Coin store -- worth it?

Hi all,

I'm new to this server, but I've been looking for a WotLK server to raid on for sometime now. I raided hardcore when WotLK was live and I'm interested in raiding again, even if it's just the occasional PUG ICC run. Now, I'm just figuring out the most time/cost efficient way to get to that end-content!

I've done some examining of the store and the different things you can buy (upgrade your character to level 80, buying characters, etc.), and I'm basically just trying to figure out what I should buy and what I'm better off just grinding out. I'm not super interested in releveling a character from scratch, but I also don't want to pay 20 coins for a level 80 that I'll have to put a ton of work in to get it raid ready.

What are people's thoughts/experiences with the store? As a newcomer, what are things I should know about and things I should avoid. Let me know your opinion :)

Extra questions if you happen to have a quick answer:
How hard is to buy coins with USD? If I were to use my CC, would the company just charge me a fee for the currency exchange?
When you pay to boost your character to 80, it says that it doesn't even come with spells (and of course, no gold), but spells cost A TON of gold, especially if you have to buy all the spells for level 2-80. Is my understanding of this accurate?

Thank you in advance!!

(EDIT-- If it wasn't already obvious, this is for the Icecrown server!)

Hello !

From my experience it is not worth it to donate for instant 80 level. The realm is X7 and leveling would take about 2 days if you give it time.

What is worth to donate for is heroic version of weapon and trinkets. The rest you are better of grinding. Also donating gives you acces to coin store where you can make gold and sell it for coins. Also not to mention the skipping queue privilege.

Regarding how hard is it to buy..well idk, for me it was really smooth with my credit card, no question asked and coins were added on my account imediately.

Have fun!

It really depends on the amount coins you are willing to donate for. You can get to 80 on Icecrown in a few hours with power leveling and even if you don't know anyone on the server and are a little bit rusty, you can ding 80 in about 15hrs played time. The benefit of leveling is also the chance to get the gathering professions and avoid the gold issue on a fresh level 80.
You can't really do anything if you just coin to level 80 without being able to buy/donate for basic gear. Naked 80s even get raped in TBC content...

I don't know if this is still the case, but the last times I did the level up it always got you 5000 gold to start with. You don't have gear, but skills weren't an issue.

If you are going to donate for gear, you usually want to get a weapon first and look at the harder to obtain items next. That's Halion25HC (ilvl 284) items in most cases. That doesn't always mean it's the best way to go in the short term, but grants you the most value if you have the patience to farm your tier sets.

Assuming you have enough coins, buy a character from trade. It'll come fully geared, usually lower price compared to coining it, gemmed, enchanted and with professions. Some players also leave tmog scrolls/gold in their inventory and sell it along with the character. I'd say it's the most efficient way to get quick access to end-game raiding. One thing to watch out for is the pseudo bis chars that are placed in the marketplace. A lot of players are clueless as to what their BiS looks like so if you go for buying a character make sure to inspect it before purchasing.

Thank you all for your inputs! This was very helpful :)

Im trying to find details on the skipping the queue priviledge overall for donating. It mentions you can, but does it cost coins each time you skip the queue, or is it just "Donate once and skip the queue forever" type of setup?

@Askoon
suggestion, level up your toon by yourself, instead use coin to purchse your class best weapon
because weapon give huge contribution on GearScore (and also damage) which will help you in the future
next priority should be best trinket

armor can be farmed via emblems



@diamondproval
on Icecrown, its "donate once and skip queue forever" without consuming your coin