I like alts.  Maybe not as much as Syp does, but I do like the concept of a fresh run and a different lens on the game.  I play a Monk main (Alliance) to cover off the 3 main roles, and honestly, it’s a ton of fun.  It’s complicated but well balanced in all 3 specs.  They’ve come a very long way since MoP.

But I have other classes too.  Rogue was my first character and I mained one up until MoP.  I have a 110 rogue, paladin, hunter, death knight, demon hunter, and druid.  Shaman is over 100.  Mage and Warlock are in their 70/80s.  Warrior, Priest I have little interest in mechanically.

I have done a bit of the Horde playthrough but not nearly as much as I should have.  It’s been since Cata when it actually seemed to matter.  On the bucket list of tasks I do want to run through.  So I do have a choice – what class for a Horde alt?  I could take one of the 2 classes I’m not so fond of, but they would have an easy time leveling in groups.  Druid would just fly through the entire game… but I’d like to use a troll race for that.  And there’s a 99% chance that to play a Zandalari troll I will need to max another Horde to get the necessary faction/quest achievements.

Planning

So if the goal is to unlock the troll race, what I need to do is get to max level ASAP.  Some fun facts first!

• There’s a limit of one Demon Hunter per server.  I already have one on Stormrage
• You need a level 70 character to make a DH.  I only have level 70+ on Stormrage
• Death Knights start at 55.

Trolls won’t be around until at least 7.1, so there’s time.  The choice then becomes do I want everyone on Stormrage or split to another server?  Aside from seeing characters on the select screen, there’s next to ZERO interaction between factions on a given server.  Can’t mail items or gold.  And Stormrage has like 3 Horde players.

So I’m thinking the following:

• Create a new char on Uldum
• Death Knight with full heirloom gear (that’s account-level, and I have it already)
• Level the DK to 70
• Create a DH on Uldum and skip 30 levels.
• DH with full heirloom, cept weapon.  Cause, you know.  Legion.
• Ignore all professions until 110, then dual spec into herbalism / mining
• …
• Profit

Execution

I made a Tauren DK.  This was a mistake for one main reason – the game considers it a feature that Tauren cannot fit in most doors pre-MoP.  And everything looks like a toy in a Tauren’s hands.  Fine enough.

The DK starting experience gets you to 59.5 and it takes about 10 minutes of “scaled” quest content to get to 60.  Off to Borean Tundra.  I will say that the starting DK experience has not aged terribly well, neither has Borean Tundra.  But it’s only going to be 10 levels.  Without flying, because I don’t have 225g for the training.  The alt is logged out in an inn to get some rested XP to make it go faster.