The series has enough entries that "which one is this" is a fair question on its own.
Short answer
It is a distinct entry rather than a re-release: different systems, different balance, and largely a different audience.
- Expect the first months after release to be patch-heavy.
- Newer is not automatically the right starting point.
- If a menu path does not exist for you, your build is older or newer than the one described.
Twenty years of expansions mean half the advice online describes a version that no longer exists. Series entries diverge more than their shared name suggests. Some entries were fixed by later patches into something quite different from their launch state.
Where it sits in the series
The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. Ports and re-releases sometimes carry balance changes that are easy to miss. Cross-entry knowledge transfers at the level of instincts, not specifics. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on.
The community's favourite entry is rarely the newest one. Player populations differ hugely between entries, and that matters for anything multiplayer. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds.
Whether to start here
Starting with the newest is usually right, and there are two or three well-known exceptions. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first.
- Look at current player numbers if you care about multiplayer.
- Do not assume mechanics carried over from the last one.
- Stop and reassess after two failed attempts rather than repeating the third.
- Check whether a re-release changed balance.
- Check which entry a guide is written for before following it.
What changed from the previous entry
Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. World of Warcraft is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later.
There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of.
Who it suits
Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work.
Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice.
How it holds up now
If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. Everything below is framed around the current state of World of Warcraft rather than a launch-week impression.
Where people go wrong
- Ignoring the platform-specific note and then wondering why the steps do not line up.
- Grinding a method that was patched months ago because a thread still ranks well.
- Changing five things at once and then not knowing which one helped.
WoW FAQ
How long does this take?
Minutes if it goes cleanly, an evening if you hit the edge case in the caveats list. Neither is unusual.
Is this still accurate after the latest World of Warcraft update?
The method is; individual numbers may not be. If a value on your screen differs, trust the screen and keep the sequence.
Why do other guides describe this differently?
Most were written for an earlier version and never revisited. Compare the steps against what your build actually shows.
Do I need to play the earlier ones?
No. The series shares a name and a genre rather than a continuous story that requires order.
That is the whole of it — if something here stops matching World of Warcraft, the game changed, not the method.