To play the newest content, however, you must purchase The War Within on top of your subscription. This expansion introduces new zones like Khaz Algar and continues the game's main story. Future expansions, such as Midnight, will also require additional purchases when they release. Having a large amount of WoW Classic 20th Anniversary Gold can support you at all times.

Another perk of subscribing is access to World of Warcraft Classic, which lets you experience Azeroth as it was in the mid-2000s. Limited-time events like Plunderstorm and Remix are also included. For this guide, though, we'll focus on the current version of the game-often referred to as "retail WoW."

Choosing Your Race and Class

World of Warcraft is built around two factions: the Alliance and the Horde. Each faction contains multiple races, such as Night Elves, Orcs, Humans, and more. Every race comes with unique traits, backstories, and sometimes even special abilities. However, not all races can choose every class. For example, Demon Hunters can only be Blood Elves or Night Elves, while the new Evoker class is tied to the Dracthyr race.

Classes are the foundation of your character. Unlike some other MMOs where you can swap roles freely, WoW locks you into a class. Each class has specializations that allow you to refine your playstyle as you level. Warriors, for instance, can choose between tanking or dealing damage, while Mages focus entirely on ranged magical DPS. Choosing a class that fits your preferred role-damage, healing, or tanking-is crucial.

Don't stress too much if you change your mind later. With the new Warbands feature in The War Within, leveling alternate characters is faster than ever. Once one of your characters reaches level 80, your other characters gain bonus experience, making it much easier to try out new classes.

Beginning Your Adventure

When you create your character, most new players will start in Exile's Reach, a beginner-friendly island designed to teach the basics. This short zone introduces you to combat, questing, leveling, and even dungeons. By level 10, you'll unlock your class specialization and move into the wider world.

From there, you'll be directed into the Dragonflight expansion, which takes you to level 70. While older expansions are available for leveling, Dragonflight is the most streamlined and recommended path for newcomers. After finishing Dragonflight, you can dive directly into The War Within for the newest quests, zones, and storylines.

Special hero classes-such as Death Knights, Demon Hunters, and Evokers-begin with their own unique starting experiences, skipping Exile's Reach entirely. These are ideal for players who already understand the basics.

Professions and Crafting

Professions have long been part of WoW's progression system. Your character can choose two primary professions, which range from gathering skills like Mining and Herbalism to crafting disciplines such as Blacksmithing and Alchemy.

In modern WoW, professions are tied to expansions. This means you don't need to grind through old content to start crafting in The War Within. If you're interested in making gold or providing valuable items for your group, pick professions that complement each other. For example, pairing Herbalism with Alchemy gives you both the materials and the means to craft potions.

Professions aren't mandatory, but they're a fun way to add depth, make money, and keep yourself busy at max level.

What to Do at Max Level

Reaching level 80 is only the beginning. Once you've completed the leveling campaign, the amount of available content can feel overwhelming. A smart first step is to cheap WoW Classic 20th Anniversary Gold finish the story quests, as these often unlock new zones, dungeons, or features.