[How to] Choosing your class and Race!

[galathius]

For mmowned.com only!
This guide does not state the obvious, you must have some background with WoW. There may be some spelling mistakes. If you wish for any info to be changed or added, (like on priests or rogues) I will add in at request of a member with high reputation.
A * after a class means im not an expert on them at all, and any info on them will gladly be added in! Most classes do have a *... xD

Choosing Your Class and Race
I've created many alts upon playing WoW, and always struggled to choose the race mostly and the class at times. Usualy I hadnt played a class at all but seen them around alot, wondering what there like id go off to create a new character not knowing much about the Class, and being boring and normally pick humans. Most of these humans are now wiped from the server

Over time ive come to change alot, and have now created and played all classes upto level 30 (well, not priest, sorry) but not all races. Why? Well, see further in the guide :P

What faction shall I pick?
Ive played alliance, and when I rolled a hordie, I picked the wrong server for it (Big up to da 10 year oldz at stormrage eu init!).

Horde
The Horde often win more in PvP because they are known to have more mature players, along with slight improvements in many places, and having leveled many alliance when leveling my Horde, I found that in my oponion Blizzard favour horde with some better Quests. The Horde is made up of the :
Taurens
Orcs
Trolls
Undead
Blood Elves

Alliance
Alliance are known for losing alot in PvP and to have younger players, not all are stupid and Alliance does win alot in AV, one of the battlegrounds which is great for getting honor in! I find the Alliance have nicer areas in ways over the Horde. The Alliance is made up of the :

Humans
Dwarves
Gnomes
Night Elves
Draenei

Which server you choose also has an effect on which side is more mature, many times horde are that bit better, some are equal, and some there is a big difference. Different races

What Class is right for You?
Why class first? Well, humans cant be shamans, undead can't be hunters and dwarves can no longer be mages xD So you need to find out what class is right for you.

Druid
Seen as a hybrid able to be a healer, melee dps, tank, or caster dps through the talent system. They have a clear connection with Nature and animals. They use "forms" in which they shapeshift into animals which are learnt at different levels. The Druid uses the mana system exceptThe 3 talent trees are :

Balance
This is caster dps, and offers some nice Dots for you along with moonkin form at level 40, increasing spell crit chance, a chance to restore mana upon using melee weapon but cannot cast "restoration" spells.

Feral
Upon leveling my druid, I was balance till level 19, then I respecced feral and was loving it, then at level 20 cat form was amazing! Feral offers a rogue like form (cat form) and a warrior like form (bear form). I quite like the feral tree because you can be a tank, and dps.

Restoration
Never specced resto, but its basically the healing tree for druids, and I find druids make mighty fine healers. They get Tree of Life form at level 50 from talents, increasing healing but movement speed is reduced. For leveling I wouldnt say its the best spec to go, unless you want to be healing in instances alot.

Only 2 races can be druids, 1 race for each faction. Night elf druids for Alliance, and Tauren druids for Horde.

DeathKnight
I had you for a minute there! Thought i'd include these in the guide.

Deathknight's will be the first Hero Class in WoW. You will have to have the new expansion pack, which isnt out ofcourse. They can tank in instances! But cannot use shields, they wear plate naturally, and are unlocked via a quest chain at level 80, this will allow you to create a new Deathknight who will start of at around level 55.They use a rune system instead of mana or rage etc, I guess the best way to describe them at the moment is there a dark retri pala.

Hunter
Hunters are the Bow'n arrows class of WoW. They use ranged weapons like crossbows, guns and bows. They can tame a beast at level 10, pets are key to the hunters survival in PvE. Hunters use mana and their pets use Focus. They wear leather, at level 40 they learn to wear mail. The talent trees for hunters are :

Beast Mastery
The best for leveling a hunter with in my oponion. Beast Mastery makes the hunters Pet stronger, sacrificing your own Dps for your pets. I find BM more mana efficient and easier for soloing group quests.

Marksmanship
This is buffing your Dps. You can level as MM, I did do for 30-60, but I found BM easier. Im currently MM as I do alot of PvP and I can do some big damage! Theres some nice abilities available through the MM talent tree but I find it easy to steal aggro from my pet.

Survival
Ive never leveled as Survival, and I dont understand it. What I do know is at 70 you can get some big crit chance with this, and compete with MM hunters. A MM and surv hybrid build is a very good combination.

Mage*
The Wizards of WoW, they cast spells and have lots of mana, they can do some serious damage but are very weak, they can only wear cloth although they make up for that. The talent trees for Mages are :

Arcane
I havnt specced Arcane on my Mage, but I've heard from many Mages Arcane is fantastic, and even better at 70. From my little understanding this increases the Mage all around, I may not be correct though.

Fire
Ive leveled my Mage mostly as Fire, this is for 1v1 imo, and is great for pvp, it eats alot of mana though, I find it quite good for leveling but others may not.

Frost
The wonders of frost aoe grinding, if only I could. Frost aoe grinding allows you to take on many many mobs! It takes practice but is rewarding and fun. Its perfectly great for leveling and there was many times I wished my mage was Frost, staring at a bunch of easy mobs that I just wanted to round up and aoe to death.

Paladin
Paladins are seen as holy warriors to many, Paladins can wear mail and at level 40, Plate. Paladins are a hybrid able to be a healer, tank, and well, this "other" thing... retribution. Paladins use mana and unlike warriors, cannot learn to dual wield.

Holy
This is for healing, and paladins make great single target healers, although they dont have Heals over time (hots). As for Holy leveling I havnt specced my pala Holy once, but im sure its possible! Many Paladins go Holy at 70 as retribution is a joke.

Protection
I level my pala all the way to 50 as protection, its fantastic, your almost invincible. At level 35 they will be able to have full 5 points in retribtuion, combine this with a 2 handed weapon you get some nice damage, although as prot you will mostly be wanting to use a shield. The kills can be slow but heres the reward... Prot AoE! Its great but can get boring. Prot Aoe is having every way possible to do damage to enemies around you, paladins want to be doing this on mobs slighlty lower than there level. For more info on this see this link :
As for Tanking they are great at tanking multiple Mobs and not having switch targets!

Retribution
The "Dps" tree for Paladins, its good for leveling, but not that mana efficient. And theres a lack of survivablity, I was tiried of slow kills with prot and decided to go down retri lane, its not fantastic but it does the job.

Priest*
And this is where I havnt managed to level such an amazing and pretty damn cool Class to 30 or above. They are the main healers in Wow, and are fantastic ones, they can only wear cloth but like the mage, they sure make up for it!

Discipline
Not too sure what this is for, I think its a healing tree for Priests and I beleive that a disc/holy hybrid is a great healing combination.

Holy
Like Paladins, its for healing, Priests have Hots and are great Healers. I have played around with Priest talents and can tell you there is such thing as Holy Dps.

Shadow
This is the main Dps tree for Priests, and its very powerful! Its often the main choice for leveling a Priest and although many Priests are healers at 70, I just love the ones who go Shadow!

Rogue*
Not the colour red in French! Rogues are like assasins, they can stealth and do high amount of damage, but lack much armor, Rogues are deadly in PvP and can wear Leather, they have their weaknesses like every other class, as the way to go as a Rogue is to out Dps their oppenent. Rogues use Energy, a fast regenerating resource unique to the rogue excluding druids in cat form.

Assination
Its the only spec ive been on my Rogue, it's good for leveling and PvP, although its mostly for using Daggers.

Combat
Reminds me of the Warrior tree "arms". Rogues can specialize in a different weapon, be it Maces or swords etc. I havnt specced combat but understand it is good for leveling and PvP aswell.

Subtely (by Christian1)
The rogue sub spec is about dealing high damage, in short time.. If its 41 points Sub its your rogue can walk fast in stealth.. got 2x almost all cooldowns(if u use a 10 min cooldown) They use daggers and are awful for leveling, but fun for WSG, where you can rest until you have another shadowstep/Ambush ready..
Shadowstep is a spell where you teleport yourself behind you enemy and it gives a buff with some +% damage to your next ambush.. So its practicly about using getting in as many Shadowstep/Ambush as possible..
+Fun spec for bg's versus all classes except paladins warriors..
-Awful for leveling..........

Shaman*
Blizzard describes the Shaman as the true Hybrid. They can heal, do fantastic Dps, and off-tank. Yet again they use Mana. They are a naturistic class and uses Totems, they are great fun to level and wear leather, at level 40 they learn to wear mail.

Elemental
Caster Dps in simple. Good for PvP and leveling.

Enhancement
This is Melee for Shamans, and it can do some nasty Dps if your lucky, it can be used in PvP but requires luck to really do some uber damage.

Restoration
This is healing for Shamans, and they can be absolute :£$%^:£%@£ in PvP to take down, it took 3 of us to take one down in AB once.

Warlock*
Warlocks are a demonic class and use pets, although the Pets are different to hunters in alot of ways! Many people see Warlock as easy mode, dot up your targets and let your voidwalker pet tank. But theres alot more to the Warlock than that, they are very powerful and can CC quite a few mobs if the Player does things right!

Affliction
The one for instances in my oponion... and leveling aswell... and pvp! Its a great tree and you can some nasty dots!

Demonolgy
This is buffing your Pets, I havnt tried it but damn it does look good for PvE.

Destruction (Christian1)
Warlock destro spec is like a fire mage(never played a fire mage really but...)
They can do very high crits, but they dont have blink, yet they have deathcoil and fear.
They only have 2 instant damage which is shadowburn and deathcoil, all the other spells there is used are spells that take time to cast, so if a you get in close combat its just about getting away as fast as possible..
+Nice dps in instance
+Works for PvP against less skilled players
+Shadowfury (which is REALLY fun to use while AoE farming in Oulands) (Summon VW, pull 5-x mobs, throw a seed on each target, then shadowfury=x*2000dmg+shadowfury damage+2sec stun, to each mob depending on how many seeds you lay(watch out for VW hp.. VW dead=u dead :P)
-The specs demo and affliction doesn't require you to bring mana along with you, destro does.. Too bad warlocks cant conjure..

Warrior
The name says it all! They wear mail, and at level 40 learn plate. They have plenty of armor and stamina, the idea is they can take damage and deal it. Leveling a warrior you want to out - dps your opponent imo. I find at times they struggle, caster mobs eat there health away! And a few too many Mobs causes trouble, in PvP though they can be pretty nasty. Warriors use Rage which only they use except feral druids in bear form. Warriors are fantastic tanks and can keep the aggro of 3-4 mobs but have to keep switching targets. Once warriors get there Gear they are the Best tanks out there imo.

Arms
This is seen as the spec for 2 handed weapons, with weapon specialization talents in there and the almighty mortal strike, a deadly ability in pvp reducing all healing on that target by 50%. As for my warrior he uses dual wielding arms, and its fantastic! Whilst leveling up Warriors can tank many instances as Arms no problem, and probably as fury as well!

Fury
The real Dual Wielding talent tree for Warriors, this really screams out dps your opponent! For most of the time my Warrior was Arms, I specced fury for some time, then soon went back to Arms. Both Arms and Fury are great in PvP and PvE. Not many people have warriors as Dps units in level 70 instances, but theyre the toughest Dps unit out there.

Protection
The tank spec, this is what many Warriors spec at 70. The best tanks around in my oponion are Warriors. As for PvP prot, no chance, and PvE prot, I have never done, but! Many people experiment and it does seem possible!

I've got my Class, now what Race?
Well, already you should know which Class and Faction you have chosen, if not, then go choose :P

Alliance
As said the Alliance is made up of:

Humans
The simple race in Wow!
Their Racial ability is improved stealth detection for 10 seconds, along with swords and mace skills (including 2 handers) are increased by 5. They get 10% more spirit and gain 10% more reputation.
They can be...
Warriors
Warlocks
Priests
Rogues
Paladins
Mages
As for the starting area's I find them quite nice but theres a big problem! There arnt enough quests in Elwynn Forest to get you to level 12 like it should. And it gets messy with Westfall and Redridge.

Dwarves
Bearded small guys.
They have a nice racial, Stoneform. Making them immune to poisons, disease and bleed effects, and increasing armor by 10% for 8 seconds. They also have increased Gun skill, along with the ability to find treasure.
They can be...
Warrior
Paladin
Priest
Rogue
Hunter

Gnomes
Little guys that all the Horde hate xD
They increased engineering skill by 15, a racial ability to escape traps and similiar effects. Also have 5% increased intellect (Thanks to Orious for pointint this out!)
They can be...
Warriors
Warlocks
Mages
Rogues

Night Elves
Tall guys this time, with some damn nice Racial abilities.
Shadowmeld, like a stelath but if the player moves or casts spells they will no longer be shadowmelded. They have Wisp form upon death increasing speed by 50%. And increased dodge by 1%.
They can be...
Warriors
Hunters
Rogues
Druids
Priests

Draenei
Big guys to match the Hordes bulky tauren.
They have a very nice racial ability, Gift of the Naaru, which is a HoT which scales with level, it has a 3 min cooldown. They also have there jewelcraftin skill increased by 5.
They can be...
Warriors
Paladins
Shamans
Priests
Mages
Hunters


Horde (sorry, racials will be updated soon, and so will alliance)
The horde is made up of :

Taurens
Big bulky guys n gals, there like a walking talking cow. They can only be...
Warriors
Hunters
Shamans
Druids

Undead
Basically a zombie, like a human but all "tatty" and ragged. They can be
Warrior
Rogue
Priest
Warlock
Mage

Troll
Tall guys n gals with tusks, they share the starting are with Orcs. They are able to be
Warrior
Hunter
Shaman
Priest
Rogue
Mage

Orc
Orcs, green guys, look like there the dwarve's of the horde, although I beleive there the size of humans. Able to be :
Warrior
Shaman
Hunter
Rogue
Warlock

Blood elf
Only race in wow that cannot be a warrior! There like the night elves, but a more pale human like look, and the male's seem quite camp (imo). Able to be
Paladin
Rogue
Mage
Warlock
Priest
Hunter



For mmowned.com

This guide has alot of information missing. Including all Races of the Horde, and some racials of the alliance and then info on Classes.
So please please! send me a PM with missing information, your name will go down in the Guide.

By -
Galathius
Christian1

This will be updated when I get the time.

[finger19]

Nice guide I must admit Usefull to players that just started playing WoW. +rep

[Christian1]

Nvm......... Sending you a PM..

[Christian1]

btw +rep (sorry for double post -.-)

[galathius]

Thanks! Added in the info and gave credit.

[samthejuggalo509]

Your getting +rep from me man. It wasn't a "perfect" guide but it was very good, very long and you took a good amount of time to do it. great for people who are new really. +rep^.^

[Poofy]

Very nice + REP

[Potter009]

nice 1. Love it

[EatUrBrains]

Nice Love the Guide

[Rein Trebor]

Pretty good guide and by the way red in french is rouge :P

[galathius]

More updates will come tomorow on this, including Horde races, improved Alliance races and links to the lore surrouding races along with links to other things.

[velocity]

Pretty good guide and by the way red in french is rouge :P

Yeah but it sounds like roose or something along those lines.

[treyska]

i can see you definitely put some time and effort into this guide. +rep :]

[Orious]

You forgot to put gnomes increased intelligence.

[halo2king]

Time + Effort = Rep