WoW: Tips For Beginners

World of Warcraft is turning 20 this October. Despite being that old already, the game still has a solid fanbase and you’ll have a lot of players to interact with. Being new to the game is quite daunting as there are so many things to dive into. For that purpose, we’ve come up with a few important tips that will make the game much better to ease into during the first few hours.

Plan Your Character Ahead

One of the most important aspects of WoW is building your character. There are multiple races in the game but some of them are locked behind certain expansions. Aside from that, you’ll need to pick a class which each has access to a set number of Specs or Specializations. There’s a lot to do in terms of character building in the game and you could be overwhelmed with the depth of it all.

We highly suggest reading through online to check out what the classes are and how they’re played. This will help you speed up the process of building your character but honestly, it’s still real to try out every class at least once. Each class feels different when it comes to playstyle and what you can do.

You need to keep in mind that certain races are specific to certain classes and there are some classes that work well with certain races. Plan your character ahead of actually building it so that you have a better idea of what to expect from the game as you move forward. When you really can’t decide, just try all of them!

Use Premade Builds

Building your own character in WoW is an exciting feat but considering how deep the RPG mechanics are in the game, you’ll definitely have a hard time finding the perfect powerful mix of abilities on your first run. If you’re struggling to find that perfect build, there’s no shame in using premade builds that you can find on guides online.

Using these tried and tested builds is always a good thing as you’ll be able to progress through the game more efficiently. You won’t be hard stuck in any areas as your skills are properly distributed and made to work even at the early levels. Even the most seasoned veterans in the game open up guides from time to time too.

Once you have a better understanding of how the class system and Specs work in the game, you can start to work on building your own character on your account. You can always reallocate your skill points at some point in your journey so don’t be afraid to mix and match the abilities as you see fit.

Some people create builds with the sole purpose of doing PvP while there are those that create builds that cater to Raids. It’s recommended to create builds that are perfect for all sorts of activities in the game though. 

Keep In Touch With The Community

With millions of players logging in on a monthly basis, it shouldn’t be surprising to see that there are lots of WoW-based communities on Reddit, official forums, Facebook, and other social media platforms. You might want to try and reach out to members of the community to ask for help in the game.

They can give you tips, and insights on the game, and they can even help you out directly. Sometimes, it’s best to talk with members of the community as they can give out tips and tricks that you won’t find anywhere else. If you’re lucky, you might even find some players who can part some items and gear with you.

Join A Guild

On the topic of interacting with the community, it’s a smart idea to join a guild as well. Guilds give you the benefit of having people that you can easily contact to join you on quests or Raids. There are a lot of beginner-friendly guilds in WoW but we highly suggest going for ones that have around 6-12 members first.

Joining smaller guilds puts less pressure on you and your performance. It’s likely that these guilds are out there to help out new players as well. Once you start to get a hang of the game, you can move forward to larger guilds but don’t forget to say goodbye to your new friends of course.

There are some guilds that focus on doing specific things in the game such as Raids or the main quest. Make sure that you’re clear on what a certain guild’s focus is before joining so that you know whether or not you can contribute to them. Some guilds also set some restrictions on who can join such as level or class.

As always, don’t be afraid to set some boundaries between you and other players. If you aren’t comfortable with a certain guild, don’t hesitate to leave. Be very careful with who you interact with in the game as there are still others that might want to cause you trouble even online.

Try Out The Game First

While WoW is considered one of the best MMORPGs out there, it’s still not everybody’s cup of tea. The last thing you’d want to do is to buy a game that you don’t actually end up liking. The good news is that you don’t need to spend money to try out WoW as a few hours of the game is actually free.

Blizzard has made a unique system for the free trial of WoW wherein you can play for free up to level 20. You can test out several classes, as well as check out what the game really has to offer. Keep in mind that you’re just accessing the game’s very basic features and content and that there’s more in store for you once you dig deeper into the world of Azeroth. As such, don’t settle on a decision to buy the game yet until you do more research about it.

If you have friends who’ve been spending hours on the game, you might as well talk to them and ask for some tips on whether or not you should buy it. WoW can be played casually or if you want, you can go hardcore on it and spend hours as well. At the end of the day, WoW offers something for everyone so it’s best to fully understand whether the game is for you.

Picking A Starting Campaign

The game has 9 expansions already. If you’re really investing in jumping into WoW for the first time, the obvious choice would be to go for the base version first. However, this version of the game is less refined and features a few of the quality of life enhancements that made WoW the MMORPG standard that it is today.

According to the community, one of the best campaigns to start with is the Battle For Azeroth. It has many quality of life enhancements including adjustments to the leveling system. The entire campaign has also been specifically designed to cater to newcomers so it’s a good start on its own. While the older campaigns haven’t been upgraded to cater to modern audiences, they’re still worth playing for the story content alone.

That said, players don’t recommend playing WoW Classic first as the currently available content in the game isn’t up to par with the quality of what’s in retail now.

Raids And Dungeons

Raids and dungeons hold up a chunk of the activities that you’ll do in WoW. For new players, this might just be the last thing on your mind and you want to focus on beating the campaign first. However, there are some raids and dungeons that you can do particularly early in the game too. Aside from being rewarding and fun, these activities are also considered as one of the best in the game.

While doing Raids and Dungeons, you’ll eventually figure out that it isn’t about how capable you are on your own. Raids, in particular, are best done with a group of players that are communicating with each other. Boss fights in Raids in particular are very difficult and will require a good plan of attack for all players.

If you want to test out Raids on your own first, it’s possible. The general consensus here is that you can solo raids if you are at least 20 levels higher than the Raid’s level. For instance, if a Raid is level 40, then you can start doing it once you’re level 60. This would make the fights easier but of course, the rewards for doing these lower-leveled Raids isn’t going to be as great.

Try Out PvP

The PvP aspect of WoW can be intimidating for new players but don’t be mistaken, it’s not content that you need to do only until your endgame journey. This is one of the most rewarding activities in WoW and it’s very important that you try your hand at it for some awesome and powerful gear.

You can exchange the honor you gain from PvP for what’s called as Marks of Honor. These can then be used to buy gear from PvP seasons of the past. Most of the gear are aesthetics though and if you really want to explore the world in style, PvP is the way to go. A lot of players invest their time in PvP.

What’s great about WoW’s PvP system is that it evens out the power level between you and other players. It’s really a game of skill and your understanding of the combat system. If you want to master WoW at its hardest, doing it against other players is arguably one of the best ways to go.

Another great thing about PvP in WoW is that you literally have nothing to lose. Use this opportunity to learn the game while getting great gear at no expense.

Master The Looting System

Like in other MMORPGs, looting is an important part of WoW. It’s the core gameplay mechanic that can determine who powerful you can be. If you’re lucky, you can always get loot that’s perfect for your current build. As is the standard in many MMORPGs, don’t hoard your items in WoW. There is plenty of loot to get in the game and it’s a bad idea to horde. Sell any items that you don’t need immediately so that they don’t take up space in your inventory as well.

You should also turn on auto-looting from the settings in WoW. This prevents you from having to constantly click on the loot that you find. As you progress through the game, you’ll find that some raids, chests, and enemies have tons of loot to get so it can be tiring to click on those constantly.

When looting, you have a “need” and “greed” option. As a common courtesy to other players, many click on greed for a chance to get the raid or dungeon’s special drop. It’s an unwritten rule in the community that you should only click “need” unless you really need the item. The loot system is at the center of character building next to the class and race in WoW. Once you get the hang of managing and prioritizing better loot, you’ll have an easier time in the game. 

A Long Journey Awaits

If you’ve liked what you see in WoW during its first couple of hours, then you’re definitely going to enjoy the game as you dive deeper into it. The game is understandably overwhelming at first but with this guide, you can shake off most of the things that make the opening hours challenging.