Gameplay of World of Warcraft - Characters

Characters

To start, players select a game realm or server to play on. Each realm is in one of four different categories, depending on which set of combat rules it uses. These can be either where players are mainly focused on defeating monsters and completing quests, and player versus player combat is not permitted unless inside opposing cities, (Player versus environment), or where open combat between players is permitted (Player versus player). There are also dedicated roleplay versions of both these types, where players are encouraged to control their character as if they were an inhabitant of a fantasy world. Realms are also categorised by the language players are encouraged to use, offering in-game support in that language. Players are able to transfer their established characters between realms in the same territory (North America, Europe, etc.) for a fee. A player may create up to eleven characters per realm, with a maximum number of fifty characters per account.

Once a player has selected a realm, an option to create a character is available. A player can select one of two opposing factions to place their character in: the Horde or the Alliance. Characters can only communicate and group with other characters of the same faction. Each faction has seven (including the Panda) races to choose from. Race determines the character's appearance, starting location, and initial skill set, called "racial traits". The Alliance currently consists of Humans, Night Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Draenei and Worgen; the Horde currently consists of Orcs, Tauren, Forsaken, Trolls, Blood Elves and Goblins. Both Draenei and Blood Elves were added as part of the Burning Crusade expansion, which is required for these options to become available. Worgen and Goblins were added for the Alliance and Horde respectively in the following expansion pack, Cataclysm. In the most recent expansion pack, Mists of Pandaria, Pandaren were added as a "neutral" race, World of Warcraft's first ever. At level 12 and the conclusion of the beginner zone quests for Pandaren, the player must choose to either ally with the Alliance or Horde for the duration of gameplay. Further options to customize the appearance, such as hairstyles, skin tones, etc. are also available. Once set, the face and skintone are not able to be changed; however the hair style, color, and other decorations such as earrings and facial hair can be changed by visiting barbershops within capital cities. The entire character appearance (including face, skin tone, gender) was later customizable with Blizzard's character recustomisation paid service.

Depending on the race chosen and the expansions installed, a player then has five to seven of the game's ten character classes to choose from. The mechanics of each class vary, with some tending towards melee combat while others are more suited to attacking from range or casting spells. The game has three roles, DPS (damage dealer), tank and healer; a member of any class can be customized for the DPS role, while members of some classes, known as hybrids, can also be customized as healers, tanks or any of the three roles. Currently available classes are Druids, Hunters, Mages, Paladins, Priests, Rogues, Shamans, Warlocks, Warriors, and Death Knights; the Monk class will be added in Mists of Pandaria. Originally, Paladins were available only to Alliance races and Shamans were only available to Horde races, but both classes were made available to both sides in The Burning Crusade. Death Knights, introduced in Wrath of the Lich King, are a hero class, which means the player needs a level 55 character of any class to create a Death Knight. Death Knights start at level 55 with many skills, abilities, weapons and armor.

While a character can be played on its own, players can also group up with others in order to tackle more challenging content. In this way, character classes are used in specific roles within a group. Players are also able to customize their character through the use of talents, which are further abilities related to their character class.

Characters are also able to learn two primary professions from a list of ten. These can be gathering professions, such as mining, herb gathering, or animal skinning. Characters can also choose from crafting professions, such as blacksmithing or leatherworking, or enhancement professions such as enchanting or inscription. Professions are not directly linked to a character's class (e.g., Warriors can be alchemists, Mages can be animal skinners, etc.). However, some skills available to certain classes (e.g., the ability to track animals) are useful to certain professions. Characters can also learn all secondary professions: cooking, fishing, first aid and, with the Cataclysm expansion, archaeology. In the Burning Crusade expansion, additional profession specialisations were added, allowing a character to gain new restricted techniques such as an alchemists mastering potions, elixirs, or transmutations. In the Cataclysm expansion, the secondary profession of archaeology was added which allows players to dig up and recover artifacts all over Azeroth.

As well as banding together to form groups, players can also band together to form a guild. These organizations allow players several benefits, such as easier communication and an identifying guild name and tabard. Guild members can also be given access to a central pool of resources known as a guild bank. Guilds can also make use of an in-game calendar, allowing guild members to view scheduled events, and respond to them with whether they can attend or not. This calendar can also be accessed without need to log-in to the game, using the Armory feature. Guild members that accomplish goals together gain guild experience and advance the level of their guild, granting guild members various benefits.