - Two-Handed Maces - One-Handed Axes - Two-Handed Axes
Hunter	Despite what many may think, Hunters can actually use both melee and ranged weapons but their true strength lies in dealing damage from a distance. They can also use combat pets that deal damage and provide buffs to allies.	Ranged Physical Damage Dealer, Melee Physical Damage Dealer	- Bows - Crossbows - Daggers - Fist Weapons - Guns - One-Handed Axes - One-Handed Swords - Polearms - Staves - Two-Handed Axes - Two-Handed Swords
Mage	Mage are the least versatile caster class simply because all of their spells are focused on offense. They’re pretty formidable from a distance but they can be quite vulnerable up close as well.	Ranged Spell-Casting Damage Dealer	- Daggers - One-Handed Swords - Staves - Wands
Monk	This is a melee-focused class that has access to tons of powerful skills for damage. On top of this, they can be a decent support/tank class because of their access to healing abilities and buffs.	Melee Physical Damage Dealer, Tank, Healer	- Fist Weapons - One-Handed Axes - One-Handed Maces - One-Handed Swords - Polearms - Staves
Paladin	Paladins make excellent tanks and support characters because of their access to healing and buff spells. While they can still deal decent damage, they’re best when supporting others.	Melee Physical/Magic Damage Dealer, Tank, Healer	- Shield - One-Handed Axes - One-Handed Maces - One-Handed Swords - Polearms - Two-Handed Axes - Two-Handed Maces - Two-Handed Swords
Priest	Priests are the polar opposite of mages but what’s good is that they have access to damaging spells, aside from their buffs and heals.	Healer, Ranged Spell-Casting Damage Dealer	- Daggers - One-Handed Maces - Staves - Wands
Rogue	Rogues are in the range of spies, thieves, and criminals. They have access to a ton of damaging spells and they’re primarily excellent at dealing heavy damage.	Melee Physical Damage Dealer	- Bows - Crossbows - Daggers - Fist Weapons - Guns - One-Handed Axes - One-Handed Maces - One-Handed Swords
Shaman	This class is one of the most versatile of all the caster classes although it’s still not as versatile as Druids. They’re adept at defensive and offensive spells that can be very deadly in raids at the right hands.	Ranged Spell-Casting Damage Dealer, Melee Physical/Magic Damage Dealer, Healer	- Shield - Daggers - Fist Weapons - One-Handed Axes - One-Handed Maces - Staves - Two-Handed Axes - Two-Handed Maces
Warlock	The Warlocks are best used for their debuffs and spells that deal damage over time. While they’re not good at dealing heavy damage in small instances, they’re still very deadly once you begin to stack up on spells.	Ranged Spell-Casting Damage Dealer	- Daggers - One-Handed Swords - Staves - Wands
Warrior	Warriors are essentially weapon masters in the game. It’s the class that can use the most weapon types and they’re pretty balanced when it comes to ranged and melee combat.	Melee Physical Damage Dealer, Tank	- Shield - Bows - Crossbows - Daggers - Fist Weapons - Guns - One-Handed Maces - One-Handed Swords - Polearms - Staves - Two-Handed Axes - Two-Handed Maces - Two-Handed Swords

Keep in mind that classes are non-negotiable and cannot be changed regardless of what stage you’re in. If you want to try out other classes, it’s best to create multiple characters on your account.

Expansions

There are quite a few expansions in WoW already and you don’t have to buy them all at the start. Each expansion adds a new region, new stories, and even new classes to the game. If you’re a beginner, you might want to at least finish the main campaign of the base game first before you actually buy one of the expansions.

The expansions are rather expensive but they go on sale from time to time as well. You don’t need to buy them in order. What we suggest is finishing the main campaign, and then going through each of the expansions in order of their release date.

What To Do First?

The good news is that the beginner’s journey for every WoW player is streamlined. If you follow the main quests, you should be introduced to most of the main mechanics in the game. We highly suggest following through with the main campaign first. If you want to, you can check out a few rewarding side quests for your character and class.

It’s very important that you don’t rush the beginning hours of the game as you might skip out on some of the core mechanics that you need to learn. Things like Raids, PvP, and other endgame content are just there waiting for you so there’s no need to rush.

Ready For A Long Journey?

Diving into WoW is definitely intimidating at first but if you have friends to play with, it will be much easier to try out what the game has to offer. You have hundreds if not thousands of hours ahead of you right now and it’s best to take in what the game has to offer in every corner.