World of Warcraft Shadowlands players will be experiencing a bit of a content draught until the release of Patch 9.1, but that doesn’t mean there’s no longer anything to do in the game. Quite the contrary. A lot of players are taking advantage of the slowdown to go back to old content in order to complete their collections of mounts, toys or pets. Many of the most interesting such collectables found in the game are actually tied to various reputations. But what old content reputations are still worth grinding? That’s the question we’re going to attempt to answer in this article.
In addition to discussing the rewards you can get when maxing out these reputations, we’re also going to share a couple of tips on how to get to Exalted faster. Just keep in mind that getting to Exalted is only the first step in acquiring the rewards in most cases. You’ll also need quite a bit of gold if you plan on also getting the collectables themselves. If you’re not exactly a baller, you can go here to buy wow gold quickly and easily from LootWowGold and skip that hassle entirely. After all, grinding gold in addition to grinding the reps would be quite a huge hassle.
Before we begin it’s worth noting that we’re not going to talk about Shadowlands reputations. Instead, we’re only interested in old content, so anything from Battle for Azeroth or prior. Also, we’re going to order these by expansion instead of the usefulness of their rewards because that is largely subjective, though there are a couple of exceptions we’ll touch upon.
1. Waveblade Ankoan/The Unshackled
These are the only Battle for Azeroth reputations on this list and the reason there’s two of them is because they give very similar rewards. The main difference is that the Waveblade Ankoan is for the Alliance while The Unshackled is for the Horde. Both factions can be found on the isle of Nazjatar and getting Revered with either of them is still a requirement for the BFA Pathfinder achievement, which unlocks flying for that expansion.
The rep grind is worth it for that alone but if you manage to get to Exalted you can also get your hands on a sweet Waverly mount and a chance at a Snapdragon mount via Paragon caches. Grinding the rep mainly involves doing world quests and dailies so it’s pretty straightforward, albeit time-consuming.
2. Argussian Reach
The Argussian Reach is one of the old content reputations you don’t want to miss out on, especially if you’re playing as Alliance. Getting to Exalted is a requirement for unlocking the Void Elf Allied Race and, as an added bonus, maxing out the rep also unlocks six Ruinstrider mounts you can buy for 8,000 gold a piece. Because of that, the Argussian Reach is quite valuable for mount collectors as well. There’s also a companion pet and a few other random items you buy from the quartermaster. There are quite a few ways of getting to Exalted with the faction, including weekly quests, world quests, emissary quests, Argus missions, and more.
3. Order of the Awakened
It is debatable if this is indeed one of the old content reputation still worth grinding in WoW Shadowlands, but we think it is for one very simple reason – the Reins of the Corrupted Dreadwing. This is an exceptionally good looking mount that looks like an evolution of the famous Raven Lord mount from The Burning Crusade. You will need no less than 150,000 Apexis Crystals to buy the mount from the quartermaster but the good news is that you only need Friendly reputation with the Order of the Awakened to do so.
If you want to go all the way up to Exalted, you can also get your hands on a toy, pet, and an item that teleports you to a random rare elite mob anywhere in Tannan Jungle. You’ll definitely need this item because the primary way of gaining reputation with the faction is by doing the daily quest Unseen Influence that requires you to turn in Fel-Corrupted Apexis Crystals that drop from rare elites and treasures found in the area.
4. The Anglers
A lot of players will find The Anglers to be one of the most important old content reputations you should start farming in WoW Shadowlands if you haven’t already done so previously. Once again the reason is related to the amount but in this case, the mount is not just for show. Upon reaching Exalted with The Anglers you can purchase the Reins of the Azure Water Strider from Nat Pagle for 4,000 gold. Just as its name indicates, the mount can walk on water, which makes it pretty unique indeed. Most of the other rewards you can get from this faction help increase your fishing skill.
Meanwhile, increasing your reputation with The Anglers involves completing various activities also related to fishing, primarily in Pandaria.
5. Golden Lotus
We’re still in the Mists of Pandaria expansion and the next faction on our list is the Golden Lotus. There are quite a few transmog items you can collect by increasing your reputation with these guys but the main reason you would want to get to Exalted is so you can buy the three crane mounts. These are the only crane mounts found in World of Warcraft even in Shadowlands, so they’re pretty special. Not to mention very cheap to buy.
The grind itself is pretty straightforward. Go to the Setting Sun Garrison in the Vale of
Eternal Blossoms and grab all the dailies you can find. While you’re doing these, make sure to kill as many mobs as you can in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, especially rare ones, because all of them will increase your rep with the Golden Lotus. While killing mobs you may find keys that open secret caches that contain either Relics of Guo-Lai or Relics of the Thunder King, both of which give you extra reputation. Once you reach Revered, make sure to grab a Grand Commendation of the Golden Lotus from Jaluu the Generous (the quartermaster). The item will give 100% bonus reputation gain, making it much easier to hit Exalted.
6. Order of the Cloud Serpent
A lot of worthwhile old content reputations can be found in Pandaria, including this one. This reputation is pretty fun to grind because you can choose to either do daily quests, gather and turn in Onyx Eggs found around Windless Isle or a mix of both. We recommend doing a bit of both to speed things up. Similar to the Golden Lotus, at Revered you can buy a commendations from the quartermaster that doubles your reputation gain.
Once you reach Honored with the Order of the Cloud Serpent you can buy two patterns for the Jewelcrafting panther mounts. An addition two mount patterns are unlocked at Revered along with a toy while going all the way up to Exalted will grant you a free cloud serpent mount and the ability to buy two other color variations for 3,000 gold each.
7. The Sons of Hodir
We’re finally moving away from Mists of Pandaria and jumping over Cataclysm to get to Wrath of the Lich King. The Sons of Hodir Reputation is notable because it gives you cheap access to two mammoth mounts, including a three-person one. You’ll need to do a lengthy quest chain that starts in Storm Peaks to unlock the faction. But once you reach a certain point, you can just spam Halls of Lightning for Relics of Ulduar and turn them in to quickly raise your reputation. Relics of Ulduar can also be purchased from the auction house, making the grind even simpler.
8. Argent Tournament
And next up we have one of the most dreaded old content reputations in World of Warcraft because of how long it takes to unlock everything. This one starts at the Argent Tournament in Icecrown and actually involves multiple factions, with the main ones being The Sunreavers for Horde and The Silver Covenant for Alliance. Raising your reputation with the various factions involves doing a truckload of dailies and gathering Champion’s Seals that you can then turn in for a wide variety of mounts. It will take you 2-3 months to unlock everything but by the end of the grind you should be able to buy a grand total of 14 mounts along with a bunch of companions, transmog items, toys, heirlooms, and more. Quite a lot to look forward to.
9. Netherwing
The Netherwing is a Burning Crusade faction found in Shadowmoon Valley. Unlocking the faction is similar to The Sons of Hodir in that you’ll need to complete a quest chain while the grind is akin to the Order of the Cloud Serpent. You’ll spend most of your time either doing dailies or looking for Netherwing Eggs that can be turned in for extra reputation. The main difference is that Netherwing Eggs are a lot rarer than Onyx Eggs and there are no shortcuts to gaining more rep, so expect the grind to take you anywhere from a few days to a few weeks if you’re unlucky.
The eggs can be primarily found around the Netherwing Ledge but spawn in a couple of other places in Shadowmoon Valley. An almost guaranteed way of getting your hands on anywhere between 1 and 3 eggs is to kill Netherspite in old Karazhan. The problem is that you can only do this once per week, but it’s still a good tip to keep in mind regardless.
Once you reach Exalted you’ll gain access to six Netherwing Dragon mounts so the grind is definitely worth it.
10. Sha’tari Skyguard
Last on our list of old content reputations still worth grinding in World of Warcraft Shadowlands, we have the Sha’tari Skyguard, which can also be found in the Burning Crusade. This is a pretty easy one if you know how to go about it. There’s a quest chain that starts in Shattrah City and will eventually unlock a series of dailies you can do in Terrokar Forest. Once you reach a certain point, all you’ll need to do is run around Skettis killing mobs, gathering items you can turn in, summoning special mobs that drop other items you can turn in, and then finally summoning a boss that you can kill for lots of rep.
Simply killing regular mobs in Skettis will get you all the way to Revered and you can do this in a party to speed things up significantly. Then, use all the items you gathered along the way to spawn the special mobs and boss so you can get from Revered to Exalted. If you’re grinding efficiently, you can max out the rep in just a matter of hours.
Once you get Exalted, you’ll be able to buy 5 different Nether Ray mounts, a companion, and some other misc items.
