It is really helful for the newbies

Thanks

i only choose the character from their aspect bascally and my friends faction.

but i will consider your tips .thank you

 Thanks a lot, I recently quit Runescape and plan on joining WoW and I needed a guide showing me the differences between race

Very Helpful. - 444knight444

Barrens Chat. lol

quite a good guide, but the only decent way of finding the right charachter is experimenting 

helpful insights this will help me further to w0w

I just created my char to look as much like me as possible without being human, so i'm a Blood Elf rogue, (not because i like to backstab people ;))

If your a new player it's a good idea to just join the realm that you already have friends on for help, you can always change server.

this is quite long. dont want to read all of it.

What does anyone think of blood elves?

Even though i think 95% of all here knows this stuff already, good guide that's easy to read, for those 5%

i am just a noobie paladin and i just started playing WoW, i really don't have that much interest on playing WoW at first but after my cousin taught me and let play his character ( druid) for an hour,  killing monsters, looting items and getting money from creeps (that's how i called those monsters just like at DotA), i begin to like the game. however, i want to learn more, maybe those paladin players out there may teach me what type of build must i do to my character. thanks!

A good guide, but bear in mind that your playstyle will probably change as you progress and you might find yourself looking to try something different.

It took me ~4 years to find my 'class' via Rogue and Warlock until I found my calling as a Resto Shaman. It's all down to how well you adapt to the mechanics of a class and how enjoyable you find the gameplay.

I generally soloed in WoW and played a Hunter most of the time.  I enjoyed the instances.  Tried a warlock for a bit but most enjoyed the Hunter.  Probably most enjoyable was trying to find rare creatures to use as pets.  That old Shadowclaw that I finally got was a nice one.

Okay, since everyone is noting the flaws in the original guide, I'm going to take my own spin:

RP Servers -

First, as a member of one, no one RPs.  Occasionally, you will even get laughed at if you do, though mostly your performance has to be so over the top as to descend into truly obnoxious.  What they do have is two things.  First, a select few of them have a large number of ERPers.  If you don't know what that is, don't ask.  They fortunately all migrated off our server a while back, mostly because the kiddies figured out about it, which ruined it for them (don't ask, I don't want to know). 

The second thing is most people on the server are not kids.  Kids avoid the RP servers, mostly.  Reputation is very important there.  Most people know a large number of the 70s on sight, and your reputation determines whether you're good people or bad people.  Keep it clean.

Now moving onto the classes.

TANKS

Tanks are Druids, Paladins, Warriors, and Death Knights. 
Each tanking class is reasonably unique.  They all play differently.  Warriors have a large number of panic buttons (ways to survive) and can keep themselves alive with ease.  Paladins are great at buffing their party, and hold AOE aggro like no one's business.  Druids take a more steady stream of damage, but have the most hitpoints.  No one has a damn clue how DKs will play out at 80, so we'll all see.

Tanks require intense situational awareness to play.  Frequently, you will have 3-4 mobs you have to concentrate on.  While various strategies make this easier, other things come into play.  As a tank, you will be hit by the widest variety of debuffs and negative abilities in the game.  This makes it imperative that you learn to recognize which mobs are capable of which attacks, and warn people accordingly.   You frequently lead the group, and are responsible for assigning targets, determining kill order, and general leadership.  Fortunately, each of the tanking classes above can be specced for damage if you find tanking difficult.

If you enjoy PvP, both Prot Warriors and Feral Druids are very solid choices.  Avoid prot pallies, they simply are a little underpowered in PvP. 

HEALERS

Healers are Druids, Paladins, Priests, and Shaman.  Each healing class has something different going for them.  Priests are the most versitile, capable of speccing either an AOE healer with strong single target and group spells or a fast instant healer/protector specializing in shield and quick heals.  They play very different group roles.  Priests, as the most versitile healers, have very few non-healing abilities in a group.  They are good PvP healers, if used correctly, but very fragile. 

Druids specialize in a constant heal over time spells.  They are the best at personal mana efficiency, and now have strong group heals, but are frequently weak against burst damage.  Also, until recently, they were unable to ressurect players, and thus there has been a strong stigma against having them in 5 man groups.  Now they have high versitility, and very useful skills.  They are strong tank healers, and have a 1-shot battle rez that can bring someone back in the middle of a fight.  Their specialty is their near-unlimited mana regen capacity (with innervate) and constant tank healing.   IMHO, they are not great PvP healers, unless they spec pure PvP (which really gimps their PvE). 

Shaman specialize in chain heals and totems.  They are strong against AOEs and decent against tank damage.  You will always find them in high demand for their mana tide totem, which can mass restore mana to the group.  One thing you will find is that they are weak in single target protection spells.  Tanks will be aware of this, and react accordingly, but they have the few ways to protect DPS who draw aggro.  They also have several offensive skills which players should be aware of.  Earth shock can silence casters, and good healers will make sure that's an option - stopping damage before it starts is very effective.  If they die in combat, they can self-rez, giving sloppy tanks a measure of protection, or simply allowing you to survive bad luck.  They are okay PvPers

Paladins have the best buffs, have very strong fast single target heals, and the single best DPS protection ability ever.  Moreover, if they draw aggro, they are near invincible.  Finally, if the group is dying, they can save one of them with a Rez ability (called Divine Intervention) which is very nice.  They are limited in their ability to AOE heal (though the xpac is fixing that to a limited extent).   They are arguably the best PvP healers. 

Healers will appeal to players who like to group.  If the tank is the leader, the healer is the heart.   You keep everyone alive.  Each healer will need to pay attention not only to his group, but the behavior of the mobs around him.  Healers will appeal to people who enjoy grouping, but who dislike leadership positions.  Always able to easily find a group, healers are often the social heart of a server.  In a raid group, tanks are often in competion - given primacy over eachother - and frequently butt heads.  Healers band together and form little social cliques.  Note all healing classes are capable of choosing DPS, so you have an out if healing grows old.  There is no shame in that now, blizzard has fixed it so all the healing dps classes are quite viable.

DPS - Melee

Every class in the game is DPS, so I decided to break it out into melee and ranged.  Melee consists of the Death Knight (which I will ignore), Warrior, Paladin, Rogue, Shaman, and Druid. 

Warriors will appeal to players who like to off-tank occasionally and pummel their foes with a wide variety of interrupts.  Very powerful class.  Good PvPers.  

Pallies focus on a variety of seals and judgments.  They restore mana to the group, and are good for buffs, again.  They also do solid damage.  There is a bit of a stigma against them, but they are currently very viable.  Be warned about the stigma though - if you're not willing to put up with a bit of needling before you prove yourself, give it up.  They are moderately good in PvP at the moment, with good damage and survivability, but no way of interrupting heals. 

Rogues are a strong DPS class with a variety of poisons and combos.  If you like sneaking and high damage this is the class for you.  They are only DPS, so beware.  Strong in PvP, if done correctly.   Also are one of the ranged DPS with crowd control. 

Druids are also tanks, even if they roll DPS, so if you don't like tanking, go away from here (people will expect a feral to tank when necessary).   They are strong rogue-like DPS, without all of the rogue's abilities.  Still have battle rezzes and innervates, so use them wisely.  Odd class.   Quite strong in PvP, imho. 

Shaman are two handed wielders of death.  They deal very solid damage, and are loved for their amazing buffs they give to melee.  Expect tanks to love you.  Once again, there's a bit of a stigma, but quite viable.  I do not think they're amazing in PvP, but they are good.  They are at their best versus cloth wearers, but are also strong elsewhere. 

DPS - Ranged

Hunter, Shaman, Druid, Priest, Mage, Warlock

Ranged DPS is more conventional than Melee, and you will find it easier to find groups.  There are advantages and disadvantages to all of them.  One thing to note is that unlike most melee, ranged DPS mostly gets crowd control.  

Hunters - the easiest leveling class.   Perhaps this makes the biggest stigma, for frequently hunters fail to learn their group abilities.  Good hunters are worth their weight in gold though, being virtually unkillable, capable of dishing out great damage, and providing solid crowd control.  Good hunters can kite, can shoot jump, and can do amazing things.  Bad hunters are... really bad.  Don't roll this if you don't want to learn it - mediocre ones are a dime a dozen anywhere.  They have pets, as well as DPS, and pet control is its own art.  A very difficult class in a way.  Three viable specs, all interesting.  Pet spec, ranged damage spec, and the kind of catch-all spec (survival).  BM is the most popular, for the ability to train rare and odd beasts, but all are good.  Solid PvP players all around, though the exact spec takes some tweaking. 

Shaman are strong ranged DPS as well.  Run out lots of damage, kill stuff.   The totems are obviously the high point, the Crowd Control is the low point.  Expect other casters to love you though.  They have strong shocks, but mostly focus on lightning, lightning, and more lightning.  Mediocre PvP.

Druids are currently very strong ranged DPS with good AOEs and solid damage overall.  They have immense survivability, moderately good crowd control.  Unfortunately at the moment their threat tends to run highish, so expect to be eating a lot of dirt.  Very finicky class to play.  Good PvP.

Mages are the masters of ranged damage.  I won't bother to describe the three specs too much, you mostly get the idea.  Ice is controlling, has a great save you talent (ice block) and is good damage.  Fire involves damage, damage, more damage, with some damage on top.  Very aggresive spec.  Arcane specializes in long term and burst, with some nifty abilities.  All are unpredictable spec, and with a few gold you can totally change your playstyle.

Warlocks are the masters of death and decay.  They have one tree that focuses on damage over time, corrupting and destroying their victems.  Another focuses on outright shadow and fire destruction.  The third focuses on summoning and mastering a variety of demons.   Like the hunter, they are hard to play, and also have one of the weakest CCs of any ranged class, except against demons.  They do good damage.  Their most impressive ability though is their long-term ability.  With their ability to trade life for mana, combined with bandages and other methods of regaining mana, they can continuously deal damage long after every other class has run out of steam.  They are frighteningly hard to kill, and surprisingly strong.   Some good PvP potential, though you'll learn to despise Warriors.

Priests focus on shadow.  They have a small number of strong shadow damage spells.  They are another endurance class,  and can last nearly as long as the warlock.  IMHO, they are a boring PvE class for DPS.  In PvP they are strong support class, but lack the ability to truly stand 1 on 1 with any class except mages and ranged shaman. 

What should you choose?

To keep your options the widest open, I suggest druid.  They are strong at any of their roles.   Paladins are also very strong here.  Many people will not be this open, but if you truly can't decide at all, choose one of these and experiment as you level.  Remember, paladins cannot stand back and damage - if you want to be hitting mobs, you must be in their face. 

If you've narrowed it down down to tank or DPS, Druids and Warriors are both very strong.  I recommend a Druid, because Druids as DPS can be either melee or ranged.

If you've narrowed it down to DPS or healer, I strongly recommend the Druid or Shaman.  Shamans are reportedly fun DPS with enhancement (they definitely can do odd things) and druids... druids are solid.

If you are sure that you don't want to be a tank or healer, I recommend thinking hard about the hybrids.  To make things fair, hybrids are as strong as any DPS class at direct damage, but have less nifty abilities.  These nifty abilities add a lot of spice to your playstyle.  Hunters, Rogues, Warlocks, and Mages can all do things that Shaman, Paladins, Priests, and Druids just can't.  While I will not pretend any class is limited, the pure DPS classes bring certain strengths to a party that make them very desirable.  For a tough run, it is really hard to go in without a pure DPS class or two.  Warriors receive a bit of an exception here.  If you want a barbarian-type class with huge damage which can just knock the snot out of anyone, go Warrior. 

Overall, do pick your playstyle, but also pick your roll.  Remember DPS often are not expected to lead, and while they can, they will find the role naturally slipping away from them.  Good DPS are hard to find, but many mediocre players do not know this, and tend to assume you are all interchangable.  On the other hand, healers and tanks often face abuse and attacks from ignorant party members.  On the positive side, all classes can work together very well, and if you know your class, you will be 10 times the player of a weak idiot who mashes 5 buttons. 

Finally, don't listen to the haters.

A good guide with a summary of all basic info you need to know before starting with WoW. As time passes and a certain gameplay kicks in and then new toons will be created. ^_^ But all in all, this one's an ok for a new player intro guide. ^_^

Thanks so much for posting this!

Some of  my favorites.

Night Elf Hunter: good set up for Survival spec go invis then Crit shot.

Night Elf Warrior: good world pvp build go invis make hunters use stealth detect, charge out of stealth, very nice.

Human Warlock: always good leveling build human racials are nice and Rep grinding race bonus.

Dwarf Priest: combination of health priest shields, stone form and if Shadow Shadowform make you hard to hurt.. for a priest.

Gnome Warrior/rogue: Escape artist + melee is never nice.. even after the nerf escape artist will help.

Undead Rogue: no Fear

Orc Death Knight: hardiness+on a pale horse+stun reduction meta = pretty brutal.

Troll Priest: I used to favor undead but since they all get the extra dot now, go for the Voodoo dance and imp shadow form combo, you can fade spam out of any cc pretty much.
 

i think each character has its advance and disadvance. whether it's perfect or not depends on individual.as long as you try it, you may come to the answer you wonder

I began with my UD Rogue and leveled him up to 70 easily. And I'm not like "Geez, all the same stuff, stunlock kill bla bla". Every class and race is enjoyable, you just have to PLAY the game, not with an aim like " Ima be teh pwnzor, ima kick ur ass, nub, im gonna be da god of teh pvp" etc. Game actually has many options: crafting, rping, pvping ,socializing, grinding...

Btw I left the game before WotLK expansion and I will get it when i have enough cash

Uh, this guide must be old as death knight - the new most powerful class in the game wasn't mentioned.

Anyway Death Knight will be the most powerful class for a good while I think - till people get used to them - then as with every class they will be nerfed down to size.

If you wish to enjoy being over powered - try this class out while it lasts.