Hesitant to roll a new alt now... Overwhlemed with that "catch-up" feeling...

[Netherscourge]

This past weekend I was itching to roll up a new Alt.

During the Character Creation process, as I was toggling through different Hairstyles and Classes and Races, I found myself suddenly being overwhelmed with the task ahead of me.

Here we are closing in on another major content patch, followed by a new expansion later this year or early next year, and I wonder to myself - what's the point rolling an ALT anymore?

Pre-BC, rolling ALTs was fun and pretty easy. Leveling 1 to 60 and finding people to group with was a cinch. In fact, I have 6 Characters right now at least level 60 or higher. I have 2 70's and 4 60's.

I went into The Burning Crusade with SIX level 60 characters, 4 Horde and 2 Alliance.

Oddly enough, with the Burning Crusade, I only play TWO of my Characters. The other 4 I have are still Level 60 and largely untouched since the Dark Portal Opened. I figured I'd just head to Honor Hold or Thrallmar and get them to 70 - but the idea bores me for some reason.

I want to start a new class I never played before, but I have this feeling that it's pointless to even bother now. Now I'm looking down leveling 1 to 70, several major Reputation grinds, PvP farming and the 2.4 content will pull people back to their mains to farm the Sunwell content - which means less interest in low-level characters and less people to group with.

So I figure I'm just being mental and roll up a Warlock. I figure I'd try to forget about the months ahead of me and focus on the present.

But, as I feared, that overwhelming feeling of "too far behind to catch up" reared it's ugly head and I gave up on my new toon. I did the few starting quests and I was immediately thinking of all the other classes I played these past couple years. It took me roughly 12 to 15 days played to level up my 2 Hunters/Warrior/Mage/Rogue/Shaman to 60 each. (About 4 months based on my own personal schedule).

I just can't do it anymore. I'll admit it - I have Re-rolling Fatigue. I don't want to level up a new character through the same 3-year-old content I've seen 6 different times already, both horde and alliance-side.

I want a Level 70 out-of-the-box.

Now I know that's ridiculous to ask for, but damn it I wish there was some way I could Trade-In one of my current, unused Character for one of the same level, of a different class. heck, I'll even take him naked with no gear even if the guy I'm giving up is loaded.

Oh well.

Anyway, what do you guys think? Do you guys get re-rolling fatigue? Should I even bother with a new alt with 2.4 so close? I fear when 2.4 hits, I'm going to abandon my ALT and go back to my 2 mains until I exhaust the 2.4 content.

Or should I just wait for WOTLK and then roll up a Deathknight, when everyone else will be rolling up one too?

[Topbananas]

I mean, having not been to 70 I can't give a valid opinion, but I do understand what you're going through. I think it would be good to be able to 'trade in' charcters of a certain race and class to another.
I'm sure there'd be many problems though.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

If you haven't rerolled in a long time you'll be shocked by how easy it is to level now. I did ZF on my prot warrior and gained two levels by the time I got out of there.

[elsegundo]

i wouldnt think it would be a waste, even with the repeat content and all. you'll still be working with a new class and a new style of play. i know warlocks and they're kinda boring for me in the beginning, but lately its been fun. in any case, maybe you can try different professions with that warlock to give it even more diversity. give it something different. i once saw a gnome running around azuremyst isle because he wanted to have a elekk. wtf? a gnome on an elephant?? yea... so i mean if there's something you can do thats different from your past leveling experiences, then go for it. i have four characters and they all have kinda different paths, though some paths are the same. they all have different professions, except for a few gathering professions, and they all dont go to the same spots to grind/quest.
or.... just level him up to x9 and do BG's all day.

[Khab]

I rolled a new toon on a new server the other day just to see what it was like on a new server. It's great that you have so many low levels starting out at once so there's plenty of people to group with. I choose a Dranai (sp?) Paladin since I've never done either. I really like the Paladin although I know next to nothing about them. The big problem is I can't get any of my gold to my new alt. That sucks.

[NOYB]

The grass always seems greener.

If you're looking for a strictly solo toon, it really doesn't matter. You can level up fast regardless of class and farm 'til your heart's content.

If you want to be in a somewhat pivotal role in PvE, roll a tank or healer. I simply can't stand watching some inept tank guide me through an instance. By the same token, a good healer can take up his/her fair share of the slack.

The good news is, SSS is correct. Leveling is a breeze nowadays. Even leveling as a prot warrior / holy priest is reasonably quick. The XP rewards from instances and quests is sweet. Plus, instances are just plain easier. There's substantially less time to 60 post 2.3. If you're able to find a leveling/questing buddy; I highly recommend it. Makes the time much more enjoyable.

[infernoxrocks]

I have had my druid at 70 for what seems like ever... My 63 priest gets the time i dont put on the druid but i find the most fun on my 33 mage or 24 rogue... Fatigue creeps up so fast though... I can seriously see where you are comming from and if i could do what you proposed i surely would. Im not even sure the DK idea sounds promising. It wil still be the same stale content untill 80 just a slightly lower grind beginning. I do however find it more enjoyable to watch a mocie or TV show (constant on DVD or something no commercials) Maybe you could try 2 boxing and see if it makes the game more enjoyable or any tougher?

Stale pre-endgame content is this games slow downfall. Faster leveling or not - if we dont get SOME new areas for our new alts they are soon abandoned.

[clevins]

Yep. I have 2 70s and I can't see myself levelling another alliance toon. I *might* roll horde since I've never done that, but going through the same content a 3rd time sounds boring.

However!!

Do it now if you're going to do it at all. WotLK is still a ways off so you can level up the alt... but when LK hits you'll want to level your other toons to 80 ( I assume) and starting a new toon from 1 with 79 levels to go... aieee.....

[Netherscourge]

Well, my 70's are loaded up so funding a new alt is not an issue.

I'd probably make the ALT on my main's server, which unfortunately is an OLD server and everyone is end-game raiding.

But, it allows me to skip professions and focus just on levelling. (My Mains on the server are 375 Miner, 375 Skinner, 370 Blacksmith, etc...)

And I don't feel like lugging around Ore and Leather Scraps.

I'll probably do a Blood Elf or Draenie, just to see different scenery 1 to 15 ish. Then it's back to Darkshire/Barrens I guess. :(

Oy - there, it's happening again!


Now I'm having flashbacks to my Stranglethorn Veil nightmares!


lol - Everytime I get hyped up to roll an ALT, I think of stuff I HATE, like Gnomereagan and Ashenvale questing. I think another problem is no mount until 40. I'm so spoiled now with Riding Crops and Epic Mounts. Traveling around takes forever on ALT's.

/sigh - I guess I'll just wait for WOTLK and roll an Deathknight. At least they start around level 50 I think.

[GameyHarp]

I rerolled a new character (NE rogue) a week ago from tomorrow. Last night i effing dinged 40. In six days of playing, I hit 40. Now I have leveled 2-3 other characters past 40 but none as fast as I did this guy. I think that this is largely due to the fact of the 1/4xp boost they gave. If your only incentive to reroll though is to play a new class, I don't know how long you will last. I personally rerolled to play with a RL friend and I actually rerolled the same class that I have a 70 main as, just because there badass. GL in your decision.

[mesonm]

I have multiple 70's also, and leveling a new toon seems like it might be fun...But, I've done that so many times before....

<sigh>

[Dakiter]

Netherscourge - If you roll a Belf you can stay out in the Ghostlands until Level 22 and then runn the zones by the Undercity after that. I personally Hate the barrens So I stay away from it as much as possible.

GameyHarp - Even with the exp boost that seems like a lot. How much play time have you had a day?

[tylrdiablos]

Heh, I'm in a similiar situation with that "what to do next?" feeling.

I currently have 3 70's, Shaman (useless due to armour/gear), Paladin (Holy but I can't find decent raiding guilds and am considering transfering servers. If you want me for your guild then MSG away.) and a Rogue that's been 70 for 4 hours. (Grinding honor for gear.)

My alts are: level 48 Mage (Fire), level 62 Priest (Shadow), and a 40 Hunter.

I want to level them and get gear for my Shaman but every minute I'm logged into these characters I'm thinking "I could be farming honor right now and getting closer to that new sword."
But when I'm farming honor I'm thinking "I could be leveling my Mage/Hunter/Priest right now".

Damn ALT's.

But I kinda like the 60-70 leveling. Most of it's very straight forward and the rewards are usually worth the time required. (If not then they usually sell to the vendor for decent Gold.)

At this rate I'll end up writing down my options on bits of paper and sticking them in a hat. (Note to self: buy a hat.) Then drawing one out at random to determine my path.

[Cerberus]

I wouldn't worry about the catching up part. Leveling up is fast and getting good gear at 70 is easier than ever with arena, honor and badges. The downside is that most of the pre-endgame content at 70 is obsolete and crafting professions are becoming outdated. Crafted gear will allways be easier at the start of an expansion, but BS is starting to get pretty pointless now. If you roll a lock tailoring is still great however :)

[Boogie Down Ralph]

I have the opposite problem. I rolled a bunch of charcters while my main was still pretty low ( early 20's). I got 3 other characters to lvl 20 relatively quickly. I found it exciting and interesting. The drawback was that my main suffered and didn't get in the 30's for awhile. Now i am focusing on my main and all the stuff I can't use, I trickle down to my alts.

If I would have stuck to my main I would have hit lvl 60 or 70 by now. But it worked for me, keeping me interested in the game, when I got bored playing the main character. So I would give it a try and use your knowledge of the game to make it easier and more fun for you. Avoid the areas you hate, play in new ones... or be the player who finds the rare farms and then sells it for crazy gold in the AH.

[det]

I am determined to play a character of each class..and have created them. The funny thing is to see how they develop. My rogue was lv 15 and my AH toon for 2 years...suddenly I got interested in him "Hmmm...let me just burn that rested XP" and he now is epicced in Kara gear and badges, some crafted SSC.

My shammy was a drag for 40 levels..now I play her exclusively.
My mage was a project with friends to always play together..he is 69, rested to 70..but a drag to play.

etc..etc...

It seems best to me to put myself in a mindset where I play these alts for fun. They will never replace my main for raiding, but who knows....WotLK levels the playing field...and from whatever lv 65-70 I have at the time, I can chose my new potential main.

So for now....I plan to get every class to 60 ....and the ones at 60 to 70.

70 warlock, 70 rogue, 69 mage, 62 priest, 61 hunter, 54 shammy, 53 warrior, 43 druid, 26 paladin

[alliancefever]

as soon as you feel that your main is reached the point where find it safe to stop and make an alt,BUT only when you have epic'd your self to a point were GMs are asking you if your cheating

[piscene]

I'd rather reroll a new toon and take it to 60 than take a 60 to 70. The levelling is so fast up to 60 it is just ridiculously easy. Beyond that is when it slows down and gets kind of gruelling.

[Leviathonlx]

With how easy it is to get gear now I have been enjoying my alts quite a bit. It's funny how much easier it is to gear up a character now than it was a year ago and find it funny how fast characters hit 60 now. Also like leveling alts as I enjoy the leveling process along with how much gold you make between 60-70.

[Meds tbh]

I'm 42 on my pally and 28 on a hunter and I haven't been playing for a whole month yet and I'm not griding at all AND BGing a lot - it really does fly by. Just do loads of quests especially the killing ones and you'll be there in no time :)

[moopy]

I am determined to play a character of each class..and have created them. The funny thing is to see how they develop. My rogue was lv 15 and my AH toon for 2 years...suddenly I got interested in him "Hmmm...let me just burn that rested XP" and he now is epicced in Kara gear and badges, some crafted SSC.

Gah, I have a nasty habit of playing bank alts, and having to make new ones.. I do love the variety of mechanics used to drive the various classes. It also helps to play a class that you've had trouble with in PvP..

[GameyHarp]

Netherscourge - If you roll a Belf you can stay out in the Ghostlands until Level 22 and then runn the zones by the Undercity after that. I personally Hate the barrens So I stay away from it as much as possible.

GameyHarp - Even with the exp boost that seems like a lot. How much play time have you had a day?

I was playing quite a bit, was only getting 2-3 hours of sleep a day. I would play from 4pm eastern after school, until some times around 6am. Yesterday though when i logged onto my 40, I didn't feel like playing him for my life. So i feel asleep watching a movie and woke up 12 hours later...

[PlayThemAll]

Don't worry about the time it takes to catch up. Do whats fun for you. If none of it seems fun then take some time off, it's only a game after all.

I spent two years leveling a pali to 70. I did two weeks of BG's and arena's became bored out of my mind and quit playing the toon. I've decided that I don't want to level this one past 70 so there's not much point of continuing to kill myself trying to get gear that is going to go to waste.

I am now leveling some alts. I have two Locks, UD and Human (36 & 37), a rogue (18) and a priest (12), mage (22) hunter (14) and many many more. I have much more fun playing my alts then my main at this point in time. By alternating I keep rested exp so leveling is very fast.

If it's been a while since you played at the lower levels you will be amazed at how fast you can level, usually leveling out of zones well before the quests dry up so you can really pick and choose the ones you enjoy and skip the lame ones.

[Dakiter]

I was playing quite a bit, was only getting 2-3 hours of sleep a day. I would play from 4pm eastern after school, until some times around 6am. Yesterday though when i logged onto my 40, I didn't feel like playing him for my life. So i feel asleep watching a movie and woke up 12 hours later...

Ok that explains a lot. Yeah you can definitely level quickly that way. I got a shammy to 30 in about a week and a half but I am not putting that much time into him.

[Meds tbh]

I sleep well, work full time and watch a fair whack of pr0n. Efficient questing is the key imo.

[Dakiter]

My main is a hunter. I hadnt found another character that I enjoyed playing until I started my shaman. He will definitely make it to 70. But I have a 37 Lock that is just incredibly boring and I have tried various others that have never grabbed my interest. For the longest time I wanted to try a pally and it was incredibly painful just getting him to 20. If you enjoy the class the trip to 70 will be less of a grind. I am just hoping the feelings I have for my other guys dont stay this way or I am gonna be stuck when I try to figure out 70 number three, or I just wait for the death knight.

[NOYB]

The shaman class will spoil you. That's for sure. It's really as close to perfect in terms of fun factor. I like classes with a lot of buttons. I feel like it allows me to set myself apart from the chaff. Same reason I enjoy tanking with a warrior more than druid or paladin.

That said, I do find druid to be immensely fun. There's just so much variety in the class. IMO, it's the perfect class for an indecisive person. You can really do whatever you want and be pretty damn good at it. There's always going to be the exception to the rule, but by and large druid should be high on any re-rollers list of classes to try.

[corga]

it took half a year for my first lvl 70, and my second one took 1 month. Im done witha new char...

[Topbananas]

I'm just interested what this DK class is going to be all about. I mean do you start on which faction you want, is there a new faction , do you have a mount, can you move faster and fly or something lol, and most importantly of course, as it makes the world go around, do you get any MONEY? :P

[caldepen]

I just started a Gnome Warrior alt. and am having a blast! Keep an eye out for 'Skydreamer' on Ravencrest EU! He's small but dreams big!

[Meds tbh]

I will turn away from a near dead red in a BG to attack any f***ing gnome I see. Fact.

[caldepen]

I will turn away from a near dead red in a BG to attack any f***ing gnome I see. Fact

Good! Another notch on my sword...

[Meds tbh]

lol - tbh we found a little grey one AFK the other day and couldn't bring ourselves to kill her. She was soooo cute!

[Netherscourge]

Well, I'm back!

I decided to go with my Horde Rogue. He was already level 60. He also had 300 Leatherworking and 300 Skinning - so I figured what the heck, I'll get him to 70 and fill him up with those "Wealthfare Epics" from the Battleground Honor. I should make decent money from skinning too.

I already dinged 61 last night. I forgot how easy it is to level up Lockpicking, Leatherworking and Skinning AS YOU LEVEL, 5 skill points at a time. (so they're all at 305 skill at 61)

I started Level 60 with 5 gold. At 61 I already have around 80 gold just from quests - I haven't touched the Auction House. One thing I learned from my first two Mains getting to 70 is not to spend ANY gold on upgrades.

Unfortunately, I don't have an Epic Ground mount, so I've been riding around at 60% speed :( - I actually Sprint a lot to save time waiting for the mount to summon lol. But I hope to get enough gold together by level 63 to upgrade my mount.

So far, so good. I'm actually liking the game again. My #1 Main is decked out in S1 and Vindicator gear, has 30K honor saved up and at least 50 marks for each BG. So whenever Season 4 starts, he'll be ready to go. So for now, he's on the shelf whiel I work on my Rogue.

My main goal is to ding 70 ASAP on my rogue, level all his skilsl to 375 and jump into the BG's to get S1 gear, even if I skip Shadowmoon Valley and part of Netherstorm. S1 Gear for a Rogue looks better then the Outland Blues (and even better then Kharazan Epics in many situations) and is still viable for PvE IMO. Then I'll finish up Outland quests and stockpile gold for my Epic Mount and Flying Non-epic Mount.

Best thing about this is that I'm getting to see the Horde-side of Outland, instead of just alliance.

[NOYB]

Well, I'm back!
My main goal is to ding 70 ASAP on my rogue, level all his skilsl to 375 and jump into the BG's to get S1 gear, even if I skip Shadowmoon Valley and part of Netherstorm. S1 Gear for a Rogue looks better then the Outland Blues (and even better then Kharazan Epics in many situations) and is still viable for PvE IMO. Then I'll finish up Outland quests and stockpile gold for my Epic Mount and Flying Non-epic Mount.


Not to pick nits, but as a tank I can't stand this attitude. It's pretty easy to spot the person that has minimal PvE experience, but expects to be allowed into a raid / heroic because he's geared in S1. I mean, it's great that you're capable of bursting down a small metropolis of gnomes with your welfare epics. That doesn't make you a good player though. It's probably the worst side-effect of the welfare epics. DPS players that don't instance at all while leveling; "gear up", then can't understand why no one wants them.

I'm not suggesting that you're a bad player, but this is how most bad players think.

[clevins]

Well, I'm back!
Welcome back!
My main goal is to ding 70 ASAP on my rogue, level all his skilsl to 375 and jump into the BG's to get S1 gear, even if I skip Shadowmoon Valley and part of Netherstorm. S1 Gear for a Rogue looks better then the Outland Blues (and even better then Kharazan Epics in many situations) and is still viable for PvE IMO.

Except for the weapons, this is incorrect. To do well in Kara a the start you need about 150 hit, more is better. You can easily get that in well-chosen blues. IIRC, the S1 gear has no hit.

The fact that they're epics is meaningless. The stam isn't needed (if you're getting hit a lot you or the group is doing something wrong) and the resilience is useless.

By all means, get the S1 weapons - they're awesome. Skip the armor and get the quest and instance blues. Let me know if you'd like a list.

[Netherscourge]

Not to pick nits, but as a tank I can't stand this attitude. It's pretty easy to spot the person that has minimal PvE experience, but expects to be allowed into a raid / heroic because he's geared in S1. I mean, it's great that you're capable of bursting down a small metropolis of gnomes with your welfare epics. That doesn't make you a good player though. It's probably the worst side-effect of the welfare epics. DPS players that don't instance at all while leveling; "gear up", then can't understand why no one wants them.

I'm not suggesting that you're a bad player, but this is how most bad players think.

One of my mains is a Protection Warrior and I'm one of the primary Off-Tanks for our Kara/Mag guild.

Also - my ALT that I'm leveling is primarily a casual ALT - for PvP and PuGing.

All other things begin equal, Skill > Gear and I'll never believe otherwise.

But I won't make any elite-raider attitude presumptions about yourself either :)

[NOYB]

Like I said, it was just an observation. I can't stand the attitude of, "I'll just gear myself in S1 and I'm good to go." Pretty much every badly played DPS I've come across thinks this way.

Once again. Not suggesting you are a bad player. It's just a trend I've noticed.

[Avalian]

OK - so back to the initial topic regarding "catch up" on an alt, I have a few opinions in that regard.

1) I'm still amazed at players who think the early game content is stale and dread running through it for a second (even third, fifth, eighth time) but merrily run through the exact same Raid Instance or BG 20, 30 or 100 times over. To me, Kara and the heroics are a great deal more stale then even the Barrens.

2) With the speed at which levelling happens from 20-60 now, the only time I bother gear hunting on my alts is, well, never. A single run through key instances usually overgears my alts anyhow since they don't really need to grind anything or be fully decked out until they hit outlands.

3) Even when my alts hit outlands, there's a good chance I won't be doing much of the rep grinds - I've got two mains at 70 now who are geared up and satisfy needed slots in raids. I might build my third 70 into a PvP, but after that my alts will be hitting 70 and waiting for WotLK. In fact, it'll most likely be my ungeared alts that enter Northrend first because you don't need to be geared to do that.

So, that's how i address the concern about levelling an alt now (as I proudly land my newest alt in Booty Bay for his first visit to StV at level 42)

[Dakiter]

The thoughts of level 70 to 80 when the expansion comes out is the reason why I am trying to get my fav alts to 70 now. I dont feel behind now but I have a feeling when the level grind become 1 to 80 I will be a lot more hesitant to start an alt.

[bloog]

Level 60 already got behind. On my server it's not possible to get a group for instances in range 60 to 68. My two alts 61 and 62 will have to grind the majority of their XP outdoors. I've done these quests 4 times already. I feel very reluctant to do so another time.