Just coming back to the game after being gone a long time. I have been toying with the idea of making one of these 85 Heroics. What zone(s) would be a good molo/pug at that level. Is there any advantage/disadvantage to making a new char vs raising an existing one?
There's no real advantage/disadvantage that I can see; an old account is more likely to have veteran rewards available for the new/existing character, but that's about it. Basic advice for someone returning for a long time to a heroic character: first, make a level 1 and run it through the tutorial (Gloomingdeep). That's to remind you of controls and game mechanics - you will need that. When you make your heroic, do the J5 merc quest (Investigator Drolmer, No Heroism Without Fear). It's one of the easiest things you can do at 85, and therefore you should do it even with a Free/Silver account. That would lead you into the starter quests in House of Thule, which you can pick up from NPCs nearby. If you want a gentler introduction, and you probably will, I recommend Jonas Dagmire's Skeletal Hand, which is a series of quests leading to a decent aug - all mobs will be light blue or green for this. Use /achievement and look under The Buried Sea to find it (the same advice applies to locating any of the main quest series, including the HoT ones). Also, look at the hot zone daily quests given by Franklin Teek in the Plane of Knowledge. Levels 70, 75 and 80 should all be easy enough for getting some practice, and reasonable experience too. You will want bags: you get two good ones from the heroic upgrade. You can buy various (expensive) bags in the Bazaar, from the Marketplace, and from the Loyalty merchant (also in PoK). The best value are the trade skill bags you can buy in the Bazaar, although they only hold trade skill components - al lot of these drop, and can be quite valuable when you sell. There are also a few bag quests, and the Hero's Forge bundle that is on special offer at the moment includes two decent bags (24 slot, IIRC). You can probably join a PUG for the Grounds, or Valley of Lunayn, the two level 90 hot zones - without too much trouble. Groups are much easier if you are in a guild, and/or you form them yourself.
Borek gave you a lot of excellent advice. I just want to stress the part about joining a Guild. The problem is that many level 85 heroic characters aren't played with the expected skill of someone who leveled to 85 the old way, and some players are snobby about it, and won't group with those they don't already know or aren't in their own guild. You need a guild with lots of players who are willing to group with you at the times when you play. The system in place for that is /lfguild which only works on your current server. Make as many level 1 characters as you have patience for and use /lfguild on as many servers as possible. Talk to guild recruiters about when they play and at what levels and the probability of you getting real groups. Then make your character on that server or pay to have your character transferred there.
