New to WoW...checking out the trial
Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 - 9:03pm
Any suggestions for what type of character to pick for the first time out of the gate in WoW? Never played before and am interested in seeing what it's all about. Want something that I can instantly have fun with (not too hard to play). Also any suggestions about HOW I should play the trial? Just do stuff in order as it comes or explore in a certain direction?
These questions sound lame, and they are, but I'm intimidated. I'm no MMORPGer, but it looks neat, so here I am.
Druid, hands down!
Paladin is a good second choice. I would pick a Draenei or Blood Elf if possible as they have the richest newbie zone experiences. In this case, race is almost more important than class for the trial.
Though I would also try them all as they are all well crafted classes.
Take time to explore and stuff will come to you without the frustration of grinding monsters.
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
Thanks for the quick suggestions! I unfortunately can't seem to pick Draenei or Blood Elf in the trial...only Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, and Gnome.
ArrMatey - BM Hunter
hunter/warlock are easiest to level.
mage/rogue/warrior/shaman are pretty easy, but you'll have some down time.
priest/druid/paladin are slowest with the steepest learning curve.
I would reccomend hunter for a beginner and stay away from paladin/druid. A pet is your best friend! My opinion, anyway.
[edit] for typos.
Ok, I started a Dwarf Hunter on Blackhand named "ArrMatey."
ArrMatey - BM Hunter
I'd lean towards a Warlock. Not only are they easy to play, but the pet provides a really good way of learning about threat. Even if you don't take the character very high, it's still a good way of getting a handle on one of the important game mechanics. This is all equally true of hunters, but I found the warlock pets a bit more straightforward (and if I'm being honest, I was more into demons and spells than animals and bows). As Seth said, it's personal opinion. I enjoyed both classes!
*Legion* wrote:
***RAMPANT GENERALIZATIONS AND SEXISM FORTHCOMING!***
If you're a girl, roll a hunter.
If you're a boy who loves animals, roll a hunter.
If you're a goth kid or an emo kid, roll a warlock and name it xxsuicidekissxx or Legolastears.
***RAMPANT GENERALIZATIONS AND SEXISM ENDING***
[edit] for typos.
Holy god am I sick of killing boars, bears, leopards, and other snowy creatures. The pain!
ArrMatey - BM Hunter
Wait to you get into the upper 50's and move into Winterspring. You'll kill so many Yeti's you'll see them in your sleep!
From a game design standpoint, I had less of an issue with the "Kill X of Y" quests than I did with the "Gather X of Y" quests. With the "kill" quests, you at least know how many you need to kill.
With "gather" quests, sometimes the drop rates are low enough, or luck isn't with you, and you end up spending waaay more time on a quest than you anticipated. it's all about expectations.
Like Bear said, the quests early on are nothing like the ones later in the game. The one I think he's referencing, the "Pristine Yeti Horn" quest, was a quest that almost led me to quit the game. Thankfully they seem to have upped the drop rate based on my last run through Winterspring.
Your Quote Here!
Yep, they upped it in a recent patch, based on my recollection of reading the patch notes. That one was ridiculously painful...
BHA: Kamyndra - 70 Prot Warrior, Tyraan - 68 Enhance Shaman, Rahodius - 60 Priest
Timely mention of this frustration, as I just had to kill 20-something Younger "Yeti-looking-things" to collect 8 of their manes. Yikes.
ArrMatey - BM Hunter
Since you went with a hunter, you can at least name your pet ScurvyDog.
Xbox Live: Stilgar Black
HAH!
I laughed.
what level are you now?
[edit] for typos.
Haha.. you have no idea what you are in for
Try grinding a secluded area for 25-30 hours to get enough cloth for a tailoring set, or doing map sweeps for nodes to get just enough ore to make that epic item. You'll be begging for more boars to kill!
And the yetis, yes, you will see them in your sleep. I'm glad they fixed the drop rate on the pristine horn quest though, that was always annoying as hell.
XBL/PSN/STEAM/WAR/SPORE/RAPTR
Don't forget about going on the teddy bear killing spree in order to walk through the tunnel...
GWJ Alliance on Blackhand
Lunazul - Rouge & GWJ Paparazzo
Lunarel - Druid
Funkenpants wrote:
Is it just me or did they massively drop the rep required to pass through there the past year or two? I remember that went pretty quick my last couple of alts.
Poor teddy bears..
XBL/PSN/STEAM/WAR/SPORE/RAPTR
I'm level 9...currently providing target practice for Frostmane Snowstriders and Seers.
ArrMatey - BM Hunter
So close to your first little buddy!
XBL/PSN/STEAM/WAR/SPORE/RAPTR
Level 12 now - have a wolf named Scurvydog - yay! I picked up a Severing Axe of the Tiger off a Tunnel Rat Vermin and that was kind of exciting (reminded me a lot of finding special weapons/armor in Diablo). Too bad I can't use it. What's the popular method for selling unique items you don't want? Just sell them to any shop?
In other news...I can't get a spider to drop any ichor FOR THE LIFE OF ME. I must have killed over 30 now.
ArrMatey - BM Hunter
If you really want to use that axe, you can, you just need to train in the appropriate weapon skill. Ask a guard in Ironforge to point you toward the weapon trainer. I believe the cost is 10 silver, but I could be wrong.
-- My Biking Team --
Tip: Search for the dropped item wowhead.com to confirm you are killing the mob with the right name. Early in my career, I would kill lots of mobs before realizing I needed to kill "Elder Swamp Rats", not the "Young Swamp Rats" or the plain "Swamp Rats".
(Also, you can click on the name of the mob in the drop list to get a map for where to find those mobs.)
Your Quote Here!
Thanks very much for the tip. Zeroing in on Forest Lurkers.
ArrMatey - BM Hunter
Crap - I'm completely hooked. Does this mean I should start worrying about the future of my career, family, etc. now or wait and see?
ArrMatey's level 20 now, which is apparently the ceiling for trial accounts. I also can't trade with people or chat using the various channels (guess spammers via trial accounts have been an issue or something). Ok - heading over to BestBuy today to buy the full version. I've seen posts recommending the Battle Chest, which includes the expansion, but I'm not sure if I want it or not. If I do get it, do I play through the regular game first (get to the highest level, finish the quests, etc.) THEN install the expansion? Or do I install it from the get-go?
Related to the game, I'm wondering if I'm doing things in the right "order." Quests are sort of sending me all over the place, but I can't seem to tell if I'm hooked into a main storyline yet or not. I'm pretty much done with Thelsamar and have been sent over to Westfall/Stormwind as well as the Wetlands. I'm encountering pretty tough quests for my level 20 guy in Lakeshire and the Wetlands, so I'm guessing there's somewhere else I need to spend a little time before continuing.
ArrMatey - BM Hunter
In no particular order:
* Yes, buy both WoW and Burning Crusade. That way you can roll as a draenei (or a blood elf, if you want to go Horde-side). Also, the draenai starting area is particularly efficient, and I've run several characters from the dwarven starting area to the draenei starting area. There's running around, but not as much running around as Elwynn or (/shudder) Darkshire. That said, I don't think there's any harm in NOT buying BC.
* Since this is your first character, you'll be broke. Pick up mining right away. You'll have more money than you know what to do with. (Blacksmiths and jewelcrafters both need metal.) Skinning's another good money-maker, too. Herbs will be a great moneymaker in the next expansion, but you can't track herbs and mining nodes at the same time. (Believe me, I've tried.)
* If you want storyline, go to Duskwood. The Stalvan, Morbent Fei, Embalmer's Daughter and Morgan Ladimore quest lines are some of the best in the game. Otherwise, there's not really a main story that ties the whole game together.
* Pay attention to quest efficiency. In a lot of cases, you can do 2-3 quests in the same place at the same time. In other words, you're getting credit for one quest for what you're killing, and what drops is giving you credit for the second quest. Use Wowhead.com and Wowwiki.com to scout out overlap quests as well as quests with good rewards. Or stumble around clueless like a lot of people.
Good luck. Hunters are a lot of fun!
Enix, the uber-casual hunter
Thanks for all the great tips Enix! I just picked up engineering and mining a few levels ago, but haven't done anything with either yet. What's the best way to sell metal to blacksmiths/jewelcrafters?
ArrMatey - BM Hunter
Auction house.
While we're on the topic, Jame's levelling guide is good for helping you find overlapping quests and cutting down on travel time. This is a link the revamped 30-70 guide. The wow-pro site has other guides as well.
http://www.wow-pro.com/node/599
Your Quote Here!
Jewelcrafters want raw ore for prospecting -- that is, pulling gems out of ore. (To prospect, you need 5 pieces of ore. A 20-stack of ore gives you four shots at prospecting.) Blacksmiths need it smelted into bars. So do engineers.
Some ores (silver and gold in particular) don't prospect. But miners can gain mining levels by smelting.
That's a long way of saying I almost always sell my stuff in ore form. You can also eyeball the AH and figure out what things are priced at and sell accordingly.
Engineering is ... well, let's just say it lets you create Exploding Sheep.
Enix, the uber-casual hunter
And Target Dummies! I still remember my first time at the bottom of Deadmines, on that ship, Peecaboo dropping a Target Dummy to distract the defias doofuses. Ahh, that thing is so cool.
"And my son, too, thinks everything is a launchpad, every bug a meal, and every sunny day a reason to take all your clothes off and roll around in the grass." - rabbit
I second this suggestion. Duskwood is possibly my favorite zone in the game.
-- My Biking Team --
Agreed, this guide is wonderful if you want to level fast. Then again, at first wandering around experiencing the world can be nice as well. This guide will focus you down on the absolute fastest way to level, so you may miss some interesting experiences that aren't necessarily efficient as far as gaining xp.
BHA: Kamyndra - 70 Prot Warrior, Tyraan - 68 Enhance Shaman, Rahodius - 60 Priest