The Green Archer: 24 Hunter Twink Mogging

Pictured above is Discyngage, my level 24 hunter twink. I used her primarily to research the 20-24 twink bracket, and – while she’s fun enough to play, don’t get me wrong – I haven’t ended up putting in very much time on her. (I’m not enamored with the 24 bracket, preferring the 70s and 19s; I have moved away from DPS, preferring healers and FCs; I prefer the feel of 10s and 19s if I’m playing lowbies – it’s not you, 24s, it’s me.) However, I discovered that Narci’s rule of Alt Shoe Shopping still applies, even to neglected alts – once you have an alt, you get to dress them up, and that can be a heck of a lot of fun.

Low-level characters present a challenge in transmogrification because of mixed armor types – some classes can wear heirlooms that are a different armor type than anything else that they can actually equip. Hunters and Enhancement Shaman, for example, are limited to Leather items before level 40 – but can equip the Mail heirlooms at level 1. This problem is worse for Plate-wearing classes (there aren’t any plate items under level 40), but it’s there for Hunters and Shaman too. For leveling characters, this is a problem that’s best solved by taking mail quest rewards for later so you can recreate a low level look. Twink transmogrification is a little trickier, because the heirlooms of the higher armor type are almost always the better choice in PvP, but they’re going to clash horribly, and leveling is out of the question.

We’ve got a couple of posts in the works here at GMY about that problem, so I’m going to put it aside for now and instead talk about an improvement to Cataclysm which I don’t think gets enough talk – the changes to quest rewards. Quest rewards were visually redesigned to allow construction of attractive, unified sets, so your characters don’t look quite so hodpodgey while leveling.

And that opens up a lot of interesting fashion options for low level twinks.

Discyngage is wearing a green colored set of quest rewards available through the second level of starting zones (levels 10-25). There are several colors available (red and blue), and it’s very reminiscent of the Glyphed Garb, a mid-30s transmog set. I really wish Wowhead’s Guide to Quest and Dungeon Armor had existed when I put together this outfit – it would have made it easier – but if you do some work with the “Same Model As” tab in their database you can find a lot of this on your own.

I tried to create an outfit here that was consistent with an elven ranger look – functional, blends in with the woodlands, something a Farstrider would wear. Eschewing the reds and golds of the Blood Elves for greens and browns really changed my perception of the character – instead of just a collection of BiS gear, she suddenly started looking like an actual archer, someone who might not be entirely comfortable in the wide avenues of Silvermoon City, choosing instead to dwell at Farstrider Enclave or on the border of the Plaguelands.

This outfit is, sadly, a mix of both Horde and Alliance quest rewards, as well as a few crafted items. (Discyngage started her life playing for the blue team.)

• Shoulders: Floppy Shoulderguards
• Chest: Night Watch Vest
• Wrists: Moon Shriek Bracers
• Hands: Astronomer’s Handwraps
• Wrist: Deviate Scale Belt
• Legs: Old Man’s Legwarmers
• Feet: Forest Leather Boots
• Ranged: Night Elven Bow
• MH/OH: Sharpened Scarlet Kris / Balanced Heartseeker (the key here is the Agility enchant, because it’s bright green)

Keep in mind that there are matching quest reward equivalents for each faction-specific piece listed here. Check out the Same Model As tab for other options. 🙂

The Night Elven Bow is a legacy of Discyngage’s Worgen heritage. It’s effectively a unique model for any twink not rolled as a Worgen in this bracket, as it doesn’t show up again until level 45 or so in the Badlands. Hard to get models appeal to my twinks – it’s nice to be able to have a little something that’s unique about them. But, more than that, I picked it for one really big reason:

It’s a really cool double bow.

Having it be a Night Elf Bow that she probably took from a fallen enemy just sweetens the deal.

I left the daggers untouched because I like both of the models. The green glow from the Agility enchants works well here and makes me happy, since it flows nicely with the outfit.

Like most outfits, the belt gave me the most trouble. There are a few green leather belts in the game, like the Belt of Beginnings – but that’s at the end of a long quest chain in Silverpine which I didn’t really want to take both a Hunter and my Warlock through. (Yes, I have limits to the mogmaxing I’ll do for an alt I barely play.) That belt has the model you’ll see on many quest rewards. The Deviate Scale Belt, though, has an almost exact color match, and was an easy acquisition on the AH. The Forest Leather Boots could have been replaced with any of the green quest rewards like the Merchant Marine Raiders.

The nice thing is that this kind of look can be achieved solely through questing, which opens up a lot of options for making nice, simple outfits for alts to use while leveling.

(Also, it’s amazing how much better I feel about a character when they look put together.)