World of Warcraft: Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames) [Paperback]

Michael Lummis (Author), Daniel Vanderlip (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 16, 2004

BradyGames' World of Warcraft Official Strategy Guide includes the following:

Maps of each city and region, with call outs for characters, quest locations, dungeons, and more.

Essential stats and strategies for each of the 8 races and 9 classes for both the Horde and Alliance factions.

Must-have quest data - - contacts, quest type, item rewards and more.

Profession sections provide data on products, requirements and item components.

Weapon, armor and item tables, ability and spell lists, and bestiary.

Platform: PC

Genre: MMORPG

This product is available for sale worldwide.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Blizzard Entertainment (www.blizzard.com), best known for their series Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo®, is a division of Vivendi Universal Games), a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating many of the industry's most critically acclaimed games. The company's free Internet gaming service Battle.net® provides a forum in which owners of Blizzard's games can play in a multiplayer mode remotely across the Internet and against other gamers from around the world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Brady Games (November 16, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0744004055
• ISBN-13: 978-0744004052
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #228,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

208 of 223 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Got It, Read It... It's Great!, November 22, 2004

By 

Avatus (Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: World of Warcraft: Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames) (Paperback)

Buy this guide!

Preface: Not one to read the directions when doing ANY project, I'd rather open up a package, pull out all the parts and pretend that I can turn it into something recognizable on my own. And having been savagely disappointed with previous gaming guides (of the online variety - UO or DAoC...), I figured this purchase was up in the air to unlikely. The philosophical posts on praise/objection for these guide books points out these issues.

"Will I really need to know the armor class of level 2 cloth gloves?"

"Just how many times do I need to see the same artwork that came in the game's press release packet, inserted between size 40 text?"

"Will I purchase the guide now, only to use online websites for the information I need later?"

"A 'veteran' online gamer of some years, will I bypass the first 50 pages just to get to a few weapon/spell damage tables in the middle somewhere?"

Were just a few of the questions I asked myself when considering the WoW guide. At the glowing recommendations of my friends, I unconvincedly picked up the only copy from a Sam Goody on my lunch break. My discovery...? WOW!

The Bradygames WoW Guide is unquestionably the best online game book buy ever. And in answering my previous questions:

I may not need level 2 cloth gloves for very long, but I am sure when it comes time to find level 52 gauntlets, or craft them myself, I won't have to bug the "general" chatters asking about them for an hour.

The guide is a feast for the eyes! Full color pages, well-organized (color) charts, detailed (color) maps, original artwork, amusing comic strips illustrating the chapter topics, and in-game screenshots sprinkled throughout the book make it a pleasure to look at. Plus, and unlike other guides I've read, the font size is relatively small because there's so much quality information to present (not trying to cram size-28 useless information between large pictures, headings and tables). The language is both helpful and interesting, with plenty of annecdotal referencing.

While I was too impatient to wait, there is a binder version of the guide that you register online with access to updates that you can print out and replace old materials with. Not sure how that will work out, it's nice to think that they have the future in mind. And I doubt that the maps, and majority of the information will change much over time. Most likely, more content will simply be added later. Regardless, having seen what's in the book now, it's worth getting as it stands.

Again, having played nearly all the big online games already (in release or beta form) the terminology and concepts usually provided for newbies are pretty much "old hat". And in other guides, it was annoying to find half the book devoted to "strategies" like "click on monsters to fight them" and other fluff. This World of Warcraft Guide, is totally different. Even introductory chapter is interesting. And in full color, with lots of amusing images, and explanations, the first 5 pages are worth the first 50+ pages of other guides.

And those are just a few of the perks...

Basically, I have to thank Bradygames for putting together such a quality product. It's glaringly obvious that a lot of time and resources went into the making of the book.

And for anyone buying the retail version of the game, you know you'll be spending hours on end exploring the game, hunting monsters, crafting equipment, and having fun. If you think about how much time you'll spend playing the game, the time you'll save and more knowledge you'll have of the world will make the $25 for the Bradygames guide absolutely worth it!

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars lvl60 hunter says..., August 14, 2006

By 

Michael R. Campagnini Jr. "Ennudo" (Aston, Pa United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: World of Warcraft: Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames) (Paperback)

The first thing to keep in mind is that this strategy guide was written for the beta version of WoW. MMO's being what they are, have changed drastically from the earlier version that this guide was written for. Also, be aware that to get the "updated" material you must purchase a WoW binder from the publisher. Finally, before my review, this guide has more typos than any other publication I have ever seen.

Pros:
- The zone descriptions are very informative, you can quickly search through which areas are suitable for your character to level/grind.

- The class and talent descriptions are also helpful (but I remind you, outdated) and give a general description of skills each class has.

- Great pictures and in-game graphics to keep you busy flipping through the pages.

Cons:
- There is nothing, I repeat, nothing in this guide which cannot be found (and up-to-date) on WoW database websites - which are more informative with complete quest details for EVERY quest in the current version (rather than just the starting zones, as provided in the guide).

- There is very little PvP knowledge given, only scattered information written by beta testers. Information on RP, HP, and the ranking system would be very useful for a beginning PvP player...which i suggest you educate yourself on how RP affects your rank if you intend to be an active PvP'er. (PvP = Player vs. Player combat for those who are unaware)

- No information on reputation and reputation rewards(this is a result of WoW updates, as certain groups were not around to gain reputation with) and I am unaware if, in the WoW beta when this guide was written, reputation was implemented into the game at that time.

- No information on any instances whatsoever, I will continue to repeat that most of the instances were not around to be included in the guide.

- The weapons/armor/item list is almost useless since items were added/removed/modified as more patches were released.

- A nearly infinite amount of typos that make it seem as if it was thrown together at 3 in the morning. I have a strong feeling that this guide was rushed to be published and shipped, without the necessary proofreading for mistakes/errors.

Conclusion:
This would not be a guide that will help a great deal if you are new to WoW...take my earlier suggestion and get comfortable with WoW databases on the internet. If you are looking for extra reading material, be my guest...you may still find a little knowledge throughout these pages.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pretty darn useful, November 20, 2004

By 

Chris "Owns" (Bucharest, Romania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: World of Warcraft: Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames) (Paperback)

Having played WoW for a week and a half without this compendium I'd have to tell you this book is gold. But if you're the kind of guy who likes to do things on his own, like me, you won't like it. Basically it saves you some time but it doesn't bring the same satisfaction as discovering a city/region or a quest by yourself. It's like giving a grown man a ball and telling him to put it in the round hole. Easy! Also most of the information in this book you can find online for free but it's a nice addition if you like to take it easy and have everything you need in a single spot. If I was creating a game, I wouldn't release the strategy guide until later so people who buy it see what they missed in the game and start over. Just my little evil point of view.