DeLindsay
10s4Lyf
TL;DR - Exalteds using Commendations via TW are just as grindy as the old ways, if not more so.
I want to preface this with a note that it pertains to all lower Twink Levels but as I'm doing this specifically on a Level 10 this Forum seemed most accurate. I'm going to give some numbers on timelines for gaining Exalted Reputations using known methods as well as the newly available Commendations via Timewalking. I'm going to try and be as accurate as possible within the confines of me not losing my mind to tedium writing this. For the purpose of this Thread I will be discussing only Factions that you can gain Exalted Reputation with the new Commendations that are purchasable with the new Timewarped Badges.
For those who are are unaware, Blizzard recently added Timewalking Dungeons. These Dungeons allow Level 71+ (for The Burning Crusade) and Level 81+ (for The Wrath of the Lich King) to experience Dungeons of those expansions on a difficulty level somewhere between Normal and Heroic. This is not LFR for Dungeons as it can be very easy to wipe if the Tank pulls too much, but they also aren't particularly hard either, especially while the Legendaries' procs from WotLK and above aren't scaled down like the rest of our gear. This means the Legendary Cloaks from MoP and the Legendary Rings from WoD are VERY useful and increase one's DPS usually by 1-3K (DPS in these usually range from 2-5K). The rest of the Legendaries certainly help as their proc hasn't scaled down but they aren't as OP as the 2 just mentioned.
The Wrath of the Lich King Timewallking event (runs from Wednesday to Monday on it's recurring Weekend)
- Ahn'kahet: The Old Kingdom (40 Badges per clear)
- Gundrak (45 Badges per clear)
- Halls of Lightning (35 Badges per clear)
- The Nexus (40 Badges per clear)
- Utgarde Pinnacle (35 Badges per clear)
So far the above listed Dungeons are our only choices. Blizzard has stated that this is a pilot program to see how well or how poorly it's received by Players and may end up being the model for future (old content) being added to Timewalking. After your first Dungeon (looting the final Boss) you will recieve a Quest item called Frigid Timewarped Prism. This Quest turns in right in the center of Dalaran to the Male Blood Elf NPC Auzin for 500 Bonus Timewarped Badges. This is the key to gaining Reputation quickly with any lower level Character as each subsequant Dungeon gives only between 35-45 Badges per full clear. Each Commendation costs 50 Badges and gives 500.5 Reputation. The Commendations He sells are as follows:
- Horde Expedition / Alliance Vanguard (NO Tabard for either*)
- Argent Crusade (Tabard at Friendly) - Quartermaster
- Ebon Blade (Tabard at Friendly, confirmation needed if lowbies can access the QM due to Quest phasing in Icecrown) - Quartermaster
- Kirin Tor (Tabard at Friendly) - Quartermaster
- Sons of Hodir (NO Tabard, Lowbies are Quest phased to QM and unable to visit)
- Wyrmrest Accord (Tabard at Friendly) - Quartermaster
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- The Arcatraz (?? Badges per clear)
- The Black Morass (?? Badges per clear)
- Mana-Tombs (?? Badges per clear)
- The Shattered Halls (?? Badges per clear)
- The Slave Pens (?? Badges per clear)
These five listed Dungeons are the current Timewalking choices. After you first Dungeon (looting the final Boss) you will recieve a Quest item called "TBD". This Quest turns into "Unkown location in Shattrath" to the Human Female Cupri for 500 Bonus Timewarped Badges. Each Commendation costs 50 Badges and gives 500.5 Reputation. The Commendations She sells are as follows:
- Thrallmar / Honor Hold (Tabards for both at Exalted) - Horde QM / Alliance QM
- The Cenarion Expedition (Tabard at Exalted) - Quartermaster
- The Consortium (Tabard at Exalted) - Quartermaster
- The Keepers of Time (Tabard at Exalted) - Quartermaster
- Lower City (Tabard at Exalted) - Quartermaster
- The Sha'Tar (Tabard at Exalted) - Quartermaster
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If anyone is unaware of how this works. You purchase the Commendations from your own Level 71/81+ and mail them to your account bound Lowbies. I have tested this on my own Level 10 and as of right now it works, I'm just saving the rest for the DMF Reputation buff. Now that you understand the where and the how, lets talk about the how long. Each and every Faction that you start at 0/3000 Neutral will take you roughly 84 Commendations or about 4000 farmed badges. Lets put that into some perspective shall we.
- ONE Exalted Reputation via Commendations = ~4000 Timewarped Badges.
- Badges gained PER Character PER Weekly Quest = 500
- Badges gained PER Dungeon full clear = 35-45
- Dungeon runs required PER Faction Exalted (with only ONE 71/81+ Character) = 87 (including the first one for the Quest, with an ave of 40 per Dungeon)
- Clear time of average TW Dungeon = 6-15 minutes
- QUE time of DPS on Med pop Realm = ~21 minutes
- Timewalking Dungeons per Hour (solo, DPS) = 2
- ONE Exalted via TW Badges via ONE DPS Character = ~43 HOURS** of Dungeon running or roughly 7hrs/day for the entire Event.
The key to farming these Commendations is to do the Weekly Quest on as many Characters on your Account as humanly possible, saving VAST amounts of time for a piddly ~40 Badges per Dungeon. You can see how farming Badges with only a single Character is basically no shorter than farming Keys for Consortium, or farming kills while dead (following the high level Players). In fact killing mobs, even at 10-15 per, is considerably faster than this method. After doing this research it's obvious Blizzard has just put a nother huge grindy pain in the ass into WoW, something they're infamous for.
**Obviously if you utilize the increased Reputation bonuses available via the DMF and other sources this will go a little faster, but it's still going to be just as big a pain as the old ways.
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