The purpose of “white items” in World of Warcraft

If you’re at level 70 and brimming with purples and blues, what’s the use of white items in World of Warcraft? Well, you might be surprised at the answer.

Some have suggested that it was implemented to add “flavor” to the game or make the settings more believable. While this may be partially true since a weapon merchant isn’t much use if it’s not selling anything, there is another answer that is actually a bit deeper than that and one that is pretty obvious if you think about it.

Blizzard Poster/ Community Manager Nethaera gave the low-down on this:

White items are generally used as an inexpensive way of working up a weapon skill by some players since the dps is lower than a higher quality item. So, you can whack on a mob for longer and get more skill out if it than ripping through all the mobs in an area with a blue or purple item.

Some people like to buy some of the merchant items just to have them for flavor too. There is a method to the madness for item quality and what is referred to as an item budget. Better quality items have a higher budget so often have a few more stat points available to them.

The white items as a training tool makes a lot of sense and is a strategy that this blogger has never considered for leveling up his skills. So don’t look down on the white item, it has its purpose in the greater scheme of things.

Via WoW Forums

If you’re at level 70 and brimming with purples and blues, what’s the use of white items in World of Warcraft? Well, you might be surprised at the answer.

Some have suggested that it was implemented to add “flavor” to the game or make the settings more believable. While this may be partially true since a weapon merchant isn’t much use if it’s not selling anything, there is another answer that is actually a bit deeper than that and one that is pretty obvious if you think about it.

Blizzard Poster/ Community Manager Nethaera gave the low-down on this:

White items are generally used as an inexpensive way of working up a weapon skill by some players since the dps is lower than a higher quality item. So, you can whack on a mob for longer and get more skill out if it than ripping through all the mobs in an area with a blue or purple item.

Some people like to buy some of the merchant items just to have them for flavor too. There is a method to the madness for item quality and what is referred to as an item budget. Better quality items have a higher budget so often have a few more stat points available to them.

The white items as a training tool makes a lot of sense and is a strategy that this blogger has never considered for leveling up his skills. So don’t look down on the white item, it has its purpose in the greater scheme of things.

Via WoW Forums