World of Warcraft Beginner’s Ganking Guide

World of Warcraft Beginner’s Ganking Guide by Jack

You may not care much for it, but being a good ganker and prey does not just rely on gear, but skills. Skills to escape the deadliest of gankers with a little sleight of hand and general awareness of your foe and what he or she is capable of achieving. With these in mind, gear plays a smaller factor in the gank-or-be-ganked environment.
____________________________________________________________________________There are many factors that greatly determine whether you leave with an honorable kill or leave with a /pity in your chat log. I have managed to narrow them down to these easy guidelines:

1) Capability – Be positive you have what it takes to bring down your prey. Do not underestimate your enemy, always overestimate.

2) Surroundings – Take note of places that could easily conceal your pray should they escape your grasp. Nothing feels worse than a weakling fleeing from your all-powerful character.

3) Limitations – Take note of the prey’s armor and weapons.
-Heirlooms – If your prey has heirlooms, he has a max-level character. Never aggravate them. If you feel up to the challenge, finish them and quest elsewhere until the heat in that general area has dissipated.NEVER CAMP.
-Shield/Weapons – Take note of their weapons. A shield and sword means he’ll midgitate most damage you dish out, and compensate with unprotected damage dealt towards yourself. Not all high-HP characters are protection-specialized.
-PvE/PvP – Notice the character’s armor. Most people go for shoulders first as it influences the greatest change in appearance for your character, so look there first. Take note and decide if it is PvP or PvE. THIS COULD COST YOU GREATLY. An awareness of gear plays an enormously important factor in ganking. PvP = great midgitation, PvE = Less midgitation, more damage.

4) Abilities – Glance at their buffs. Take not of anything that could hinder or slow your killing, and devise ways to maneuver around the obstacle. Also take note of what he or she is capable of, and find ways to nullify them (I.E. a priest will have fear, be ready with something to counter it).

5) Be Alone – Make sure it is only you and your prey. This only requires a glance around your surroundings before continuing. YOU CAN NEVER ACCOUNT FOR STEALTHED PLAYERS. The chance of there being a stealthed character is extremely slim, but never rule out their presence. Be quick and have a method of escape ALWAYS.

My objective is to not only help out the aspiring ganker, but to also assist those that would be prey. I will admit, I’ve been ganked a few times myself (more than I wish to admit), but there is ALWAYS a method of escape from gankers. Here are the general guidelines for being an unkillable gankee:1) Run First, Think Later – Always run from your ganker, never consider “Maybe I can take him.” He or she had the drop on you, which means he or she is hellbent on finishing you off. RUN FROM YOUR ENEMY FIRST. Escape, recalculate, and who knows, if he or she is still stalking the leveling zone, you might get the drop on them for a humiliating kill.

2) Reserve Nothing, Exhaust Everything – Your corpse on the floor is always less preferred than your cooldowns. Use everything in your arsenal accordingly. The goal is to escape death. Nothing feels worse than a weakling fleeing from an all-powerful character.

3) Surroundings – Take note of your surroundings. This is a double standard. Methods of escape vary based on class. ALWAYS LOSE LINE OF SIGHT WITH YOUR GANKER. If they can’t see you, then they can’t hinder your mount-up-to-escape. Also be aware of heights that would spell your killer’s demise.

4) Be Aware of Allies – Take note of fellow levelers around you. If your ganker is near your level, then their assistance is crucial. If you witness a ganking-in-the-process, you must ALWAYS STEP IN. This will almost guarantee that person’s assistance should you get attacked.

5) Monsters – Monsters can play a very important role in the ganking world. A patrolling elite mob throughout your questing zone can influence you greatly. Always consider what you can do with that mob. If you’re really lucky, you’ll be questing in an area with a World Boss (or even the Fel Reaver in Hellfire Peninsula). USE THEM. If your ganker will use everything in his arsenal to gank you, that almost always includes an AoE of sorts. One little AoE will assure their repair-costed death, even if it costs you your death.

6) Be Unpredictable – Self-explanatory. This doesn’t mean jump off a cliff, and this varies GREATLYdepending on where you are questing and who is trying to kill you.

7) Time – If you get camped with no reason other then being the opposite faction, it means he or she hasTIME TO KILL. Never face them head-on, because, rest-assured, you will NOT BENEFIT AT ALL. He or she has time to waste, and under most cases, YOU DO NOT. If you’ve fallen victim multiple times, do not let your time go wasted. Log off, check your main’s mail, flirt with a G.I.R.L. When you feel it’s safe to return, go for it.

There are many things that influence your survival, but these may not work under SOME CIRCUMSTANCES.. There are many individual factors that your class/race posses that would greatly reconfigure how you gank or how you run. 

Sadly, I cannot list them because I do not posses every race/class combination known to Blizzard and 5 known to monkeys.

If you have any additional tips or concerns to give to those laying on the floor with epic boots standing above it, LET US KNOW. I’m here to help :)