Azeroth is a dangerous place. Whether you’re a level one noob WoW Classic Gold that only just broke free from the Lich King’s grasp, or a champion of the Horde adorned with medals from Thrall himself, the odds of dying in World of Warcraft Hardcore are always greater than you think.

You might drown while reaching for a treasure chest at the bottom of the sea, or you could be ambushed by a pack of murlocs seeking vengeance for the hundreds of murlocs you slaughtered on your journey. No one gets plot armor in WoW Classic Hardcore, and anyone can die at any given moment, even with a not-so-epic death.

The core mechanic of WoW Classic Hardcore is permadeath. In simple terms, you can’t die, unless you want to start fresh and lose all your gold, items, and progress. This means you always need to keep one eye on your health bar while roaming the lands of Azeroth. In most cases, this should be enough—but we all get greedy and do reckless things at times, like risking your life just to save a couple of minutes of walking, especially on the way out of Ironforge. 

I know most of you won’t listen to me, and you’ll be reckless anyway, but if you want those sweet bragging rights—that you got to level 60 in WoW Hardcore without ever seeing the Spirit Healer—you simply can’t be careless. Above all, you’ll want to avoid the five worst ways to die in WoW Hardcore.

Explorers should never go into caves alone.

A lone explorer should never venture alone into a cave filled with mobs, even if there’s precious loot in there that makes your eyes glisten with joy. Whether we’re talking about the caves at the beginning of your questing journey or the caves in Winterspring, the risk of losing your life is too high, especially if you’re hunting for a special quest item deep behind enemy lines.

Mobs in caves respawn dangerously quickly, and unless you’re eager to die to a ferocious yeti, you’ll wait for other players before going cave exploring.

You’re asking for the worst if you go AFK in a questing area.

Imagine this scenario: You just picked up all those juicy quests from Hemet Nesingwary in Stranglethorn Vale. You’ve donned your hunting hat, and you’re in the middle of chasing down tigers, panthers, and raptors—but all of a sudden, your pizza just arrived, or your cat decided to start playing with your internet cables. 

What do you do now?

Would you just leave your character in the midst of the jungle all by themself, surrounded by wild beasts and blood-hungry Trolls, or would you walk all the way back to camp before grabbing your pizza? 

If your WoW Hardcore character is precious to you, then you’d do the latter, because Wotlk Classic Gold they only get one life in Azeroth.