A Rogue's Guide to Cataclysm Reputations

Cataclysm has predictably brought a slew of new reputations, and every single one of them offers something rogueish, but that doesn't mean they're all equal. I'd suggest first focusing on those that grant rewards at honored and revered as the grind from revered to exalted can be lengthy. Also, a faction's quests can take you pretty far (to midway honored or even revered), which is nice because you'll be able to grab easy gear to up your ilvl. Now let's take an in-depth look at these reputations so you can make an informed decision about which one you should focus on instead of blindly repping up the first faction who happens to clap their tabard around you.

Guardians of Hyjal

A bunch of druids team up with ancient animal gods, a demigod, and of course your character to make sure Hyjal doesn't get burnt to cinders by a swarm of cultists and everyone's favorite firelord.

Quartermaster:
Provisioner Whitecloud (Nordrassil, Mount Hyjal)

Rewards:
• Honored - Chest - Sly Fox Jerkin
• Revered - Neck - Acorn of the Daughter Tree

If you chose Hyjal as your starter zone then you're in luck because you'll have access to some great rogue gear right off the bat. At honored you can grab the Sly Fox Jerkin, and at revered you'll unlock Acorn of the Daughter Tree which is a very nice neck for assassination rogues. The best thing about this faction is that if you complete Mount Hyjal you should be revered with them, but after that don't bother with them anymore as there are no rogue rewards at exalted.

The Earthen Ring

Thrall and his shamanistic superfriends are trying to keep the world from ripping apart, but who cares about that, they're giving out loot! 

Quartermaster:
Provisioner Arok* (Silver Tide Hallow, Shimmering Expanse, Vashj'ir)

Rewards:
• Revered - Back - Softwind Cape
• Exalted - Finger - Signet of the Elder Council

You'll first encounter the Earthen Ring in Vashj'ir, but I wouldn't recommend that zone if your goal is the get Earthen Ring rep; it actually awards very little (around 4,200). Most of their reputation is earned in Deepholm. If I was leveling a rogue based on reputations I would definitely have to pick Hyjal over Vashj'ir.

This is definitely a faction you want to rep up, as they offer some pretty sweet rewards. I would recommend questing in Deepholm to reach revered (remember to go get the cape afterward!). Then you'll have to champion them until exalted as they offer no daily quests. You could also do their quests in Vashj'ir or Twilight Highlands. Unfortunately the Twilight Highlands quests are towards the middle and the latter parts of the zone and with Blizzard's new tendency to make a zone's quests into one gigantic chain you can't choose to do only Earthen Ring quests.

*The quartermaster for this faction can be kind of hard to find. If you've have done absolutely no Vashj'ir at all the fastest way to reach the quartermaster would be to do the Hero's Call/Warchief's Command to get to the zone, then do the first quest to get your Sea Legs (optional, but you should probably do it), then swim to the surface, mount up, fly over to Silver Tide Hallow (location link is above), and then swim down. The quartermaster will be in a cave. Also, he will be there regardless of how many quests you have done in the zone, he is not phased.

Therazane

A fat stone woman and her sons just want to be left alone, but when it comes to loot you don't know the meaning of the words "go away", so you do some chores to earn their begrudging respect. 

Quartermaster:
D'lom the Collector (Therazane's Throne, Deepholm)

Rewards:
• Revered - Finger - Terrath's Signet of Balance
• Revered - Shoulder Enchant - Lesser Inscription of Shattered Crystal
• Exalted - Shoulder Enchant - Greater Inscription of Shattered Crystal

As you can see this faction that has our new shoulder enchant. Well, more like everyone's shoulder enchant, ours included. They also have a nice ilvl 346 ring. Combine this ring with the the Signet of the Elder Council from the Earthen Ring and you won't have to worry about those slots again until you hit raids.

Like a few other factions in the past you start out as hated, but if you quest through Deepholm you'll end up a little over halfway honored. After you finish the zone five daily quests will become available, and a sixth will unlock once you reach revered. I would definitely recommend doing them. All six dailies will net you 1,850 reputation and none of them are particularly difficult. By doing the dailies alone you could go from revered to exalted in only 12 days, and with championing it could take even less than that.

One more note. If you're having trouble unlocking the dailies you probably need to get Maziel's Research which is an item that begins a small quest chain. It drops from Murkstone Troggs and Mercurial Oozes which can be found in the Silvermarsh.

Ramkahen

A group for fleshified titan constructs want you to help them fend off their evil stone brethern, who have allied themselves with evil air elementals, who, in turn, have allied themselves with Deathwing.

Quartermaster:
Blacksmith Abasi (Ramkahem, Uldum)

Rewards:
• Revered - Waist - Quicksand Belt 
• Revered - Head Enchant - Arcanum of the Ramkahen

This faction has our head enchant so you'll need to rep them up sooner or later, but it isn't difficult. You'll begin the Ramkahen questline as soon as you enter Uldum and it will take you to halfway honored (more with Diplomacy/guild perks). If you didn't level in Uldum and your only goal is to increase your Ramkahen rep then stop at The Fall of Neferset City. That is the last quest in the zone that will award any Ramkahen rep save one which brings to me to the topic of daily quests.

Ramkahen have only two daily quests. The first, Thieving Little Pluckers, you'll encounter fairly early while questing in Uldum. The second, called Fire From the Sky you'll encounter much later. If you haven't unlocked it already, I wouldn't bother, as you'd have to practically complete the entire zone to do so.

Finally, the belt, I really don't know exactly what to say here. The hit is okay if you need it, but crit is garbage. I would say that, for mut, it's probably better to get Sash of Musing (1650 JP) and reforge the exp into hit when you need to.

Wildhammer Clan / Dragonmaw Clan

The Wildhammer and the Dragonmaw hate each other so much they'll continue to fight even when their lands are being overrun by cultists.

Wildhammer Quartermaster:
Craw MacGraw (Thundermar, Twilight Highlands)
Dragonmaw Quartermaster:
Grot Deathblow (Blood Gulch, Twilight Highlands)

Rewards:
• Honored - Legs - Swiftflight Leggings / Leggings of the Impenitent
• Exalted - Hands - Stormbolt Gloves / Liar's Handwraps

First off, you gotta get honored with these guys for the leggings. They're pretty good, I'm still wearing them! You're going to want to do their quests all the way through to unlock the the five daily quests. I know you could just champion them and ignore dailies completely, but, come on, you're a rogue, and unless you're best friends with a tank who just loves running heroics you're going to want those dailies unlocked. I'm gunna run through them from an alliance perspective. The horde versions are mostly the same, except for the quest Hook 'Em High.

You should start off by gathering kegs for Fight Like a Wildhammer and, of course, any food you find for Never Leave a Dinner Behind. There's actually a nice bug with the kegs where if you spam click them you can get two drinks from one keg. Each time you drink from a keg you'll get a 5% damage increase that can stack up to 25%. That should make Keeping the Dragonmaw at Bay a bit easier and will also help with Warlord Halthar is Back and finally Beer Run. Warlord Halthar is also easily soloable despite the quest calling for two players. It would be nice, however, to invite anyone you see hanging around so they can share the kill. Don't be a douche!

Baradin's Wardens / Hellscream's Reach

Tol Barad is a desolate rock that everyone wants despite the fact that it's infested with demons, ghosts, undead, hostile villagers, and dangerous wildlife.

Bardin Quartermaster:
Brazie (Baradin Base Camp, Tol Barad Peninsula)
Hellscream Quartermaster:
Pogg (Hellscream's Grasp, Tol Barad Peninsula) 

Rewards:
• Revered - Main Hand Dagger - Dagger of Restless Nights 
• Exalted - Trinket - Unsolvable Riddle
 
Unfortunately, the rewards for this faction aren't that great. The dagger has terrible stats and I'm guessing almost any other dagger it's own ilvl would be better unless you're severely lacking hit. You could even do a small amount of arenas/rated BGs and pick up a Vicious Gladiator's Shanker (which is BiS pre-raid). I just don't see someone scrounging up 85 commendations before they get something better unless they have really bad luck with drops and they've taken a solemn oath against pvp.

Then there's the trinket...it's not good compared to heroic trinkets like Key to the Endless Chamber and Tia's Grace. I would not waste 125 commendations on this thing. I will say, however, that it's probably a decent pvp trinket for mutilate.

If you do what to rep up this faction there's pretty much only one way: dailies. I'm not even going to go into all the little details here. There are 6 dailies on the main island where you portal in. Then there's an additional 6 you can gain when your faction controls the BG portion of the island. 3 of those 6 can change after every battle. In total there's a possible 18 dailies you can do in a single day, but then again you'd have to be very successful at Tol Barad and have rng on your side (so you don't get duplicate random dailies). 

Conclusion

So there it is...everything you could want to know about Cataclysm reputations (and probably more). If I had to pick a leveling path based solely on reputations I go in the following order: Hyjal > Deepholm > Uldum (up to the last Ramkahen quest) > Twilight Highlands. That would give you revered with Guardians of Hyjal, close to revered with Therazane, halfway honored with Ramkahen, and a start into your Wildhammer rep. After that it's really at your own discretion. Hope this guide helped someone. Happy grinding.