World of Warcraft Beginner's Guide: Class Choice, First Dungeon, Professions and Guilds

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1. Pick your faction and realm with friends in mind If you plan to play with friends, find out which realm and faction they are on first. Being in the same region also matters for latency. Your faction decides which capital you call home and which races you can play.
2. Choose a class by role Group content uses three roles: the tank who holds enemy attention, the healer who keeps everyone alive, and DPS who deal damage. Some classes can fill more than one role. Pick the class that looks fun; you can change specialization later.
3. Learn the basics on Exile's Reach New players start on Exile's Reach, an introductory island that teaches movement, abilities, looting and a small dungeon step by step. Experienced players can pick their race's classic starting zone instead, but on your first character, don't skip it.
4. Get your bearings in the capital After the intro you head to your faction capital: Stormwind for the Alliance, Orgrimmar for the Horde. The bank, auction house, profession trainers and portals are all here. City guards will mark locations on your map if you ask them.
5. Use Chromie Time to choose your leveling story Talk to Chromie at the embassy in your capital to level through the story of a past expansion. Zones scale to your level, so pick whichever story interests you; they all lead to the same level cap.
6. Follow quests and the yellow markers A yellow exclamation mark means a quest is available, a yellow question mark means one is ready to turn in. The Map & Quest Log (M or L) shows where your objectives are. Prioritizing campaign quests keeps you from getting lost between zones.
7. Spend talent points right away You earn talent points as you level. Spend them in the window you open with N; unspent points simply leave your character weaker. The game offers a suggested loadout if you are unsure.
8. Run your first dungeon with Group Finder Group Finder (I) places you in a dungeon group based on the role you choose. Tell your group it is your first run; most players are happy to help. Dungeons give both experience and good gear.
9. Learn professions A character can learn two primary professions at once; secondary professions such as cooking, fishing and archaeology don't count toward that limit. Gathering professions earn money early, crafting ones pay off later. Open the Professions window with K.
10. Join a guild The best part of the game is playing with others. The Guild & Communities window (J) helps you find guilds that welcome new players, giving you people to ask and to group up with.

• Set up your action barPut your most-used abilities on easy keys like 1-5. Drag abilities from the N window onto the bar. Every key can be changed under Key Bindings in the Options menu.
• Learn to steer with the mouseBy default A and D turn your character; holding the right mouse button to steer turns A and D into strafe keys. Most experienced players play this way because moving during a fight becomes much easier.
• Read the Adventure GuideThe Adventure Guide (Shift+J) explains what dungeon and raid bosses do and what they drop. Reading boss notes before a run often saves the group from a wipe.
• Try Delves soloDelves are short adventure areas for one to five players. You get an NPC companion; in Midnight that is Valeera Sanguinar. They are a great place to practice at your own pace or when you can't find a group.
• Master skyridingSkyriding is a physics-based flight system much faster than classic flying. It works on most flying mounts, and you can switch to Steady Flight if you prefer. Learning to combine dives and climbs cuts your travel time a lot.
• Watch your item levelEvery item has an item level, and your average appears on the character screen (C). Some content expects a certain average. A higher item level is usually better, but make sure the piece has your class's main stat (strength, agility or intellect).
• Collections are account-wideMost mounts, pets and transmog appearances are shared across your account. Check them with Shift+P. Much of what you earn on one character carries over to the rest.
• Set up your homePlayer Housing, added in Midnight, gives each character a home with no upkeep cost. Open the housing dashboard with H. Decorating is a relaxed way to unwind between quests.
• Know your role in groupsTanks lead the pace, healers watch health bars, DPS focus the tank's target. Stepping out of role, such as DPS running ahead and pulling enemies, is the most common reason groups fall apart.
• Use chat, protect your accountPress Enter to chat and use commands like /say and /party. Asking for help in zone chat is fine, but never share account details. Blizzard staff will never ask for your password in game.

• Forgetting to spend talent points; your character stays weaker than it should and quests get harder for no reason.
• Queuing for a dungeon without knowing your role; a healer who doesn't heal or a tank who doesn't lead quickly breaks a group.
• Creating a character on a different realm or faction from your friends; joining them later can be a hassle.
• Wearing gear with the wrong main stat just because its item level is higher; it looks better on paper but doesn't help.
• Hoarding old loot until your bags are full; you can't pick up new drops, and selling junk to vendors frees space and earns gold.
• Neglecting account security; skipping an authenticator on your Battle.net account or clicking 'free gold' links puts your account at risk.

This guide was written for version: This guide reflects the current version of World of Warcraft (the Midnight expansion) and default PC key bindings as of September 2026.

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