I made a master list of where DLPers are (tentatively) going to be. If you change, let me know and I'll try to not be lazy and update. I'm sure a lot is going to change when every realm has 4 hour wait times, but we'll see.

NA

Name Timezone Realmtype Est Pop

Blameux PST PvP Low
Fairbanks PST PvP High

Agayek Horde

Whitemane PST PvP Full
Skeram EST PvP Medium
Stalagg EST PvP High
Faerline EST PvP Full

Trooper Horde

Herod EST PvP Full

Anarchy Horde (mage)
Syaoran Alliance
Luckylee Aliance
Selethe Alliance
Airilifie Alliance
Menace Alliance
Trooper Alliance?

Thalnos EST PvP Full
Atiesh PST PvE High

Trooper Alliance

Myzrael PST PvE High
Mankrik EST PvE Full
Pagle EST PvE Full
Bloodsail Buccaneers - RP Medium
Grobbulus - RPPvP Medium

EU

Name (Primary) Language Realmtype Est Pop
Firemaw English PvP Medium
Gehennas English PvP Full
Golemagg English PvP Full

Skykes ?
Jarizok ?

Shazzrah English PvP Full

Mestre Alliance
Ankan Alliance
Skykes ?

Mirage Raceway English PvE High
Pyrewood Village English PvE High
Zandalar Tribe English RPPvP Medium
Hydraxian Waterlords English RP Medium
Lucifron German PvP Full
Venoxis German PvP Medium
Everlook German PvE Full
Razorfen German PvE Low
Sulfuron French PvP High
Auberdine French PvE Medium
Flamegor Russian PvP High
Chromie Russian PvE Medium

OCE

Name Timezone Realmtype Est Pop
Arugal AET PVP

Gengar Alliance
Mishie Alliance
Innomine Alliance

Remulos AET Normal

The following realms will be added on the 26th

NA
Bigglesworth PST PvP
Old Blanchy PST PvE
Incendius EST PvP
Westfall EST PvE

EU
Flamelash English PvP
Gandling English PvP
Mograine English PvP
Razorgore English PvP
Nethergarde English PvE

 

I'll be going Alliance, and rip all the DLPers stuck in the Herod queues.

 

https://eu.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/new-wow-classic-realms-opening-monday-26-august/73013

5 new servers for EU, we are free from the oppression caused by queues.

 

So debating joining in on this...but if I do...anyone got any good guides?

I'd be EST. Always enjoyed PvP and Roleplaying in SWTOR. Pve is fine but not my favorite.

 

https://classic.wowhead.com/

^This is the standard go-to for wow information, and they've got their own section on classic. Should have a full set of guides and builds and all that kinda crap.

 

I could list a whole bunch of tips just from memory alone...

Need to know what you're gonna play though (class/faction)

 

Really like the look of the Undead Mage.

 

For the first time though (and even for people who haven't touched vanilla in 15 years) I wouldn't go near a leveling guide. I think that would ruin that first time experience. Exploration is very much an integral part of the game, and being too optimized could ruin the leveling experience (which a lot of people consider the best part of the game). However, there are a million other guides for everything else. https://classic.wowhead.com/guides

I do have a few general tips. Going into a full blown thing would be tens of thousands of words, so I'll be quick.

Spoiler

1) Be prepared for a lot of walking. There are flight paths, but you have to unlock them by walking and finding them first. You also get a ground mount at level 40. It costs 100 gold, so keep that in mind as you approach that level. It's an extra 60% speed. There's an epic mount you can buy at level 60. It costs 1000 gold and gives an extra 100% speed. These gold costs can be reduced by 10% twice (one by the associated reputation, one by being rank 3 in pvp, which is easy to get on a pvp server). There's also two parts to buy, the training and the mount itself. Also, each faction has its own flavor of mounts, and there are a handful of special ones you can get. Warlocks and Paladins can get mounts through quests. Druids, shamans and hunters have movement speed increase abilities.

2) You unlock new skills every two levels, and you have to visit a class trainer to train them (it costs money). They can get very expensive, so later on you'll probably going to want to pay attention to which ones you are buying rather than just buying them all. Class trainers are usually just in the main cities, so it can be a pretty big timesink to go and get them every two levels.

3) Don't be afraid to grind levels. Quest XP isn't that great, and I see it more as a bonus for grinding. Quests tend to send you all over the place as well, so be prepared for that. Some of them are breadcrumb quests, some of them aren't. I try to do a whole zone before moving on, but most zones have a level range, with the top end of the zone being impossible to do immediately, with many of them being elite quests that you'll need a group for. Never be afraid to group, especially on a pvp server. Some quests have stupidly low drop rates, and couple with slow respawns and overcrowded servers at launch, it's probably going to be painful in the early zones, so don't be afraid to abandon a quest. Also, it might not always be readily apparent what the next zone for you to go to is. Some of them will be really far away. Like, Desolace is probably a 30 minute walk for Alliance, and Shimmering Flats is out there as well (though it's a good opportunity to pick up a flight path. I have two tips in one - complete all the quests in a zone before handing them in (it's a good feeling to see "complete" next to everything), and then, if you're only like 5 bars away from a level, grind out those five bars, and then turn in those quests. It gives you a head start on the next level, even it it's mostly a psychological boost. Also, if you find a really quiet spot with no one else, it might be worth it to grind for a bit.

4) Professions. There's a couple different ones, all of them have their uses. If you want to make money, the best option is probably Herbalism + Alchemy, or Herbalism + Enchanting, of if you just want money while leveling, skinning + enchanting is probably the way to go (you just vendor all the skins). If you want to supplement your gear while levelling, each armor type has one associated with it (tailor, leatherworking, blacksmith). Most people will agree that the best profession is engineering, as it's super good in pvp, and still really good in pve. Very expensive though. For me, I'm playing a mage, and I'm 95% certain I'm just going to do tailoring/enchanting. A lot of the tailoring gear is pretty good, and you can disenchant all the extra stuff that won't sell on the auction house. Going this route will make it rough to actually have enough gold for your mount at level 40, so you just have to weigh that.

5) There's no shame in gold farming. There's different ways to go about it. I mentioned professions above, but beyond that, it's mostly just grinding. Not all spots are created equal. Scarlet Monastery is pretty much the classic go-to spot. Some people start going at level 30 and don't stop going until they're 40. For level 60 grind spots, I'd just use a guide, but last I saw Maraudon was the current hotness (at least until phase 2 happens). Completing quests at max level will also give you gold instead of XP, so there's that as well

6) Keystone quests. Keystone meaning important, probably don't want to miss. Some of them give powerful rewards, others are class quests, others are attunements. An example, for alliance mages, would be the "Icicle Rod", a level 20 staff that gives +frost damage. Lots of classes have class quests that give some sort of weapon, some have multiples. Another example would be the "Talbar Mantle" which will be most people's first set of green shoulders, but the quest is off the beaten path. Stuff like that can break up the monotony of leveling. There's also a lot of attunement quests. Both of the release-day raids require them. The Molten Core one isn't too hard (iirc you just have collect a thing near the portal inside of BRD), while the Onyxia one gives you a bunch of run-arounds (and also goes to BRD - be prepared to spend way too many hours inside that place, multiple times). Dungeons of all levels have various attunements. I'm not going to list them all, but I'd say like half of them have some sort of attunement, or an item that gives a shortcut or extra boss.

7) Talent trees. Each class has three, essentially giving that class an identity. Mages can be Arcane, Frost, and Fire, or some mixture. It can be simple stuff like passive crit %, or class defining abilities like Mortal Strike. There are talents that are weaker than the others, and it's not always readily apparent. I prefer to be frost, as it gives me more survivability, and isn't a waste in the early raids. Looking up a guide for that can be useful, as respeccing gets more expensive each time.

8) Addons. Honestly, I don't know what addons are available at the moment. I know that none of the old ones are going to work, but I assume people have been working on mods since the beta come out. Something I should look into. There's addons for pretty much everything though, though Blizzard tends to crack down on anything that makes the game too automated. I personally will be using a quest tracker at the very minimum, because I hate the thought of missing a quest in a zone. I'll also be using a UI upgrade. A loot database is always helpful as well, so you know what bosses drop what gear, so you can plan out your adventures a little better without having to visit a third party website all the time.

9) PvP. On release, the only PvP is going to be world PvP, and it's likely going to be a constant slaughter. Some areas are going to be constant bloodbaths, to the point that it can be very difficult to level. Stranglethorn Vale is notorious for that, affectionately nicknamed STVietnam. The first time you go, you should put on Fortunate Son or Paint it Black for the full experience. Other areas like Shimmering Flats, Redridge, Ungoro, Hillsbrad, Blackrock Mountain and Desolace will be hotbeds. Also, every dungeon entrance. It's always smart to travel in a group

 

My two copper...

Hillsbrad and STV were terrible. Go there once for the flight masters and then just leave it for whenever you're grinding at very off-standard hours. Ashenvale was generally not liked for Alliance because it's the least safe of the 20-30 zones you have available: Redridge/Duskwood were occasionally raided, Wetlands never really was on the servers I was on. Most importantly, though: if there's a zone that's just being camped by gankers, just take the L and head elsewhere. Tanaris can also be pretty rough at times, but mostly because it's the first real zone where both groups draw from one quest hub.

Instance-wise, the big neutral ones are Scarlet Monastery (which everyone and their mothers will LFG for on both sides) at ~32-40 (35-40 for Alliance) and Zul'Farrak (42-48, I believe?). Yes, the former is stupidly deep in Horde territory, you'll learn fast as Alliance. If you're levelling as a tank or healer (which might be questionable in the first place, but eh), you can probably just grind these for all the levels you could ever want. They're likely popular and eminently farmable.

Don't go for a full Blackrock Depths run if you're not willing to spend a few hours. Also lay off the salt for the days prior and after - you'll generate enough of it on your own. This place is infamous.

Underrated instance: Sunken Temple is a fun romp that has a few quests associated with it. Overrated: Maraudon, which has stupid pulls and if I remember correctly, the final boss has a really unfun mechanic.

Oh, and if you're playing Hunter... Keep your fucking pet in check.

 

A few extra caster-related tips:

USE YOUR WAND! People underestimate how much damage they do, but the most important reason to finish off enemies with a wand is the '5-second rule'.

In classic, if you don't cast a spell for 5 seconds, your mana (and health) start to regenerate in combat. So ideally, you'll want to front load all the spells you wanna cast, then start wanding them to death (especially good if you're frost because they're crawling towards you at that point anyway). This will significantly reduce the time you spend eating and drinking between pulls (which is a huge pain when levelling). If you pick up enchanting, you can craft some very good early game wands through that. Alternatively, there's a very good wand you can get from Blackfathom Deeps (a dungeon) in Ashenvale (quest inside).

Elemental resistances are a thing. If you go full fire, expect to do fuck all to Fire Elementals. Ditto Frost with Water etc and so on. This seems obvious, but isn't the case in retail. Every mage had to be Frost in early Classic because Molten Core is filled with Fire elementals that'll laugh off your fire spells.

You can eat and drink at the same time. You don't have to wait for the eating buff to finish before you start drinking. Just click both food items. Seems minor, but I didn't know this for ages (to be fair, I was a rogue first so I didn't have a need to know lol).

I absolutely do not want to tell you what race to play... but are you sure you don't like Trolls? XD

As for professions, don't feel like you need to go with your final ones right away. As with all economies, demand will be high for crafting materials. Enchanting is good because it's self-sufficient, so you can disenchant every useless bit of magical gear you get and (i'd recommend) sell the mats on the auction house rather than use them yourself. You only need Enchanting to be level1 to do that. You can also stockpile your cloth while levelling and take a gathering profession while levelling to earn more gold. So take skinning and herbing/enchanting while levelling while sending all your cloth to the bank to use for when you're ready to level tailoring.

Tailoring is mostly a must though for casters. The chest piece every class can craft is basically best in slot for a long time for each of the clothies. If you decide to go Tailoring from the beginning too, make bags. They'll sell.

If you pick up enchanting, don't automatically disenchant every Bind on Equip item you find. A lot of items have animal affixes attached to them which signify which stats they give, and learning what others classes will want to buy is pretty simple. You'll be able to sell <Leather Item> of the Monkey to Rogues and Feral Druids, or <Cloth Item> of the Owl/Eagle to Priests/Mage/Warlock etc.

 

I'm looking forward to recognising my opponents in pvp again rather than the new cross realm. Was certainly beneficial population wise and for queue times, but there something to be said for coming up against the same people over and over again, it was way more enjoyable rather than the mindless pvp it is now.

Haven't looked at what they have fixed and haven't fixed, but wonder if you still get the old map bugs for WSG where you could really be an arsehole.

First thing I will do is try to climb to goldshire inn roof again. Good old times.

 

Battlegrounds aren't a thing in Classic at launch afaik, so all pvp will be world pvp.

Battlegroups were definitely in vanilla though to combat those awful queue times. I'm not sure they've said definitively what way they're going on that front. It may not be necessary given the fewer, yet larger servers.

 

Yup. BGs are launching with Phase 2 IIRC (when ZG and BWL go live). I'm not sure on the exact timetable, if they've even announced it, but it's gonna be a reasonable facsimile of the original release schedule.

 

There is even more chaos after BGs come out because people will be going to set locations to queue up. Good old xroads.

 

They did, but only just. WSG and AV were released with patch 1.5, while BWL came out in 1.6, about a month later.

 

Controversial opinion: BGs are garbage and have no place in an MMORPG. I much prefer world objectives (if there needs to be 'objectives' at all) a la TBC.

Arena is fine. It makes sense in-world.

 

Yeah, that too. That's the kind of pvp that makes sense in a 'living world.'

If you could somehow balance servers, War Mode in retail is pretty much perfect. Cross server zones kind of screw with it a lot though, so it remains imperfect.

 

Might play a mage. Part of me doesn’t want to play rogue without cloak of shadows but being a rogue is so ingrained into the way I see wow I might not be able to play anything but rogue ever. Might also play some Paladin for lore things!