Breakfast Topic: Do you use heirlooms?
by Lesley Smith 
Jun 25th 2009 at 8:00AM
Heirlooms are something I've not really had much experience with but as I've been doing Wintergrasp a lot since hitting 80 (prior to my burnout, that is). However as the prospect of re-rolling a very different kind of class becoming more promising, so did heirlooms. I remember hearing about them at last year's WWI and it sounded like a great idea at the time. A way to may have your main help out an alt. I would be able to outfit my lowbie toon with decent gear that gets better as she levels. Plus I like the fact they are an homage to classic WoW by taking their names and graphics from weapons no one ever uses anymore.
Oddly I don't know anyone in my guild who uses them but I'm pretty sure someone out there is buying them. I see lots of people regularly clustering around the sellers in Wintergrasp Fortress, diligently checking which item they want for which alt but it seems like the only reason to buy them is if you're an altoholic.
With this in mind, I'm curious, constant readers, did you buy heirlooms in order to make leveling an alt easier? Are they worth the expense? Did they make it easier to level and did you reuse them with multiple alts? What if you've never used them before, do they seem more appealing now the new items have been revealed on the PTR?
Patch 3.2 will bring about a new 5, 10, and 25 man instance to WoW, and usher in a new 40-man battleground called the Isle of Conquest. WoW.com will have you covered every step of the way, from extensive PTR coverage through the official live release. Check out WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2 for all the latest!Filed under: Items, Breakfast Topics, Leveling, Alts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
KaptK Jun 25th 2009 8:06AM
I bought the plate shoulders for my pally and dk, but I haven't used them yet. I'm close to my Crusader title and plan to buy the chest pieces for some of my alts as well.
xavierlives Jun 25th 2009 11:50AM
You know, you mention plate for your pally & DK. I have never tested (partially because I didn't want to waste the emblems), but these don't become a usable item, right? I bought cloth shoulders because, well, everyone can wear it and it can be transfered from a warrior to a mage. But the plate heirloom won't become leather for my rogue, right?
Genoce Jun 25th 2009 12:31PM
@xavierlives
What do you mean "not come a usable item"? The Heirloom items are equal to a good blue item of your level from lvl 1 to 80. It's really rare that you find an item that has better stats than the heirloom shoulders/weapon at any level. If you do find a better item, after a level or two the heirloom item will be better again.
On the other hand, I have way too many emblems anyways, so I'll rather buy different shoulders to all of my alts than use cloth shoulders on a warrior just for the +10% exp as i could be using plate ones to get +10% exp AND stats.
crsh Jun 25th 2009 12:39PM
@xavierlives
The armor class doesn't scale down; if you buy the cloth heirloom shoulders, they won't turn to mail or plate if you use them with a class that can wear tougher armor than cloth. For instance, if you send your cloth heirloom shoulders to a rogue alt, they won't turn into leather.
There is however one caveat to that; leather shoulders intended for shammys will switch to mail when the shammy wearing them turns lv40 (granted the ability to wear mail is trained), same for mail/plate shoulders used by warriors and paladins (mail will turn to plate at lv40).
arilasWL Jun 25th 2009 12:46PM
@xavierlives
I think the answer you're looking for is yes, they do scale down to the highest class of armor your character can wear. for example, if i bought the plate shoulders and sent them to a rogue, they would become leather. if i sent them to a hunter, they would become leather, and then at level 40 they'd become mail.
Stephen Jun 25th 2009 12:49PM
@Xavierlives
You're correct. The plate items can only be used on paladins, warriors, & death knights. They will convert to mail armor for warriors & paladins below level 40, but only for those 2 classes.
It's the same deal with mail. Only classes capable of wearing mail can equip them & they change to leather items below level 40 only for those classes. So rogues & druids cannot equip them.
I'm up to 3 sets of shoulders & 1 staff. The xp bonus is pretty noticeable since it also boosts your quest xp and not just from grinding mobs. You'll find that you burn through your rested xp pretty quick, so you might start leveling multiple alts like I did.
Stephen Jun 25th 2009 1:16PM
I should also point out that the 3 trinkets are pretty awesome too. The pvp trinket is probably the only thing I'll ever bother to buy with stonekeeper shards.
Things I'd love to see added to heirlooms: An heirloom mount (the blizzcon mount already works like this), and turning some more old legendary or unique items into heirlooms like Benediction / Anathema, Thunderfury, Unstoppable Force & Immovable Object, etc.
Nixon Jun 25th 2009 8:07AM
I bought the Tattered Dreadmist Shoulders, mostly because I had emblems to spare after I didn't need them for my main. I'm saving up emblems on my lvl 80 alt to buy an additional heirloom.
Doctus Jun 25th 2009 8:09AM
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Khadgar&n=Dga
That's mine... waiting on 3.2 to get a mount now. Love me browns, they are awesome!
MusedMoose Jun 25th 2009 8:09AM
I love the idea of the heirloom items, and I've seen quite a few people using them. They're pretty distinctive at low levels, like when you see a level 5 running around with a staff that looks like something you'd find in a level 60ish dungeon. *grin*
However, I haven't used any, mostly 'cause my main is still only at 71 while I try to get my rogue up to 80 in time to get the 'Merrymaker' title this winter. If only I'd leveled my main faster, I could now be leveling my rogue faster... I've been bit in the ass by my own casualness. Oi.
Flyhard Jun 25th 2009 8:15AM
I wouldn't get heirlooms for my lvl 70 Alts... those 10% extra XP is only about 1 level saved, I belive, and I won't go through all the Heroics for it. On the other hand... as a tank, I am often going into heroics, even though I don't need anything from there anymore...
I wonder if selling the frozen orbs is really worth more.
Firestride Jun 25th 2009 10:04AM
Mr. Motorola - He meant if you're already at level 70. It surely will not save you eight levels if you are already at 70.
Brian Jun 25th 2009 10:05AM
I guess I am an altoholic since my GF and I did Refer a Friend when it first came out for fun. I have purchased the Cloth, Leather Melee, and Plate Melee Shoulders. This is along with the Dal'Rend Sword, Thrash Blade, Staff, and Reaper. They are great for leveling, especially for any melee class, where good quality weapons make all the difference in the world.
My Warrior has supplied Weapons and Shoulders to 3 other of my 80s now, and I am not stopping now. If they ever allow for DKs to Runeforge BoA Weapons, then I will have the Swords and Two-Handed Axe on him, so that I try out both to figure out which I like.
I will be buying the Chestpiece for whichever alt I level next as well. From 70-80, they probably aren't worth it if you have raiding gear. But for myself where I had eight level 60/61s from doing Refer-a-Friend, and a Deathknight fresh out of the starting area at 58... it will be a much welcomed blessing.
So far I have used BoAs with my Paladin, Druid, and Rogue; next up will be either my Deathknight, Priest, or possibly a Shaman if I decide it's worth it to buy more weapons.
sophierach Jun 25th 2009 8:11AM
I've bought them for my first alt - a paladin - and have found them a tremendous help.
_wG` Jun 25th 2009 8:13AM
I've got a few cloth and leather shoulders around on a few characters. I find they help quite a lot, the biggest proof for me was using them with RAF. Boxing 2 characters using the RAF system, one with and one without heirlooms, showed to me the gain of using them. I'd just see the one with the shoulders gain that little big more exp. It was plain to see how useful they were, hence why I've brought serveral of them for all my alts.
Flyhard Jun 25th 2009 8:11AM
What else should I spend my Emblems on? I always have some alt that I am leveling, when I don't have anything to do with my main... I have nearly all heirlooms by now, I think...
Hagu Jun 26th 2009 1:41AM
Initially quite expensive epic gems in 3.2 would seem like the way to spend heroic badges.
Sheherezade Jun 25th 2009 8:14AM
I have two heirloom items on a Rogue i'm currently leveling, i'm quite happy about the fact that the items (Dagger and Shoulders) are leveling with me so to speak and it makes things easier for sure.
What I don't like is that you can't enchant them with anything else then enchants with no level restrictions, so my moongoose enchant for the dagger didn't work.
All in all it's pretty sweet, especially since you don't really need to do heroics for anything else anymore.
Luci Jun 25th 2009 8:58AM
You can put Crusader on them though and it's pretty sweet for a rogue at lower levels. Combine that with my Lifebloom and my little rogue has awesome survivability for the class.
Qot Jun 25th 2009 8:11AM
Absolutely. They make the leveling experience much more pleasant.
The shoulders significantly reduce the leveling time with the XP bonus. I think the weapons may be even better: since they're blue item-level quality, it's like you ran an instance and got just the drop you needed every single level. Add to that never having to repair the helrlooms, saving you gold as you level.