Finding time for the alt
by Mike Schramm 
Oct 20th 2006 at 12:27AM
After hitting 60 with my shaman a few weeks ago, he has definitely become my main. I raid with him all the time, I've got a lot of nice tier 1 gear already on him, and I'm working hard at farming up my alchemy and herbalism skills (yes I slacked off while leveling) so I can become a "Frank Potion-guy" for my guild. The only problem is, I've got this alt...See, a while back, I rolled a UD rogue to play as a twink in WSG 10-19. I never tracked honor for him or anything-- I just sent him nice gear when I found it on the AH, and played PVP with him for fun (usually when the WSG weekends were up, not because I cared about honor, but because that's when they were most busy). Then, a little while back, I decided that I liked playing a rogue (stunlock ftw) so much I wanted to get him to 60. I don't really want to raid with him, I just want him to be 60 and PVP-specced so that when the expansion hits, I'll be ready for all the new World PVP options.
But my problem is that I can't seem to find the time to bring him up. Between helping guildies with the tier 0 instances, farming herbs, running raids, and finishing raid quests, I'm finding it hard to fit in some quality time with my alt. Despite what a few people think of me, I do spend a lot of time not playing the game, and so I'm finding time to be at a premium when I play, and most of it is going to keeping up my main.
So how have you dealt with bringing up an alt? Do you ditch your main for a while and focus on the alt as if it was your only character? Or do you work the both of them-- lately I've been logging out and switching over to my alt while waiting for raid groups to come together. Or is it even possible to have two characters advancing at the same time? Maybe the classes are so deep that trying to level two at the same time means you can't really dig into both very well. What's your experience? I'd really like to get my rogue to 60 (33 now) before the expansion, but if I have to ditch my beloved shammy to do it, I might have second thoughts.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Tips, How-tos, PvP
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Chef Oct 20th 2006 2:09AM
I'm in the same boat as you, Mike. I played my rogue in the 20-29 battlegrounds for a few months, and eventually decided to leave that tier in hopes of leveling him to 60. He's currently level 36. Recently I left my guild to focus more time on schoolwork, and having no obligations to my 60 mage, I have been treating my rogue as a main.
However, when I was in the guild, I tended to play my alt for about an hour after classes, 3 days a week or so. I did instances on weekends (mostly Gnomeregan), and like you, played him while waiting for the raid to assemble. So it was a combination of setting time aside, separate from my main, and playing him in the gaps where my main had nothing to do.
Rembrandt Oct 20th 2006 2:11AM
I have dropped ( :O ) my mains after gearing up with tier0 and a few epics. I'm now working on my third 60, currently 52. Since they are all on the same server and in an excellent raiding guild, I'll just be playing my current 'main' (healer) but will switch to the other 60s whenever the guild needs it.
Ngnsewa Oct 20th 2006 4:54AM
I have 2 mains, a Shaman and Hunter.
The hunter was an alt for ages until I had some free time between jobs and played it exclusively outside raids.
Now I have a 4 alts from 31 to 36 that I am/have been levelling over an extended period of time (always rested).
I’ve been working and the Alt progress has stalled a lot. However, now that the impending chaos of BC is looming ever closer. I have switched from as much 60 activities to spent time preparing alts, and in turn using the alts to prepare for the Jewel crafting, and the subsequent creation on another alt - the inevitable BE Pally :D
Hochi Oct 20th 2006 2:48AM
mhhh, i'm in the same situation. my main(mage) ist my raid char, my warrior (60) my pvp char und my lovely warlock the twink. and i really want to bring my warlock up to lvl 60 before the expansion. By the way, the new warlock talents are so nice, i think i bring my wl up to 70.... think so.
Sean Oct 20th 2006 3:05AM
I have 7 lvl 60's one of each with a 40 druid on the way to complete the set I dont really have a main cause I like to play every class and cant wait for BC to get a shammy. I have been in a couple of raids ZG/AQ and so forth but cant be bothered getting a toon to awesome gear most have blues but not set items. I have found it quite easy to lvl them all because I wait for the rested bar to be full the slam a lvl or two, after a while you get good at knowing all the quests and what order to do them in to get the most for your time. If you want to do the same I suggest same server and faction makes it easier also having a friend with 8 lvl 60's and rubbing it in your face helps (you know who you are).
Nugsy Oct 20th 2006 4:02AM
My main is a level 60 warrior and I have a lot of fun with it, my alt is currently a level 47 priest and its just a pure grind-fest between guild raids. I tend to put in an hour or so a day and use mostly rested XP.
I loved bringing my main from 1-60, but grinding a character isnt so much fun and is more like work. Like most of you i wanna get him to 60 before the expansion.
wayne Oct 20th 2006 6:15AM
Soon my Padawan you shall have 8 like your master. :P Rested XP for the win.
Trapman Oct 20th 2006 5:07AM
Back when I was grinding Field Marshal, it was next to impossible. I just gave up on it. Hoping I'd be able to once I finished.
Now that I have all the time in the world, I've pretty much just level alts. Alternating when Rested XP is used up.
It certainly helps not having any desire to raid.
Amaris Oct 20th 2006 7:21AM
Rested xp is the way to go. That's how I levelled my hunter alt to 60.
Now the hunter does all the grinding (felcloth, runecloth, and gold) for my main. Priest isn't really a grinding class. Without the hunter I would've never gotten enough gold to get my main an epic tiger.
But a second alt? No way. I've started a couple of chars, like a warlock and a druid, but between the time of playing my main and getting him the goods with my hunter, I just don't have time to play a third char.
Devilmachine Oct 20th 2006 7:55AM
When I was leveling two alts at once, I would play one until all its rested xp was used up and then go back to the other toon and vice versa.
Got into a good rythm, leveled a warrior and a shaman pretty quickly.
Unkle Oct 20th 2006 8:16AM
My suggestion mike, is to just level up the alt when you don't have anything else to do.
This'll keep you from sitting around feeling bored, give you plenty of time in between to get some rested xp, and not take away the focus of your main character.
Does it really matter if you're 60 when the expantion comes out? You can still only level 1 toon at a time, and i'm sure you and your guild will want you to take the shammie up to 70 first.
Ken Oct 20th 2006 8:24AM
In order for me to find the motivation to level up an alt, I must give up my main and make my alt my main. That's just the way it's been for me =]
gen Oct 20th 2006 8:36AM
I play my Shadow Priest (now level 40) when I'm not raiding with my main Warrior. My guild's not strict when it comes to raid attendance. So in those times there are no raids scheduled or if I just don't feel like raiding one night, I spend time with my priest.
And recently I found out how much Shadow priests rock in PvP. I stayed in the 30-39 bracket for a while and racked up the HKs and Honor in WSG. I was impressed at how well they do with all the DPS in shadow damage.
What I'm aiming for now is for my warrior to be my main raiding toon, and this Shadow priest to be my main PvP toon (which I will use on off nights). So far it's going well for both toons. The Shadow Priest is now lvl 40 and my warrior has a few epics on him and Tier 0 gear. FYI though, I don't really care much for gear in end-game. I just want to experience the instances and the encounters that go along with them.
Chad Oct 20th 2006 8:50AM
I understand the desire to level an alt to 60. When I first started the game (it was a 14 day trial) I made a Druid. I got to 20 shortly thereafter and made a Warrior. After getting the Warrior to 20, I made a Hunter. Eventually my trial ended and I had to go buy the game (which I don't regret).
After being allowed to advance past 20, I decided my Hunter would be the way to go because of the obvious ease of leveling and low requirement on purchased gear. After getting my Hunter to 60 (and starting many other characters), I decided I really missed my Druid. Actually playing all the way to 60 on the Hunter has helped a great deal for speed leveling and optimization of quests while I finish leveling up my Druid (only 2 levels to go). But what is next for me? I'm not really sure. My rogue is 43, warrior is 45, priest is 40. I just can't really decide what I would enjoy more.
Ian Dec 1st 2006 4:43PM
Reached 60 with a human mage first. Quickly tired of kill, drink for mana, kill, drink for mana, lather, rinse, repeat.
Reached 60 with a dwarven hunter next. Too much fun! Finally, a character that wasn't wearing wet toilet paper for armor.
Although both still raid with my guild, I've been working on 2 others; a 51 priest and a 52 druid. Neither of the new ones are guilded, so I actually get to play them whenever there aren't any raids scheduled.
When levelling toons begins to feel like a second job, I take a break.
My suggestion for levelling alts undisturbed is to not let others know you're doing it.
xfr3386 Oct 20th 2006 9:16AM
Your problem is quite simple: leveling on the horde side is very boring and bland, and once you do it twice you rarely want to do it a third time.
At least that's how I am. I have a warrior and hunter at 60, both in the best blues they can be in (i never did bother with tier 0, especially on the warrior, there is much better tanking gear). I decided i was sick of those instances so started leveling a rogue, and found that I loved playing a rogue.
Until i hit 29 or so. Man, i just got really bored. So I hit a dilemma, I don't have the time to raid, and i'm taking a break from instances, but leveling another horde character seems worse than pulling all of my toenails out. What do I do?
Well, I have never rolled alliance past 13 or so, so that's what I did, and I absolutely love it. The people I have met and the quests I have done are at a much greater quality than I had on the horde side. Sitting at level 37 on my Warlock i couldn't be any happier.
I am looking forward to making both a dranei male paladin and female mage some day, but this guy to 70 is my current plan.
Physical Original Oct 20th 2006 9:34AM
I'm lucky, my primary alt (druid bear) is being played in tandem with my girlfriends primary alt (druid healer). We use it as "together time" and we make sure that we're both having fun. If you have a SO you want to play with 2 druids is a lot of fun. The druid versatility means that you can hit a majority of the pre-60 content with absolutely no problem (stealth mode has been really useful when she misses a mid-dungeon goal and we need to sneak back to complete it). Other than that I have a bunch of extra characters with various professions, and I generally distribute loot between them (useful greens get filtered down the line).
Swiftlydead Oct 20th 2006 10:55AM
Leveling a rogue is so damn easy - just get all of the quests you need, use stealth to get to the objective of the quest, use cooldowns to kill the boss mob or whatever, vanish, turn in quest.
Rogues are not only IMBA for getting quest EXP, they make a mockery out of farming. Farming with a rogue is literally 2 to 3 times faster than with a hunter. The DPS is just insane.
crsh Oct 20th 2006 11:05AM
I only have one lv60 alt after a year of playing; my main (a rogue) is for raiding every night, it basically took me almost 5 months to get my priest alt up to 60 as he definitely wasn't a priority for me.
I can't put in more time, so it's funny to me to see fellow guildies with 3-4 (or more) lv60 alts, but that's not so surprising when you take into account most of these people are college kids who had a lot more free time than I did last Summer.
I look at alts as a diversion mostly, it's for fun where as my main is for "serious business", ie. raiding (yes raiding is serious business!!).
Theadrick Oct 20th 2006 11:29AM
I have four 60s on the Alliance side; a paladin, rogue, hunter, and priest.
On the Horde side I have a 40 druid, and 35 hunter and shaman respectively (currently focusing on the shaman).
My paladin was my first character and will always be my main, and the first character I level to 70 when the expansion hits.