Rolling an alt?

Hello everyone, and welcome back!

I logged into wow this morning and found all my level 90 toons had the "character not found" bug...so I went to my 80 tank to get some slow and steady experience through LFD. I really enjoy tanking random dungeons. On occasion you get a really good group of players who both know how to play and are willing to have a bit of a conversion while doing the instance. After I got done with that instance I jumped over to my lowbie paladin and quested off my rested exp I had gained over the last week. It only took me around 20 minutes with full heirlooms but it got me thinking about leveling alts. If I didn't know anything about making an alt...what would I want to know?

5 things to know before you level and alt:

1 - Are you going to have access to heirlooms?

Firstly, if you do have access to heirlooms use them...they make leveling very very fast! Just the OG looms cut your leveling time almost in half. Now that everyone has access to the cloak, legs, and helmet the speed at which you can level breaks the sound barrier. You don't have to have heirlooms, just using the LFD finder will get you some really nice gear and now the quest rewards are awesome for low level zones. After you get  past the starter zones you should have a full set of blues that are very easy to replace in the next zone! It wasn't always like that!

2 - Level your professions while you level!

Going back and leveling professions after you hit 90 is a huge pain, usually one of the last things I want to do when I just hit max level. If you level your professions while your leveling, this doesn't become an issue. The main problem I have with leveling professions while I am leveling, is having to go back and grind for things I need to level up. If you get into this cycle of out leveling your professions take a break and get your alt some rested exp then queue for dungeons while your grinding your professions up. This way your getting the best of both worlds.

3 - Choosing to level multiple alts?

If your looking at leveling multiple alts, save your heirloom purchases and buy gear you can use on each of them. If your going to be leveling a mage, but down the road a priest...the cloth gear is a great benefit!

Holy Paladin - Shaman resto gear will work fine! Just buy the healing mace with extra points!
Enh Sham - Use the hunter gear with your Rogue's daggers/maces

All the BoA's are very good so just because its cloth doesn't mean you can't use it! I have seen plenty of classes using the cloth shoulders just for the extra experience boost and they do just fine.

4 - More alts = More bonuses!

Leveling multiple alts is a good thing, for starters you have access to more profession slots. This will mean more gold at max level and being very self reliant. Secondly, when you level multiple characters at the same time you get rested exp! This will make your leveling time much shorter. Level each of your toons your planning on leveling to 20, then put them in the inn for a few days. Play each one until you get past the rested experience. Cycle through and you will profit! If you play Pandaren you get Inner Peace which makes your rested exp last twice as long....something to note!

5 - Have fun with leveling! The most important thing ever!

If your anything like me you most likely despise doing the same quests over and over. Mix up your gameplay to reduce the boredom. Using the rested technique can help as you only have to play each class for 20 or 30 minutes and then park them again for another time. Some other ways to reduce boredom while leveling are the usual dungeons and pvp. I personally put on some music and go to town! On occasion I get on skype with friends and talk to them, it keeps your mind off how much you dislike particular quests. I also like to mix up the zones I am leveling in. After I completed loremaster on my Rogue, leveling an alt is very hard for me...much less leveling a bunch of alts. So after I hit 25 or so on each toon I will take them to a different zone of the same level to reduce the same old, same old feeling.

So get out there, and do some leveling!
Thanks for stopping by!

- Larryfine