**by Warriortripp of Shattered Hand**

here is a directory of all of the relevant theorycrafting and guides. I recommend even seasoned veterans take a look at these posts.

Please help to populate this list better. I will only be including guides that are mostly up-to-date and accurate. I will try to correct all out-of-date and inaccurate information that I catch. If you happen to notice something that isn't right, please reply in the thread.

Also, please report any broken links with a reply to this thread.

Updates
7/17/2010 - Added a lot of TankSpot content.
7/16/2010 - Initial version including all ElitistJerks listings.

To Do:
Add more healing specific guides.

General
TankSpot Thread Squirrelnut's Latency, DCing and Performance Information Thread - Very good guide for people who have trouble with hardware performance in WoW. Several very good tips that will improve the way the game runs.
Theorycrafting Tool RAWR - This program is similar to a spreadsheet that supports all classes. It is very easy to use and uses accurate mathematical methods of modeling game mechanics. However, several mechanics are not implemented correctly and its actual accuracy will vary for each class/spec module. Be very careful when making changes based off recommendations from this program to make sure that it is not due to a bad module.
ElitistJerks Article The Global Cooldown - A few basics, but also presents the fact that non-GCD actions can be macro'ed together or macro'ed with a single GCD action.
ElitistJerks Article Spell Casting Mechanics - Explains a lot of Kripparrian says in his General DPS Tips below in more technical terms.
TankSpot Guide Bloodwraith's Keybinds and You - Great article that explains common key-binding strategies and how to learn to new keybinds quickly.

General (DPS)
YouTube Guide Kripparrian's General DPS Tips - Very good guide for how to maximize the number of abilities that you cast and how to use cooldowns most effectively.
Theorycrafting Tool SimulationCraft - I am biased toward this program, since I develop for it. It is a highly accurate DPS simulator that supports all classes and has a plethora of options. The drawback is that the program is not very user-friendly and will need time to learn. Any bugs can be reported to me and will be fixed.

General (Tank)
TankSpot Guide Satrina's Evil Empire Guides - This contains all that you could ever want to know about what is "going on under the hood" for a tank. It explains everything related to avoidance DRs, effective health, the combat table, and much more. Best tank theorycrafting out there.
TankSpot Thread Satrina's Tanking FAQ - This answers all of the basic tanking questions and is a fairly good reference for someone who tanks casually.
TankSpot Thread Jere's Taunt Mechanics Thread - Explains how Taunts work, how much hit you need to make them never miss, and the Diminishing Returns on them.

User Interface
YouTube Guide Kripparrian's NeedToKnow for Internal Cooldowns Guide - Kripparrian explains how to use NeedToKnow to track internal cooldowns of proc trinkets.
TankSpot Thread UI Tutorial Links - Multiple good guides when creating a new UI.
TankSpot Thread Wrath Mod List - A fairly complete list of addons that can be used for various functions.
TankSpot Thread Galdor's What to Aim for When Customizing Your UI Thread - Shows a lot of dos and don'ts for UI customization. Very good thread.

Death Knight
Theorycrafting Tool Kahorie's DK DPS Simulator - This is a Death Knight-specific DPS simulator. It is not as accurate as SimulationCraft, but quite a bit easier to use. Several mechanics are implemented incorrectly. It does handle Glyph of Disease better than SimulationCraft currently. All the following guides are based off of results using this Simulator.
ElitistJerks Topic Soilantgreen64's Blood Simple Blood DPS Thread - Currently does not include Ruby Sanctum. Where the Glyph of Disease build actually stands in DPS is currently unknown due to SimulationCraft mechanics problems. ArPen vs. Strength breakpoint is much lower than Kahorie's Simulator would have you believe due to scaling with Dancing Rune Weapon.
ElitistJerks Topic Darkside's Frost DPS Thread - Currently does not include Ruby Sanctum. Glyph of Disease over Glyph of Icy Touch recommendation may not be accurate, since I cannot confirm it in SimulationCraft due to the mechanic itself being broken in the simulator.
ElitistJerks Topic Consider's Unholy DPS Thread - Currently does not include Ruby Sanctum. Testing in Simulationcraft shows that the "Frost sub-spec without Reaping" talent build is superior in all situations due to the insane scaling of percentage haste improvements for the Gargoyle.
TankSpot Thread Satorri's Death Knight Comprehensive Tanking Guide Thread - This covers all three DK tanking trees in a large amount of detail. While there are things that I don't agree with (leaving out Will of the Necropolis as a baseline Blood talent, Unholy not called out for being a bad tanking tree) it is a good guide all around.

Druid
ElitistJerks Guide/Theorycrafting Tool Arawethion's Balance Druid DPS Guide - Very accurate. The "How to Time Your Next Spell" section is great and a must-read for all casters, since the mechanics don't change. Also includes the WrathCalcs spreadsheet which is great for Boomkins.
ElitistJerks Thread Murna's Feral DPS Thread - Unnecessary numbers are placed throughout and it is pathetically basic, but roughly accurate. The talent builds listed aren't what they say they are. This is a basic Feral Cat build, with Feral Instincts, Infected Wounds, Mangle/Improved Mangle, and Improved Leader of the Pack being optional talents based on your needs.
ElitistJerks Thread/Theorycrafting Tool Arawethion's Restoration Druid Compendium - Good guide. Gearing, gemming, and enchanting information is in this thread. However, the spreadsheet doesn't seem to be all that good, since it is missing a few mechanics.
TankSpot Guide Darksend's Feral Tanking Guide - Good, quick guide to most of the beginner topics of Feral Tanking.
TankSpot Article Darksend's Bear Threat Values Thread - Tells the threat mechanics for all Bear abilities.

Hunter
Theorycrafting Tool Shandara's Hunter DPS Spreadsheet - There is a real lack of good Hunter guides out there, but Shandara's Spreadsheet is one of the best theorycrafting tools for any class. I highly recommend this for all Hunters.

Mage
ElitistJerks Guide Vontre and Wraithlin's Mage DPS Guide - Short and to the point. Could use some beefing up, but is solidly accurate. Talent Builds are unlinked, so here they are: Arcane (57/03/11), Fire (20/51/00), Frostfire (00/53/18), Frost (18/00/53)

Paladin
ElitistJerks Guide Arikah's Retribution Paladin DPS Guide - Good guide. Nothing inaccurate that I can find. FCFS clash resolution is debatable, since the cycles listed appear to be a slight DPS loss in SimulationCraft. RAWR is the only Retribution Paladin tool that is remotely accurate, but is still not quite on the same level as SimulationCraft in terms of accuracy.
ElitistJerks Thread Frmorrison's Holy Paladin Compendium - I have not thoroughly inspected this, but it appears accurate at first glance.
TankSpot Thread Jere's Paladin Threat Values Chart - Shows how threat works for Paladins.
TankSpot Thread Jere's Protection Paladin DPS Rotation Thread - Shows how to use the "969 rotation".

Priest
ElitistJerks Thread Hegen's Priest Healing Thread - Very thorough. Explains everything in detail, but is still clear to read. All very accurate.
ElitistJerks Thread Mearis's Shadow Priest DPS Thread - Good guide with no obvious errors.

Rogue
Theorycrafting Tool Vulajin's Roguecraft Spreadsheet (updated by Vef) - As the red disclaimer says, another person has been updating this for the past few months. Follow the link to get to the spreadsheet.
Theorycrafting Tool Aldriana's Rogue DPS Spreadsheets
Theorycrafting Tool Mavanas's Rogue DPS Spreadsheet
I decline to judge these theorycrafting tools, since they all seem to give different results and I don't have the time at the moment figure out which one is (or ones are) accurate.
ElitistJerks Thread Aldriana's Rogue FAQ
ElitistJerks Thread Cally's Pocket Guide to Rogue DPS - The FAQ and this post both are not updated to include the critting Rupture change. The change only affects Combat Rogues who should now spec and glyph like this and should focus on keeping a 5-point Rupture up at all times, after keeping Slice and Dice active.

Shaman
ElitistJerks Guide Carebare, Masanbol, and Wraithlin's Elemental Shaman DPS Guide - Very high quality guide that is similar to the Balance Druid equivalent.
ElitistJerks Guide Malan and Rouncer's Enhancement Shaman DPS Guide - Decent guide with a lot of good information, but the gemming and gearing information is out-of-date and a section on glyphs is completely missing.
ElitistJerks Guide Malindarr's Restoration Shaman Healing Guide - Very complete and accurate guide. Very detailed information on gear selection.
Theorycrafting Tool EnhSim - Decent Enhancement Shaman-specific simulator. However, it is inferior to SimulationCraft in almost every way.
Theorycrafting Tool Zamir's ZAP! Elemental Shaman DPS Spreadsheet - Reasonably accurate Elemental Shaman spreadsheet with a lot of options.

Warlock
ElitistJerks Guide Namnalia's Affliction Warlock DPS Guide - Good complete Affliction Warlock guide with no easily spotted errors.
ElitistJerks Guide Warlocomotif's Demonology Warlock DPS Guide: Releasing the Demon in You - Cheesy name, but a good guide from one of the SimulationCraft developers.

Warrior
ElitistJerks Thread Darian_TruBlade's Warrior FAQ - Contains the basics of both Arms and Fury. For Arms, there isn't a whole lot better on their site, I'm afraid. For Fury, consult Landsoul's Compendium, which is linked below.
ElitistJerks Guide Landsoul's Fury Warrior DPS Compendium - By far the most complete guide for any class that I have ever seen. If you have a question that this can't answer, the answer is simply not known by the community.
Theorycrafting Tool Landsoul's Warrior DPS Spreadsheet - A good Warrior-specific spreadsheet by the maker of the Fury Warrior Compendium that works for Fury and Arms.
TankSpot Thread Dizzy's Defensive Stance: Warrior Information Compilation Thread - A lot of the same topics from Satrina's FAQ are answered here, but in a warrior-specific way. Also contains all basic info for a Warrior tank.

Edited once, 19/7/10 - 7:29am.

Is this for if you brought your toon and have no idea how to play?

It's for everyone. Any scrap of information that I have found that is accurate and up-to-date I put in the list. Some of it is more for new players and some of it isn't. A new player probably isn't going to understand Armor Penetration break-points for MM hunters. However, a veteran player isn't gonna get much out of a guide letting you know that non-GCD abilities can be macro'ed together.

You can level from 1-80 and not figure out how to play their toon well. It happens all the time, especially in WotLK.

Nope it's if you want to be at the top of your game. Doing research into your class/understanding the intricacies of class mechanics/patch changes is that few hundred dps between you and the dude beating you in the same gear

I periodically check EJ class mechanics forums and look at the latest discussions for the classes/specs I play.

**** off HawX


Hmm true, I went through a few that I play. Good read.

edit http://elitistjerks.com/rawr.php

quite a good little thing for non serious player's who want to get serious... i think all the major raider's should be doing thing's like that already... same as logs... alot of decent raiding guild's run and use them as a standard but most average player's wont know what they are or how to use them....

It was pretty good to use, after being out for like a year and a half I wasn't sure on gear. Rawr is hawt, blizzards armory one is pretty good now.

HawX updated this with a lot more posts. Please feel free to help me add more to the list by mentioning them in the thread.

www.maxdps.com/ add that to the things helps with rotations and best in slots

This thread is quite outdated. If someone less lazy than me would like to update this, that would be awesome!

Doesn't really need to be updated. You can find most of your information from WoW forum stickies on your class anyways.

i might give it a go over the next few days i see what i can do

Edited once, 19/10/11 - 5:38pm.

So ive just found a druid one, changed the wording so it's easier to understand and made the layout of it better, shortened it where i can,
tell me if you want me to do some more healing ones


Edited once, 19/10/11 - 8:30pm.