Why Does WAR Discourage Alts?

If you have spent any time reading this blog, it is immediately obvious that I’m an incorrigible altaholic. So far, six months out, I’ve only managed to level a  single Rank 40. My Ironbreaker Stahlrek. In that same time frame, I have now have a 27 Slayer, 25 SW, 24 WH, 18 Engi, 32 Blorc, 23 Blackguard and more alts in the 8-15 range. I’m sure you see the problem. Recently, I’ve given some thought to rolling up a Swordmaster as well. So I rolled one up, got him to 8 or so, and now he’s parked in Altdorf. Why? Because I don’t know if I can commit to leveling him through T2 and T3 again. 

Having one tank at max rank has taught me that leveling up a tank can be an arduous process. Now I know that doing scenarios while questing is the fastest way to level. However, my server sc pops are busiest at night. So I play my Slayer at night, so I can maintain my RR. This means because I can’t take advantage of scenarios for my SM, because my Slayer needs the renown as well. Which forces my alt SM to do mostly PvE, in the mornings when the server is pretty dead. And I gotta tell you, I’ve done T2 PvE over five times, I don’t want to do it again. 

You know, I really wish WAR would allow me to “gift” some levels to my lowbie alts. Say, once you reach Rank 40, you can give one alt of yours a certain amount of ranks, depending on the tier. If the character is in Tier 2, you can give 5 ranks, Tier 3 you can give 3, etc. Each alt can only be gifted ranks once. WAR already has the Collar of Servitude/Rod of Service items that allow you to bring a lower ranked player up to within two ranks of your level. Why not allow players who already have a rank 40 to do the same? 

The thing is, WAR rewards the player who plays one character exclusively. Your most played character will have the best gear, highest RR, most unlocks, etc. Your alts, especially ones that you don’t play often will be significantly less progressed than your main. In addition, the sheer amount of time needed to get to T3 or higher is pretty intense.

If you have limited playtime like me, you often don’t want to mess around on alts because you feel that the time is better spent leveling your “main” character. Also many careers don’t quite come into their own until later levels, usually around 21-24. For example, my Shadow Warrior didn’t quite click with me until I got to rank 18 and picked up the Split Arrows tactic, and later at 21 acquiring the Shadow Sting ability made a huge difference to my enjoyment of the class. There are some really interesting builds i want to try out with my SM, but I don’t know if I have the time to level him up to an appropriate level. 

Now before you say that I’m looking for an easy way out, this is not the case. I just want to get to a point where I can really get a feel for the class. I’m not asking to be magically 40, just for a quicker way to get to 20-22. I’ve already leveled multiple characters through that level range, including another tank. It’s not like Mythic doesn’t already have the Bolster mechanic in place. I also don’t really see a downside to providing this convenience. It’s not as if it skews the population or anything like that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m aware the leveling curve is nowhere near as grueling as it was after launch. Mythic did a great job making the grind to 40 less arduous, no doubt. 

I guess I’m just frustrated that there are so many classes I want to play, with not enough hours in the day. Mythic may not purposely try to discourage playing alts, but it certainly feels that way to me when I get excited about a class, roll one up to around 10 or so, then park them because I simply don’t have the time to level an alt effectively alongside my main.