New characters pt. 2

I totally forgot to continue my guide (sort of) about starting a new character until I couldn't think of anything to write today and remembered, so that will be my topic for the day. More specifically we will talk about what to do once you've created your character and are logging in for the first time. For many people this game can be a little overwhelming at first, especially if you've never played an MMO before, but remember that it's just a game, and so many people that are probably not nearly as smart as you are making it to level 70.

Depending on which race you picked you will start in a certain starting area, but they are base on the same principals for the most part. This first little area will be your stomping ground until you are level 5 or 6, then you get to venture out into the world. What you want to do is look for the guys with the big yellow '!' marks over their heads, those are the guys you want to talk to and they will give you quests to do which, once completed, will reward you with items, money, and experience points. You will usually hit level 2 by the time you complete your first quest and then you will start seeing more quest givers pop up around the area, they were just waiting until you got a little stronger before they asked you to do anything. One of them will also give you a quest to talk to your class trainer, the NPC that will teach you your skills as you gain levels (side note: new skills are available at every even numbered level until you hit level 60, then every level from then on). Remember where you found this person as you will need to head back to him as you gain levels to get more powerful skills until you leave the area, then you will usually be going to a major city to look for them.

Right now you want to talk to every quest giver and try to do the quests together in one run, rather than going back and forth one at a time. Figure out where you need to go for each one and then do them in the order that will take the least time and then turn them in all at once. You also want to loot every corpse you kill, take all the items, and equip any weapons or armor you can, especially if it is an upgrade to what you are already wearing. You will also be receiving these items as rewards from quest givers. There are also merchants around that have armor and weapons, but while they may be better than what you currently have, it is a waste of money in the long run and you will be needing that money to pay for your new skill training. You will, however, need to talk to these guys to have them repair your equipment, and you should repair every time you are in town just to make sure your stuff never breaks. Also you can sell useless items to any vendor to make some money. Check out this post for info on whether you should sell or keep a certain item.

Once you have done all the quests here (and make sure you don't miss any) you should be at least level 5, sometimes level 6, and then you are ready to head out. You should be given a quest that sends you to the inn at the next town, and usually a quest from someone on the way to deliver something there as well, pretty easy since all you have to do is run there and talk to somebody. Once you get to the inn and turn in those quests you will want to talk to the innkeeper and bind your hearthstone there, this means when you use your hearthstone you will be teleported back to that inn, which really comes in handy when you want to turn in a quest back in town but are all the way across the map, but it can only be used once every hour so try to plan out when to use it for maximum time saving.

This first town will also have your first profession trainers, and you will want to be thinking about what kind or professions you want to pick based on your class and what exactly you want to do with this character. I will go over some of that stuff in a future post. You don't have to pick anything yet, but getting a head start never hurts and you want to start leveling up that profession as soon as possible. Now you just want to find every quest and get it done. This starting area almost always sends you in the right direction and there isn't too much exploring for lone quest givers as you will usually stumble upon them during other quests, but you want to explore the whole map as uncovering new areas will get you some experience points, and you will be leveling up that much faster.

Thats pretty much it for starting out. Most of the game is getting quests, killing things, and then completing those quests. You want to mainly focus on learning your class skills and how to use them to their fullest potential. Any time you get a brand new skill you want to think about how it can be used and whether it would be worth it to add to your normal fighting routine or not. Class specific blogs are probably some of the best places to find out about stuff like that, and when you get to the higher levels it will be a lot more important so you want to make sure to practice it on the way up so you are ahead of the curve when you get there. I'll try to come up with some tips on professions and talents in a future post, but that should get through the first 10-12 levels before you will need to be thinking about anything more.