World of Warcraft isn't always about war. Sometimes it's about making friends and doing favors, in exchange for some modest gifts. High-level characters who need powerful enchants, rare recipes or best-in-slot raiding gear end up grinding their reputation with these factions with daily quests, by collecting and exchanging valuable items, or running heroic dungeons while wearing a faction's tabard.
Not all Quartermasters of the new expansion are equally popular, and reputation grinds have varying levels of difficulty that often have nothing to do with the value of their goods. Certain rep grinds in Northrend are relatively easy with decent to impressive rewards available, while others can be the opposite, but at the same time, compulsory.
Neutral Factions
Most of the factions in Northrend are available to both Alliance and Horde players, so it's common to see characters from both factions grinding rep in these regions and wearing the same specific types of gear and weapons. Players on PVP servers should be on the lookout for improvised duels.
- Frenzyheart Tribe: Located in Shalozar Basin, getting Exalted with the Frenzyheart is more trouble than it's worth for the few rewards they have. Everyone wants the Disgusting Jar, which becomes a Ripe Disgusting Jar that can result in a number of rewards, one being a fun toy. It's a stepping stone to earning an Achievement that also includes the Oracles.
- Argent Crusade: There are some decent rewards here for Paladins and plate wearers. The real draw is the rare Tailoring and Jewelcrafting, recipes but not much else until the patch with the Argent Tournament is introduced.
- Knights Of The Ebon Blade: A better investment for DPS classes, with more favoritism towards melee damage dealers; basically, Death Knights and Warriors. There are also some nice Jewelcrafting recipes.
- The Kalu'ak: Some decent gear for cloth wearers getting their start in Northrend, but what players really want is the purple fishing pole and the penguin non-combat pet.
- The Oracles: Get Exalted with these glorified Murlocs in Shalozar Basin for one reason, the coveted Mysterious Egg. This yields various non-combat pets and one rare flying mount.
- The Wyrmrest Accord: Some high-level rewards make this another important WotLK faction. The Quartermaster sells BiS gear for cloth-wearers, recipes, and a flying mount.
- Kirin Tor: With various recipes, gear, and high-level enchants available, this Dalaran-based faction is essential when it comes to the rep grind. They are Mages, however, so this faction is more important for some classes than others.
- The Sons Of Hodir: An obscure faction located in the far eastern side of Storm Peaks, these frost giants have the essential shoulder enchants that all aspiring raiders need. There's also the prospect of two different mammoth mounts.
Horde Factions
There are five factions in Northrend that are only accessible to Horde players. Only one of them provides any rewards for reaching Exalted status, but all of them count towards the pertinent Achievements for the completionists out there.
- The Hand Of Vengeance is the name of Horde's presence in Northrend, specifically the Forsaken race. There's no Quartermaster nor rewards, just the Achievement for Exalted status.
- The Warsong Offensive is the Orc equivalent, and is located on the eastern side of the continent in the Borean Tundra. There is no Quartermaster or rewards, only the Achievement.
- The Tanuka are the buffalo-people who are closely related to the Tauren and have allied themselves with the Horde forces. The best way to grind rep with them is to complete quests in certain dungeons and anywhere in the Borean Tundra, but there's no quartermaster or rewards.
- The Sunreavers are the only Horde-specific faction that has a Quartermaster. Vasarin Redmorn sells a few rewards that include a tabard, mounts, and a pet, but no gear or recipes.
Alliance Factions
Alliance players also have five exclusive factions that offer reputation grinds through quests, but not all of them provide rewards. The ones that do have some valuable and rare items, but these are mostly cosmetic, like mounts and non-combat pets.
- The Frostborn are a race of Dgrindings that have joined with the Alliance forces in Northrend. No rewards and no quatermaster are available, but grind rep with them has peripheral benefits.
- The Explorer's League is an organization dedicated to further research into the history of the Dwarven race and the earliest days of Azeroth. Horde players get some interaction with this faction through the character of Brann Bronzebeard, but only Alliance players can grind rep with them.
- The Valiance Expedition is the term for the bulk of the Alliance forces in Northrend under the command of King Varian Wrynn. There's no Quartermaster or rewards, but once this rep is maxed out, any more earned automatically goes to the Silver Covenant.
- The Silver Covenant is connected to the Argent Crusade but doesn't admit Blood Elves. High elves have been part of the Alliance for decades, and these ones sell a few valuable mounts to players that have Exalted status with them.
- Grinding rep with the Alliance Vanguard will also gain the player reputation with all of the above factions and vice-versa. This is the only Alliance-exclusive faction that sells gear and recipes in addition to pets and mounts. The most important item available for getting Exalted status with the Alliance Vanguard is an engineering schematic for one of the most expensive and sought-after ground mounts in the game, Mekgineer's Chopper.