Battling, taking damage, and healing that damage is a big part of playing World of Warcraft (WoW). The game offers a number of ways to heal damage. Over time, the character’s normal healing processes will restore damage done in battle. In addition, healing potions can restore a set amount of damage instantly, though there is a cooldown period between potions. Eating food will restore hit points as well. Certain character types like warlocks can drain hit points from an enemy and use those to heal themselves. Another useful healing technique, especially for characters who have no warlock-like method of instant healing, is the First Aid skill.

To develop a character’s First Aid skill, that character must first receive initial training from an NPC. This NPC varies for each race, but can usually be found in the race’s starting city. If you’re not sure where to find yours, ask one of the city guards. They can point you in the right direction.

Once you’ve found the First Aid Trainer for your race and paid to receive the initial training, you can begin very quickly leveling the healing skill using the instructions provided here.

Collect Linen Cloth

First Aid skill doesn’t level up with use, which means it’s possible for you to reach the maximum level (currently 375) without ever healing a point of damage. I know that sounds a little odd, but it’s true. A character gains healing skill by making bandages, even if he or she never uses them. So if you want to max out your healing skill, that’s what you need to do.

At the lowest levels of First Aid skill, you need to make Linen Cloth Bandages. Naturally, this means you need to collect Linen Cloth. Linen Cloth drops most often from humanoid enemies. For example, for the human race, killing Defias bandits near Stormwind will yield Linen Cloth. Personally, I found that going to the Westfall area (west of Stormwind), killing the Defias humans (Looter, Pillager, Smuggler, Trapper, etc.) and the Riverpaw humanoids (Bandit, Mystic, Oracle, Scout, Outrunner, etc.). You’re going to need at least 120 pieces of Linen Cloth. What I’ve done for my characters is take my highest-level character (currently a level 50 Dwarf hunter) and run near (but not ON) the coastline in Westfall, killing every humanoid I encounter, making sure to keep all the cloth. By the time I’ve made one pass around the coast, I’ve usually collected 120 Linen Cloth or so. Another good technique is to volunteer to be part of a group adventuring in Deadmines and making a deal up-front that you get all the cloth and give some of the other items or money you get. Failing that, you can also buy Linen Cloth at the Auction House if you’d rather not spend time collecting it.

First Step – Getting to 75 First Aid

Now that you have amassed 120 or so Linen Cloth, you’re ready to begin. Bring up the First Aid interface under your Spellbook & Abilities (default keystroke “P”) menu. Select Linen Cloth Bandage and click “Create All”. Watch your First Aid skill climb as you make bandages. When your First Aid skill reaches 20, hit the Esc key or move around to stop the bandage-making. Go back to the First Aid trainer and buy the Heavy Linen Cloth Bandage skill.

The First Aid Training Menu

Bring up the First Aid menu again, select Heavy Linen Cloth Bandage and click Create All. Watch your skill continue to climb until it reaches 50. Go back to the First Aid trainer again and purchase the Wool Cloth bandage skill. You’ll probably be out of Linen Cloth by this point, but if not, and if the item name isn’t gray in your First Aid menu, continue making Heavy Linen Cloth bandages until it is.

Nissa Firestone, the Gnome/Dwarf First Aid Trainer

Shaina Fuller – the Human First Aid Trainer

Dannelor, the Night Elf First Aid Trainer

Wool Cloth can be gathered in Westfall and Deadmines also. It’s dropped by Sheep, Riverpaw Overseers, Riverpaw Bandits, Riverpaw Taskmasters, Riverpaw Mystics, Defias Renegade Mages, Defias Diggers, Defias Conjurers, Defias Henchmen, Murloc Tidehunters, Riverpaw Gnolls, and other humanoid creatures in the level 11-20 size range. Kill enough of these that you have somewhere in the neighborhood of 120 to 175 pieces of Wool Cloth (or buy approximately that amount at the Auction House).

Begin making Wool Cloth bandages until you reach 75 First Aid skill. Stop as soon as you reach it.

Getting to 150

Return to the First Aid trainer and buy the next level of First Aid skill from them. Also buy the Heavy Wool Bandage skill. Make Heavy Wool Bandages until you reach 100 skill. At this point you’ll need to obtain 120+ pieces of Silk Cloth. You’ll use this to make Silk Bandages until your skill reaches the 150 limit.

Getting to 225

At this point, you’re going to need to make a trip to Stromgarde castle in the Arathi Highlands, have a friend make that journey for you, or visit the Auction House.  The castle has a lot of humanoid mobs in it, with levels in the 35 to 40 range.  If you can handle those, you’ll save money by going to the vendor  yourself.  If not, you can get the book elsewhere.

You’ll be looking for a Scrolls & Potions vendor named Deneb Walker there. His location in the coordinate system is approximately (27,58).  For 1 gold coin, he’ll sell you a book called “Expert First Aid – Under Wraps”. While you’re there, you should also buy the “Manual: Heavy Silk Bandage” that he sells for 22 silver and the “Manual: Mageweave Bandage” that he sells for 50 silver. If you aren’t high enough level to reach the Stromgarde castle in the Arathi Highlands safely, look in the Auction House for a copy of these items or ask another player you trust to get them for you.

The Expert First Aid manual will allow you to grow your First Aid skill to 225. You’ll begin by making Heavy Wool Bandages until you reach skill level 100 or so. At that point you’ll need to start making Silk Bandages.

Silk Cloth can be purchased in the Auction House. You can also obtain it by killing Level 27-40 humanoids such as Witherbark Trolls in the Arathi Highlands, Boulderfist Ogres in the Arathi Highlands, Drywhisker humanoids in Arathi, and Syndicate humans in Arathi. You’re going to need somewhere in the 120-175 piece range.

Make Silk Bandages until your skill hits approximately 125. Read the “Manual: Heavy Silk Bandage” at this point to learn how to make those, then begin making them until you reach skill level 150 or you stop gaining skill from them. At that point, read the “Manual: Mageweave Bandage” which should get you to about 200, maybe even higher.

Getting to 300

After you reach 225 First Aid, you’ll need to make a trip to get the next skill level. There’s no other way around it. You’ll first need to go to the Wetlands and make your way to Menethil Harbor on the west end of the map. There you’ll find a dock with two ships departing from it. The left-hand ship as you’re facing the water goes to Theramore on the Kalimdor continent, and that’s what you need. Ride the boat out there. When you get to the dock in Theramore, walk straight ahead until you see the Hippogriff Master. Turn a bit to your right and walk between the two buildings. Turn right again when you get past the right-hand building and go in that right-hand building. If it’s the right one, there will be a man out front practicing fighting.

You’re looking for the Trauma Surgeon Gustaf VanHowzen in the building (location 67,48).  As you face the front door, he’s on the first floor, in the far-right, back corner. He will offer you a quest, take it. This quest will have you healing wounded soldiers in their beds. It’s extremely difficult, and you’ll probably fail. That’s fine. Do it two or three times and you’re going to find that you’ve unintentionally collected a bunch of trauma bandages. Don’t get rid of them. You’ll want them.

What I recommend doing at this point is finding another player who wants to accomplish this quest. If there are more than two, that’s even better. Help each other. One of you takes the quest. The others station themselves near the beds with the injured soldiers. All of you use those trauma bandages from past attempts and start healing the soldiers nearest you. If you’re all doing your part, few or none of the soldiers will die and you’ll all heal enough of them that you eventually complete the quest successfully. Remember to play nice and stay there until everyone completes the quest. Your First Aid skill will now top out at 300.

If there isn’t anyone available to help you do this quest, it can be done solo if you’re really careful. Before the quest starts, stand in the center of the room so that you can see every bed in it. Press Ctrl-V so that the health bars are activated over the patients to make it easier to assess who to heal first. Start the quest, and make sure that you heal the most seriously injured patients first, keeping track of which ones have been in the room the longest. If necessary, press the Esc key to stop healing a patient and switch to a more-injured one.

To build your skill to 300, you first need to make Runecloth Bandages, then Heavy Runecloth Bandages. The Trauma Surgeon in Theramore will teach you these skills when your First Aid level is high enough. Build your skill to 260, then talk to Doctor VanHowzen. He’ll give you the Runecloth Bandages skill. When your skill reaches 290, talk to him again. He’ll teach you Heavy Runecloth Bandages, which will allow you to get to 300 skill.

Runecloth is dropped by a number of humanoid mobs. Level 1 snakes, such as those found in Westfall, are also rumored to drop it on occasion (though I’ve not seen this). Most of the mobs that drop Runecloth are over level 50. For example, many of the humanoids in the Alterac Valley zone drop Runecloth. Rather than spend a lot of time fighting those tougher mobs, I just gathered up a bunch of Silk Cloth, sold that at the Auction House, and used the proceeds to buy Runecloth instead. You’ll need another 120-200 units to hit 300 skill.

Beyond 300 First Aid

The current maximum First Aid skill level is 375. Reaching that level isn’t easy or cheap, but it’s certainly doable. When your skill hits 300, you can either buy the book “Master First Aid – Doctor in the House” at the Auction House, or you can buy it from an NPC named Burko in the Temple of Telhamat on the left side, in a small building.

Make Heavy Runecloth Bandages until your skill reaches around 320-340. At that point, you’ll need to acquire some Netherweave Cloth and begin making Netherweave Bandages. At 360 you can make Heavy Netherweave Bandages and get to the maximum skill of 375.

Netherweave Cloth drops off humanoid mobs in places like the Acratraz Dungeon, The SteamVault Dungeon, Shattrath City, and Caverns of Time Dungeon. The mobs dropping it are in the Level 60-70 range. Unless you’re capable of taking down these mobs, I recommend buying the cloth in the Auction House.

Alliance First Aid Leveling – Quick Reference Chart