New to WoW: A few basic tips
by C.K. Sample, III 
Dec 16th 2005 at 10:15AM
I'm still relatively new to World of Warcraft. I've been playing for about 3 months, but only on and off with a few days here and there of serious questing. The highest ranked character I have is a level 15 Tauren Warrior. In any case, I'm at that intermediate stage where I'm starting to learn a lot of things that the seasoned gamer takes for granted and that the complete newbie has no idea about, so I thought I'd share a few of these basics that I've noticed recently for those of you who are just getting started. These will most likely garner "Well, d'uh" from those of you who have played the game for any amount of time. In any case, here's three random bits:
Yesterday, when I was riding over to Mulgore, someone else on the airship with me kept asking "Where is this going?" I then told him/her to hit M to pull up the Map. n00b: "Oooooh!"
Also, while at the Crossroads when you see the little guy with the big guy as his bodyguard on the road selling weapons, if you think, "Wow, that seems a bit overpriced," that's because it is. Don't buy from him.
You can kill as many Plainstriders as you want, but if they are not in the area that the quest you are on says they need to be when you kill them, then you're not going to make any progress on that quest.
Any other tips that you'd like to share?
Filed under: Tips
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Cort Dec 16th 2005 10:27AM
Before you ask "Where is X for this quest?", be sure to fully read the quest text. The quick hit at the top will tell you your objective, but the full quest text will tell you where to go for the actual quest itself.
Pay attention to your surroundings, especially in cities. I can't count the number of times I've heard "Where is Marcus Jonathan?" in Stormwind... Then the response. "He's that big guy on the horse as you come into SW." Before asking in General for directions to something in a big city, ask a guard. They put the nifty flag on your map, pointing in the right direction.
Pay attention to those little ingame tooltips that pop up when you start the game. Those contain useful information that will save time later on, and prevent you from asking questions that higher levels will get annoyed with you for.
I've got more, I just can't think of 'em.
Dr.Funbags Dec 16th 2005 10:35AM
In your Interface Options check 'Instant Quest Text' - no more waiting for the sloooow quest text before you can Accept it.
Dr.Funbags Dec 16th 2005 10:36AM
When looting a kill hold your shift button and right click the kill, it will "loot all", saves Alot of time. This can be done with skinning/herbalism/mining as well.
PodMonkeys Dec 16th 2005 10:38AM
PST = Please Send Tell
WTS = Want to Sell
WTB = Want to Buy
LFG = Lets Form Group
LF#M = Lets Form, # More, where # = the number of extra people needed. ex: LF2M="Lets Form, 2 More"
OMG!!!!1!wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww = someone trying to run away from a higher level elite while still in chat
Dr.Funbags Dec 16th 2005 10:37AM
Learn your Keyboard shortcuts!
B - bags
C - Character Sheet
L - Quests
M - Map
P - Spellbook
are the ones that come to mind (at work at the moment)
Dr.Funbags Dec 16th 2005 10:40AM
There are 2 chat windows on the left on the default interface - one is Chat Channels, the other is Combat information - you can move those around - a good idea is to pull the combat out and move it to the bottom right part of your screen - this way you can see your damage, when you critical, etc, and still keep your chat window open.
Stimps Dec 16th 2005 11:40AM
When you explore a new area/zone, the map often won't update to show where you are until you stray *off* the road and trigger a "discovered" event. Then it will update to show caves/major buildings, etc...
Jamie Dec 16th 2005 11:15AM
Shift + B opens all your bags at once.
jennie Dec 16th 2005 11:25AM
#4 - it's "Looking For Group" (as in the name of the chat channel) and "Looking for More" (as in, have group, need more).
If a Hordie says "kek" to you, they're "LOL"ing.
Don't forget to use your talent points: the first one is obtained at level 10, and you can press N to bring up the talent window.
A_B Dec 16th 2005 11:27AM
1. Before you pester people about a particular quest, look it up at thottbot.com.
2. If you're talking to someone, don't use the general chat. Whisper directly to them. Nobody thinks you're funny and you're causing relevant text to scroll off the screen for other people. It's awful in Ironforge.
3. I think the add-on Auctioneer is the best thing since sliced bread. It's impossible to manually keep track of the costs of everything or what prices things normally go for in the auction house. Auctioneer does it for you.
4. Go to sleep at some point.
5. Unless you have a lot of experience in battlegrounds, and as much of a temptation as it might be, never go solo unless directed to by your raid leader. You will get your ass handed to you. If you're a DPSer, go with a healer, and vice versa (or whoever is available).
6. Also related to battlegrounds, do what you're told. If you are supposed to play defense for the flag, play defense and stop people. If somebody from the other side attacks and retreats, don't chase them halfway across the map to get the kill. Use your head and evaluate your ability to catch them within a short distance of what you're supposed to be protecting.
7. In my personal opinion, if you're playing with strangers, set looting to need before greed. I find it keeps most people in line and minimizes the chances that somebody is going to get pissed off about who got what. Sure, some people will put down "need" on what they don't actually need, but most people will abide by it.
L'Emmerdeur Dec 16th 2005 11:49AM
Don't spend all your time questing. My first character, a pally, spent around 90% of his time solo questing.
My current main, an undead mage, has spent about 60% of her time in instances, where you tend to kill a lot of elite mobs very quickly. Until around level 40, a couple of hours in a 5-man instance will get you about half a level, and better drops/equipment/money earned. This way, you also learn a lot more a lot faster, because you are constantly interacting with others. Furthermore, identify those who are good players and seem to be nice people, and add them to your friends list. When you are looking for one more to complete a party or raid later, you can contact them.
Even questing is much more efficient and satisfying when done with one or two other people.
Andreas Dec 16th 2005 11:47AM
"let's form group".. hehe. cute :)
cancerox Dec 16th 2005 1:25PM
#4
re: OMG!!!!1!wwwwwwwww...
TOO FUNNY hahahahaha. i'm guilty of this... rofl....
Wordman Dec 16th 2005 12:29PM
Read (and contribute to) the "tactics" pages for any class you play on the WoW Wiki. For example, if playing a shaman, look at ShamanTactics (http://www.wowwiki.com/Shaman_Tactics).
Also, learn what the Perfect Zone of Ultimate Safety is and how to use it (http://www.wowwiki.com/Perfect_Zone_of_Ultimate_Safety).
Wordman Dec 16th 2005 3:53PM
Another point: your rank 1 spells are not necessarily useless once you learn rank 2+. Rank 1 spells usually have nearly insignificant mana costs at high levels and faster cast rates, making them very useful to "spam" (cast over and over repeatedly) in an effort to trigger some larger effect (usually made possible from a talent). For example, mages have a talent that gives them a chance to enter "clearcasting state" each time ANY spell is cast. In this state, the next spell they cast is basically free (i.e. no mana). It sometimes makes sense to spam a cheap fast spell to get into this state as quickly as possible. There are other examples (for warlocks, in particular).
scynn Dec 16th 2005 6:46PM
"Yesterday, when I was riding over to Mulgore, someone else on the airship with me kept asking "Where is this going?" I then told him/her to hit M to pull up the Map. n00b: "Oooooh""
- there is no airship (zepplin) to Mulgore. The Zep stops in Ogrimmar, Undercity and Grom'Gol. Who's the n00b now?
Aenara Dec 16th 2005 5:49PM
You can learn first aid, cooking and fishing! Do them all- no one can bandage you if you don't have the skill, even if you are a healer - sometimes you don't have enough mana.
If someone is really good to work with in a group remember them - hit "o" and add them to your friends list. /w will get you to whisper something and to go into the different channels type / before the channel number. If someone does something nice for you - thank them. I rez'd someone the other day, just because I could and felt bad I couldn't heal them because all my heal spells were too high level to use on such a lowbie, but they ran of and didn't thank me... I got pissed, but then I realized they probably didn't know better - but do say thanks.
if you want to do an action to yourself hold down alt. These are all super newbie things but - I didn't know them.
jennie Dec 16th 2005 6:31PM
As soon as possible, head to the AH and buy your gear and weapons there. It's better and cheaper than vendor stuff, and you're helping another player too. Sell anything that's not grey (i.e. the name of the item isn't displayed in grey text) in the AH if you think there's a market--a lot of white items are used in various recipes and might be a lot more valuable than you think. Grey stuff is "vendor trash", so just sell to a NPC.
C.K. Sample, III Dec 16th 2005 7:58PM
scynn, I think I point out that I'm a relative n00b to the game, so what's your point?