Breakfast Topic: Got upgrade?
by David Bowers 
Jun 19th 2007 at 8:02AM
Leveling up my draenei hunter, I used to keep looking for the next upgraded item I'd be able to use. My most exciting upgrading moment so far came when I reached level 40 and got to put on a full mail set I had bought and put away in the bank just for that moment. Somehow, though, I wasn't able to find many upgrades in my forties, and now starting on my fifties, some of that armor I had saved in the bank is still the best I can find, on the auction or in quests. The surprising thing is that leveling still isn't that hard! Of course maybe it's just because I'm a hunter, and hunters can even level naked if they want to.
Still, it makes me wonder just how often we need to try and upgrade our armor leveling up. Is it totally different for the various classes? For example, can a hunter get by with sub-par gear for a long time, while a priest or warrior never could? If you're trying to level a very gear dependent class and just can't seem to find good upgrades, how do you manage?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Leveling
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Lanky Jun 19th 2007 8:18AM
My hunter is now 57, and I'm in the same situation as you, but with shoulders. Still using the ones I threw on at 40, simply because I haven't dropped any better or seen any worth the price in AH, and I haven't suffered at all.
But then, a Hunter's strength isn't in their armour, but in their armament. Try not getting a new gun/bow/xbow for 15 levels. You'll notice.
Twalname Jun 19th 2007 8:21AM
Hunters have the easiest time levelling with sub-par gear because they generally don't get into melee combat (meaning they don't need the best of the best armor around and they aren't reliant on any of the stats like a mage/priest/warlock(?) is to int/mana, a warrior/paladin is to stamina, a cat/rogue is to agility (granted, hunters use agility for power, but with a tank, they don't take any damage so they don't need to kill the mob as fast as possible). They can survive by sending in their pet to tank, and hitting attack. I could see a warlock having a similar situation with his blueberry and a wand.
Kaylek Jun 19th 2007 8:35AM
Most recently, I leveled a Holy Paladin through the pre-Outland levels. That's a pain... doesn't really matter what you upgrade too, you're always gonna have a poor mana pool and absolutely no spell damage to speak of.
Now he's well geared and running Zangarmarsh instances, and the class/spec is fun again. But for the 40-50 stretch, it was a real pain with no solution but to stick with it and push for Hellfire.
Mordrod Jun 19th 2007 8:39AM
For mages, the weapons and armor we choose are almost entirely for the stat improvement that they give us. We naturally avoid melee situations like the plague, and we only wand when we're out of mana. So if the stats we are going for do not improve much for 5 levels, we can hold off.
There are a number of guides to making money which advocate simply waiting for drops to improve your gear, and never buying greens on the auction house. That would seem to suggest that paying for gear upgrades is a luxury all classes could do without. If we crafted our own gear and just used the drops we received while questing, I suspect the upgrade rate Blizzard intended when they balanced game play during testing would be revealed.
Tridus Jun 19th 2007 8:42AM
Hunters really can level naked. My Hunter is 49, and I still have some gear from the level 20 because I haven't found an upgrade and am too cheap to buy one. I still tear through everything because of the blue Maraudon bow quest reward.
professor Jun 19th 2007 8:50AM
This is one of the reasons I've so immensely enjoyed my hunter. Having already run a shaman to 70, a character which is HEAVILY gear dependent for soloing, I'm glad to have a class that I can just log on and play, without digging through wowhead and the like for my next piece of gear.
I picked up my Master Hunter's Bow at 29 to try out the PvP scene. I'm over the PvP for now, but at 42, I'm still using the same bow, and it works just fine. I'm wearing rings I got in my high TEENS.
For now, I'm not too worried about gear. I check the AH for a nice piece of mail here and there, and I grab the quest rewards that I can. Beyond that, I'm not going to worry about gearing until Outland, and being a hunter, 58 is never far off. :)
Sirg Jun 19th 2007 8:47AM
Upgrading armor or weapons is not hard if you have a crafting profession that allows you to use most of the stuff you make. I have a rogue with elemental leatherworking, and can say that I saved some money and trouble by making my own armor. However, you don't usually get the best gear from crafting, except for some unique/rare pieces, but at least you aren't wearing obsolete equipment or standard vendor gear.
Some things are rewarding to make, like the Blackstorm Leggings (very good pre-60 rogue leather), which are BoP, so only an elemental leatherworker can have them.
TV Genius is a Dumb ass Jun 19th 2007 8:49AM
I went from 60 - 68 with the same armor/weapons (go outlands) on my rogue. Now granted I was probably the shittiest rogue on my server but it was possible. Even still my rogue is pretty bad, but thats what lvl 70 instances are for killing two birds with one stone when I am getting keyed with the heroics. But...at least I am 70 :P
rgoff31 Jun 19th 2007 9:05AM
I had that problem for my hunter on the Horde side of Norgannon from 40-58. I ended up getting as much PVP gear as possible. If I had to do it all over again I would have leveled skinning and leatherworking till level 60.
Rukdrop Jun 19th 2007 9:07AM
This thought came up to me ages ago, and to test it, I've levelled 61-63 naked in outlands,.. Yes, there's absolutely nothing difficult about levelling naked, nor does the ranged weapon matter a whole bunch..
It was fun, but not quite as fast as in my outland greens / blues.
Seper Jun 19th 2007 9:18AM
IMO gear is pretty useless PVE wise up until 58 and beyond. My druid ran from like 30-58 with 3-6 pieces of his gear.
My mage is now 45 and he is still wearing a swanky black ensemble from SFK I believe. (the undead instance where it changes from humans to werewolves at different times of the day.)
However.. my warrior friend I lvled with changed his gear every level. Just for the extra 100 or 200 armor or a couple stat bonuses.
BuddhaPhi Jun 19th 2007 9:17AM
As a general rule, hunters in particular can successfully and easily make it to level 60 and beyond just through what items they get through solo questing, world drops, and the occasional gun or bow from the AH. Other classes will have a harder time in various degrees but no class is forced to hit the AH, ever. Resisting the urge to upgrade gear every few levels is an acquired skill, more valuable than any skill a trainer can provide you. (Try doing those upgrades every 10 levels or more, especially in the pre-60 trek.)
Jamus Jun 19th 2007 9:56AM
For my priest, upgrades are few and far between. Unless you can group up long enough to take out a dungeon, weapon upgrades are mostly non-existent from what I have seen.
Armor is not nearly as bad, but there are still some drawbacks.
Langerhans Jun 19th 2007 10:14AM
Having leveled a dwarven hunter to 65 I have to say it's by and far the easiest class to level. But just because it is easy doesn't mean it isn't fun!
Gear-wise I agree that it doesn't make a darn bit of difference if you are wearing greens or blues- you send in the pet and pew-pew the mob from afar.
I found myself buying gear or keeping gear based on how it looked rather then focusing on the stat bonuses it provided. I guess that is the problem I see with the game... Your toon runs around pre-outland and looks ugly as sin! I'm leveling my first rogue and he looks like a tool! I seriously wish they would provide some better looking low-level armor and weapons.
I think a neat experiment would be to take a hunter and not buy a single piece or armor or weapons and see how you fair.
Tuland Jun 19th 2007 10:33AM
My pally was extremly gear dependant. I would spend 10g every 2 levels on a new peice, and thats not including training.
So I quit my pally, and started a dr00d. I love them. Although they need more of everything, its just easier. Hell, My druids 45 and still uses the seal of wrynn. =)
ben1778 Jun 19th 2007 10:38AM
For hunters its not a big deal because they aren't too gear-dependent. For other classes, such as warriors - it's a more disticnt difference.
Pretty much any fantasy game has this dynamic. There are classes that rely more on gear and classes that rely more on innate abilities/talents/etc.
ben1778 Jun 19th 2007 10:38AM
For hunters its not a big deal because they aren't too gear-dependent. For other classes, such as warriors - it's a more disticnt difference.
Pretty much any fantasy game has this dynamic. There are classes that rely more on gear and classes that rely more on innate abilities/talents/etc.
Retcon Jun 19th 2007 10:58AM
I'm leveling my warlock, I'm at 55 right now. Until last night, when I pulled a great "cloth pants of the eagle" off a mob in Winterspring, I was using level 27 cloth pants of the same stat type (eagle).
The level 27 armor had +8 stam and int. The Level 55 armor had +16 stam an int. While it's a nice upgrade (160 health and 240 mana), it wasn't a huge deal, and I was still killing things just fine.
The truly sad part is that IM A TAILOR, and even THEN I didn't have anything that was significantly better than my random level 27 pants of the eagle.
Shiro Jun 19th 2007 11:50AM
Yeah, I'd agree that it's pretty class specific. My hunter is now level 63 and he's been handed down a lot of stuff from my level 70s that they found along the road. Even pimped out as he is, it's not all that much different from what he was doing in his level 60 green gear (he was my farmer).
My Warrior on the other hand, she had to really step up the gear farming. With her level 60 gear, she was getting rocked every battle. Now (at 66) with a few upgrades, she's actually taking 2-3 battles in a row before she needs to stop and eat. Partially it's just her spec, but mostly it's about the gearing.
Another great story was my Druid. She started at 60 as mostly Resto. Mostly purples from ZG/AQ/MC/BWL. Not a lot of DPS stuff though, all of her stuff was either her healing gear, or her tanking gear. For leveling, I specced her Feral, and started work on a Feral gear set from scratch. She leveled in a duo group with a mage. From level 60-65 she got spanked on the DPS meters. Normally the mage did about 75% of the total damage while I limped along at about 50%. Gradually, as my gear improved, I started making a dent in those numbers and by level 70 we were pretty even. I'm positive that if I'd have had a full Feral set at level 60, I'd have been able to be even with her the whole way. :(
Shiro Jun 19th 2007 11:52AM
gah, that 50% was my ending number. Most of our leveling from 60-65 I was at 25%, typeo/braino.