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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: Do you use heirlooms when leveling?
by Andrew Ross 
Feb 26th 2011 at 8:00AM
If you ask the guy or girl with the army of alts what they think of heirlooms, he or she will most likely tell you how great heirlooms are. When heirlooms were announced in Wrath, the players suffering from altitis all screamed out in joy. Something that would save them gold while leveling and make life just a little easier on the way to 80? Now 85? Yes, please!
At first, we had shoulder and weapon heirlooms that were only purchasable in Dalaran or Wintergrasp. The shoulder heirlooms sold in Wintergrasp were identical to the ones in Dalaran, save that you sacrificed a sometimes useful stat for resilience. In patch 3.2, the Argent Tournament was introduced and with it, chest heirlooms and another way to buy heirlooms. Once you obtained the
To some, the downside to these heirlooms is that they don't scale past 80. Cataclysm did introduce two new heirlooms that scale from 1 to 85: cloak and helm heirlooms purchasable once your guild hits the required level and you are honored.
I myself have a number of different heirlooms for my alts, everything from cloth to plate, with different weapons for each class and their specific role. I stopped using them on my priest because I was flying through the revamped zones and couldn't finish all the quest chains before they turned gray.
Do you have heirlooms for your alts? Do you prefer to use them while leveling, or do you keep it old-fashioned while leveling?
| Always | |
|---|---|
| Never | |
| Only if I'm pushing to level as quickly as possible |
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
Elmo Feb 26th 2011 10:24AM
the same for me, I really like questing in new azeroth and its so easy to get pushed off the quest trail if you do a few too many dungeons or BG's so heirlooms are a nono for me aswell here.
I do put them on when I enter Outland, I have done that place enough and its not nearly as good as Cata azeroth. As a bonus you also avoid the dreaded outland clownsuits
exogenesis. Feb 26th 2011 8:37AM
Pre-Cataclysm, I would always use heirlooms for my toons. I found the quest gear hideous, and it was such a drag to level through Azeroth and Outland that I would just constantly use any means I could of shortening the time I would have to suffer.
Post-Cataclysm, I have been levelling 1-60 without heirlooms, because I love the new gear. However, whenever I hit Outland, I turn back to them, and wear them until I arrive in Northrend. And then it all depends on the type of class I'm levelling. If it's one where I've worn the same gear before (ie. my hunter main and then leveling an enhancement shaman), then I'll continue to use heirlooms. If it's not, then I remove them and level 68-85 without them.
Flint Feb 26th 2011 8:44AM
Never used them, never will. I love the levelling process and one of the things I enjoy in it is seeing your character grow from a newbie recruit wearing rags to an experienced hero decked in fancy armour. Having fancy gear from the start that never changes visually is something I find terribly dull. Plus, levelling's so fast you don't even need the bonuses anymore.
MusedMoose Feb 26th 2011 9:10AM
Seconded, on all accounts. I've plowed through the Cataclysm zones so quickly that, if I want to see everything in a zone, I have to either not do any dungeons or do quests that I outlevel. Neither is really a problem, but if I'm trying to get rep with a different faction so I can use their mount, the dungeon finder really is the best way. *shrug* I'm currently leveling a druid without any dungeons at all so I can fully experience the new NE zones, and she even outlevels stuff thanks to rested XP.
Also, the whole "wear this one item from levels 1-80" thing really doesn't appeal to me. Part of the fun of leveling is getting new stuff, and losing that isn't something I want to do.
Iirdan Feb 26th 2011 10:28AM
This, this, and this.
And an addendum: Since the leveling flow in a post-Cataclysm world is so tightly defined, using Heirlooms throws me off the curve. As an OCPD guy, that bothers me to no end.
xyna Feb 26th 2011 8:39AM
I found that with the new xp guild bonus and heirlooms the leveling is just to much fast from 1-60, so fast that most of the times i end up not finishing any zone at all with dungeons, since i almost level 1 level per dungeon....
polydorr Feb 26th 2011 8:39AM
I find that using heirlooms actually overlevels me for whatever zone I'm in and I'm not able to finish the questline because I feel like I'm not attaining the appropriate experience when all the quests are green. I don't use leveling guilds with their experience bonuses either. But that's my pace, and I'm fine with it.
I haven't used heirlooms much since the start of Cata.
Koleckai Feb 26th 2011 8:43AM
Most zones haven't been revamped enough to make them truly new. Heirlooms make it easier to get through the drudgery of leveling.
Andostre Feb 26th 2011 8:45AM
No way, man.
I can understand someone who's not interested in leveling a new character but who wants a new raiding character using them, but I enjoy the leveling process too much to use them. I'm *already* skipping tiers of content while leveling so that I can do the quests while they're yellow to me. And that's without rested xp or supplementing the leveling with dungeons or battlegrounds.
An even faster xp gain would just frustrate me. By the time I'd be finishing a zone's story-concluding quests, they would be gray or green to me, and a lot of the fun would be lost.
omedon666 Feb 26th 2011 8:55AM
Not only do both my leveling Protection/Arms warrior and arcane Mage (who will complete my endgame collection of "one of each") use full and fully enchanted heirlooms (+22 int is GROSS now in the "new old-world"), but I've recently tank-reforged and enchanted the newly "required level 71" ilvl 226 nifflevar bearded axe earned by my archeologist warlock, awaiting my warrior's ascension into murderizing northrend!
I did, however, make myself a promise, as I blew through the exciting new Azeroth: that I would go back for loremaster (likely on my mage) because I really liked what I saw on my way through the revamped zones!
Imnick Feb 26th 2011 8:58AM
I use the chest and shoulders and cape because they're handy for the fifth character I'm sending through Outland and beyond, I don't use the weapons because every single one of them looks awful
I really wish they would stop reusing Vanilla weapon models in dungeons like deadmines and things, they all look absolutely rubbish and I really hate having to use them
Marbles Feb 26th 2011 9:04AM
Am currently levelling a goblin warrior, having just reached Outland. The only heirlooms I've used are the Arcanite Reaper and Thrash Blade, mostly so I don't have to worry about upgrading my weapon regularly.
Despite using no XP-granting items (bar unavoidable things like the Guild Perks), I've still had to regularly use the Experience Blocker NPC so as not to level too fast. I have enjoyed going through the revamped zones and experiencing the storylines, and likely would so do again (though I'm out of character slots on my prefered Realm now). I'm even looking forward to redoing Outland, it having been a while since I did it and thus having some degree of nostalgia.
People are free to level as they please, even as fast as possible. I just like to experience the world is all, and the current XP gain rate is too fast for my mind.
My only real "hate" about the XP at the moment is earning it from professions - ie, Mining or Archeology. Just doesn't work on any real level to me.
Succulent Feb 26th 2011 9:08AM
It depends on the goal I want for that character and how much I'm enjoying levelling them.
My warrior for example, his goal was to get to 85 to help out with tanking and now, with cataclysm, to heroic leap everywhere like a boss.
My priest however, I didn't have any aims to get her to 85 asap, so I didn't use any heirlooms. It's not just the zooming past zones either, I like replacing gear, getting new upgrades and chest/shoulders are some of the ones that stand out the most visually.
So yup, depends how I feel and the long term goal.
jealouspirate Feb 26th 2011 9:14AM
I used to use heirlooms a lot, but since the shattering I`ve rolled some alts to see the new 1 - 60 experience and I haven`t used them.
Leveling is just so, so fast. Even without heirlooms I have to refrain from dungeons and BGs if I don`t want to out-level the zone I`m questing in. Even then I still might, especially if I have herbalism or mining.
After level 60 I`ll use them, though.
Moorit Feb 26th 2011 9:31AM
Pre-cata I got heirlooms for my gnome warlock and she wore them all the way to 80.
After the shattering, I rolled a gnome priestess. I used the heirloom shoulders but not the robe until she hit level 30. I was so sick of looking at the robe that I couldn't stand it, after watching the warlock run around in it for 80 levels. When she hit 30 and got shadowform I sent her the robe since I couldn't see her anyway.
When she hit 60 I set her to work leveling as a healer through the dungeon finder, so the heirloom robe came off again. Now she actually gets to change her look every so often.
I go back and forth on whether I think the cloth robe is ugly, but usually I lean toward hating it. The other heirloom chests aren't as bad because they can be covered with tabards and your pants and shoes still change.
GeekyGR Feb 26th 2011 9:42AM
I can take them or leave them up to level 58, but after that I can't live without them. Anything to give me an exp boost to get the hell out of Outland is welcome.
jp Feb 26th 2011 10:10AM
Had to take them off actually from 1-69 it's just really too fast and I was skipping zones. They are an absolute godsend once I hit Outland however , Most my characters wind up stuck from 60-80. That stuff is just insanely boring and tedious so I really want any and all sorts of bonus I can find. I don't care about 80+ as that is blazingly fast already except 84 to 85 but I still have to backtrack anyway to finish up Loremaster for Cata.
Tim Feb 26th 2011 10:16AM
I just hit honored and grabbed 2 cloaks, one for my baby mage and one for my 80 warrior. I don't understand why the Armor on the cloaks is so crappy? Did Blizz give a reason for that?
razion Feb 26th 2011 10:11AM
I equip heirlooms when they match the rest of the gear I have on at the time.
...What?
BridgitKiido Feb 26th 2011 10:18AM
Back when I was leveling my shaman, she had the heirloom chest, but that was it. Leveling my mage and my druid, I'm not using any at all.
I was glad my shaman had it, because this was back pre-Cataclysm, but I don't think my mage and druid need them. I'm having too much fun questing in Azeroth - there's no need to rush through it.