Starting up, several last quick questions

accel

Member
I am starting my first vet account today's evening. I read through three or four last pages of the forum, several last quick questions:

(1) How long are queue times, typically? 5-10 min? More?
(2) I saw this thread about epic bgs: EPIC BATTLEGROUND | XPOff . There are complaints about scaling ("worse than Korrak's [event]"). What is this about? Is scaling not the same in all types of bgs? In general, are epic bgs a good experience and if not, why exactly?
(3) Is the number of f2p / vet characters about even between Alliance and Horde (EU), or does one of the factions have an upper hand?
(4) How large is the gap between a character in enchanted heirlooms and a typical f2p / vet character (eg, TBC blues with sockets plus gems) in general? What's the ballpark figure? 20% stats? 50%?
(5) Are you guys queueing solo or in parties? If you are queuing in parties, how do you organize them - can f2p / vet invite others? I am on Argent Dawn (EU), are there any guilds or communities to bg together?

Last, time to gear. Suppose I have all professions sorted out, all gems and enchants already prepared, etc. With the help from the main account clearing TBC instances for the level 20, playing 1-1.5 hours per evening, is it reasonable to expect to gear a level 20 in TBC blues (plus Legion artifact plus 4 Legion zones for relics) in a month? (I heard that farming Legion / BFA BOEs takes longer, so I go with TBC.)

Thanks a lot in advance.
 
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I've just been through the same process to gear my first 20 Vet.

Best Advice I can give you is try and plan in advance your gear / professions, take time to plan out the Expansions and what order you are going to do them. Some good guides on this site

Only thing you cant plan for is the rng in getting the right item to drop for your Vet in a dungeon.

Month is more than enough time - I have about 8 days sub left on my 20's, I have 1 Character I'm happy with, that i wont spend much more time gearing. 1 that I need 2 more pieces of gear for and Engineering to do. a 3rd that needs Engineering and a couple of Relics for it's Artifact. And finally a 20 WW Monk that I have just started to gear !

Having a level 24 / 25 Farmer on your main account is a good idea - I'm lucky that my old ( pre SL ) 60 Twinks are still able to use flying, which makes it easy to get round the various farming spots in the legion Zones. I have managed to get a number of the socketed i28 gear pieces for myself along with a number of the i28 Relics - still no Fire / Blood ones yet :(
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4) How large is the gap between a character in enchanted heirlooms and a typical f2p / vet character (eg, TBC blues with sockets plus gems) in general? What's the ballpark figure? 20% stats? 50%?

Base figures outside of a BG, this might help - 20 Preist still in it's pre SL 39 gear 144int / 1.7K Health / 13 Crit / 15% Haste / 8% Mastery vs My SL 20 Lock 191 int / 1.9K health / 9% Crit / 16% Haste / 73% Mastery / 16% Versa.

The Preist probably doesn't have it's BiS gear equipped but it'll give you ball park numbers
 
Thanks!

By "pre-SL 39 gear" do you mean enchanted heirlooms? The comparison is really helpful, indeed (the difference is very big and is totally worth spending time to get).
 
I am starting my first vet account today's evening. I read through three or four last pages of the forum, several last quick questions:

(1) How long are queue times, typically? 5-10 min? More?
(2) I saw this thread about epic bgs: EPIC BATTLEGROUND | XPOff . There are complaints about scaling ("worse than Korrak's [event]"). What is this about? Is scaling not the same in all types of bgs? In general, are epic bgs a good experience and if not, why exactly?
(3) Is the number of f2p / vet characters about even between Alliance and Horde (EU), or does one of the factions have an upper hand?
(4) How large is the gap between a character in enchanted heirlooms and a typical f2p / vet character (eg, TBC blues with sockets plus gems) in general? What's the ballpark figure? 20% stats? 50%?
(5) Are you guys queueing solo or in parties? If you are queuing in parties, how do you organize them - can f2p / vet invite others? I am on Argent Dawn (EU), are there any guilds or communities to bg together?

Last, time to gear. Suppose I have all professions sorted out, all gems and enchants already prepared, etc. With the help from the main account clearing TBC instances for the level 20, playing 1-1.5 hours per evening, is it reasonable to expect to gear a level 20 in TBC blues (plus Legion artifact plus 4 Legion zones for relics) in a month? (I heard that farming Legion / BFA BOEs takes longer, so I go with TBC.)

Thanks a lot in advance.

1) It depends on time of day. From what I've seen from others, it's 5-10-15. Alliance seems to have more during the day, and hordes come more online during the night.

2) The scaling is off. You don't get scaled properly as a lower level character to fit the endgame level of scaling, meaning you get stomped the shit out of you.

3) It's about even-ish from the looks of it (streams and whatnot). Alliance have more during the day though.

4) The difference is quite massive, especially if you add i28 with sockets as well. A full socketed character is approx +50 main stat or +30 in main stat and off stat (depending on your route). You won't have too much fun in just heirlooms I reckon.

5) Some people group queue, some people solo queue. Joining a guild would be your best bet for this.

About farming all of your stuff, it's doable depending on your RNG and how ham you go. Your farming schedule seems a bit lax in terms of getting everything you want done within a month.
 
I've just been through the same process to gear my first 20 Vet.

Best Advice I can give you is try and plan in advance your gear / professions, take time to plan out the Expansions and what order you are going to do them. Some good guides on this site

Only thing you cant plan for is the rng in getting the right item to drop for your Vet in a dungeon.

Month is more than enough time - I have about 8 days sub left on my 20's, I have 1 Character I'm happy with, that i wont spend much more time gearing. 1 that I need 2 more pieces of gear for and Engineering to do. a 3rd that needs Engineering and a couple of Relics for it's Artifact. And finally a 20 WW Monk that I have just started to gear !

Having a level 24 / 25 Farmer on your main account is a good idea - I'm lucky that my old ( pre SL ) 60 Twinks are still able to use flying, which makes it easy to get round the various farming spots in the legion Zones. I have managed to get a number of the socketed i28 gear pieces for myself along with a number of the i28 Relics - still no Fire / Blood ones yet :(
[doublepost=1611666255,1611655788][/doublepost]

Base figures outside of a BG, this might help - 20 Preist still in it's pre SL 39 gear 144int / 1.7K Health / 13 Crit / 15% Haste / 8% Mastery vs My SL 20 Lock 191 int / 1.9K health / 9% Crit / 16% Haste / 73% Mastery / 16% Versa.

The Preist probably doesn't have it's BiS gear equipped but it'll give you ball park numbers


Fire you can only get from Invasion Points or Lockboxes. Blood is from stormheim vrykuls. GL :)
 
4) The difference is quite massive, especially if you add i28 with sockets as well. A full socketed character is approx +50 main stat or +30 in main stat and off stat (depending on your route). You won't have too much fun in just heirlooms I reckon.

...

About farming all of your stuff, it's doable depending on your RNG and how ham you go. Your farming schedule seems a bit lax in terms of getting everything you want done within a month.

Regarding this, it has been my understanding that going with TBC dungeon blues should put me pretty close to ilvl 28 BOEs while being significantly faster in terms of farming (provided I have a max level who'd clear instances) - is this correct? Or is the difference between TBC dungeon blues and ilvl 28 BOEs significant (I am trying to math it out, but maybe it's well-known)?

Added:

Actually, I did the following - went into the thread with character profiles and compared two characters, one geared in TBC dungeon blues, the other in ilvl 28 BOEs:

Cristii - Character (worldofwarcraft.com) --- TBC blues + just one ilvl 28 BOE, ilvl 25
Idiotpez - Character (worldofwarcraft.com) --- ivl 28 BOE, ilvl 29

Stats seem pretty similar, no? The second account has a little more, but that seems to be mostly due to having a gf'd weapon.

Am I not seeing something? Is the difference between TBC blues and ilvl 28 BOEs normally more significant? (Maybe it is for other specs?)
 
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Regarding this, it has been my understanding that going with TBC dungeon blues should put me pretty close to ilvl 28 BOEs while being significantly faster in terms of farming (provided I have a max level who'd clear instances) - is this correct? Or is the difference between TBC dungeon blues and ilvl 28 BOEs significant (I am trying to math it out, but maybe it's well-known)?

You can definately get close to the BoE's The only thing is if your class scales well with secondaries the BoE's can really fix up your secondaries and make it alot better/more fun to play. That's my experience anyway. I might be wrong but considering you can fix a bit with gems. it shouldn't be to much of a hassle.

Also there's not all dungeons i would do with boosting myself, the ones you can queue for i would rather do in LFG system. as that enables personal loot which boosting doesen't.
Boosting makes you get legacy loot which means especially on last bosses you can end up doing about 60 runs before you get what you wanted. That's what happened to my Bladefist on my Shammy. Thankfully i got my Gloves of Desolation the run after.
 
Also there's not all dungeons i would do with boosting myself, the ones you can queue for i would rather do in LFG system. as that enables personal loot which boosting doesen't.

This is an important detail, thanks. Will try to LFG as much as possible for sure.
 
This is an important detail, thanks. Will try to LFG as much as possible for sure.
Also there's a post somewhere here about Battle-Tags that you can do dungeons with Farming Friends. This might also help you to collect the certain pieces you want. Maybe queue up with people for dungeons and if they need something in particular you can maybe help them get that and then you can help eachother!

Also there's a Discord for 20 vet Shadowlands twinks. I'm EU so if you PM me i can invite you to it. Dunno if i'm allowed to post it here so. Sometimes people do farms there.

Not as much now as shadowlands almost just released but people will get back to it for sure :(
 
(1) How long are queue times, typically? 5-10 min? More?

(5) Are you guys queueing solo or in parties? If you are queuing in parties, how do you organize them - can f2p / vet invite others? I am on Argent Dawn (EU), are there any guilds or communities to bg together?

With the help from the main account clearing TBC instances for the level 20, playing 1-1.5 hours per evening, is it reasonable to expect to gear a level 20 in TBC blues (plus Legion artifact plus 4 Legion zones for relics) in a month? (I heard that farming Legion / BFA BOEs takes longer, so I go with TBC.)

1) For NA Alliance it's been 3 to 5 minute queues. I've only had it occur once taking over 10 minutes (oddly on a Friday night prime time).

5) I queue both solo and in parties. A 5 man premade is overkill unless we face the Blackwing Lair horde premade. Solo has been more fun for me than premade versus horde pugs. Premade versus premade though is an absolute blast. Start the party with a non-vet, invite all vets, then have the non-vet leave.

Gearing one toon in 30 days, playing 1-1.5 hours a day, should be fine on the TBC gear. Even if you have to run some instances 19 to 70 times.

The ilvl 28 green socket gear and +7 relics (possibly fire and iron will be difficult to get) may take more than 30 days of 1-1.5 hours a day. I've been farming for around 5 weeks, average 1-2 hours a day, and the lockbox relics have completely dried up. When I first started it was raining relics out of lockboxes. It's been weeks since I've seen a relic out of a lockbox.

Latest relic and lockbox stats:
Total relics from farming: 165
Lockboxes opened: 113

Relics from lockboxes:
  • arcane x5
  • blood x1
  • fel x1
  • fire x1
  • holy x1
  • iron x1
  • life x1
So I got really lucky on the fire relic from lockbox for my warlock the first week. :\ But as with randomness, you could get what you want in a couple weeks or a couple years.

Stats on ilvl 28 greens with a socket after 5 weeks farming. Can reduce below by 6 items as I bought some off my barren auction house. Just to give some idea before you embark on the journey. :D

Breakdown below...but again randomness:

CLOTH
- helm x1
- shoulder x5
- chest x1
- wrist x2
- gloves x3
- waist x4
- legs x4
- boots x4

LEATHER
- helm x4
- shoulder x3
- chest x5
- wrist x6
- gloves x1
- waist x4
- legs x5
- boots x2

MAIL
- helm x4
- shoulder x1
- chest x1
- wrist x1
- gloves x7
- waist x2
- legs x2
- boots x3

PLATE
- shield ilvl 25 only x1
- helm x1
- shoulder x6
- chest x1
- wrist x5
- gloves x1
- waist x4
- legs x4
- boots x5

NECK
x3

CLOAKS
x5

RINGS
x3

TRINKETS
x7
 
Regarding this, it has been my understanding that going with TBC dungeon blues should put me pretty close to ilvl 28 BOEs while being significantly faster in terms of farming (provided I have a max level who'd clear instances) - is this correct? Or is the difference between TBC dungeon blues and ilvl 28 BOEs significant (I am trying to math it out, but maybe it's well-known)?

Added:

Actually, I did the following - went into the thread with character profiles and compared two characters, one geared in TBC dungeon blues, the other in ilvl 28 BOEs:

Cristii - Character (worldofwarcraft.com) --- TBC blues + just one ilvl 28 BOE, ilvl 25
Idiotpez - Character (worldofwarcraft.com) --- ivl 28 BOE, ilvl 29

Stats seem pretty similar, no? The second account has a little more, but that seems to be mostly due to having a gf'd weapon.

Am I not seeing something? Is the difference between TBC blues and ilvl 28 BOEs normally more significant? (Maybe it is for other specs?)
What you’re not seeing is... mastery. Which is, for many classes, insanely powerful and not found on TBC dungeon gear or available on gems at 20.
 
Stats on ilvl 28 greens with a socket after 5 weeks farming. Can reduce below by 6 items as I bought some off my barren auction house. Just to give some idea before you embark on the journey. :D

Breakdown below...but again randomness:

CLOTH
LEATHER
MAIL
PLATE
NECK
CLOAKS
RINGS
TRINKETS

Wow, thanks!

Your post made me realize that maybe I am approaching it wrong. If I farm ilvl 28 greens, sure, this will take significantly longer than if I do TBC instances. But in return I get enough gear for multiple characters. And if I just keep farming from time to time, I can keep rolling different characters. (Plus the gear will have mastery, etc.)

I will think about it. I guess I can still do TBC instances first, but farming greens is definitely very appealing.

Out of curiosity, what spec have you been farming on? I know there are threads on this, I will read through them, but just right out of the bat - hunter (bm or mm or sv?) / monk (bm or ww?) / druid maybe (guardian?)? Solo or in party with other level 24-25s? I am likely to be going farming solo, so just gauging what these 5 weeks will expand to if you used parties with hyperspawns in your case (but even if you did, fine, I'll simply adjust my expectations and plans).
 
Wow, thanks!

Your post made me realize that maybe I am approaching it wrong. If I farm ilvl 28 greens, sure, this will take significantly longer than if I do TBC instances. But in return I get enough gear for multiple characters. And if I just keep farming from time to time, I can keep rolling different characters. (Plus the gear will have mastery, etc.)

I will think about it. I guess I can still do TBC instances first, but farming greens is definitely very appealing.

Out of curiosity, what spec have you been farming on? I know there are threads on this, I will read through them, but just right out of the bat - hunter (bm or mm or sv?) / monk (bm or ww?) / druid maybe (guardian?)? Solo or in party with other level 24-25s? I am likely to be going farming solo, so just gauging what these 5 weeks will expand to if you used parties with hyperspawns in your case (but even if you did, fine, I'll simply adjust my expectations and plans).

My personal choice for farming is a 25 WW Monk that was a 60 Twink in a previous life. ( Still has flying ftw )

Has good AoE ( Fists / Spinning Crane Kick ), add Ramsteins / Frag Belt a couple of ranged pulls - always useful, especially if someone is encroaching on your farming ! Great Mobility, and 3 different self heals, CC wise a stun and an Interupt.

Entirely Solo farming btw
 
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I am starting my first vet account today's evening. I read through three or four last pages of the forum, several last quick questions:

(1) How long are queue times, typically? 5-10 min? More?
(2) I saw this thread about epic bgs: EPIC BATTLEGROUND | XPOff . There are complaints about scaling ("worse than Korrak's [event]"). What is this about? Is scaling not the same in all types of bgs? In general, are epic bgs a good experience and if not, why exactly?
(3) Is the number of f2p / vet characters about even between Alliance and Horde (EU), or does one of the factions have an upper hand?
(4) How large is the gap between a character in enchanted heirlooms and a typical f2p / vet character (eg, TBC blues with sockets plus gems) in general? What's the ballpark figure? 20% stats? 50%?
(5) Are you guys queueing solo or in parties? If you are queuing in parties, how do you organize them - can f2p / vet invite others? I am on Argent Dawn (EU), are there any guilds or communities to bg together?

Last, time to gear. Suppose I have all professions sorted out, all gems and enchants already prepared, etc. With the help from the main account clearing TBC instances for the level 20, playing 1-1.5 hours per evening, is it reasonable to expect to gear a level 20 in TBC blues (plus Legion artifact plus 4 Legion zones for relics) in a month? (I heard that farming Legion / BFA BOEs takes longer, so I go with TBC.)

Thanks a lot in advance.

@accel UR VET WAS YUMMY !
 
Going to do this:

(1) Roll a ww monk, level him to 24 in Legion, lock exp after.
(2) Farm ilvl 28 BOEs until my eyes bleed, collect everything with sockets plus relics.
(3) See which armor type will accumulate first and roll a level 20 accordingly: cloth = arcane mage or disc priest, leather = ww monk (naturally) or vengeance dh, mail = mm or sv hunt (sorry, shamans), plate = holy or prot paladin or arms warrior (need to farm Crusader here, don't have it).

Exciting times!
 
Going to do this:

(1) Roll a ww monk, level him to 24 in Legion, lock exp after.
(2) Farm ilvl 28 BOEs until my eyes bleed, collect everything with sockets plus relics.
(3) See which armor type will accumulate first and roll a level 20 accordingly: cloth = arcane mage or disc priest, leather = ww monk (naturally) or vengeance dh, mail = mm or sv hunt (sorry, shamans), plate = holy or prot paladin or arms warrior (need to farm Crusader here, don't have it).

Exciting times!

Does 24 give an advantage that a 25 doesn't have ? Curious more than anything, no chance I'll roll a 24 as it won't have flying :D

Edit: 25 Also gets a second Talent row - Tiger's Lust is useful even just to boost movement speed
 
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