Epic: Your New Alt

First off I want to say Happy Halloween! I thought that I'd kick things off with a epic post. Hope you like it and find it interesting.

WoW is designed to place you in the role of a hero. One individual that can rise up and destroy the enemy with fell swoop after fell swoop so the reason for having a main character to level to 70 or 80 or whatever cap the next expansion will allow is evident. In fact, it's written into the basic functions of what makes an MMORPG an MMORPG (last time I use the acronym I swear!).

What is not as apparent is the role of your alternate character (alt). In my mind there are five basic roles that an alt can carry and they are as follows:

Professional / Gatherer
Min recommended lvl: 5
Max recommended lvl: 50
Best Classes: Druid, Paladin, Hunter, Warlock
Best Race: Any Available

Got a profession that you want to try but don't want to have to unlearn the two that you've got on your main? Then a professional / gatherer is for you. At level 5 you can learn your first profession or two if you choose; if you have a character that is at level 50 then he/she is ideal for making a professional. The only restriction placed on this type of alt, besides finding reagents, will be at level 5, 10, 20, 35, and 50 where you cannot learn the next mastery unless you are at that level. If you have no character at level 50 or above besides your main then you will have to level to get the mastery that you desire. A good tip on leveling a professional is not to stop leveling when you've reached your mastery goal. A professional has the ability to still be a valuable and fun player (unlike the next type of alt that we'll talk about), so it is important to level them to the nines. Being at a level that ends in 9 is good for Battlegrounds, but we will talk about that when twinks are on the table.

No class is bad for a professional/gatherer role; however, some classes offer benifits. Leveling can be easier with Hunters or Warlocks because of their ablity to tank and attack long range. Paladins and Warlocks are an exceptional choice for a gatherer role because they get a class mount for a fraction of the price it would take otherwise. Having a mount greatly increases the amount of spots you can visit which means more ore, plants, and herbs. Druids also have traveling forms that allow you to move faster and breath underwater while traveling.

A lot of professions have gathering professions and unless you are really crafty, rich or stupid I suggest teaming the profession you want to train, like leatherworking, with a gathering profession that compliments it, like skinning. The following are how I would pair them with the crafting profession first and the gathering profession last:

Alchemy / Herbalism
Blacksmith / Mining
Engineering / Mining
Jewlcrafting / Mining
Leatherworking / Skinning
Tailoring / Skinning

There are some professions without a gathering profession to compliment them:

Enchanting

If your main has a mining / skinning profession configuration don't fret. Having two gathering professions on your main is a good idea since you will be playing it more often that the others and will come across more veins, animals, or plants to gather from. When pairing a gathering profession remember to make skinning one of the professions. Both mining and herbalism have trackers which can help you find the veins and plants to gather but you cannot have both trackers on at the same time so skinning is your only other option:

Mining / Skinning
Herbalism / Skinning

Helpful addon: (?? don't know, have any suggestions?)

Banker
Min recommended lvl: 1
Max recommended lvl: 1
Best Classes: Any Available
Best Race: Humans, Undead

The important things to remember when creating a banker is to pick a race that is close to a Faction city (i.e. one with a bank, auction house and mailbox). The best race for Alliance is the human because of the easy running distance and low level monsters on the way to Stormwind. Similarly, the undead are close to Undercity. Undercity is an exceptional city to have a banker; however, Stormwind is difficult to navigate and the bank and auction house are inconveniently far away. Once in Stormwind take the tram to Ironforge and make that your bankers home.

The roll of a banker is to hold items that you want to sell in the auction house and to distribute items to your other characters. You should send your banker 10g (or more if you can afford it) so that he/she can start making money for you. With the 10g, buy the first couple of bag slots in the bank and save up money to eventually buy them all. Get the largest bags you can afford and fill all the bag slots of your banker's inventory and all the slots you've bought in the bank. The more space the better so you can store things you want to sell later because the market is too competitive at the moment.

One tip that I've learned is to name your banker something unique so that when you are sending it mail the Blizzard auto fill will automatically fill the banker's name in first. Try starting the name with a 'Q' or a starting letter that is unpopular amongst your friends. Avoid adding other characters to your friends list that will break the auto filling in the send mail form.

Lastly, make sure your banker is level 1 and stays at level 1. The reason you don't want a high level banker is because you don't want to be tempted to start saving gear or weapons for that character to twink. Leave the character at level 1 and leave the temptation out.

Helpful addon: Auctioneer, SellValue, Bagnon

Healer

"Healer!?! I thought you said we were making alt's! My main is a Priest!!"

Well, you are one of about 10 people on WoW that have a Priest as a main character and that probably means that your a girl... so hellooo ::wink::wink::.

Priest are very good classes that are valued across every realm and needed in every instance. The problem is the roll of the nurturing caring healer isn't a roll most RPG'r will want to take up as a main which makes it a perfect alt.

Let me paint this picture for you:

Your guild/friends are looking to loot a high lvl instance so they send out a message on guild chat to find out who's interested. Whoa! You jump back from you keyboard from the resounding backlash of every guildie level 10 and above wanting to join the five man crew. You offer your interest and are denied because you weren't fast enough.

Well guess what, if you had a Druid, Priest, Shaman, or Paladin alt that is spec'd for healing then your on the list no questions asked. High level guild members that like to run through instances with young guild members are interested in one thing not dying and looking stupid in front of the noobs.

Word to the wise stay back and stay alive and don't panic if the level 70 Paladin has only a tenth of his health while fighting a huge pull. For him that's probably 1000 HP and your dinky heal over time spell will just draw aggro to you and get you killed.

Min recommended lvl: 19
Max recommended lvl: 70
Best Classes: Druid, Paladin, Priest, Shaman
Best Race: Any Available

Helpful addons: (?? don't know, have any suggestions?)

Twink

Min recommended lvl: 19
Max recommended lvl: 70
Best Classes: Any Available
Best Race: Any Available

This is a tough one to talk about because some people refer to players and use twink as a derogative term. I submit that it is not. It's a status symbol. It says that you've mastered a high level but still want to bring the furry of excitement you had when you were busting skulls at level 19 in Battlegrounds. Some people frown down on you having fun; if you are on a Normal server a twink will not pose a moral problem to the general public but on a PVP server killing noobs with your twink will find you holding the derogative version of this term under a fine microscope (you get your stones off by killing noobs!?! Go get counseling).

The only and I stress the only way you should use a twink is for instances and Battleground. These can still bank you a lot of gear and reputation via elite mob drops and Battleground rewards.

If you haven't tired Battlegrounds I suggest you do. You can go in as early as level 10 which might be a good learning experience but you will get your but kicked by the high end of the bracket. Brackets in Battlegrounds are grouped into 10 levels starting at level 10 so the following examples would hold true:

Group 1: 10 - 19
Group 2: 20 - 29
Group 3: 30 - 39
Group 4: 40 - 49
Group 5: 50 - 59
Group 6: 60 - 70

I think you can see now why being a level ending in nine will have it's advantages.

The main reason for a twink is to have a nice distraction from playing your main character too long. It can give you a mental break from the frustration of not being able to finish a quest or make it through an instance free and clear. A twink also is benificial in a guild to level low level characters or help them find better gear.

Helpful addons: (?? don't know, have any suggestions?)

PVP

Min recommended lvl: 1
Max recommended lvl: 70
Best Classes: Any Available
Best Race: Any Available

This type of alt is similar to a twink in that you want to search out the best gear and the weapons so that you might be victorious against the players in your realm. Normal realms have a civilized way of entertaining your player versus player itch: the duel system. Remember your manners and ask some one who looks like they aren't doing anything for a healthy duel. Do not just click on a character at random and spam them with duel invites this will just piss them off especially if they are in a middle of a quest, going through their mail or just not in the mood.

The best places to Duel are in sparsely populated places; however, if you feel as though you need an audience go to a major city and find a place that isn't near people doing business. I've seen people duel at Ironforge on the bridge connecting the bank and auction house. Which normally would be a bad spot in any other city but because Ironforge is so well designed the duelers are at a respectable distance away from any innocent bankers. That's just my opinion though it might be different in your realm. Just try not to piss people off.

For realms that are PVP, a PVP twink takes finesse to be civilized. You have to ignore young players at all costs. Noob killing is unacceptable; especially if they are in a guild because they will wine to their high level guildies, who will put you on a hate list and kill you on sight. Which if you've got money in real life might not be a problem because Blizzard just introduced a paid name change.

The way I figure on whether I want to duel/PVP another player is the rule of five and twelve (what's with these darn rules!?!). If you are five level's above or five levels below the player you want to challenge you should forget about it. Use the five level swing to determine what sort of chances you have but also whether you will be breaking a social contract with that player. Oh and make sure they are above level 12 so you can ensure they have left their starting zone. There you have it the rule of five and twelve.

I haven't done a whole lot of PVPing or Dueling because I don't have the twitch reflexes of some but many have found PVP to be a rewarding and exciting exercise. Kudos to you.

Helpful addons: (?? don't know, have any suggestions?)

Conclusion
So those are all the types of alts I can think of at the moment if you have ideas or comment they are available to you in this post so be helpful and remember your manners. Or not it's up to you.

First Post

Hello and welcome to the first post on RIKI's ALT ARMY. First post means introductions: I go by Riki based on the character Riki-Oh from the ultra-violent Japanese prison/hero film. If you've never heard of it you should check it out; it's a good read :).

I started playing WOW in September of 2007 and started this blog in October of the same year which only the astute readers will notice so it's worth pointing out. Your thinking it I know but there is a good reason I waited three years after it's release to start playing WOW. The reason is simple and probably difficult to hear I was in a comma that was induced when my fiance shot me and then ended her own life... no no that's not right I'm not The Natural or even Robert Redford. The real reason is I knew if I started WOW during college I would flunk out. If you are reading this and on the brink of playing I suggest not to unless you have graduated college, found a safe job, and dedicated your life to resemble The 40 Year Old Virgin. Ok, well maybe not the last one but be prepared to choose between your social life and playing WOW.

Graduated from college! Jeez, how old are you!?!

I just had a birthday thank you for asking; old enough to still be using words like neat, awesome, and splendid. Ok, well maybe not the last one...

But what you should know is that I am a level 40 Rogue as of this date. I have my mount thanks to some awesome guild members and I travel with a chicken (for company, it's not an obsession like Gonzo's!).

What you can expect from me in posts, if I can reach an audience of any kind, are short posts on things I've found that I like/dislike with the game, longer editorials on series quest that I've found challenging, and Epic post on how to get your alt tweaked out with a solid profession or some gear.

So until next time...

Riki O : Story of Riki - Courtyard Fight


(Sorry, only video I could find of the head smash part)

P.S. - Sorry no comments this time looking forward to feedback on our second meeting which will actually have some content.