faction-reputation
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Pandaria faction tabards don't grant reputation
Breaking from the pattern set by Wrath and followed up in Cataclysm, this latest beta patch confirms that tabards for factions based in Pandaria will not grant reputation for wearing them in dungeons. Instead, we'll be going back to the vanilla-style model where tabards are one of the rewards for hitting exalted level with a faction. I'm assuming that this is part of Blizzard's plan to make factions mean something instead of just feeling like an obligatory grind, as stated at the MoP press event in March. While I appreciated the convenience of the rep-granting tabards, I appreciated them because without them, getting rep for those factions was a bit of a nightmare. If the way the system works now lets me gain rep at a reasonable pace without these tabards, hey, I'm all for bragging rights tabards instead. The MoP factions that will be affected by this (read: all of them) are: The Klaxxi The August Celestials The Golden Lotus The Lorewalkers The Order of the Cloud Serpent The Shado-Pan The Tillers The Anglers The Brewmasters It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Wasteland Diaries: Why do I PvP?
Lately I've been asking myself, "Why do I PvP in Fallen Earth?" The game isn't designed around PvP combat; it's more of a sideshow. The factional conflict was what made me decide to try it out in the first place. But after getting to max level, I realized that there wasn't a true faction conflict. There were just sporadic skirmishes arranged by the same core of players. So what is it that motivates me to do it? What is it that motivates other PvPers to do it? I can think of a few possibilities, but even if I look at my best reasons as objectively as possible, they aren't even remotely good reasons. Yet I keep doing it. In this post I will take a look at what drives one to PvP in Fallen Earth. What are the benefits? What are the risk vs. reward factors? Are there objectives or goals? When I look at the cold, hard facts, I'm still not quite sure what motivates me (or the others who still hang around). After the cut, I'll go over all the potential reasons to PvP in FE (that I can imagine) and possibly narrow it down.
Totem Talk: Restoration shaman guide to Cataclysm reputation gear
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement and restoration shaman. Want to be a sultan of swing healing? A champion of Chain Heal? Totem Talk: Restoration will show you how, brought to you by Joe Perez, otherwise known as Lodur from World of Matticus and host of the BDTU: Lore edition podcast Last week, we consolidated the expansion's changes for restoration shaman in a Cataclysm 101 post -- just the basics there, nothing too fancy quite yet. This week, I fully intended to begin writing restoration guides for the various 5-man dungeons and heroics, but instead, I'd like to take some time and talk about gearing up before you even set foot in dungeons at level 85. Over the last week, I've received a massive influx of email asking about what gear is available through questing and through the various factions. While it is very true that you can receive quite a bit of gear from questing, the reputation rewards are quite stellar. You will gain a sizeable chunk of reputation simply from leveling to 85, so let's see what gear you can pick up along the way. For today, we'll keep Mail Specialization in mind and stick with the mail gear, rings and trinkets available from the various factions.
Wasteland Diaries: Faction control points
Faction control points are the newest PvP draw in Fallen Earth. They're still in their infancy, but I have already seen an increase in faction control point PvP. Factional warfare has always taken a backseat to clan warfare in Fallen Earth. At least for as long as I can remember. Right now, clan warfare vs. factional warfare is dividing the FE community. A rift between omni-clans and single-faction clans has resulted in more clan warfare, with factions completely disregarded. Faction control points were an effort to add some meaningful faction-based PvP to the game. In some ways it succeeds and in some ways it fails. I was able to get in there and test these faction control points this week. I died plenty, but I also slew more this week than I had in a long time. I was able to test them exhaustively alone and with a group. I was able to witness the dynamic of six different warring factions in one small town. If that wasn't confusing enough, there was also a layer of clan politics muddling things up even more. After the cut, I'll give you the low-down on faction control points (FCPs for short), detailing my personal experiences with them, and how they have changed the face of FE so far.
City tabards giving reputation in latest beta build
As of the recent beta build (13189) that went live earlier this evening, city tabards sold by racial factions (e.g., Thunder Bluff, Stormwind, Gnomeregan, Undercity) are now awarding reputation in dungeons. With the obvious exception of those offered by Gilneas and the Bilgewater Cartel, these tabards aren't technically new to the game -- you can get them at the Argent Tournament on the live servers right now if you want -- but the reputation gains are definitely a new perk. While you can still get the tabards from Argent Tournament vendors on the beta, each major city also has a faction quartermaster (usually close to the city's flight master and introduced in beta build 13066 in late September, I think) selling both the tabard and a set of level 40 cloaks. The tabards are available at friendly for 8 silver (even at the Tournament -- they no longer require Champion's Seals), but you can't get the cloaks without being exalted. Still, grinding reputation for one of your faction's races should be considerably easier in Cataclysm -- all you'll have to do is get to friendly, buy a tabard and run dungeons as you normally would. This is a great addition to the game. Not only will you have access to cool tabards even at a low level, but it should make getting other races' mounts and faction discounts much easier as well.
The OverAchiever: Reputation factions in Cataclysm
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, we find ourselves the designated butt-monkey of several new factions. Hello again, fellow achievement-hunters. This week we're going to finish up with a look at the new reputation factions available in Cataclysm and a quick look at new world events. "There aren't any new world events," you point out. That's what makes it so quick. Although this goes without saying in any article discussing new achievements, there are a few spoilers in here discussing how you meet and work with various Cataclysm factions. If you'd rather stay unspoiled about upcoming quests, don't go past the cut. 45 Exalted Reputations This is now the highest reputation-related achievement in the game. Interestingly, there is not a new title associated with it; you'll still receive The Exalted at 40 Exalted Reputations, although it's possible that it's just a placeholder. Then again, if you already have 40 exalted reputations, getting 45 should be very simple during Cataclysm, as there'll be at least six new reputation factions available. I'm not sure a new title's going to be in the cards as a result.
Arcane Brilliance: Level 80 mage gearing roadmap, part 1
Welcome to another installment of Arcane Brilliance, the weekly mage column of choice for mages who hate warlocks, warlocks who secretly want to be mages, and everybody else who likes their mage discussion sprinkled lightly with random and inappropriate references to Lost, Flock of Seagulls, Lufia, and KFC's new "Double Down Sandwich," or as I like to call it, "population control." I mean, seriously? Who greenlit this? "I have an idea, guys. Let's offer a bacon and cheese sandwich where we remove the bun and replace it with two slabs of fried chicken! Ooh, and then, instead of offering drink sizes, let's work on a way to allow customers to hook themselves directly into our soda machines intravenously. They'll be mainlining Dr. Pepper! Because if there's anything America needs more than ever during these tough economic times, it's more ways for people to kill themselves via food!" Lately, a lot of you have been asking for gearing advice for the new level 80 mage. It seems that a good number of people (myself included) have been making good use of this pre-Cataclysm lull to level their alts, and I'm proud to learn that many of you have chosen to level a mage as one of your alts. For many of you, the gearing landscape probably looks very alien when compared to the way it looked when you were gearing up your last character. New opportunities abound, with the promise of epic gear dangling around every bend. What path should you take? Fear not, young magelings. This week, Arcane Brilliance has decided to draw you a roadmap. Now, a warning: Arcane Brilliance can't draw. Seriously, when Arcane Brilliance was 5, he drew a picture of a "horse" for his mother. As horse pictures go, it was apparently quite disturbing. Arcane Brilliance had to spend some time at a hospital for "special" children, and mom started drinking heavily. So, you're going to have to use your imaginations about the "map" part of the roadmap. It's mostly going to consist of words, something Arcane Brilliance can produce largely without upsetting medical professionals. Largely. So you've hit level 80 with your mage. Your gear slots are likely filled with a random assortment of quest rewards, heirloom gear that suddenly doesn't look so good anymore, and stuff that dropped in normal Nexus ten levels ago. You'd like to start running some of the level 80 content, but your DPS still hasn't cracked a thousand. You're not geared enough for a trip to heroic Ramparts, let alone heroic Trial of the Champion. So what do you do? Where do you begin?
Faction Champion in 8885
From the 2008 Worldwide Invitational, we learned of a new way that we'll all be grinding faction reputation come the expansion. Namely, you will be able to become a faction's Champion. This is not a permanent change, and you are not stuck with only one faction, Instead, you simply put on the tabard and la! You are the new Champion. We were told that if you run a Coilfang dungeon wearing a Lower City tabard, you will gain the usual reputation for the Cenarion Expedition from the dungeon, as well as Lower City reputation. Supposedly, the tabards, usually acquired at exalted, will be moved to friendly or honored. While this makes me and my hard-earned tabard collection a bit sore, the prospect of earning reputation for any faction that I need, without running their dungeons over and over, is quite appealing. Here are the Champions we know of so far: Argent Champion Ebon Champion Champion of the Kirin Tor Wyrmrest Champion The descriptions are all the same. For example, "You champion the cause of the Argent Crusade. All reputation gains while in level 80 dungeons will be applied to your standing with them." To me, this seems to call the original quotation into question, as the current description makes it sound as though, instead of gaining reputation from the dungeon, and from the tabard, your dungeon reputation will simply count toward whichever faction's tabard you are wearing. Of course, that is still mightily handy. We'll be able to run the dungeons that contain the gear we need, while acquiring the reputation we desire.
Insider Trader: Faction recipes for jewelcrafters, part one
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.With all of the Wrath news flying around lately, it is a welcome break to be covering live content. For the past few weeks, Insider Trader has been delving into the recipes that each trade can acquire from factions by earning reputation. So far, we've covered: Plans for blacksmiths. Recipes for alchemists. Patterns for leatherworkers. Patterns for tailors. This week, we'll be looking into faction-supplied designs for jewelcrafters, and because of the sheer number of them, this will continue into next week as well. Here's a breakdown of the factions to which you'll be paying a fair amount of attention: (Note that the bold entries will be covered in this week's edition). Violet Eye, honored. (Karazhan) Thrallmar or Honor Hold, revered. Lower City, revered. Aldor or Scryers, revered. Sha'tar, revered. Keepers of Time, revered. Scale of the Sands, revered. (Mount Hyjal) Cenarion Expedition, exalted. Consortium, exalted. Shattered Sun Offensive, exalted.
Disclaimer: Faction grinding is not actually fun
Faction grinding may be a bore, but it is a necessary evil in games like World of Warcraft. As much as you may not like sitting around an area and killing the same creatures over, and over, and over again for items, you may be doing just that once you hit the level cap and have nothing better to do. All of a sudden, that faction grind is looking mighty tempting.Kaliope heard through the grapevine that Blizzard might be considering a new method of achieving faction points. One of the possible ideas mentioned: letting faction unlocks occur on an server level rather than on a per-character basis. Instead of doing the grind with every single one of your characters on a server, only your main would have to grind all the way up to exalted. Then, all of your characters on that server could claim the benefits of having the exalted level.Obviously this would mean some angry customers and more high-end items hitting the market, so the idea isn't perfect. But there's an interesting discussion going on at Kaliope's blog about how to ease the grind so it actually can become fun, rather than a slow and painful gameplay element.
