World of Warcraft facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

World of Warcraft is a huge online role-playing game where many players can play together at the same time. It's often called an MMORPG. Blizzard Entertainment created this game. The game takes place in the same fantasy world as other games in the "Warcraft" series.

World of Warcraft has grown a lot over the years. It has seven big expansion packs that add new areas, stories, and things to do. These expansions are World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, World of Warcraft: Legion, and World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth.

Earlier "Warcraft" games, like Warcraft: Orcs and Humans and Warcraft 2, were real-time strategy games. This means you controlled armies from above. World of Warcraft is different because it's an MMORPG. This lets many players from all over the world play together in the same online world.

Playing the Game
In-Game Words
See also

Playing the Game

Players move forward in the game by earning "experience points." You get these points by defeating enemies and completing missions called "quests." When you get enough experience, your character gains a "level." The highest level a player can reach is 120. Each new expansion usually adds 5 or 10 more levels.

Even after reaching the highest level, players can keep getting stronger. They do this by finding powerful items from tough enemies called "bosses." These bosses are found in special areas called "instances" and "raids." Some groups of players, called "raiding guilds," even compete to be the first to defeat new bosses. Raids are big challenges where 10 to 25 players work together to beat very difficult bosses.

Players get to pick from many different races and classes when they create a character.

Table of playable classes
Classes	Races
Classes	Human	Night elf	Gnome	Dwarf	Draenei (TBC)	Worgen (CATA)	Troll	Tauren	Orc	Undead	Blood elf (TBC)	Goblin (CATA)
Druid
Hunter
Mage
Paladin
Priest
Rogue
Shaman
Warlock
Warrior
Death knight

Races

There are many different races in World of Warcraft. Each race has special looks and abilities. They also belong to one of two main groups: the Alliance or the Horde.

Alliance Races

Human

Humans look like people from our world. They can be warriors, rogues, hunters, paladins, mages, warlocks, priests, or death knights. Humans are good at finding hidden things and gaining reputation. They can also escape from effects that trap them.

Dwarf

Dwarves are short and tough, with beards. They like to drink and explore. Dwarves can be warriors, rogues, paladins, priests, hunters, warlocks, mages, or shamans. They can turn into stone to remove harmful effects and are good with guns.

Gnome

Gnomes are very small and love to build gadgets and cause explosions. They often have bright hair colors. Gnomes can be warriors, rogues, warlocks, mages, or death knights. They are smart and good at escaping traps.

Night Elf

Night elves are tall and strong, with purple or pale skin. They are connected to nature. Night elves can be warriors, rogues, druids, priests, hunters, or death knights. They can hide in shadows and are hard to hit.

Draenei (You need the Burning Crusade expansion to play as a Draenei.)

Draenei are tall, blue creatures from another planet. They can be warriors, shamans, paladins, mages, priests, hunters, or death knights. Draenei are good at making jewelry and can heal themselves or others.

Worgen (You need the Cataclysm expansion to play as a Worgen.)

Worgen are like werewolves who used to be humans. They can be mages, priests, rogues, warlocks, warriors, druids, hunters, or death knights. Worgen are good at skinning animals and can run faster for a short time.

Horde Races

Orc

Orcs are strong, green, and muscular. They can be warriors, rogues, shamans, warlocks, hunters, or death knights. Orcs can get angry to deal more damage and are tough against stun effects.

Tauren

Tauren are very tall, two-legged cow-like creatures who love nature. They can be warriors, shamans, druids, hunters, or death knights. Tauren can stomp the ground to stun enemies and have more health.

Troll

Trolls are tall with tusks and colorful hair. Their skin can be blue or green. Trolls can be warriors, rogues, shamans, mages, priests, hunters, or death knights. They can go "berserk" to attack faster and heal quickly.

Undead

Undead are pale and their bones sometimes show. They are part of the Forsaken group. Undead can be warriors, rogues, mages, warlocks, priests, or death knights. They can remove fear effects and breathe underwater longer.

Blood Elf (You need the Burning Crusade expansion to play as a Blood Elf.)

Blood Elves are thin and have green eyes. They can be warriors, rogues, paladins, mages, warlocks, priests, hunters, or death knights. Blood Elves can silence nearby enemies and are good at enchanting items.

Goblins (You need the Cataclysm expansion to play as a Goblin.)

Goblins are short, green, and love money and explosions. They can be mages, priests, rogues, warlocks, warriors, shamans, hunters, or death knights.

Classes

In World of Warcraft, your character's class decides how you play. Once you pick a class, you can't change it for that character. You can have up to 50 characters on your account, and up to 10 characters on each game server.

In group activities like raids or dungeons, there are three main roles:

The Tank: This player gets the enemies' attention and takes most of the damage. They are like the shield of the group.
The DPS (Damage per Second): These players focus on dealing a lot of damage to quickly defeat enemies. They need to be careful not to take the enemy's attention away from the Tank.
The Healer: This player keeps the group alive by restoring health to the Tank and other players who get hurt.

Here is a list of the classes in World of Warcraft:

Mage

Mages use magic spells of fire, frost, or arcane energy. They wear light cloth armor, so they are not good at taking hits up close. But they can deal huge damage from far away and hit many enemies at once.

- Roles: DPS.

Rogue

Rogues are sneaky fighters who use two weapons in close combat. They can turn invisible (stealth) and stun enemies. Rogues have many ways to escape fights they don't want to be in.

- Roles: DPS.

Warrior

Warriors are strong fighters who can use almost any weapon and shields. They get stronger as they get angrier (gaining "rage") and fight enemies up close.

- Roles: Tank, DPS.

Paladin

Paladins use holy magic to fight in close combat or to heal. They can use one-handed weapons with a shield, or a two-handed weapon. They cannot use two weapons at once.

- Roles: Tank, DPS, Healer.

Shaman

Shamans use the power of nature, fire, and sometimes frost. They can use shields, two one-handed weapons, or a two-handed weapon. Shamans can fight up close, cast spells from a distance, or heal their allies.

- Roles: DPS, Healer.

Warlock

Warlocks use dark shadow and fire magic. They wear cloth armor, so they are not good at taking hits. Warlocks can also summon powerful demons to help them in battle.

- Roles: DPS.

Druid

Druids use nature and arcane spells. They can also change into different animal forms, like a bear for tanking, a cat for damage, or a tree for healing.

- Roles: Tank (Bear form), DPS (Cat or Moonkin form), Healer (Tree form).

Priest

Priests wear cloth armor and are not good at taking hits. They can either heal allies with holy and discipline magic or deal damage with shadow spells.

- Roles: DPS, Healer.

Hunter

Hunters attack from a distance with bows, crossbows, or guns. They have animal companions (pets) that fight alongside them and keep enemies busy up close. Hunters can tame many different kinds of pets.

- Roles: DPS.

Death Knight (You need a character at level 55 and the Wrath of the Lich King expansion to create a Death Knight.)

Death Knights use dark magic and special "runes" to fight enemies up close. They also have abilities to stop enemies from running away.

- Roles: Tank, DPS.

Talents

When your character reaches level 10, you start earning "talent points" each time you level up. You can spend these points in three special "talent trees" for your class. These trees help you specialize your character.

If you want to deal more damage, you put points into a "DPS" (Damage Per Second) tree.
If you want to take less damage and protect your group, you put points into a "tanking" tree.
If you want to heal your friends more effectively, you put points into a "healing" tree.

For example, a Priest who wants to deal more damage would put points into their "Shadow" talent tree. A Priest who wants to heal their group would put points into their "Holy" talent tree.

In-Game Stats

Your character has different "stats" (statistics) that show how strong they are. These stats affect how well your character performs in battle.

Basic Stats

Agility: Helps you dodge attacks and hit enemies more often.
Intellect: Makes your spells stronger and increases your mana.
Spirit: Helps you recover health and mana faster.
Stamina: Increases your total health, making you tougher.
Strength: Makes your melee attacks stronger and helps you block with a shield.
Armor: Reduces the physical damage you take.

Combat Stats

Attack Power: Makes your melee and ranged attacks deal more damage.
Hit Rating: Increases your chance to hit an enemy with your attacks or spells.
Critical Strike Rating: Increases your chance to deal extra damage with your attacks or spells.
Speed Rating: Makes your spells cast faster.
Mana Regeneration: Helps you get mana back faster, especially important for healers.
Bonus Damage / Healing: Increases the power of your spells, either for dealing damage or for healing.

Defense Stats

Dodge: Your chance to completely avoid an attack.
Parry: Your chance to deflect an attack with your weapon, taking no damage.
Block: (Requires Shields) Your chance to block an attack with your shield, reducing the damage you take.
Resilience: Reduces the damage you take from other players and their pets.

In-Game Words

Players use many special words in World of Warcraft. Here are some common ones:

PvE: Stands for "Player versus Environment." This means you are fighting against computer-controlled enemies, like in dungeons and raids.
PvP: Stands for "Player versus Player." This means you are fighting against other players, like in battlegrounds or arenas.
Mobs/Adds: These are computer-controlled creatures that are not bosses. You often fight them in quests or in dungeons and raids.
Boss: A very strong computer-controlled enemy, usually found at the end of dungeons or raids. Bosses are hard to beat but give good rewards.
Raid: A large, special area for groups of 10 to 25 players to fight tough bosses and get powerful gear.
Dungeon: A smaller area for groups of 5 players. Dungeons help players get better gear and complete quests while leveling up.
Threat: This is how much an enemy wants to attack you. The Tank needs to create a lot of threat to keep enemies focused on them.
Aggro: When an enemy is focused on attacking you. If a DPS player deals too much damage too quickly, they might "pull aggro" from the Tank.
Tank: A player who protects the group by taking most of the damage and keeping enemies focused on them. Tanks are always needed in groups.
DPS: Stands for "Damage Per Second." These players focus on dealing a lot of damage to enemies.
Healers: Players who restore health to the Tank and other group members. Healers are also always needed.
LOM/OOM: "LOM" means "Low on Mana," and "OOM" means "Out of Mana." Mana is the energy used by spellcasters.
CC: Stands for "Crowd Control." These are spells or abilities that stop enemies from doing certain things, like stunning them or making them run in fear.
LoS: Stands for "Line of Sight." This means if there's something blocking your view of a target, you can't hit them with certain spells or attacks.
bio: Short for "Biology Break," meaning a quick bathroom break. Players often say "brb bio" (be right back, biology break).