Short and sweet - the amount of time it takes to grind up gear, especially essences, is too great. Most who like to have two or three competitive characters ready for flexing are not going to be able to achieve that goal in a healthy amount of time.
Please reconsider your current setup with this in mind. Thank you.
Edit, for clarity of meaning:
This pretty much sums up what I noticed. Thank you, Adroi.
Additionally:
al·ter·na·tive /ôlˈtərnədiv/
adjective
(of one or more things) available as another possibility.
Not lesser, not greater. ALTernate choice.
I’m not talking about pixel paper doll or general content alts. I have those, too. This post is specifically about having access to two or three different classes for dedicated, but casual endgame content (currently 10+ keys and Heroic level raiding) within a reasonable time frame.
For those who are unaware, that means a minimum of 25k DPS during a mobility encounter. 385 Benthic gear isn’t going to get you there.
77 Likes
I will admit, the essences not being account wide is a bad time for alts.
Gear wise, there is benthic (sp?) gear now which has a pretty good ilvl to give to alts. And once you start getting that gear, WQ and emissaries start throwing high lvl gear like candy.
But yes, the azerite grind and essence collection take way too long on alts if you are serious about gearing one. I think something needs to be done there.
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What did you expect from WOD 2.0
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Except wod was amazing for alts
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Why put so much effort into a system we all know will be “drained” in about a year?
This “alt unfriendly” belief is all in people’s heads.
If you want to play your alts, play your alts.
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No WoD was amazing for gold which was made easier with alts.
I don’t think I would have wanted to get a fully upgraded ring on 30 alts.
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I started in Cata. Every expansion I have played since people say “this xpac it not alt friendly”
lmao
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All my alts are suffering. It’s brutal.
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The only true non-alt friendly eras in my opinion was Legion and Classic.
The first half of Legion you had to level your weapon and Artifact Knowledge. And throughout the entire expansion you had to cross your fingers for the BiS legendary.
For Classic, there was just too much focus on a single character.
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Actually it’s been wonderful for mine. I haven’t enjoyed BFA so I have spent a LOT more time on my lower level alts leveling and playing them. 
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As someone who has never hit endgame or level cap, could you ELI5 why it hurts alts? I’m a returning player from 2011 and it is much easier to level and get items IMO. But I’m guessing it’s different for endgame so I just don’t know.
Listen, I’m an altaholic, I have 50 characters spread across 7 servers. BFA hasn’t killed it for me. Yes, I am slightly annoyed by some of the mechanics, and I don’t play them as much as I did. But in no way is the game dead for me.
My alts don’t need to be geared nearly as well as my mains (the ones I use for farming and PvP, etc). I just wish I didn’t have to farm Honorbound and 7th Legion rep for each of them if I want to participate in the War Campaign with them.
Really, that is my only gripe about alts this expac. Honestly, Blizzard should have the War Campaign unlock after one character from each faction per server completes it. Then it should be open for alts, only gated behind character level.
I know essences can be a pain, but some really good ones are available with little effort, that are easily obtained.
To each there own though, and one person’s experience can be vastly different from mine. Plus, I don’t mind mindless grinds. I play WoW to shut off my brain after a long hard day at my shop. I don’t want to do anything particularly hard core. Which is why I hardly ever raid (including LFR) and do not participate in rated PvP anymore.
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“WoD 2.0”? More like “Legion 2.0”.
WoD had tons of gold, Gladiator Stance, Man Cats, Priests with exploding balls and 2 ways to play them; a pseudo Player housing with herbs, ores and a ton of useful resources; The easiest way to level professions and fun perks that come with them; Champions questing for gold for you; Fleets fighting for gold for you; Old raids holding tons of gold for you to pick up; GOOOOOOOOLLLLLLD!
I barely see any gold in BfA.
BfA is a grind. Grind 2.0.
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It is pretty obvious that playing alts seriously is difficult for various reasons, but I also can’t help but ask myself if that’s inherently a bad thing.
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I really don’t understand the gripes. For most DPS spec’s, Crucible of Flames and Lucid Dreams are among the stronger, if not strongest essences(barring rank 3 raid essence). Of which, those two essences are easy to acquire. Do some take some time to get? Sure, the Mechagon ones for example, but just go out there and do the activity that gives 850 rep. You’ll get your essences with minimal time invested grinding after a few weeks. Worldvein is another one you simply cap islands on for a few weeks and do some missions. Month total, give or take. Nothing wrong with that.
Alts are not mains.
I mean, I spend most of my time camping for Soundless. But my alts aren’t having any issues at all and are easily at a spot where I could swap to them for raids/M+ if need be.
Alts not being as progressed as mains doesn’t make BFA alt unfriendly.
Just because you want rank 3 PvP on Bob the Hunter alt you do a random BG on once a month doesn’t make it bad design. Why should Jill the Priest alt have Rank 3 raid essence if you don’t do anything but WQ on her? Etc…
Multiples mains is one thing. Alts are alts. By definition that makes you less invested in them, makes them less geared and progressed. Etc… If you want multiple mains, that has always come with some degree of work to make happen. Essences don’t really change that.
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Frankly, WoD and Legion only bug me due to their ‘grind’ systems. I don’t expect my alts to be competitively geared, but the idea of having to obtain azerite again just…kills me.
Wish there was BoA Azerite chunks you could find to send to alts or something.
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It seems most people say ‘alts’ but mean multiple mains. The word doesn’t mean to them what it means to most of us…
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See? … the pretty space goat lady with the big hammer gets it…
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