WoW, Casually: Leveling gear (Reader Mail)
by Robin Torres 
Apr 12th 2009 at 4:00PM
Jason writes in about leveling gear for the playtime-challenged:
Hello,
As a casual WoW player, I find myself completely overwhelmed when it comes to getting gear for my Paladin. I keep hearing about greens, blues, purples...how certain equipment can get you laughed out of guilds. I'm level 55 and have never gone on a raid, and honestly never intend to. How can the average casual gamer know what equipment to pursue, though? Logically, the best stuff would come from the end-game content, but since most casual gamers don't head in that direction, it can be very intimidating to figure out what "good" gear really is.
Any insight you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
- Jason
There really is a huge difference between gear required for leveling and gear required for raiding, heroic instances or hardcore PvP. You absolutely do not have to be a gear expert until you want to participate in endgame instances, so don't get too stressed out about it. Following is a guide for collecting the best gear while casually leveling your character -- or as in my case, characters.
Colors
First of all, don't sweat the purples. They are nice to have, but not worth the hit to your pocket. And if you get a world drop, it is almost always better to make a fortune at the Auction House (when possible), than to actually wear the item and replace it a few levels later. This is particularly the case for practically useless items like the ubiquitous Icemail Jerkin. I think I've had 5 of these drop for me, usually in Feralas, and the best thing you can do with it is to hope for a purple-crazy sucker on the AH. Basically greens are fine for leveling and try to pick up blues from quests and instances when possible, otherwise they are not worth the extra cost.
Quests
When deciding what quests to do, definitely check out the quest rewards to see what the rewards are. Quests offer some decent leveling greens and blues. If you are Horde between level 10 and 20, the Ghostlands quests and the accompanying Tranquillien rep will outfit you nicely. If you are 58 to 70, the Outlands quest rewards and drops are huge upgrades over the old world gear and you probably won't have to spend any money on gear at the AH during this time.
Instances
Instances are great for gear, gold and experience. But the instances you encounter while leveling can be frustrating timesucks with the wrong group. And we just don't have the time to waste. If you have competent guildies/friends with characters near your level and similar schedules, you have hit the jackpot. Otherwise, your best bet if you want the instance goodies is to get someone to run you through them. Personally, I think it's dullsville to be run through instances, but The Spousal Unit and I have had some fun taking turns running each other's alts through dungeons for gear.
Professions
Professions are a great way to outfit your character while leveling. If you keep your professions at or above your level, you will always have goodies to wear or improve what you are wearing. (If you are a mage, see the Arcane Brilliance series on professions.) Also, pay attention to the professions your guildies are grinding. They are usually more than happy to provide you with free crafted gear rather than vending all of their products.
The Auction House
Every 10 levels or so, take inventory of your slots and see what items are pushing obsolescence. Some blues can be worn for 20 levels, but most greens should be replaced after no more than 10 levels. Then go to the AH with a slot list and shop for greens that are improvements and are at or a level above you. Again, don't waste money on Bind on Equip blues and purples. Your cash is better spent on crafting and mounts.
The Armory
If you want to spend some time and effort micromanaging your gear (which can be fun), then hop over to the WoW Armory and find your character. Mousing over each equipment slot will show you the full stats of the item you are currently wearing along with where you got it. For example, I'm wearing the Robes of Arugal on my priest, which I got from Archmage Arugal in Shadowfang Keep and has a medium drop rate. If you mouseover the arrow on the outside of the slot, you get a button to push that will check for upgrades. If you don't like the level range of what you are seeing, you can click on Show Item Filters and adjust the search to suit your needs. From here you can make a shopping list with which you can plan your questing and/or shopping.
Of course, each class has different stat requirements, but they also have different dependencies on their gear quality. For example, I have found it much more important to keep the gear current while leveling my rogue as opposed to leveling my mage. While my advice above is great in general, you should also try to keep up with what stats are best for your specific class and spec. Keep reading your weekly class columns here on WoW Insider and monitor the The Daily Quest for articles on other blogs that will help you make your gear decisions. Using break times to keep up on the latest will save you time and money during your playsessions.
Have fun shopping for gear and enjoy your second Chocolate Day of the year! (There are four. Some may celebrate today as Easter.)
WoW, Casually is a column for those of us who are playtime-challenged. We had another good year last year and the new expansion has brought back a lot of players returning as casuals. If you have questions or tips about how to get the most out of your limited playtime, please send them to robin AT wowinsider DOT com for a possible future column.Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Leveling, WoW, Casually
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
HunterFromTheStart Apr 12th 2009 4:21PM
Even Hunters need to keep most of their equipment up to date. I can tell the difference when my pet starts dieing because I haven't upgraded MY equipment in a while. The added effect may not be much, but apparently it's enough.
Karilyn Apr 12th 2009 4:50PM
Truth.
Though, I do find it funny whenever I read about one of those hunters that went from level 1-60/70/80 completely arse naked, other than a bow.
PeeWee Apr 12th 2009 4:58PM
Karilyn:
There's a reason most of the goldfarming bots are hunters. It's called "EZ Mode" and hunters are in it all day long. No other class is so easy to automate. And yes, they still exist. Right now on at least a few servers, there are bots of various sorts running around farming the green whelps in Swamp of Sorrows.
Shutting down MMOGlider was just he tip of the iceberg.
Zhiva Apr 12th 2009 5:22PM
I once met three hunters in Duskwood. They were almost naked, all had boar pets and killed all mobs in that location with this tactic: send pet in, shoot till mob dead, loot, repeat. They even killed mobs which were tagged by me. I asked them if they were bots. They didn't respond, so I filled a GM ticket and left them. Then I met them again, and... they all were shooting evading mob, while other mobs ate their pets and then them. I laughed hard =)
Elvrag Apr 12th 2009 7:52PM
That happened to me but on my mage...
Firestride Apr 12th 2009 4:43PM
To each their own, but the more I worry about gear during leveling the less fun I have. A level appropriate weapon, maybe get a helm, neck or ring before they're showing up in the rewards, and that's it.
Firestride Apr 12th 2009 4:49PM
Also, the "average casual gamer" knows that blues are better than greens, but aren't necessarily worth the time to get, and that purples don't matter til end game, and that no one who's 55 right now needs to be worrying about raids.
drxux Apr 12th 2009 4:52PM
definately know what stats are important for your class. when i leveled my first character, i went for whatever item had the most armor, and tried to balance all my stats. i probably had the highest spirit a hunter has ever had. just make sure you know what are upgrades for your character and what arent. level and armor do not indicate that lol.
turtlehead Apr 12th 2009 6:34PM
"definately know what stats are important for your class."
That is the entire answer to Jason's question.
Everything in this post is useless if you don't know what is good for the character. Check the post about your spec on this site, the one(s) listing leveling gear for Wrath. See what stats keep popping up! (I'd be careful using the old Outlands gear lists. Paladin needs have changed a lot since then.)
Do professions if you enjoy them. They can take a lot of time, they almost always lose gold, and are hit or miss on making useful gear.
Some blues or purples actually cost less than greens, ignore color entirely. Look at stats and price. Gear, especially blues, that requires level 19, 29, or 39. cost extra. (People use those to soup up characters and crush other players in battlegrounds.) Plate and mail around level 40 is always expensive (classes learn to wear it then).
Hm. Oh! Everything you are currently wearing will be replaced with the first few quests in Outlands at 58. Also, at 57 you can start wearing some Outland greens on the AH, though most require 58+.
Rambled a bit there. Hope there was something helpful :)
Futue Apr 12th 2009 4:56PM
Yeah, you say you never intend on raiding so gear really isn't an issue.
I think where people may mock your gear is when it's seriously out of date or its itemized incorrectly.
If you are holy and you have gear with atk power on it, that's the situation to avoid.
Just quickly while I'm at it:
(stats you want)
Holy: sp, int, crit, mp5
Prot: stam, avoidance stats (def, dodge, block, etc)
Ret: str, atk power, crit, etc
Hope that helps!
jbodar Apr 12th 2009 6:19PM
This.
Honestly, I'm not sure why stat distribution wasn't covered in the article, since that more than anything is what will get you taken less seriously. Wearing greens for leveling is par for the course, so long as they are relatively up to date and have appropriate stats. I'm not saying you need to go to ElitistJerks.com and learn if Str or AP is better or anything, but just have general idea as given above. Just hit up http://www.wowwiki.com/Paladin_tactics
Ezzy Apr 12th 2009 4:59PM
I prefer Wowhead to the Armory gear upgrade. You can specifically look for just BOEs or you can also include quest items. Every class and spec is represented in that drop down box. Once you learn to use Wowhead, it becomes incredibly easy to map out gear.
When it comes to leveling gear I always try to get the best that I can for as low a price I can. I think having good leveling gear makes it easier to level and makes it more possible for you to solo group quests. And if you get blues and enchant them you are gonna go through less gear usually than if you go out and get greens.
Most class specific sites (Warlock Den, Shadowpanther.net, et. al.) have a guide showing what gear you should be trying to go for while leveling.
AyaJulia Apr 12th 2009 5:04PM
This is the line that jumped out at me from the original mail, and the line that makes me think you focused on the wrong thing in this article:
"I keep hearing about greens, blues, purples...how certain equipment can get you laughed out of guilds."
The latter part seems to be what the person is worried about to me. I'm going on the assumption here that the questioner is referring to casual leveling guilds, not raiding guilds, if he never intends to raid.
What gets you laughed out of guilds:
-Focusing on the WRONG stats for your class (i.e. wearing agility on a mage, spirit on a hunter, attack power on a priest). I saw a hunter in an instance wearing spellpower boots because they had better armor value than any other piece he'd found. Learn what stats to stack. Be intelligent about your gear, even if you're in greens, or you could be laughed off as an idiot by those who prefer to feel superior to you rather than educate you.
-Being in gear that is EXCESSIVELY out of date. Robin's guidelines are pretty spot-on here, you should try to replace your greens often (I go about every five levels, not ten). If there's nothing for sale, there's nothing for sale; don't go buying something "of the bear" for your mage just because it requires level 55 and you happen to be level 55. Keep your level 40-something piece. You might want to look into getting an update crafted if they simply aren't showing up on auction.
In the end though, if you're LEVELING and only leveling, it doesn't matter what gear you're wearing. If you're soloing, you aren't hurting anyone else with your gear choices; why should you care? It's only when you start joining groups and start expecting people to drag your spellpower-laden hunter through quests because you can't do them that you start drawing anyone's attention.
And if you're in a casual leveling guild that laughed you out because you weren't in all blues at 55, you're in the wrong guild. Gear quality doesn't matter for leveling, as long as you can do the content and contribute to any group you join instead of being a dead weight. If you get to level 80 and start doing heroics, this will change; you'll be doing things with raiders who are used to good gear. But until then, seriously, just enjoy the ride at your own pace and don't worry too much about it. Make smart choices, but don't WORRY about your choices unless you can't do your quests.
Lilkitten Apr 12th 2009 5:44PM
I love the comments in the first paragraph about how if WoW was a democracy casuals would win. While there is unarguably more casuals, I have yet to meet a casual who didn't use the resource fansites created by the hardcore. If hardcore players left WoW, there wouldn't be a WoW. Blizz isn't going to release expacs of nothing but new 5 man dungeons and casuals don't spend hours, or in the case of old content, days wiping on a new boss figuring out the strat. So really, please tell me what casuals bring to the game other than to complain to blizz how hard it is to get gear and whine until Blizz makes the content so easy that the hardcore start leaving? If you're a casual player, that's great. But why complain about end game being so hard that Blizz nerfs it and makes it so its not a challenge to the player base that actually makes this game go.
HunterFromTheStart Apr 12th 2009 7:15PM
I'm neither a hardcore player, nor a Casual. I play way too many hours to be a simple casual, and yet, I'm not hardcore either, because I was not amongst the first to 80. Before BC, my highest level character was 30 something, a hunter, and I was starting to get bogged down. I had no clue how to make money, nor what stats were right for a hunter, because every time I tried to search for guides, I got buy this or buy that.
@Lilkitten
You say Hard Core players are leaveing, well that's just stupid. I think it's time that some of the "Hard Core" players get off their high mounts, and realise that it takes both Hard Core, and Casual to make the game go. If All the Hard Core left, yes, the game would be a sad place. I'm sure it woudn't be quite as fun, or as easy to learn.
However, the wisdom in driving away the Casuals is just stupid too. Consider it like this, if over half the game is played by the "Casual", then not catering to them would also be foolish, because then over half the income they enjoy would become short lived. I don't know how to make the game acceptable to both Casual, and Hard Core. However, the Elitist attitude of the Hard Core, and the fact that MOST "Casual" players are only casual because they believe that there are more important things in life such as Family. Even BRK, and that Druid expert seem to agree on that much.
How do you balance this? I don't know. I'm sure there are not any EASY answers or Blizzard would already have fixed this. Quit thinking that the Hard Core are being left out in the rain, because Ulduar may be permanently out of my reach. Primarily that is due to my strange work schedule, which makes raiding almost impossible, and also to Wife Aggro. Tell me why EVERYTHING of value should be open only to the Hard Core?
HunterFromTheStart Apr 12th 2009 7:26PM
*Really need an Edit button*
However, the Elitist attitude of the Hard Core, and the fact that MOST "Casual" players are only casual because they believe that there are more important things in life such as Family.
Should have ended: such as Family, makes it even more difficult to figure out a good solution to balance it out.
Gothia Apr 13th 2009 9:24AM
@ Lilkitten
Do you think Blizzard gives a crap if you are hardcore or casual? They liken to the $15 a month subscription payment they receive from millions of paying customers. Your statement if all hardcore player left...blah blah blah ....is unrealistic at this point since there isn't currently a game to match WoW. Unfortunately, for you, if there was a game that all the hardcore players flocked too, then you better hope boat loads of casual players follow or the game will just become another WoW casualty. Personally I think you are just upset because too many people are walking around with the same epeen you are and it is taking a toll on your fragile ego. Grow up bitch boy, content will get harder or it won't, but you pretty little ass will still be here until told to go somewhere else.
artifex Apr 14th 2009 2:12PM
If casuals left, you'd have almost no people to pug with if you missed your guild's appointed times for runs. Well, except for alts. But you can think of alts as casuals in practice, too.
(BTW, just want to say that it sucks when your faction can control Wintergrasp all day, but unless that day is Tuesday or Wednesday you can't get a VOA pug going, because almost everyone else is saved already. I'm in a guild that's doing a little raiding, but I'm not geared for Naxx yet, and as a lock my best single source for gear otherwise has been VOA. I'm hearing AT will change this, though?)
Brique Apr 12th 2009 5:45PM
You might see those old tier sets on the Warcraft website -- and think they're what you *should* be wearing.
Your gear is only important when everyone's on an even playing field. (The level cap! 80!)
To be completely honest, keep playing the game! Pieces of gear come and go, and you'll get your chance at blues and purples, whether it's through your profession or doing dungeons or buying them off the AH. When it comes down to it, there's a crafted blue (PvP) set for every spec/class. Just find a Blacksmith, and you'll see there are easy to get pieces of gear that can get you started.
Your role is improved by your gear. Groups at the level cap expect a certain output. Whether you're healing, you need to keep up with incoming damage on the party/raid. If you're tanking, you need to withstand and mitigate enough to survive a hit. If you're purely there to do damage, you need to play your part. You need to kill that enemy quick!
pkrockin Apr 12th 2009 5:52PM
I think the reason why one would get "laughed out of a guild" for dressing in the wrong gear is that the desirable stats are apparent for anyone willing to investigate. There is a tooltip for every ability and stat in the game, and nearly all of them tell you exactly what each stat affects and what stats abilities scale with. Also, there are numerous listings of the priority stats for every class's specs all over the internet. The only reasons anyone would be caught wearing gear that is not itemized for them are that they don't care to know what makes their character(s) tick or they haven't found anything properly itemized, but the latter would only apply to the first 20 levels or so.
Look at the abilities you typically use, find out what stats make them more powerful, and wear those stats. If you take a lot of damage or die a lot, get more Stamina. If you run out of mana a lot, get more Intellect or your preferred regen stat(here's a hint - if you can wear mail or plate, it's Mana per 5 Seconds).
I understand there are some odd wordings in the tooltips(like spirit's tooltip), but there should be enough info to get within the ballpark for the desired class and spec. I understand that old-world gear is really weird, but don't think that the stats you see mostly are the ones to stack - remember, this game has gone through many revisions since 2004. Personally, I think that if Blizz would remove Spirit from most gear in the old world, a lot of confusion would be dispelled.