What to heirloom on first retirement for a 1 hander

[Teeth]

If you are going to loom a weapon or a shield, pick one that people want, check the marketplace which weapons people want to buy, so you can always sell your loomed weapon if you trade class.

[Rumaahinen]

I would still recommend selling your loom points. 450k is kinda standard price and most of the MW 1h weapons cost 900k maximum if you know when to buy. MW Long Espada was sold for about 800k couple of days ago and I bought MW scimitar for 750k just recently. Good thing about gold is also that if you get bored and decide to change build you can always just buy different weapon. Buying shields is harder as MP shields are a lot rarer than MW 1h weapons.

[Phazey]

It all really depends.

Safe choice? Gloves.
Why? Virtually class independent: you'll always be able to use your heirloom, even if you decide to try a totally different build and class next generation.

Optimal choice from a min-maxer's perspective? Probably weapon, but only if you are able to pick ONE weapon you are sure you'll be using forever. Also, you risk regretting it a lot when the game balance changes or your weapon gets nerfed.

You can also consider heirlooming your body armor. Pretty safe choice, but slightly less safe than the gloves.

Or shield, if you're sure about that one shield you'll be using forever.

My advice? Go for one of the safe options if you're not 100% sure. Picking up other weapons and trying & buying different weapons is great fun. Keep that in mind. Any one loadout of equipment can become restrictive. So don't pin yourself down before you are ready.

Instead of mulling over what choice would be optimal, pick something you like. Something you identify with. The differences are so small anyway that it's probably best to pick something you identify with, something that 'suits your style'. You know, something you'd pick if you were roleplaying.

For example: i'm heirlooming my Huscarl shield not just because it's probably a reasonable choice, but mostly because i kinda consider it my trademark. Safer and more optimal choice would have been gloves, but i don't regret the decision at all.

[Turkhammer]

Thanks for all the good answers.  It gives me something to go on.  I never would have considered gloves or mitts, but it makes perfect sense.  I don't normally use them because I was worried about upkeep but now I will reconsider that.

About selling the loom point.  If I sell the loom point, how would I get this character another loom point?  Would I respec and build back up to level 31, or would I retire without looming an item and grind back up?

[Ylca]

Thanks for all the good answers.  It gives me something to go on.  I never would have considered gloves or mitts, but it makes perfect sense.  I don't normally use them because I was worried about upkeep but now I will reconsider that.

About selling the loom point.  If I sell the loom point, how would I get this character another loom point?  Would I respec and build back up to level 31, or would I retire without looming an item and grind back up?

When you sell a loompoint the person you sell to gives you the loom, you loom it as you retire, then you trade it back. Usually there is some sort of deposit involved to insure that the person getting their item loom doesn't just have it stolen outright.

[Turkhammer]

I see, so when I trade the item back to him after I loom it for him, he pays me the agreed price?  I see a level of trust or escrow is needed because if I was nefarious I could keep his item or if he was dishonest he could refuse to pay after I trade it back.

[Fenriss]

What is the prefered level to retire? As soon as you hit the required level or continue on till you have better gear etc?

I currently have really bad items but I'm at the level to retire, what should I do? (new to this )

[Corwin]

As soon as you hit 31. What are these bad items you are talking about?

[Fenriss]

Sorry, quite a bit off from retiring after looking back.

but yeah, I'm currently level 20 and tourney armour and mail coif/mittens/chausses and a side sword with a blue norman shield