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How To Choose Your Perfect Character
Aguy
Member Posts: 561
This thread was made to help people pick the best combination of faction/race/class/server. I went through a long process of picking mine, and I'm now happy with my Tauren warrior on Spinebreaker after about 2 months of testing out things. However for some people, it takes much longer, or much shorter. Either way, this guide is supposed to help you pick a good combo.
PICKING YOUR FACTION
The easiest part, considering there are only 2 options: Alliance or Horde. Alliance are composed of the humans, Dwarves, Gnomes, Night Elves, and with the Buring Crusade expansion, Draenei. The Horde is composed of Orcs, Tauren, Trolls, Undead, and with the expansion, Blood Elves.
Alliance are supposedly the good guys in the game. In the past they battled the Horde and had huge wars with them. When playing as alliance, your mindset changes to being a righteous guy in a quest to protect your great kingdom from evil, but a little less dramatic then how I described.
Horde are supposedly the bad guys in the game (but they're not). As you can guess, they had huge wars with the Alliance in the past. When playing as them, your mindset changes to being a great conquerer who can destroy all who oppose you.
Keep this in mind when picking:
- You cannot communicate with the other faction except by emotes.
- If you are on a PvP server, you will not be able to have a horde and alliance character co-exist on it.
- Feel free to try out both sides and see which one you enjoy more.
- Do not be discouraged by idiots. Both sides have plenty of them, and you are guaranteed to meet them at one point or another. Just remember the ignore button.
- If your horde, watch out for the Barrens and its chat, and both sides should be careful of city trade chat.
PICKING YOUR SERVER
This is what really screwed me up. There are a lot of WoW servers out there, and it's not easy to pick one and stick with it. There are so many things to consider when picking one.
POPULATION
First, the population. A realm's (what Blizzard calls their servers) population can be either low, medium, or high. It can fluctuate depending on how many people are playing on that server at that time.
Low pop ones were probably recently released, and have more new players. However, since it is after all, low pop, you may have some trouble finding groups and other people. But, if you do play on these, you most likely NEVER experience a queue to play.
High pop servers are just the opposite. They have probably been around for a longer time, and therefore have more experienced, high level players. Luckily, since they are high pop, it is probably a synch finding groups. The bad thing about these servers though is that certain areas can lag you, and you may have to go through a queue to play.
Medium servers are just stuck in the middle. I would recommend these.
SERVER TYPE
Secondly, you need to pick your server type. The four types are Normal (PvE), PvP, Role-Playing, and RP-PvP.
Normal severs are just regular servers with no special rules.
PvP servers are much different. Each zone inside the game world is either Alliance territory, contest, or Horde territory. In any territory other then your own, you will be automatically flagged for PvP. So if you are flagged, be prepared to go to combat with another faction member at any time. Players may not attack someone who is not flagged. On these servers, you will most likely be "ganked", which is basically a high level player killing a player much lower then them. This will become frustrating, so only play on these servers if you are prepared for an edge.
Role-Playing servers are just what their name portrays: They are for role-playing. A player must act as if they are the character they are playing when speaking. This means no off-topic talk. If you want to really enhance your role-playing, create a story for your character. Also note that if you continually do not role-play on a server, and have off-topic conversations too often, a GM (game master) could send you a warning.
RP-PvP servers are simply servers which combine the rules of Role-Playing and PvP servers.
TIPS
How that you know a bit about servers, you need to pick which type and population you want. Another thing to keep in mind is the timezone a server is in. You can find server timezones on the WoW website. I guarantee there is at least one server out there for you.
Finally, here are some thing to keep in mind when server selecting:
- NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER ask on a server's forum how it is. Most people will simply say "Screw off noob your not wanted here" or "We're full GTFO". The best way to learn about a server is to play on it a bit and see how you like it.
- Servers with the label "Recommended" where the population is supposed to be are usually low pop servers and Blizzard wants to direct new players here. I would highly recommend choosing these because they will gradually grow over time.
- If a server is full or locked, you should stay away from them. That probably means they often have long queues to play and no one likes waiting to play the game they like.
- Check out www.wowwiki.com/Realms_List for server info from the people that play on them.
PICKING YOUR RACE
Picking your race is one of the easier steps. Again, the races are Humans, Dwarves, Gnomes, Night Elves and Draenei for the Alliance, and Orcs, Trolls, Tauren, Undead and Blood Elves for the Horde.
THE ALLIANCE
Humans: Well, uh, they're humans, I hope you know what they look like. They start out in the zone Elwynn Forest and their capital is Stormwind. Racial traits are an ability to see stealthed targets, 10% spirit increase, 10% bonus to gaining reputations, and a 1% increased chance to hit a critical strike with swords and maces. The classes they can be are mages, paladins, priests, warriors, rogues, and warlocks.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/races/humans.html
Dwarves: Aye, laddy! Ye be wantin' to pick a dwarf? Well, they drink lots of beer and they're fat
. But they're fun! They start in Dun Morogh and capital is Ironforge. Racial traits are an ability to become immune to effects, 1% increased chance to hit a critical strike with guns, +10 frost resistance, and can hunt treasure. Can be paladins, priests, hunters, rogues and warriors.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/races/dwarves.html
Gnomes: Ah gnomes, the shortest race of them all. They go great in my garden. They're start zone and capital is the same as the dwarves. Racial traits are ability to escape a stop-moving effect, Increased intelligence by 5%, +10 arcane resistance, and a 15-point sill bonus to engineering. Can be warriors (very intimidating), warlocks, rogues and mages.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/races/gnomes.html
Night Elves: Pretty in purple and tall......yeah. They start in Teldrassil and their capital is Darnassus. Racial traits are when out of combat and not moving can stealth, 1% increased chance to dodge an attack, can move 25% faster when a ghost, and +10 nature resistance. Can be druids, hunters, priests, warriors and rogues.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/races/nightelves.html
Draenei: They have octopuses on their faces, they're blue, and have a Russian accent, woohoo! Start place is Azuremyst Isle and capital is The Exodar. Racial abilities are a 5 point skill increase in Jewelcrafting, can cast a self heal-over-time spell, 1% increased chance to hit for you and all group members nearby and +10 shadow resistance. Can be hunters, mages, paladins, priests, warriors, and shamans. Also, you must have The Burning Crusade expansion installed to play as them.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/races/draenei.html
THE HORDE
Orcs: Mean in green! Start in Durotar and capital is Orgrimmar. Racial abilities are increased attack power ability, 15% resistance to stuns, Pet damage increased by 5%, and a 1% increased chance to hit a critical strike with axes. Can be hunters, rogues, shamans, warriors and warlocks.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/races/orcs.html
Trolls: Ey mon, you be wantin' to roll da troll? They have the same start and city as orcs. Racial abilities are an increased attack speed ability, 10% health regeneration bonus, 5% more damage done to beasts, and 1% increased chance to get a critical hit with throwing weapons and bows. Can be hunters, priests, mages, shamans, rogues, and warriors.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/races/trolls.html
Tauren: The cows of the horde. Their start zone is Mulgore and their capital is Thunder Bluff. Racial abilities are being able to stun surrounding enemies for 2 seconds, 5% increased max health, 15 skill point bonus to herbalism, and +10 nature resistance. Can be druids, warriors, shamans and hunters.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/races/tauren.html
Undead: No bones about it, these guys know how to live! Their start zone is Tirisfal Glades and capital is Undercity. Racial abilities are being able to become immune to fear, sleep and charm, being able to eat bodies for health regeneration, can breath underwater for 300% longer, and +10 shadow resistance. Can be mages, priests, warriors, rogues and warlocks.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/races/undead.html
Blood Elves: Arrogant, mean, stuckup snots who have perfect bodies. Well, that's how they're made out to be anyway. They start in Eversong Woods and the capital is Silvermoon City. Racial Abilities are 10 point increase to enchanting, can steal mana from enemies, can silence all enemies for 2 seconds, and have +5 resistance to all types. Can be mages, hunters, paladins, warlocks, priests, and rogues. Requires the Burning Crusade to play.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/races/bloodelves.html
To be honest though, I wouldn't recommend picking a race depending solely on racial abilites. Pick whichever race you would enjoy, and use the racial abilities as a bonus. This is just a reference.
PICKING YOUR CLASS
Assuming you did all that stuff I listed above, you're finally down to the last leg. There are 9 classes in WoW: Druids, Priests, Warlocks, Warriors, Hunters, Shamans, Paladins, Mages, and Rogues. Some are similar to each other, but they are all extremely diverse and they all have their own abilities, quests, trainers, weapons, and armor.
Druids: Druids are the most hybrid class. They have the ability to heal, tank, and dps, depending upon their spec of course. They have a few great buffs. One thing fun about druids is they can transform into many animal forms, and take on roles of other classes. They're strongest armor is leather and they can wield weapons such as maces and staves. They are only available to tauren and night elves.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/druid/
Priests: Priests are either the pure, super awesomesauce healer, or a dpser. As specced holy, they become the most powerful healer, and as shadow, they become amazing dps (damage dealing). One thing special about them is they can go into shadowform, where they look like a dark spirit and it greatly increases they're ability to do damage. They can only wear cloth, and can wield thngs like wands and staves. Available to humans, dwarves, night elves, draenei, trolls, undead, and blood elves.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/priest/
Warlocks: Warlocks are for those with a dark side they want to show. They are exceptionally good at dps, but are most known for their DOTs (Damage over time spells), which are crucial to raids, and can be an extreme nuisance to the other team in PvP. They are able to summon pets like imps, voidwalkers, and felguards, which can greatly aid them. A bonus to them is they get a free mount at level 40 and 60 for doing a quest chain, and not have to pay 90g. They can wear only cloth, and can wield wands, staves, daggers, and swords. Available to humans, orcs, gnomes, undead, and blood elves.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/warlock/
Warriors: As I'm sure you can guess, warriors are the guys with big huge swords and that stuff. In raids, they are expected to tank, or try to keep damage off of others. In PvP they can be very great as well. They also have access to 3 stances, and certain abilities can only be used in certain stances, which help them adapt to their situation. Also, instead of mana, they have rage, which is earned by dealing and taking damage. They can wear all armor, including plate, and can wield all weapons except wands. They are available to all races except blood elves.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/warrior/
Hunters: Hunters can........hunt. Well, they are probably the greatest dpsers, in the game if played right. Like warlocks, they have access to pets, however, they are more pet-like, and pets are a whole different thing altogether. Hunters are also the only class that uses it's gun/bow in almost every fight. They can wear leather armor at best, but at level 40 they can start wearing mail. They have access to most weapons, including guns, bows, swords, polearms, axes, and more. Available to dwarves, orcs, night elves, bloof elves, draenei, tauren, and trolls.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/hunter/
Shamans: Prior to Burning Crusade, shamans were only available to the horde. They are also hybrids like druids, but more spell based. They are able to heal and dps. As of right now, they are most sought after for raid heals. They are able to drop totems, which do things like provide buffs and hindering the enemies. Like hunters they can wield mail at 40 but are stuck with leather until then. They also have access to shields. Their weapons include maces, staves, daggers, and more things wieldable with talents. Available to draenei, orcs, trolls, and tauren.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/shaman/
Paladins: Paladins are followers of the light, and strong ones at that. They are somewhat like hybrids, being very good healers, and recently becoming great tanks. Like shamans, before Burning Crusade the horde could not be them, and like warlocks, they get a free mount at 40 and 60. Their buffs are also very great, even if they only last 10 minutes. They can wear plate armor, and get access to swords, maces, axes, and polearms. Available to dwarves, humans, draenei, and blood elves.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/paladin/
Mages: Mages are the all out spellcasting guys. If you like casting spells, and lots of them, then mages are for you. They have very great ranged dps, and their AoE (Area of Effect, meaning multi-target) is the undisputed best. They are able to make their own food and water, and are even able to turn enemies into sheep! They of course can only wear cloth armor. They can wield staves and wands obviously, but suprisingly they can wield daggers and swords as well. Available to humans, undead, trolls, gnomes, draenei, and blood elves.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/mage/
Rogues: Rogues are the guys in the shadows that sneak up on you. In my opinion they are one of the funnest classes to play, being able to dish out insane dps, and having cool abilities such as pickpocketing, lockpicking, and stealth! Their highest armor available is leather. Weapons include daggers, swords, guns, fist weapons, and more. They are available to all races except draenei and tauren.
www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/rogue/
As you can see, all classes are extremely different. I don't expect you to be able to just pick one out of those descriptions, it will take some trying out to find the one that best suites you. Try leveling to at least 20 to get as much of a feel for them as you can, possibly even higher.
Well there you have it, that's my guide. I hope I've helped you in choosing how you want to play. Remember, it will take a lot of experimentation to get the best combo, so use this simply as a reference to what is offered. This is not meant for experienced players, it's meant for new ones looking for some quick guidance.
If you have any ideas on what I should add to this guide, or if you see I made a mistake somewhere, please tell me so I can correct it ASAP. Thanks.
Comments
Aren't there already plenty of guides like this? Pretty much all of the above information can be found on the warcraft site. Or Wowwiki. So in order to make your guide worthwhile you need to put in something the other sites don't have.
D&D Home Page - What Class Are You? - Build A Character - D&D Compendium
My guide uses the information and puts it all into a quick reference, so people don't have to go all over searching for information. After all, isn't that what a guide is supposed to do?
I really don't want to sound too negative about this post, as anything that helps new players is a good thing, but you could really sum the whole thing up in one sentance;
"Try a variety of classes and races on many servers until you find the ones that suit you!"
That is pretty much what it comes down to, the rest can be found in the manual and official site.
Some of what you recommend is a very personal point of view as i personally would not recommend new players jumping straight on to a new server as you tend to get an influx of experienced players that will drive up market prices very quickly and make it difficult to buy armor and weapons. I always feel new players are better off starting on a mature server where they can get lots of advice and the markets are generally a little calmer, but again that is just my personal perspective.
It must be Thursday, i never could get the hang of Thursdays.
I'll be honest and say that my initial reaction was similar to what others have said in that you're just rehashing what has already been said in other places, but the more I thought about it, this is exactly what some people need, a quick overview of what to consider and then links to more detailed information if they want to dig a little deeper. You put in enough detail to give someone a good start, didn't try to be too preachy and added links to other sources for additonal information.
I give you a big thumbs up. Nicely done.
As for the personal point of view, that is actually the main view and opinion I've gotten from a lot of WoW players, so I tried my best to include it in here. Sorry if it sounds like it's coming straight from me.
About the servers, well that is currently happening, even before I made this. New players tend to go to recommended tagged realms, and whatever is happening on them now is what has been happening since they were around.
But, thanks for the feedback anyway. Seems like I'm getting a pretty mixed bag review.
Jeese mate you know how to take the mic out of someone's size.
.
The title is mis-leading. I read the title and thought I was going to read a guide that will help me find the perfect character for me. Instead, it just told me what I already know about every class and to try them all out for myself.
A guide with this topic would tell people what each class plays like and what play style they appeal to more.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
I already quit wow a month ago but i used to play a Druid and it took me a forever to get to level 60.i did buy Burning Crudsade but i only played a dranei and blood elf. and it still took me forever to level 62.thats the farthest i ever got to.
Try adding how the characters play... The rest I can just find anywhere
Thank you for taking the time to put this together. Its nice to have it all in one easy to read package.
- -
Thanks for the info... great post for us who dont play WoW yet.
_____________________________
*This thread contains enough compressed stupidity to erase all science as far back as the middle ages.
I have been watching this game for a long time and now i think it is time to buy it i think i would like to become a knight or an elf either wa i think the game is going to be extremely good.
How about
1. Leveling progression Fastest to Slowest (in my experience) taking downtime and not powerlevling/grouping into account
- Warlock
- Hunter
- Shaman
- Druid
- Warrior
- Mage
- Rogue
- Priest
- Paladin (only class I haven't gotten to 70, stuck at mid-40s)
2. Raid Roles
Healer: Priest/Paladin/Druid - 3-4 minimum
DPS: Rogue/Hunter/Mage
Crowd Control: Mage, Hunter, Warlock, Warrior - depending on situation. Highly variable
Tank: Warrior/Druid (Paladin)
Specialty: Shaman/Warlock
Based on specs some of these roles do change, for instance Shaman are capable of stunning DPS using enhancement, however, lacking a reliable method to reduce their aggro they're SOL.
3. PvP Options
Whatever the Flavor of the Month is, Shaman, Rogue, Warrior all do well as straight DPS. Druids and Paladins are especially tough healers. Rogue/Mage for crowd control. Priests/Warlocks for fear bombing.
4. Races
Largely don't significantly matter at raid-fest post 70, however, Dwarf/Octo-squit Priests can shied fear. Undead can break fear. Tauren stomp is always useful.
Don't expect to get into a raid group just becuase you hit level 70. Don't expect everyone will be nice and mature, it's a huge population.
Do expect to be able to get to 70 rapidly, but once you're there figuring out what to do next is always a challenge.
Or something like that.
The racial descriptions are sorely lacking. Undead were turned by the lich king's plague, but the ones that resisted his will were left behind. This is the playable race known as the Forsaken. Those controlled by the lich king are mindless members of the Scourge. The Forsaken despise the scourge because of their ties to the lich king.
Horde was never actually considered evil as a whole faction. They were always more about honor and freedom, where the alliance focused on law and order.
Also, Blood Elves are not supposed to be stuck up little snots, but the community takes them like that.
High Elves were once the embodiment of all that was good and pure in the world. So good were they, that they chases the vile Burning Legion into another dimension to vanquish them.
When the elves returned, they were twisted with a deep-seated evil. So deep was their evil, that they actually imprisoned a demi-god in order to steal holy powers from it. They now call themselves Blood Elves. They are the most mis-played race in WOW, often played by little kids with no bearing on lore. Perhaps Blizzard should have twisted their visages like the other Horde races to deter the little kids, and to reflect the demonic twisting which occurred?
What was once a cool concept has been cranked to annoying levels by the player base.
As for Warlocks... Warlocks are a pet class. They also have the highest endurance of the cloth-wearing classes.
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You should just pick a character and go with it...beacuse character you chose before probavbly won't be the sam after 2 months because of zilion patches.
Exactly who it was intended for
. Thank you.
Keep in mind though that the ignore function only allows you to ignore 20 idiots!
...and unfortunately there are hundreds if not thousands of idiots you will want to ignore!
The ignore list needs an 5000+ upgrade,
but that will never happen since Blizz wouldn't want everyone on each others ignore list...heh
Kemih ~ 13 Red Mage | Currently playing FFXI & LOTRO, awaiting Warhammer Online & Aion...
It is really helful for the newbies
Thanks
i only choose the character from their aspect bascally and my friends faction.
but i will consider your tips .thank you
Very Helpful. - 444knight444
Barrens Chat. lol
helpful insights this will help me further to w0w