I've only got 1 level 70 - almost 50 days played. This is from February 07. Also got a level 69, though - only just hit 69. Then there's my level 50 hunter. After that is a 35 mage and a 26 druid.

I see no problem with not having loads of level 70s.
I know others like me, in that they prefer to concentrate on their main than play alts.
Sure, we do play alts, but don't put too much effort into them.
Although, I'm contemplating switching my main from my rogue to my warrior come WotLK.

Saying that, pre-TBC [I stopped playing for 6 months] I had 2 level 60s and a bunch of level 40s. But neither were major raiders, so it wasn't the same for me - my rogue is occassionally raiding MH and BT

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Playing 2 1/2 years got two alliance 70 in a PVP server, plus two Horde in both well into there 60's just taking my time to get to 70 because I am doing BG dailies frequently to get tons on honor and tokens before I hit 70. I can say pet classes like Warlock and Hunters raise the easiest. My first class was a Warrior, and decided to take an Alt Warlock up with it to help out. Mostly by making potions and saving money, my Alt being an Alchemist while my Warrior was a Black Smith. It also saved a lot of money because of the free mount for the Warlock. This also helped because Warrior required good gear to advance while Warlock can often be raised with gear well below it level.

Restarting over with the Horde on another server I restarted with many alts, but settled with a Hunter as my main, because it seemed to advance really easily versus my other classes I was trying out. The classes now being 69 ½ with 60,000 honor and at least 50 of each token, is well primed to reach 70 in style. But doing BG with the horde seems to be a quick way to get daily BG done, giving you many bonuses like money, honor, tokens and experience by doing them.

My other horde is a Paladin, a fun class but expensive compared to a Warlock to advance, mostly because like Warrior gear is essential to advance easily. All my high level characters have high level crafting skills. With my hunter being a Leatherworker and my Paladin a Jew crafter. While being a pure gatherer is cheaper and a quicker moneymaker I believe crafting skill do pay off in the end. With either decent gear or something you can make money at selling

Some hints to advancing research a bit about the class, so you don’t need to train in skills you will not use. This will save a fortune, and not all skills are used or even required to advance, and you can save respecting cost as well, if start of placing you talents into the easiest spec to raise from the start. Rising two classes at a time is time consuming, but allows you to keep the blue line, up always, which helps on advancing but cost money because it take less quest and killing to advance, but even though boring it allows for easy quest repeating because you know what you are doing the second time around.

Finally do the daily BG frequently; I know I mentioned this already, but BG daily offer so many advantages to advancing, including free blue gear, on you way up through tokens and honor and even quest. Even if your Alliance do them as often as you can, at lower level BG daily aren’t always availed to play, having offered daily only half of them of the time. This can be counter in part by having many alts, and making sure they all get the quest when offered. Also I don’t think the Horde advantage to wining BG is as strong in the lower levels, because of the Twink factor which seems to dictate victories more than anything below level 50 BG

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My friend that started the same time I did has 1 70 since January 06. He's also geared out from BT/Hyjal and has about 280 days /played.

I can't focus on one character for that long. It's just not how I play. The fact that I got a paladin to 70 is amazing to me.

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I have the same problem. I love having alts and everything, and I'm getting very bored of playing my level 70 holy priest, but I just outright despise leveling. It took me about 2 weeks played time to get my priest to 70, over the course of about a year. I've been playing since November 06, and I've managed to get 60 characters over level 10, but only 4 over 20. My highest alts right now are a level 26 hunter and a 22 druid. I'm currently trying to level the druid, but it's getting pretty frustrating. I have him twinked and everything, I just don't have the attention span to level for hours at a time.

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I have the reverse problem. I have been playing, on and off, since June '05. I have one level 70, my holy priest, and one alt, a level 11 mage. There's always stuff to do on my priest, whether it be rep grinds, pugging 5 mans, looking for missed quests, gathering, making consumables, or raiding. I always feel like time spent on my mage 'tumor' merely detracts from progress I could be making on my main.

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I've been playing since January of '07, and I have the attention span of a five year old, and I've managed to get a warrior to 70. With getting bugged to tank some random instance (he's fury, and has no plans to start tanking) and just not being motivated enough, I haven't wanted to play him. I play on a PvP server and all my alts are on one server so I can send money and stuff from my main. I've been playing a rogue lately, made him a couple days ago, he's only level 8 but still pretty fun to play, and not that expensive from what I've heard.

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PreTBC I had a priest main, shortly before release of TBC I started a druid (who was probably 30 when TBC came out) and very early in TBC I started a shaman. The priest hit 70 before the end of January of the release of TBC, the druid sometime in March or April of the same year, and the shaman, by July of that same year.

I think the key to quickly leveling alts is to stick to your same faction & server. Don't underestimate the value of gold, friends, etc. and how much time they shave off the leveling process. I was able to have friends provide me with run throughs (most of the time not because I'd asked for it, but because they needed to get something from the instance, for instance the friend leveling JC who needed mojo from ZF, another friend testing out theorycrafting about his build ran me through Gnomer several times, and another friend farming for righteous orbs or large brilliant shards ran me through BRD, Strat, and other lvl 60 Azeroth instances).

I try not to make a nuisance of myself when I'm in an active alt phase--I do as much as I can without asking for help from higher level characters, and on servers with an active population I usually attempt at level instancing before I ask for run throughs. The advantages of this are: I get to meet other alts or competent first time players (and I get to meet people to put on my ignore list), plus I avoid burning out my friends who know I will always try to do things myself before I bug them for favors.

Some people have suggested to me that the best way to level a character is to avoid instancing and only grind or do quests and grind--I say no way. I want my character to be 70, but I don't want to *hate* my character by the time I reach 70. I did plenty of grinding on my priest (who leveled to 60 holy) and really won't do it again. It is simply boring.

I mentioned getting to meet other alts--it's vital imho to find the other alts. If you are in a very good guild, be shameless about discovering the alts of your peers in other very good guilds. This has been a very powerful tool when leveling my alts.

Additionally--something I see now that I have a tauren shaman at 52 and an undead rogue at 62--in some regard I think horde have a slightly easier time leveling their alts. I will freely admit I haven't seen all the quest lines, and certainly there are some flight path related inconveniences (but hey you have transporters in Under City & Silvermoon, if I recall correctly, and those don't exist in any Alliance city), but on the whole the quest lore is *much more fascinating*, at some levels the quest rewards (hello Hinterlands) are far superior to those offered Alliance side, and then there is the superior capability for cooperation that seems to exist Horde side.

I've played both horde and alliance on PvP servers now, and I can honestly say--if I'm in trouble on my horde toons I feel like horde 70s fairly fall out of the woodwork to come help. If I'm in trouble on my alliance toons, I notice the ever increasing number of horde toons appearing, and alliance in general saying "L2P Nub" "It's a PvP server" etc., but never, never coming to assist. My alliance *friends* I could get to help--but never complete strangers. Everytime I get killed horde side, a handful of complete strangers come to my aid, sometimes without me even asking.

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I started in December 2005... and my best alt was a level 33 (which actually preceeded my 70). Since then, I now have 3 level 20+ alts, working on my warrior currently.

Suffice to say I'm absolutely horrid at levelling alts.
But recently I'm buckling down to get the job done.


A tip of my own:

NEVER delete your alts. EVER (semi-acceptable if below level 10, but even then I wouldn't recommend it). Even if you think you're quitting the game. That level 33 I mentioned? He's long gone.


Persistence seems to my biggest problem. I tend to get bored easily, low level characters offer so few options compared to my 70 warlock.

But I think the warrior's picking up a bit, tanking is proving to be VERY fun.

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One thing I suggest everyone do is level an alt on the opposing faction of a class/spec you're already familiar with.

I recently picked up my horde Warlock alt after leaving him at level 10 for what feels like forever. Knowledge of playing the spec, as you said it vital. My alliance main is an Affliction Lock and the horde alt is an Affliction lock as well. I just wanted to level up horde side for the unique experience...and I hate the whole sit/drink deal most classes have to do (I can only play Feral Druids, Warriors and Warlock or else I get antsy) I'm very good with Affliction, I know all the nuances, the tricks, exactly how to balance my stats as I level, etc. I do quests solo that I highly doubt I could have done 2 years ago. What makes it a nice challenge, however, is not to have your main feed it money. I've geared my alt totally with quest drops and what I could buy off the AH with the money I make off herbing.

Just give it a try and watch how fun it can be to level up again.

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I see the whole pro/con for alts as depending on why you have alts in the first place. I have alts to supplement my main's weak spots (e.g. disenchanting BoEs, making bags and potions) and to provide a change in pace. That's probably the reason I play my druid alt the least: it's playstyle is too similar to that of my warrior and rogue (unless I'm healing, which isn't often enough), and his leatherworking skill will not be at a helpful level for quite a few levels.

Then there's the people who simply want an alt of each class role. Their concern isn't anything other than "how fast can I get to 70, and how easy will it be to gear up at 70?"

Then you got the alt-a-holics who compulsively roll alts. It may be a string of warlocks, or nothing but melee classes.

Then you got the true re-rollers. These folks aren't rolling alts, but are starting all over. And they ignore all your rules. They roll a new faction on a strange server. They start from scratch with nothing but the grey gear they're born in. They rule.

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I have the goal of getting one of every class to 70 (80 when Wrath comes out). Currently, I've got 3 70s, about 3 around 60 and the rest in the 20s. It's slow going because each time I get one to 60, I get really bored of Azeroth stuff. I get so bored I take a 2-3 month break from WoW.

The current subgoal is to get every class to at least 60 before Wrath comes out. I don't think it will happen unless I can stay interested through summer. It seems to take me about a month to get a class from 25-60 with average playing, two weeks if I avoid regular activities and become a caveman.

The ultimate dream is to have the ability, on any day, to choose what class I'd like to play and having somewhat good gear on each. At a minimum, it would be nice to have the S1 gear. Raiding gear would be better but I don't think I'll ever have time to develop all my alts into full raiding options.

I'm somewhat an altaholic because I do have a lot of other alts I never plan on leveling. They are just there from time to time when I get bored of the main characters.

As a result of this goal, I don't really have a need for a guild until all the alts are at 70. Leveling is always faster doing quests than dungeon crawling. Good items are not needed until 70 for raiding or arena depending on your interests. I do join guilds. They are just chat rooms for me right now. I donate any good drops I get to the guild. Doing that much leveling, I've gotten quite a few blues and 2 or 3 epics in a year.

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All of the ideas of the author i think are good and relevant. But id like to add a few ideas of my own if i may.
Ive got 4 70's in t4/t5 equivalent gear (Druid, Shaman, Warlock, Hunter) two 65's (Paladin, Warrior) a 31 mage a 24 priest and a 19 "twink" hunter. All horde, all on the same server, Dalaran. I'm 35 with a career, a mortgage, and two children. Yes i Raid (when i can). Yes i pvp BG's and some Arena. The key to my being successful at lvling alts is:

(1) HAVE A PLAN. Know the quests in the zone (or have "quest helper" addon). Running around aimlessly on foot or even with a "slow" mount takes up valuable in-game time. Efficient Solo lvling requires the right mix of Questing, Grinding and Instance running. Formulate an idea of what/where/how you are going to spend your time before you log on.

(2)Play to your toons strengths. If you have a healer its probably ezier to quest little and instance run more often and its ezier to find groups that need your uberness than say, I dunno... a huntard. I have an RL friend who lvl'd a priest to 70 by doing very little pre-bc questing and none at all in outland. A Dps class can and should kill everything in sight. But dont kill without purpose. Kill the stuff that completes a quest. an example of a great zone for mid 30's dps classes is shimmering flats in southern 1K needles. you can't swing a 2h-er without killing a quest mob. Tanks aren't really tanks at the lower lvls IMO and if they want to solo should really respec to points in the dps talents and wield the nastiest weapon(s) they can get their hands on. if you plan on tanking just hang to the gear you pick up/buy in prep for your instance running. Hint* warr's should spec dual wield if you want to keep your 1h weapon skills up.

(3)Be wary of your gear. Its very ez to reach lvl 25 or so and realize "oh crap no wonder im having such a tough time killing these lvl 26 bears. I'm wearing 4 pieces of lvl 15 gear i got from WC!!!" If you are loaded with cash like most are nowadays buy what you NEED but realize that you will most likely grow out of it sooner than later or even "find" something better. So dont go hog wild buying those pricey "twink" items. this goes the same for enchants. if you can get a bargain "(1.) general [The Barrens] enchanting +3 str to gloves for free at XR mailbox while supplies last" DOO EET.

(4) six words - REST EXPERIENCE, REST EXPERIENCE, REST EXPERIENCE. I try to level Two (yes two) alts at a time. grind out your rest XP on one toon then put him/her on the shelf and play the other until the rest xp is gone. THen log the 1st back on. and try to follow the same strategy for both toons. I leveled the hunter and lock at the same time and did the same zones/quests/instances. this keeps the organization of the what/where/how fresh in your mind. Or at least you will have visual cues as to what you should being doing next. "oh ya, that npc was right over here in this cave."

The result of my own success is that if all my friends in game quit tommorrow i could continue to support all my toons as a "Guild of One". Yes, i will roll a DK but i have to get my mage to 55 1st LAWL. Cant wait for the grind to 80 x8 hopefully.

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Having mining and skinning makes no difference unless you farm a bit. I have just started a horde character who had no money because my only 70 is alliance. I spent a couple of hours farming copper in the venture co mines and the knoll mines in Mulgore, the creatures in there drop cloth and a few greens and there's plenty of copper. Copper sells for about 2g on my server so I've never needed money and I have been very lucky and found 2 recipies for Giants Growth Elixir. I sold each one for 5 gold. Along with other greens that I always chuck on the AH for reasonable amounts (under 50 silver). They always sell and each time I head to the AH I usually have 4 or more greens so that's a gold piece. I have had one helping hand form my brother who got me through Wailing Caverns which gives a really nice quest reward weapon on the Horde side and I got the shield from the Turtle in there which is also rare quality.

So I don't think it's herd to earn money at all. Even if your server is highly inflated you will get drops from quests, which you can sell at your server's inflated level.

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I think its basically a motivation and a time thing.

I have 2 lvl 70's (Hunter and Pally), both horde of course. But I've been stuck with my warlock at lvl 65 for months now lol.

Not that I dont like the warlock class, cause I do. But just thinking about leveling all the reputations again... ugh.

That thing alone, makes me logoout and go back to my pally.

However, there's another fact wich hasnt been considered: "The Guild/Friends Circle".

How many times have you tried to lvl an alt and suddenly you get a whisp from a guildmate saying "come, we need a healer"... or "let's go za!" and there goes the leveling again, lol.

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=== inc wall of text ===
@Thauron:
NEVER delete your alts. EVER (semi-acceptable if below level 10, but even then I wouldn't recommend it).

QFT. I am already sorry for deleting about five alts, who were all around lv 20-30.

@Allison
I'm also an altoholic. I had about 3-4 lv 40+ Hordies before I rerolled at the start of BC, to a new server, Alliance and a class I hadn't played yet (a druid). Now I'm hopelessly trying to get up an alt to replace her, and so far my best attempt is stranded at 48. It's a rogue, with engineering, who I have been keeping twinked for PvE every 10 levels or so with the most optimal weapons and enchants. It rocks, and eases the long leveling road a bit.

1. Same faction: Yes, it is fun to be able to fund your alt (especially when it comes to mounts - with the increased leveling speed you have to go out farming or you'll be at 40 with 2g in your pocket so to speak, and we're not even talking about the epic ground mount yet).

However I think an alt on the other faction can be interesting as well, as a change of scenery. If you've been strolling through Stormwind for 70 levels and beyond (Karazhan, respecced with HS on cooldown, getting to Tanaris), running into Orgrimmar is a nice change IMO.

2. Same server: Impossible for the PvP folks without two accounts of course. For PvE, if you can find someone you can trust, you can transfer stuff over the neutral AH or trade money to fund your alt. Also fun to get to know the community and the AH on the other side of the language barrier.

3. Woo druids ! Though if you leveled a druid like i did (balance to 50, feral to 70, bit of healing every now and then) you're familiar with most play styles and it's just specific skills you need to get used to IMO.

4. Yes, sometimes you can roll an alt to get away from the routine. I find I am lonely sometimes when I'm not reading guild chat.

5. I hate doing that actually, but sometimes you pick up a bunch of quests for a dungeon and you really want to get in there.

6. Most classes have a pretty good leveling spec, but the two pet classes are a bit above all, yes.

7. I loved getting blade flurry and adrenaline rush on my rogue.

8. Visual copy of your main ? That's odd - I've been looking far too long at my main and really don't want to play another nelf.

9. This of course ties in with "the peeps" - you won't get that if you level on another faction/server. I found logging on my rogue alt and just doing what I planned to do works best, if people ask me to tank I'll usually agree if they really can't find someone else.

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