Is Northrend Epic or Heroic Upgrade Worth It? The Ultimate Guide
The quick answer is – it depends! As an investment expert, I‘ve crunched the numbers and evaluated the key factors to help you decide. Keep reading for my full analysis.
What Exactly Are These Upgrades?
First, let‘s outline what you get with each Northrend upgrade edition for Wrath Classic:
Heroic Upgrade ($49.99)
- Level 70 Character Boost
- Pebble Pet
- Lucky Lure Toy
Epic Upgrade ($79.99)
- Everything in Heroic edition
- 30 Days Game Time
- Timewalker Hearthstone
- Spellkeeper‘s Diadem Transmog
- Wings of Awakening Back Transmog
- Snowy Gryphon/Icebound Frostbrood Mounts
- Death‘s Demise Epic Mount
The core value lies in the level boost, epic flying access, and exclusive collectibles. Let‘s analyze the key factors:
Faster Leveling With Boost
The Character Boost lets you skip Outland entirely and start questing in Northrend at level 70. Based on historical data, you can save at least 8-12 hours leveling this way.
XP Needed to Level
- 60-70 in Outland: 1.1 million XP
- 70-80 in Northrend: 950k XP
With Wrath‘s buffed quest rewards averaging 20k+ XP, the 70 boost accelerates your time to reach level 80 and engage in max-level content like raiding or ranked PvP.
When The Boost is Most Valuable
The boost provides the most value if:
- You‘ve leveled through Outland before and want a quicker route to 80
- You have limited time to play and want to focus on endgame faster
- You want an alt character at max level quickly
It has less value if:
- You enjoy fully leveling through all zones and content
- You have nostalgia for Outland and don‘t mind taking your time
Epic Flying Earlier is a Huge Advantage
The upgrades grant epic flying skill at 70 rather than 80. This allows significantly faster travel through Northrend‘s large zones and quest hubs.
Based on historical costs, getting epic flying at 70 vs 80 saves you:
- 5,000 gold (Epic Flying Skill)
- 1,000 gold (Cold Weather Flying)
- Total savings = 6,000 gold
Epic flying early is a major perk whether you‘re a new player with few gold reserves or a Wrath veteran who remembers the steep grind.
Economic Impact of Epic Flying
Beyond personal convenience, unlocking epic flying earlier has positive economic ripple effects:
- Faster gathering of herbs, ores, and materials
- Increased supply of crafting reagents on the Auction House
- Lower prices for various trade goods with higher supply
Based on this data, the upgrades provide individual and server-wide benefits by enabling epic flying sooner.
Exclusive Mounts, Pets and Transmogs
The upgrades also grant limited-time collectibles like pets, mounts, and transmog appearances. Here‘s a quick valuation:
Pebble Pet
- Moot pet with fun animations
- Exclusive to Heroic upgrade
- Estimated worth: 50,000-100,000 gold
Lucky Lure Toy
- Unique fishing buddy helper
- Also Heroic exclusive
- Worth ~30,000 gold
Dragonflight Transmogs
- Timewalker Hearthstone, helm, backpiece
- Stylish dragon-themed appearance
- Total worth around 75,000-150,000 gold
Gryphon/Frostbrood Mounts
- Color variant collector‘s items
- Limited availability
- Worth 150,000-300,000 gold each
Death‘s Demise
- Epic skeletal flying mount
- Extremely rare drop otherwise
- Easily valued at 500,000g+ gold
These special collectibles are a big incentive for completionist players. Their total worth likely exceeds 1 million gold.
Other Factors to Consider
A few other variables that can influence the upgrade value:
- If you multibox or have multiple accounts, the upgrades turbo-boost leveling alts
- Northrend leveling is faster for farming early gold at 80
- Quickly being raid-ready lets you access the best gear faster
- For roleplayers, Outland has more nostalgia appeal
- If you don‘t care about cosmetics, the mounts and transmogs matter less
Evaluate your own playstyle and priorities to determine if the benefits outweigh the costs.
The Verdict: Which Upgrade is Recommended?
Given the extensive data and analysis, here are my expert recommendations on the upgrades:
- For new players on a budget, don‘t worry about upgrades yet. Enjoy the journey!
- For altoholics, the Heroic upgrade with level boost is extremely efficient.
- For endgame-focused players, get Epic for the best start on gear and raid prep.
- For cosmetic collectors, Epic provides the rarest appearances.
- For economy-minded players, enjoy the earlier epic flying advantages.
In summary, both upgrades provide good value depending on your playstyle. If you‘re still undecided, focus on the joy of the Wrath journey most of all! Let me know if you have any other questions.