Breakfast Topic: To heirloom, or not to heirloom?

When the new expansion was announced, I decided that my instant level 90 with Warlords of Draenor was going to be a draenei shaman. This was for several reasons, the top of the list being that I really wanted to see the Temple of Karabor before it became the Black Temple we see in Outland. But as I pondered the idea of a shaman this week, I decided what the heck, why not actually roll one and play it — I haven't played a shaman since vanilla, when you could plop down four totems with satisfying thunks and carve through packs of angry mobs like they were butter with Windfury.

And after careful consideration, I decided to go ahead and deck the shaman out in a full set of heirlooms. Normally I wouldn't bother — experience isn't that hard to come by, and leveling is ridiculously fast these days. But I like the look of the shaman set, and I figured at least this way I could avoid the dreaded clown suit as I leveled. The XP bonus is a side effect that is currently rocketing my little shaman through levels far faster than I really care for, but at least she looks nice while she's merrily zapping things with lightning.

I am curious though — how many of you immediately deck an alt in heirlooms the second you make it? Do you do it for the obvious benefits like the XP bonus and armor you never have to worry about replacing? Do you like the look of heirloom gear? Do you wish there were more options for heirlooms — belts, gloves, boots? Or do you prefer leveling old school, sans-heirlooms, just wearing what you happen to pick up on your journey?