Posts with tag reputation-rewards

In case you missed the latest update to the patch 5.4 PTR, a major change was added that ought to help players looking to level and gear alts. According to the notes, all reputation gear will have its reputation requirement removed entirely in 5.4. This means that any faction-specific epic gear will no longer require players to earn reputation with that faction in order to purchase it. The only exception to this is the Shado-Pan Assault, which will have its requirements reduced to Friendly or below.

But believe it or not, that' s not the biggest change to the gear! All Valor gear will now cost Justice Points instead of Valor -- and all blue gear that currently costs Justice Points will be reduced in cost by 75%. Again, the only exception to this is the Shado-Pan Assault gear, which will still cost Valor, but have its cost reduced by 34%. Please note that all other items, including mounts, tabards, and various unrelated baubles will not be changed -- and all items that currently require an Exalted reputation will not receive any changes.

However, this change suddenly gives Justice Points a definitive use again. Since 5.4 is currently believed to be the last raid patch of this expansion, the changes make sense -- players that have come in very late in the expansion should find it much easier to gear up and get caught up with the latest content. I know I've got a few alts that will definitely see a little more play time once these changes are in place. There has been no notification that Valor points will be reset with the next patch, however things may change at any time -- we'll let you know if we see any further changes.

In patch 5.4, several fairly dramatic changes are taking place, but none quite so dramatic as the state of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. So severe, in fact, that it seems that the achievement Eternally In the Vale is being turned into a Feat of Strength with the next patch. Why? Well ... let's just say that the quests required for completing the achievement are no longer possible to complete, when patch 5.4 hits -- we'll leave it at that.

This has many players wondering, however, what happens to Golden Lotus reputation when the new patch arrives. Will it go away? Where will all the daily quests go? How do you get reputation with the Golden Lotus, when many of the quest objectives and NPCs have been altered in a significant fashion? We poked around a bit on the PTR and while we may not have solid answers, we do have a general idea of where things are going -- and don't worry, your reputation will still be obtainable.

Needless to say, patch 5.4 spoilers abound within this post.

When we last visited Sunsong Ranch in patch 5.2, it was to news of several improvements of the farming content. This included some changes to the Master Plow, some changes to the way seeds were planted, and to top it all off, the option to purchase your farm and make it your very own. This meant that the farm would turn into a rest point and an area where one could immediately log out of the game -- something that players had been requesting ever since they began helping Yoon and planting their own crops on his farm.

While we knew that the option would eventually be added, it was not available with patch 5.2's first iteration on the PTR. So we had no news on how much it would cost, what kind of reputation you would need to have, or what exactly would happen to Farmer Yoon after you purchased his property. The latest build to hit the PTR has now unlocked the feature, and players can now test out the content to their heart's content.

But uh ... you can't purchase the farm.

There's been plenty of talk over the last couple of months about Sunsong Ranch, the farm that players can adopt and use to grow various crops of their own. A lot of that talk revolved around whether or not Sunsong Ranch was the first step towards player housing, a feature that a lot of players have been wistfully wishing for since the days of vanilla. Earlier this month, we asked Cory Stockton and Dave Kosak if this was indeed the case, and the response was that while the ranch could be interpreted that way, player housing wasn't something intended for the future.

However, both Stockton and Kosak were excited with how well the farming feature had been received, and with how well it integrated with other features in the game. As a new feature, the farm works seamlessly with other professions in the game. Being able to grow your own resources has been a tremendous boon for players, but the question still remained -- how could the farming feature be improved even further?

Well ... how about as an additional means to gather reputation?

At the four cardinal points of Pandaria, great beasts known as the August Celestials watch over the precious continent. To the east is Yu'lon, the Jade Serpent -- a being of unfathomable power who is neither the first nor the last Jade Serpent in existence. While speaking to Yu'lon, it is made clear that upon her death, her life's essence will be passed on to another, in cycle that indicates some type of immortality.

There are three others in Pandaria; Chi-ji the Red Crane to the south, Xuen the White Tiger to the North, and Niuzao the Black Ox to the west. It's not clear if these three follow the same cycle as Yu'lon, but all three share the same sparkling, ethereal appearance. We don't know where they came from. We don't know what they are. We don't know exactly how long they've been on Pandaria, although there is mention of Yu'lon in tales from the last Pandaren Emperor. We don't know what their ultimate purpose on Pandaria is, except to guard and watch over the world.

And one would think that a reputation grind dedicated to these ethereal creatures would answer at least a few of these questions.

Patch 5.1 introduces two new factions -- Operation Shieldwall for the Alliance, and the Dominance Offensive for the Horde. With these two new factions are new dailies to complete that involve the new faction areas in the Krasarang Wilds. Although the new factions are meant to encourage world PvP, it is not necessary to flag in order to participate in the quests. So far the daily quests involve gathering resources and cheerfully murdering the other faction.

And of course both sides have their own sets of reputation rewards available for purchase with Justice and Valor points. There is a reputation requirement on gear, but it never goes above Revered -- the only bonus to being exalted is the sweet new mounts that were datamined earlier this month. As for the gear, some items can be purchased immediately for Justice points, but the more valuable gear requires at least honored reputation to obtain.

If you're interested in seeing what your faction has to offer in 5.1, check out the full galleries below.

---

Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.

---

I gotta say, I really dig the Shado-Pan. I liked them from the first moment I saw them in the beta. I think a lot of it has to do with what kinds of characters make up the faction. While the rest of Pandaria is full of affable characters like the Tillers, who are free with food, drink, story and song, the Shado-Pan represent the other side of the pandaren race. They're the warriors, the fighters, the fierce, strong and sometimes dark side of pandaren culture.

They are not welcoming, they are not particularly friendly, and to be perfectly honest the majority of them are pretty angry that we've shown up on Pandaria. Now perhaps it says something about me, but that fact in and of itself made me want to grind out this reputation. I mean, here I am, hero of Azeroth, killed Deathwing and interrupted what was going to be the end of the world and these guys are treating me like a total scrub? Oh it's on, guys.

Not to mention the absolutely fantastic taste these guys have in hats. Have you seen the hats? I knew I needed one of those hats the moment I laid eyes on it.

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

Blizzard decided to try something completely new for Mists of Pandaria. In an effort to increase the amount of things to do once you've hit level 90, they left an entire zone as level 90 content. The Vale of Eternal Blossoms has a small handful of quests to do once you've gotten there, but the majority of what is going on in the Vale -- and there is a lot going on in the Vale -- happens after you hit level 90, and plays out as a series of daily quests in the Golden Lotus reputation grind.

The idea behind that, the objective of giving players more to do at level 90, is a good one. Once you've hit level 90, you no longer have an experience bar. It's instead replaced by reputation bars, and you level your way through the reputation just as you leveled your way through 85-90 content. And for the Golden Lotus, it's going to take a lot of leveling reputation to prove yourself.

After all, these guys are protecting one of the most hallowed places in Pandaria, and they decided to let you in.

You address your elder ...

The Klaxxi are one of the most bizarre reputation grinds in Pandaria, and it has little to do with the mechanics of the process. Your path to gaining reputation remains simple for the most part, completing daily quests with the occasional turn in of reputation-enhancing items. In addition, you'll get the opportunity to complete extra daily quests, depending on what daily hub you happen to be assigned to that day.

However, the story of the Klaxxi is anything but simple. You are referred to with the name Wakener by all of the Klaxxi you encounter -- as far as they are concerned, there is no need to give you another name. And although the reputation grind for the Tillers contains friendly faces and nice people, the Klaxxi are all the way over on the other end of the spectrum.

Which is actually part of the charm, oddly enough.

I may have taken leave of my sanity. I'm currently in the midst of a massive reputation grind in an effort to get everything to exalted. Part of this is because I like seeing green bars fill up on my screen, but part of it was intense curiosity towards the new daily system. Despite a somewhat compelling story, the daily quests in the Firelands just didn't quite work for me. Partially because the story just didn't seem all that compelling, but mostly due to the fact that the majority of the quests took place in a zone that was red on red.

I hate red zones.

Regardless, as a result of the experience I've seen what these rep grinds look like, and surprisingly, they're all different. You're not going to get the same experience doing each, and the quests aren't really very similar between each, either. Some of the reputation grinds are fantastic, and some ... well let's just say they could use some work. But let's take a look at what was hands-down my favorite rep grind and exactly what made it so fantastic to grind out.