World of Warcraft is one of the best video games on the planet. If you play it or have, you know that it is very addictive. It does resemble drugs in a way, so if you quit one day, you might end up coming back!

I wanted to write a guide for someone who has forgotten what to do and how to enjoy their favorite game again.

We know, you totally quit last time ;).

First of all, this is for someone who has forgotten what to do and wants to jump back in right away, which means using addons and reading. If you are a super lucky person, some of your old WOW buddies are probably still playing.

I would hook up with them as soon as possible, as they can boost you pretty quickly. As for addons, they will just tell you what to do, and reading about it will actually teach you. Using addons and having buddies is just a way to exponentially get you to where you want to go.

Second, there are a LOT of expansions to World of Warcraft, but in 2019, Blizzard announced that all of the previous expansions are now included in the base game. You will only need to purchase the base game and the current expansion if you are getting back into the game.

Don’t Actually Take Any of This Advice

Talk to someone who has played for a while and practiced playing the meta of the game at the time you come back. Something on this list might be completely wrong. But it is a good starting point and it will help you until you find that person you can ask all of the questions to and is willing to help.

Refresher Tips

Your inventory will be full. WOW is an inventory management game. You must be able to get rid of grays, old gear & and non-useable gear. In a quick and efficient manner, a big chunk of your game will be managing these things. That is one of the reasons I push some of the addons below. Here is a WOW inventory refresher if you need one.

You probably can’t fly in the new zone. If you are toward the end game, you will be on your ground mount for a while. They do this so you keep playing and grind out the flying! By then, you should have a group of friends who get you into raiding… this is how they get you.

Off WOW Programs

Make sure you have Curseforge to download all the freaking addons that will help you succeeded in this game. Unfortunately, that is the way it is. Ion is actively talking about reducing some of the addon bloat with in game stuff but its slow to roll out.

Next, get on Discord. If you have ever really played WOW, at some point, you get on a communication system to talk to everyone, since the in-game com system in WOW has always been bad. Discord is the new Mumble or Ventrillo. It’s more of a forum-style app, but it has excellent sound and gaming communication tools built into its system.

You will want to download these types of addons: Remember, personal preference is always encouraged, as you don’t want to use something you don’t like.

Addons

Auction house

I like to use TradeSkillMaster or Auctioneer. When you use these addons, you can see at a glance if something is worth selling, scraping, or destroying. WOW is part of an inventory management game, and this helps that part of the game go much smoother.

Titan Panel

Titan Panel is a resource tracker that lives on the top or bottom of your screen. It tells you a lot of important information about your WoW characters.

Update: I don’t use this anymore in 2025.

Map

I like to know where all the chests are in the game, as well as the battle pet information. Map addons also help to tell you where the elites are (more exp and cooler drops).

Screenshot

You could always skip this addon and just press the print screen button 🙂

This is purely for show because everyone knows that cell phone pictures of your character are annoying AF! Narcissus is a good screenshot addon.

Doing Better DPS

Yes, yes, this is highly controversial, but if you are returning to WOW after a while, I suggest you use this for at least the beginning of your return. The spells, classes, rotations, and talents change almost every year, and something you used to do might not be feasible anymore. I use MaxDPS because it shows me a “how to start using this character quickly” and sometimes I don’t have time to read all about a class (I am a serious alt altoholic See: Apparently, I am an expert in World of Warcraft.

2025 Update: Now everyone uses Hekili. I would suggest using it for a while after you get your specs set up to understand what the rotation is, you’ll eventually remember the flow, keybinds, and then you can turn it off. Also great for alts.

Gold Making

I use the WorthIt addon to tell me what is worth my time farming if I want to make some gold.

Gathering

This is if you have herbalism or mining. It is nice to know where the nodes are when you need them.

Gearing

I use AskMrRobot.com to make sure that I know what gear to wear and how to update or use it correctly.

2025 Update: a lot of Discord’s will have a SIM thing where you can ping it and ask for gear updates too, just find one that works best for you.

Alerts

GTFO is a great addon that will ping you if you are standing in something or getting hit by something, maybe you shouldn’t be. Is that green shit on the floor OK to stand in? (Yes, that is usually healing, so please do that.) Let this addon yell at you if you are doing something you shouldn’t be.

LIKE STANDING IN FIRE!!!

Another one I’ve been using lately is WeakAuras. You can set up any type of alert, CD, or anything that a boss does, or any kind of reminder with this addon.

Staple Addon!

DBM or Deadly Boss Mods or Big Wigs. These add-ons, even if I didn’t use add-ons, I would still use this one. This is for raiding and is basically the GTFO addon, but will tell you what the bosses are doing and what to do during those encounters so you don’t wipe. USE IT!

Healing addon

If you are a mega healer, I suggest using one of these. I like using Healbot, and Vuhdo is another option.

Update 2025. WOW has made it way easier to use the base UI to create click casting. This will also always save your keybinds, whereas addons sometimes require reconfiguration.

Grey Selling

You will want to pick up everything in World of Warcraft. You can get a lot of gold from vendoring the things you pick up. Most of the time, another addon you get, like a bag addon, will have this already.

Get reading

You will want to review the changes to your specification and class. Update 2025, I have been using Murlock.io.

Make sure to head on over to WOWHead.com and read up about your class, the newest news, and more! Method.gg is an esports organization that focuses on World of Warcraft content. They are competing for the world first and have up-to-date information on how to play. This will also help if you are unable to download and use all the above add-ons.

Learn how to get your flying. You are going to want to fly. In every expansion, there are different requirements. Go to WOWHead.com and type in the search [current expansion flying] and get reading!