I have a few questions.
1.I want to do storylines quests but so far I haven’t found any when does the story start?
2.should I boost then do all the older content?
3. Which is the best way to learn how to tank or heal in this game I get criticised for doing both wrong and kicked out of groups
- The story is a bit convoluted at this point. When the pre-patch drops in a few weeks, it will be even more so. You’ll be able to pick which expansion you want to level in, and therefore, which story you want to quest through. The oldest content in the game right now is from BC, then WotLK, Cata (and current 1-60 zones), MoP, WoD, Legion, BfA.
- You can boost a character if you like, this would really be just to prep that character to start at the same level playing field in Shadowlands. Once leveling changes, it won’t matter as much since everything will scale. You can go back and do things at any point, of course.
- You can practice in the proving grounds. There are challenges for all three roles. Check icy-veins for recommended spec, talents, and ability priority. Look at wow-head for dungeon maps/guides. Let people know that you’re learning. I’d start with healing before tanking. Tanks are expected to know the routes of the dungeons. You can also do a dungeon as dps, then do the same dungeon as tank/heals to get used to the layout.
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(1) How story is handled has evolved over time. (Which gets a bit confusing when you realize that you don’t necessarily hit the oldest content first.)
The oldest content often focuses more on world building than a main story.
The oldest content currently in game are the Burning Crusade zones The BC zones would be in outlands as well as the Blood Elf (Eversong Woods and Ghostlands) and Draenai (Azuremyst and Bloodmyst Isles) zones.
Once you move onto Wrath of the Lich King content (Northrend and the non-allied race/Pandaran DK starting zone) you start to see a bit more of a hybrid approach. Zones tend to be mostly self contained, but there are some stories that cross zones. (Such as the Drakuru story in Grizzly Hills > Draktheron Keep Dungeon > Zul Drak.) You also get threads tying into the main expansion story involving the Lich King, with some zones having some major moments related to the story. Still, there are a lot of side content that serve mostly for flavor in a zone.
When you move onto Cataclysm content, things become much more on the rails. Cataclysm content includes most of the 1-60 content, Vash’ir, Hyjal, Deepholm, Uldum, and Twilight Highlands. In this content, each zone tends to be pretty self contained. (The major exception would be Ashenvale and Stonetalon, where the end of Ashenvale sets up the main Stonetalon event.) While there often is some story tying into the bigger stories (Deathwing, elemental upheaval, and the horde/alliance conflict) the zones really just each do their own thing.
After Cataclysm, they backed off a bit on the on the rails stuff. The main story will still be pretty on the rails, but you get more side content to build up the world. You also see more integration with end game content continuing the story once you move into Mists of Pandaria and beyond. (With Warlords being an outlier due to much of it’s planned end game story content getting scrapped due to the disastrous failed attempt to move expansions to a yearly cycle.)
(2) With Shadowlands so close, I’d be wary of using a boost now, as many classes will see significant changes. (The pre-patch where the class changes will appear is only weeks away.)
(3) Leveling dungeons are always hard to learn to heal/tank in because most of the players are just trying to level alts as fast as possible. That’s going to be even worse right now with the combination of the double XP boost and the end of the expansion looming. So, aside from Chirona’s advice, I’d say to not take the crap personally, and to tell people you are new at the start of the dungeon. (At that point if you get crap and kicked, you can be thankful you dogded what was probably going to be a toxic group.)