We are family

What sort of relationship do your alts have? Are they just mules or is it something deeper, more sinister? Kamalia suggested this as a Shared Topic over at Blog Azeroth, and I found I really could get my teeth into this topic.

Why? Hmm well, it’s kinda complicated but here goes…

Sarri (retribution paladin) was my very first toon. I began playing at the end of Vanilla, a time when paladins were not the faceroll class they became in Wrath, and certainly were not well known for doing good damage. About the only thing they were really good for at the time was healing, which made leveling an absolute chore. Once I hit Outlands and Burning Crusade content, it got a little easier. I had friends I grouped with regularly for quests and dungeons, which meant I could heal my way through while they killed stuff.

When I began my raiding career in Karazhan, I quickly gained a reputation as a solid reliable healer, which allowed me to progress further into endgame content, culminating in the clearing of Black Temple shortly before the Wrath expansion hit. I continued to play Sarri as my main for Wrath, respeccing to Ret around Ulduar and finally finding my real niche.

Having had such a trial leveling Sarri, I wondered what it would be like to have a primarily dps toon. At the time, hunters were pretty awesome and I liked the idea of having a pet to help you out, so I rolled Eloin, my hunter. Getting my first pet at level 10 was pure win, I had a nightsaber I named Solembum (original much… not ) but she grew attached to him and she still has him in her stable. I liked the TBC BM style of play (ok it was faceroll) and leveled quickly to 70, also taking Elo into BT eventually, although I dont think she has actually cleared it.

I enjoyed having an alt to mess around on when I wasn’t raiding on Sarri, and towards the end of TBC, a number of guildies had rolled druids and were having a lot of fun with them, so I decided to see what the fuss was about. Back then, druids were a pain until you got bear form around level 20 or so, you had to go caster until then and you didnt have much survivability or damage output, but once you started getting shapeshift forms, things became a lot easier. Elu was a pleasure to play, I really identified with her. She got her first Kara raid at 67, and walked away with Terestian’s Stranglestaff and 2 other items, preparing her for immediate immersion into raiding at 70! Unfortunately it was so close to the end of TBC I didnt get a chance to do much raiding with her before Wrath hit.

Wrath was really where Elu began to shine. With Herbing and Alchemy as her professions, she was the second of my toons to hit 80 as I really needed to stock Sarri up for raiding and, as at the beginning of any expansion, flasks and potions were incredibly expensive and it paid to have an alt who could provide you with raiding consumables. But more and more I found I really gelled with the kitty style of play and I found myself playing her more often. I still loved playing Sarri but Elu had crept into my heart and was making a home there. As each major patch brought in a new raid tier, we would let the alts take over the old tier on off nights but I soon found myself being asked to join friends raids to make up a 10th spot on current content, and more and more she began to catch up to Sarri in gear.

When ICC was released, she was ready to step in there, but the guild was really strict on alts in raids, so she began her ICC career pugging. I raid-led several 25 man pugs, mostly successful but I soon noticed a better pug offering in the trade channel. I was geared enough to join this pug, which soon became a regular fixture for the remainder of Wrath. The raid leader preferred to keep the group as stable as possible for a pug, and so there were several regular faces in those raids, and we would often clear the instance to LK in an afternoon. We never actually killed him as a 25man pug, but we came pretty damn close a few times.

All this meant that when we had a dearth of tanks towards the end of Wrath, and were trying to complete hard mode drake achievements, Elu was more than ready to step in to a tanking role if it was required. Flying bear moments aside, I really enjoyed ICC in almost any role, and it showed. 2 toons with 10 man drakes earned before Cata. Sarri had her Shadowmourne and I had leveled a new toon and taken him into ICC too.

Dustey is my warlock, tailoring and JC by profession. Yes, he is a gnome, and what of it? Some friends were doing some early ICC bosses and wanted a warlock to join the party. I mentioned that I had a freshly dinged one but he was extremely under-geared, still in heirlooms. They were desperate so they took him along. We cleared up to Blood Wing, taking Prof down along the way and he got several good upgrades from that first foray and never looked back. I didnt take him too much further other than gearing him into T10, as I had realised by then that my forte was really melee and I honestly didnt have the time to seriously raid a third toon for purposes other than fun. Elo made a brief appearance in ICC too, but I found I really wasnt enjoying the hunter changes in Wrath and used her primarily to farm badges for Primordial Saronites for Sarri’s Shadowmourne. Currently I have only Sarri and Elu at 85, and I am leveling an enhancement shaman, who is now 75.

So family wise, there is Sarri, Elu, Elo, Dustey and Cipactli (shaman).

It’s a family in the broad sense, more of a close-knit group. The girls run things, obviously. Elu and Elo are sisters, Elo (being the older) just watches fondly as her younger sibling forges headlong into battle, and then picks her up after, dusts her off and sends her back in. Sarri met up with Elu when Elu was still a kitten, and helped her grow into the dependable druid she is today. They are very much sisters of the heart, often teaming up to accomplish common goals. Elu has much respect for Sarri’s insight into people and her way of getting to the heart of matters and providing what is necessary to resolve any situation.

Sarri and Elu are very competitive, but each is always ready to back the other up. Sarri tends to be more about taking care of people (its the healer roots), where Elu is more about being silly and keeping things light-hearted. She is a ferocious flirt and really misses the days in Dalaran, where she could be found in one of the various inns or at a favourite chilling spot with one of her Horde admirers. I find opportunities for role-play are pretty endless on Elu, luckily most of my friends indulge me when I hit a good RP streak and it makes for some amusing conversations… especially with guild bears Elo was always the quiet one, keeping busy with taking care of her pets and making sure there was enough food to go around.

The boys… these recent additions to the little “family” are mostly Elu’s proteges. She likes to bring strange folks home occasionally and these 2 struck a chord with the girls and managed to find a niche for themselves. Dustey… well… being a gnome he is bent on world domination, and Sarri and Elu indulge him… mostly… they have to lock him up every now and then though, just in case… Cipactli has yet to show his true colours but being the broad-shouldered squid he is, I think he will turn out to be the rock of the “family”.