by Medeor on Mar 26, 2009
You'll notice that some of the rewards can be achieved prior to level
80. Those are the ones to aim for while you're leveling up. You can
earn experience points and reputation while you gather up some nice
loot.
Protection Based Gear
Next up, let's look at the plate designed for protection
spec loaded up
with defense.
Blizzard loves its tanks, so you'll have some good option when out
hunting for gear heavy in defense.
DPS or Damage Gear
Last but certainly not least is the damage dealer or
retribution spec
gear.
As you can see, you can even achieve epic level gear just through the
reputation process.
So where do I go?
The reputation vendors reside in the hubs of the quests that will grant
you reputation. Following is a quick tour of where you can start your
adventures:
The Argent Crusade
will first
be met in the northern reaches of Dragonblight, but a vast contingency
of outposts and daily quest also reside in Zul'Drak.
The Kalu'ak
are some of the
walrus-type humanoids added during Wrath. They tend to be near water
and like to fish (makes sense eh?). You'll find them early in your
Northrend tour as they are in both Borean Tundra and Howling Fjord.
You'll notice that you can garner some pre-level 80
gear with them that is quite nice.
The Kirin Tor
are focused on
taking the fight to the Scourge, so most of their quests are completed
in dungeons, but they also have daily cooking and jewelcrafting quests.
You'll find them in the Violet Hold in Dalaran and they will provide
you with plenty of ways to make the Scourge pay! While doling out some
nice goodies to you along the way.
The Knights of the Ebon
Blade
are most known for cranking out Death Knights (who start out as neutral
after completing the starter zone). The rest of us must work our way
through Zul'Drak and Icecrown to gain reputation with these vanquishers
of the Scourge.
The Sons of Hodir
are an
interesting crew. After a lengthy (24 parts seems lengthy to me) quest
chain, players become Neutral. That is a long ways just have someone
not hate you. It is all worth it though, as the quest chain is very
engaging with a great story arch and different quest mechanics. I won't
spoil it here, go see for yourself as the quest starts in a little
tavern at K3 called "They took our men!" You'll want to get reputation
with these guys no matter what spec you run, they have the best
shoulder glyph in the game for all classes (unless you are an inscriber
and can make the shoulder glyphs).
Wymrest Accord
describes the
uneasy truce between some of the dragon flights, their handlers and the
rest of us. We're all in this together as you'll complete quests in
Dragonblight (seems appropriate) based out of the tall structure of
Wyrmrest right smack in the middle of the zone. These guys will give
you the reigns to some dragons, so go make friends with them.
Other factions you'll meet along the way include the Murlocs on the
eastern coast of Borean Tundra. The Winterfin
Clan is not a clan you can garner real reputation with,
but you
can buy items from them using Winterfin Clams. For you starting out as
Retribution Paladins, I highly recommend the time it will take to
gather 50 clams and pick up Tidebreaker Trident.
So there is a brief introduction to the major reputation vendors in
Northrend and what they can provide for you. As said earlier, this is
by no means a complete list, but should give you enough information to
get you started and see which reputation rewards will best suit your
playstyle. Enjoy your run through Northrend and make some friends along
the way (they dole out good loot).