Oddities in Hardcore

[Jolikmc]

So, I found out something interesting things about Hardcore Mode, today. Some of these seem rather important to note, somewhere. (Maybe in that introductory post or NPC dialogue?)

Upon starting Hardcore Mode by finishing the quest "Stay a While And Listen…":

• All money and almost all items* aside from the Hearthstone will be completely erased from both the player's inventory and in the player's bank.
  Edit: Apparently, this is mentioned in the yellow System text. Wow, do I feel like a dope.
• Worn armor and weapons with an Item Level higher than 5 or a level requirement to equip will be completely erased from both the player's inventory and in the player's bank.
• Any enchantments on any equipment** regardless of kind or source will be removed from equipment.
• The player's flight paths, professions, secondary skills, bank bag slots, and weapon skills will not be reset.
• Ammo bags and ammo*** will not be erased.

* This wasn't tested thoroughly so I have no idea what, specifically, does and doesn't disappear.
** Big thanks to the player who clarified this for me before I actually tested it! (You know who you are~)
*** Someone on Discord mentioned this but I don't know if that applies to all ammo bags and ammo.

I started an Alliance character and sent them a Battleworn Hammer, Brawler's Harness, Brawler's Pants, and Recruit's Boots (all Item Level 1). They also had a Small Silk Bag (IL 25). When I completed the Hardcore Mode initiation quest, all of my equipment stayed, but the Small Silk Pack and its contents (a Hearthstone) vanished without warning. This seems like something that players should be informed of beforehand.

I created a new character, then, and sent myself some Light Armor Kits to "enchant" my Squire's Pants and a purchased Tarnished Chain Vest. I was expecting the vest to vanish when I enabled Hardcore Mode, but to my surprise, it didn't. On this same character, I also purchased Mining, Skinning, First Aid, and Two-Handed Swords. None of these vanished.
On a different character I made purely I had gone to Ironforge and learned the "Two-Handed Maces" skill. I also collected the flight path while there. When I finished the Hardcore quest, I retained these things.

As for the flight path and bank bag slots, as well as items vanishing from the bank, I was informed by some people on the Discord server that this stuff happens. Or doesn't happen, in the case of flight paths and bank bag slots.

[Sinrek]

It wouldn't be a real Hardcore if people mail money, bags and enchanted stuff to their lvl 1 soon to be HC characters, don't you think?

[Jolikmc]

I think you misunderstood the point of my post.

I'm not in here saying "Change it, change it right now!!" I simply made this post to inform people of some undocumented stipulations for Hardcore that anyone taking the challenge might not be aware of. Yes, I'm certain that 90% of people who try it just go straight from spawn and talk to the Mysterious Stranger, but then there are people like me who like to experiment and push things as far as possible. Though, in my specific case, I just wanted a big bag to carry ore in right from the start.

That's all.

[Beefus]

Some of them are covered in the quest text. There's some kind of warning in chat about some of these. It doesn't show up in the quest text, but as a sort of disclaimer in your chat window. They even steal your food



I don't even know how I noticed this. My brain tunes out 99% of yellow messages.

Thanks for trying the enchantment thing; I was wondering if someone could do a Minor Speed enchantment on some level 1 cloth boots, or that +7 all stats to a festival dress, or something overpowered like that like the old level 1 twink days. Guess not!

The few vulnerabilities you found in the system are kind of fascinating.