Breakfast Topic: Do you have any specialty alts?
by Chris Clow 
Jul 25th 2011 at 8:00AM
People always have a goal in mind when they make a character. For many, it's a very broad goal, such as leveling a DK to be their tanking character or trying out a mage. Many people, on the other hand, create characters for a much more specific purpose. A common example is the ubiquitous bank alt, a low-level character stowed in a major city whose entire life consists of nothing but looking good while carrying huge loads from the AH to the nearest mailbox. There have been several pacifist characters, at least one person who leveled to the cap completely naked, and one who leveled to cap without dying once.
I recently made a concept character. I have a paladin, death knight, and warrior all at level 85, all specced and geared to tank. I decided late in Wrath that I would roll a worgen druid in order to complete the set. As Cataclysm came closer, I decided that I would work to experience the full spectrum of bear tanking. So I resolved to level my druid without any heirlooms, using only gear that I gain through questing and running dungeons. I also resolved to run every 5-man dungeon at least once while at the appropriate level. He's now frolicking through the snows of Northrend at level 72, has tanked every 5-man instance from Deadmines to UBRS, from Ramparts to Magister's Terrace, and is working his way through the 5-mans of Wrath. It's been a blast, especially since the buff to Swipe.
Have you ever made a character just to play the game with your own twist?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
razion Jul 25th 2011 8:04AM
Troll. Warrior.
Purpose?
Collecting every axe in the game.
Carus Jul 25th 2011 2:26PM
Every axe full stop, or just every model? Either way, as a fellow troll (and axe) junkie, I salute your efforts!
loop_not_defined Jul 25th 2011 10:19AM
Really wish there were more weapons with this model in-game:
http://old.wowhead.com/item=19852
I still got one on my main (Troll Fury Warrior) from Vanilla, but never got around to farming for the second one before the dungeon got pulled. :(
Revnah Jul 25th 2011 8:09AM
Funny this should come up today of all days. This past weekend I created a mage on my main Revnah's new server, meant as the "bank alt". Since she was my first blood elf, I thought, can't hurt to level her to 5 and experience the starting area... And I got all fascinated with reading the quest texts. All those stories I usually miss out on, just rushing to click "accept" and get on with it.
Suffice it to say, she's level 14 by now and I intend to keep levelling her, slowly, without dungeons for once, without heirlooms, only through quests and by reading the quest texts and experiencing all the different countries. I'm all excited about it now!
Looks like I'll have to create another bank character... ;-)
Rai Jul 25th 2011 8:33AM
I remember making my warlock with the intention of being a bank alt but having a little fun too. Then I made her a tailor/enchanter, and decided to level that for easy access to both professions. Then I realised I needed to level her in order to do that.
Long story short, she's now better geared than my main.
Revnah Jul 25th 2011 8:47AM
Haha, my baby mage is a tailor/enchanter too. And now that you mention it, those could be useful for Revnah (who's a priest), too! Let's see where the mage ends up ;-)
StClair Jul 25th 2011 3:01PM
I made one of the combos I didn't have yet, tauren shaman, to be a bank alt. He didn't stay one...
Noyou Jul 25th 2011 4:30PM
That's how they hook you! I leveled all my alts for professions and quickly realized I needed to level them in order to do so. My DK was my farmer (skinning/mining). I have just recently embraced the concept of designating alts for certain things in order to get playtime for them. My last alt to 85 is now my pet collector. My mage is my achievement collcetor (I know that's kind of vague- I should have narrowed it down to diff kinds of achieves). I am also going to get the salty and chef titles on him. I have yet to decide which toon will be my mount collector.
MusedMoose Jul 25th 2011 8:10AM
I have one character, my third mage, who I created to be a Loremaster. My plan was to have him do all the zones while still lower-level, instead of going back and doing them at 85. This would go along with his professions of Tailoring and Enchanting - doing all those quests would mean no shortage of items to disenchant and various kinds of cloth.
Trouble is, it's not nearly as interesting as I thought it would be. @_@ He has the quest achievements for maybe two zones so far, and he's level 25. I haven't felt much motivation to work on him for a while, though that could be because of the current patch. I'm sure I'll get back to him eventually.
Grandmaster_d_1 Jul 25th 2011 8:56AM
Had exactly the same in mind. Stuck at 27 so far, though Silverpine Forest was a blast!
Arbolamante Jul 25th 2011 9:20AM
In an odd way, Loremaster was "easier" for vanilla era toons. With my vanilla era druid, between slow leveling in all zones and knocking out Ambassador through questing, I was already well on my way to finishing when I decided to go for Loremaster (I think I "only" needed about 400+ quests at that point, out of some 2800+ total.) Now that you can get to 80 and even 85 doing very few quests, you have to be seriously motivated to collect the Loremaster title.
AudreyR Jul 25th 2011 9:31AM
Heh. When I started playing my current main, I planned on not rushing and seeing what achievements I could get before max levels.
A couple of those were Loremaster of Eastern Kindoms and Kalimdor. Between those, exploration, rep grinding,and various holiday events, I reached 68 with only three completed Outlands quests to my name.
Philster043 Jul 25th 2011 10:52AM
I got Loremaster on both my mains (ally and horde) simply to see everything that WoW had to offer quest-wise, and on both characters I did pre-Cataclysm Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor. Eventually, I'll get motivated enough to re-do all the zones on them both to see everything that's changed, but one thing I've already noticed so far:
It's a LOT easier to keep track of the quests you need to do and what you haven't done yet. I had one heck of a time trying to figure out what I had missed - until I finally found some monsters that dropped the quest items I needed!
Shoryl Jul 25th 2011 12:48PM
As people talk about this, I am a little startled by the stalling responses. I made an alt who I originally made to experience the new Cata 1-60 levelling process. I decided not to make her a Worgen, (and have another toon I made to experience that content) intentionally. I levelled her through Kalimdor, and she hit level 60 in Silithus, with Winterspring still un-touched.
When I completed the Loremaster of Kalimdor Achievement, I went on to Eastern Kingdoms, and completed that Loremaster Achievement. Then I ensured that she had all of her professions (Skinning, Herbalism, Cooking, Fishing, First Aid, and Archaeology) all up to 300. She stepped into Outland at level 69.
I used the same method to complete Outland, including getting profession to 375. She stepped into Northrend at level 77. She's level 79 now, and has completed Nothing Boring about Borean and is now about 1/3 of the way through I've Toured the Fjord. I'm curious, for myself, to see if I can get her to ding 85 before she finishes Loremaster of Northrend.
Keeping in mind that I do do dailies in zones while I'm there and I hearth to Dalaran, so frequently do the cooking/fishing dailies (Partially so that I'll have the cooking awards to complete getting her cooking skill up), I'll get a bit extra XP.
She'll get the Seeker title I believe somewhere in Sholazar Basin. And when I'm done with getting her loremaster achievement I haven't decided whether I'm going to go get the dungeonmaster achievements or reputation achievements first. Again, one continent at a time.
I do everything I can solo, but will only beat my head on group quests one or two times before I call in the cavalry. That said, I'm not playing her to be an extreme soloist. I'm just really enjoying having a focus for mild OCD. :)
greesly Jul 25th 2011 8:22AM
I recently created a hunter named Dora and caught a monkey for a pet. I intend to earn the title Dora the explorer.
The Lesser Evil Jul 25th 2011 8:55AM
I hope you're on a PVP server, then someone can roll a Hunter of the opposing faction (name isn't too important) who tames a fox and crosses you at every opportunity. xD
wow Jul 25th 2011 9:08AM
I like this idea. WIsh I thought of it. lol
Shinanji
AudreyR Jul 25th 2011 9:39AM
Ooo. Hope you're Horde so you can party with a Tauren named Benny.
I'd like to my nieces and nephews for providing me with a wealth of Nick Jr/Disney Jr experience.
Now I need to make my hunter specialize in Jungle Junction pets.
Michelle Jul 25th 2011 9:44AM
I've had Dora the Explorer for a few years now, definately gets some comments
Moobs Jul 25th 2011 8:23AM
I am currently leveling my fourth tank to complete my set, bear, DK warrior and pally!
I have had the odd notion of creating a character and have him do only quests to get to 85!
My goals are complete all quests in each zone before moving on.
No instances till 85
This toom may take a while as I have seen all these quest over and over amongst my other 7 toons.