WoW newbie looking for advice

[VoiceMan]

I'm sort of jumping in here mid-stream, as I didn't take the time needed to read each and every post, but I thought I'd share my thoughts at this point, as I have a level 70 Undead warlock myself. I also have a level 70 rogue, a level 70 druid, and a level 61 hunter, so I've messed around with those classes quite a bit. My biggest mage is 41, my pally is 41, and my biggest warrior is only 22, so my experience with those classes is not very big.

I'm sure by now, you've figured out alot about warlock pets on your own. Everyone will have their own opinion on how it is best used, etc. Alot of how you use your pet, as well as which pet you use depends on what level you are, and how you enjoy playing. My lock is 70, and I drain tank with him. I do too much damage for the Voidwalker to hold threat against me, so I don't bother with having my pet tank anymore. I solo things via fear and DoT's...as I'm an affliction warlock. Warlocks start off pretty weak. I didn't feel my warlock was getting dangerous til about level 30 or so. Now he's quite powerful, and I don't use the pet for anything other than stealing mana from it unless I'm PvPing. At level 11, if that's where your lock is now, won't feel very strong to you, but later, the warlock will have alot of neat abilities, such as the ability to drain life to stay alive, you will do huge amounts of damage, as well as have good kiting abilities. Each class has it's own strengths, and each can do some great damage, etc. but I really enjoy my warlock, especially in PvP.

Speaking of PvPing...battlegrounds are fun. You probably won't want to PvP in a battleground with any of your toons til 18....once you hit 20 you probably want to stay out of battlegrounds til 28 or so, 38 etc, etc. The best way to learn PvP is to just jump in and do it. I use my felhunter pet in battlegrounds, which I use to stop healers from healing, or casters like mages from blasting me to smithereens. Some people enjoy using their succubus for CC purposes, which I've also done and it is effective as well. Those pets you wont' get til higher levels, so it takes some patience to see the warlock achieve his full potential.

I know you mentioned you didn't like how big Taurens are. As a druid, the only way you'll fight in melee range for very long is if you spec Feral, and at level 20, druids get cat form, which reduces your size a great deal. If you continue as a melee druid (feral), you'll be in cat form, or perhaps bear form, both of which aren't as tall as caster form. I wouldn't let the size turn you away from a Tauren druid. You actually get used to the size. My very first character was an orc hunter, and then I switched to the Tauren druid, and he seemed huge and slow, but I adjusted quickly, and ended up having my druid be my favorite toon for nearly two years.

I'm not sure that servers have been addressed in this thread, as again, I haven't read each post, but Terenas has (I think) the largest Lurkers guild horde-side. That will allow you the opportunity to see some of the content that is hard to see effectively without some help. We're not huge, nor are we "raid or die" fanatics, but we're working through the content steadily. If you haven't really settled on a server yet, and are interested in playing Horde, I would recommend Terenas.