World of Warcraft (commonly abbreviated as WoW) is a massively
multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Blizzard
Entertainment.
It is the fourth game in the Warcraft series, excluding expansion packs and the
cancelled Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. The Warcraft games are set in
the Warcraft Universe, a fantasy setting introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
in 1994. World of Warcraft itself takes place within the world of Azeroth, four
years after the events at the conclusion of Blizzard's previous release,
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. World of Warcraft's release celebrated the 10th
anniversary of the Warcraft franchise.
Although its initial release was hampered by server stability and performance
issues, problems which still intermittently recur,[1] the game is widely
regarded as a success. World of Warcraft has almost seven million active
subscriptions worldwide as of September 2006
our
years have passed since the aftermath of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, and a
great tension now smolders throughout the ravaged world of Azeroth. As the
battle-worn races begin to rebuild their shattered kingdoms, new threats, both
ancient and ominous, arise to plague the world once again.
orld
of Warcraft is an online role-playing experience set in the award-winning
Warcraft universe. Players assume the roles of Warcraft heroes as they explore,
adventure, and quest across a vast world. Being "Massively Multiplayer," World
of Warcraft allows thousands of players to interact within the same world.
Whether adventuring together or fighting against each other in epic battles,
players will form friendships, forge alliances, and compete with enemies for
power and glory.
dedicated live team will create a constant stream of new adventures to
undertake, lands to explore, and monsters to vanquish. This content ensures that
the game will never be the same from month to month, and will continue to offer
new challenges and adventures for years to come.
Encounter many familiar and new Warcraft characters and
monsters.
Learn the continuing story of Azeroth by completing a wide variety of
challenging quests.
Journey through an epic world filled with dungeons of different styles and
depths.
Explore 6 huge capital cities, which serve as major hubs for the races
inhabiting them.
Practice various professions to help locate reagents, make and
enhance custom items, acquire wealth through trade with other players, and more
Establish a guild, purchase a custom guild tabard, and promote or demote
recruits to different ranks within the guild.
Mail gold, items, or messages to other players, or send them to your own
characters for easy muling.
Sell your items or search for items for sale via the automated auction house.
Locate and engage other players with easy-to-use features and tools, including
chat channels, friends lists, and animated and audible character expressions.
Customize the game's interface via XML.
Enjoy hundreds of hours of gameplay with new quests, items, and adventures every
month.
As a massively multiplayer online game, World of Warcraft enables thousands of players to come together online and battle against the world and each other. Players from across the globe can leave the real world behind and undertake grand quests and heroic exploits in a land of fantastic adventure. At long last, the world of Azeroth, first glimpsed in Warcraft I and further enhanced in subsequent strategy games, is realized in glorious detail and ready for the arrival of millions of prospective players. So step upon the hallowed shores of this embattled world, and see what journeys await for those who would plumb this ancient realm's many secrets.
A Familiar World
World of Warcraft draws heavily upon the lore of the Warcraft universe. Long-time fans of the Warcraft games are finally able to step into the world from a player's perspective, and experience the universe firsthand. People, places, and units from the strategy games are finally brought to life in World of Warcraft.
A peasant returns to the town hall You can visit such places as the Burning Steppes, where Grom Hellscream fell in battle against the demon lord Mannoroth, and Ironforge, where the dwarves make their home below the mountain. Legendary heroes, such as Thrall, Cairne Bloodhoof, and King Magni Bronzebeard, are also in the game, presiding over their respective peoples as leaders in their race's capitals.
Guards in the human city of Stormwind look just like footmen from Warcraft III, peasants in the human town of Hillsbrad look exactly like their counterparts in the strategy games, and orc peons shuffle about the farms of Go'Shek in the Arathi Highlands. Night elf players can even see gargantuan Ancient Protectors patrolling the elven lands of Teldrassil, while a towering Ancient of War waits to greet all visitors to Darnassus.
Creating a Character
When choosing a character to create in World of Warcraft, there are many choices before you. There are eight races and nine classes available, but the game's primary choice when it comes to character creation is the faction you wish to fight for. You can join the Horde or the Alliance, and your choice here determines much of what you can and cannot accomplish in the world.
Character Creation You can only group and talk to players in your own faction. You also can only view and befriend players in your faction when using the in-game social commands. The intent is to make you feel like a member of one enormous team, while at the same time setting up the other faction as an enemy or, at best, a rival. Thus, if you wish to play with your friends, you will want to all join the same faction. Other content, such as the zones you can visit and the quests you can accomplish, are also organized by faction. Some quests can only be completed by Horde players and others can only be completed by Alliance players. Some zones offer cities and interactive NPCs for one faction, but are completely hostile to the other.
The Horde side includes the orc, tauren, troll, and undead races, while the Alliance side includes dwarves, gnomes, humans, and night elves. All classes are equally well-represented on both sides, with the exception of the shaman and paladin classes. Shaman can only be played by Horde players, and Paladins are exclusive to the Alliance side.
Adventuring in the World
When you first start a game of World of Warcraft, you will be taken to your race's starting area. All the races except trolls and gnomes begin in a unique location. Those two races have to share starting locales with the orcs and dwarves, respectively. After watching a brief in-game cutscene introducing your race, you are set loose upon the world.World of Warcraft presents many different monsters to challenge you in battle. These creatures roam the countryside and populate vast dungeons and aboveground locations. There are wandering beasts, such as wolves, spiders, scorpions (called scorpids in this world), six-legged crocodiles called crocolisks, crabs, vultures, hyenas, big cats, bears, and more. More sinister enemies also block your travels. Humanoid foes of every kind, such as pirates, bandits, cultists, and soldiers from the opposing faction, join more unnatural monsters like undead, oozes, gryphons, and elementals, in providing conflict and danger on your journeys.
You'll also see some familiar monstrous creatures, such as ogres, gnolls, centaurs, satyrs, murlocs, wildkin, and others, that are inspired by the hostile creeps of Warcraft III. And you'll encounter more spectacular enemies like demons, infernals, dragonspawn, and mighty dragons stalking the dungeons and high-level areas of the world.
Water Elemental The territories and terrain you will be able to explore are vast and varied. In addition to borrowing from some of the most storied locations in Warcraft history, the game also shows off many different kinds of environments, such as the lush forests in Ashenvale and Feralas, the snowy mountains in Dun Morogh, the savannah of the Barrens, the plains of Mulgore, and the deserts of Tanaris. Swamps in Un'Goro Crater, jungles in Stranglethorn Vale, farmland in Elwynn Forest, and even deforested hills in Stonetalon Mountains are some more of the many environmental regions you can explore. Terrain that has been vastly altered by magic and the ravages of war also appear in the game. The razed city of Dalaran, encased in a protective magic shell, is a painful reminder of the devastation of the Reign of Chaos, while the infested Eastern and Western Plaguelands are filled with diseased animals and plantlife, courtesy of the Scourge's plague.
This long list of fascinating terrain doesn't even include the underground environments and dungeons of the world. There are dungeons available for all ranges of mid- to high-level players, and offer many rich quests, rewards, and enemies to encounter in the depths below ground.
Questing
Quests are a big part of World of Warcraft. Like most other role-playing games, World of Warcraft lets you advance in level as you gain experience. Experience can be gathered by killing monsters, exploring new destinations, and completing quests. Unlike in other games, quests are a significant tool for level advancement. Players who try to level up through sheer combat will never advance as fast as those who combine questing with monster killing.
Samophlange Quest Sprinkled liberally throughout the game world are hundreds of quest givers who provide thousands of quests. These quests can range from the simple to the complex. Some quests ask you to kill a set number of beasts or monsters, others ask you to collect trophies from creatures, and others ask you to slay unique non-player characters or named creatures. Other quests ask you to deliver documents or items to other NPCs, escort important characters out of danger, or recover artifacts or lost items from fortified dungeons. Although many quests share a similar structure, all of them are presented by unique NPCs who deliver interesting backstory with each quest, which in turn brings the world alive and gives each quest a unique flavor.
Although those who love the story will want to dive into the quests for the lore they reveal, many players will also want to complete quests for the experience and the rewards. Nearly all quests give sizeable experience rewards.
Many quests also provide material rewards, such as cash, potions, food, drink, magic items, armor, and weapons. Some of the best equipment you can find in the game will only be available as quest rewards.
Simple Interface
World of Warcraft has as friendly a user interface as possible to make the game accessible to all players.To ease players into questing, the game makes it easy to identify quest givers by the yellow exclamation marks over their heads. It is also easy to keep track of your quests through the quest log. You can always refer to this interface window to see all your accepted quests, the goals you need to still accomplish, and where to go to turn in your quest. When you return to a quest giver for your reward, a yellow question mark will replace the exclamation mark to tell you that your quest can be turned in.
You can also tell at a quick mouse-over who an NPC is and how you can interact with it. A smart cursor usually pops up with an icon to remind you that you can just right-click on the NPC to begin an interaction. Quest givers pop up with a chat balloon to tell you that you can talk to them. Trainers, who teach your characters new abilities and spells, pop up with a book. If you can harvest a resource from the world, your cursor will pop up with an appropriate action icon. If you can harvest a plant, a flower cursor pops up. If you can mine ore, you get a mining pick cursor. In this way, the game tells you immediately and intuitively how you can interact with the world.
Fighting is just as easy. All you need to do is right-click on a monster to begin attacking. Casting spells is also simple: Click on a spell icon and then click on a target. To facilitate the use of spells, World of Warcraft offers an action bar at the bottom of the screen where you can place icons representing all your spells and abilities. You can thus use them at a quick click of the mouse, or by pressing the hotkeys associated with the icons on your action bar.
Fighting a Bear You can even move your chat window around the screen, customize the colors of the window to better suit your tastes, and customize your combat log, which is a scrolling text box showing all your maneuvers and those of your enemies in battle so that you can keep track of combat.
Social Aspects
World of Warcraft is an online game with thousands of players, so naturally the game is built to facilitate extensive in-game socializing. You can search for players easily by key words, looking for those in your same zone or with certain names. You can also add players to a friends list, so you can keep track of nice and helpful players for grouping or just talking.
Create a Guild with Your Friends Grouping is simple as well. Many quests are designed to be accomplished with other players, and you'll therefore want to seek out the help of other characters. Groups can have up to five players, who should be around the same level so that all players in the group can fight acceptable challenges and earn good experience. The game also has "raid groups," which allow up to 40 players to adventure together against uncommonly powerful foes and quests.
Instance Dungeons
To promote the idea of epic adventuring with friends, World of Warcraft also introduces a concept called the instance dungeon. Instance dungeons are dungeons in the world that spawn specifically for each group of adventurers that enter them. Each time a group enters such an instance, a unique version of it spawns for that group only. This means no other players can play in that instance and bother the group, steal kills or treasure from the party, and hinder its play experience. With each group getting its own personal dungeon, players will have all the benefits of a single-player role-playing experience but with the camaraderie and fun of an online game.
Entrance to an Instance Instance dungeons are incredibly difficult yet fun. There is especially good treasure in instances to entice players to explore their depths, and more powerful foes called elite monsters to keep the instances challenging. Instances are also more densely packed with monsters, and home to some of the game's most unique and powerful adversaries.
The first available instance dungeons are for characters in the mid-teens in levels, and there are dozens more to accommodate all levels thereafter up to 60.
Player-versus-Player Combat
Player-versus-player gameplay is very important to World of Warcraft. However, the designers are mindful that players are very divided about this issue. Thus, Blizzard has made sure that there are two different server types at launch. On the normal servers, PvP combat is entirely consensual. You cannot be attacked by other players unless you want to be. The other server type is player-versus-player, and on this server, you can sometimes be attacked by players of the opposing faction without warning.
"I'm glad I'm not on a PvP server" On normal servers, you can enter into player-versus-player combat by storming enemy capitals, entering special PvP zones called battlegrounds, or by attacking the guards in enemy cities. In all cases, you have a choice to engage in PvP combat or not.
On PvP servers, there are many zones that are flagged as contested territory. In these zones, players from opposing factions can attack each other freely. Thus, you could be fighting monsters by yourself, only to be killed by a stealthed enemy rogue. PvP servers also enable PvP combat through Battlegrounds, attacking enemy guards, and entering enemy capitals.
The rewards for PvP play are excellent, however. Blizzard wants to encourage players to participate in PvP, since the Horde-Alliance conflict is central to the Warcraft universe. As you kill enemy guards and enemy players, you will accumulate honor points, which translate into a military rank. As you progress through the ranks, you will gain certain benefits, such as special equipment, weapons, and mounts. Because rank is competitive, you will have to continue to engage in PvP play to maintain or increase your rank, since other players could advance past you if they accomplish more in the battle against the opposing faction. Keep in mind though, that you will only gain points for killing players near your level. Blizzard will not reward players who attack lower-level characters.
Learning More
The information in this guide is a teaser for World of Warcraft. Indeed, the information contained herein is just a small sample of the epic adventure you can experience and the scope of detail and options available to you in the world of Azeroth. To learn more about the game, visit the World of Warcraft guide via the links to the left or by visiting the URL https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/basics/.
Four years have passed since the aftermath of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, and a great tension now smolders throughout the ravaged world of Azeroth. As the battle-worn races begin to rebuild their shattered kingdoms, new threats, both ancient and ominous, arise to plague the world once again. Alliance box
World of Warcraft is an online role-playing experience set in the award-winning Warcraft universe. Players assume the roles of Warcraft heroes as they explore, adventure, and quest across a vast world. World of Warcraft is a "Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game" which allows thousands of players to interact within the same world. Whether adventuring together or fighting against each other in epic battles, players will form friendships, forge alliances, and compete with enemies for power and glory.
What is an MMORPG?
MMORPG is an acronym for "Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game". In an MMORPG, thousands of players exist in the same game world at the same time.
Visit the "General F.A.Q." section of the site to find out more
What is World of Warcraft?
As a massively multiplayer online game, World of Warcraft enables thousands of players to come together online and battle against the world and each other. Players from across the globe can leave the real world behind and undertake grand quests and heroic exploits in a land of fantastic adventure. Click here to read more.
What does World of Warcraft have to offer?
Unlike other MMORPGs, World of War craft allows players to play the game at their own pace, whether it be a few hours here and there or entire weeks at a time. The quest system also provides an enormous variety of captivating quests with story elements, dynamic events, and flexible reward systems. World of Warcraft also features a faster style of play, with less downtime and an emphasis on combat and tactics against multiple opponents.
Many quests and monsters through the early and middle
stages of game play can be conquered alone without the help of other players,
particularly if the player's character is higher level than his opponents. Other
portions of the game, such as its instanced dungeon areas, are designed to
require players to work together for success. Dungeons are designed for parties
ranging from two to five players, up to significantly more difficult "raids" a
term originating from Ever Quest game play requiring up to a maximum of 40
players. The highest level, most complex dungeons and encounters are designed to
take raiding guilds months of playtime and many attempts before they succeed.
In particular, the game areas designed specifically for level 60 characters are
generally much more raid-dependent ( and time-consuming ) than the relatively
more casual experience of advancing one's character from levels 1 to 60.
The majority of World of War craft's endgame content ( content
specifically designed for level 60 characters ) requires raiding, with
raids making up the bulk of the game's development since release.
Because characters cannot currently progress in experience level beyond 60, game
play focus at that level typically changes for players wishing to further
improve their combat power and effectiveness. Since combat and quests at level
60 earn the character money and items, but no experience, characters improve by
continuing to upgrade their equipment. With few exceptions, the most powerful
gear in the game is earned either as P V P rewards in battlegrounds, or by
fighting consistently over a long course of time in the highest difficulty raid
instances. Large P v E raids normally take a few hours to clear entire dungeons,
such as Molten Core, Ahn' Qiraj, and Black wing Lair. Because of the extreme
damage monsters at this level of play can inflict, a common practice is to equip
with 'resist' gear, meaning equipment specifically designed to maximize a
character's resistance and defense against the opponents he expects to face in
that particular raid, such as equipping items with high fire resistance before
facing a raid involving monsters that primarily deal fire damage. It also helps
to improve a character's reputation for factions associated with the instance,
to make sure the character has enough cash saved up for repairs, and to purchase
consumable items for use within the instance. For example, the newest 40 man
instance, Naxxramas, requires the right reputation level to be allowed to enter
the instance without expensive material costs.
World of Warcraft offers a variety of mounts for the different
races of Azeroth. Humans, for example, generally ride horses, and Orcs tend to
favor their trusted wolf mounts. A mount is a special type of permanent pet that
a player can own. Using one requires the riding talent, and with extensive
training, riding specialists will be able to use mounts not generally available
to their particular race.
More than mere status symbols, mounts allow players to travel over land more
quickly than on foot. When a player is mounted, he or she has full control over
the mount. To avoid exploiting monsters, players cannot attack while mounted.
Also, monsters are unable to attack mounts. Instead, when a player is mounted,
all attacks and damage are directed at the player and not at the mount. If a
player dies while on a mount, the mount will "unsummon" and be available for "resummoning"
once the player reenters the world of the living.
Owning a mount is an impressive accomplishment in the game (not to mention the
fact that it makes you look cool).
Modified emotes are available for when you're on a mount.
The mounts for each race can differ in appearance. For instance, wolves' fur can
be gray, white, black, or other colors.
Some quests are related to mounts. Paladins can talk to the paladin trainers
Duthroian Rall or Brandur Ironhammer.
Your mount automatically "unsummons" when you go indoors, and can be resummoned
when you go outdoors again.
If you have one of the old model fast mounts, you can exchange it for one with a
new look at the mount vendor.
Information
Mounts are available to everyone at level 40. The mount requires Apprentice
Riding and is 60% faster than walking. A second faster mount is available at
level 60. This mount requires Journeyman Riding and is 100% faster than walking.
Before being able to ride these mounts, you must first get training from the
trainer. The price is 90g and 900g. Some prices may vary depending on faction.
Players can purchase and train mounts from other races in their faction.
However, you will first need to obtain "exalted" reputation status with that
race in order to do so. Mounts of the opposing faction are not available for
purchase.
Warlocks and Paladins have a level 40 and level 60 quest for their special
mounts. Paladin Epic Mount quest: To begin, talk to the paladin trainers
Duthroian Rall or Brandur Ironhammer. Warlock Epic Mount quest: To begin, speak
with a demon trainer in any of the capital cities: Kurgal, Martha Strain,
Spackle Thornberry, or Jubahl Corpseeker.
There are rare mounts out there to discover!
All Mounts are changed to Bind on Pickup. You cannot sell your mount because
people used to sell their mount by mistake.
Taking part in dungeon raids can be an adventure and a
challenge. Raid dungeons take careful planning, coordination, knowledge, capable
leaders, and skilled participants to conquer them. We have created this primer
based on community feedback to provide players with some tips on how to best
organize and run a successful raid.
Selecting a Raid Leader
The raid leader can influence everything in the guild from recruiting, to guild
gathering (herbs/mining/recipes), to global guild plans. Capable raid leaders
are highly knowledgeable about the game's mechanics, dungeon layouts, and the
specifics of each class's role in a raid setting. Having this knowledge helps
them to be effective at managing and organizing players of each class. It's
important that they are capable problem solvers, should any disagreements arise
between raid members. Leaders should be able to remain calm when things go wrong
and encourage raiders to continue to overcome their obstacles.
It can be beneficial to designate several qualified people as raid leaders in
the guild. This can help divide up the workload one may face when taking on the
large responsibility of being a raid leader. Having multiple raid leaders is
also helpful during times when a key leader isn't able to log into the game.
Alternate leaders can then step into the role and ease any anxieties that a
group might feel due to absence of their normal raid leader.
Raid Scheduling
Create a Guild Raiding Calendar
Consider creating a calendar of raid times that takes advantage of when your
guild has the most members available. Let guild members know well in advance
when a raid is scheduled to occur so that they can plan accordingly. You can
create a sign-up sheet and ask players to sign up in advance. This way, you will
know who intends to show up and can organize the raid more effectively. There
are also free web-based calendar programs you can use on your personal guild
website as well. At the very least, having a regular raid schedule can allow
guild members to plan their attendance accordingly.
Raid Scheduling
It's often a good idea to schedule raids around the times that the raid dungeons
reset. You can see when each dungeon resets here. You should also try to pick
times that align with the play schedule of the majority of the guild. Be
flexible with your start and end times, and be prepared to substitute people in
and out as the raid progresses, since people may need to arrive late or need to
leave early from the raid.
Raids Spanning Multiple Days
Initially, when a guild makes their first attempt at progressing through a raid
dungeon, it can often take several hours to advance from boss to boss. As the
guild begins to learn each encounter and perfect their raiding technique,
players will find that the time it takes to complete the raid dungeon is
significantly reduced. Many guilds work toward this goal so that they can cut
down on the time investment of a particular raid dungeon and also schedule in
additional events and raids. Until your raid group reaches that point, it's good
to remember that most raids can be completed in increments. A boss kill is
usually a logical stopping point for a raid group, before continuing on another
day.
Still, it's important to try and schedule raids with plenty of time to allow for
completion. Otherwise the dungeon will reset on its scheduled day and you'll
have to start from the beginning. Consult the Raid Calendar when planning your
raids to help make sure that you can complete as much as possible before the
time of reset. Most importantly, be patient with yourself and your guild if you
find that it takes some time to learn a particular dungeon, especially if you're
at the point where you can't complete the dungeon before it is reset.
Selecting the Raid Dungeon
Initially, you want to focus on raiding dungeons that benefit and better equip
the majority of players. Once you have built up your guild's equipment and
gained experience working as a group, you can work to take on more challenging
dungeons.
Upper Blackrock Spire (UBRS) and Zul'Gurub (ZG) are good places to begin. Upper
Blackrock Spire allows 10 players to be in the instance at one point in time,
while Zul'Gurub allows for 20 players. From there many guilds head to Molten
Core or Onyxia. Both of these encounters allow for 40 players to be in the
instance at one time. Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj (AQ20) is a good dungeon for raids that
have mastered UBRS, ZG, and Molten Core. Once those dungeons have been mastered,
players often challenge themselves with Blackwing Lair (BWL) and Temple of
Ahn'Qiraj (AQ40). Last on the progression is Naxxramas, which currently, is the
most challenging raid dungeon in the game. Blackwing Lair, Temple of Ahn'Qiraj,
and Naxxramas also all allow for 40 players to be in the instance at one time.
If you're looking for non-instanced experiences, there are multiple outdoor raid
encounters located in many points throughout Azeroth. These can prove to be fun,
and challenging. Keep in mind, since the outdoor raid bosses are not instanced,
you may end up competing with other players for the victory. You can follow the
link below for more information on the outdoor raid encounters.
Before Raiding
Add-Ons
While World of Warcraft comes with many raid interface options, some guilds
prefer to use specific 3rd-party add-on programs. Check with your guild to find
out if they have any preferences on what add-ons their members should be using.
Make sure that anything your guild uses or suggests does not violate the
Exploitation Policy before you install it. Also, make sure you're careful when
downloading programs from unknown sources, and always make sure that you're
running the latest firewall and antivirus software available to prevent the risk
of a trojan or some other malicious program from being accidentally installed on
your computer.
Voice-Chat Programs
Some guilds also use 3rd-party voice-chat programs to organize and run their
raids. They typically create a specific channel for their raid and have members
join the channel. The raid leader then gives instructions via microphone and
players can listen through their headsets or speakers. Make sure that if you
decide to use these types of programs you do not use anything that violates any
of our in-game policies.
Learning the Raids
Prior to the start of a raid, make sure that the entire raid party knows which
boss encounters are on the agenda. If the raid leaders are familiar with
anticipated encounters, make sure that information is shared with everyone in
the raid. Most often, guilds will have a section in their forums or website
strictly devoted to strategies for every raid dungeon and boss encounter for
their members to use as a reference. In many cases some classes have very
specific tasks they need to perform in order to ensure the success of the raid
group. It's important for everyone to have easy access to this information ahead
of time. Understanding the fight is always half the battle!
Raid Materials (Mats)
There are many items that can be useful to have when raiding, such as resistance
potions, flasks, healing potions, mana potions, reagents for your class, repair
bots, and so on. These items are generally referred to as consumables. Some
consumable items are most useful when given to a specific class, while others
are items that everyone can take advantage of. In many cases, guilds will
stockpile several items for their members to use. In order to have all the
consumables needed for the entire raid party each week, materials will often be
collected and made available prior to the raid starting. At the highest level of
raiding, this becomes very important.
Get It Put Together First!
* Make sure that guild members bring their required items to the raid, such as:
resistance sets and specialty gear, potions, bandages, reagents, and so on.
* Make sure guild members have their required dungeon keys, if needed. Remind
everyone prior to leaving for the raid location. Example: "Don't forget your
Onyxia key!"
* Sometimes, providing lists of items needed for each raid dungeon can help
members better prepare ahead of time.
Repair Before Raiding
Make sure guild members repair all of their equipment prior to raiding. This
point can't be stressed enough. Having to place a repair bot shortly after a
raid begins because a member or several members have broken gear can become
expensive.
Having multiple repair bots is still helpful in case the need to repair arises.
Loot
Before raiding, each member should know, understand, and agree on the loot
rules. Having this aspect of the raid understood by all will help prevent loot
disagreements. If you're unsure as to whether or not to loot, ask.
Master Looter
Many guilds feel that it's a good idea to assign a very trustworthy player the
role of master looter. The raid leader can set this option by right-clicking on
his or her character portrait and selecting the master looter option. The master
looter needs to always have as much available bag space as possible since they
will be the primary looter. Having a master looter generally protects the guild
from the possibility of someone taking an item without the permission of the
guild.
Assist Macro
Players are often asked to make a main assist key in order to target the correct
monster in an encounter. An example of a main assist would be a warrior who is
engaging a particular monster. Players in the raid will assist that warrior on
the target of the warrior's choosing until it has been defeated, and progress
from there. By doing this, a raid group can systematically control the pace of
the fight as well as control where the most damage is being given.
In order to create a main assist key you will need to create a macro. To do
this, type /macro and click "create new." Select an icon and name it "Assist."
Then click okay. That icon should have appeared in your macro menu. Click on the
icon. In the box appearing on the lower half, type /assist and then the main
assist's name. Drag the icon onto your bar. When you press it, you will target
whatever the MA is targeting. There are also add-ons that allow raiders to more
easily tell whom they should assist.
Creating Chat Channels
Many guilds find that creating multiple custom chat channels can be extremely
helpful. Creating a separate channel for each class, for example, allows them to
communicate and coordinate class-specific tasks without filling up the /raid
channel with information that will not apply to most of the raid. For instance,
warriors might discuss tanking targets while paladins decide blessing
assignments in their own, class-specific chat channels. This will free up the
raid leader to continue to give general directions to the entire raid without
interruption in the raid discussion channel. To create a new channel, simply
type /join newchannelname.
Additionally, right-clicking on the chat window tab allows you to customize
several of your chat settings, including the text color of each chat channel.
Many players find it useful to designate different colors for each channel to
help them easily spot important messages.
It's Time to Raid!
Starting the Raid
Determine an exact start time for the raid and start inviting people beforehand.
Some guilds pass out invites 30 minutes to an hour in advance. This time can be
used to make additional checks on supplies and allows people a chance to finish
up anything they need to do prior to the raid. It's important to find a positive
way to encourage members to show up on time.
Staging Point
Pick a spot for raiders to gather. On a PvP realm it can be dangerous to head
out to the dungeon one by one. Instead, it's recommended to gather somewhere,
such as at a flight master, before heading out. After the group is ready, head
out to the dungeon entrance. On PvE realms, the staging point is less necessary
because there is no danger of being attacked by the opposing faction, unless one
of your own members decides to flag for PvP.
Summoning
Warlocks can summon players to the desired gathering point. In order to summon a
player, the warlock will need a soul shard and the assistance of two other
players in their raid party to click on the summoning portal. It's a good idea
for guild members to offer their warlocks help from time to time in gathering
soul shards.
While warlocks can summon players to the desired gathering point, be mindful
that when a raid is scheduled to begin at a certain time, all players should be
either at the starting point or in the instance and ready to go. Summoning a few
stragglers is often acceptable (or summoning the inevitable person who forgets
their key or resistance gear); summoning the entire raid from a major city or
town is extremely taxing to the warlocks in your raid. The shards they spend
summoning fellow players could be put to better use on healthstones, soulstones,
and other spells during the raid. It can also put the summoning group in danger
should they be in a PvP area.
Water & Food
One thing mages love to do is to summon food and water for the raid. Okay, maybe
they don't love doing it, but it is something that is important for the raid.
Give your mages plenty of time to create food and water, as it can take a while
depending on how many players are requesting this service. Provide the mages
with mana regeneration buffs (paladin/shaman/druid/priest) to help this process
go faster.
Organizing Groups
Good raid leaders should have great organizational skills. It's important to
look at the raid panel and move all of the classes and groups around until you
find the group setup that works best for your raid. Being flexible and adapting
as the raid progresses is also important. It's often necessary to make changes
to your groups during the raid, as members come and go, new bosses are reached,
or if something is simply not working.
Fighting a Boss
Fighting a boss can be one of the most exciting parts of the raid dungeon, but
it can also be one of the most frustrating. These encounters are designed to be
challenging, so remember to keep things positive, and have fun. Victory will
come with some patience and focused play time.
Buffing the Raid
Make sure everyone is buffed prior to the fight. Buffs are the spells that add
benefits to another player's statistics. These include such spells as Mark of
the Wild, Prayer of Fortitude, paladin blessings, Arcane Intellect, and others.
This is a need that every buffing class should be well aware of, and the
appropriate materials/reagents (if needed) should always be on hand.
Soulstones (Warlock)
Before fighting a boss, make sure to have your warlocks give soulstones to
select party members so that they can resurrect in case of a wipe. Generally
speaking, soulstones are used on resurrecting classes. This can help a raid
group recover from a bad pull or other miscalculation much quicker and get the
raid progressing again. Do not waste a soulstone by using it when the raid is
wiping. Make sure it's ok to use one. It's often a good idea for warlocks in the
raid to coordinate and stagger their soulstones so that there is always someone
with the ability to use one should there be a wipe. Once you grow more familiar
with encounters, extra soulstones can be applied to key classes during boss
fights, to reduce the need for druids to use their Rebirth ability.
Explain the Fight
The raid leader should explain to everyone what the raid is about to do. This is
especially important if you have people that are new to the encounters. Give
them any necessary warnings and share common mistakes or errors they should
avoid. Ask for and answer as many questions as you can prior to the fight
beginning. Make sure everyone knows what they're supposed to do. This is also
good training for future raid leaders and a refresher course for anyone who
might have forgotten the specifics of the fight. Emphasize that when reviewing
plans for a fight, it helps if everyone focuses and avoids unnecessary chatter.
When your voice chat or raid chat is full of unrelated conversation, the actual
orders tend to get lost in the clutter. It's important to have people review
specific assignments in a clear manner without mixing it in with long
discussion.
Issue a Ready Check
Before the fight begins, make sure everyone is at their computer. You can see if
someone is AFK in the raid if they have an AFK symbol next to the name floating
above their head. You should also perform a ready check. You can issue this by
using the command �/readycheck.� Raid members will be prompted with a dialogue
box. If someone is AFK, do not begin the fight until they have returned. Players
should avoid going AFK just before boss fights, and if they do go AFK, announce
it to the raid beforehand with an estimated time to return.
Pull the Boss
After the ready check, alert the raid that the fight is about to begin and send
the puller out to grab the boss. In some fights multiple players will go out to
pull. It depends on the encounter you are facing. Generally hunters, warriors,
and on occasion paladins using a bubble pull handle this task.
Fight
If everyone knows their roles, the fight should go fairly well. However, it may
take some time for everyone to adjust to the strategy involved in defeating a
boss, so try to be patient. Trust in the group to do what's needed to get the
job done. When the boss is vanquished, be sure to stick to your looting plan,
award the loot from the boss to the selected players, and move on to the next
challenge. By sticking to the looting plan, you can save valuable time.
Battle Resurrections
Druids are capable of resurrecting characters during battle using their Rebirth
spell. Many people refer to this as a "battle rez." Priests, shaman, and
paladins are unable to resurrect a player after the battle has started. Raid
leaders need to make decisions during battle as to when and where the druids
should use their battle resurrections. The decision depends on which boss you're
fighting as to who is most needed. Sometimes healers such as priests are needed
back in battle, while other times a warrior, rogue, or hunter is needed to
return in order to mete out the damage necessary to ensure a victory.
Wipe
A wipe is defined as the entire raid dying to a monster or boss. Before
resurrecting, make sure the fight is entirely over and all monsters have
returned to their spots. Otherwise, when players resurrect they could re-aggro
the monsters.
Wipes can be very demoralizing to a group that has been progressing well.
Players must endure repair costs and lost time, momentum, and enthusiasm for the
task at hand. Players can become very agitated and start placing blame if they
feel justified in their anger. It's important that the raid leader(s) take
control of the situation and get everyone back into focus, if needed. Players
must take the time to be resurrected or run back to the dungeon from the
graveyard and gather at a staging point. They then need to spend time recovering
their health and mana as well as begin recasting all of their buffs so they can
try again. A well-trained guild can learn to shrug off these setbacks, overcome
them, and rebound fairly quickly.
Wipe Recovery
There are many classes that are capable of escaping death or allowing another
player to escape death in the event of a wipe. Paladins can use Divine
Intervention (DI) on another player (preferably one that can resurrect) which
effectively kills the paladin but removes the target from combat for 3 minutes.
Warlocks can use a soulstone on another player, which will allow that player to
resurrect himself or herself. Shaman can use reincarnation to self-resurrect,
and then resurrect others.
Set and Meet Goals
Set measurable goals. Sometimes when wiping on a boss repeatedly, it is easy to
lose sight of progress, as some people see a wipe as complete failure. Focus on
what went right and use "benchmarks" to show the guild progression. On Onyxia,
you can use her phases each time you make it a little further and point it out �
"Good job, everyone � we got to phase 2!"..."Good job guys we got to phase
3!"...up until the point she's defeated.
Downtime
Try to reduce downtime. Time wasted on players going AFK, being slow to return
after a wipe, or even setting back up after a previous battle can add a
considerable amount of time onto the raid, which can sap morale. Working on
techniques that minimize downtime after wipes, or in between pulls, can be as
valuable to a raid group as learning strategies for boss fights
If only a few players die in the middle of a fight, rebuff the dead with
30-minute buffs so you don't have to drink as much before the next fight. As
your water is likely conjured, and therefore free, don't worry about drinking a
lot. As soon as you're out of combat, regenerate mana up to full (after
buffing).
Raid Warnings
Use the /rw command (raid warning) for important announcements. People tend to
notice these announcements more than the text that appears in chat. This can be
very useful when moving into the different phases of an encounter or when
coordinating movement in a battle.
Schedule Breaks
There are two opinions on the use of breaks. Some guilds provide a break within
their raids so that players can eat, drink, stretch, or take care of other
tasks. Other guilds find it difficult to get everyone back at the keyboard when
they have a break. Sometimes players take too long or don't come back. You can
try working breaks into your raids, and cancel them if you have any problems.
One thing to try is to inform everyone to be back by X server time. A good time
to have a break is after killing a boss. You can say, �everyone be back within X
minutes, after which we'll continue on to the next boss.�
Recipes
Make sure any recipes that drop go to proper profession users. If there isn't a
set person for a profession, pass out the recipe in a fair manner. Some recipes
can be saved by a guild appointed officer in his or her bank and handed out
later.
Professions
Skinning
Some bosses or mobs can be skinned. The skins gained from these raid areas can
be very valuable. Make sure there's someone selected before the raid who is
going to skin (and has the right skinning skill and tools), that the person is
trustworthy, and that they send the skins to the appropriate trustworthy person
to hold for the guild. Make sure the corpses are looted so that the skinners can
skin.
Herbalism
Zul'Gurub has a valuable herb, Bloodvine, that herbalists can gather for a
variety of crafted items. Make sure to decide who is responsible for looting the
herbs for the raid and how they will be used or distributed. The designated
looter will need a special item called a Blood Scythe, found inside the
instance, in order to gather Bloodvine.
Mining
Many dungeons have specialized ore nodes that are necessary for use in some
professions. Blackrock Mountain has some Dark Iron Mines. Zul'Gurub has
Souldarite mines. The Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj (AQ20) also has some special mines
available. Make sure someone is designated as the official raid miner so that
there is no disagreement over the mining nodes.
Class Leaders
It's a good idea to have class leaders for each class. They can help lead each
group of classes in a raid. This helps take some of the load off of the raid
leader's shoulders. For smaller raids this may not be necessary. The best thing
to remember is to do what's best for your guild.
When the Raid Ends
Oftentimes when the raid ends, one or more mages will begin opening group
portals so that the raid party can port back to one of the major cities. That's
the quickest way for everyone in the raid to exit safely and move on to whatever
they have planned next, whether it's doing some PvP, taking part in another
dungeon run, or just logging out...It's important to coordinate what portals are
open so that it is convenient for raid members to get on with other tasks. It's
also important to make sure no one is left behind.
After-Battle Summary
It's always helpful for the raid leader or officers to do an after-battle
summary. Inform members how the encounters went. Point out how well everyone
did, and offer suggestions on ways everyone can continue to improve. This should
be supportive, encouraging, and informative. Oftentimes the best place for this
type of summary is on your guild-site forums.
Individual Raider Tips
* If you're not sure about something, don't be afraid to ask. It's better to
find out ahead of time than to make a costly mistake during an encounter.
* Don't talk to NPCs or activate anything unless the raid leader has said to do
so. Some events must be timed from the start of a trigger and sometimes a
specific person needs to trigger the event.
* Do not cast area-of-effect (AoE) spells near sheep or monsters that have been
immobilized by a crowd-control spell (CC).
* Be kind to your group mates. They are the ones who will be best able to watch
your back.
* If you become separated from the raid party and aggro the surrounding
monsters, it's often better to die where you are rather than attempt to run
away. Another raid member can resurrect you.
* If there is a task that you're expected to accomplish but are unable to do so,
let the leaders know. They may have some ideas on how you can overcome your
obstacles or have alternate activities you can help with.
* Don't attack a target until told. Usually the main tank has to generate aggro
on a given target before it is safe for other players to attack.
Other Information
Internet Connection
A stable Internet connection can make a big difference in how you can contribute
to the raid. Try to get a very stable Internet connection and computer for
raiding. If you are having problems, let your raid leaders know. As much as it
may be unpleasant not to participate in a raid because of computer or Internet
issues, it would be more unpleasant to be the cause of a bad experience in a
raid encounter.
Good luck!
