Streamlining the Process of Alt Leveling to Maximum Level

Creating alts is a lot of fun. I've probably created about 100 in the time I've been playing World of Warcraft, ranging from some that get just a couple levels while I'm wasting time, to a handful that have made it past level 60 and beyond only to get deleted a short while later because I just simply don't have much time for them and I sort of feel guilty when they are staring me in the face on the loading screen and they don't get any of my attention.

However, if I were to have a full stable of alt characters, I think I would use the following basic checklist for getting them situated at level 85 and then they would be prepared if I ever decided to take them a little more seriously and use them as crafting alts, or a temporary main, etc.

Truth be told I would very much like to have a max-level character of every class someday, but after pushing really hard this year to make that happen I burned myself out and discovered that I'm not really ready for that undertaking just yet.

Basic Alt Checklist for Reaching Level 85

Talent Specialization
It's my advice that you pick just one talent tree and stick to it from level 1 all the way to level 85. Not only is it far easier to keep a handle on learning a good rotation or spell usage habit, but it is also much faster for getting your gear in order and being ready to contribute in a meaningful manner.

Don't worry about purchasing dual-spec at level 30 unless you have some really intense burning desire to do so. I personally feel it's a bit of a waste if the character is just an alt you won't be spending a ton of time playing at max level, but to each their own.

Take a few minutes and think about which spec you are most interested in playing for the new character and just go with that. It speeds the process up, and helps ease the frustration later on, trust me, I know.

Professions
I've tried several ways of dealing with professions on alt characters, and after lots of different approaches, the best I have found is to simply grab mining and herbalism, and gather to your heart's content on the way to max level. With the changes to these two professions to provide experience with each node you gather from, not only are you getting to level 85 much faster, but you will have all the gold you need for things like training, mounts, etc as part of the leveling process.

Save the crafting professions until you hit 85. You'll find it is super fast to use the appropriate gathering profession and power-level the crafting profession once you've made a final decision on what you want it to be.

Mounts
This one takes a little bit of self-control because mounts are really cool. If you've ever purchased a mount from the Blizzard Store you are good to go, you never need to purchase another mount for your alt characters. If not, simply buy the appropriate faction mount at level 20, use it all the way to 60, then buy a basic flying mount as soon as you get to Outland and don't worry about anything else.

You save gold, you save time, and you save hassle. Now that mounts scale with riding skill, there really isn't a need to buy more than the absolute minimum.

Gear
Keep it simple. If you are leveling by questing, just use the stuff you get from quest rewards. With the re-tuning of level 1-60 you will always be overpowered anyways and stuff will drop with hardly a glance. If you drop in on a couple of dungeons along the way, use those drops to supplement your quest rewards as appropriate.

Never, ever, ever buy from the auction house with an alt character. It's a waste of gold and you'll replace the gear in two levels anyways. Once you hit 85 you can start taking a close look at fine-tuning gear piece by piece, but until then, don't bother.

Miscellaneous
I like to make sure each of my characters has the following while leveling since I have a main who can provide a little financing from the start:

1. 4 Netherweave Bags
2. Full bank (filled with 7 Netherweave Bags)
3. 25 gold

I've found that by passing these materials along to a new character it takes out all of the hassle of needing to empty bags all the time, pay for skills training, and finding storage for all the materials I've gathered from my professions along the way.

Heirlooms

If you have access to them, use them. If not, don't worry too much. Levels 1-60 fly by even without them and Outland goes by quick as well. In a few weeks with patch 4.3 Northrend is getting its experience requirements nerfed to the ground and it will go by fast too and you'll be level 85 in no time.

Nowadays with all of the improvements made with Cataclysm you should have no trouble reaching level 85 in about 3-4 total days (72-96 hours) of play time.

Paladin Tier 13 Armor: Hell Yes!

Tier 13 Paladin Armor from Deathwing Raid

Tier armor is one of the coolest things about gearing a character in World of Warcraft. Each time a new raid is released during an expansion every class gets a specific armor design to accompany it. Generally there is a lot of grumbling back and forth between the players on whether or not the designs are "cool enough," or "too boring" and so forth, but most of the time the general consensus is that the tier armor sets are pretty awesome across the board.

The paladin armor for Tier 13 is no exception. Of all the armor sets this one seems to fit the class it represents the most. I just finished reading The Song of Fire and Ice series (also known as Game of Thrones) and this armor seems like the designers over at Blizzard tore it straight out of what I imagine the knights in that series wearing.

The look fits so closely to some of the mental images I put in my brain while reading those books, and for whatever reason that makes me love this armor even more. Unfortunately, unlike previous tier sets, this one will not be available for purchase with valor points, so I may have to take the occasional trip into the upcoming Raid Finder feature to see if I can get the gear at some point.

In my opinion, this is the best paladin armor set to date. Great job Blizzard!

Why Do I Play A Paladin?

The answer to this question is really easy: flexibility.

Bandin began life as a Retribution paladin. I had just come from playing an Arms warrior and it seemed like the most logical transition. This was before the changes that came about to the specs and rotations with the advent of the Cataclysm expansion, and I loved it. Things died fast, I was self-healing all over the place, and I felt like a wrecking ball of holy light.

It was with Bandin that I first had a taste of tanking in a group setting. Running dungeons with anyone other than my level 80 friend was a daunting thing, but my brother-in-law had just started fiddling around with a Frost mage, so at level 15 or so we jumped into a group. We queued as DPS, but quickly realized that the designated tank had queued for all three dungeons roles as a Balance druid.

Obviously that didn't go well on the first pull.

The guy had no idea what he was doing and he quickly revealed that he was just goofing around. Without asking I tossed up my Righteous Fury buff to improve threat generation and started Divine Storming my way around Wailing Caverns.

I had my brother-in-law with me on the couch so we simply communicated to each other what we needed. If something got away from me he'd freeze it in place and I'd grab it back up real quick. I'd call out what I needed sheeped, and we blew through that dungeon in no time.

The best part was that I did the entire thing in Retribution spec without a single piece of tanking gear. Something that could be done back in the day before the newer changes came about (although not recommended of course). That hooked me on the Paladin class pretty quick after that. I made it all the way to 80 before trying out tanking with proper gear, but once I did I loved it. The Wrath of the Lich King dungeons didn't stand a chance with me leading the way.

After a while I got curious about what it would be like to heal, so I gathered up the materials to have a blacksmith craft me the level 80 healing plate set of gear, grabbed a couple trinkets and rings from drops while tanking and jumped back in as Holy spec. That was even better than tanking. People's lives were in my hands, and I'll admit I had a few "god mode" moments that really got me going.

To this day Bandin is still main-specced Holy and has healed through probably a hundred dungeons or more at this point. I dabbled with a Shockadin (gasp, I know) spec for questing and dailies at the end of Wrath of the Lich King and absolutely loved it. It was a bittersweet day when the talent changes of Cataclysm ruined the opportunity to quest very effectively as Holy at maximum level. I thought that was awfully fun.

I've been out of tanking for a little while now since the talent changes, and have recently been running with a co-worker some older raids to gather tier sets and get some practice back in the rotation. When I reach a certain gear mark I think I'll try tanking normal dungeons again and save healing for heroics.

Having the chance to play all three roles in a dungeon makes the Paladin perfect for me. I know that Druids can do the same thing, but let's be honest, plate gear looks a hell of a lot more awesome than leather gear does.

Welcome to Hammer Heals

Bandin relaxing on his Winged Guardian near the lake in Stormwind.

I've been playing World of Warcraft since just before the launch of the Icecrown raids. My very first character was a dwarven warrior by the name of Tierk who still exists out in the world of Azeroth somewhere but was not actually on my own account. Before getting to level 80 the first time I decided to re-roll a new warrior on an account in my own name. 

That warrior lasted a pretty long time, but then I discovered the Paladin class and Bandin was born. He's been through a lot over the past 14 months, changing back and forth from dwarf to draenei a few times, but he's finally settled into his rightful place as a dwarven beast of holy light. 

Over the time I've been playing I've rolled several characters of many different classes, but as of this past weekend I decided it was time to focus on my one true love, the Paladin. With the decision came the cleaning out of my character stable, leaving me with three level 85 characters; my main, Bandin; my main alt, Segovax; and a spritely shaman by the name of Alakavish.

This blog is going to focus mainly on Bandin and his many adventures through Azeroth. I'll update on what I've accomplished recently with him, discuss the mechanics of playing the paladin class, and muse on other things paladin related as well. Another main feature of this site will be to express my opinions and thoughts about World of Warcraft in general. It might be to state my opinion on an upcoming change, highlight something interesting I've recently discovered, or anything else game related.

From time to time alt characters will make appearances, but things will mostly be about paladins and the game in general. 

I would especially like to undertake a very detailed and comprehensive guide to each of the three paladin talent specializations starting from level 1 all the way up to level 85 (and beyond). Hopefully that will get started by the end of the month.

That's enough of an introduction for now, return tomorrow for more news of the paladin kind.