But wait their's more!

Possibly the nicest thing that Blizzard has ever done was give us the ability to play with their toys. That's right Blizzard was humble enough to realize that they didn't have all the answers and smart enough to except that their players might. To that end Blizzard  allowed the creation of MODS (short for modifications) also called add-ons. These as the name implies are things that modify some of the games functions. Not to the extent that it gives someone an unfair advantage, more in the realm of creature comforts. Now I know what your thinking, this seems like a little bit of an advanced thing for a beginners guide. However I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to reference certain MODS in upcoming posts and it would be completely unfair for me to talk about those MODS and not tell you how to get or use them. The first thing your going to want to do is go to; http://www.curse.com/client from their your going to want to click the register button in the top right corner of the screen and set up an account. Just so you know their is a paid premium account but it's not necessary, a free account will do just fine. Now that you have an account you're going to

download the client. Once that's done you're going to click on the deck top icon and that will pull up curse. Log in and select what games you want to find MODS for. Now that you've done all that you will be brought to the main screen. In you're main panel Their are two tabs, "My Addons" and "Get More Addons" Click the get more addons tab. If you know the name of the addon you're looking for you can just type it in here and hit enter. It will pull up the addon and you can just hit install and it will automatically add it to your game the next time you log in. If you don't know what your looking for specifically, but you know what sort of MOD you're looking for you can click the category tap and scroll down to the right one and click on it. It will bring up a series of Addons that you can scroll through. Click on the description button for the MOD read what their all about. If it sounds like what you want download it. Go ahead and try out the Addon and if you like it great if not go ahead and remove it the next time you pull up curse. It's important to know that every time theirs a patch to the game you will have to update all of your Addons by clicking the "update" button. You may also want to keep the amount of Addons that you use to a minimum as they can consume a fair bit of memory and slow down the game. Some MODS work great right out of the box, so to speak. Others will

require some set up. For the more complicated ones I would suggest that you go to youtube.com and type in the name of the Addon and "How To" and you will most likely be met with a resource on how to set it up. If you need to deactivate any of your Addons you can do that from your character log in screen. Just press the Addon button and deselect the appropriate Addon. If you need to adjust any of your Addon settings in game you can either access them via icons surrounding your mini map or you can press the "esc" key and then press interface, and click the Addon tab and their you go. These are the basics of getting addons. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me on twitter @morisonwow and I'll do my best to answer them. Normally this is the part of the blog where I make a witty joke, but I got nothing so fill in the blank and tell me if it's a good one.

 Remember we're all noobs, some of us just fly the flag a little higher.
-Morison

Pay to win loose or draw.

 

Back in early November of last year Blizzard announced that it would be releasing it's sixth game in the Worlds of Warcraft series, titled Warlords of Draenor. What they also announced was that players who purchased this game would get a free level 90 character. This announcement was met with some mixed reactions. Some players saw it as a simple elegant answer to the problem of getting new players into the game (lets face it, buying six games and playing through almost a decade of content just so you can start is a little daunting ). Some players saw this as a slap in the face. How dare Blizzard just "give" away what they had to "earn". For the most part people got over it and excepted what was coming. However recently during a patch players became able to see but not use an upcoming Blizzard service in which players can purchase a level 90 character for $60. Not surprising it was at this point that the excrement struck the oscillating unit. Many players see this as the true start of "pay to win" believing that Blizzard has put players in a position of having to shell out large somes of real world money for the sake of keeping up with the Wrynn's so to speak. These people believe that this will take all the fun out of the game. That dungeons and raids will become flooded with players that have no idea how to play their class. That it's utterly unfair. However I'm not in this camp of thinking. I believe that Warcraft has become a little long in the tooth and honestly it's almost impossible to get new people into a game this far along. This boost gives new players a chance to jump into the game at level and play with their friends immediately. The buy a 90
option also helps to alleviate a drastic lack of tanks and healers in dungeons and raids. Playing these rolles is very difficult and people don't tend to want to learn how to perform them in random groups. When they have the option to boost right to 90 and learn how to do so with friends and guildies that will be more patient and understanding, people will be more prone to take up these spots. On the subject of players not knowing how to play their class, let's be honest; their are plenty of level 90s now that don't know how to play their class. This won't change a thing. As for the idea of it not being fair, I would question the validity of that statement. Offering players  a way to get leveled up is nothing new, We have already been given the option to start at level 55 as a Death Knight, heirloom armor and weapons, guild leveling bonuses, Darkmoon Fair carousel, the anniversary experience and reputation bonus, Darkmoon Fair hat, The Daily monk quest, rested experience, scroll of resurrection and recruit a friend, not to mention that the experience needed to reach max level has been decreased repeatedly. All these methods have been used and abused to speed the leveling process. Any player that has used any of these things for the sake of leveling has no right to complain about people using the "easy button" because frankly they didn't take the long road either. Giving players the option to buy a level 90 character is only logical. Players already being given the option to get one with Warlords would only lead to players starting extra accounts, buying expansions to get the boost and then transferring the characters to their main account, this option just saves both players and blizzard a lot of time and energy on account transfers. If you take nothing else away from this I would suggest you take this. Buying a 90 is an option and not a requirement, if you don't want to use it you don't have to. Or summed up by a quoit that I have found to be very comforting in tense moments of my life. "Just because someone dose it the easy way, it shouldn't stop you from doing it the right way".

Remember we're all noobs, some of us just fly the flag a little higher.
-Morison      

What not to wear.

Early on in your questing you will be given a choice of multiple quest rewards but what do you pick? All armor and weapons have a series of numbers that tell you about their quality (stats), but which set of numbers are most important? By knowing what type of gear is best for your class and what stats are most important will allow you to get the most out of your character. So here comes the break down;

Armor

Cloth armor: Mage, Priest, Warlock

Leather armor: Druid, Monk, Rogue, Hunter (until level 40), Shaman (until level 40)

Mail armor: Shaman, Hunter, Warrior (until level 40), Paladin (until level 40)

Plate: Warrior, Paladin, Death Knight

Weapons

Axes One-Handed: Death Knight, Hunter, Monk, Paladin, Rogue, Shaman, Warrior

Daggers: Hunter, Druid, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior

Fist Weapons: Hunter, Druid, Monk, Rogue, Shaman, Warrior

Maces One-Handed: Death Knight, Druid, Monk, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warrior

Polearms: Death Knight, Hunter, Druid, Monk, Paladin, Warrior

Staves: Hunter, Druid, Mage, Monk, Priest, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior

Swords One-Handed: Death Knight, Mage, Monk, Paladin, Rogue, Warlock, Warrior

Axes Two-Handed: Death Knight, Paladin, Shaman, Warrior

Maces Two-Handed: Death Knight, Druid, Paladin, Shaman, Warrior

Swords Two-Handed: Death Knight, Hunter, Paladin, Warrior

Bow: Hunter, Rogue, Warrior

Crossbow: Hunter, Rogue, Warrior

Gun: Hunter, Rogue,Warrior

Wand: Mage, Priest, Warlock

These are all the different kinds of weapons that a class "can"  use. This dose not however mean that you "should" use them. What Weapons you use should be decided by you're primary and secondary stat. Each class has one stat that benefits them more then any other. I'm going to list them all for you along with the next most important stat to help you pick if their is a tie.

Stats

Death Knight

Blood; Mastery > Stamina
Frost; Duel Weld  Melee hit (7.5%) > Strength, Two-Handed Strength > Expertise (7.5%)
Unholy; Strength > Expertise (7.5%)

Druid

Balance; Intellect > Spell hit (15%)
Feral; Agility > Expertise (7.5%)
Guardian;  Stamina > Agility
Restoration; Spirit > Intellect

Hunter

Beast Master; Agility > Expertise (7.5%)
Marksmanship; Agility > Expertise (7.5%)
Survival; Agility > Expertise (7.5%)

Mage

Arcane; Spell hit (6%) > Intellect
Fire; Intellect > Spell Hit (15%)
Frost;   Intellect > Spell Hit (15%)

Monk

Brewmaster; Expertise (15%) > Melee Hit (7.5%) > Agility
Mistweaver; Spirit > Intellect
Windwalker; Agility > Melee Hit (7.5%)

Paladin

Holy; Spirit > Intellect
Protection; Stamina > Melee Hit (7.5%)
Retribution; Strength, Melee Hit (7.5%)

Priest

Discipline; Spirit > Intellect
Holy; Spirit > Intellect
Shadow; Intellect > Spell Hit (15%)

Rogue

Assassination; Agility, Melee Hit (7.5%)
Combat; Agility, Expertise (7.5%)
Subtlety;  Agility, Melee Hit (7.5%)

Shaman

Elemental; Intellect > Spell Hit (15%)
Enhancement; Agility > Expertise (7.5%)
Restoration; Spirit > Intellect

 

Warlock

Affliction; Intellect > Spell Hit (15%)
Demonology; Intellect > Spell Hit (15%)
Destruction; Intellect > Spell Hit (15%)

Warrior

Arms; Melee Hit (7.5%) > Expertise (7.5%)
Fury;  Melee Hit (7.5%) > Expertise (7.5%)
Protection; Stamina > Melee Hit (7.5%)

Ok, That's the lot. Make sure to follow your stat priorities and don't let your weapon clash with you boots.
And remember we're all noobs, some of us just fly the flags a little higher.

Looking for Guild.

Azeroth can be a lonely place when your all by yourself. It's for this reason that blizzard has given us guilds. Now I grant you that when you first start playing guilds seem to have all the appeal of internet pop-up adds. Unsolicited guild requests that come from someone you don't know, that has no interest in you personally and tell you nothing of merit about the guild. I don't know about the rest of the WOW community but to me getting a guild invite this way feels similar to  getting an email from a Nigerian Prince. However a good guild in game can feel like family, and make the game so much

better then you could possibly imagine. If your joining the game to play with friends then chances are that you're going to be joining their guild. If that's the case then chances are they will be inviting you personally,  failing that if you know the name of the guild you want to join you can go to your chat window and type /who. This will bring up a window showing you all the players in the same zone as you. At the bottom of the screen you can change the parameters that you are looking for people under. More specifically you will be able to change what zone your looking for a person in. This will allow you to look for people in more populated zones without having to leave where your at. At the top of the window you'll see a pull down menu when you click on that you will be able to select guild and see all the guilds in the selected zone.  When you find someone in the guild your looking for you can click on them and send them a whisper asking for a guild invite. If you don't  have a guild in mind I would suggest that you think long and hard about what you want out of the game. Do you want to raid, do arenas, just want to level and have fun. Any of those are perfectly valid ways to play and I guarantee you that no matter what you want to do in game their is a guild out their for you. So when you see someone advertising their guild and sounds good to you, ask questions. If it still sounds good give it a try, if you find that the guild you chose isn't what you wanted or hoped for then you just need to type /gquit and find a new guild. If your on Kul Tiras I suggest that you check out; Twisted Empire, Twisted Kingdom, Twisted Legion, or if your on the alliance side Twisted Dynasty or Twisted Raiders. These are the guilds that I call home. Their aren't better players in the game.

Remember were all noobs, some of us just fly the flag a little higher.
-Morison  

Getting started

Ok, so you've chosen your character and had movie time ( I love those intro videos). Now what do you do? Look around. Not too far from where you are you should see someone with a yellow exclamation point over their head. walk up and right click on them. This will open a window. Congratulations, you just opened your first quest, it won't even be close to your last. Read the quest text carefully, trust me this will save a lot of time.  If you don't remember all the details that's ok. After you click the accept button you
will be able to pull up not just this quest but your entire quest log by pressing the "L" key. Also, your going to want to drag your mouse to the little magnifying glass icon on your mini map. This is going to pull up a list of icons that you can set your mini map to display, armor repairs, inns, mailboxes and
most important in this case is the low level quests icon. This will keep you moving in the right direction. Now that you have your first quest you can go ahead and click your "M" key it will open your map. On that map you'll see one of a few things either a question mark, this shows the location of the person that you turn the quest into. Or if this is a quest where you are supposed to collect something or kill something the areas where you can find these things will be marked with a blue blob. So go forth have fun and always read the text first.

And remember we're all noobs, some of us just fly the flag a little higher.
-Morison

Oh the places you'll go...and the things you'll kill

The first challenge that any player faces is; "What do I want to play". Horde, Alliance,  Orc, Gnome, Blood Elf, Human, Priest, Rogue, Warrior? With two factions, thirteen races and eleven classes how do you pick? First thing you need to do is determine faction. If you are joining the game to play with friends ask them which side they play on and choose from their. If you are joining the game with no one else in it, just pick the side that you think looks better (I know that sounds shallow but hey it's your first character, do what makes you happy). As for race I would suggest that you wait to pick that till after you've picked their class as not all races can be all classes. When you do get to that point you should hit the info button on the bottom left of your screen and read up on the benefits of the different races. If something about what they can do jumps out at you great, or maybe you just like their look.

As for picking a class you start by asking yourself a single question; do I want to be right in the hart of the action? In this game their are melee classes and caster classes. Melee gets right into the thick of things. Casters get to stand at a safe distance and do what they do best. Hunters are the exception to this rule. Hunters are considered Melee damage because of their pets and weapon damage but they fight at a distance. A few more questions will help you narrow down your options. Do I want a lot of responsibility? Do I want to take the easy rout and be a showoff? Do I want to play whack a mole? ( I swear this is a relevant question). Depending on your answers to these questions you'll be able to

determine what your ultimate dungeon/ raid position will be. Tanking classes have a lot of responsibility and get blamed for things...A LOT. It's not all bad though, you get to be a serious badass who can take a beating and just keep coming. If you like the idea of being responsible but don't want to be in the fray than you might want to think about being a healer. Being a healer is a lot like playing whack a mole, except that the moles seem bound and determined to get wacked (trust me). If you aren't so much about responsibility then you may want to be DPS (damage per second). In this position you have far less responsibility. You may still serve a utilitarian purpose for your group but for the most part your just trying to pump out as much damage as you possibly can and do better then everyone else around you. The last question you need to ask before you decide is do you want to play by yourself or with a pet? Their are only a few classes theat have a pet but as they say two heads are better then one. This brings us to simple division.

Tanks
Warrior, Paladin, Death Knight, Druid or Monk.
Healers
Priest, Druid, Paladin, Monk, Shaman
DPS
Warrior, Paladin, Death Knight, Shaman, Mage, Warlock, Priest, Druid, Monk, Hunter and Rogue.

Melee
Warrior, Paladin, Death Knight, Druid, Monk, Shaman, Rogue, Hunter
Caster
Druid, Priest, Shaman, Mage, Warlock

Pet
Death Knight, Warlock, Mage, Hunter

Once you've answered these questions your choices should be more limited. At this point I would suggest looking at the descriptions for those classes and make your decision form their. If the class you chose didn't work for you, change class and start over. Never be scared to start over with something new. This is a game and if you aren't having fun you're doing it wrong. If all that fails, just do what I do. Let Twitter pick your character for you.

Remember we're all noobs, some of us just fly the flag a little higher.
-Morison