Hunters

 

Hunters, also known as Rangers, are a very interesting class. From simple trackers, to ranger generals, they play many roles in the different factions on Azeroth.

Sylvanas Windrunner was a ranger general for the High Elves before she was killed by the Litch King. She still uses a bow and has a core of forsaken rangers at her command. The Farstriders are the main non magical defending force of Silvermoon, comprised of rangers.

Vol'jin, the leader of the Darkspear Trolls is a Shadow Hunter, a hunter that can call upon the Loa, troll animal gods, for power and assistance. The trolls are proud hunters, as an in game item would suggest. "The Greatest Race of Hunters: A Tale of a Female Troll and Her Tiger."

The Tauren hold the hunt as a sacred right. One of the rises of Thunder Bluff is dedicated to their hunters. The hunt is a large part of their nomadic roots. They see the hunt as a way to stay in harmony with nature, taking only what they need and thanking the Earth Mother for her blessings.

Night Elves have a similar hunter tradition. They are very attuned to the forest and the natural balance of life.


Dwarf hunters are more pragmatic about their traditions. They hunt to get food. Yet in some cases, such as Nessingwary, they turn more excessive. Dwarfs do seem to like to impress each other and show off, though they can also be very stern and realistic. Most may not hunt just for sport, but I'm sure many would roll their eyes at "being one with the forest."


Every race can be a hunter since Cata, save for Gnomes (but that would be amazing, Blizz, think about it.). Each race has their own outlook on the class. I will cover the new races of hunters in a later post.

One of the fun things about playing a hunter is you can play your pet as well. The best way to do this is just to add them into the emote like so:

 

You can also direct your pet where to go like so:

"Hey Grabber..."

"Come over here."

"Good boy."

Also some pets preform tricks. Grabber does a flip when I hit this button:

"Do a barrel roll!"

With all (well, some) joking aside, let's talk about specs.

Beast Mastery hunters are very close to their pets, and I would say nature in general. They respect the forest, and perhaps feel more at home in the field among beasts then in the city among their people. They are the least likely of the three to be a soldier, more likely living off the land or working to bring food to their people. Perhaps they see themselves as just another force of nature, another predator in the forest, never taking more then they need.

 

Marksmanship hunters are basically snipers. Though they don't necessarily have belong to an army, they take time to carefully line up a shot and make a quick clean kill. They have patience and skill. They are not brash, or on the front lines. They are pragmatic, tactical, cunning, waiting for exactly the right moment to strike.

Survival hunters are good at laying traps, but I would also venture they are far less patient and subtle. Explosive shot does not exactly bring stealth to mind. They are clever, but also more impulsive. Their strong fire power and reckless explosions and traps making them a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, or just in general.

This is a long post, probably because hunters are so versatile. Every culture has their own view of hunters and the hunt itself. With so much variation in just one class there is a lot to draw on.

Points to remember when role playing a hunter:

• Your pet can be like a second character, with their own habits and personality.
• Feign death is good enough to fool your enemies, it should work on your friends too.
• Look into how your race sees/uses hunters. It will likely affect your character's outlook.

Druids

Druids are one of the most versatile classes in World of Warcraft. They can tank, they can heal, they can deal damage. They can even stealth. They are like a warrior, rogue, mage and priest all in one. Of course every druid must focus on a single path to truly master it, and this will be a large part of their personality.

Malfurion Stormrage is a druid, and a wise and patient leader, and yet so was Staghelm, a druid that fell into corruption and madness, trying to keep Malfurion trapped in the Emerald Nightmare. Yet even still, Staghelm served a purpose. He "carries the sins of the Kaldorei people" in his plan to create a new world tree. I could write a whole book on this, but someone already has. I will discuss more about Malfurion and Staghelm in later a post.

After the cataclysm, the Trolls and Wogen were added to the ranks of the druids, each with their own flavor and new ways of thinking. I'll cover those later. For now let's look at the different specs, and what kind of character each would likely be.

A balance druid is concerned with just that, balance. They tend to see all sides of things, the necessity of things others would consider wrong. They move back and forth between arcane and natural energies, two forces many would consider opposite, but they find a way for one to fuel the other, to never go only to one side, but to be in a constant swing back and forth. This perpetual motion makes them more fluid, more willing to accept that all things come in time, and nothing can ever stay to one side forever.

A feral druid has two sides, though most will favor either cat or bear. Feral druids may have lost touch with society a little, preferring the rules of the wild. After all, what could be more simple? Survival of the fittest, no lies, no games, simply living another day in balance with the forest. Taking what you need to eat and nothing else. A cat druid will likely be more swift and cunning, relying on stealth and surprise, while a bear druid will be more blunt and aggressive, protective of their companions and willing to step up to protect the pack.

A restoration druid is all about healing, whether it be their allies or the world at large. You can see examples of this in the Western Plaguelands, where they actually managed to turn back the corruption and bring life back to the broken land. Restoration druids are calm and level headed, always looking for the peaceful solution, and to aid those in need. Since they prefer healing to fighting, they often need to be protected. They are diplomatic, always preferring a peaceful solution, and able to look at the long term. Going to war when the world is wracked with pain is folly to a restoration druid.

I would be remiss to talk about druids and leave out talking about the Emerald Dream. The Emerald Dream is another plane that is basically Azeroth as it would have existed if no intelligent life had formed. It's a land completely ruled by nature, with nothing but plants and wild life. Malfurion and his druids retreated to the Emerald Dream to help nourish the World Tree that was destroyed by the Burning Legion many thousands of years ago. Unfortunately, even the Emerald Dream has been corrupted and parts of it are slowly turning into the Emerald Nightmare, which hosts demonic and dark energies. With the Cataclyms, the druids that left for the Emerald Dream have woken up, including Malfurion and his followers. The fight for the World Tree is now on Mount Hyjal, and if you are just starting to role play a druid now, it would be perfectly acceptable that they have just awoken from the Dream.

Points to remember when playing a druid:

• They can speak in animal or moonkin form. This is seen on several occasions and many different quests.
• In night elf society, men were traditionally druids and women were priests. Female druids are actually something kind of new and revolutionary.
• Druids are often the most neutral of characters when it comes to faction. Both Horde and Alliance druids come together at Moonglade, and many are members of the Cenarion Circle together, working outside of faction restraints to heal the world.

Warriors

 

Warriors are a very interesting class. They have nothing to rely on but their own strength. They lack the subtle cunning of a rogue, or the magical power of a mage. They can't heal, they can't curse, all they can do is fight. And they can make for some very interesting characters.

Warriors are often soldiers, but they don't have to be. They can be mercenaries, brawlers, thugs, heroes, anything that requires strength and courage. What they are not often is shy or quiet.

Varian Wrynn and Garrosh Hellscream are both warriors. They are both brash, bold leaders. Some would call them foolish, others daring. They are more alike then either would want to admit. Warriors are shaping the world of Azeroth.

When role playing a warrior, it is a good idea to consider your spec. Under the talents panel you can see a brief summary of each talent tree. They are good things to consider for your character's personality.

 

An arms warrior depends on their strength. They are slower, but they strike harder. I would consider them slower to anger, but unstoppable once they've made up their mind. With large two handed weapons, it's easy to conjure the image of a samurai with a long two handed sword. In my mind, arms warriors are more likely to be soldiers. Brutal strength focused into single attacks, they are still on the offensive, but with more control.

A fury warrior is more likely to be a mercenary, or a brawler. One quick to anger, looking for a fight. A berserker does not back down easily from an argument, or agree to disagree. They settle things with their blades, they charge in with out looking, they are eager for bloodshed. Perhaps they have more bravado then smarts, or perhaps their strength will always carry them through.

A protection warrior is perhaps the noblest of the three. They put their lives on the line to protect the members of their party, be they friends or simply allies. A protection warrior is all about control and sacrifice. They must keep the situation under control, they must keep everyone safe. That is their purpose and their job. Protection warriors need something to protect like fury warriors need something to rage against. It drives them and gives them a sense of purpose.


These are all my personal opinions, but hopefully they give you something to jump off of. A place to start from. These would be considered the norm, but there are exceptions to every rule. Just remember, you need to know the rules before you can break them.

Things to remember when role playing a warrior:

• They are stronger then they are smart.
• They wear plate or mail armor, this limits they way they move and is noisy.
• Many "charge" into things, be it battle or anything else.
• Lore has warriors do a lot of drinking, including an old warrior quest that you had to complete drunk. They are generally no strangers to the tavern.
• Be they friendly or fierce, warriors often have big personalities and are hard to ignore.

Creating a Character

 

"I am a master of the dark arts... Ignore the flower."

Creating a character is far more then choosing their face and hair on the character creation screen. It is taking those choices into consideration and deciding what kind of person they would be. A warlock and a priest will be very different people. Also every race has their own ways and traditions. There are exceptions to every rule, but they are good places to start from.

If you're not starting a new character from scratch, chances are you already have a race and class chosen. I'll go more into race later, but class is a good place to start.

Think about the mechanics of your class. For example, warriors run on rage. A warrior could very likely be hot headed, and easily lose their temper. Also consider the spec you've chosen. A protection warrior would be a very different person from a fury warrior. 

Once you've settled on a basic feel to their personality, think of a back story that suits them. You don't need to do a ton of research, but the more specific you can get the stronger your character becomes. Consider their family rather then the lore that they would have encountered. In my experience it's much more important to know how a character feels about their mother then what battle they were in at what time.

Also consider your character's "voice". This means consider the way that they talk. A warrior, like I mentioned before, probably will be short and terse with their language. Preferring to be direct rather then dance around a subject. A mage would likely be just the opposite.

These are all things to consider, but the best advice I can offer is to simply jump in! There are many places in Stormwind and Silvermoon where role players tend to congregate. Find a scene going on and jump in to give it a try. The worst thing that can happen is you learn something.

Now, for more in depth looks at classes and races, stay tuned for my next posts.

The Bare Bones Basics of Role Play

If you have ever wondered just how to role play on World of Warcraft, this is the post for you.

Let's begin with a basic definition of "Role Play". To Role Play means to act as your character. This means you type as your character and act as your character, not as yourself sitting behind a computer screen playing a game. To type as your self is called being "OOC" or "Out of Character". Everyone must have OOC moments, such as running a dungeon or asking about a quest, but a lot of Role Players try to stay in character as much as possible.

This means you must have a fairly good grasp on your character. Their back ground, their likes and dislikes, even their speech patterns. It's a lot to consider, but the more you put into a character, the more you'll get out of it when it comes time to play.

But before we go into that, let's cover the basic game mechanics of role playing in World of Warcraft.

WoW has two ways to express yourself in character. The first is an emote. Most non-role players know about the pre-made emotes Blizzard has already incorporated into the game.

As you can see this is a very small and limited list, though they do have their uses. The bread and butter of role play on WoW are emotes that you write yourself.

You start this by typing /e and hitting the space bar.

 This will start an emote beginning with your character's name.

 

You're then free to write what ever your character is doing.

 

The content of the emote is completely up to you. Emotes are there to express what your character is doing in that moment, thus they should be written in present tense. This frees you from the pre made and limited interactions of simply waving or crying to open up a whole new level of personal description unique to your character alone.

The other way to communicate is to "Say" things. The default setting for chat in WoW is in say, but to "say" something you need only type /say and hit the space bar.

 

Some role players will also speak in the emote itself like so:

 

 It really comes down to personal preference and style. I personally prefer to "say" what my character speaks, it just feels more... authentic somehow.

Now that we have the technicalities out of the way, let's move on to the more interesting topics...

An Intro to the blog For Serious Role Players

Hello and welcome to the blog For Serious Role Players. This is a blog dedicated to role playing on World of Warcraft. I will be discussing a range of topics, from a basic intro, to lore, to great places for role play on Azeroth.  A whole world of possibilities await the patient and skilled player, so let's get to those skills, polish them, and send you out in the world.