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The Basics of Combat in WOW

The enemies are known as mobile object/s or mob/s for short. Proximity is what defines when a mob that is unfriendly will attack you and is defined in the game as the ‘aggro pull’.

So What Is Aggro?
Aggro short for aggression is the common term used to describe why a mob will attack you rather than someone else.
Within the game there are two types of attackable mobs, neutral and hostile. Neutral are depicted with a yellow circle whilst hostile have a red circle when you target them.
To understand the combat situation you need to know what aggro radius is. This is the radius around the mob that if you enter will result in the mob attacking you either until you kill it, it kills you or you run away (cluck, cluck).

What is Aggro Radius?

Aggro radius represents the invisible distance around a mob that changes based on the mob’s level and the player character’s level. On an equal basis level for level the aggro radius is about 20 yards. The radius changes per level at approximately 1 yard per level up to a maximum of 45 yards and as low as 5 yards. Lets look at some examples: A player character who is level 30 and a mob is level 20. As the player is higher in level you would deduct the level difference from the base aggro radius. This gives a 10 yard aggro radius for that mob versus a level 30 player character. If the mob was level 40 then the level difference is added to the base. This gives a 30 yard aggro radius for that mob versus the player character.

There are however exceptions in the game where some mob’s have a higher than normal aggro radius. Creatures with the word ’starving’ in their name have a higher aggro radius. For example Starving Dire Wolves have a higher aggro radius than Rabid Dire Wolves.

When you begin to attack a mob you generate threat and this decides how long that mob will continue to attack you.

What is Threat?

Threat is per mob and increases through various actions against that target or helpful actions on you, for example: The more you hit something doing damage per second (DPS) will raise your threat on that mob. If you heal yourself during combat through any means this also increases your threat on that mob.

So in short threat is a non-player character’s (NPC) agression towards a player. Every NPC has a threat table you don’t see unless you have an addon that can display it such as Omen or KLH threat meter. The NPC will usually attack the player character with the highest threat however this is not without exception as some NPC’s have special attacks that can be randomly targeted at any player character.

The most basic form of threat generation is damage and is approximately calculated at 1 damage point equates to 1 point of threat.
Beneficial abilities such as healing spells generate global threat however this is divided amongst all the NPC’s attacking.
Healing generates threat at approximately 1 point of healing to 0.5 points of threat.

Lets look at an example considering no threat reduction talents or abilities:

A warrior hits a group of four NPC’s for 1000 points of damage thus creates 1000 points of threat against each NPC.
A healer then heals that warrior for 2000 health points thus creates a 1000 points of threat divided amongst the attackers giving 250 points of threat on each NPC.

Buffs, power gains and any ability that affects the global combat is considered global threat. For example a cleave attack on two targets will have it’s threat divided up.

Some things to remember:

• A player character being attacked is neither losing or gaining threat
• If a player is healed at full health this will not generate threat
• Normal health and power regeneration will not generate threat

Getting Past The Starting Zones

Everybody who plays WOW will encounter a starting zone. These zones are designed to be fairly easy to allow for you the new player to get used to your character.
This is the time to learn the basics and try stuff. Don’t worry if you character dies, consider it a lesson in learning how to play and develop your gameplay style.
It is recommended to activate the in-game on screen tips. Do this by:

Press ‘Escape’ on your keyboard Select ‘Interface’ from the menu that appears in the middle of the screen Select the ‘Help’ section from the next menu Check the box that says ‘Tutorials’

These tips provide invaluable first time information for any new player who has just started to play WOW.
Should you start another character and you no longer require these you can always turn them off by deselecting the checkbox.

Alliance Starting Zones

Elwynn Forest:
The starting zone for all Humans in this area is Northshire Valley. Within the valley are two notable human zones, Northshire Abbey and Northshire Vineyards. The area contains wolves, kobolds and a group who call themselves the Defias who you will need to battle in order to progress through the quests and level. Pick up the available quests and complete them until you are level 5. Do not leave this zone until you are level 5, as the NPC’s outside Northshire Valley are all higher than this. If you do all the quests, whilst killing many of the mob’s you should end up about halfway to level 6. You will then be elgible to pick up a quest that will send you to Goldshire thus completing this starting zone.

Dun Morogh:
The starting zone for all Dwarfs and Gnomes in this area is Coldridge Valley. The mob’s in this area range between 1 and 5.
There are three camps where both Dwarves and Gnomes can pick up their first set of quests where you battle against troggs and some wildlife. Pick up the quests where you see the yellow exclamation mark, read what you need to do and move between the camps fulfilling the quest requirements. Once you reach level 5 you will be eligible for a quest that will send you through Coldridge Pass and told to head for Kharanos thus completing this starting zone. When you go through Coldridge Pass be aware there are mobs inside.

Teldrassil:
The starting zone for all Night Elves in this area is the Shadowglen. The zone is mostly wilderness with a single cave in the northwest called Shadowthread cave. The mob’s you will be up against are mostly wilderness and some Imp like creatures called Grell or Grellkin. Move through the zone picking up the quests, there is a timer on one called ‘Iverron’s Antidote (Part 2)’, so be aware. Complete the quests until you are level 5 and you will be elgible for one that will send you to Dolanaar, thus completing this starting zone.

Azuremyst Isle:
The starting zone for all Draenei in this area is Ammen Vale more notably the ‘crash site’. The area is mostly wilderness and designed to take you up to level 6. The mob’s you will face are mostly lashers and oozes however there is a section where you are required to kill Blood Elf scouts. The final quest for the starting zone is called ‘Travel To Azure Watch’ which can be picked up at level 4, however do this when you are at least level 5 or 600 xp off from level 6. Be prepared with no mount available it’s a long walk hence why this should be left till last.

Horde Starting Zones

Durotar:
The starting zone for all Trolls and Orcs in this area is known as the Valley of Trials. The area is very open and easy on the eye with the mob’s being mostly boars and scorpids. In the northern part of the valley is a cave where there are demon mob’s you will need to battle; be aware the respawn rate is fast so once your in you will probably need to fight your way back out. Progress through the quests until you are level 5 where you can take the quest ‘Report to Orgnil’ and head for Razor Hill thus completing this start zone.

Mulgore:
The starting zone for all Taurens in this area is Red Cloud Mesa. The area is open like a large green field. Here you will face mobs such as boars, plainstriders and in the northeast a place called Brambleblade Ravine where you will battle against the bristleback quillboar. Be aware in Brambleblade Ravine the mobs have quite an erratic patrol so keep aware of your positioning and whats coming behind you. Progress through the quests picking up ‘A Task Unfinished’ last and when your at least level 5. You will now be heading to Bloodhoof Village thus completing the starting zone. On your way to Bloodhoof Village watch out for a pair of centaurs who patrol and will attack if you get too close.

Tirisfal Glades:
The starting zone for the Forsaken in this area is Deathknell. The threat in this area are mob’s known as the Scourge referred to as ‘mindless ones’. You will also have to face duskbats, scavengers and spiders. There is also a contingent of Scarlet Crusade southeast of the village who you will also have to battle. The tougest quest is probably the one to kill Meven Korgal, quest name ‘The Red Messenger’. Theres a little hill behind the tent and if you want avoid the other mobs pull him from there and loot the corpse. Progress through the quests until you get ‘Fields of Grief (Part 1)’. This is the last quest for this starting area to accept and do before heading for Brill.

Eversong Woods:
The starting zone for all Blood Elves in this area is Sunstrider Isle. The area is quite magical in appearance. The first set of quests will lead you to fight mana wyrms, lynx and arcane wraiths. I always remember this area feeling like it takes longer than it actually is and that could be down to the wonderful scenery. Progress through the quests until you reach level 5 and pickup ‘Aiding the Outrunners’, this will begin a quest chain that will lead you to Falconwing Square thus concluding this starting zone.

Extra Skills

Whilst your doing the starting zones start thinking about what primary skills you want to pick up.

Primary skills are Alchemy | Blacksmithing | Enchanting | Engineering | Herbalism | Leatherworking | Mining | Skinning | Tailoring | Jewelcrafting | Inscription.
Secondary skills are Cooking | First Aid | Fishing.

You can learn two primary and all of the secondary skills.
The next place you go to after the starting zone will have some primary and secondary skill trainers.
The main cities have all the trainers should want to pay them a visit however be aware its going to be a long walk.

I will cover more about the Primary and Secondary skills in a different article.

After you have chosen what race and class you want to play eagerness is probably now hitting boiling point as you cannot wait to get started. Remember before you click to enter the world this is your last chance if your not happy with your name, class, race and look. If you want to change something just delete the character and start the creation again. If your happy with your selection then you are ready to go.

Click to enter the world and enjoy the cutscene.

Depending on what you chose will decide on where you start. Alliance starting zones are: Dun Morogh – Dwarves and Gnomes Elwynn Forest – Humans Teldrassil – Night Elves Azuremyst Isle – Draenei Horde starting zones are: Tirisfal Glades – The Forsaken Durotar – Orcs and Trolls Mulgore – Taurens Eversong Woods – Blood Elves

Getting Started

When you enter your first starting zone you will see various characters and even other players. Have a little run around the camp to get used to your keys but don’t stray to far. There is now a choice for you and that’s how to setup your layout. You can either use the Blizzard User Interface (UI) or you can download new ones from popular sites like Curse.com. I would suggest for your first character to use the Blizzard UI so that you get used to the game and the character you’ll be playing with. Addons can be installed at any time and do provide more funtionality and more information so they could overwhlem you when your just getting started. I will cover more about WOW addons in another page later.

You will notice above certain non-player characters (NPC’s) a yellow exclamation mark. This indicates this NPC has a quest for you. Upon completing the quest the NPC will show a yellow question mark. These are also indicated on your minimap (the small map in the top right corner of your screen by default – not addon controlled).
If the exclamation mark is grey, this means you are not quite high enough in your level to pick it up.

Knowing Your Target

When you first start these zones as a new player you may see different colours when you mouse over various targets.

The general ones you see are: Green – Friendly to you Yellow – Neutral to you Red – Unfriendly and will attack you

Targets which are green can often be helpful to you in some way. Mouse over the target and if you see a little scroll icon click the right mouse button to begin your interaction.
If a target is yellow, then you will either be able to attack it as it’s a mobile object (Mob) or do nothing as a neutral non-player character (NPC) will not interact with you.
Should the target be red then you only have to move within a close proximity for it to start attacking you.

Ready To Go!!

Okay so you have your character, your in the starting zone based on the chosen class.

You have had a little run around to get used to the keys and you understand the different targets; who is beneficial to you and what to attack. You will start with basic abilities so learn how to activate them by reading the spell information in your spellbook. Press ‘P’ on your keyboard to open your spellbook. The spellbook is pretty straightforward – the spells/abilities are listed on the left and the various tabs to switch between the different types are on the right.

Spend a few minutes reading these until you understand what they do and how to activate them.

Since you start with the basic necessities and money theres no equipment to get at this point so lets go kill your first mob.
Pick your target based on the quest you have picked up and activate any abilities that will help you, these are usually ones that last a few minutes.
If you have a ranged attack then pick a suitable spot as far away as the ability will allow and still use i.e. maximum range. If your ability is melee i.e. close quarters combat then you will need to be as close as you can to the mob.

As the first few mobs are neutral you will need to start the combat by either casting the spell, do this by clicking on it with your mouse, or right click the target (click the actual mob and not the frame) to begin melee.

Did you win?? Nevertheless, congratulations you have just performed your first combat with your new character.

Try this a few more times until you feel comfortable with your characters abilities, then progress with more quests.

Good luck.