Mains and Alts

[Deleted]

Throughout my way to level 80 (before cata), I noticed that some people I've PUGed with are on their alts because of mentioning a really rare mount they've already aquired on their main (like the Bronze drake from old Strat and the Blue proto-drake from Utgarde Pinnacle). From this I came to the conclusion that everyone besides me has already leveled a character to max level and has probably done the same to others as well.
I also learned that before starting whatever raid my group was about to do that some of us opted to leave and come join as another of their characters. Since I played on the basis that everyone had one main and a number of alts the idea of someone having two endgame chars both doing raids brought conflict to that idea.

So I ask the questions:
How many mains do you have? (if more than 1)
How many alts do you have and how many have you leveled to 80/85?
Do you do endgame content (I'm mainly thinking of raids) on other characters besides your main(s)?
What do you do with your alts besides from leveling?

I might sound like a noob asking these questions but i'd just like to know some other opinions.

[lizon]

I have 3 alts myself. I only really gear them up once my main has everything he needs. Plus my main doesn't raid every day, on off days I can run content on my shammy or priest and get them geared up as well.

Another big use for alts are professions. My druid main is an alchemist/herbalist, shammy is an enchanter/inscriptionist, and the priest is a jc/miner. Having alts that can help me enchant/gem my gear really cuts down on my gear costs.

[Deleted]

How many mains do you have? 1, you really only have one main, main character, that's where the main comes from.
How many alts do you have and how many have you leveled to 80/85? in total about 15(60+) 3 60s, 2 70s, ~10 80s and my prot warrior as my only 85 (but will lvl another and start raiding on it aswell as soon as I've figured which one)
Do you do endgame content (I'm mainly thinking of raids) on other characters besides your main(s)? - as soon as I figure which char to lvl my guild will be doing alt runs aswell, might not get as progressed as our main group as fast, but it will be endgame content yes.
What do you do with your alts besides from leveling? well i lvl them to max lvl and then i either use their proffesions if they aren't fun to play in a raiding enviroment, else I use them to raid with. - what else is there to do really ? =)

[Maeleena]

The bronze drake from CoT is rare? That's news to me. Heh.

[tyne]

During BC I had leveled one tank and one healer. I didn't care much for pally healing but loved tanking and enjoyed healing as a druid. Sometimes it just comes down to play style.

In wrath I had three toons that were capable of coming in and doing end game raids and various other alts that I would play. The primary reason during wrath was because I was only able to play at night and so I had time to level other toons and also because we had a fairly small guild so a couple of us had other toons that could fill in as needed.

I also have a little ADHD I think and would get bored with a toon after awhile.

[Rocketsurgeon]

I keep all 4 healing classes at max level and in good gear, most of the other classes stay up there also-depending on what state the class is in at any given point. I keep 2 or 3 active as my 'mains' and swap them out based on patch notes. You could say I ride the fotm waves, but for me it's all about playstyle and if whatever attracts me to that class is viable at the time. 4.0 was a big shakeup in my lineup. I'm self-conscious about the burden this can place on my guild so I'm always trying to outperform whatever character I shelve.

My shelved characters also keep up with various trade skills so I can always provide friends/guildies with what they're looking for.

[kharig]

im not gonna start leveling alts until i'm done with everything that can't be solved with raiding, but i have a sham lock n pally that i play as alts

[Deleted]

One main. Disc Priest.
I had a warrior alt in wotlk which I used for tanking if we were a tank short for a guild dungeon run. That really was the only purpose. Now in cata I only play one character. The main reason being that I used to get achievements I cared about on my alt and having loads of problems getting them on my main, so it felt like time/luck wasted.

One toon should be enough, I don't know why people feel the need to play anything and level every profession themselves instead of socializing with people who play different chars and have different professions which combined can lead to something nice: Captain Planet! No, Actually I mean friendship and more fun in game rather than fun in just playing the game by your own.

[Daytona24]

I have 10 total characters. 1 Main Main, thats my Alliance Paladin (85 and raid prepping). then I have 4 Alliance Alts. I also have a Main Horde DK (80) and 4 Horde alts. Most of my alts are lower level, my highest alt is currently 45 with most being 20ish. My stable came about because I started playing Alliance then my friends switched to Horde so I leveled my Horde main, then they switched back to Alliance. So instead of switching characters back and forth from factions I just keep them ready for the next switch. I like having play options. Plus I feel like I have a nice stable of playable characters, probably couldnt delete any of them. (matter of fact I deleted my newest Blood Elf Warlock (20) recently and thankfully Blizzard was able to restore. It was a level 20 character with nothing to really lose by re leveling the character but I wanted THAT character back).

So yeah I like having alts, but my very first character is my Main main, I like that, he's the character that gets all the good stuff, achievements, mounts, pets, gear etc.

[Plasmon]

What you're seeing is pretty normal. Not everyone focuses entirely on one character at end game, and keep in mind that "alt" is short for "alternate", and doesn't always mean "character that I don't care about".

I only collect things on one character, like mini pets, good mounts, and the occasional achievement (I'm not much of an achieve-whore, I don't do explorer, tedious holidays, etc). I only do PVP on that one character as well. However, I do use two different characters for raiding, and I do so equally, if not my second main more than my first lately. I try to maintain the gear of my mage and both specs of my druid (bear/resto) in the current raid tier so that I have the flexibility of being able to do damage, tank, or heal. I fill whatever role is needed for that raid, basically whatever the guild needs that day, determined by me since I lead the raids, so yes it's by choice. You could call it having "two mains" but calling them alternates or alternatives isn't technically incorrect.

I also have a DK that I level just high enough to get his professions to max and use him purely as a profession slave. The more professions you have, the more self sufficient you become, and the more gold making opportunities you have. I loved being able to take cheap eternals and blue gems (often mined and prospected by my DK), transmute to epic gems by my druid alchemist , cut into epic cuts with my DK, and socket them into my mage who then also enchants it.

The only other characters that I have are multiple lowbie storage slaves including a personal guild bank, an auction house slave, and a lowbie scribe since that is probably the only profession that is profitable at low levels. All my characters exist only for the purpose of supporting my two raiding characters.

You'll also find there are people around who enjoy leveling up all 10 characters and can't really make up their mind which to play so they play them all, and often they'll use 3-4 of them at end game... if they even get there. Sometimes they spend the whole expansion leveling all 10 characters to max level and then the next expansion comes out before they got to see anything at end game... I always chuckle at that, but everyone's entitled to play their video game however they want to.

You might also find that many of the altoholics end up dividing their time so much that they never actually get good at any of their individual characters. Unless they play pretty much all day and every day, they tend to not have time to develop a really good set of gear on any of them, or if they do manage to have not many more drops left to collect they shelf the character and move on to the next alt so they can continue whoring up all the loot so they can again shelf it for the next character in line... which is kinda bad for guild progression in most cases. Again it's their game to play... but many guilds won't tolerate people who shelf their character once it has consumed all the gear.

Ok that's enough rambling, bye.

[Telanore]

I only have 1 main, though I used to have two at some point in Wrath (one Alliance and one Horde who I used to raid with when my brother still played). As for how many alts I have, I think around 18 or something, four in the 20-60 area, a couple stuck in Outlands (so sick of that place, just can't get through with it) and 12 ranging from lvl 80 to 85 (current main). I used to be asked to fill in different roles in raids, but with new content, I'm sticking to my good ol' main... My feelings towards all of the classes change rather swiftly, so I dungeon grind whenever that class feels like "the One", and it's nice to have lots of professions available.

[volescue]

How many mains do you have? I have two.
How many alts do you have and how many have you leveled to 80/85? I have six.
Do you do endgame content on other characters besides your main? I raid on two characters, my holy priest and warrior as the raid needs. I raided on all of them during LK.
What do you do with your alts besides from leveling? Professions mainly. Once I get one character geared up and ready for raids, I work on the next one to get his gear up in case I want to raid on him sometime.

[SweetLou570]

So I ask the questions:
How many mains do you have? (if more than 1)
How many alts do you have and how many have you leveled to 80/85?
Do you do endgame content (I'm mainly thinking of raids) on other characters besides your main(s)?
What do you do with your alts besides from leveling?

I might sound like a noob asking these questions but i'd just like to know some other opinions.

Signature below shows my characters, 3 of them have been "mains" at one point or another with the shaman being #1 for the past year. With how WotLK shaped up allowing fresh max level characters to catch up to the most current content, I had 5 characters in at least ICC 10 gear with 2 in full heroic 10 gear (10m guild). Aside from wanting to experience all characters to some extent in PvE and PvP situations, I also use alts for professions. My death knight, for example, is my farming character with both mining and herbalism.

[aclockworkrobot]

Q1: How many mains do you have?
I have one, main, if you will - my druid. I spend most of my time on her, she was the first toon out of all my 80s to hit 85. I plan on raiding in a core slot in my guild as a healer on her. So yeah, one.

Q2: How many alts do you have and how many have you leveled to 80/85? I have 6 alts, outside of my main, that are 80 or higher and 2 that are 60 or below.

Q3: Do you do endgame content on other characters besides your main(s)? Yep, I always make sure all my toons are geared and ready to go for endgame content - I usually end up in alt runs, or PuGing content on them to experience end game on different classes.

Q4: What do you do with your alts besides from leveling? Professions, farm mats, run dungeons... Though I don't spend as much time on them, I do a lot of the same thing I do on my main on them. Not as many achievement points and they don’t see as much raid time as my main, either.

[Dylis]

Well you can only have one main really, but I have my main which is an 85 resto druid that is ready to raid. I also have my lock that will be 85 tomorrow, and I have 5 other 80's and 1 73 and 1 72 alt. In wrath I did raid with all of them, mostly my main until content was trivial then moved to my alts to gear them up and have a change of pace. I plan to do the same with cata but I may not have 7 toons raiding, will most likely be raiding with 2-3 toons. I use my alts for professions so that I can make all my own gems, enchants, flasks, and whatever else I need for my main and alts. Best way to make alot of money imo is to level alot of toons and use all of there professions to cash in.

[Direknyte]

Well I have/had 15 80s. One of every class plus a couple of duplicates on the opposite faction or for the third spec. (Say 'had' because I stopped sub on my second account with 5 of them on it. They are still there, I just don't play them.)

I raid actively with 4 of them, had HLK on 3 of them, and currently have those three to 85 and am raid gearing them. (These 4 are my "mains")

Alts are excellent for professions, gathering mules, and to broaden your experience and understanding of the game via class mechanics and their limitations. I have every profession in the game, most of them maxed out at 525 already. That greater understanding of the other class' abilities and strengths and weaknesses will help you in raiding, in PvP, and in most group encounters. Knowledge is power, make use of it!

[Chiphoof]

How many mains do you have?
One main, my feral DPS/tank druid (tauren). JC/LW, pet/mount collector, achieve whore.

How many alts do you have and how many have you leveled to 80/85?
Two 'main' alts, four leveling lowbies, two more 'planned' alts.
The first alt is a belf rogue, I made him so that I could open lockboxes and then decided that I may as well make him an alchemist/enchanter so that I can supply my own potions and enchants. Leveled him to 68 just so he could max professions and get xmute specialty, then leveled him to 80 via the LFD tool, 1-2 dungeons a day. The second is a tauren DK, leveled him as a tank via LFD and also as a dual gatherer (herb/mining). Ended up dropping herbalism for engineering, because he needed to have a gyrocopter. He's currently my 'favoured' alt.

Within my leveling lowbies I have another tauren druid (resto/boom), a tauren warrior (prot), a tauren shaman (resto) and a belf hunter. The druid is in the lead right now, in the mid-50s, because she's my new herbalist. And a skinner as well, which I desperately need at a higher level to supply my main. The other three are in the mid-40s, I basically hop on them once a week or so to run around in LFD and eat up their rested XP. The two planned alts are a tauren paladin (prot/holy) and a priest (probably a troll, will be healing/shadow).

Do you do endgame content (I'm mainly thinking of raids) on other characters besides your main(s)?
I pugged ICC a few times on both of my main alts, and ended up getting Kingslayer on the rogue by the end of Wrath. Never went out of my way to get achieves or anything on them, it was just fun to see the raid from a slightly different perspective - especially once there wasn't any puggable gear left for my main.

What do you do with your alts besides from leveling?
Professions, making gold, farming mats for my main. I do enjoy leveling them, but I find that once I get to the cap they become more of a tool than a toy. As soon as my main is as kitted out as he can be I turn to the next alt and start getting them ready 'just in case'. But any new content means that I'm right back on my druid.

[Deleted]

Well got 2 mains. This will however change once both mains is 85, as I will choose my healer as main coz of the queue time for randoms...

About alts i count to 8 hehe, got some sick thoughts about getting one of each class.... only one of my mains is 80 the second is only 30 lol

I raid on what ever char the guild needs in the raid, if they need a healer I take him, if they need a dps I take him, simpel

Questing and farming mostly for money otherwise just running around acting like a fool

[erwil]

How many mains do you have? (if more than 1)
I've changed my main once. The very first toon I leveled to 70 (I've played since BC) and raided with, was my hunter. She remained my main until Naxxramas, and ever since Ulduar I've played a disc priest as my main.

How many alts do you have and how many have you leveled to 80/85?
Currently got 8, but only 5 of them are on their way to 85.

Do you do endgame content (I'm mainly thinking of raids) on other characters besides your main(s)?
Only with 4 of them. And only after my guild has cleared the raids once on their mains, there's a chance for us to do them on our alts.

What do you do with your alts besides from leveling?
My alts are used to gather mats (herbs, ores, gems, leather etc) for my main and the guild. I love rare pets, and I collect them on my hunter.

[Auro]

I have like 3-4 mains, with 1 super main.
The rest are alts.

I have 1 of every class at 80/85 (currently 4 85 and the rest somewhere between 81-84)

I find myself doing endgame content on the 4 I like the most.

I use my alts for the fun of leveling a different class, for professions, and I sometimes enjoy just running a dungeon or PVPing on them just to do something different.

If you play them all "casually", you could really get a whole lot done with the wrath philosophy. how that will play out in cata I've yet to see, mostly because of the failure of the dungeon finder to find you a successful heroic group at the moment (making casually dungeoning with a class much more tedious and less casual)

Currently I'm only doing heroics on my paladin tank (my super main since TBC) and the rest I'm using for their professions and leveling them up to get access to their cool professions stuff (in twilight highlands).

Luckily I had them all 80 in wrath, and over half were 70 in TBC and the rest I got to 60 in vanilla. All were casually played on the side on like off nights when not raiding (and 2 were done with recruit a friend).

EDIT: you dont have to have lots of alts, I just always would find myself playing one class and going "wow id like that" - or when you see something in PVP thats OP - you can go and OP it... and then you also find that classes weak points and can better exploit them. I learned so much more by playing every class than anyone who doesn't could possibly fathom.