Heirloom Heirlooms are Bind to Account gear which players can equip on any level character to increase the rate at which they gain Experience . Heirlooms increase in power as a character increases in level , ensuring the player almost always has the best item for the slot in which the heirloom is equipped . Heirlooms can be equipped through a menu of their own within the collections interface , providing the player has already collected the heirloom on one of their characters . History . The precursors to modern - day heirlooms were introduced in Vanilla / Classic World of Warcraft . Heirlooms up to the Wrath of the Lich King expansion were items that were sold by a specific battleground vendor . There were Warsong Gulch , Arathi Basin and Alterac Valley heirlooms . Heirlooms that increase experience and scale based on character level were introduced in the expansion . These items have a light - yellow or pale golden hue in their text color , and their attributes scale with the character ' s level . However , their quality color changed to aqua cyan in Legion . Nearly all heirloom items are named after popular items from the early days of classic " World of Warcraft " , and share the look of these items . When these new style of heirlooms were originally added , a player would purchase the single , physical piece of gear from a vendor , and could subsequently mail that heirloom item to any of their characters . However , sharing the item between two or more of their characters would require a player to keep mailing the item back and forth between characters . This was later changed with the addition of the collections interface , allowing players to " create " an heirloom from their list of collected ones . Bind to Account . Once purchased , heirlooms bind to the account , as opposed to an individual character . This means they can be used on any character that shares the same account , and as of Patch 3 . 3 including those of opposing faction . . Also , heirloom items can be returned for a refund within the normal 45 minute grace period . Sometimes any Bind to Account items are referred to as " heirlooms " even though they are not technically the same ( they usually don ' t scale , unlike true heirlooms ) . Quality equivalent and type transformation . Heirlooms automatically take on the attributes of a blue quality item of the level of its wearer . At the heirloom ' s level cap , heirlooms are approximately equivalent to an item level 187 ( lvl80 ) or 333 ( lvl85 ) item , and will ultimately be replaced by questing , instancing , and PvP as the character progresses to maximum level . Heirloom items do not have a durability stat , and do not need to be repaired . This saves money when leveling your character . Heirlooms were given a durability stat in Patch 3 . 3 . 5 , but this was quickly hotfixed . Mail and plate items scale with characters as they become able to wear them at level 40 . For instance , if you buy a mail heirloom armor item , it will scale down to leather when equipped on a level 12 shaman and then scale back to mail again when the shaman reaches 40 . Experience bonus . Heirloom armor pieces ( not counting trinkets ) allow greater experience gains while wearing them . The experience bonuses from the helms , cloaks , shoulders , chestpieces , legs and rings stack with each other and with the rested bonus , and affect experience gains from quests , but do not stack with Essence of Wintergrasp . The experience bonus benefits of the heirloom shoulders , chestpieces and ring only apply up to level 80 unless upgraded to the level 85 version . The helm , legs and cloak will continue to provide their experience benefits through level 85 . With helm , shoulders , chest , cloak , and ring equipped , a character of level 1 - 80 would provide a character 40 % increased experience from quests and kills , falling off to 15 % from 81 - 85 . No class restrictions . Heirloom item restrictions are skill based and not class based . For instance , any class could wear the cloth shoulders and chest for the 20 % experience boost , but classes such as warriors and rogues would not benefit from the item ' s casting stats . Additionally , with the introduction of armor specialization in patch 4 . 0 , it is highly advisable to obtain the appropriate Heirloom armor type for the class you plan to level . Level 85 heirlooms . In the Cataclysm expansion ( Patch 4 . 0 . 3 ) , heirlooms were added that scale up to level 85 equivalents ( helms , cloaks , legs , and rings ) . In Patch 4 . 1 , a few more were added ( helm , cloak , legs , and ring ) . In Patch 5 . 2 , the option to upgrade your heirloom to scale to 85 was added . They require you have the previous version of the heirloom and a small Justice Points or Honor fee is needed to upgrade an heirloom . The Argent Tournament Grounds ' s vendor below does not sell any heirlooms that scale to level 85 . Easier to get in Patch 5 . 3 . In Patch 5 . 3 , the amount of , , and needed to upgrade Heirloom items was reduced by 60 % . In Warlords of Draenor . With the release of Patch 6 . 1 in the Warlords of Draenor expansion , heirlooms are now split into 3 groups that each have different levels ranges for their experience bonus . Acquisition and upgrade changes . Also in Patch 6 . 1 , the method of getting a heirloom has now been standardized to purchase via gold as opposed to all the various methods before ( although many can still be purchased with and ) . For a level 1 - 60 piece it will cost either to depending on the piece and will be required to be upgraded to a higher tier . To upgrade a heirloom to you buy a levels 1 - 90 upgrade from the same vendor for either or again depending on the piece and or if you want to upgrade a 1 - 90 to 1 - 100 piece . Storage and retrieval . New UI with Patch 6 . 1 includes the Heirlooms tab in the Collection window to the right of previous tabs . This tab should list all collected heirlooms similar to the Toy Box tab . Just open the Heirloom tab in game and mouse over item to see where it is sold or obtained . Once obtained , you can create an unenchanted copy of that heirloom . Shoulders . The heirloom shoulders were originally sold only in Wintergrasp or Dalaran . In Patch 3 . 2 . 0 , the level 80 shoulders sold in Dalaran are also purchasable from at the Argent Tournament Grounds in Icecrown for Champion ' s Seal s once the title has been earned . . Both PVP and PVE shoulders give 10 % XP bonus for killing monsters and completing quests . Chestpieces . Heirloom chestpieces were released in Patch 3 . 2 . 0 . They have a 10 % experience boost from quests and kills , and this boost stacks with the 10 % from the shoulders ( thus making leveling for the lower - levels much easier ) . Chest items . Below , classes in parentheses are not in the proper armor class , but will still get the full benefit from the listed heirloom . Classes in brackets will find the heirloom significantly weaker than another one , but will still benefit . Keep this in mind if buying an heirloom for several alt s to use . Rings . In Patch 3 . 3 . 0 , the was added and was the first heirloom ring that grants players an additional 5 % XP bonus ( stackable with bonuses from other heirloom armor pieces ) for quests and kills . Unlike the other heirlooms , the Dread Pirate Ring is only available by winning 1st place in the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza . Prior to Mist of Pandaria , the ring was also obtainable by completing . This makes it one of the most difficult of all heirloom pieces to obtain since only one person can win 1st place in the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza each week . The ring offers Stamina , Haste and Critical strike rating , making it universally desirable for all classes and talent specs . Prior to Warlords of Draenor , the Dread Pirate Ring had Hit , making it ideal for tanks and DPS as Hit was hard to come by below Level 60 . In Patch 6 . 2 , three new rings were added ( Signet of the Third Fleet , Admiral Taylor ' s Loyalty Ring , and Captain Sander ' s Returned Band ) . These three rings can be obtain from Naval Missions . Weapons , accessories , misc . . Like the shoulders , many of these weapons and other heirlooms were originally sold either in Dalaran or in Wintergrasp . Some were added as available only at the Argent Tournament , but currently both the Dalaran and Argent Tournament vendors offer the same selection of items . Cloaks . Heirloom Cloaks now appearing in Patch 4 . 0 . 3 as part of the new Guild Leveling / Rewards system . They have a 5 % experience boost from quests and kills and stack with all other Heirloom items . Cloak item vendors . Once your guild has Reached Level 10 , these can be purchased from NPCs with the title in any Azeroth capital . Cloak items . Below , classes in parentheses are not in the proper armor class , but will still get the full benefit from the listed heirloom . Classes in brackets will find the heirloom significantly weaker than another one , but will still benefit . Keep this in mind if buying an heirloom for several alt s to use . Head . Heirloom heads now appearing in Patch 4 . 0 . 3 as part of the new Guild Leveling / Rewards system . They have a 10 % experience boost from quests and kills and stack with all other Heirloom items . Head item vendors . Once your guild has Reached Level 20 , these can be purchased from the following vendors : Head items . Below , classes in parentheses are not in the proper armor class , but will still get the full benefit from the listed heirloom . Classes in brackets will find the heirloom significantly weaker than another one , but will still benefit . Keep this in mind if buying an heirloom for several alt s to use . Legs . With the release of Mists of Pandaria , leg heirlooms ( level 1 to 85 ) can be unlocked by completing the guild achievement , . Once unlocked they can be purchased from Guild Vendor s . Shields . As of Patch 5 . 3 , 2 Heirloom quality shields were made available at Heirloom and vendors for , although the items were technically added in Patch 5 . 2 . The plan was to add some in Patch 5 . 2 , but some scaling bugs prevented them from getting into the release . As of Patch 4 . 1 , there were no Heirloom quality shields , but Blizz ard was thinking about it and planned to add some in the future . Special heirloom shields . In Patch 5 . 4 , can drop item level 548 / 561 / 574 quality shields , but these are a special type that can only be used by level 90 to 100 ( yes , 100 ) characters . Neck . In Patch 6 . 1 , 6 neck heirlooms were added . These heirlooms focus a little bit more on specialization and roles than most heirlooms . They can all be bought from Krom Stoutarm in the Hall of Explorers in Ironforge or Estelle Gendry in the Rogues ' Quarter in Undercity for each . < br > Neck Heirlooms Head and Shoulder enchants . The head enchants were available at revered with certain factions , and the shoulder enchants available at exalted with the Sons of Hodir , are also heirloom - quality items , but are only useable by level 80 characters . This is to allow for the use of these powerful enchants without having to grind through the reputation s ( particularly Sons of Hodir ) with another character . The enchants became Bind to Account in Patch 3 . 3 . 0 . Note that these Heirloom items are the only the " highest level " version of the item the faction vendor carries . For example , is not an Heirloom and the name will not appear in a brown color in the vendor ' s trade window . Even though you are able to purchase and enchant both Head and Shoulder Heriloom enchants , they WILL NOT activate until level 80 , essentually making them useless . You need at least the Wrath of the Lich King expansion to acquire these enchants . Shoulder Enchants < br > As of Patch 5 . 0 . 4 , Head enchants are no longer obtainable . They are now grey quality items that cannot be used . Head Enchants Enchanting your Heirlooms . Heirlooms can be enchanted only with enhancements that will not bind the item to the character . The items are treated as item level 1 , and so most Burning Crusade or higher enhancements cannot be applied to them . Death Knight runes became applicable to heirlooms in 4 . 0 . 1 . Enhancements that require a base character level to use , such as Zandalar Signets , will become active only when the character has reached that required level . The shoulder enchants from the Inscription profession work on Heirlooms shoulders at any level as long as the character has Inscription as one of his professions . Thus the minimum level required to have these shoulder enchants is 65 ( for a skill of 400 ) . The PvP shoulder enchant will work only after your character reaches level 70 . It is not possible to enchant the heirloom ring due to the level restrictions of all ring enchantments . For the sake of space , only the most useful enchantments are included in the list below . The + 15 agility enchant is more powerful and preferable to Lifestealing , Crusader , Fiery , and Icy Chill , if more costly .