My first character rarely managed to keep more than a gold to her name until after she hit level 60, and I imagine the story is similar for most new players. There are plenty of skills to buy, so many professions to learn about, and always the lure of the auction house attempting to part you from your hard-earned coin. If I only knew then what I know now, mount money at 40 wouldn't have given me such grief -- instead of being frustrated over my lack of funding, I could have been frolicking through Azeroth on a brand new pony. But for new players struggling with money right now, I'm going to offer a few reasonable financial suggestions to help you on the road to your first big purchase.
WoW Rookie: Money-making 101
My first character rarely managed to keep more than a gold to her name until after she hit level 60, and I imagine the story is similar for most new players. There are plenty of skills to buy, so many professions to learn about, and always the lure of the auction house attempting to part you from your hard-earned coin. If I only knew then what I know now, mount money at 40 wouldn't have given me such grief -- instead of being frustrated over my lack of funding, I could have been frolicking through Azeroth on a brand new pony. But for new players struggling with money right now, I'm going to offer a few reasonable financial suggestions to help you on the road to your first big purchase.
Walking into a void
Generally, most starting area content in Burning Crusade has been easier. Early quests in both Eversong Woods and Azuremyst Isle give you bags to help you hold more right off the bat, and in both areas you can go from 0-12 in a matter of a few hours. Most quests are geographically close together, and the content is very well laid out to help you move on to the better stuff quickly.
This Warlock rite of passage is the hardest thing I have seen in the lower-level starting areas for a Blood Elf, and it is incredibly hard, especially if you are soloing it. The aggro, and respawn rate of all the ghosties in the area are cranked up much higher than they should be in my opinion, and I think many players would agree. You literally cannot stop running or 3-5 ghosts will be owning your imp in nothing flat, not to mention you. Try it yourself, roll a Blood Elf Warlock and get it to level ten, and try to get your VW, and you'll see what I mean.
Have you found the content in Burning Crusade to be too hard, starting areas or otherwise? Are there areas and problem spots that continually give you hassle that you Blizzard should maybe address, you know, after they put out the new expansion pack that is? Sure it is easy to complain, and says things aren't right, but in this case, I feel that some sort of tweaking is needed. I can't imagine someone who is just starting to play being able to complete this quest, and I have been playing for a while.
WoW Rookie: An overview of professions
Interested in knowing a bit more about the game's professions? Keep reading! Want to tell us which professions you find the most useful (and why)? Leave us a comment!
WoW Rookie: Choose your class!
I still think that's the best answer (I simply can't know all of your likes or dislikes to simply tell you "Mage" or "Shaman"), but today I'm going to try to give you a more helpful answer by defining the playstyles of each of the nine classes, and making some suggestions on which ones are the most newbie-friendly. So if you're trying to figure out which class might be best for you, read on!
WoW Rookie: All you needed to know about stats, part 4
Continue reading WoW Rookie: All you needed to know about stats, part 4
WoW Rookie: All you needed to know about stats, part 3
However, before you keep reading, it's well worth it to check out part 1 (covering the five main game attributes) and part 2 (covering statistics effecting physical damage). Coming up our next installment we'll talk about defensive statistics (armor, dodge, parry, resilience, etc), so stay tuned!
Continue reading WoW Rookie: All you needed to know about stats, part 3
WoW Rookie: All you needed to know about stats, part 2
In part 2, we're going to be talking about stats that improve physical DPS -- if that sounds interesting to you, read on!
Continue reading WoW Rookie: All you needed to know about stats, part 2
WoW Rookie: All you needed to know about stats, part 1
Curious to see what the five base statistics -- agility, intellect, spirit, stamina, and strength -- actually mean? (Note: there are many more statistics to consider than these base five, like attack power and critical rating, but all of the other statistics are influenced by the main five -- so we'll discuss these today and the rest later this week.) Keep reading to find out all about them!
Continue reading WoW Rookie: All you needed to know about stats, part 1
WoW Rookie: Soulstone and you
- If you are new to the soulstone business, odds are your warlock is too. If you have never played a warlock, you might assume that when a soulstone expires some kind of elaborate fireworks display appears in the warlock's UI, informing them that the group is screwed if they wipe if he doesn't conjure another stone. Without a proper mod, this is not the case. Odds are your new level 21 warlock friend doesn't have the fancy mod. So pay attention to your soulstone, and when you see it expire, or a minute or two before it expires, let your warlock know in party chat or in a /whisper. Your lock will usually appreciate it.
WoW Rookie: Vendor Trash, the Auction House, and You. [Update]
When you are out grinding away at mobs, you will receive loot. Some of the loot is useless, while some it is worth some serious auction house cash. How do you tell the difference? Your first indication on the worth of an item is the color of the text in the name of the item. Gray items tend to be only good for vendor fodder, white items are usually worth a little more to a vendor, and could possibly be quest items that could fetch some money on the AH, and green (good), blue (rare) and purple (epic) items need to be carefully sold to maximize profit.
Continue reading WoW Rookie: Vendor Trash, the Auction House, and You. [Update]
WoW Rookie: Choose Your Realm Wisely
What kind of realm do I want?
In World of Warcraft there are four different kind of realms for you to choose from: PvE, PvP, RP and RPPvP. Confused? You shouldn't be. This is the easiest part of creating your new character. However, the choice you make will greatly effect your game experience. What can you expect on each different realm type? I'm glad you asked...
PvE - Player versus Environment In this type of realm, you are never forced into a player versus player situation. If you choose you can activate your PvP flag, which will enable the opposing faction to attack you, but that is strictly optional. If you are looking to enjoy a leisurely grind and don't want to deal with the "war" in Warcraft, then go ahead and roll on this kind of realm. You may still PvP in battlegrounds, so the PvP aspect of the game is not completely lost, it is just controlled.
WoW Rookie: Speak Like A Human
[Leetganker] whispers: plz, plz plz join our gruop. need healz for wc. plzzzzzzzzzz
OR
[Sindy] whispers: Heya! I was wondering if you felt like hitting WC tonight. We have a group all set, we just need a healer. We could even summon!
If I had a dollar for every time I got a tell very similar to the one Leetganker sent, I would have, um... let's just say I'd have a lot of dollars. How many times did I take Leetganker up on his offer? Never. I would never join a party with someone who talks like that. It gives the impression of being an immature moron, and whether Leetganker is an immature moron or not, I'll never know, as I am not grouping with the guy.
Sindy is much more friendly. She starts with a nice greeting...imagine that! Then she asks politely if I would like to go to Wailing Caverns tonight, lets me know the status of her group and even offers a summons. No typos, decent grammar and she comes off like someone who won't be an idiot once we get into the instance.
WoW Rookie: Roll With Caution
1. Ask about the loot rules. You should ask the party leader about the loot rules ASAP. Yes, most of the time it will be need or greed, but sometimes it isn't, and I guarantee someone else in the group is wondering about the rules as well. It never hurts to ask, and by speaking up you will be 100% sure what to do when the loot roll boxes pop up. Sometimes groups will choose to go with Master Looter on bosses instead of rolling, and this should be established before you enter the instance.
2. BOE Items. Most items that drop off of the trash (non-boss) mobs will be Bind on Equip. What that means is even if you win the roll on that item, you are still free to trade it to others or sell it in the auction house. BOE loot windows are gray in color and will not prompt you after you roll to confirm that you really want to roll on the item. If you happen to win something that someone else in your party claims to need, it is good form to let them have the item. Whatever small amount of gold (or in the lower levels, silver) that you might receive by keeping the item will not be worth the bad reputation you will gain by hoarding loot.
Warcraft Rookie: Earn Your Gold
We have all been there.
There is a level 16 sword on the auction house that would totally make your warrior uber for the next 2 levels. You have to have this sword. One problem...the bidding has gone higher than the gold in your pocket. What to do? You have two options (and we will assume that gold buying is not one of them):
A. Earn the Money. Leave the auction house area and go and try to grind the gold you need before the auction ends. You could sell some items that you normally wouldn't to make up the difference. Heck, if it is that important, sell your bags.
B. Beg. You could go up to random strangers and ask for the gold. Or you could bother some new guildies (you are level 16, all your guildies are new guildies!) for the gold.
If you chose A, you chose wisely. All new players struggle with money, quests , and, on PvP servers, ganking. Such is the life of a level 16 in Azeroth. If you chose B, you chose very, very unwisely. People who beg for money are often mocked in tells, yells and nearly everywhere else. Your rep is taking a hit that could be hard to recover from. Sure, you might give up this character after 20 levels, but you never know!
You don't want the rep of being an annoying beggar following you around. And if you think it won't follow you around and people won't remember, think again. People generally put the beggars on their ignore list, which means they might not remember why they put you on there, but they do know that you annoyed them enough to make them do it. That could be the difference between getting into the raiding guild of your choice or running UBRS for the hundredth time.
Be a good WoW citizen. Don't beg for gold.
New Term For Rookies
UBRS
Ganking
Warcraft Rookie: Get a Wand ASAP
If there is one thing I see over and over again in the sub-20 zones, it is casters beating on a nearly dead mob with their melee weapon. They either ran out of mana or want to conserve their mana supply to eliminate downtime, so they have stopped casting spells and were looking for a mana-free form of DPS.
A mage pounding on a mob with his staff is not the best way to deal damage. What would be better? Get a wand. Wands provide casters with better DPS and will allow you to deal with runners more effectively. Mages, warlocks and priests can equip a wand.
There are three ways to get a wand early on...
1. Take enchanting as a profession. Enchanters can make a low level wand with very little effort, and it will be just fine to get you started until you can afford something better. However, enchanting can be one of the more expensive and confusing professions for a new player, so this might not be the way to go. Finally, if one of your friends is an enchanter, they could hook you up very cheaply.
2. Head to the Auction House. If you are a caster, this should be your first auction house purchase,with the possible exception of bags. The low level wands come very cheap, usually no more than a couple silver. The Auction House method is probably the easiest way to aquire your first wand.
3. Hope for a drop. This is pretty ineffective, but sometimes you will get lucky. If you do, equip it immediately and start leveling up your wand skill.
The moral of the story...get a wand equipped ASAP and use it to finish off mobs or to contribute to DPS in instances when you run low on mana. Good luck on your quest to leave the newbie zone!
New Terms For Rookies:
DPS
Mob
Runner