The Guide system was introduced during Shadowlands and is a way for more experienced players to help new players learn their way around the game. The primary feature of the Guide system is the newcomer chat, a separate chat that appears anywhere in the world where guides and newcomers interact. New players with starter accounts will have access immediately to the Newcomer chat when logging into the game (by default, it’s the /4 chat bind).
We often see many of the same questions or behaviors in Newcomer chat. Here are some useful bits of information to assign as macros or have handy to copy and paste into chat to answer a question.
Waving in Newcomer Chat:
Welcome to WoW! The quest you’re on is asking you to perform an emote. Click on Gor’goth and type /wave, then press enter. You can also do /cheer or /dance, among other available emotes.
Wrong Chat (Party)
You might be trying to chat with someone at your party or nearby. By default, your typing goes to this Newcomers chat. Type /i or /p to reach your party or /say to speak to people nearby. If you’re asking for heals or a res, you’ll want to ensure your party can see it! it!
Wrong Chat (General)
Newcomer chat is cross-realm and great for general knowledge, guidance, and finding resources, but it’s unlikely someone can meet your character for quest help. You’ll have better luck asking in General chat (usually /1) or by asking in the zone you’re in.
Looking for Guild
If you’d like to join a guild or community, press “J” and take a look at the Guild or Community Finder on the left. You can search by categories or guild/community size and find out if someone is looking for your character’s spec! You can be in one guild at a time but multiple cross-realm communities.
What spec should I be?
[Feel free to give your own opinion] Try out them all, and pick the one you like best – seriously. While leveling, you’ll have the most success if you enjoy your rotation and mechanics. Depending on what you want to do later (such as raids, battlegrounds, etc.), you may learn a new spec or tweak your existing one. Check out these guides for detailed info: https://www.wowhead.com/talent-calc
Trial Accounts
If you’re on a trial account, and it seems like you’re not able to do something as expected… well, that’s expected. Trial accounts have various restrictions applied, such as no guild joining, no battle pets, a level cap (20), etc. Read more here: https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/3226
Chromie Time/Where should I level?
1: Chromie Time lets you choose which story lines you play in as you level. Choose your expansion, and Chromie will scale the dungeons and questions appropriately. Chromie Time is unlocked if you’ve already leveled a character to 50. Look for the hourglass at the Orgrimmar Embassy or Northern Stormwind.
2: Level wherever you want! Once you’re ready, you’ll automatically receive the quest to get you into Dragonflight. Until then, feel free to play in any of the expansions to see the story unfold. Regardless of where you start, you’ll eventually get to the current content.
My gear is broken!
Vendors, usually located in towns or cities, will repair your armor and weapons for a fee. The easiest way to find these vendors is to use the drop-down menu to the top left of your mini-map. Select ‘Repair,’ and a small anvil will appear on your mini-map. This denotes a vendor who can repair your items for you.
I died and can’t get to my body.
If you’re stuck somewhere that you can’t get back to, you have a few options: Have the spirit healer rez you where you started as a spirit – this will cost you both gold and a durability loss with a debuff you’ll need to wait out. If you already left the spirit healer, click the “Return to Graveyard button.”
If you’re stuck and the spirit healer can’t help, you can file a GM ticket (the ? icon in your menu) to assist. Note: GMs will never ask for your account information or send you to a website to verify your account when they reach out to help you get unstuck. They will only contact you through an in-game pop-up window with the Blizzard logo and blue text.
