http://m.youtube.com/user/academyofartu That's lecture from a blizzard artist. Then yeah, focus your diffuse and paint in the lighting. Pick the light direction and begin painting areas where light hits and paint where shadows cast, tgen paint surface variation. Use tons of reference, tons. Also try going to pinterest and…
As far as anyone knows or is allowed to say, WoW doesn't use PBR. It's using legacy shaders. No normals, no specular map, just a diffuse map that's light in-engine with a fairly simple lighting set up. You should translate handpainted to just "fine arts painting." If you're not approaching your texturing work like an…