Guide to Pandaria Reputations!

If you want to walk into the first raid, Mogu’shan Vaults, looking like you mean business, two factions are absolutely non-negotiable: the Golden Lotus and The Klaxxi. Think of them as the gatekeepers to your most powerful pre-raid gear. Reaching Exalted with the Golden Lotus unlocks a quest for a spectacular item level 489 neck piece, which is best-in-slot for many classes. The Klaxxi are deeply involved in the legendary quest line, which ultimately rewards you with a mighty item level 489 ring.
Beyond those two, progressing with The Black Prince (Wrathion) is mandatory. While not a traditional reputation grind, his quest line is the only way to obtain the legendary cloak, which is a defining piece of gear for the entire expansion. Prioritize these three above all others for PVE power.

The most powerful tool in your arsenal is the Grand Commendation. As soon as you hit Revered with a faction, you should immediately purchase their Grand Commendation from the quartermaster. Using it grants a permanent, account-wide 100% bonus to all reputation gains with that faction. It makes the final push to Exalted (and leveling alts) dramatically faster.
To supplement this, you should always “Champion” your target faction in the reputation panel (U key). This gives you a nice chunk of bonus rep from your first daily Heroic dungeon and scenario. Finally, actively hunt down the Zandalari Warscouts and elite Warbringers patrolling Pandaria. They drop tokens worth a massive 1,000 reputation each, providing a significant boost.

Your most powerful pre-raid gear pieces come from completing the main PVE reputation grinds. The journey is twofold:

• The Neck Piece: This comes from the Golden Lotus. After reaching Exalted, you’ll receive a final quest that rewards you with a spectacular item level 489 necklace, which is best-in-slot for many specializations heading into the first raid tier.

• The Ring: This is the ultimate reward from a major leg of The Black Prince’s legendary quest line. While the ring is from Wrathion, progressing this part of the story is deeply intertwined with The Klaxxi faction, requiring you to earn their trust and complete quests for them.

Yes and no. The legendary cloak is the ultimate reward from The Black Prince (Wrathion) quest line, and it’s not optional for any serious raider. While you do have a reputation bar with him (from Neutral to Exalted), you don’t gain it through traditional daily quests.
Instead, you gain reputation primarily by completing his specific story quests and, at certain stages, by killing specific enemy types he asks you to, such as Mogu and Mantid. Think of it less as a “grind” and more as a mandatory, expansion-long storyline that you must progress through to earn the game’s most powerful piece of gear.

That would be the famous Reins of the Azure Water Strider, one of the most useful mounts in the entire game. It is the grand prize for reaching Exalted with The Anglers faction. You’ll need to head to Anglers’ Wharf in the Krasarang Wilds and complete their daily fishing quests. It’s a bit of a grind, but since mounts are account-wide, earning this mount once will benefit every character you ever create, making it a timelessly valuable investment.

You can raise your very own dragon by befriending the Order of the Cloud Serpent faction in the Jade Forest. The journey begins at level 90 with a quest at the Arboretum that allows you to choose a Cloud Serpent egg (the color you choose determines your serpent’s color). From there, you’ll raise your hatchling through a series of charming daily quests. For a faster grind, you can also fly around the windy cliffs of the Jade Forest and hunt for Onyx Eggs, which can be turned in for a large chunk of reputation.

This is one of the biggest points of confusion, so let’s be crystal clear: Lesser Charms of Good Fortune are not for reputation. Do not waste time trying to turn them into a faction quartermaster.
Their sole purpose is to be converted into Warforged Seals. You’ll take your stack of charms to a vendor in your faction’s capital in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms (Shrine of Seven Stars or Shrine of Two Moons) and purchase the seals. These seals give you one bonus roll for a chance at extra loot from raid bosses and world bosses each week.

It’s a fantastic blend of both! While it serves as a relaxing and rewarding side-activity away from the main conflict, your personal farm with The Tillers is incredibly important for self-sufficiency. It’s a goldmine for Cooks, allowing you to grow all your own vegetables. More importantly, you can grow a steady supply of crafting materials for every profession, including ore, cloth, leather, herbs, and even motes that combine into the all-important Spirit of Harmony. For collectors, it’s also the only source for the unique Reins of the Brown Riding Goat and Black Riding Goat mounts.

Certain factions are absolutely critical for specific professions, as they are the sole vendors for top-tier recipes.

• Enchanters: Your number one priority is the Shado-Pan. Reaching Revered with them is the only way to purchase the recipes for the best weapon enchants in the expansion, such as Dancing Steel and Jade Spirit. Getting these early can be incredibly profitable.

• Blacksmiths: You must focus on The Klaxxi. Reaching Honored with them is necessary to buy the patterns for powerful epic gear and the essential Living Steel Belt Buckle, a consistent source of income.

You are correct, there are no dailies, which sets this faction apart. Reputation with the Shado-Pan Assault is a direct measure of your progress against the Thunder King. You gain it exclusively by participating in the Throne of Thunder raid. You get a set amount of reputation for each boss you kill per week. For those looking to progress faster, dedicated groups can also farm the trash mobs inside the raid between bosses and then reset the instance to gain significant extra reputation.

If you’ve flown to the northern part of the Timeless Isle expecting to find a battlefield swarming with Ordon Yaungol and found it strangely empty, you’re not going crazy. There’s a crucial, non-negotiable prerequisite: you must complete the Wrathion legendary cloak quest line first. The main reputation-granting mobs, the Ordon Yaungol, inhabit a sanctuary that is phased out and inaccessible until you have proven your worth by finishing that epic storyline.

Not at all! While daily quests are the primary method for many factions, Pandaria offers several alternatives to break up the monotony. The Golden Lotus reputation can be rapidly farmed with Ancient Guo-Lai Cache Keys. The Klaxxi reputation can be brute-forced by farming Dread Amber Shards. The Lorewalkers rep is gained purely through exploration. Finally, late-game factions like the Emperor Shaohao and Shado-Pan Assault have no dailies at all, relying entirely on mob kills and raid progression.

The most efficient method is a two-step process that is much faster than relying on dailies alone. First, you form a group and farm the powerful Mogu elites found throughout the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. These Mogu don’t give rep themselves, but they drop Ancient Guo-Lai Cache Keys. Second, you take these keys and use them to open ancient treasures scattered around the Vale. It’s these treasures that contain the reputation-granting relics. This “key run” method is the go-to for players wanting to reach Exalted quickly.

These are the factions introduced in Patch 5.1, representing the Horde and Alliance war machines making landfall in Pandaria. The Horde has the Dominance Offensive at Domination Point, while the Alliance has the Kirin Tor Offensive at Lion’s Landing in Krasarang Wilds. Each has its own large hub of daily quests and is a primary source for powerful Valor gear and magnificent faction-specific mounts, like the Primal Direhorns, during that phase of the expansion.

For the legendary quest line, yes. While you can skip their grind if you’re not interested in their cosmetic rewards, it is mandatory to reach at least Honored with the August Celestials. Doing so allows you to purchase the Celestial Offering, a quest item that is required to complete a key stage of Wrathion’s storyline. Without it, your cloak progression will come to a dead halt.

This is a special “friendship” grind that is tied to, but separate from, The Anglers reputation. To become Nat Pagle’s best friend, you must catch the three specific rare fish that are available daily—the Spinefish Alpha, Mimic Octopus, and Tiger Gourami—and turn them in directly to him at Angler’s Wharf. This increases a separate friendship bar, unlocking unique cosmetic rewards like Nat’s Fishing Hat and Nat’s Fishing Chair, which are not available from the main Anglers vendor.

Your journey to fight alongside the Shado-Pan’s elite forces begins on the Isle of Thunder. To get your footing on the isle and understand the conflict, you should complete the solo Thunder King scenario. This quest line introduces you to the zone, its key characters, and the central conflict, naturally leading you toward the entrance of the Throne of Thunder raid, which is where all your reputation with the Shado-Pan Assault will be earned.

The Lorewalkers are a unique faction focused entirely on exploration and uncovering the rich history of Pandaria. It is, without a doubt, the easiest and fastest reputation in the entire expansion. There is no combat or daily quests involved. You simply fly around the continent and interact with glowing lore scrolls and historical objects. Each one gives you a nice chunk of reputation, and you can easily go from Neutral to Exalted in just a couple of hours with a flying mount.

The rewards are substantial and serve as the final capstone for players at the end of the expansion. They include powerful Timeless gear tokens that can be used to quickly gear up alternate characters. The faction also sells unique vanity items and toys. However, the ultimate prize, and the main reason for the grind, is the stunning Reins of the Heavenly Golden Cloud Serpent, a magnificent mount that serves as a major status symbol.

The “Dark Heart of the Mogu” is a memorable solo scenario that is a key part of the Golden Lotus quest line. As you gain their trust, they will send you on a critical mission to delve into the depths of a recently unearthed Mogu tomb to uncover the dark secrets of their power and their connection to the Sha. Completing this scenario is a major step in the story of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms and your relationship with the Golden Lotus.