# Advice for a terrible WoW player **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 19, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512 "2008-11-19T20:13:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/21 "2008-11-20T02:34:00Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > You definitely need a better bow. Never skimp on your character’s main weapon. Consider buying scopes & crafted shot too (or making them, if you’ve got an engineer somewhere). > > After your weapon, always wear the best armor you can with helpful stats (for melee) or +spell damage if you’re a caster. That hat is doing nothing for you. It might be worth leveling up to 39, farming leather in STV and working on your leatherworking skills. The best armor doesn’t start rolling in until after 40, but you could be doing lots better for yourself here. > > Beast Mastery is good versus monsters, but put your next five points in Endurance Training to improve your health & your pet’s health. All those talents which boost both of you are good investments. If you’re serious about going for a PvP build, you might consider swapping over into the Marksman tree for skills that boost your critical hit rating. > > What sort of pet are you using? If you have a Ferocity Pet, you might consider switching to Tenacity. Just for longevity. I’m a boar fan, personally. > > I’m not very good at PvP either but then I’m an altoholic too. The only way to get better is to practice and focus on one alt until you have it down. As a hunter, you’ll also want to learn to juggle giving orders to your pet as well as yourself. > > Give yourself a goal for your character - you can earn a free epic mount by participating in thirty battles each in WSG, AB and, uh, the other one I always forget. Alterac Valley. Just grit your teeth and jump in and if nothing else - [url=[http://www.wowwiki.com/PvP\_mount](http://www.wowwiki.com/PvP_mount)]free swift pony[/urll]! You don’t even have to win the battles, all you need to do to earn a mark is to participate. For hunters, I usually focus on getting the max +Ag that I can. I can’t remember why I have that hat on the character; probably because I didn’t have a +Ag one available. I always purchase a better bow if I can find one (and obviously, I’d keep a drop that was better!), but it’s not that easy. It’s possible that I haven’t scoured the auction house well enough, but the better bows are all waaaay outside my price range. Actually, I have to say that what little skill at WoW I have seems to lend itself to playing hunters, although I understand that they’re considered one of the easiest classes to play anyway. Other than my death knight (who’s virtually impossible to kill, regardless of any skill on my part), all of my highest level characters are hunters. I have macros to Mark and send the pet off, and seem to do a reasonably good job of managing aggro with the mobs; unless I accidentally pull too many mobs with my pet, I rarely ever get into trouble with those toons. I haven’t played the Cerowyn toon in a while, but I believe his pet is a raptor (named “Bosh” :D). So that is a… ferocity pet? I had no idea about the PvP mount!! I’m loving having an epic mount with my death knight, so I’ll definitely look into that. And STV is what? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/22 "2008-11-20T02:39:06Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > And STV is what? Stranglethorn Vale. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/23 "2008-11-20T02:41:45Z")
> [@Jayn\_Newell](#): > > Are you grouping much? I had a really long reply to this and then accidentally kicked the power button on my UPS. :rolleyes: The shorter version (such as it is) is that: no, I don’t group much, and even then it’s usually just for quick quests. In dungeons, I either get spastic party members who pull every mob in the dungeon and get everyone wiped out, or I’m so clueless as to what the “proper way” to do things is that _I’m_ the one generating pissed off messages from the others. And then of course, there was the jerk who booted my 13 year old son out of a party after a long slog through a dungeon just after they killed the boss (so that he was kicked out of the instance and missed out on the loot). I was furious, but my son had logged out of WoW on the verge of tears, so I couldn’t track down the person who’d done it. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/24 "2008-11-20T03:22:12Z")
Cerowyn, Raptors are Ferocity pets and a good choice overall. Ferocity pets focus on doing damage. I usually go with a tank pet which is why I like the Tenacity group. Ferocity pets can be good in PvP though, where every thing happens fast. All of the Hunter pets have changed recently. They now have their own talent trees and points - here’s a great site with a good overview of the hunter class. [brashendeavors.net](http://petopia.brashendeavors.net/index.php) Hunters are my favorites too even if people talk trash about them. Something about having a fuzzy pet around just makes me happy. I’m dying to tame a rhino! I don’t know what prices are like on Burning Dog. I’m on Stormrage or I’d send you a gun. It might seriously be worth leveling an engineer alt (since you love alts anyway 🙂 ) in order to make guns and accessories. (Well, my mom would say it would be better to gather herbs & leathers and make money that way but she’s sort of a tightwad in game. 😉 ) Have you considered joining one of the larger family friendly type guilds with your son? Something like The Amazon Basin or Ten Ton Hammer? It’s a shame you’ve had such a lousy experience with pick up groups. Is there a straight dope guild out there somewhere? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/25 "2008-11-20T04:07:38Z")
The Doper Guild I’m in is on Cairne Server. Guild name is Burning Dog Legion, and it is a Horde guild. My current toon there is Oakhorn, Tauren Druid. Think he’s about level 19 or so. I’ll be on that server more often once they relax the rules for DK creation. Back to the hunter talk…I think hunters get the ability to wear mail armor at level 40. May want to just bank gold until 40 and buy a full set of mail. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/26 "2008-11-20T04:10:32Z")
**Oakminster** I have signed on to Cairne a couple of nights now, but I don’t ever find any of y’all there when I chat-write I need an invite. Can we somehow coordinate so that I can finally be a part of y’all’s guild, please? Thanks Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/27 "2008-11-20T04:15:48Z")
I don’t know if I have the ability to do guild invites. If I do, I’ll be glad to set up a time to meet you online and get you invited. Or anytime you are on, you can do a search for /who Burning or maybe /who all Burning…something like that…will return a list of characters with Burning in the guild title. Pick anyone in Burning Dog Legion and send a tell with your Doper name or a witty request to borrow a 1920’s style death ray. They’ll invite if they can, or let you know if someone who can is online. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/28 "2008-11-20T05:27:48Z")
OH! I should have realized that “Burning Dog” was a Doper guild! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/29 "2008-11-20T06:04:18Z")
Quasimodem, you can also type “/sdmb” to join the SDMB private chat… a few of us have never bothered to turn that off, so we’re still logging into it. That’s how a lot of us managed to join in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/30 "2008-11-20T09:46:08Z")
What acronyms are you having trouble following? I’m disturbingly fluent in warcraftese, so I’d be happy to apply my knowledge somewhere because even **I** find theorycraft discussions dry, boring, and a little confusing… it must be worse when you can’t understand the lingo. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/31 "2008-11-20T12:10:00Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Back to the hunter talk…I think hunters get the ability to wear mail armor at level 40. May want to just bank gold until 40 and buy a full set of mail. Yep. Just hit level 40 last night and spent half my bank on new mail armor. It makes it a lot easier to take hits if you happen to pull an extra attacker. As for gold, I went with skinning and mining for my professions and consistently have enough gold to afford upgrades as needed. It’s a bit whorey, but it works. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/32 "2008-11-20T13:28:42Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > The shorter version (such as it is) is that: no, I don’t group much, and even then it’s usually just for quick quests. In dungeons, I either get spastic party members who pull every mob in the dungeon and get everyone wiped out, or I’m so clueless as to what the “proper way” to do things is that _I’m_ the one generating pissed off messages from the others. And then of course, there was the jerk who booted my 13 year old son out of a party after a long slog through a dungeon just after they killed the boss (so that he was kicked out of the instance and missed out on the loot). I was furious, but my son had logged out of WoW on the verge of tears, so I couldn’t track down the person who’d done it. And you just touched on every reason I’ve stopped doing non-guild groups. It’s been a long time since I was the one causing wipes, but yeah, there’s a lot of jackasses and idiots. Well, plus at my guild’s gear level most instances are pretty easy right now (My main is kitted out in T6 level loot). If you’re not in a good guild, work on finding one. ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_of_the_Lake)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/33 "2008-11-20T15:06:49Z")
Cerowyn, Hi! I’m in your guild. 🙂 (I’m Rulca) I just wanted to say that I know how you are feeling. 🙂 _hug_ It’s easy to feel like a noob! I feel like a noob all the time - even though I’ve read all sorts of guides and _should know_ what’s going on - I just get all nervous in game and it’s as if all the information drips out of my head like wine from my sisters glass onto our white carpet. Have you checked the guild bank? They’ve got lots of stuff for leveling toons in there - and I bet there are bows! Heck, the guild log on message is something about ‘take! we’ll be cleaning this out soon!’ By the way, how do you know how many BG’s you’ve done? This epic pvp mount may be the only way I can get one with my ‘I spent all my money to make my toon look cute and color coordinated’ play style… ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/34 "2008-11-20T15:26:33Z")
Cer, when you’re playing with your Burning Dog Legion toon, don’t be afraid to ask for help in guild chat. Many of us were new to WoW when we joined the guild and everyone is very good at answering questions (or even helping out with quests). And by all means, take stuff out of the bank if you can use it – that’s what it’s there for. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/35 "2008-11-20T21:43:09Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Oh, you are NOT the only one. I absolutely suck at PVP. I hate to group. I haven’t been in most of the dungeons. I have only one character over lvl 60. I belong to no guilds. I’m mediocre at playing the AH, at best. I have alt-itis. I am very close to the toon cap (I’ve actually hit it something like 4 times). > > But I LOVE the game! I more or less treat it like a single-player game with occasional multi-player features (the capital cities and the AH, mostly). I love the new achievements. I love trying to max out reputation. I love exploring the professions and the classes and the race/class combinations. > > I’m obviously a VERY casual player, but I don’t have a problem with that. I enjoy the single-player game too, which is why I free-trial only. Have not gotten to the point that I abuse the trials, but I suppose that makes me “a terrible WoW player” because I haven’t spent a dime. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/36 "2008-11-21T04:14:54Z")
> [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](#): > > _hug_ It’s easy to feel like a noob! I feel like a noob all the time - even though I’ve read all sorts of guides and _should know_ what’s going on - I just get all nervous in game and it’s as if all the information drips out of my head like wine from my sisters glass onto our white carpet. I have a level 73 Shaman dressed all in purples and I STILL feel like a noob half the time, I still screw up in instances, and I get killed a lot in PvP. There will ALWAYS be someone better skilled than you and better geared than you. On a run to get the Leeeeroy! achievement one of our veteran raiders - you guessed it - did a Leeroy by charging into the Rookery way before anyone else was ready. Anyone can screw up, and they do. That said - finding a good guild is one of the best ways to advance. Although my guild has some dedicated raiders they don’t insist on it. The leaders give instance noobs good direction (if you’re a damage-dealer a lot of instances are “hit this target until it’s dead” type stuff, and never, ever get in front of the tank when on the move). A guild is far, far less likely to do stuff like happened to your son. Use your guild for advice and help. I second the recommendation to upgrade your gear. You will find it a lot easier to kill mobs and such. I try to never have anything more than five levels below my character’s level. My husband is also a very casual hunter and he’s had great success using a turtle for his pet - the turtle tanks the mob or player, and he stands back and shoots. Buy the highest level ammo you can afford. Use buffs - that’s food that grants stat bonuses, potions (pots), scrolls, etc. I have at least one and usually more buffs on any character I’m playing And mostly, just have fun. You don’t have to do BG’s, you don’t have to do instances. Do what you like. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/37 "2008-11-21T04:21:10Z")
Level 73 and **still** feels like a “noob”???🙂 You remind me of the kids I went to high school with who used to say, “Oh, I just **know** I falied this test!”, and wind up the valedictator (torian, or something similar). Anyway you remind of me of that person, so can I have some of your gold, huh, huh, can I??? Just kidding!🙂 I hate those toons that stand there and try to spare change you. Guess you cannot get away from them even in cyberspace, huh? Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/38 "2008-11-21T05:30:53Z")
Oh, sure I get killed all the time. I suck at PvP, which is why I usually try to negotiate cooperation with the Alliance rather than starting a fight. Really, there are plenty of people who routinely scrape me off the bottom of their boots out there. My guild laughs at me because I have little understanding of the subtleties of raiding - after a long explanation involving calculation of stats, strategy, and special attacks I usually say “OK, where do you want me to stand and what do you want me to throw lightning at until it’s dead?” I sometimes think they put up with me mainly because I know where obscure materials are located or obtainable, and because I’m a packrat I’ll usually have some hard to find bit in my bank. I’m good for filling out a raid but I don’t pretend to be an expert at it. They can rely on me to show up and follow directions, which got me into enough instances to get good gear. I got money from doing dailies and learning to play the auction house, which is nice. I didn’t have to worry about saving for my epic flyer, for example - when I hit 70 I had the money on hand for training and mount. That, and a guild that is truly interested in developing not just the top raiders but even the average players into somthing better, did a whole lot for me. ---
**Author:** ![BMada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@BMada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMada)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/39 "2008-11-21T06:26:14Z")
When i read the small part in the original post about not being able to complete “yellow quests” solo which are non-group quests, I began to wonder how you play. Not all classes can actually complete yellow quests solo that require multi mob killing in a short period of time. Classes like Warriors have a hard time if you dont understand their abilities to the fullest and use them accordingly. On top of that you can’t just go in and hope for the best. Questions I would like to ask are: Are you using potions, scrolls, sharpening stones, getting stuff enchanted and using the many professions to your benefit? Are you aware of each races special abilities and use them properly? Have you ever leveled to the maximum possible and understood the class at that high end level? You only get better by playing more and more, not only do you gain experience in dps/tanking/healing in dungeons you gain the experience in battlegrounds. When I was a noob, I didn’t have much knowledge of my class nor all the others. As I played more and more on ONE single character to the maximum level, it all began to make sense. The role of the warrior in pvp and tanking all came naturally. At that point getting better didn’t require more playing but rather came with the use of macros, keybinds and UI customization. My twitch reflexes are good it was just a matter of mastering the class I chose to stick with. I pvp’ed plenty in pre Burning Crusade to the point of getting the Grand Marshal title. PVP is a whole different world. Not only do you need to master your own class, you need to know exactly what is the counter moves to all the other classes. Knowing how to beat a rogue on paper is all fine and dandy but all that knowledge needs to be practiced in gameplay. I can know that killing a rogue is all a matter of disarming, demo shouting, hamstringing, mortal striking, etc… but can I press those buttons in a timely fashion while constantly moving so I’m not a stationary pylon that gets beat up on. Practice does make perfect. I suggest to you that you stick with one class, learn that class to its fullest, and play more in the areas you think you lack in skill. One thing you should know as a hunter is the term kiting. If you dont know what that means, it’s simply keeping your distance from the mob/enemy. You should be firing your shots while moving away from the enemy, concussion shot or wing clip and keep your distance constantly. You achieve this effect best when you aren’t using the “S” key (or back pedalling/ walking backwards slowly) you need to be able to use your mouse to turn around in an instant, shoot arcane shot a sting, while holding still to get a normal auto shot in, then moving away till the mob dies. Again stick with one class, learn it, get better. If you can try to find an in-game mentor to teach you the ropes while playing. And if you can make 4 friends, 1 tank, 1 healer and 2 other damage classes and run dungeons together often. Dungeons are a great place to get item upgrades. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512/40 "2008-11-21T13:06:32Z")
This thread brings back memories… I haven’t been back to WoW since way before the first expansion. My main was a priest and the limit of my PvP was mind controlling someone off a cliff or into lava. I was in a raiding guild and was equipped in Tier 1 and 2 purples. Maybe I should get back in one of these days… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-for-a-terrible-wow-player/473512.md?page=3)