Some help for a noob

[Thecla]

My main piece of advice is...

...to play a Hunter.;)

Other than that, don't be afraid of green quests or green enemies, and traveling about to find them -- the game has a steep curve fighting stuff that's higher level than you are,I guess to discourage people from going where they shouldn't; so while it may be fun to challenge yourself by doing that, it's not too efficient in terms of leveling up. Bolty had a very nice early-power levelling guide somewhere.

The good thing is you can always freeze your account if you don't want to play and Bliz keeps it around, so you don't have to pay unless you want to.

I actually enjoyed the earlier levels of WoW and exploring the world, which is beautifully done IMO; but the PvE combat does get tedious eventually. Myself, I never got into playing through the longer and longer and tougher and tougher instanced dungeons, which are not soloable in any way, let alone raids (which I never tried); and that is really where you have to end up if you continue playing the game, I think. Then, for me anyway, it becomes both a chore to keep up with stuff and a bit of a feeling like you have to prove your leeetness , neither or which is so much fun, especially when you're as unleet as I am.

Too bad in some ways that Bliz really did end up following the EQ MMORPG mold with WoW, even if they implemented it in a much better way.

[Ashock]

You can only choose 1 other main profesion. Secondary profesions like 1st aid, cooking, and fishing can all be taken. Dropping a profesion is as easy as a couple of clicks on your skill (default "k" ) tab. Be worned that while some fishing resipies are very nice for a warior, fishing is bring tears to your eyes boring!

You didn't mention what server your on and it sounds like that was purpousful but, I play on stormrage and I've levled several toons to their 50's and  60 solo so I'd consider myself 1 of the most experienced noobs out there (don't know sqwat about the instances) I'm currently leveling my hunter with a priest, and a warrior would be an exelent addition. Just something to consider
[right][snapback]102485[/snapback][/right]

Well, actually I simply did not remember which realm I was in ;-) I have a lvl 10 warrior on Rexxar, I just checked. Let me know what level you are on Stormrage and maybe I will start a warrior if you are not too much ahead. Keep in mind that I am on PST, and except the weekends I only have about 2 hours per night as my work schedule is all messed up.


-A


ps. So Claw, are you done with WoW? Sounds like it is in the past for you...

[nobbie]

ps. So far I am not very impressed, but I still have another almost month to make up my mind, I guess.
[right][snapback]102410[/snapback][/right]

You've chosen the wrong (beginner) class with the Warrior! :P

Seriously, my first class was the Warrior, too, and I wasn't impressed either up to level 60 because leveling is SLOW as a TANK. And, when he had hit level 60, instances turned out to be hard work as a tank while casters like the "afk" Warlock and even healers like the Priest obviously had a good time.

Many people who start with a Warrior in WoW seem to have a Diablo II background, but the WoW Warrior is not your Diablo II Barbarian alt. The WoW Warrior, even with pure offensive talents, is primarily a TANK that should take the beating while keeping the monster's aggro away from the casters, healers and ranged attackers. If you want to make massive melee damage - and I assume that you want that - put your Warrior on the backburner and start a Rogue NOW! :)

The Rogue deals the most damage of all classes in 1 vs 1 PvE (and PvP) combat, and is painlessly to level up as no-twink character. In addition, you get a Stealth mode which allows you to bypass enemies you don't want to fight and which only two classes are capable of: the Druid (in Cat form) and the Rogue. The only drawback I can see playing a Rogue is that there are already enough Rogues in WoW. Unless you play in a guild (which I really recommend btw), you'll hardly get invites from instance groups later.

We had a thread here earlier last year that discusses which class, or two classes, people would now pick if they would start again in WoW. Someone pretty much brought it to the point - I think it was Bolty - with the suggestion that you start a (healing) Priest for the best (high-level) instance gaming and a lot group invites, and a Rogue for the best solo gaming and resource farming (note: you will need a LOT resources like runecloth for bandages and herbs for potions for instance gaming later). If you pick a Priest and a Rogue, I would recommend Herbalism/Alchemy for the Priest, and Herbalism/Mining (pure resource collecting) for the Rogue because Thorium Bars and Arcane Crystals/Bars always bring good money over time in the auction houses.
If you want to/can play just one single character, then the Druid would be the natural choice as he is a potent healer as well as a good damage dealer in feral form. Herbalism/Alchemy is the premier choice here. Leveling a Druid (in Cat form) is noticable slower than a Rogue with a good weapon, but the very good healing abilities of the Druid make it well worth it.

Keep in mind that all what has been said here (and elsewhere) is often the ESSENCE of playing WoW for over a year, and most bad or not-so-good things have been filtered out so far. While I personally would start with a Priest/Rogue, a Priest/Druid combo or just a Druid now, I certainly had a good time trying the other classes and professions until I came to my conclusions. As in Buddhism, the "way is the goal" in MMO's like WoW, so you may as well want to throw overboard most advice given here and figure out yourself what you personally like best :D

[Watto44]

10% more armor (adds up to nothing thanks to diminishing returns)
[right][snapback]102474[/snapback][/right]

Sorry to hijack your thread, but I'm interested to here what the lurkers have to say about armor and diminishing returns.

I refer you to one of Mongo's guildies, Drakkdude's post.

Section 6: Armor and "Diminishing Returns"

      The more armor you have, the less Damage Reduction you will gain from each point of armor you add. Let's investigate this idea by taking a look at the Damage Reduction formula:

            Damage Reduction = Armor / (Armor + 85*level + 400)

            http://www.worldofwar.net/guides/damagereduction.php
      Now assuming that you're level 60, here's a chart showing how much of a difference adding 2750 armor will make in terms of damage reduction.

Armor  Damage Reduction DR% Gained Armor Gained

0  0.00 %

2750  33.33 %  +33.33 % +2750 Armor

5500  50.00 %  +16.67 % +2750 Armor

8250  60.00 %  +10.00 % +2750 Armor

11000  66.67 %  +6.67 %  +2750 Armor

13750  71.43 %  +4.76 %  +2750 Armor

16500  75.00 %  +3.57 %  +2750 Armor



      So with the same exact increase in armor, we can clearly see that the Damage Reduction gained is less and less and less for the more armor you have.

      BUT! Let's not wrap this up just yet! Let's take this hypothetical situation:

      Say you have 1000 hitpoints and you're fighting a mob that hits for 100 every second. Knowing how much armor gives a certain damage reduction, we can then figure out how much DPS the mob will actually be doing by simply subtracting 100 - DR%, since it's a simple 100 DPS. Then we can find out how long you will live by dividing 1000 health by the incoming DPS. Here are the results:

Armor DR %  Incoming DPS Time to Live Seconds of Life Gained

0 0.00 %  100.00 DPS 10 sec

2750 33.33 %  66.67 DPS 15 sec  +5 sec of life

5500 50.00 %  50.00 DPS 20 sec  +5 sec of life

8250 60.00 %  40.00 DPS 25 sec  +5 sec of life

11000 66.67 %  33.33 DPS 30 sec  +5 sec of life

13750 71.43 %  28.57 DPS 35 sec  +5 sec of life

16500 75.00 %  25.00 DPS 40 sec  +5 sec of life



      Notice anything between the two charts? Even though the damage reduction % gained is less and less as we add 2750 armor, the time to live is increased by the same EXACT amount each time. And thus, while there certainly is diminishing returns on "Damage Reduction", there is absolutely no diminishing returns on armor itself :)

This matches my play experience, where I can notice the difference when I'm temporary tanking in my mixed gear compaired to tanking in my tanking gear.

What does everyone else think of this?

Again, sorry to hijack. To get slightly back on topic, my advice is to level a bunch of different classes to 15 or 20 just to get the feel for things and see which on you like. :) And don't worry about going slow, enjoy leveling and exploring, it's certainly some of the most fun I've had in WoW. :)

edit. /sigh...mucked up the link again. Note to self: less drink, more think. :blush:

[RTM]

Ashock, I don't mean to pressure you into doing something you don't want to do, but my enjoyment of the game increased 100% after finding good people to play with, and by "good people" I mean "Lurkers". :) WoW is a much more social game than D2 whether you like it or not- you will need other people to complete certain quests. Sure you can solo the whole way to the level cap but you'd be missing out on a lot. With that in mind I recommend hopping on one of the Lurker servers as was suggested before (Stormrage for Alliance, Terenas for Horde).

Nobbie covered most of what I was going to say with regards to warriors. You should know that they're the most gear-dependant class in the game, so to keep up on your equipment you'll either be running a lot of instances for drops or farming a lot of cash to buy the stuff you need from the auction house. Blacksmithing will help somewhat but that in and of itself is probably one of the more money-intensive professions in the game. I don't want to discourage you or anything, but you should know what you're getting into. :)

[Ashock]

You've chosen the wrong (beginner) class with the Warrior! :P

Seriously, my first class was the Warrior, too, and I wasn't impressed either up to level 60 because leveling is SLOW as a TANK. And, when he had hit level 60, instances turned out to be hard work as a tank while casters like the "afk" Warlock and even healers like the Priest obviously had a good time.

Many people who start with a Warrior in WoW seem to have a Diablo II background, but the WoW Warrior is not your Diablo II Barbarian alt. The WoW Warrior, even with pure offensive talents, is primarily a TANK that should take the beating while keeping the monster's aggro away from the casters, healers and ranged attackers. If you want to make massive melee damage - and I assume that you want that - put your Warrior on the backburner and start a Rogue NOW! :)

The Rogue deals the most damage of all classes in 1 vs 1 PvE (and PvP) combat, and is painlessly to level up as no-twink character. In addition, you get a Stealth mode which allows you to bypass enemies you don't want to fight and which only two classes are capable of: the Druid (in Cat form) and the Rogue. The only drawback I can see playing a Rogue is that there are already enough Rogues in WoW. Unless you play in a guild (which I really recommend btw), you'll hardly get invites from instance groups later.

We had a thread here earlier last year that discusses which class, or two classes, people would now pick if they would start again in WoW. Someone pretty much brought it to the point - I think it was Bolty - with the suggestion that you start a (healing) Priest for the best (high-level) instance gaming and a lot group invites, and a Rogue for the best solo gaming and resource farming (note: you will need a LOT resources like runecloth for bandages and herbs for potions for instance gaming later). If you pick a Priest and a Rogue, I would recommend Herbalism/Alchemy for the Priest, and Herbalism/Mining (pure resource collecting) for the Rogue because Thorium Bars and Arcane Crystals/Bars always bring good money over time in the auction houses.
If you want to/can play just one single character, then the Druid would be the natural choice as he is a potent healer as well as a good damage dealer in feral form. Herbalism/Alchemy is the premier choice here. Leveling a Druid (in Cat form) is noticable slower than a Rogue with a good weapon, but the very good healing abilities of the Druid make it well worth it.

Keep in mind that all what has been said here (and elsewhere) is often the ESSENCE of playing WoW for over a year, and most bad or not-so-good things have been filtered out so far. While I personally would start with a Priest/Rogue, a Priest/Druid combo or just a Druid now, I certainly had a good time trying the other classes and professions until I came to my conclusions. As in Buddhism, the "way is the goal" in MMO's like WoW, so you may as well want to throw overboard most advice given here and figure out yourself what you personally like best :D
[right][snapback]102516[/snapback][/right]

Thanks for the info. Let me give you my backround a bit...


D1 - Warrior.
D2 - Barb and some Pally
Divine Divinity - Warrior
Sacred - Gladiator
Guild Wars - Warrior
BG and KOTOR - Soldier and Guardian

Host of other games - warrior, warrior, warrior, warrior, warrior - I think you get the picture. It's not really a choice for me :)


I will however probably start a warrior on Stormrage and pick a different profession(s). Does the fact that Stormrage is full make the game run slower?

So, what do you guys think about the Paly? Also, what would be a good profession(s) to make money - skinning/tanning?


Thanks and thanks to RTM also.

Edit: Some more general questions: 1) What is the advantage to bandaging as opposed to eating? They both seem to be undoable in the middle of a fight, so why bother with First Aid? Please enlighten. 2) Is alchemy a good profession and will it give me ability to make healing pots?


-A

[Tal]

Edit: Some more general questions: 1) What is the advantage to bandaging as opposed to eating? They both seem to be undoable in the middle of a fight, so why bother with First Aid? Please enlighten. 2) Is alchemy a good profession and will it give me ability to make healing pots?
-A
[right][snapback]102524[/snapback][/right]

First aid can be done in combat provided you're not being pounded on. That being said I use first aid as a dps warrior to heal quickly if I know I'm going to be out of line of sight of the healers for fights to get me topped off and back into combat. Food is strictly out of combat use. Other times if I don't feel like eating to go to the next target I'll do a quick bandage before charging.

Alchemy is a good profession but grinding the mats for the bigger health potions can sometimes be a pain. Shalandrax is a herbalist/Alchemist and I love being able to boost her strength, agility, fortitude, and crit chance easily.

Paladins are good soloing choices as well but do not have the melee options of a warrior. They also kill slowly but are also very hard to kill. ;)

[Ashock]

First aid can be done in combat provided you're not being pounded on. That being said I use first aid as a dps warrior to heal quickly if I know I'm going to be out of line of sight of the healers for fights to get me topped off and back into combat. Food is strictly out of combat use. Other times if I don't feel like eating to go to the next target I'll do a quick bandage before charging.

Alchemy is a good profession but grinding the mats for the bigger health potions can sometimes be a pain. Shalandrax is a herbalist/Alchemist and I love being able to boost her strength, agility, fortitude, and crit chance easily.

Paladins are good soloing choices as well but do not have the melee options of a warrior. They also kill slowly but are also very hard to kill. ;)
[right][snapback]102528[/snapback][/right]

Ahh ok, so Pally is out. I do not mind dying as long as I will take many with me ;)
So herbalism/Alchemy is for healing pots too or strictly for stat boosters? Which profession is best for making money? Are healing pots easily buyable provided enough money? Also, I have always disregarded high AC in D1 and 2. Can I continue to do that in WoW too? Stat boosters are more important than AC, right?
What is the fastest way to travel from place to place. So far I've only seen that stone that takes you to your home hotel and also Griffons that only seem to be usable in a few places. Is there something faster? No waypoints, right?

I will be starting a new warrior on Stormrage probably tonight, so I want to get things right at least at the start ;-) Too bad about my lvl 10 on Rexxar, but I guess in the scheme of things it is a small matter.


tia.



-A

[Lissa]

If Ace was MT, why were you in Defensive Stance?
[right][snapback]102463[/snapback][/right]

Habit from STing on the giants with the knock back/de-agro that happens so that I can keep ahead of DPSers in agro. I rather if someone drew agro it would be another Warrior than a squishy. I also make sure that my position is to put any mob with a cone AoE away from the raid and the Rogues to keep them from getting pummelled, ala Pyroblast and the Lava Reavers' cleaves.

[Lissa]

Yeah, HS is ok, *if* you're in battle stance as 2nd tank...if in defensive, stick to sunder, and some shield slam, and start after the MT gets a lead.  HS in defensive is too easy to pull aggro with, espec if you have a weapon advantage over the tank.  Also, if you are pulling aggro off the MT, regardless of why, you need to back off a bit.
[right][snapback]102486[/snapback][/right]

I may be wrong on my numbers, but I thought HS was about half the agro caused by Sunder with Shield Bash (or Slam then Bash, can't remember for sure on the order of those two, one being deep in Prot tree) being the top agro causer. So wouldn't Sundering and Shield Bashing be even more likely to pull agro from the MT when you get in a few lucky crit swings?

[nobbie]

Thanks for the info. Let me give you my backround a bit...
D1 - Warrior.
D2 - Barb and some Pally
Divine Divinity - Warrior
Sacred - Gladiator
Guild Wars - Warrior
BG and KOTOR - Soldier and Guardian

Host of other games - warrior, warrior, warrior, warrior, warrior - I think you get the picture. It's not really a choice for me  :)

I see your point, but let me give you another important hint with respect to the WoW Warrior: In solo combat (and up to level 60 you will be underway solo most of the time), you are limited to ONE healing pot every 2 minutes in combat, and ONE bandage every minute in combat (provided you're not being pounded on). It's not like D2 where you simply hammer the "1" key and slurp one big purple after the other :)

That being said, a Rogue is the better melee combat soloist even with lower armor because it can dispatch (and stun) enemies so fast that healing in combat (and downtime through eating) just isn't an issue most of the time. So, you may want to give a Rogue at least a try. The lack of healing was the premier reason why I've eventually given up my level 60 Undead Warrior who is a herb/ore farmer now. He does that job well, though ;)

[Tal]

Ahh ok, so Pally is out. I do not mind dying as long as I will take many with me  ;) [right][snapback]102531[/snapback][/right]

Well you will take many out before incapacitated as a paladin. It just won't be quick. If you're looking at doing high damage as a warrior I recommend investing in talents in the arms and fury trees. If you plan on dual-wielding one handed weapons I would go down the fury trees. Don't worry about making the absolute best choices for talents at this stage, just have fun. You can respec the talent points at the warrior trainer.

So herbalism/Alchemy is for healing pots too or strictly for stat boosters? [right][snapback]102531[/snapback][/right]

They also remove negative effects and restore health and mana. The profession can also be used for transmutation of objects. For example alchemists are needed to transmute arcanite for blacksmiths and weaponsmiths.

Which profession is best for making money? [right][snapback]102531[/snapback][/right]

A gathering profession seems to still be the top choices for making money. Skinning, herbing, mining and disenchanting (enchanting is the profession) and sell the products on the auction house.

Are healing pots easily buyable provided enough money? [right][snapback]102531[/snapback][/right]

Yes

Also, I have always disregarded high AC in D1 and 2. Can I continue to do that in WoW too? Stat boosters are more important than AC, right?[right][snapback]102531[/snapback][/right]

Stats are important but not at the risk of losing out on a lot of armor. For example there is some mail items that would be a huge boon to Shalandrax but I don't collect it because I don't wish to lose the extra armor my plate affords me. And when I do draw aggro every bit helps. ;)

What is the fastest way to travel from place to place. So far I've only seen that stone that takes you to your home hotel and also Griffons that only seem to be usable in a few places. Is there something faster? No waypoints, right?[right][snapback]102531[/snapback][/right]

No waypoints - just the griffons, boats and zepplins (horde side). The only thing faster won't come until you get to level 40 and can buy a mount which allows you to travel 60% faster.

I will be starting a new warrior on Stormrage probably tonight, so I want to get things right at least at the start ;-)
[right][snapback]102531[/snapback][/right]

Nice thing is that you can get to level 10 relatively easily and there are plenty of folks on SR who would be more than willing to send you bags and what not. To find other Lurkers just join the Lurker chat channel (type /join Lurkers into the chat box) and ask if anyone is paying attention to the channel to drop you an invite. If you let me know your character's name I'll send along some potions and a tabard. ;)

[Monkey]

Edit: Some more general questions: 1) What is the advantage to bandaging as opposed to eating? They both seem to be undoable in the middle of a fight, so why bother with First Aid? Please enlighten. 2) Is alchemy a good profession and will it give me ability to make healing pots?
-A
[right][snapback]102524[/snapback][/right]

Bandaging is faster than eating, but it puts a 1-minute debuff on you, preventing any bandaging during that minute. And you can bandage in combat, just not while taking damage. Later in your warrior career, you'll encounter intimidating shout which is a stun/fear ability and will allow you to do the classic int. shout+bandage for saving yourself.

Food can only be eaten out of combat, but there's no debuff--in fact, many foods offer a buff like increased stats or health/mana regen. Food is usually more involved to prepare than bandages as well.

Alchemy does make healing potions, and alchemy was my first tradeskill... but almost every character I make these days is some variety of skinning+other gathering. Money can be hard on your first character and warriors often aren't as fast as other classes in carrying out mass slaughter to generate cash. You can usually buy potions or anything else crafted you need on the Auction House.

I'd also like to echo the advice to "go green"--look for green mobs and green quests. And be sure to do all warrior-specific quests because warriors have a set of nice gear quests in their 20s.

Edit: Dammit, out-typed by Tal!

[Tal]

That being said, a Rogue is the better melee combat soloist even with lower armor because it can dispatch (and stun) enemies so fast that healing in combat (and downtime through eating) just isn't an issue most of the time. So, you may want to give a Rogue at least a try. The lack of healing was the premier reason why I've eventually given up my level 60 Undead Warrior who is a herb/ore farmer now. He does that job well, though ;)
[right][snapback]102534[/snapback][/right]

My warrior didn't seem to have the frustrations that you've experienced with your warrior. In fact I find I survived things that would drop rogues.

[Treesh]

That being said, a Rogue is the better melee combat soloist even with lower armor because it can dispatch (and stun) enemies so fast that healing in combat (and downtime through eating) just isn't an issue most of the time. So, you may want to give a Rogue at least a try. The lack of healing was the premier reason why I've eventually given up my level 60 Undead Warrior who is a herb/ore farmer now. He does that job well, though ;)
[right][snapback]102534[/snapback][/right]

I generally find that while leveling the rogue is usually quicker, my warrior lasts through the surprise "oh crap!" moments better than a rogue, if the rogue's skills are in cooldown (vanish, sprint, blind). Yeah, warriors have to fight their way out of those moments rather than just run and hide, but warriors can just fight through a lot of situations, depending on your gear and spec. ;) Although, honestly, there are no real challenging classes to play in this game so just play whatever you find fun. It may surprise you what classes you find fun though so if you do get exasperated or frustrated with one class, roll up another and see if you are having more or less fun with the new character compared to the previous character. Of course, that kind of hurts those classes that are more fun further in than they are at the beginning, but oh well. ;)

[Mavfin]

Thanks for the info. Let me give you my backround a bit...
D1 - Warrior.
D2 - Barb and some Pally
Divine Divinity - Warrior
Sacred - Gladiator
Guild Wars - Warrior
BG and KOTOR - Soldier and Guardian

[snip]

-A
[right][snapback]102524[/snapback][/right]

I, for one, will definitely not dissuade you from playing warrior. I came up through with a warrior and soloed about everything but multiple elites and instances without a lot of problem. Warriors are great. WoW has a lot of good character choices.

See you on SR. The cool thing about being there, is that you can ask questions in-game on guild channel and get answers from the Lurkers who are on, rather than having to post here and wait.

Added: A comment on the gryphons is that they're *like* waypoints in that you have to get to them by normal means before you can add their route.

[Tal]

Later in your warrior career, you'll encounter intimidating shout which is a stun/fear ability and will allow you to do the classic int. shout+bandage for saving yourself.
[right][snapback]102536[/snapback][/right]

Nope:

The warrior shouts, causing the targeted enemy to stay and fight. All other nearby enemies will flee in fear. Lasts 8 sec.

You might be thinking of piercing howl available through talents which has a daze affect. Unfortunately it is daze only and will not allow for bandaging.

[Ashock]

Well you will take many out before incapacitated as a paladin. It just won't be quick. If you're looking at doing high damage as a warrior I recommend investing in talents in the arms and fury trees. If you plan on dual-wielding one handed weapons I would go down the fury trees. Don't worry about making the absolute best choices for talents at this stage, just have fun. You can respec the talent points at the warrior trainer.
They also remove negative effects and restore health and mana. The profession can also be used for transmutation of objects. For example alchemists are needed to transmute arcanite for blacksmiths and weaponsmiths.
A gathering profession seems to still be the top choices for making money. Skinning, herbing, mining and disenchanting (enchanting is the profession) and sell the products on the auction house.
Yes
Stats are important but not at the risk of losing out on a lot of armor. For example there is some mail items that would be a huge boon to Shalandrax but I don't collect it because I don't wish to lose the extra armor my plate affords me. And when I do draw aggro every bit helps. ;)
No waypoints - just the griffons, boats and zepplins (horde side). The only thing faster won't come until you get to level 40 and can buy a mount which allows you to travel 60% faster.
Nice thing is that you can get to level 10 relatively easily and there are plenty of folks on SR who would be more than willing to send you bags and what not. To find other Lurkers just join the Lurker chat channel (type /join Lurkers into the chat box) and ask if anyone is paying attention to the channel to drop you an invite. If you let me know your character's name I'll send along some potions and a tabard. ;)
[right][snapback]102535[/snapback][/right]

Thanks and thanks to all of you. The char name will probably be Thorash.


cya



-A


ps. I'm sure I will have more questions ;-)

[Treesh]

Nope:

[right][snapback]102540[/snapback][/right]

But what if you don't have a mob targetted when you shout? Oddly enough, I've never bothered to test it. :)

[Tal]

But what if you don't have a mob targetted when you shout?  Oddly enough, I've never bothered to test it. :)
[right][snapback]102543[/snapback][/right]

You get a notice saying that you need to have a mob targetted (and in range from my experience in MC trying to burn the shout before being MC'd).