Twinking for my own sanity
by Alex Ziebart 
Jun 14th 2008 at 9:00AM
I have a lot of alts. Not as many as some, but more than most. I have five level 70s, two characters over 50, and two others that sort of float around depending on what I feel like playing that week. Needless to say, I'm pretty sick of the lower level content. I've done it so many times by now that I'll be very, very happy when I never need to see it again.Until Blizzard decides to let us take a character straight from level 1 to level 70, I'm pretty much stuck going through that content. I enjoy learning to play new characters, but I don't think just grinding out quests does that for you. I would really like a 70 of each class so I can learn how to play them in dungeons and eventually the lower tier raids like Karazhan. Since I can't skip all of that content I've done endlessly already, I try to make my trip to 70 as easy as possible.
It was when I started levelling my Frost Mage that I realized just how far I will go to speed up those early levels. About 5 minutes after I rolled that Mage, I equipped her with a set of pre-enchanted gear that gave her just under 100 Frost Damage, and roughly an extra 400 hit points. I was basically invincible, and I loved it. It was expensive, but so worth it to blaze through those first few levels. Taking out moonkin in two Frostbolts was strangely soothing.
That's the most money I've put into a brand new character so far, but I would probably do it again in the future just to bypass that really early stuff. My question for all of you is: What's the most you've put into a twink that fresh, just for levelling and not stomping WSG?
Filed under: Mage, Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Leveling
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tyler Jun 14th 2008 9:37AM
NOT stomping WSG? I don't think I've done it. But I have several twinks that cost well over 3k+ gold.
Hurode Jun 14th 2008 9:12AM
The most money I've put into a character that low level is about one gold for the level 5 armor "set" and a weapon from the race's first proper town.
Calybos Jun 15th 2008 9:20AM
Zero. I consider twinking and alt-storing "cheating" by my standards, so I don't do it.
Once they're over level 20 and established in professions, I sometimes pass tradeskill materials around, but that's it. Each character is pretty much on his/her own.
Ceranthela Jun 14th 2008 9:21AM
I've put quite a bit at least 100 gold from my 70 and also I send quite a few tailored bags as I find that helps quite a bit having 14 or 16 slot bags early as I can keep questing longer. I also usually enchant anything my alt gets that not BOP.
raogrimm Jun 14th 2008 9:36AM
Well I'm leveling up 5 shamans right now (multiboxing) and I enchanted them 5 black dresses with 6 mana/per 5 seconds, enchant its been awesome to not sit down to drink.
Aigarius Jun 14th 2008 9:52AM
I find the first 20 levels a breeze that can be improved only by having large bags and a few gold for skills from the start. I only started buying gear around level 25 and chanting gear after level 40 with the final buy-new-gear stage at 50-51 to last me until 58 and Outlands. BC leveling is easy as a breeze. Buying a run or two trough instances could be wise, but only do that while you are near the bottom bracket of entry to the dungeon (so you could use some gear) and after you've picked up all the quests for that instance that are easy to get. Quests are much important than grinding with the new leveling changes.
sloppy Jun 14th 2008 10:16AM
i dont know about spending hundreds of gold to level a toon, but every alt i start i load up with mid level enchanted greens. extra stam makes a huge difference especially. the biggest difference i have seen though, is buying a low level blue weapon and enchanting that. especially with melee classes a great weapon makes all the difference
kunukia Jun 14th 2008 10:35AM
I have 5 seventies, several sixty-somethings, a fifty+ and an assortment under that (across several servers and both factions). I give a new toon gold and bags, start getting them greens at about 15 and start enchanting their stuff in the twenties. However, I have to say I actually enjoy the lower levels. It is mid-level, twenty five through fifty that I get bored.
Elyx Jun 14th 2008 10:39AM
I love twinking my alts, its where the majority of my extra $$ goes. also being able to dual box makes my life not only easier, but more enjoyable as a serous alt'er. I have the freedom to run my low lvl toons through just about any instance i need, i can take my time, hitting the instance a few times, and get the items i want.
Sure, i don't HAVE too, but then again most of us dont HAVE to drive large SUV's to work (or bmw, whatever your pref is), we could all drive honda civics, but i think it makes my point :D I like to do it my way...lvlng is that much easier, i can often tackle higher level mobs (more exp), and griefers cause much less of a problem. course, if your lvlng a toon that is distinctly different then your main in playstyle, running lower lvl instances is recommended to really learn your toon. But as the OP said, after 5 70's or so, you have a pretty good grasp of the mechanics of most classes.
Eternalpayn Jun 14th 2008 10:50AM
It's not twinking necessarily, but I gave my priest alt 50 gold to level it's enchanting and tailoring. I'm going to be giving it another 50 at level 20, and 50 every 5 or 10 levels after that. Right now, at 17, it has enchanting 160/160. (Blood Elf)
Ledfloyd Jun 14th 2008 12:02PM
about 600 gold worth of mats on my 7th gnome rogue consisting of clefthide kit, fiery and various agility/stam enchants just to goad guys in Brill into "flagging" on my PvE server. I love pwning 12th lvl UD Warriors ;-D
Lanae Jun 14th 2008 12:09PM
On my shadow priest twink: lots and lots of "shadow wrath" greens until she was 58 and powerlevelling her enchanting so she could always have the best enchants on her gear.
On my lvl 13 warrior: runspeed enchant on boots, melee haste enchant on the bloodelf bandit mask.
Balius Jun 14th 2008 12:59PM
My low level alts double as emergency storage and exist to either be a profession I don't have or to purely farm, so storage is a must. I send my Alts enough bags to fill their travel screen, and enough money to buy all the bank bag slots. My main's a leatherworker, so any miners get a mining bag to carry with them, the rest get Imbued Netherweave bags from my tailor alt. If I feel froggy, I may even send extra bags to fill the bank slots.
Aside from that, some leatherworking patches on BOE leggings is as far as I'll go toward out-and-out twinking, but I'll buy things from the AH whenever my alt gear starts lagging behind. Enough to not struggle with the game, but not much beyond that. Of course, I do get instance runs from friends whenever they offer (which tends to be rather often).
Joseph Jun 14th 2008 1:03PM
Iron Counterweight is all you need to know in order to make a melee character (which can use 2h weapons, obviously) into an unstoppable force until around level 20. Add in a leg armor kit (30 stam, 10 agi) and you're damn near Jesus.
Taxis Jun 14th 2008 4:52PM
I twink all my low level alts just so they kill things that much faster. Its not hard. Do an hours worth of dailies and your alt is set til level 30.
Whyhellothere Jun 14th 2008 5:13PM
DW flurry axes with crusader mh and 20 +str OH used them from 41 till outland and were worth the gold and i still have them in my warriors bank just i love those axes
PimpyMicPimp Jun 14th 2008 5:29PM
Buying weapons for my Rogue/Shammy got pretty expensive.
QQ
Fellhorhn-Uldum Jun 14th 2008 8:12PM
When leveling I've never spent any $ on anything for a toon under lvl 40. With so many quests all my toons are bound to get better gear soon enough and not to mention a great deal of my leveling routine involves constant instancing so i get plenty of gear from there as well.
Plus, the less money I spend now, the more money I have to mounts/epic mounts later.
Or for my 29 twinks ;)
cynmoon Jun 14th 2008 9:38PM
I have a pimped/enchanted out a tuxedo set just for leveling. It's awesome and it can be given to any level 1 character. It makes leveling SO much easier. I have the Heavy Weave Shoes with +stam as well, but I'm waiting to find a nice pair of level 1 shoes to complete the set.
Hurode Jun 15th 2008 9:32AM
I like the Frayed Shoes you can get from nearly any level 1-5 subzone.