Takana is a gamer and a "World of Warcraft" player who has done many a rep grind.

Why Become Exalted?

One of my goals in World of Warcraft is to become exalted with as many reputations as possible. I love looking at my character's reputation sheet and seeing those little green bars being fully filled with Exalted stamped across them!

Maybe you're a completist like me, maybe you're bored, or maybe you would just like to earn the title The Exalted. Either way, here is my guide to maxing out your reputations.

As anyone who currently plays the game will know, you can earn many achievements based on the things you do. The achievement I will be discussing here is the 50 Exalted Reputations.

My Character's Achievement WoW Armory

How Many Reputations Do You Need to Become "The Exalted"?

In previous patches, you were awarded the title the Exalted when you reached 40 Exalted Reputations. It then got moved to 45 Exalted Reps. Then, with patch 4.0.6, the news came that you can only get this title when you reach 50 Exalted Reputations. The reason for this was due to the ease of getting your reps maxed out, especially with the addition of 7 new reputations with Cataclysm. So Blizzard raised the bar (and removed some old reps from the game just to make it more challenging).

However, this move has since been reverted, so you can still get this title at only 40 Exalted Reps. The achievements still go on, granting the title the Beloved at 60 reps, the Admired at 80 reps, and Esteemed at 100 reps. Here, we're only focusing on the first 50. Although if you're like me, you'll eventually desire to have ALL of your reputations maxed out anyway!

My character's Reputation In game

Ways to Exalt Your Reps

On your journey to max level, you will naturally become exalted with various factions as you complete quests, run dungeons or PvP along the way. To see who you are currently exalted with, have a look on your character's reputation sheet by pressing (u) in game, or by looking on your Armory profile.

There are many ways to farm rep in World of Warcraft, most of which are repetitive and time consuming. Farming dungeons, killing certain mobs, turning in specific items and completing quests are all ways of raising your reputations. Some are quick and easy; others require a lot of time and effort to grind.

I have divided up the following reputations into several different categories:

Dungeon Farming

Raid Farming

Repeatable Quests

Daily Quests

Mob Farming

In this part of the guide, I am only covering Dungeon and Raid farming factions. Please also see my guide on raising your reputation with factions by doing Repeatable and Daily Quests and Mob Farming, too.

Factions that have multiple methods of farming rep will appear in more than one category.

Stratholme Instance Loading Screen In game

Dungeon Farming

Dungeon Farming for reputation involves completing various 5 man instances over and over until you reach exalted reputation with the associated faction. For a max-level character, this is one of the easiest methods of farming rep, as you will be able to solo clear all lower-level instances. Always go for a full clear, meaning you should aim to kill every mob in an instance. Almost every mob you kill will award rep.

Dungeon farming, while easy, is also monotonous and can get boring fast. My advice is to turn up the music or put a film on and before you know it, you will be running the dungeon on auto pilot and be at exalted in no time.

To Loot or Not to Loot?

This question often comes up. To be honest, it's entirely up to you. I personally choose to loot as many mobs as I can when I'm farming dungeons. Yes, you can breeze through lower level instances a lot quicker if you don't stop to loot, but I like the little extra income I can get by looting silver, cloth, vendor trash and the multitude of greens and blues along the way. Most instances have vendors near by for you to repair and empty your bags. You'd be amazed at how much gold you can rack up if you stop to loot.

Right Click your character's portrait for Instance options In game

How to Select Normal and Heroic Mode

Right click your character portrait, mouse over Dungeon Difficulty and then select either 5 Player for normal mode, or 5 Player (heroic) for heroic mode.

How to Reset an Instance

Once you have completed a normal instance, you are able to reset it and complete it again. To do this, exit the instance, either by hearthing out or by running back to the entrance. Then, right click on your character portrait and click on Reset all Instances. You will get a pop up box asking if you really want to reset all instances. Click yes (you should also see yellow confirmation text in your chat box). Now your instance has been reset!!

Note: Be aware that you are only allowed to enter 5 instances per hour. Meaning for those of you farming low level dungeons, you are likely to hit this cap. Simply wait out the hour, go take a break, do real life things or work on another faction! :p

Horde / Alliance Factions

You are able to Champion these factions by wearing the associated Tabard and running low level, old world instances (up to level 60) until you reach Exalted.

Bilgewater Cartel / Gilneas

Darkspear Trolls / Darnassus

Orgrimmar / Stormwind

Silvermoon City / Exodar

Thunder Bluff / Gnomeregan

Undercity / Ironforge

Classic Factions

Argent Dawn

Neutral – Exalted: Farm Stratholm and Scholomance

Tip: Kill Lord Aurius Rivendare (formerly Baron Rivendare) in Stratholm for the chance to get the Deathcharger's Reins!

The Burning Crusade Factions

Cenarion Expedition

Neutral – Friendly: Farm normal Coilfang Reservoir dungeons - Slave Pens, Underbog and Steamvaults

Honored – Exalted: Farm heroic Coilfang Reservoir dungeons

Keepers of Time

Neutral – Exalted: Farm both normal and heroic Old Hillsbrad and Black Morass

Sporeggar

Primarily a repeatable quest faction, but you can farm The Underbog for Sanguine Hibiscus all the way to Exalted.

The Consortium

Neutral – Honored: Farm normal Mana Tombs

Honored – Exalted: Farm heroic Mana Tombs

Tip: You can also hand in Obsidian Warbeads to increase rep. If you go this route, combine it with farming for The Mag'har / Kurenai rep, as the Ogres in Nagrand that give rep for those two factions also drop the Warbeads.

Thrallmar (H) / Honor Hold (A)

Neutral – Friendly: Farm normal Hellfire Ramparts and Blood Furnace

Friendly – Honored: Farm normal Shattered Halls

Revered – Exalted: Farm normal Shattered Halls and all heroic Hellfire Citadel dungeons

Flying to Shattrath City (CC Share) Joi Ito

Shattrath City Factions

Lower City

Neutral – Honored: Farm normal Auchenai Crypts, Sethekk Halls and Shadow Labyrinth

Honored – Revered: Farm normal Shadow Labyrinth only

Revered – Exalted: Continue farming normal Shadow Labs. Farm all three on heroic mode.

Tip: Run heroic Sethekk Halls once a day for the chance to get Reins of the Raven Lord from the special boss, Anzu.

Shattered Sun Offensive

Neutral – Exalted: Farm either normal or heroic Magister's Terrace

Note: You can also raise your rep with this faction by completing the many daily quests on the Isle of Quel'Danas.

Tip: Kill Kael'thas Sunstrider in both normal and heroic mode for the chance to get the Phoenix Hatchling non combat mini pet. Kill him on heroic mode for the chance to also get theSwift White Hawkstrider mount.

The Sha'tar

Neutral – Honored: Farm normal Tempest Keep dungeons – The Botanica, The Arcatraz and The Mechanar.

Honored – Exalted: All normal and heroic versions of Tempest Keep dungeons.

Wrath of the Lich King Factions

You are able to Champion these factions by wearing the associated Tabard and running Northrend instances (level 80 normals, any heroic) until you reach Exalted.

Argent Crusade

Kirin Tor

Knights of the Ebon Blade

The Wyrmrest Accord

Horde Expedition / Alliance Vanguard

You can gain rep with these factions by not wearing a Tabard and running level 80 Northrend normal dungeons and heroics.

The Hand of Vengeance / Explorers' League

The Sunreavers / The Frost-born

The Taunka / The Silver Covenant

Warsong Offensive / Valiance expedition

Cataclysm Factions

You are able to Champion these factions by wearing the associated Tabard and running Cataclysm instances (level 85 normals, any heroic) until you reach Exalted.

Dragonmaw Clan (H) / Wildhammer Clan (A)

Guardians of Hyjal

Ramkahen

The Earthen Ring

Therazane

You need to make a raid group if you're going to farm raid instances. Laura Blankenship

In game

Raid Farming

Farming raid instances to raise rep is a lot harder then dungeon farming. Firstly, raid instances are much harder to complete and will almost certainly require the help of several players. Some classic raids such as Molten Core and Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj (AQ20) can be done solo by some classes, but others need a group to complete.

Secondly, raid instances can only be cleared once a week. However, one way to get around this is to only clear trash mobs. Kill all mobs up to the first boss, run out, reset the instance, go in and kill trash again. Once you've killed a boss, all trash mobs before said boss can't be reset until the normal weekly reset. Thirdly, you need to be in a raid group of two or more players to be able to enter a raid instance.

Note: The instance cap also applies to raid instances.

How to Make a Raid Group

As mentioned above, before you can enter a raid instance, you need to convert your group to a raid. To be able to do this, you need at least one other person to group with you. Once you have your group, click on the Social tab ( O ), then on the Raid tab, now click on the Convert to Raid button at the top of the page. You are now in a raid group!

If you don't wish to farm with other people, you can ask a friend, guildie or a nice person in trade chat if they can join your group with an alt character (one that is high enough level to enter a raid). They can then log offline with that alt, but they will still remain in your raid. You are then free to solo a raid of your choice.

AQ20 instance portal In game

Classic Factions

Brood of Nozdormu

Associated Raid(s): Ruins of Ahn'qiraj (AQ20) and Temple of Ahn'qiraj (AQ40)

Players begin at 0/36000 Hated, the lowest level of reputation possible.

Hated – 0 / 3000 Neutral: Repeatable quest – The Path of the Righteous

Hated – 2999 / 3000 Neutral: Trash mobs in AQ40

Hated – Exalted: Bosses in AQ20 and AQ40

Hated – Exalted: Qiraji Lord's Insignia: Drops from bosses in AQ40

Ancient Qiraji Artifact: Drops from trash in AQ20 and AQ40

Tip: Save all of the Insignias you get from farming, and don't hand them in until after you are Neutral. Getting rep after Neutral becomes a lot harder.

Cenarion Circle

Associated Raid(s): Ruins of Ahn'qiraj (AQ20) and Temple of Ahn'qiraj (AQ40)

Neutral – Exalted: Trash and bosses in both AQ20 and AQ40

Tip: The best way to farm CC rep is to complete all of the quests in Silithus first, then finish off by doing the repeatable quests and farming AQ20.

Hydraxian Waterlords

Associated Raid(s): Molten Core

Neutral – Friendly: Kill air Elementals in Silithus and Greater Obsidian Elementals (Burning Steppes).

Neutral – Honored: Kill Lord Incendius (BRD), Pyroguard Emberseer (UBRS) and trash mobs in Molten Core

Neutral – Revered: All bosses, except Majordomo Executus in Molten Core

Neutral – Exalted: Kill Golemagg the Incinerator and Ragnaros in Molten Core only.

The Burning Crusade Factions

Ashtongue Deathsworn

Associated Raid(s): The Black Temple

Neutral – Exalted: All trash and bosses in Black Temple

The Scale of the Sands

Associated Raid(s): Hyjal Summit:The battle of Mount Hyjal

Neutral – Exalted: All trash and bosses in Hyjal Summit

Note: Mobs will not give rep until first wave has been cleared or if previous boss was cleared within the soft reset time (this was implemented by Blizzard to prevent rep grinding by small groups) *note from Wowwiki

The Violet Eye

Associated Raid(s): Karazhan

Neutral – Exalted: All trash and bosses in Karazhan

Wrath of the Lich King Factions

The Ashen Verdict

Associated Raid(s): Icecrown Citadel

Neutral – Exalted: All trash and bosses in ICC

Read the Rest of the Guide

That concludes the first part of this guide. In my next guide, I will detail how to raise your reputation with factions by doing:

Repeatable Quests

Daily Quests

Mob Farming

Limutin Pot on December 14, 2017:

if you break someone's heart and they still talk to you with the same excitement and respect believe me, they really love you

Gibsonmaker on March 10, 2015:

So, ever since Wrath came out and I completed my exalted Argent Crusade I've been trying to complete my Exalted Argent Dawn. It seems like no matter what I do I never earn any rep for AD. I've solo'd strath and scholo multiple times to no progress. Any advice?

moldservices from USA on January 23, 2013:

This is by far the most thorough guide out there. Already helped me a lot!

lfolk from Florida on September 15, 2012:

Fantastic Hub! Have been playing for 4 years but not lately. I have worked on maxing professions but never Rep. will definitely take another look at this if I do decide to. Thanks for all your hard work. Voted up.

John Roberts from South Yorkshire, England on July 22, 2012:

Some great tips! Keep up the good work ^^

SparseChange on July 17, 2012:

Nice guide! One thing to note however, Argent Dawn rep changed in Cataclysm. To get AD rep, follow the questline in Eastern Plaguelands until you become revered. After that you must complete repeatable quests Aberrations of Bone and Annals of the Silver Hand. Other than that spot on!

johndwilliams from Essex England on March 13, 2012:

Amazing wealth of information for any WoW player or anybody looking to write well structured comprehensive hubs! Voted Up!

Clayton from Dubai, United Arab Emirates on March 06, 2012:

oh god i thought i was signed in lol, Ok above is my comment! voted up, thank you again for a wonderful read!!!

anonymous on March 06, 2012:

Very impressive, You really are a person of patience, To have earned numerous faction rep in wow to farming the insane title, reflects on your ability to have written this wonderful hub. I too am a gamer & a wow player of 7 years now lol, pre-tbc player!!. Just recently stopped playing for about 2weeks now. So bored with the new LFR & what not garbarge that made stuff easy mode & not challenging like it was back then old school!. i do miss it though & will summon the will to play it again in a few days! got loads of friends. (Caelestraz - Oceanic) Anyways. I loved this hub Takana. I have a fondness for fellow gamers With skill & patience such as yours!

Gordon D Easingwood from Wakefield, United Kingdom on February 20, 2012:

Excellent wow obviously written from hard earned experience. Got any more WOW hubs in the pipeline?

philipandrews188 on June 27, 2011:

Wow!Great job!..Keep it up.

Reynold Jay from Saginaw, Michigan on June 17, 2011:

I admit it--I don't play this game and just stumbled across your article however I enjoyed this very much. You have this laid out beautifully and it is easy to understand. Keep up the great HUBS. Up one and Useful. Hey! I'm now your fan! RJ

Veneficus333 from United States on June 17, 2011:

Nice job!!

Takana (author) from England on June 17, 2011:

Thank you :) yes it has taken me a while to write this. It's been in my head for ages so I'm glad I've finally written it up. And yes, I did do the Shen'dralar rep grind. It truly did drive me insane!

mskills from North Carolina, USA on June 17, 2011:

Good Lord, this must have taken some time to put together! Everything looks spot on according to my recollection of playing WoW. I wasn't a particularly ambitious Achievement junkie, and only managed to get around 25 or so factions to exalted before I quit in 2010.

Oh, and very impressive earning the Insane title. Did you happen to obtain it when the Shen'dralar rep was still required?