WoW Rookie: The fresh 80's guide to getting started in five-mans
by Lisa Poisso 
Jan 6th 2010 at 6:00PM
Level 80: You're reached the beginning of the end. It's never been easier to take your character to epic levels of gear and adventure. Whether you're five-manning for its own sake or gearing up along the path to raiding, we've got the tips to help you make the most of your level 80 group experience. If you're so new to level 80 (or still working your way there) that you're not sure what to tackle and where to turn first, read Level 80: Now what?. Once you've got a handle on the available options, it's time to tackle the wide world of Wrath's five-man instances.
Group like a team player
- Get group experience on the way up. Before the advent of the Dungeon Finder, it could be difficult to find a group to run pre-level 80 instances with level-appropriate players. Now? There's no excuse for reaching level 80 without grouping experience. Get in there!
- Mind your basics. Experienced, highly geared (and overgeared) players may set a rapid-fire pace (and a sloppy example), but a new 80 can't afford to cut corners (yet). Know your role and stick to it. Don't be guilty of the most classic n00b moves.
- Let the tank set the pace. Don't advance ahead of the tank, don't pull additional mobs and don't try to "help" by off-tanking.
- Protect your healer. Don't assume that an impressively geared healer can deal with aggro from loose mobs; help out.
- Know your class. Read the class columns here at WoW.com. Search out the leading class-specific blogs. Take a whiff of the hardcore stuff at Elitist Jerks. It's time to be responsible for knowing all the ins and outs of what your character can do.
- Know the instance -- or ask. True rookies are in the minority at this point in WoW. If you're unfamiliar with a particular instance, throw up a flag and tell your group. Let them know you'd appreciate a heads up on any need-to-know details and tricky spots. Try looking up bosses on wowwiki.com, read through the comments tab of boss entries at wowhead.com, or Google for strat videos on YouTube.
- Be a savvy PUGger. Know what to expect from a PUG and what your PUG should expect of you.
- Be open to advice. Some players have all the tact of a Ferengi intent on enumerating the Rules of Acquisition -- but even so, sometimes they're right. Accept new ideas with good grace, regardless of the manner in which they're offered.
- Don't get demoralized by gear- and DPS-related group kicks. Unfortunately, some groups may unceremoniously boot you from instances based on your relatively lower gear or output (even if you're up to the task at hand). It's frustrating, since you can't magically improve your numbers without gear from those very same instances. Still, don't waste emotional energy on a boot. Hop back into the queue and have at it again.
- Queue up. Here's how. We have plenty of tips and tricks to help you navigate the system.
- Start at the beginning. Run normal, non-Heroic level 80 dungeons to build a foundation of level 80 gear. Don't forget to pick up the dungeon quests; look up each instance on wowhead.com to make sure you have all the associated quests.
- Hold off on Heroics. Don't queue up for Heroics in the Dungeon Finder until you're wearing more level 80 gear than not. The Dungeon Finder won't unlock Heroics as an option before you have enough gear to support a minimally effective effort, anyway.
Gear up outside of instances, too
- Take advantage of faction gear. Figure out which factions (Ebon Blade, Kirin Tor, Argent Crusade, Wyrmrest Accord, Sons of Hodir, Argent Tournament) offer the best gear and enhancements for you, and start working on those factions as early as possible. (Dalaran's daily cooking quest, for instance, can put you in good standing with the Kirin Tor before you even hit 80.)
- Rummage through the Auction House. An elite raider's sellables may be a fresh 80's gold mine.
- Research player-crafted gear. You can craft a number of your own level 80 starter pieces. High-level raiders can make you even more highly desirable items. (Before hiring a crafter, make sure the piece you want is BoE, not BoP.)
- Flex your purchasing power. In today's mature economy, don't feel obligated to harvest every last material and component yourself. Make your money however you do it best (questing, running instances, gathering, crafting), then buy what you need.
- Use the LookingForGroup channel. Keep your eye on the LFG channel to form groups for group quests, farming groups (groups that repeat certain instances over and over), pickup raids and other opportunities.
- PvP a little. While PvP gear isn't ideal for PvE content, gear from Battlegrounds and Wintergrasp can go a long way toward shoring up weak slots (and if you get in there before you hit level 80, you'll be earning experience, too).
- PUG a few raids. Vault of Archavon and Naxxramas runs are likely spots to fill in a slot here or there (and ease you into raiding, too).
- Consider GDKP runs. If you have plenty of cash to spare, a GDKP raid can make a big dent in your gear deficit.
- Head for the newer content. Regular Trial of the Champion and Icecrown five-mans drop gear that's significantly better than gear from the original Wrath five-mans. Run these repeatedly until the Heroic versions open up for you in the Dungeon Finder.
- Gem, glyph and enchant. Don't waste money on blue or purple enhancements for gear you hope to replace soon -- but don't play with empty gem slots and unenchanted pieces.
- Use consumables. Potions, stat food, whatever you make or can afford to buy ... Performance-enhancing consumables help you make a greater contribution.
- Start saving up (and spending) emblems. Use Emblems of Triumph from level 80 Heroic five-mans and Wrath raids to purchase Tier 9-equivalent gear. (You'll also start acquiring a few Emblems of Frost from your first Heroic of the day run via the random Dungeon Finder. You'll get to spend these later down the line.)
[Thanks, Shawn and Sarabande!]
Visit the WoW Rookie Guide for links to all our tips, tricks and how-to's. WoW Rookie walks you through all sort of new-player concerns, from game lingo for the beginner to joining your first guild as a mid-level player and on to what to do when you finally hit level 80.Filed under: Tips, How-tos, Instances, Features, WoW Rookie
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Rorymitch Jan 6th 2010 6:08PM
I just dinged a prot Pally yesterday this morning, I already have the tier 9 Chest! BAck in BC I only just got full epics b4 WOTLK came out, Easy gear now!
Maybe Too easy?
Scard Jan 6th 2010 7:31PM
While there are some people out there who will automatically vote-to-kick you just for saying so, I am much happier with someone being up front about being new to heroics provided some minimal effort has been put in place before queuing up for a heroic.
Again minimal effort depends on the person you ask. For me it means having about every ilvl 200 craftable epic designed for your class made before you jump in. They're easy and cheap to make and will make a HUGE difference. Gem everything. It doesn't need to be epic-level gems, but please at least put something in there that's appropriate. Enchant everything you can. Again, they don't need to be the best, but there's really no reason you can't put at least the most basic enchants and inexpensive enchants on your gear.
But never forget the ultimate no no for someone new to heroics. Never queue up as a healer or tank if you're not ready to do so.
Mority Jan 6th 2010 8:42PM
Im a ToTc 25 geared tank so I hit heroics more for fun a slaughter than anything else... I do get a kick out of seeing my dps above a mages in a 5man though.
It's fun taking lesser geared people through dungeons.
If someone ever tried to vote to kick a fresh 80 from one of my 5mans I would decline... as long as my healer is good the dps dont matter... stuff will die, it's just gonna take a little longer.
Mike Jan 6th 2010 6:10PM
Cant wait, 39 levels to go for me! Awesome article and great tips ^^
RetadinMan Jan 6th 2010 6:17PM
7 For me now, and I too liked the article. Well written, ma'am!
Sulcus Jan 6th 2010 6:21PM
I would say to that if you are going for Glory of the Hero make sure you call out/link achievements you want a group to go for. Lots of times if its not a hassle people love to help and it's a good way to solidify a group. Plus when its all done you get an awesome Red Drake!
Also:
1. Always roll need on stuff you know is an upgrade for you. I have seen people in greens d/e roll and then say "I am saving up for something" ugh!
2. Don't need on frozen orbs unless you ask too before they are looted.
3. Preface at the start of an instance if you don't know the mechanics. You don't want to get locked and dropped cause you run and hug Arthas at the end of HoR
4. Observe who you are playing with. If you are the 5th and 4 others in the group are from the same guild (or same server even) you may not want to try and rag on someone else's playstyle or dps.
5. If you did something wrong acknowledge it. Not saying you have to grovel but let the group know you are learning.
6. If a group of overgeard pug's are griefing you the whole time, quit! Screw it, life is too short. Try to find other new 80's on your server to random with. Teleporting in/out of the instance and badge bonus' are a dream do do a daily while the debuff is on.
Bossy Jan 6th 2010 6:21PM
Awesome article and it made my day.
I had the following problem: I had great great fun leveling my rogue very slowly and I did it for PvP.
For 3 months he is 79 now and I even sut down experience in the quest, because I had so mucg fun with him and I didn't want him to ding 80, just because I ddn't like to "gear up" in PVE again (I do this with my main).
Certainly the tournament daily quests were responsible for this negative feeling. The reason is simple: I only invested in PvP gear (bought the lvl 78 pvp set of the AH) and I lack hit ratings.
This artcile made me think: ... perhaps I can now join the middle 70 dungeons to gear up with grouping fun and slowly get up to blue PVE gear tx to the dungeon system. From then on I can ding 80 without much of a problem. ... and still get my fun with the PvP even i badge run gear...
It shows again this new LFG tool is fabulous. If it weren't for the tool I would have parked my rogue until Cata.
Great read and ty Lisa !
Raioul of Shadow Council Jan 6th 2010 6:28PM
>>Let the tank set the pace. Don't advance ahead of the tank, don't pull additional mobs and don't try to "help" by off-tanking.
I thought the healer sets the pace, or should from what I read.
relmatos Jan 6th 2010 6:53PM
Tanks set the pace for how many mobs to pull. They have, however, to be aware of how much the entire group can handle. That means not pulling more than the healer can heal before the dps can destroy and watching the healers mana.
KayQue Jan 6th 2010 7:00PM
The tank should be doing the pulls and this means they set the pace. Of course, the tank should be aware of the healer's mana and pause if they are low, and if they don't then they are acting noobish. The main thing is that the dps should *never* try to set the pace themselves.
Umehte Jan 7th 2010 8:53AM
I wish the healer set the pace. Being a healer, 99% of the random heroics I run include a tank who absolutely refuses to watch or care about the healer's mana. Just downed a boss? Healer tapped out? Ok lets pull the next wave, sure! I am not exaggerating this. Please, tanks out there, wait the 30 secs or less for the healer to get mana, and maybe, perhaps, even get in the same room as you? I have had more wipes than I can remember watching the tank gleefully run into a room or around a corner after I shouted MANA PLS!!! Even if I can catch up, everyone dies due to LOS. 30 seconds versus a 5 minute wipe. Because of this crappy tank mentality I am forced to drink after EVERY pull, because I have no idea when I may get a chance again...
Ken Jan 6th 2010 6:36PM
It was briefly touched on, but I want to reiterate that you really need to be prepared to take an emotional beating. A fresh 80 in the Dungeon Finder isn't fun. At all. After eight 80s it made me question whether or not I wanted to keep playing. The first time I got verbally abused because of my gear, I figured it was a one off thing. Then it happened again. And again. And again. And... well you get the idea. The worst was getting booted from a CoS run becuase 2.3k dps wasn't good enough (btw, this was just a few hours after I hit 80, I think that's good enough, thank you very much). It wasn't until I got over about 3.5k gearscore (ilvl lookup should be restricted from addons in cross realm dungeons) that people stopped griefing me. Its been a completely miserable experience.
On the other hand, I level this same toon completely through the dungeon finder starting at 15, all the way to 80. Sure, I had some back groups, but it was still a lot of fun. Never once had someone say something negative about my gear.
artifex Jan 7th 2010 3:02AM
Don't forget that you don't *have* to use the Finder. You can LFG the old fashioned way, and let your guildies or others help you the first few times. Don't forget also that you could try a few normals before heroics, to make sure your timing is down for that class and role, etc.
Whyisretgimped Jan 6th 2010 6:37PM
Why would an article like this completely leave out anything about getting level 80 gear before you hit 80? The absolute number one thing a new 80 has to do, is have the best gear possible at 80. Having good gear can compensate for a lot (not all) of the problems a new 80 is going to run into.
Most new 80's are going to arrive in end game dungeons in greens and low level blues and be an absolute nightmare. Given how ridiculously easy it is to have full level 80 epics, before you ever hit 80, an article like this should really have some kind of directions for getting this done.
If you're one of those people who's got their first character between 70 and 80, get level 80 epics any way you can. The easiest way being by running Wintergrasp for marks/honor and Battlegrounds for honor.
If you hit 80 in greens and blues, expect to have a miserable time in 5 mans and raids...
Dragundam Jan 6th 2010 9:42PM
And here I thought all the blues and purples that are in those dungeons were for people to *put on*. Silly me.
Whyisretgimped Jan 6th 2010 9:51PM
Blues in heroics are worthless. If you have a fresh 80 who needs them, they won't wear them long enough for them to matter.
You can easily have a fresh 80 who doesn't even need them.
If your gear is so bad that you need the blues and purples that drop in the normal heroics, you are probably making the other people around suffer woefully under your lack of performance.
So no, they're not really meant to be put on any more. I would guess that 95% of them are vendored or DE'd at this point.
Terrant Jan 6th 2010 11:04PM
You're right: I can't wait to see how all my resilience improves my DPS!
Whyisretgimped Jan 7th 2010 6:03AM
Again, sheer ignorance, but it's to be expected from your average WoW player these days.
You will be doing a lot more DPS in epic PvP gear, than you will in sub 200 level blues and greens.
This is especially true if you take the time to get Wintergrasp gear on your way up to 80. It has a lot of hit rating on it which is a key stat for a new 80. Would have been nice if the article mentioned that as well, but it didn't.
Terrant Jan 7th 2010 7:16AM
I'll be the first to say I just said what I said 'cause I thought it was funny, without regard for its objective accuracy. However, your premise - that low DPS makes "the other people around suffer woefully" - is Bible truth to you, but not everyone. I see how you think the mantra of Prepare, Prepare, Prepare is helping people because they won't get kicked from PuGs, but no one needs a set of purples to bump Cyanigosa or Ingvar the Plunderer. Especially if a new 80 is using the dungeon finder to find groups for specific Heroics instead of random ones, I see no problem in getting gear upgrades that way - by doing PvE content they like instead of grinding out PvP/dailies they may not.
Valt Jan 7th 2010 9:30AM
"Most new 80's are going to arrive in end game dungeons in greens and low level blues and be an absolute nightmare. Given how ridiculously easy it is to have full level 80 epics, before you ever hit 80, an article like this should really have some kind of directions for getting this done."
Clueless much?
I recently dinged my 4th alt to 80.
-Heres what I had:
74-76 "BiS" blues before 78 dungeon blues or heroics stat weight wise not ilvl wise, blue neck from UK quests (because there isnt better until 78 normal dungeons or even heroic stat balance wise), ilvl 219 weapon, ilvl 219 gun, 219 wrists from 2 new dungeons normal, ilvl 200 crafted cloack, heirloom chest and shoulders (ugh..).
-Heres what I get:
"You must acquire better gear" on EVERY SINGLE heroic, yes even nexus and UK. And I wasnt able to queue up for random heroics. Fair enough, I farmed some blues from normal dungeons like UP, Oculus etc to get in heroics. And even then I grouped with guildies most of the time.
So basically people going "omg people in FULL greens and blues from lvl 74 are infesting my heroiczzz" are full of bullshit and overexaggerate about the amount of "full blues and greens"(note the word full) people are in, end of story. If blizzard made gear requirement for normal heroics then its fucking enough for heroics, stop whining about gear then.
No worries, my 4th alt wont come ruin your very gear dependent jousting fun with lots of epics but 74 boots and 2 blue trinkets from heroics (wich makes me be in full blues apparently)