The Valor Dance: Dailies, Reputation, Upgrades, Trouble

Mists of Pandaria has brought us a bit of a roller coaster when it comes to our valor points and how we acquire and speed them. In Cataclysm, there were very few changes (just the move from 1 dungeon per day awarding valor to 7 per week) and we essentially just did a few heroic dungeons, killed a few raid bosses, and spent our points when we had enough. In MoP, however, the valor gear was gated behind reputation which was gated behind dailies. Valor being unspendable before doing enough dailies has been much lamented by the player base. Of course, since launch, each patch has brought a new curve ball in terms of valor. Continue to see the different valor changes so far, the problems with those changes, and what’s coming up in patch 5.3!

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Patch 4.2: Firelands Raid and Dailies Preview!

 Blizzard, clearly wanting to keep us excited about patch content, just posted some trailers for the 4.2 patch include a preview of the Firelands raid and what they have titled “Patch 4.2 daily quest preview”. Could this be that Hyjal/firelands quest hub everyone has been waiting (but no longer needs the rep for because we’ve been exalted for months using tabards and dungeons) for? Check after the break for the other video.

Blizzards blog post with both vids can be found HERE. Still no release date for this content though.

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Weekend Update: I Hate the Farson Prisoner

On the Island of Tol Barad, I’m repeatedly given a quest to rescue a prisoner from Farson Hold and escort it to safety. This druid is clearly the dumbest NPC to ever exist. It’s really no surprise that he keeps getting caught. Every couple of days I’m again asked by the area commander to go rescue him and how does he repay me – by being the most clueless druid ever to live. This bear druid (whose health doesn’t increase in bear form) was clearly carried by a more skill raid group to get all of his gear. He has roughly 190k health at level 85, non elite. This means he is decked out in (very ugly) high-end raiding gear with stamina trinkets, enchants, and gems. Seeing someone so geared, I want to think “this guy must be ‘pro'” and “clearly him getting caught was a fluke”. If I thought that though, I’d be horribly wrong. After bringing him out of the dungeon, the Farson Hold Prisoner pauses in front of the exit, the path to freedom clearly visible, then heads back inside the keep, going not one but two obviously wrong directions. Sometimes, it seems like he really has the fire in him to escape. He runs straight outside (missing his normal RP points) and then does one of two things: He comes back! OR He gets on a horse and leaves, failing to mention to the commander I helped him out. I save him and most of the time he slights me the opportunity to get some brownie points with Hellscream’s troops. Honestly, I think drugs are involved. Someone needs to give this guy an intervention and maybe he’d stop getting caught so often.

Rewards

You will receive: 25 94

Gains

Upon completion of this quest you will gain:

Check out my Faction Guide to see the epic loot you can pick up for these factions.

Patch 4.1 and Confirmed Hyjal Daily Quests

*Edit* Seeing as this old post is still getting a lot of views – I wanted to redirect people to more recent information. Check out THIS and THIS for more updated patch 4.1 info and the patch 4.2 trailers (which include dailies) respectively.

A recent post of mine mentioned that daily quests would be coming, though I wasn’t entirely sure when. I went back and checked the information (credit to Wow Insider’s blog for confirming) and there will be a new daily quest hub added to Hyjal in patch 4.1. The term ‘hub’ suggests  it will contain several  repeatable quests, similar to deepholm or Tol Barad, and unlike the pair of solitary quests available in Uldum for Ramkahen reputation. Those of you dying to grind Hyjal rep for the great loot they offer, but don’t want to put on a green tabard and hit up dungeons should finally be satisfied.

Other content this patch will add is the Firelands raid, where we will kill Ragnaros for good, and a 5 man underwater dungeon in Vashj’ir. I’d imagine Firelands will be tier 12 raiding gear.  Also, the Enhanced dungeon maps is expected to make it live in 4.1. Dungeon maps should be more detailed, including boss lore, abilities, and loot.

Daily Thoughts: Good News About Dailies

A post over at WoW Insider regarding  Blizzard’s Lead World Designer Alex Afrasiabi’s interview on G4 has informed me that A future content patch will see Hyjal fully healed, and new daily quests”. Check out the other details and find a link to the full interview HERE. Two weeks ago I’d be pretty excited about this, but my main already has exalted here through the dungeon grind. At least alts will be able to pick up the leveling blues and entry-level epics easier.

Other good news in regards to reputation grinds is the addition of a repeatable reputation gaining quest for the Ramkahen in Uldum. We now have quest Fire From the Sky that grants 250 rep and some gold upon completion. This joins Thieving Little Pluckers which I believe only grants 150 reputation.

For information about all the cataclysm factions, their reputation dailies, and loot, check out my Cataclysm Faction Reputation Guide.

See you tomorrow! Probably.