The World of Warcraft character creation process is certainly not the most complicated or robust in the MMO world (that distinction goes to the character creation process in City of Heroes), but there are steps one can take to streamline the process and get the most out of their newly-created WoW character. Our guide will walk you through the entire process, hopefully providing helpful hints and tips for new players and veterans alike.
It’s generally a good plan to do a little thinking beforehand to determine what class and race you think you will enjoy most. There are a number of useful WoW websites that can provide you with information on which classes are available to which races, racial bonuses and attributes, and the advantages of Horde vs. Alliance characters.
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n the end, though, you should really plan on creating a character that you will enjoy playing. So what if Night Elf Rogues get a bonus to stealth? If you really, really enjoy the thought of dealing insane amounts of damage as a diminutive Gnome, then by all means make one. The character that you think you will have the most fun with is always the best choice.
If you’re not sure which class you’d like to play, the individual class forums on the official World of Warcraft website are a great place to do a little research or even ask a questions of veterans of your chosen class. If you’re not sure about the soloing ability of a Warlock, for example, the official forums are a great place to ask about it (FYI, Warlocks are amazing soloers).
Once you’ve got a general idea of the character you want to create, it’s time to actually do so. Fire up your WoW client and log into your account. If this is your first foray into the World of Warcraft, the game will invite you to choose a server. Initially you will be asked some basic questions and then assigned to a server, but you can always change by clicking the “Change Realm” button in the top right corner of the character select screen.
If you’re hoping to play with friends in the game, it’s important to find out what server they’re playing on beforehand. It’s no fun to level up a character before finding that you’re on the wrong server and having to start all over again. It is possible to pay to transfer a character to another server, but the $25 price tag is a little steep for anything but a fairly high-level character that you’ve put a lot of time into.
Once you’ve chosen a server, click on one of the “Create New Character” buttons to begin.
Check out page two for information on Race and Class selection, as well as character customization tips.