I get a limited number of evenings each week and one expensive goal: every Legacy perk worth buying, as early as I can. The cap at launch is 16 spendable points. Before I log in, I have to decide whether those evenings go to nine alts or to one main. That is a time decision first, and gold decides how much of that time I can buy back.
How Points Add Up
Legacy Points come from achievement-style milestones, and you can spend 16 of them at launch even if you earn more. A level 60 character is worth 3 points and a level 25 character is worth 1. Crafting professions pay out at skill thresholds, while gathering professions pay nothing. Dungeons, PvP and raids top up the rest.
Those values are what everything below is built on. A 60 costs far more time than a 25 but only pays three times as much. Crafting professions pay out on materials rather than levels, which is where WoW gold enters.
Dungeon sets also matter. Clearing the low-level dungeon list (Ragefire Chasm, Wailing Caverns, the Deadmines, Shadowfang Keep and a couple more) earns one point. Clearing the mid-level list and the 40-plus list earns one point each. That is three points from content you would probably run while leveling anyway.
Some points are gated by the calendar rather than effort:
- PvP ranks unlock weekly.
- The seasonal journey is capped at weeks 4, 7 and 10.
- Raids open about a month after launch.
You cannot grind past these gates. You can only plan around them.
The Alt Army Route
The alt army route is the simplest to follow. All nine classes at level 25 give 9 points, the low-level dungeon set makes 10, and six crafting professions at 150 skill make 16. Nothing here depends on a level 60.
My rough view is that six level 25s take about as long as one 60, though that varies with how fast you level. Six 25s are worth 6 points and one 60 is worth 3, so this route is cheap per point if you enjoy fresh starts.
Gold matters in the profession step. 150 skill is a low bar, and what slows you down is materials. You also need the gathering professions for self-sufficiency, and those earn no points themselves. So you either farm your own mats or pay for them with gold. If farming bores you, the gold is paying for hours of it.
This route is narrow, and I would not call it right for everyone. It suits people who like starting characters and don’t mind being spread across many of them. If you want one polished main, the next route is a better fit.
One 60, One 25
This route reaches 16 with one level 60 and one level 25. It leans on banking materials as you level, so it rewards planning. Take skinning plus mining or herbalism while leveling. Keep your green items and send all your cloth to a bank character.
At 60, drop your gathering professions and work through the crafting ones in order:
- Enchanting: disenchant the banked greens to reach 150, for 1 point.
- Tailoring: burn through the banked cloth to reach 300, for 3 points. You may need a little gold, depending on how you leveled.
- Leatherworking: use the leather from skinning, for 3 points.
Add the 3 points from the level 60 and the running total is 10, though check the leatherworking threshold before committing (more in the notes below). Run each dungeon set once as you level and you reach 13.
For the last three points you have two choices:
- Level one fast class to 25. That is 1 point, making 14. Then spend the ore from your mining days on blacksmithing and engineering at 150, one point each, and you land on 16.
- Skip the alt and wait for raids. Raids open about a month after launch and supply the last 3 points, so you are trading a month for a character.
Every step turns a material into a point. Greens, cloth, leather, and ore are all things you could sell, and banking them means choosing not to. That is the real cost of this route.
Pricing Your Evenings
The honest question under both routes is how much your time is worth against your gold. I think of materials as stored time. A stack of cloth I farmed myself cost me hours. The same stack bought from the auction house cost me gold. Both give the same tailoring points.
I would split my choices like this:
- Farm what I enjoy farming or can pick up while leveling anyway, such as cloth and leather.
- Buy the pieces that are a chore, such as the last stretch of a profession skill.
- Skip anything the calendar gates, since no spending speeds it up.
There are several ways to get gold:
- Sell the materials you don’t need on the auction house.
- Plan which professions earn their keep and which don’t.
- Consider a third-party seller such as the WoW Gold page at MMOEXP.
The third option has trade-offs. It may touch Blizzard’s terms of service and carries account risk, so check the rules yourself and weigh it against the first two before deciding.
None of this makes a single “correct” build. A player with a few free evenings and patience should lean toward banking and farming. A returning player short on time may prefer to pay for the tedious steps. What I want from a plan is the information to make that call myself. With a clear point map, an honest view of gated content and a cap I can see, I decide how my week is spent.
FAQ
How many Legacy Points can I spend at launch?
You can spend 16 at launch. You can earn more than that, but Blizzard has capped spending so future updates have room to unlock the rest.
Do I need to level a lot of alts?
No. One level 60 and one level 25 can reach 16 with enough crafting and dungeon work. If you skip the level 25, you can wait for raids, about a month after launch, for the last 3 points.
Do gathering professions give Legacy Points?
No. Only crafting professions do. Gathering professions still help by supplying the materials for crafting ones.