Starting a challenge toon for the first time can be a bit overwhelming. What class should I play? Which race is best? Should I play Alliance or Horde? What server should I play? Sometimes these choices can feel monumental and life changing. Fear not friends, take a deep breath and relax. Never forget when you start to get overwhelmed by smaller decisions remind yourself, "these are just pixels, if I don't like the class/race combo I picked, it's okay to try a different combo."
It is also worth noting right off the bat, your toon will most likely die at some point, and that's okay. Right now, as of this writing, there is only one person who has made it to the current max level (110/Legion Xpac) for the Blood Thirsty Challenge. Point being, do not get discouraged if your toon dies. Use it as a learning tool. Make note of what zone you were in, where you were in that zone, and what you were doing at the time. If nothing else, make note of what level that toon was when it went to meet the Spirit Healer. You can use that as motivation to get beyond that level and get to a new personal best.
Factions
Alliance or Horde? Horde or Alliance? Try not to agonize over this too hard, okay? For your first Challenge toon may I suggest you go with the faction you play the most. You don't want to die because you rode your mount full speed into the opposing faction's town simply due to the fact you forgot that's not the side you were currently playing. Yes, it can happen, and has happened. Several players, long time veterans and those newer to the challenges, have died this way. It can be easy to forget if you are distracted by something else going on in the background. Once you have gotten used to the rules and have a few levels or toons under your belt, then feel free to give the opposite faction a try.
Races & Racial Abilities
I play on the Alliance side the most so let's start with those races first.
Human - Starting area is called Northshire Valley, which is part of the zone Elwynn Forest on the Eastern Kingdoms continent. Humans get the racial ability called "Every Man For Himself." This is an instant cast ability and removes all stun effects. This effect shares a 30 second cooldown with other similar effects. The cooldown on this ability is 2 minutes. Humans also have a passive racial ability called "Diplomacy" that increases reputation gains by 10%.
Dwarf - Starting area is called Coldridge Valley, which is part of the zone Dun Morogh on the Eastern Kingdoms continent. Dwarves get the racial ability called "Stoneform." This is an instant cast ability with a 2 minute cooldown. It will remove all poison, disease, curse, magic, and bleed effects and reduces all physical damage taken by 10% for 8 seconds. Dwarves have a few passive racial abilities as well. "Explorer" lets you find additional fragments when looting archaeological finds and you can survey faster than normal archaeologists. This doesn't really mean much for those doing the Blood Thirsty Challenge since the only profession we are allowed to use is First Aid. Another racial passive ability for the Dwarves is "Frost Resistance." It reduces frost damage taken by 1%. "Might of the Mountain" is a racial passive that increases critical strike damage and healing by 2%.
Night Elf - Starting area is called Shadowglen, which is part of the zone Teldrassil on the Kalimdor continent. Night Elves get the racial ability called "Shadowmeld," an instant cast ability with a 2 minute cooldown. This will cause you to slip into the shadows, reducing the chance for enemies to detect your presence. This lasts until cancelled or upon moving. Any threat is restored versus enemies still in combat upon cancellation of this effect. Night Elves also have the passive racial ability "Nature Resistance," which reduces nature damage taken by 1%. "Quickness" is another passive racial ability, which increases your chance to dodge melee and ranged attacks by 2%, and your movement speed by 2%. "Touch of Elune" increases your haste by 1% during the night and increases your critical strike by 1% during the day. Lastly is the passive racial "Wisp Spirit." Transform into a wisp upon death, increasing speed by 75%. You should avoid testing out this passive ability at all costs. If you become a wisp standing in a graveyard and talking to the Spirit Healer on your challenger then it's time to re-roll because you have died and need to start over.
Gnome - Starting area is called New Tinkertown, which is part of the zone Dun Morogh (shared with the dwarves) on the Eastern Kingdoms continent. Gnomes get the racial ability called "Escape Artist." This is an instant cast ability with a 1 minute cooldown. This will let you escape the effects of any immobilization or movement speed reduction effect. Gnomes have a few passive racial abilities as well. "Arcane Resistance" reduces arcane damage taken by 1%. "Expansive Mind" increases maximum mana by 5%. "Nimble Fingers" increases haste by 1%. Finally there is "Engineering Specialization." This increases your Engineering skill by 15. For Blood Thirsty challengers this will not mean anything for we can NOT have primary professions.
Draenei - Starting area is called Ammen Vale, which is part of the zone Azuremyst Isle on the Kalimdor continent. Draenei get the racial ability "Gift of the Naaru." This is an instant cast ability with a 3 minute cooldown. It will heal the target for 20% of the caster's total health over 5 seconds. "Heroic Presence" is a passive racial ability which increases your strength, agility, and intellect by an amount that scales with your level. "Shadow Resistance" reduces shadow damage taken by 1%. "Gemcutting" increases the Jewelcrafting skill by 10. Remember, NO professions aside from First Aid, so this passive racial is meaningless to Blood Thirsty toons.
Worgen - Starting area is called Gilneas City, which is part of the zone Gilneas on the Eastern Kingdoms continent. Worgen get the racial ability called "Running Wild." This ability has a cast time of 1.5 seconds. It will cause you to drop to all fours and run as fast as a wild animal. "Darkflight" is another racial ability that activates your true form, increasing current movement speed by an additional 40% for 10 seconds. This is instant cast and has a 2 minute cooldown. Worgen also get the racial ability "Two Forms." This will turn you into your currently inactive form, is an instant cast ability, with a 1.5 second cooldown. "Aberration" is a passive racial ability which reduces shadow and nature damage taken by 1%. "Viciousness", which is another passive racial ability, increases critical strike chance by 1%. "Flayer" increases Skinning skill by 15 and allows you to skin faster. Once again, this means nothing to a Blood Thirsty, No primary professions allowed.
Now let's talk about the Horde races and racial abilities.
Orc - Starting area is called Valley of Trials, part of the zone Durotar on the Kalimdor continent. Orcs get a racial ability called "Blood Fury." This increases attack power by an amount that scales with your level, lasts 15 seconds, and is an instant cast ability that has a 2 minute cooldown. "Command" is a passive racial ability which increases damage dealt by pets by 1%. "Hardiness" is another passive racial ability which reduces the duration of stun effects by an additional 20%.
Undead - Starting area is called Deathknell, part of the zone Tirisfal Glades on the Eastern Kingdoms Continent. Undead get a racial ability called "Cannibalize." This is an instant cast ability with a 2 minute cooldown. When activated, it regenerates 7% of total health and mana every 2 seconds for 10 seconds, but must be used on humanoid or undead corpses within 5 yards. Any movement, action, or damage taken while Cannibalizing will cancel the effect. "Will of the Forsaken" is another racial ability, an instant cast with a 2 minute cooldown. This ability removes any charm, fear, and sleep effects, and shares a 30 second cooldown with other similar effects. "Shadow Resistance" is a passive racial ability that reduces shadow damage taken by 1%. Another passive racial ability is "Touch of the Grave," which causes your attacks and damaging spells have a chance to drain the target, dealing an amount of shadow damage that scales with your level and healing you for the same amount. Additionally, you can breathe underwater indefinitely.
Tauren - Starting area is called Camp Narache, part of the zone Mulgore on the Kalimdor continent. Tauren get the racial ability called "War Stomp." This has a cast time of 0.5 seconds and a cooldown of 1.5 minutes, and stuns up to 5 enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds. "Brawn" is a passive racial ability that increases critical strike damage and healing by 2%. "Endurance", another passive racial ability, increases your stamina by an amount that scales with your level. "Nature Resistance" reduces nature damage taken by 1%. "Cultivation" increases your Herbalism skill by 15 and you gather herbs faster than normal herbalists. Remember Blood Thirsty toons can not take professions other then First Aid.
Troll - Starting area is called Echo Isles, part of the zone Durotar on the Kalimdor continent. Trolls get a racial ability called "Berserking." This an instant cast ability with a 3 minute cooldown, and increases your haste by 15% for 10 seconds. "Beast Slaying" is one of their passive racial abilities which increases experience gains from killing beasts by 20%. Another passive racial ability is called "Da Voodoo Shuffle." This reduces the duration of all movement impairing effects by 20%. Finally, "Regeneration" increases the regeneration rate of health by 10%, and allows 10% of total health regeneration to continue during combat.
Blood Elf - Starting area is called Sunstrider Isle, which is part of the zone Eversong Woods on the Eastern Kingdoms continent. Blood Elves have a racial ability called "Arcane Torrent," an instant cast ability with a cooldown of 1.5 minutes. It silences all enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds and restores 3% of your mana. Non-player victim spellcasting is also interrupted for 3 seconds. "Arcane Acuity" is a passive racial ability that increases critical strike chance by 1%. "Arcane Resistance" reduces arcane damage taken by 1%. Lastly, they have a passive racial ability called "Arcane Affinity", that increases Enchanting skill by 10, which is meaningless since NO professions aside from First Aid are allowed for Blood Thirsty challengers.
Goblin - Starting areas are Kezan and The Lost Isles, which are part of The Maelstrom. Goblins get a racial ability called "Rocket Barrage" that is an instant cast and has a cooldown of 1.5 minutes. This launches your belt rockets at an enemy, dealing fire damage based on your level. "Rocket Jump" is another goblin racial ability, an instant cast with a cooldown of 1.5 minutes that activates your rocket belt to jump forward. Other effects which slow the rate of falling cannot be used within 10 seconds after using this ability (in other words, use with extreme caution). "Pack Hobgoblin" lets you call in your friend, Gobber, allowing access to your personal bank for 1 minute. Yes, we can use our personal banks. We can NOT use guild banks. "Best Deals Anywhere" is a passive racial ability that allows you to always receive the best possible gold discount, regardless of faction reputation. "Time is Money" increases your haste by 1%. "Better Living Through Chemistry" increases Alchemy skill by 15. Meaningless to Bloods due to NO professions aside from First Aid.
Finally the only race as of right now that starts out neutral.....
Pandaren - Starting area is called Shang Xi Training Grounds, which is on The Wandering Isle. "Quaking Palm" is a racial ability that is an instant cast with a 2 minute cooldown. It strikes the target with lightning speed, incapacitating them for 4 seconds, and turns off your attack. Pandaren also have some passive racial abilities. The "Bouncy" racial passive ability causes you to take half falling damage. I'd still watch your step though, falls can still kill you. "Inner Peace" is another passive racial which allows you to earn twice as much rested experience. "Epicurean" allows you to receive 100% more of the stats from Well Fed effects. This is pretty useless to Blood Thirsty toons as we can not have buffs of any kind, including those from food. "Gourmand" increases your Cooking skill by 15. This doesn't mean anything to us since we can not take cooking.
There you have it, all the races and their racial abilities. I know they might play a part for some in what they choose to play. Others really don't care and just pick a faction/race that looks like it will not drive them nuts for the duration.
In the next post, I'll start taking you through the starting zones. Showing you some grinding area options and the paths that I take. Till next time, challenge on and challenge safely!
