Posts with tag how-to-play-wow

Get back into the game with Blizzard's returning player guide

by Sarah Pine Mar 7th 2013 at 8:00PM

Are you a former WoW player considering a return to the game, but just don't know where to start with all the new systems since Cataclysm? Or are you a current player looking to help some newly-reinstated WoW friends get the most out of their play time? Nethaera's got you covered, with this detailed and thorough guide for returning players. It doesn't just go over changes in game mechanics, but even reminds players merge their battle.net account if it's been years since their last log-in.

The guide mentions pretty much all of the significant changes that have occurred in the last two or three years -- from the talent system overhaul to the addition of battle pets and transmogrification. The guide also serves as a nice one-stop-shop for links to other, more detailed, guides, walkthroughs, and FAQs, so it's a nice hub from an organizational perspective, too, even if you don't need all the guides.

If you are indeed taking the plunge again after an extended absence, welcome back, and along with Nethaera's guide, you may want to check out some of WoW Insider's as well!

Filed under: News items

WoW Insider readers' speed leveling tips

by Olivia Grace Feb 21st 2013 at 8:00PM

Breakfast Topic What are your speed leveling secrets

WoW Insider recently posted a Breakfast Topic asking readers for their speed leveling tips. Of course, leveling at top speed isn't everyone's preference, but WoW Insider readers seemed to have quite some insights into the fastest way to get from level 1 to level 90!

We've been through the responses and picked out the most regularly mentioned and most intriguing to create this reader-inspired guide.

The Basics

1. Rested Experience.

Several readers commented on the importance of rested XP, and I totally agree that it's a huge deal. The bars seem to fly by when they're blue, or perhaps it's more that they seem to go so slowly when they're purple. How do you make the most of rested XP? One suggestion that came up a lot is to level two characters simultaneously. They don't need to be at the same level, necessarily, but the idea behind this is that when one character gets out of the rested XP zone, the next will have built up enough to last you for a while, or at least until the first character has built up some rested XP of their own. Make sure you log out in an inn or city, where the little "zzz" icon appears on your character's frame. Logging out anywhere in the world will grant rested XP, but nowhere near as much as logging in cities.

Filed under: WoW Rookie

Everything you need to know about getting started with addons

by Elizabeth Harper Feb 21st 2013 at 9:00AM

If you're relatively new to the game or have only been playing casually, you may not have run into the concept of addons, much less used any yourself. However, addons can revolutionize your gameplay experience, making it easy to keep track of how much damage (or healing) you're doing, letting you know when your abilities are off cooldown, map out where you find gathering nodes so you can easily find them again later, or even just change the way things look in the game -- modifying the appearance of your map, buffs, or how your character information displays.

While World of Warcraft's default interface is pretty good -- certainly good enough to get the job done -- you might find that addons take some of the tedium out of tedious tasks (like crafting or selling things on the auction house) and make it easier to see information you want (like how much energy you have or when one of your party members has a harmful effect on them that you can dispell). If your curiosity is piqued, we'll show you what addons can (and can't do) as well as walk you through finding and installing addons to boost your playstyle.

Filed under: Add-Ons, WoW Rookie

How to make gold without breaking (much of) a sweat

by Elizabeth Harper Feb 13th 2013 at 12:00PM

Making money in World of Warcraft can be a drag, requiring boring grinding or spending tedious hours watching price fluctuations in the auction house. And, while there's tons of advice out there on how WoW players can make piles of gold, it tends to be more involved than my attention span allows. (Though if your attention span does allow, you should go for it!) This is, after all, a game I am supposedly playing for fun: spending my fun time farming leather turns it into not fun time pretty quickly.

However, fortunately for me (and those like me), you can turn a decent profit in WoW without jumping through many hoops -- even at low levels. All it takes is paying attention to the loot you find and following a few general guidelines, and you can make enough gold to buy (almost) anything you want as you level your way to greatness. Sound too good to be true? It's really not. So if you're a new character or rolling on a new server and want to be sure you have the gold to buy anything you might need on the trip to level 90, read on! (If you're already at max level, you may find a few useful tips here, but Gold Capped caters more to end-game players.)

Filed under: Add-Ons, WoW Rookie

How to get started with transmogrification and be the most stylish newbie on the block

by Elizabeth Harper Feb 8th 2013 at 1:00PM

When I first created my gnome monk, I immediately noticed that while the other class options had stylish starting gear, my monk had a sleeveless black shirt, plain black pants, and no shoes. I assumed that, as a monk, my gnome valued simplicity over flash -- but, really, a sleeveless shirt and bare feet in the endless Dun Morogh snow just seemed impractical. Wouldn't she get cold? Did I need to be concerned about frostbite? What if my poor gnome stepped on something sharp?

Fortunately, I soon found a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of boots and was able to stop worrying about it. Until level 64 when, questing in Hellfire Peninsula, I received a pair of boots that was a huge upgrade from my old boots, but weren't quite boots. Instead, they were bright green bands that wrapped around the ankle and covered the top of the foot, but left the bottom bare: Hardly practical footware for exploring the demon-infested Outland.

It was this that finally drove me to figure out WoW's transmogrification system, which lets you make one piece of gear (armor or weapon) look like another. Though this feature seems primarily designed for high level players who have had the time to collect numerous pieces of gear, you can start transmogrifying at any level. The only downside to starting early is that you'll be tempted to find and buy gear just for its looks -- which can be pricey! But if you're a savvy auction house trader, you can use everyone else's transmogrification obsession to make some cash.

Filed under: WoW Rookie, Transmogrification

How to get started building your own battle pet arsenal

by Elizabeth Harper Feb 6th 2013 at 7:00PM

How to get started with WoW's pet battles

No, we aren't talking about hunters today: the battle pet system allows all of us to have and fight with pets through a special battle pet interface. And though you're not likely find mention of pet battles before you hit Pandaria, you can start participating in pet battles as early as level 5. And even if you aren't a fan of the "gotta catch 'em all!" game on which the system is modeled, we think pet battles are a fun break from leveling -- and since you're walking right by battle pets to collect and fight as you wander through each zone, why not have your battle pets advancing at the same time you are?

The concept behind battle pets is simple; your battle pets fight other battle pets throughout the game in a turn-based format, gaining levels (up to 25) and skills (each pet has 6). Whenever you see another battle pet -- or battle pet trainer -- you can fight to gain experience and, of course, the glory of victory. If that sounds interesting, let's get started on the road to becoming the fiercest pet tamer in Azeroth!

Filed under: WoW Rookie

Seven things every newbie needs to know

by Elizabeth Harper Jan 29th 2013 at 5:00PM

While plenty of old hats might say the WoW newbie experience is easy mode now, I'd call it streamlined: rolling a new character or leveling an existing one has never been more straightforward. Gone are the days when you had to pull up Wowhead (or download an addon) to figure out every other quest, the days when you kill dozens of monsters for a single quest drop, the days when you had to run through high level zones to collect flight paths. If you don't remember having to run from across the Wetlands to pick up the Menethil Harbor flight path -- dying more than once along the way -- count yourself lucky, because those corpse runs were decidedly un-fun.

However, even in this golden age of newbiedom, there are some aspects of the game that just aren't explained very well. So, whether you're brand new to the game or, like me, returning after an absence, here are a few things every newbie needs to know.

Filed under: WoW Rookie

Six simple tips for getting started in healing

by Olivia Grace Jan 15th 2013 at 5:00PM

A little while back, we had six simple tips to getting started in tanking. In the brief introduction to that, I asserted that tanking was among the more stressful and pressured roles in WoW at the moment, just because of the low numbers of tanks compared to others in situations like raids, particularly the Raid Finder.

While the same is not true for healers in the raid finder, you're the only one of your kind in 5-man content, where you're likely to start to learn to heal. Healing's a little tricky to get started with, just because there's not much scope to practice out in the world, without other players. I would definitely have a go with all your spells out in the wild, just to see what they do, but it's only going to be when you get into an instance that your skills are actually tested.

Starting as you mean to continue

One of the things that's going to affect your gameplay and learning experience as a healer is how you're getting started. Leveling a new healer from scratch is a great way to go, as the low level dungeons are pretty well stress free, and you'll get your abilities little by little, so you can learn how each one works and, just as importantly, weaves in with the other spells at your disposal.

Filed under: WoW Rookie

Six simple tips for getting started in tanking

by Olivia Grace Jan 8th 2013 at 1:00PM

Tanking is arguably one of the more stressful roles in WoW, particularly in the raid finder. You can't just waltz in and hit some things or heal some things and everything will turn out rosy, you do actually have to know the fights. Not that healers and DPS don't, it's just that they can generally get along a bit easier if they aren't exactly sure what's going on. The same is, alas, not so true for tanks. The fact that there's only two tanks, and that, even in the heady days of Dragon Soul, they had to be relatively co-ordinated on some, if not all the fights, puts the spotlight firmly on their performance. Some groups are forgiving, some less so.

The same applies in smaller dungeons, tanks are expected to lead the pack, to take control. Of course, there are exceptions to this, it's a generalization which is not true 100% of the time. But I don't think it's unreasonable.

All this makes it a little harder to get started in tanking. So, WoW Insider has put together some tips for the novice tank.

Pulling
Pulling is the term given to getting a group of mobs to hit you, instead of that mage over there. For most early dungeons, and several of the later ones too for that matter, the pull is half the battle. As long as you can get those baddies latched on to you, you're doing alright.

So how do you do it? Well, that is, of course, highly dependent on your class, but there are a few kinds of pull that I can run you through here.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, WoW Rookie

What advice do you have for a player just returning to WoW?

by Fox Van Allen Jan 7th 2013 at 7:00PM

Hello there. You probably don't know me because I haven't been around these parts for a while. My name is Fox Van Allen. Normally, I'm the one who writes advice in 1,000 word chunks to help make your game-playing experience better. But today, I'm the one who needs a hand. Care to lend one?

I have a dirty little secret (that's not much of a secret): I haven't played World of Warcraft in quite some time. My characters -- two shadow priests, an elemental shaman, and a boomkin -- are sitting at level 85. None of them have left Stormwind (or Orgrimmar) since MoP launched. My account is a blank slate.

So I'm asking all of you who are enjoying your 104-day head start and all the insight it provides: What should I do first? What are the must-complete quest lines? Should I roll a panda monk and experience the new expansion from the very start, or should I start with the content for my existing level 85 characters? What talents do you love more than any other? And, most importantly: Where all the fun stuffs at?

Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, WoW Rookie, Mists of Pandaria

5 reasons expectant parents love playing WoW

by Michael Gray May 31st 2012 at 1:00PM

So, you're a dedicated gamer who loves playing games. Then you get the fantastic news that you're expecting your own fresh little bundle of proto-gamer joy. Once you get over the heart-wrenching fear that your offspring will grow up to loathe video games and fantasy, you come to the equally heart-pounding realization that your gaming lifestyle is about to change. It's hard to raid when you're breastfeeding, changing diapers, and otherwise providing the love and adoration each child deserves.

I'm here to shout that World of Warcraft is still a fantastic game for expectant parents, even if some of the activities won't be so easy once you're actually a parent. I'll cop that right away: Raiding is going to be tough. Competitive PvP is going to be tough. It's hard to balance time commitments, and those time constraints don't wait for the birth.

What makes WoW awesome is that those two things (raiding and PvP) are just part of the game. The whole world of Azeroth is there for you. These are the top five reasons WoW excels as a game for expectant parents.

Filed under: WoW Rookie

What is Mists of Pandaria?

by Michael Gray May 24th 2012 at 4:00PM

You can hardly load up a WoW site without getting barraged by panda news. That information seems obvious -- after all, we're all sitting around drooling for the new expansion. But if you're the kind of player who prefers staying spoiler-free, then the substantive news about Mists of Pandaria versus the minutiae can seem overwhelming. So let's kick back on our armchair in the clouds and take a good, high-level look at the new expansion.

First things first. Mists of Pandaria is the fourth expansion to World of Warcraft. We've already had The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Cataclysm. This is the (very, very) basic story so far: In The Burning Crusade, the Horde and Alliance went off to Outland to bring down the machinations of a handful of elves and demons. While they were gone, though, the Lich King rose back up and attacked. Once the Lich King was defeated, a big, bad dragon woke up and wrecked shop on Azeroth. In Mists of Pandaria, the Horde and Alliance have dealt with external threats and are now turning their eyes to one another.

Filed under: Mists of Pandaria

Tips and tricks for taking great WoW screenshots

by Michael Gray May 17th 2012 at 5:00PM

Azeroth is a world made of memories. Whether you're talking about mind-blowing scenery, incredible in-game experiences, or just good times with friends, you'll experience plenty of WoW moments that you'll remember for the rest of your life. Just like in real life, it's helpful to snap a quick picture to supplement your walks down memory lane.

Taking screenshots in WoW is fairly simple. Just press the Print Screen button on a PC or Command+Shift+3 on a Mac, and the photo gets dropped in your game files.

While that's all there is to actually taking a screenshot, there's a difference between getting a picture and getting an awesome picture. Let's take a few tips and tricks from seasoned photography pros and make our screenshots truly spectacular.

Filed under: WoW Rookie

14 alternatives to "clunky" for describing rotations

by Michael Gray May 10th 2012 at 3:00PM

The inimitable Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street, lead systems designer, recently hit the forums to talk about warrior balance. Along the way, he dropped some of that classic wisdom that spawned my eternal love for Ghostcrawler. He pointed out that you don't need hard numbers to describe how a rotation feels (though you do when talking about DPS competition), but he did say he thought the community would benefit from some adjectives other than "clunky."

We completely agree. Describing the feel and sense of a rotation can be a tricky business, and clunky is the go-to adjective for most folks. There are other words we can use, though, that help provide a more refined sense of what you intend. We're here to help, so here's our list of alternatives to "clunky."

Inelegant The rotation is serviceable but lacks poetry. It's like you can feel the rotation trying to be rhythmic, but it's constantly interrupted without meaning. A big proc counts as meaning, for the record.
Twisted Because the flow of the rotation is interrupted to go backwards, it feels like your fingers get twisted up trying to achieve optimum. Think two steps forward, one step back ... now three steps forward, two steps back.
Cumbersome So many button pushes are required in a short period of time (what's up, cat druids?) that it feels like you're so focused on your rotation that you can't see the game.

Filed under: Humor, WoW Rookie

4 best Blizzard customer support videos

by Michael Gray May 3rd 2012 at 5:00PM

Blizzard is a fairly tech-savvy company. You can tell on account of this huge, massive game it runs. More importantly, though, Blizzard maintains a fairly robust online presence even outside of the game. It even keeps a fully stocked, awesome YouTube channel dedicated to Customer Support.

The thing you might not realize about the videos is that they're awesome. I don't just mean that in the sense that Blizzard is putting good information out there; the videos themselves are well crafted, lots of fun, and brilliantly narrated. I'd like to make sure you're not missing out on any of the cool stuff. So let's review the best Blizzard support videos available on YouTube.

Item Restoration

The Item Restoration video above is probably my favorite video. It introduces the new Item Restoration service, which is a huge benefit all its own. The narrator really grabs this subject by the horns and runs with it. Of course, the shocked worgen is equally awesome, and I spent the day making my own shocked worgen face at myself in the mirror.

Filed under: WoW Rookie

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