Any advice for a noob?

[GenericKen]

A friend bought me WoW out of sheer boredom, and I'm trying to get up to speed with as little fuss as possible.

Started a Tauren Shaman and got to 11 on one of the less crowded servers. Probably going to spec nuke/shock/tank for DPS.

I've got most basics down. Autorun, efficient quest ordering, basic talent builds, working with various online atlas-es, etc.

Is there anything less obvious I should know? Good ways to minimize mana downtime? Talents/skills to avoid? Best ways to minimize grind before I get to 40 for a mount? Basic item economics?

[RTM]

There's a good thread here with some good advice for the beginning WoW player. It's from an alliance/warrior perspective, but there's lots of good tidbits in there. :)

Mana starts regenerating after 5 seconds of non-casting. You can reduce downtime by firing off your nukes first thing in the fight, then meleeing the mob down the rest of the way. By the time you're ready to move on to the next mob, some or all of your mana will have regenerated. Shaman have some good melee skills, so this shouldn't gimp your dps (damage per second) much.

You'll usually come across enough money for your mount if you don't go too hog-wild buying gear upgrades on the auction house every chance you get. Also, as a general rule, you can get at least twice as much for a green item on the AH as you can from selling it to a vendor.

I've only played a shaman up to 22, so someone else would probably be better qualified to tell you what talents to avoid. I was never too impressed with any of the totem enhancing ones, but again, I'm no expert. All I know is, don't use Rockbiter/Earthshock in groups unless you WANT to have mobs beating on you. :)

[Alram]

Shamans are a lot of fun, and before the end game can fulfill any role.
Definitely get Improved Ghost Wolf imo.

I would suggest that you select a server with people on it whom you know. A lot of content is only available in groups. PUGs are highly variable as to what you get.

[GenericKen]

Okay, two specific questions now:

1) How the heck do you get to silverpine from the barrens? Can you open new flight routes without walking across the ocean?

2) When are the best times to sell tradegoods at the auctionhouse? I can get 20s buyouts a pop for each of my 20 stacks of 10 thin leathers, but the market at the auction house seems to be flooded on the weekends, and I'm bleeding a crapload of money on failed auctions.

[kandrathe]

Okay, two specific questions now:

1) How the heck do you get to silverpine from the barrens? Can you open new flight routes without walking across the ocean?

2) When are the best times to sell tradegoods at the auctionhouse? I can get 20s buyouts a pop for each of my 20 stacks of 10 thin leathers, but the market at the auction house seems to be flooded on the weekends, and I'm bleeding a crapload of money on failed auctions.
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1) You fly there from the balloon base near Ogrimaar.

2) People tend to buy up limited resource goods that take time to gather (herbs, copper, etc) on weekends. Early on you may want to consider two gathering skills(skinning and mining) and drop one at around 30 or 40 to go for a crafting skill (like leatherworking). Or, just realize you won't make much on your skins until you get to higher levels.

[Alram]

Okay, two specific questions now:



2) When are the best times to sell tradegoods at the auctionhouse? I can get 20s buyouts a pop for each of my 20 stacks of 10 thin leathers, but the market at the auction house seems to be flooded on the weekends, and I'm bleeding a crapload of money on failed auctions.
[right][snapback]104243[/snapback][/right]

Set up an auction alt. Create a toon, and run him straight to Orgrimmar. Then you can mail things that you wish to sell to this toon without the necessity of returning to a capital city to auction things off. Tradegoods sell the best on weekends and during the week at night. I examine the prices current at the time I list my stuff. If I want a quick sale I undercut the current prices. If I want to hold out for top value, I price the item for what I think the max is that people will pay--this method of course at times results in items that don't sell.

[Artega]

A friend bought me WoW out of sheer boredom, and I'm trying to get up to speed with as little fuss as possible.

Started a Tauren Shaman and got to 11 on one of the less crowded servers. Probably going to spec nuke/shock/tank for DPS.

I've got most basics down. Autorun, efficient quest ordering, basic talent builds, working with various online atlas-es, etc.

Is there anything less obvious I should know? Good ways to minimize mana downtime? Talents/skills to avoid? Best ways to minimize grind before I get to 40 for a mount? Basic item economics?
[right][snapback]104004[/snapback][/right]

Open with a Lightning Bolt, refresh Lightning Shield, and melee the mob down. Use a bandage after the fight if you're injured significantly, and move on to the next mob. Use Rockbiter, even after you get Windfury at 30 - it's more efficient over an extended timeframe.

Do not use Shocks - aside from the occasional Earth Shock to disrupt spellcasting mobs. Mana efficiency is the key when grinding and questing, and Shocks are horrifically mana inefficient.

I'd suggest Restoration to 5/5 Improved Lesser Healing Wave and Enhancement down to 1/1 Parry until you hit 50 or later; after then, respec into whatever build you think you'll be most comfortable with. The best spec, PvP-wise, is generally considered to be 23/7/21 Elemental/Enhancement/Restoration. I can post it, along with other talent specs, later if you'd like.