Cataclysm: No plans to extend current heirlooms to 85
by Michael Sacco 
Aug 31st 2009 at 7:00PM
There's been quite a burst of blue posts on the official forums post-BlizzCon; some by World Event Designer Kisirani talking about lore and the post-Cataclysm world, some by Lead Systems Designer Ghostcrawler talking about new game systems coming with 4.0, and some by the Community Managers, providing slightly less meaty morsels of information. It's not all chaff from the CMs, though -- there's some wheat in there.
Bornakk, for example, stopped by a thread asking about how heirloom items will work post-80 in Cataclysm. He said that there are no plans to extend the experience bonus they give past level 80, though there may eventually be new heirlooms available to help bridge that gap. That's not surprising, really -- if they were extended, heirlooms would essentially be mandatory for the people racing to get to 85 first, and that's a situation Blizzard would like to avoid.
Interestingly, he also noted that it's "unlikely" that heirlooms won't work on Worgen or Goblin characters, which is admittedly a relief, seeing how I just bought a set of them for my Worgen Warrior. Battle Howl, anyone?
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it. Nothing will be the same. In WoW.com's Guide to Cataclysm you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion. From Goblins and Worgens to Mastery and Guild changes, it's all there for your cataclysmic enjoyment.Filed under: News items, Expansions, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Maus Aug 31st 2009 7:05PM
Holy crap, you bought a set of heirlooms for your non-existent Worgen Warrior? Early much?
Michael Sacco Aug 31st 2009 9:04PM
Expansion'll be here before you know it. Not letting it sneak up on me!
paul Sep 1st 2009 5:19AM
Aha, I see you learnt your lesson from all those devilsaurs in ungoro then? Something big and ground-shaking is surprisingly stealthy when your not prepared for it!
Nathanyel Aug 31st 2009 7:11PM
But maybe they will work until you ding 81 *rolleyes*
I'd say, the best option would've been to just disable the bonus XP gains from Heirlooms and RaF for the first month of Cata - the items alone are still a good boost to levelling. But especially RaF needs to be restricted at least for the new races, otherwise we'll see level 60 Goblins/Worgen on the first day of the expansion.
WastedFire Aug 31st 2009 7:17PM
As long as they are allowing both new races to be Death Knights there is no reason the normal, non- "heroic" jobs should get penalized for an achievement that a DK can bypass the first 60 levels of.
Nathanyel Aug 31st 2009 7:21PM
So disable DKs for the new races (for the first week), too :P
jtrain Aug 31st 2009 9:40PM
"So disable DKs"
Fixed.
Pemberton Sep 1st 2009 5:20AM
I daresay they will disable Death Knights for the two new races at first - we're already swimming in Death Knights. They'll probably put off implementing that until the people who start at level one have a chance to get up to 58 themselves (on average).
QQinsider Sep 1st 2009 1:46PM
Who cares? Why are you so worried about L60 goblins/worgens? I couldn't give a toss if other people want to spend every waking minute grinding new races if that's how they get their jollies, doesn't affect me in the slightest.
jeff Sep 29th 2009 4:52PM
IMO they always should have made it so that you could only make a Death Knight if you had a character of that RACE over level 55. Would solve the Worgen/Gob DK problem at launch, while still allowing players to have DKs of these races by getting another class up to 55 first.
Ðaedalus Aug 31st 2009 7:14PM
just got heirloom's for a goblin shammy Cataclysm needs to hurry up already!
alpha5099 Aug 31st 2009 7:14PM
There was concern that Worgen and Goblin wouldn't be able to use Heirlooms? Huh?
Karilyn Aug 31st 2009 8:02PM
I'm surprised that anyone expected anything less.
The purpose of Heirlooms is to speed up the leveling of an alt character. That's why you can only purchase them at level cap.
If you could use your level 80 Heirlooms to get to level 85, that's on your first character! I'm sure there will be level 85 Heirlooms you can purchase that will allow you to level any alts to level 85 at the higher speed.
Seems like common sense.
alpha5099 Aug 31st 2009 8:40PM
I didn't say anything about leveling to 85 with heirlooms. I never expected you could. But why would people be concerned whether Goblins and Worgens could use heirlooms?
Camo Aug 31st 2009 9:35PM
@Karilyn: Are you sure you need 80 to get them? Well at least a high level character.
The WG dailies start at 77 I think and you can (could?) loot single shards from non heroic dungeon bosses and buy the Winter Grasp stuff at 68+ with loads of effort (Northrend starter dungeons and disabled XP - maybe a PVP 'twink'?).
Why would you want to do that? Hmm maybe as a proof of concept, because you can.
Dude Aug 31st 2009 7:15PM
Lazy. Extend those heirlooms, Blizz! You can't say you don't get paid enough!
devilsei Aug 31st 2009 7:30PM
True, but then what would they use their new badges for? Hell, I'm wondering if they are going to do the whole "tiered badge" system again, seeing as it failed anyways with blizzard taking it back midway through the expansion.
Hell, just make me pay 100g per Heirloom to keep the bonus. Even that though is purely a waste of gold.
slartibart Aug 31st 2009 9:14PM
What does being lazy have to do with disabling the +10%xp flag granted by the heirloom items?
I hate these nonsensical "you make enough money" waaaah comments.
Aaron Aug 31st 2009 7:15PM
I hope they do an upgrade solution like they did with the Kirin Tor rings at least, I don't see any point in blowing away a full 40-60 emblems per heirloom introduced in Catalysm for the extra 5 levels.
Nick Aug 31st 2009 7:23PM
Upgrading them sounds like a good idea! I've bought heirlooms for my DK and mage, so I don't want all those badges I spent to go to waste.