World of Warcraft at Ten Ton Hammer

“Faction grinding.” Two words that usher a host of gruesome thoughts for any MMO player.  It seems to have become a necessary evil of MMOs. WoW is no exception to this blight.  But it’s not all doom and gloom. Reputation rewards are one of the few things in WoW that a player has control over.  They may not be easy to obtain, but at least you know what you will receive.  No questions asked, obtain the correct faction and get item. It’s that simple. There is no waiting for a chance of an item drop.  Hell even when an item drops you may still need to roll against a competing player. AND if that’s not bad enough, a player may be forced to deal with one of the most horrific of all WoW enemies. The Loot Ninja, the scourge of raiding for gear.

Obtaining these reputations is pretty standard.  Locate the corresponding quest, accept quests, complete and turn in quests.  Wash, Rinse, Repeat until Exalted.  In addition to questing players can wear a tabard of the faction they are attempting to gain favor with, while running level 80 instances.  Tabards can only be purchased up gaining friendly status with the faction.  It’s a fantastic improvement over the previous run the same set of instances over and over again. An industrious player can gain exalted status with any reputation in mere days.   I myself could not, but I am far from industrious.

Fret not, by the time I hit 80 as a Horde Shaman my WotLK reputation looked like this.

• Argent Crusade – Friendly
• Kirin Tor – Friendly
• Knights of the Ebon Blade – Neutral (of course I just hit Icecrown, so this is a little low)
• The Kalu’ak – Revered
• The Sons of Hodir – Friendly
• The Wyrmrest Accord – Honored
• Horde Expedition – Revered
• Frenzyheart Tribe – Hated
• The Oracles - Honored

Gearing the shaman all depends on what kind of shaman you’ve decided to build for yourself.  It can make deciding where to focus.  Since just about every faction has something for your shaman. Here’s a quick little easy chart for you folks to follow. This is not a complete list of items, but a guide.  Slot enhancements and patterns have been omitted.  Sorry to break it to Blizzard, but we aren’t all Jewel Crafters. Which seems to be the disproportionate amount of faction based recipes.  If you are a Jewel Crafter, become exalted with every faction in the game, or maybe it just seems that way. Where’s the Alchemy love Blizzard?

Argent Crusade

There are a number of daily quests players can select from.  Choose four a day at 250 reputation apiece.

 
Kirin Tor

The only daily quest to yield Kirin Tor faction is the daily cook quest in Dalaran. So wearing that tabard and hitting instances is the way to go.

 
Knights of the Ebon Blade

Daily quests for 250 reputation apiece.

 
The Kalu’ak

By the time you are level 80, you should be close to revered or revered with these guys. If you are just short, hit a few of the daily quests. Go ahead and do the creepy and sometimes inappropriate feeling “Planning for the Future” quest.  It just feels so wrong.  Once Revered head over and collect your blue items.

The Sons of Hodir

There are many great enhancements here as well as mounts. Not worth the investment of time at the beginning.  Daily quests as well as turning in Relics of Ulduar, and you thought they were just for booze? For shame people, for shame.

 
The Wyrmrest Accord

Daily quests, 250 reputation for each quest.

 
Horde Expedition

The Horde Expedition is made up of the following four subsets. Each contributes to the Horde Expedition Reputation.

• The Hand of Vengeance
• The Sunreavers
• The Taunka
• Warsong Offensive

 
The Alliance Vanguard

The Alliance Vanguard is made up of the following four subsets. Each contributes to the Alliance Vanguard Reputation.

• Explorers’ League
• The Frostborn
• The Silver Covenant
• Valiance Expedition

 
Sholazar Basin Factions

Factions in Sholazar Basin can be switched by battling Artruis the Heartless.  He’s the lich with the Frenzyheart and Oracle enslaved mob.  Just kill the one you don’t want to be loyal to anymore.  Both sides have a random selection of daily quests.  Completing each of these quests will grant players an achievement, if that’s your thing.

Frenzyheart Tribe

The Oracles

 
Now get to questing and get those factions up there. Your free (well at least at nominal fee) items are waiting for you.