I'm working on my third Ambassador, as part of my ongoing experiments on how to do this the fastest and most efficient way possible. My 41 night elf druid is now Exalted in Darnassus and Stormwind, halfway through Revered with Exodar, and about 1/3 of the way in Revered in Ironforge and Gnomer.
So when did I start factioning? Level 41.
That is not a typo.
Now, from my previous rep experiments (see the tags for Rep Experiments 1 and 2, which involved repping first with an Alliance character and then with a Horde), I knew some of the secrets of how rep works and what's the best way to get the most bang for effort. Now, I've decided to refine the technique a bit, and so far I'm quite pleased with the results.
(And yes, I know you can also get a lot of player race faction doing Argent Tournament and Alterac Valley. However, I'm gearing this reputation stuff for people who want to do this earlier in their character's leveling careers. If you're 80, Argent Tournament is the easiest way, but some of us like the title earlier).
However, to those who don't want to go back and look at previous posts, I'll recap a few of the most important things to understand about player race faction in the game:
1. The newbie zones (1-10 zones) are among the biggest payoffs for rep. The quests are easy and the rep gains are huge -- often 250-350 rep per quest. DO NOT skip these. Rep goes DOWN from here! Start right with the level 1 quests; though unfortunately, Blizzard still makes it impossible for non-blood elves to do this in the first blood elf newbie zone, at least until you get up to the level 5 quests in the second area. You can do the 1-5 quests in all other areas, including the Draenei, although there is one quest line where you have to use the Draenei healing racial, so you'll have to skip that one if you're not Draenei. The zones in question are (Alliance) Elwynn Forest, Dun Morogh, Azuremyst Isle, Teldrassil, (Horde) Durotar, Tirisfal Glades, Eversong Woods, and Mulgore.
Remember that there are "hidden quests" in many of these places -- quests you get from dropped items. Don't skip any of these, even if this means farming every gnoll in Elwynn for the Gold Collector's Schedule to drop.
2. Dungeon quests are big payoffs -- often up to 500 rep.
3. Do holiday quests, as these often give a lot of rep and it's often for all five player factions on your side. As of this writing, the Harvest Festival is on, and there is a fairly easy one-off quest to leave a tribute. Do it, because it's either 500 Alliance or 500 Horde rep.
4. All quests that give player faction reputation in the level 11+ zones will give sympathetic rep -- that is, whatever the main player rep gets, you also get 25% of that on all other player faction reps. So a quest that gives you 200 rep for Orgrimmar will also give 50 rep for Silvermoon, Undercity, Thunder Bluff, and Darkspear. If you're having trouble with the harder reps like Exodar and Silvermoon, going back and doing quests for other factions will bring you up the ladder.
So those are concepts I've introduced before, but now that I'm factioning with my night elf druid, I have a couple of minor refinements.
In previous experiments, I ran the newbie zones in circuits. I started out in one 1-10 area as a level 1 character, finished that, moved to the next 1-10 area, and so on, until all four 1-10 areas were complete. Then I would start it over again, cycling through all the 11-20 zones. I thought this would be the fastest and most efficient way to faction up.
However, here's my new advice. Don't do that. Just level up as normal, as efficiently as you can, until you're level 40, and THEN go back and do the newbie zones, the 11-20 zones, etc.
At level 40, you can zip through the level 1-10 zones in near-record time. You're high enough level to blow through any of the mobs, and in fact, most mobs don't really want anything to do with you at all. You can just walk past trash mobs to end objectives and finish the quests more efficiently. Many classes have an AOE ability by level 40 (as a druid, I just got my first good one, Hurricane) which also cuts down considerably on time.
Consider not even looting mobs if you don't have to, at least in the 1-10 zones. In the 1-5 newbie areas, nothing of any interest will drop anyway. You can't even skin beast mobs at that level. Unless the quest calls for you to loot something, just leave it. You'll only make a couple silver total in money by looting and selling, and it slows you down. By the level 11 zones, you'll start getting some possibly good saleables, so it's worth it to consider looting then. But if you have a wealthy character, you might not even bother doing it then.
Because you are a high level character, you'll be able to pick up more quests from the start than if you were just barely high enough for the zone. Turn on Low Level Quest tracking and you're good to go. Using a mod like Quest Helper can aid you in stacking quests most efficiently to get as much done in as little time.
By level 40, you also have your epic land mount. Many of the newbie zones require a certain amount of long-distance running around, and having the epic land mount will really help you out a great deal.
Speed counts for another thing too: it minimizes your impact on the zone to other players. One of the problems with being level 40 and factioning in a zone that's 30 levels too low for you is that you can easily monopolize an area. Moving quickly through the content assures that you're not going to be inconveniencing any one person for any length of time, because you're going to move so much faster than they are. It's inevitable that you'll be wanting to do something at the same time as a "real" newbie, although if you try to do your low level factioning at off-peak hours, that can minimize the problem. But if you're moving through super quick, you will not inconvenience any one person for very long.
You don't get a lot of experience for factioning, as my level 41 druid illustrates. She had just dinged 41 when I started working on faction in earnest. Even without paying attention to it, I was very close to Exalted with Darnassus when I started, having done all the quests in Teldrassil, Darkshore, and Ashenvale as I leveled up. So I just started in the Draenei newbie zone, and by the time I finished Azuremyst and Bloodmyst, I was Exalted with Darnassus and getting very close to Exalted with Stormwind (also dinged Revered with all the other factions while I was at it). I finished Elwynn Forest and was halfway through Westfall when I dinged Exalted with Stormwind, though I finished Westfall and soloed Deadmines for the sympathetic faction (plus there are some very high-rep quests there for Ironforge and Gnomer). I've now finished Dun Morogh just started Loch Modan.
So how much experience has all this given her -- clearing out three 1-10 newbie zones, two 11-20 newbie zones, and clearing Deadmines? Total: three and a half bubbles.
But it was all very fast. I believe I may beat my old Alliance toon's record for level for hitting Ambassador. And it's taking a lot less time because, being overpowered as I am, I can be much more efficient.
The old methods hold, but my advice has changed a bit: level up and start when you're 40, after you get your epic mount. It'll go much more quickly and seem like a lot less effort.
So when did I start factioning? Level 41.
That is not a typo.
Now, from my previous rep experiments (see the tags for Rep Experiments 1 and 2, which involved repping first with an Alliance character and then with a Horde), I knew some of the secrets of how rep works and what's the best way to get the most bang for effort. Now, I've decided to refine the technique a bit, and so far I'm quite pleased with the results.
(And yes, I know you can also get a lot of player race faction doing Argent Tournament and Alterac Valley. However, I'm gearing this reputation stuff for people who want to do this earlier in their character's leveling careers. If you're 80, Argent Tournament is the easiest way, but some of us like the title earlier).
However, to those who don't want to go back and look at previous posts, I'll recap a few of the most important things to understand about player race faction in the game:
1. The newbie zones (1-10 zones) are among the biggest payoffs for rep. The quests are easy and the rep gains are huge -- often 250-350 rep per quest. DO NOT skip these. Rep goes DOWN from here! Start right with the level 1 quests; though unfortunately, Blizzard still makes it impossible for non-blood elves to do this in the first blood elf newbie zone, at least until you get up to the level 5 quests in the second area. You can do the 1-5 quests in all other areas, including the Draenei, although there is one quest line where you have to use the Draenei healing racial, so you'll have to skip that one if you're not Draenei. The zones in question are (Alliance) Elwynn Forest, Dun Morogh, Azuremyst Isle, Teldrassil, (Horde) Durotar, Tirisfal Glades, Eversong Woods, and Mulgore.
Remember that there are "hidden quests" in many of these places -- quests you get from dropped items. Don't skip any of these, even if this means farming every gnoll in Elwynn for the Gold Collector's Schedule to drop.
2. Dungeon quests are big payoffs -- often up to 500 rep.
3. Do holiday quests, as these often give a lot of rep and it's often for all five player factions on your side. As of this writing, the Harvest Festival is on, and there is a fairly easy one-off quest to leave a tribute. Do it, because it's either 500 Alliance or 500 Horde rep.
4. All quests that give player faction reputation in the level 11+ zones will give sympathetic rep -- that is, whatever the main player rep gets, you also get 25% of that on all other player faction reps. So a quest that gives you 200 rep for Orgrimmar will also give 50 rep for Silvermoon, Undercity, Thunder Bluff, and Darkspear. If you're having trouble with the harder reps like Exodar and Silvermoon, going back and doing quests for other factions will bring you up the ladder.
So those are concepts I've introduced before, but now that I'm factioning with my night elf druid, I have a couple of minor refinements.
In previous experiments, I ran the newbie zones in circuits. I started out in one 1-10 area as a level 1 character, finished that, moved to the next 1-10 area, and so on, until all four 1-10 areas were complete. Then I would start it over again, cycling through all the 11-20 zones. I thought this would be the fastest and most efficient way to faction up.
However, here's my new advice. Don't do that. Just level up as normal, as efficiently as you can, until you're level 40, and THEN go back and do the newbie zones, the 11-20 zones, etc.
At level 40, you can zip through the level 1-10 zones in near-record time. You're high enough level to blow through any of the mobs, and in fact, most mobs don't really want anything to do with you at all. You can just walk past trash mobs to end objectives and finish the quests more efficiently. Many classes have an AOE ability by level 40 (as a druid, I just got my first good one, Hurricane) which also cuts down considerably on time.
Consider not even looting mobs if you don't have to, at least in the 1-10 zones. In the 1-5 newbie areas, nothing of any interest will drop anyway. You can't even skin beast mobs at that level. Unless the quest calls for you to loot something, just leave it. You'll only make a couple silver total in money by looting and selling, and it slows you down. By the level 11 zones, you'll start getting some possibly good saleables, so it's worth it to consider looting then. But if you have a wealthy character, you might not even bother doing it then.
Because you are a high level character, you'll be able to pick up more quests from the start than if you were just barely high enough for the zone. Turn on Low Level Quest tracking and you're good to go. Using a mod like Quest Helper can aid you in stacking quests most efficiently to get as much done in as little time.
By level 40, you also have your epic land mount. Many of the newbie zones require a certain amount of long-distance running around, and having the epic land mount will really help you out a great deal.
Speed counts for another thing too: it minimizes your impact on the zone to other players. One of the problems with being level 40 and factioning in a zone that's 30 levels too low for you is that you can easily monopolize an area. Moving quickly through the content assures that you're not going to be inconveniencing any one person for any length of time, because you're going to move so much faster than they are. It's inevitable that you'll be wanting to do something at the same time as a "real" newbie, although if you try to do your low level factioning at off-peak hours, that can minimize the problem. But if you're moving through super quick, you will not inconvenience any one person for very long.
You don't get a lot of experience for factioning, as my level 41 druid illustrates. She had just dinged 41 when I started working on faction in earnest. Even without paying attention to it, I was very close to Exalted with Darnassus when I started, having done all the quests in Teldrassil, Darkshore, and Ashenvale as I leveled up. So I just started in the Draenei newbie zone, and by the time I finished Azuremyst and Bloodmyst, I was Exalted with Darnassus and getting very close to Exalted with Stormwind (also dinged Revered with all the other factions while I was at it). I finished Elwynn Forest and was halfway through Westfall when I dinged Exalted with Stormwind, though I finished Westfall and soloed Deadmines for the sympathetic faction (plus there are some very high-rep quests there for Ironforge and Gnomer). I've now finished Dun Morogh just started Loch Modan.
So how much experience has all this given her -- clearing out three 1-10 newbie zones, two 11-20 newbie zones, and clearing Deadmines? Total: three and a half bubbles.
But it was all very fast. I believe I may beat my old Alliance toon's record for level for hitting Ambassador. And it's taking a lot less time because, being overpowered as I am, I can be much more efficient.
The old methods hold, but my advice has changed a bit: level up and start when you're 40, after you get your epic mount. It'll go much more quickly and seem like a lot less effort.
2 comments:
My experience is to sell anything and everything that drops off a mob from level 1-30, but ONLY if you need coinage for something. Save and sell any greens or blues you get while running quests for rep but don't bother with whites or grays unless you need the money.
If you are saving for something, that 10c is 10c you didn't have before. But if there's nothing you're really saving for and you're just doing this for rep, the looting of all the bodies (unless autoloot is enabled) is a waste of time. I sell everything, even if I'm not saving specifically for something.
Yes, you can do it at the Argent Tournament, but many people have said that it's a grind they don't want to endure. At least leveling in the various zones is more interesting.
Hey there.. I started my own little experiment with Tubi on Earthen Ring... but I'm going to try doing it the way you used to do it.. I'm in no rush to get her exalted, but I took my little Belf Priest through all the 1-10 zones and went back to Ghostlands to finish up that area.. it's nice to be a few levels up from what you're fighting..especially as a clothie.
Thanks for the update and if interested, I'll keep you updated on how my little experiment goes!
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