Heirlooms make your path to the maximum level in World of Warcraft easier. The items are extremely useful as they scale with your level and even provide bonuses. MeinMMO explains how to obtain heirlooms, upgrade them to level 70, and use them effectively.
This guide was reviewed and structurally adjusted on January 29, 2025.
Heirlooms are items in WoW that primarily make the leveling phase easier for your alternate characters (twinks or alts). There are heirlooms for every class and specialization.
Since leveling has been completely revamped with Shadowlands, heirlooms have also received new effects. MeinMMO tells you where to get them and how to make the most of the new heirlooms.
If you want to kickstart in The War Within, your character must have reached at least level 68:
Level Faster in WoW: Heirlooms for Strong Bonuses
Heirlooms can accompany your twinks from level 1 all the way to level 70. However, you need to invest quite a bit into the armor pieces and weapons first – because you have to upgrade them so that they level up alongside you.
These are the set bonuses:
- 2 pieces: Rest will be consumed 30% slower.
- 3 pieces: Increases regeneration in the outside world, in regular dungeons, and battlegrounds when you are not in combat.
- 5 pieces: When you reach a new level, you deal damage to nearby enemies and gain 40% of your main attribute for 2 minutes. Killing enemies extends this bonus by up to another 2 minutes.
- 6 pieces: Rest will be consumed an additional 30% slower.
You gain rest in cities and inns and it doubles your experience gained from killing enemies. It gets consumed up to a maximum value. You benefit longer when wearing heirlooms. You also generate rest while you are offline. Therefore, you should always log out in cities or inns.
Heirlooms up to 70: Upgrading and Costs
Newly purchased heirlooms reach their maximum at level 30 or 29 – from here they do not scale anymore with your character. To serve you well up to level 70, you must upgrade them. Note that they stop growing with you at one level below the respective level. The item levels thus end at 29, 34, etc.
Heirlooms can be upgraded up to 6 times. You can get the items to upgrade from:
- Krom Starkarm in the Hall of Explorers in Ironforge (Alliance)
- Estelle Gendry in the Rogue Quarter in Undercity or in Orgrimmar (Horde).
Upgrading heirlooms will cost you a fortune – significantly more than just purchasing the heirlooms, even though the amount has been significantly reduced after much criticism. If you want to upgrade the heirlooms, you will pay:
- for upgrades of armor between 500 and 5,000 gold, depending on the level.
- for upgrades of weapons between 750 and 7,500 gold, depending on the level.
- for an armor piece, a trinket, or an offhand from 30 to 70 you need 18,500 gold pieces.
- for a weapon from 30 to 70 it’s 27,750 gold pieces.
- for a set of five armor pieces and a weapon 120,250 gold pieces.
You can obtain all upgrade items from the heirloom vendors.
If you don’t have that much gold or don’t want to spend it, you can save significantly by participating in the annual holidays. For almost every major event, you can buy all upgrades at the respective vendors for event currency:
- for Time-Warped Badges at Timewalking events from vendors in the cities
- for Coins of the Ancients at the Moon Festival from Fariel Starshine at the Moonlight Glade
- for Sweet Treats during the Hallow’s End at Chub in Undercity/Tirisfal (Horde) or Dorothea in Elwynn Forest (Alliance)
- for armor only: for Flame Blossoms during the Summer Festival at Summer Festival merchants in the cities
- for weapons only: for Tokens of Love during Love is in the Air from Charming vendors in the cities
How to Buy Heirlooms
You can obtain heirlooms from various sources and for different currencies:
- for Draws from the Darkmoon Faire at Daenrand Lightbringer on the Darkmoon Isle
- for Champion’s Seals at Dame Evniki Kapsalis at the Argent Tournament (requires Exalted status with every race of your faction and with the Argent Crusade as well as achievements to be a Champion)
- for Honor Badges at the Honor vendors of your faction in Orgrimmar, Stormwind, or Wintergrasp
- for Gold at guild and heirloom vendors
- some heirlooms are also offered by the vendors of the Fight Club
The first three options are only recommended if you happen to have a lot of the required currencies left – targeting them takes too long. Thus, we focus in this guide on the option to buy heirlooms with gold.
Heirlooms at the Guild Vendor: Parts and Costs
- Headpiece: 500 gold pieces, requires friendly reputation
- Cloak: 500 gold pieces, requires friendly reputation
- Pants: 500 gold pieces, requires benevolent reputation with the guild and guild achievement
Even Better Teamwork
To buy the heirlooms from the guild vendor, your guild must reach level 20. There are plenty of leveling guilds specifically for twinks in the guild browser. Typically, it’s about leveling quickly and not about socializing.
To purchase, you also need reputation with the guild, which you can earn with any character through quests or PvE and PvP in groups with other guild members. So, it’s best to buy the gear with a character that already has the reputation and has been in a guild for a longer time – ideally in a guild that already has the required achievement.
You can find the guild vendors in the cities of your faction and in Shattrath. Simply ask a guard where to find them, and you’ll get a map marker.
Heirlooms at the Heirloom Vendor: Parts and Costs
- Shoulders: 500 gold pieces
- Chest: 500 gold pieces
- Weapons and Shields: Between 500 and 750 gold pieces
You can obtain the items from the heirloom vendor of your faction, Krom Starkarm in Ironforge or Estelle Gendry in Undercity. After the Siege of Undercity, Estelle can also be found in Orgrimmar.
To buy these heirlooms, you don’t need any reputation or achievements. You can simply purchase them and they will then be directly added to your collection. The locations of both vendors can be found in the gallery above.
Heirloom Rings as an Alternative to Armors
nThere are also various rings that count towards the set bonuses and level up with you:
- Ring of the Dread Pirate: obtainable every Sunday through the fishing contest in Stranglethorn Vale.
- Admiral Taylor’s Loyalty Ring: Agility ring, obtained through the rare naval mission
The Bank Always Wins
in the shipyard of your garrison on Draenor. - Captain Sanders’ Lost Band: Strength ring, obtained through the rare naval mission
Full of Hate
in the shipyard of your garrison on Draenor. - Signet of the Third Fleet: Intelligence ring, obtained through the rare naval mission
Mistress of the Sea
in the shipyard of your garrison on Draenor.
You can wear each of the rings from the garrison alongside the Dread Pirate Ring. However, they cannot be combined with each other.
Jewelry and Weapons – Good, but Optional
If you have enough gold left and want to equip your twink in the best possible and comfortable way or just complete the collection, you can also obtain corresponding weapons and jewelry. However, these only serve the purpose of ensuring you have optimal gear more or less and for the set bonus.
Since the loot from dungeons is generally above the item level of the heirlooms, you can also fill weapon and jewelry slots with such items. However, you will receive a mount that you can use from level 1, when you have collected 35 heirlooms.
What Are Heirlooms Good For?
The main reason why heirlooms are generally the best
equipment items for twinks is the set bonuses you receive through them.
Heirlooms also adapt to your level. They are always the best items for your current level. Since an adjustment, items you obtain from dungeons are some item levels better on the way to the maximum level, the set bonus is extremely useful. And you don’t have to replace them. If you still don’t know what you want to play, you can find here the 3 best classes for beginners and returners in WoW.
