If you are a Monk prone to skipping a few deadbeat quests or just want to quicken your trip to level 90, a detour to your guild vendor or honor heirloom vendor for an experience boost might just make your ride through Pandaria a bit smoother.
While several different Heirlooms exist in game, the most common are heirlooms pieces for the head, shoulder, cloak and chest armor slots purchasable from Guild and various currency-based vendors.
Monk Heirloom Experience Increase
Each head, shoulder and chest heirloom armor piece increases the experience earned from quest, kills and objectives completed by 10%. An heirloom cloak or back piece and the more uncommon heirloom ring grants you a further 5% experience increase each. The experience increase from individual heirloom pieces stacks with each other and the bonus that comes from being rested in game.
Most heirloom items seize to grant the experience increase once you hit level 81. However, the heirloom items introduced in Cataclym, the head and cloak heirloom, continue to provide experience benefits up to and through level 85.
READ MORE: Mists of Pandaria Leveling Guide for Monks
Leather Leggings Heirlooms
Mists of Pandaria will introduce one further piece of Heirloom. If you are at least Honored with your Guild and your Guild has completed the Working Better as a Team guild achievement, you can purchase Leather Leggings Heirloom pieces from your Guild vendor. Just like the helm and cloak heirloom from the Guild Vendor, the leggings heirloom piece will provide experience benefits up to and including level 85.
Heirlooms are Bound-to-Account
Heirlooms bind to the account, as opposed to an individual character. This means Heirlooms items can be mailed and shared between multiple characters on different World of Warcraft accounts as long as they are linked to one and the same BattleNet account.
However, do remember that a specific heirloom armor piece may not be optimal to all classes or specs.
Monk Leather Specialization
As Monk, you are given the choice of Leather armor heirlooms with agility stats optimized for Monk Brewmasters and Monk Windweavers or Leather armor heirlooms with intellect stats intended for Monk Mistweavers. The Leather Specialization stat increase only factors your armor gear. It does not include gear such as cloak, neckpiece, rings, trinkets and weapons.
Unless you are dead set on rolling a Mistweaver, I would suggest sticking to agility stated Leather and a Windwalker or Brewmaster spec. While Mistweaver is a ridiculously fun spec to play, it hits like a wet noodle at lower levels. Going Mistweaver will inadvertently draw out and prolong the time you spend leveling.
Brewmaster Monk Leather Specialization
Increases your Stamina by 5% while only wearing Leather gear
Windwalker Monk Leather Specialization
Increases your Agility by 5% while only wearing Leather gear
Mistweaver Monk Leather Specialization
Increases your Intellect by 5% while only wearing Leather gear.
Monk Leather Heirlooms
Head
Stained Shadowcraft Cap 1-85 +Agility +Stamina
Purchased form Guild Vendor
Preened Tribal War Feathers 1-85 +Stamina +Intellect + Spirit
Purchased form Guild Vendor
Shoulder
Stained Shadowcraft Spaulders 1-80 +Agility +Stamina
Purchased from Heirloom Vendor, Justice Heirloom Vendor and Crusader’s Quartermaster
Exceptional Stormshroud Shoulders 1-80 +Agility +Stamina
Purchased from Honor Heirlooms Vendor and Wintergrasp Quartermaster
Preened Ironfeather Shoulders 1-80 +Stamina + Intellect
Purchased from Heirloom Vendor, Justice Heirloom Vendor and Crusader’s Quartermaster
Lasting Feralheart Spaulders 1-80 +Stamina +Intellect
Purchased from Honor Heirlooms Vendor and Wintergrasp Quartermaster
Back
Inherited Cape of the Black Baron 1-85 +Agility +Stamina
Purchased form Guild Vendor
Ancient Bloodmoon Cloak 1-85 +Stamina +Intellect
Purchased form Guild Vendor
Chest
Stained Shadowcraft Tunic 1-80 +Agility +Stamina
Purchased from Heirloom Vendor, Justice Heirloom Vendor and Crusader’s Quartermaster
Preened Ironfeather Breastplate 1-80 +Stamina +Intellect
Purchased from Heirloom Vendor, Justice Heirloom Vendor and Crusader’s Quartermaster
Ring
Dread Pirate Ring 1-80 +Stamina
Reward for winning the Kalu’ak Fishing Derby
Legs
Stained Shadowcraft Pants 1-85 +Agility +Stamina
Purchased form Guild Vendor
Preened Wildfeather Leggings 1-85 +Stamina +Intellect +Spirit
Purchased form Guild Vendor
Final Though: Heirlooms Stats and iLevel
The benefits of Heirlooms are not limited to XP bonus stacking. While the ilevel value of an Heirloom item remains unchanged as you level up, the Heirloom attributes and stats scale with character level. Heirloom weapons and trinkets may not provide an experience increase, but ensure you won’t have to worry about weapons upgrades until you set your foot in Mount Hyjal or dive into the waters of Vashj’ir.
