Disclaimer: This guide is not a complete 1 to 1 guideline of what your experience in World of Warcraft should be , but more of a place to find and compile ideas. This guide is also based on my personal experience of playing WoW since release, doing current content in PvE as well as PvP and will therefore contain a large portion of personal opinion as well as common sense. Any suggestions and/or different opinions will be viewed and considered.


The Plan : To maximize the full potential of your planing experience in WoW with the resources given to you. The most important resource that one should consider should always be : Time. This guide should not promote excessive play especially if you simply should be doing something else (school, work, relationships, etc ).


The Basic Structure

This should give you a basic overview of a general account structure, containing the types of characters
available and their functions.

The Mainchar : Everyone has one. It is the character that you do current content , grind achievements or do most PvP with. He is the basis for every account as he most often represents you in interactions with other players and is therefore your most personal character in you ingame experience.

Other high/max level Characters : These should either be the workforce behind your Mainchar, a resource to help your guild/friends or a place to kill excess time/do secondary Ids. I suggest that everyone should level at least one of these to maximize professions and ingame experience. Personally, I would recommend a class and Spec different from you Mainchar to get a more complete view of the content.

The Bankchar : He is the place where you put the stuff that is decent enough to keep but not important enough to carry around. Remember: Any Items value is determined by to time it takes to aquire it! I suggest that in order to fully use the full capabilities of this character you should invest the time/money to found your own guild, making interactions between multiple Bankchars easier and greatly increasing storage space. Filling up open character slots with these is often a good idea as they can be helpful during certain events (holiday events, etc).

Funchar : These have no real function and are there simply because you either wanted to try a class but you either didn't like it or haven't gotten around to leveling him yet. They can be used for extra storage, lowlvl PvP or killing time.


What to Do?

In World of Warcraft the possibilities of spending your time are numerous and finding a field that suits your preference is the most important thing in getting most fun out of this game. Being active in most of these fields often helps your general performance in overall content because it makes you aware of changes in mechanics, costs or ingame balance. There are 4 major areas of content : PvE, PvP, Professions and Economic.

PvE: It can be anything from leveling and daily quests to dungeons and Raids. Its content is based on you defeating a computer controlled mob(s)/encounter and receiving a reward (Gold, Items, Rep; etc). These encounters follow scripted mechanics and can therefore be predicted/analyzed by experience or reading up on the encounter on you trusted warcraft internet database. Your personal performance in this field is based on how well you can execute the abilities of your character while being aware of the mechanics of the enemy. The general rule applies : If you don't know what your doing, then your doing something wrong. Many high-end encounters require a lot of coordination and being aware of what your doing or supposed to be is key in being a good player.

PvP: The field is based on the hostile interaction between human players. This can happen on many occasions, often right at the moment where you would least need it or in organized areas such as arena or battleground. This field is highly influenced by the quality of your reactions to the changing actions of your opponent as well as your class/spec, equipment and current game balance. Sure Skill > Equip but I have yet to see a skilled green equipped holypriest win against a full pvp, half decent skilled arcane mage. Since Cataclysm most gear has become easy to acquire and I strongly suggest gearing up before you let getting blown up frustrate you because with time and equip, odds will even out and then you will have the pleasure of blowing up something.

Professions: Every character has 2 possible Primary professions and I would strongly suggest that you take as many as you can, on multiple characters if possible. Being self-reliant is key to maximizing the full potential of your account and by limiting the cost of making,acquiring and enhancing items. Remember : Lich King professions can be learned at 65, Cataclysm at 75.
I strongly suggest that on secondary high level character (preferably druid/rogue) obtain both mining and herbalism for the sole purpose of farming when the prices in the auction house are to high. A deathknight can often help bridge the first low levels in order to get a secondary profession char started. The three mayor professions one should try to acquire are juwelcrafting, alchemy and enchanting. The armor crafting professions and engineering are mostly optional as their benefits are usually only for select classes but should not be completely avoided as they grant special bonuses, money making possibilities and reduced cost for enhancements. Inscription is also a profession which reduces personal costs and is almost free to level with even to low-level Glyphs still selling.

Economy: Gold can often be viewed as time, stored in currency. WoW often revolves greatly on being able to acquire certain items at an exact moment, and if these items are either BoE or free to trade there is no way around owning at least some of it. Like mentioned before: The value of an item is determined by the time it takes to acquire it! If you can make 1000g in an hour farming herbs/mining you should not spend an hour farming other mats for an hour if they only cost 100g. Owning a decent amount of items from all level ranges can often help you and others and when the time comes, you will be glad you sent those items to you bankchar instead of selling them to a vendor or dumping them in the AH for a few gold. Being aware of the market is also key to sustaining a nice amount of cash, reading up on material cost, changes in droprate or introductions of new items can help you stay ahead of the market and reduce the time you need to spend making gold.

All these field offer countless ways of spending your time and in order to take true potential of your account I would advise you look into every single one. Personal preference of course goes above everything and you should not force yourself to do something you don't like no matter how profitable it can be.

How to do It?

The key to most of WoW content is common sense and an open mind. Be Aware. This game like all good games is solvable and by understanding what is happening around you and what you can do with your character, it is not hard to play. Ever since Cataclysm the focus has once again been laid on how well you can use all the abilities given to you and to be responsible for your own actions. But like always in certain areas you will only be as good as the people you play with and your success may be overturned by their failure. In order to reduce the stress put on yourself as well as others one should consider limiting the amount of possible outside influences by organizing a limited group of players, most commonly inside a guild.

The Guild
aka “the people you share victory and defeat with.”

World of Warcraft, as may are hopefully aware is a game that is based on the united actions of all participating in it and therefore often can only be as fun as the people you play with. Finding People you like to play with will increase the satisfaction of accomplishing achievements and dampening the effects of loss. There will be times when you curse them for there constant afks, Dcs, noobnesses and ignorance towards common sense but these will hopefully be outweighed by the glorious moments of firstkills, Teamspeak crackups and ingame as well as reallife support. If this is not the case I would suggest that you reevaluate your situation and possibly look for a place that better suits your needs. Often your choice should again be based on how much time you can invest to limit the possibilities but knowing your server often helps when picking the right guild. Ideally these are people you know in real life or maybe would want to get to know. However you should always be aware of what you are expecting from the game and what other might expect.

Solo Play
aka “just me”

Even with its focus on teamplay, there are many areas of WoW that you can enjoy solo and with limited time, organizing often becomes too time consuming. With the dungeon finder tool and random battlegrounds it is possible to participate in most current content without the need for help from people you know. Pugging raids was possible in most stages of WoW and will problibly will be again soon as people learn the new encounters and gear up. While this type of play is possible I strongly suggest finding a constant group of people as the results usually are better. This option is usually for people with minimal time to invest as they cant participate in organized event such as raids.

Where Do I do It?

The first aspect you want to consider is the type of realm you want to play on. There are options for PvP, Role playing and a mixture of both. Realize that if you should choose a PvP realm leveling and playing can sometime be interrupted by often unwanted encounters with the other fraction as well as that if you choose a RP realm, interaction with other people often involves a certain formal code of behavior. Having friends on certain realm always helps an should be considered as changing realms involves real cash.

With What do I do It With?

When starting an account I suggest you research the class you want to play well, using online sources such as Mmo-Champion to get a idea of the discourse of this classes abilities and roles in the game.
Picking a hybrid such as a Druid or Paladin can often help you level your first char easier and getting a taste of the possible roles in a group. Finding the character that suits you best is ofen trial and error and I would encourage leveling multiple classes as abilities and balancing change constantly. If you find a role that suits you best and promises to be enjoyable focus on it but be aware of the other specs. Read into what stats are important to your class and how these change the mechanics of your spells. This should help you choose the right gear. Also, when starting out new on a realm I would advise you to start this character with mining, herbalism or skinning. This will help you early on by securing a good source of income outside of quest rewards. Sell some, save some, and you can level a different profession with the items acquired while leveling.

How do I get to 85?

Since release the time and experience it takes to level a character from 0 - max has been decreased and it is possible to raise a character to max level in a matter of days. Special mechanics like the Recruit a Friend program have also been added to allow friends of current players to level faster while also giving special benefits.

The main possible ways to level are Questing, Dungeons, PvP and grinding.

Questing: Probably the best way to level as it not only provides you with current gear and materials, but ever since the face of Azeroth has been redesigned has included some enjoyable quests that give you insight in the world of warcraft an the possible zones. Be aware of the rewards you receive as they sometimes have special features and may be upgrades to your current equip.

Dungeons: When reaching a certain level, dungeons become a possibility of leveling and with the right class and spec you can join them almost instantly. They often reward better loot than quest but also require a certain knowledge of what you are doing and a risk of other people not knowing exactly that.
This may often result in stressful situations and a halt to the leveling process as killing mobs becomes difficult when you are dead.

PvP: Experience can also be gained when participating in battlegrounds and can add some enjoyment when questing becomes to boring or you are not willing to wait for a dungeon invite. Though often class dependent at lower levels it is a powerful tool to train your reflexes and knowledge of your own and other classes.

Grinding : Probably the most boring way to level but possible none the less. Certain classes are blessed with the ability to kill multiple mobs in your level range in a short amount of time,with little resources. If this is so and the rate of killing is not hindered by slow respawns or downtime due to regaining mana/health this becomes a viable option. Since Cataclysm the possibility of gaining Xp through gathering profession has also been added and can be used to level through farming. This also becomes helpful when owing a flying mount and in need of certain obtainable resources ( leveling from 80-82 by farming in Hyal / Highlands as an example).

I'm 85, now what?

Congratulations, you are now at the highest level this World of Warcraft expansion. If this is your Mainchar you should now start looking into equipping your character to its full potential. First you should ask yourself if you first want to participate in the PvE or PvP protion of this game, this is important because both require considerable resources to bring your character to its full potential.

PvE: By questing you should have received a certain level of gear and reputation with certain fractions. The first thing you want to do is check with all the fraction vendors for possible gear as they will provide you with a nice amount of starting gear, also purchase all tabards as they are needed to further increase your reputation so that you can purchase better items. To further better your gear it is now time to enter normal dungeons and later heroic dungeons and raids. This is often a slow process as you have to rely on luck in the items that drop, but unavoidable if you choose to participate in all current content. Like mentioned earlier, this process is aided by participating in close knit groups such as your guild and friends, reducing the chance of the wanted item going to someone else. Like always it's important to communicate with other members to avoid frustration and bad blood.

PvP: If the gear you received during leveling is the gear that will start you out with in PvP I can assure you that the beginning will be rough. Getting the rare crafted set for your class should make thing a little smoother but it will take time until you can stand your ground in the battleground. The key is : don't get frustrated, your time will come. Finding a group of friends with a similar orientation is extremely important as 90% of PvP is based on team play. If there is no group available solo play is also possible and will teach you some nice lessons on internet behavior and of big mouths with little behind but also the sometimes stunning moments of when random people get together and magic happens .

How should I act?

This Question is one that only can be answered by yourself. Thoughts become action, actions become habits, habits become you. If you choose to be “That Guy”, that ninja's (i.e. Steals), flames and oppresses other players, well then you're just that. However in order to sleep better and have interactions with players more then once and if you believe a little bit in karma then the rules are simple: Be respectful, be helpful, be patient.

Sure, this is a game of anonymity and chances are you will never see that person in real life, but why base your actions on a lack of consequences when you can make someone else feel better, be more efficient and restore faith in the kindness of humanity.