You're more than welcome, Joker!
Let's just say that I write 1 part, you then follow up with a 2nd chapter, I then go on 3rd, etc. Hopefully with the two of us we can get the whole package down for those who want it =)
Thank you for wanting to help me out with this one!
So I've decided to start the guide now!
First off I will begin with the bottom of the barrel basics to allow complete noobs to get the stock game understood and realize what they're looking at when they first enter the game.
I assume here that you have NEVER played an MMORPG before, just so we dont get flooded with the same question from 100 people =P
Basics
Choosing a server
This is the first thing you are prompted to do upon creating your account(the process of creating your account is quite easy and you're pretty much spoon fed everything you need to know and do during the whole process, I will not give a guide for it since the Blizzard account creator is pretty much flawless in the matter. If you still have questions, let me know, and I'll try to answer them for you =) )
So, the server. You have 4 different types of servers you can choose from, I will break them down for you here:
Some basics for servers:
Population: On the far right side of the screen you'll see the server population, which will range from Low to Full. Full means that you cannot make a character on it, since it is already filled up. Low means that the server is probably very new, and would be a good place to start your WoW gaming at, since there's a bigger chance of people being as new as you are. It is always more fun to play with players the same level as you, and not get told how you do everything wrong.
Region: You will pick where in the world you are, if you for example use an American copy of the game, you will be prompted to check the box of what region is closest to you(For example Pacific, oceanic etc.), If you have a European version you will then also choose accordingly, and so on. Just please dont choose a region that youre NOT in, since this might really harm your gaming experience!
Normal(aka PvE): Normal servers are your standard server with equal focus on all aspects of the game, although they are most commonly used for raiders. I will explain all of this further down to help you choose a server best fit for you =) Normal server is, however, a good choice for those who want an equally balanced approach to the game, with normal rules and regulations, and optional world PvP(Player Vs. Player). Some normal servers, however, can also be very elitist since they focus alot on raiding, and hate to lose. I would advise you to take a normal server that is fairly new, with low population!
RP(Role Playing): These servers are made for RolePlaying, and the regulations adapt as such, you may for example not have names such as "Thekingofnoobs" since it is not a name, a name like "Aviana" is much better. You can also be reported for speaking OOC(Out Of Character), which means that if you speak as yourself, and not as your character, people can consider that as lowering their gaming experience, and if it is a bad enough violation, you can get perma banned for this. These servers commonly have very little PvP, and very little if not no raid progression, and will as such fit a very low population of players. If you enjoy writing your own character story, and roleplay as that character with other people, this is perfect for you, although you pay the price of having few chances to further your characters equipment at later levels!
PvP(Player vs. Player): These servers are merciless. Upon reaching a certain level, you are permanently flagged as PvP, and any enemy player can attack you, regardless of level or experience level! Many people favor these servers since they are considered most real. For example on a normal server, a horde player can run past an alliance player while being eligible for PvP, while the alliance player is not. This means that the alliance player has an edge, since the horde player is unable to get the first attack in. On PvP, this is eliminated, cause you cannot turn your PvP off. Only choose this if you wanna try WoW on hard mode! You will probably die alot while questing, but thats the price you pay for realism!
RPPVP(Role Playing Player vs. Player)This is about as odd as you can get. Combat focused role playing, where you focus on fighting while also attempting to role play. I have personally never understood these servers, and they are few and far in between. Only choose this if you feel ready for the wierdest WoW gaming experience in your life!
So there you have it, the server types, note that each server has a different name, but all of them have their server type on the grid along with them, just choose a server with a fitting population and the right type, and you will be moved to the character creation screen screen.
Character Creation:
Here you will choose how you present yourself in WoW, as well as your affiliation, and your class. I will break down each one for you:
Basics for Character creation:
Racial Buffs: Each race has different racial passives and racial bonus abilities, for example, Orcs have blood fury, which increases their damage by a certain percent, while say humans have Perception, which allows you to easier see character who are in stealth. Some might also just increase base stats, such as critical strike chance by 1% or hit chance etc. I'll break all of these down later on!
Race vs Class balance: Some races cannot pick a specific class, for example, undead cannot be Paladin, and human cannot be shaman, while Tauren can be paladin, and draenei can be shaman!
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/wow-guide-3.jpg
(note: this pick is outdated, you can now also be Draenei/Worgen for alliance, and Blood Elf / Goblin for horde, and the Death Knight class has been added to all race vs class options!)
Alliance:
Human: Your standard human being. Make good warriors and paladins, but nowadays hunters are decent too.
Night elves: Your nature loving elves! Make good druids, rogues.
Dwarf: Your burly short dwarf, good as warriors, paladins, shaman, and rogues
Gnome: Your short little gnome, good as rogues and priests. Mages are good too!
Draenei: Your spacegoats! Good as mostly Damage dealers due to higher chance to hit
Worgen: Your werewolves! Gets a nice speed boost, and can have 2 shapes! Human and werewolf.
Horde:
Orc: Your strong orc. Makes very good warriors and shamans, but especially hunters!
Tauren: Your cow men. Pretty good all around
Troll: Your tall tusked troll! Make very good hunters!
Undead: Your rotting ex human undeads! Make very good warlocks and rogues.
Blood Elf: Your elf gone evil! Make good paladins and mages!
Goblin: Your money loving goblin! Make good rogues!
Note that these are just my own opinions! It is entirely up to you what class vs race you choose! =)
These are the Classes:
http://project-icarus.org/sites/default/files/wow_icons/class/warrior_icon.jpgWarrior: Warriors are powerful, brave, and almost fearless soldiers, who come from all walks of life. From the lowliest slave, to the most zealous king, anyone in between can call themselves a warrior. But if you choose the title of warrior, you must prove yourself first! Warriors are masters of arms, and they pride themselves on battle related excellence! They wear mail at first, but after level 40 they wear plate mail, they spec into:
Protection: A tank, wields 1 handed melee weapon such as sword or mace, as well as a shield for extra protection. Very high defensive abilities, and good attention(agro) stealing abilities, to keep monsters occupied with them and not the low HP healers! All groups must have minimum 1 tank to function
Arms: Good for PvP due to special abilities, wields mostly a two handed axe, mace, or sword.
Fury: Best damage for raiding, can dual wield 2 handed weapons for the price of lower overall damage to compensate.
http://project-icarus.org/sites/default/files/wow_icons/class/paladin_icon.jpgPaladin: Paladins are guardians of the light, protectors of justice and righteousness, and ruthless enemies. They are commonly former priests, who have taken up arms in service of the crown, and the light. They wear mail at first, but after lvl 40 they wear platemail, and can wield almost any weapon except daggers, and staffs! They can both DPS, tank, and heal!
Specs:
Holy: The healing spec, they rely heavily on burst healing rather than shields or slow healing over time etc. Paladin healers are much saught after due to their high survivability for wearing plate, and high health pools!
Protection: The tank spec, they always wield a 1 handed weapon, and a shield! They rely on high defense, and extremely high health pools to withstand more damage! They also rely on agro abilities in order to keep the enemys attention on them, and not less prepared-for-damage players!
Retribution: The spec of damage for paladins! This spec relies on making the normally helpful/defensive holy spells, turn into heavily offensive spells. Ret pallys rely on holy power, which is a measure of channelled power that increases when the paladin uses key signature abilities. Once the holy power meter is full, they can unleash a series of extremely deadly attacks which can devastate the health pool of almost any player, and greatly weaken NPCs(Non Player Controlled)
http://wikicheats.gametrailers.com/images/thumb/1/18/Deathknight_ClassIcon.png/50px-Deathknight_ClassIcon.pngDeath Knight: The force of the undead scourge turned the scourge of the scourge! These heavily armed masters in death were once upon a time a force of the living, but they either decided to join with the Lich King and his undead scourge, or they fell in battle, and were forced back to their broken bodies as a death knight! Many thousands were reanimated only to become mindless husks who would gladly run headlong into a cannon ball if commanded to do so. But Death Knights are smarter, they retain a meassure of their intelligence, and a minor amount of free will. Enough intelligence to give orders to others, as well as fight with more self preserving, but not enough free will to question the Lich Kings will! However, during a battle, the Lich King was wounded, and a large chunk of his present death knights were torn out of his mental grip, and they regained their full free will! Alas, these freed Death Knights returned to their former affiliations, with much scrutiny for their crimes in death! They are now powerful allies of the living, undead supersoldiers fighting for good! They aided tremendously in the slaying of their former master! They wear Plate, and wield anything except staffs, shields, and daggers! They rely on very powerful diseases, which have several negative effects on enemies!
They spec into:
Unholy: The damage spec for raiding and dungeons! The Deathknight gains his personal undead ghoul servant, as well as higher movement speeds both on foot and on horse back! They rely even more on their diseases, and their ghoul, to survive!
Blood: The tank spec! This spec relies on self healing alot to help healers keep the death knight alive! Due to Death Knights not wielding shields, they make up for this with spells which allow them to heal themselves during combat! This spec relies on wielding a 2handed weapon!
Frost: Another damage spec, though best for pvp due to survivability, and movement imparing effects! This spec asks for dual wielding 2 1 handed weapons, although 1 2 handed weapon is possible as well.
http://project-icarus.org/sites/default/files/wow_icons/class/hunter_icon.jpgHunter: The classic hunter, and the master marksmen of Azeroth(the world WoW takes place in!). They are the best friends of nature, and are masters at beast manipulation! They can tame a huge array of beasts of their own choosing to fight for them! They also use powerful floor laid traps to lure enemies into, to set them on fire, cover them in snakes, or freeze 1 or more in place! They wear leather at first, but can later wear mail armor, and they MUST!! use a bow, crossbow, or gun to be of any use!
Hunters spec into:
Survival: The most desireable spec for things such as raiding and dungeoneering! This spec relies heavily on the hunters ability to judge where to place traps where enemies are most likely to walk into them. This is possibly the make or breaking of a hunter in training! If a hunter cannot master this spec efficiently, their days as a raider will be over until they can. A hunter who cannot master his class is known as a Huntard, since the Hunter is the most common choice for people who first start WoW, and commonly have NO idea how to play efficiently, since Hunter is one of the most difficult to master, it is an unwise choice of a newbie, ergo, Huntard!
Marksman: The standard raiding/dungeon spec! This spec is almost designed specifically to help hunters train for becoming survival. It is best to use this before going straight to survival to understand and master the basics! This spec relies less on traps, and more on the hunters ability to manage their abilities such as shots(arcane shot, aimed shot etc.), and their ability to stay out of trouble while putting out the most damage!
Beast Master: The best PvP and leveling spec! This spec is made specifically to put a hunters pet in the spotlight! it boosts the abilities of the pet significantly, and puts less stress on a hunter, as all they have to do is stand and aid their pet by shooting the enemy! It is by far the best choice for any hunter who has NOT reached the maximum level yet!
http://project-icarus.org/sites/default/files/wow_icons/class/shaman_icon.jpgShaman: Shamans are the guardians of the elements! There is always a shaman in a tribe, and are commonly the wisest men you can find! They rely heavily on the forces of nature to hurl bolts of lightning at enemies, as well as the element of life to heal others! They wear leather, but can wear mail after level 40! They can wield everything except swords! Shamans also place totems to give very powerful and unique buffs to friends in a certain range!
Shamans spec into:
Elemental: Caster spec. This spec boosts the spells of a shaman to make them more effective as a spell caster! They never engage in hand to hand combat! They get their movement imparing abilities boosted as well, since they will become less resistant to melee damage! Elemental shamans should never wield a 2 handed weapon, they always wield 1 handed maces, or daggers, coupled with a spell caster shield, or another kind of off hand to boost their abilities!
Enhancement: Melee spec. This spec boosts the abilities of a shaman to make them more effective as a melee combatant! They will always engage in hand to hand combat! They get their movement speed abilities enhanced, which makes this spec the ideal choice for PvP! They have high resistance to most kinds of damage! Enhancement shamans should primarily wield a 1 handed weapon in each hand, or, in rare occasions, they wield a 2 handed mace! Their close range spells have also been boosted to aid them further in getting up close and personal to their enemies, to feel the wrath of the elements first hand!
Restoration: The healing spec. Tis spec boosts the abilities of a shaman to make them more effective as a healer! They will never engage in any kind of combat, and will do whatever it takes to avoid it! They get their healing spells boosted extremely, making them very hard to kill if they allow to use their healing spells! 1 shaman healer can easily keep a group of 5 or more people alive by themselves if never engaged! They have almost no resistance to ANY damage, and their health pools are lowered substantially! This spec is highly saught after, since shamans still do have more survivability as a healer than for example priests or druids who wear leather armor, which gives less health per gear piece!
http://project-icarus.org/sites/default/files/wow_icons/class/rogue_icon.jpgRogue: The stealth melee soldier! These fighters spend almost all of their time out of sight, and when you do see one, its most commonly too late! They wear leather armor, and nothing else, and rely heavily on dodge rating to avoid damage all together! They wield all weapons one handed, especially swords, but almost always daggers! They are nothing but damage dealers, and cannot tank nor heal efficiently!
Rogues spec into:
Combat: Less focus on stealth, and more on fighting! This spec boosts a rogues ability to survive damage, and boosts their regular attack abilities to make them use combat more efficiently, but not require stealth as much! They can attack from any side, although all rogues should always try their best to attack from the rear!
Assassination: A hybrid, this spec relies on both combat and stealth to be effective! All abilities are boosted, but at a much smaller degree. This spec is the most common choice for most situations, such as raiding.
Subtlety: This spec is the opposite extreme from combat! This spec relies completely on stealth, and all abilities regarding stealth is boosted significantly! Spells such as shadow step is given early on, to allow the rogue to get behind their enemy as quickly as possible! Sub rogues ALWAYS need to attack from behind, and remain away from the front of an enemy as often as possible! They sacrifice survivability for more damage, but gain abilities that ensure that a rogue remains out of trouble, and if they still get into trouble, a good rogue always has a back up plan! Their attacks which only work when used from the rear, are boosted extremely, and if you get a good hit in after sneaking up behind someone, you have a chance to kill them in a single stroke!
http://project-icarus.org/sites/default/files/wow_icons/class/druid_icon.jpgDruid: Druids are the most in tune with nature classes in the game! They have their unique ability of shapeshifting into various animal shapes, each shape has its own strengths and weaknesses! Druids wear leather, and nothing else, though some select druids tend to wear some cloth gear if it is better stat wise than their leather gear! They can wield anything except axes, and swords! Druids can spec into the following:
Restoration: Healing, although druids are more backup, and less main healers, since they rely on HoT(heals over time), which will give a large amount of health, but over time, instead of all at once, like shamans or paladins! They have no unique permanent shape, but they can become a large ancient(a tree, really) for a few seconds, boosting their healing spells greatly, as well as their survivability!
Feral: The Melee DPS/Tank spec of a druid! It is really 2 specs in one! If you spec 1 way, you become a DPS melee, and another way, you're a tank. Either way, all specs in this tree is melee!
Balance: The caster spec! This spec boosts the spell casting of a druid, as well as their movement imparing effects. Feral melee dps, and balance are the two most common pvp specs! Although any spec for druids can be significant in pvp! Melee DPS feral is very uncommon for raiding, since it is easier to avoid damage, and still do damage as a balance druid, since its at a range, rather than up close and personal!
Here're all of the shapes that a druid will master at level 85!
Kitty: This is the first a druid will receive! It is the primary shape for a feral melee dps! All of your abilities are required to be used through a lion resembling cat shape!
Bear: This is the second shape! This shape is the opposite of the feral spec, tank, instead of dps! This shape boosts a druids survivability significantly, in order to withstand more damage!
Aquatic Form: This form is not combat related, it just boosts a druids traveling speed under water, and allows the druid to breathe under water! HIGHLY effective when needing to quest or travel across waters!
Travel Form: This form boosts a druids ground speed to allow them to be more swift on their feet than others! still not as fast as a mount, but if you need a boost to your running speed FAST!? This is the way to go, GREAT escape shape!
Flight Form: This is one of the last shapes a druid will get! It will allow the druid to fly! Thats it, yet another none combat shape! There are 2 shapes for flying, 1 is faster, the other is fastest!
Moonkin(aka boomkin): This spec is related to the balance spec! It is a permanent shape which boosts all spell related stats for the druid, as well as their survivability! I highly recommend to google an image of these :) They are quite awesome!
http://project-icarus.org/sites/default/files/wow_icons/class/priest_icon.jpgPriest: Priest is the disciples of the light! They are most commonly found in cathedrals and monastaries! Although some priests decide to take up arms in service of the light and become paladins, some remain in their priesthood, and fight with what they have! Some priests also abandon their holy ways, and take up a more dark and sinister school, shadow! The realm of warlocks! Priests can heal, benefit, and protect when in service of the light, but are some of the most feared opponents when their cause turns corrupt and they begin to meddle in darkness for the good of their faction and/or the living themselves! They are by no means evil, atleast not most, but their methods are yet frowned upon! They wear cloth armor, nothing else, and wield mostly maces, and staffs, but can also wield daggers!
Priests spec into:
Shadow: The dps spec! This spec is unable to heal since holy and shadow are like black and white, you cant heal while in shadow form! They can deal massive damage, or even mind control an opponent to either force them to fight their friends, or simply walk them off of a cliff and be done with it! Shadow priests who arent afraid to walk enemies off a cliff(few are)are some of the most dreaded opponents since they can hide behind a rock, and mind control an enemy, and while he watches, he gets walked off of the nearby cliff. Funny for the priest, devastating to the receivers ego!
Holy: 1st healing spec, this spec relies on burst heals to keep friends alive! No real uniqueness here, the only unique thing about holy priests is that they're argueably the best healing class in the game!
Discipline: 2nd healing spec, this spec relies on magic barriers to keep friends away from damage all together! Perfect backup healer, since they dont really heal that much, they just make lives easier for burst healers by giving them less lost health to replenish since the disc priests magic shields and barriers completely absorb a certain amount of damage before being destroyed!
http://project-icarus.org/sites/default/files/wow_icons/class/mage_icon.jpgMage: Mages are the most powerful caster class in the game! They rely on the schools fire, frost, and arcane to destroy their enemies! They are not only efficient exploders(high damage that sends enemies flying!), they're also scholars, and strive for learning and information! As such, they have a wide array of utility spells, such as Polymorph(which turns an enemy into a sheep, frog, penguin, monkey etc. and leaves them walking around aimlessly until the effect wears off) and slow fall, which enables mages to land safely on the ground, even when jumping from an altitude that would kill anyone else! Mages can wield anything except axes, and never wield 2 handed weapons! They wear only cloth, and have the weakest physical defense in the game! They rely on keeping their distance while hurling spells at their enemies, but once an enemy is up close and personal to a mage, the mage has to evade them at ALL costs, or they're fighting a losing battle! Mages have spells such as mana shield, which makes their mana turn into a temporary health bar!
Mages spec into:
Fire: The most destructive spec in the game, if used correctly! This spec uses a mixture of extremely high damage burst spells, as well as very powerful DOTS(damage over time), and if used in perfect harmony, the mages fire spec can become the most devastating force in the game! Do not **** with a fire mage who knows his stuff! Only survival hunters can rival the danger of a skilled fire mage! ESSENTIAL for raiding, and a very effective pvp spec as well! Bad for leveling due to slow and uncertain take down of enemies! (Uncertain? Fire mages rely on critical hit chance to REALLY get some major explosions going! But crit chance is based on a %, which, if the mage is having bad luck, will make them some of the WORST damage in the game! Due to this, VERY bad leveling spec due to uncertainty!)
Frost: The main PvP spec! Frost mages are right now considered the most powerful PvPers due to their HUGE arsenal of crowd control, as well as incapacitation spells. They can be VERY hard to kill if they know what they're doing! Frost is a bad raiding spec, but works well in earlier levels for leveling, and is by far THEE best pvp spec!
Arcane: The 2nd leveling spec! This spec is perfect at later levels when enemies begin getting high resistance to common schools(frost!), and therefor, arcane becomes more efficient! Very good utility spells as a result of your mage being a scholar as a part of the arcane spec, and very high damage by default! Although mana gets burned through fast, but you make up for it by getting a shorter cool down timer on your main mana regain spell, evocation!
http://project-icarus.org/sites/default/files/wow_icons/class/warlock_icon.jpgWarlock: Warlock is the dark mage! Warlocks rely heavily on DOTS(damage over time) to be useful, and can be a force to be reckoned with if skilled at their use! Warlocks are masters of the shadow realm, and are frowned upon, but no one denies their usefulness! Many warlocks are nothing but self serving bastards who have given up EVERYTHING for power, their honor, their family, friends, social standing, everything is forfeited in favor of immense destructive power! Curses are a warlocks best weapon, and they have a huge arsenal of them! Do not cross a warlocks path to power, and he might save you from a slow, agonizing death! Warlocks wear cloth, nothing else, and can wield the same as mages! They are also master demonologists, and are the only class that have learned to summon and control demons from the twisting nether!
Warlocks spec into:
Affliction: The main curse throwing spec! Dps. This spec boosts all of the warlocks DoTs, and also gives them a few new ones to further increase their power! Less focus is put on the demon pet, and the most useful pet to an affliction warlock would be imp for raids, succubus for dungeons, and voidwalker for leveling!
Demonology: Demonology are masters of demons! Where you see a demonology warlock, an extremely powerful demon wont be far behind! They are sortof the dark casters answer to a hunter, although warlocks cannot name their demons, since hunter pets are there of own free will, a demon is bound by strong magic to take any command a warlock gives! Felguard is a unique demon that comes with this spec! Perfect for PvP and leveling!
Destruction: The warlocks answer to a fire mage! This spec pretty much removes the shadow aspect of warlocks, and mixes it with a higher level of fire spells to make devastating fire spells that have been corrupted with a touch of demonic fel energies, and powerful shadow magic! These warlocks are BRIMMING with power, and are best if avoided all together! They require little help from demons, and curses are rarely used, but you'll most likely find yourself a charred corpse with your bones falling to dust from the powerful energies mixed in the green flames of a destro warlock!
The Character screen(C key):
http://www.wowcataclysm-wiki.com/_/rsrc/1281987871803/changes/user-interface/16-08-2010%2012-37-37%20PM.png?height=336&width=400
(Note: I dont own this picture!)
You will spend alot of time here, seeing what your damage is, your health, your item level(will explain later), and much more, here I'll break down your character sheet!
Equipment:
You have several slots where you can equip your gear!
On the left side(top to bottom!)
Head
Necklace
Shoulder
Cloak
Chest
Shirt
Tabard
Bracers
On the Right(same):
Gloves
Belt
Pants
Boots
Ring 1
Ring 2
Trinket 1
Trinket 2
Bottom (left to right):
Weapon main hand
Weapon off hand/Shield(depending on class! This field will gray out if you're wielding a 2 handed weapon, EXCEPT if you're a Fury specced warrior with Titans Grip specced into, in which case you can dual wield 2 handed weapons!)
Thrown/bow,gun,crossbow/Idol/Relic/Totem/Misc offhand(all depends on what class you are!)
Titles:*
*This you shouldnt really worry about until later in the game! They are purely collectible and hold no rewards regarding boosts or extra health etc. Do not worry about these until you are at max level and want a cool title to fit with your name!
Now to the stats:
General:
All players have 3 general stats:
Health: Your base health pool, your good old get to 0 and you die.
Mana(mage, warlock, priest, shaman, restoration druid, paladin), Energy(rogue, feral druid cat), Rage(warrior, feral druid bear), Runic power(death knight), and focus(hunter)
ilevel: Your average item level! Each one of your pieces of gear hold an item level score, and they each contribute to the acerage item level score of your character! The higher ilevel, the better your gear is!
All WoW classes have 5 base stats(attributes):
Strength(STR)(ALWAYS increases attack power for melee units, although rogues benefit more from agility than strength)
Stamina(STA)(ALWAYS increases total health!)
Agility(AGI)(ALWAYS increases dodge rating!)
Intellect(INT)(ALWAYS increases total mana and spell power!)
Spirit(SPI)(ALWAYS increases total mana gained per 5 seconds, as in how much mana you regain automatically every 5 seconds!)
What each stat does depends on your class, so make sure to check what each stat does RIGHT after you choose a class! You can do this by pressing C and unrolling the character info to the right, now hover your mouse over each to see what they do! I can tell you that all mages and warlocks rely on intellect! All melee dps rely on strength(EXCEPT ROGUES), all rogues rely on agility, all tanks rely on stamina, all healers rely on spirit! and so on. Check your character sheet for more info!
Now for the sub stats:
Melee:
http://www.wowcontender.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/combat_rogue.jpg
(NOTE: I dont own this picture!)
Damage: The base amount of damage that your weapon will do! This is without any buffs, minor importance!
DPS: The amount of damage you do per second at peak performance with each weapon! This is without buffs, great importance! Reffer to to decide what you're capable of!
Attack Power: The amount of attack power you have
Speed: How fast you swing your weapon, for example, you swing select weapon once every 1.47 seconds in the picture above!
Haste: The amount of haste you have. This increases as you gain gear that has bonus haste on it! This increases your overall speed, and is vitally important for almost any melee dps! Rogues especially need alot of haste! Ignore until later levels!
Hit Chance: How likely you are to hit! There is a cap for this stat, and when youre above said cap, you are wasting vital points that could be used elsewhere! I will reffer to this at a later, more experienced chapter named "Reforging", for now, do not worry about this stat!
Crit Chance: How likely you are to score a critical hit!
Expertise: Your overall chance to be dodged, parried, or blocked! The higher your expertise, the better chance you have of nullifying an opponents chance to block, parry, and dodge! Ignore until later levels!
Ranged:
http://cdn.wowction.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/wow-hunter-2.jpg
(NOTE: I dont own this picture!)
Damage: Total amount of damage you do averagely with your ranged weapon!
DPS: Total amount of damage per second you do averagely with your ranged weapon!
Attack Power: Your total ranged attack power(not the same as melee attack power!)
Speed: How fast you shoot!
Haste: Increases your shooting speed
Hit Chance: How likely you are to hit
Crit Chance: How likely you are to score a critical strike!
Mastery: Mastery I will explain in a more advanced chapter! It changes depending on your class! Ignore until a later level!
Spell(casters only):
http://topwotlklevelingguides.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/normal_wow-human-mage.jpg
(NOTE: I dont own this picture!)
Spell Power: How much boost your spells have! The higher this number is, the more powerful your spells are! This can only be boosted if you wield a weapon that increases your spell power! Other ways to boost your spell power
Haste: Decreases the time it takes you to cast a spell!
Hit Chance: How likely you are to hit(healers ignore this, since their heals ALWAYS hit!)
Penetration: This stat allows you to ignore the enemys resistance to the school your spell is related to! For example, if you have a high penetration, and you cast a fire spell at an enemy with a fire resistance, that enemys fire
resistance will have a portion of it ignored by your spell, therefor, increasing your damage, and increasing your chance to hit as well!
Mana Regen: How much mana you automatically regain while not in combat!
Combat Regen: How much mana you automatically regain while in combat
Crit Chance: How likely you are to score a critical hit!
Mastery: Once again, I shall explain this one later!'
Defense(tanks only):
http://www.wowgoldmine.net/images/Warrior-TANKPvE1.jpg
(NOTE: I dont own this picture!)
Armor: Your total armor! This number decides how much damage you ignore due to your armor! The higher it is, the higher a percentage of the damage you take will be ignored!
Dodge: How likely you are to dodge, completely avoiding all damage!
Parry: How likely you are to parry, this stat is either not effective at all, or completely ignores all damage! It depends on how lucky you are, it might take 5%, or 95% damage away!
Block(only if your class can wield a shield!): Same as parry, but with a shield. This does not apply to classes that cannot wield a shield! Reffer to parry for same effect. This can only be boosted by wielding a shield!
Resilience: PvP stat. This stat enables you to avoid damage from enemy players, although it is completely useless against computer controlled enemies! The higher your resilience, the less damage you take from enemy players! This is needless to say, ESSENTIAL in PvP!
End of Chapter 1!
(Please let me know if you find any mistakes!)
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