How Reputation Works in MoP Classic
Mists of Pandaria Classic completely changes how reputation works. Forget about slapping on a tabard and grinding dungeons because that's gone. You'll build rep through daily quests instead, which means a slower but more structured progression system.
All eight new factions are neutral, so Alliance and Horde players access the same content. Each faction offers rewards that get better as you climb from Neutral to Exalted, with the best gear locked behind that final reputation tier.
Power Reputations: Start Here
Golden Lotus: Your #1 Priority
Golden Lotus isn't just important; it's mandatory for serious players. This faction hands out some of the best gear upgrades in the game, and their Exalted reward is something every single character needs.
Why Golden Lotus Matters
The rings and shoulders alone make this faction worth grinding. But the real prize comes at Exalted: a guaranteed ilvl 489 necklace from a quest chain. Necks, rings, trinkets, and weapons are the hardest gear slots to upgrade, making this necklace incredibly valuable regardless of your class.
Guaranteed ilvl 489 necklace available to all classes through quest completion at Exalted reputation.
Daily Quest Structure
You'll get a steady stream of dailies in the Vale. The progression feels reasonable with neither blazing speed nor painful slowness. Just consistent daily completion will get you there.
The Klaxxi: Ring Powerhouse
The mantid faction in Dread Wastes ranks second for good reason. Like Golden Lotus, they offer a guaranteed ilvl 489 piece at Exalted, this time a ring instead of a neck.
Daily Progression
From Honored to Revered, you get six dailies per day. Hit Revered and that jumps to eight. The Paragons of the Klaxxi serve as your quest givers once you've finished the storyline.
Gear Rewards
Beyond that guaranteed ring, Klaxxi offers solid Valor gear including legs and belts. They also have ilvl 463 weapons at Exalted if you're struggling to get raid drops. The neck piece they sell isn't great, so stick with Golden Lotus for that slot.
Secondary Power Reputations
Shado-Pan vs August Celestials
These two factions offer similar value but excel in different areas. Your choice depends on what gear slots you need most.
Shado-Pan: The Efficient Choice
Townlong Steppes offers the best questing experience in the expansion. Roll through here from 88 to 89 and you'll likely hit Honored just from questing, maybe even Revered if you have commendations.
Shado-Pan's unique selling point is trinkets. They offer several options that combine main stats with secondary stats. The Iron Belly Wok trinket works particularly well for Ret Paladins thanks to its haste bonus. They also sell a cape and head piece for Valor, covering slots that other factions ignore.
August Celestials: Broader Coverage
These guys have a unique daily system that sends you to different temples across Pandaria. One day you're at Temple of the Jade Serpent in Jade Forest, the next you're at Temple of the White Tiger in Kun-Lai Summit. The other two locations are Niuzao Temple in Townlong Steppes and Cradle of Chi-Ji in Krasarang Wilds.
The celestials cover hands, boots, and wrists with their Valor gear. Most pieces unlock at Honored, but you'll need Revered for boots. They also offer the Celestial Offering consumable that boosts your main stat based on which temple you're visiting.
Economic and Utility Reputations
The Tillers: Money Machine
The Tillers won't make your character stronger in combat, but they'll definitely make your wallet heavier. This faction is all about farming in the most literal sense.
You can grow food for raid consumables, but more importantly, you can grow materials to sell. At Exalted, you'll have 16 plots churning out gold and Motes of Harmony for your professions. The faction also sells cosmetic goat mounts in white, black, and brown if you're into that.
For pure character power, skip this entirely. For gold generation, it's fantastic.
Tillers Farm Rewards
The Anglers: Water Walking
Most Angler rewards are fishing related and completely optional. But they have one reward that's genuinely useful: the Azure Water Strider mount.
This mount lets you run on water, which is incredibly handy in areas where you can't fly. Think Thundering Isle when it releases, or any time you're exploring and hit a large body of water. The mount also sets you up for future expansions where water walking becomes even more valuable.
They also offer account wide fishing skill boosts through their friendship system. You can essentially buy +50 fishing skill with gold, which saves time on alts.
Order of the Cloud Serpent: Mount Collection
This faction teaches you to ride cloud serpents and offers several mount variants in jade, golden, and azure colors. The problem is that store bought cloud serpents reduce the uniqueness factor significantly.
Jewelcrafters can access panther mount materials here, but that's an expensive vanity project rather than something practical. Unless you're a serious mount collector, you can safely skip this one.
Minor and Automatic Factions
The Lorewalkers: Explorer's Choice
The Lorewalkers work differently from other factions. Instead of dailies, you gain rep by finding monuments scattered across Pandaria and listening to Lorewalker Cho's stories in the Vale.
Rewards include the Mantid Artifact Sonic Locator and Disc of the Red Flying Cloud mount. Archaeologists get some profession benefits too. It's a nice change of pace from daily grinding, but not necessary for character progression.
Jin'yu and Hozen: Automatic Completion
These faction specific reps (Jin'yu for Alliance, Hozen for Horde) hit Exalted automatically while you quest through Jade Forest. They don't have quartermasters or meaningful rewards, just story progression and zone phasing.
The actual quest rewards come from individual quest completion, not reputation milestones. Effectively cosmetic additions to your reputation tab.
Reputation Grind Difficulty
Reputation Strategy and Planning
Daily Priority System
Focus your limited daily quest time on power gains first:
- Golden Lotus for that mandatory necklace
- Klaxxi for the guaranteed ring upgrade
- Shado-Pan or August Celestials based on current gear gaps
- Economic factions only if gold generation matters to you
Time Investment Reality
Golden Lotus and Klaxxi progress at reasonable speeds with consistent daily completion. Shado-Pan gets a head start from efficient zone questing. August Celestials will test your patience with limited daily availability.
The economic factions (Tillers, Anglers) progress based on how much effort you put into their respective activities rather than strict daily limits.
Choosing Between Similar Factions
Check your current trinket situation first. If you need trinket upgrades and your class benefits from Shado-Pan's options, go there. If you need coverage for hands, boots, or wrists, August Celestials probably offers more value.
Also consider your secondary stat priorities. Some classes get more benefit from specific stat combinations than others.
Account-Wide Benefits
Hitting Revered with August Celestials unlocks commendations that boost reputation gains for all your characters. Since they're the slowest faction anyway, getting Revered on your main character makes alt progression much more reasonable.
Profession Integration
Several factions offer profession specific patterns and materials:
| Faction | Professions Served | Notable Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Golden Lotus | Tailoring, Leatherworking | Epic patterns and enchants |
| Klaxxi | Blacksmithing | Plate armor and weapons |
| August Celestials | Enchanting | Weapon and armor enchants |
| Shado-Pan | Enchanting | Glove and boot enchants |
| Order of Cloud Serpent | Jewelcrafting | Panther mount materials |
| Tillers | Cooking | Food recipes and buffs |
| Anglers | Fishing | Rare fish and equipment |
Plan your reputation priorities around your main professions if you're serious about crafting.
Long-Term Planning
Phase 1: Power Foundation
Get Golden Lotus and Klaxxi to Exalted first. These provide guaranteed upgrades that benefit every character regardless of class or spec.
Phase 2: Class Specific Gaps
Evaluate whether Shado-Pan trinkets or August Celestials gear coverage better serves your current equipment situation.
Phase 3: Economic and Utility
Add Tillers for gold generation and Anglers for water walking based on your priorities and available time.
Phase 4: Completionist Content
Tackle the remaining factions for mounts, achievements, and collection goals.
- Structured progression prevents overwhelming grinding
- Multiple faction choices let you prioritize needs
- Account-wide commendations help alts significantly
- Quality gear rewards justify the time investment
- Time-gated progression can feel slow
- Multiple factions create decision paralysis
- Some factions offer minimal rewards for effort
- Account-wide benefits require significant investment
Future Content Preparation
More reputations arrive with Thundering Isle and later content patches. Getting your foundation reps completed early frees up time for new factions when they launch.
The reputation system rewards focused progression over trying to do everything at once. Pick your priorities based on immediate character needs, then expand into utility and cosmetic factions as time allows.