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The Aldor or the Scryers
In the Outlands, when you get to the city of Shattrath, you are prodded to take a tour of the city (a quest). At the end of that quest, you are offered a choice of factions (opposing factions) to join: the Aldor or the Scryers. The standard reaction seems to be PANIC! RUN! Many players, in fact, get so freaked out by this decision that they avoid it indefinitely - understandable but in the long run counterproductive.
There are lots of details elsewhere about the patterns, inscriptions, and rewards offered by the Aldor, the Scryers, or both. Feel free to peruse them at length. This is more of an overview.
You gain Aldor or Scryer reputation by doing certain quests (a few mid-60s quests in Terokkar and several long, 70ish chains in Netherstorm and Shadowmoon Valley) and turning in tokens dropped from various creeps. As with the Argent Dawn, there are three kinds of tokens for each faction:
| Value | Aldor | Scryers |
|---|---|---|
| Low-level | Mark of Kil'jaeden | Firewing Signet |
| Midlevel | Mark of Sargeras | Sunfury Signet |
| High-level | Fel Armament | Arcane Tome |
Low-level tokens can only be used until you reach Honored. High-level tokens give much more reputation per token (350 vs. 25) and also give you faction currency (Aldor: Holy Dust, Scryer: Arcane Runes) that can be traded for inscriptions (shoulder enchantments).
In a nutshell:
- You really should choose one or the other.
- It doesn't make much difference which one you choose.
- It does make some difference.
You really should choose one or the other.
- You can't be in good with both sides. A reputation gain with one faction results in a corresponding (110%) loss of reputation with the other faction.
- If your character is a Blood Elf, you start Friendly with the Scryers and disliked by the Aldor. (On the Alliance side, Draenei are in the opposite situation.) You have nothing to lose by formalizing your status.
- It's possible to repair your reputation with the Aldor and pledge their faction instead, but it's a tedious process at best. Attempting to do so will, for a while, put you in the awkward position of being disliked by both sides and unwelcome on both Scryers' Tier and Aldor Rise. Until you get past that point, you won't be able to hearth in Shattrath at all.
- If you're a craftsman of any sort, getting your skill from 340-350 to 375 is a major pain - in large part due to a scarcity of patterns. The Aldor and the Scryers are key sources of cloth, leather, and blacksmith patterns.
- Besides some gear rewards that may be appealing, each faction offers inscriptions: four at Honored and four more at Exalted. (In each case, there's one for tanks, one for healers, one for spellcasters, and one for melee/ranged dps.) These are available for purchase - but only with faction currency: Holy Dust (Aldor) or Arcane Runes (Scryer). Without the appropriate reputation, you can't get the inscriptions - and they're quite nice!
- The Sha'tar - another faction centered in Shattrath - also offer a variety of reputation-based rewards (gear, patterns, and some notable healing enchantments). Sha'tar reputation is particularly hard to get, however, and one of the main methods is by turning in Aldor or Scryer tokens. Although you won't see anything in your combat log, a token turn-in that yields 250 Aldor or Scryer reputation also gives you 125 Sha'tar reputation - at least until you get to 5999/6000 (Friendly) with the Sha'tar.
- There are important quest lines in Netherstorm and Shadowmoon Valley - complete with blue gear rewards - that can't even be started without Aldor or Scryer affiliation.
It doesn't make much difference which one you choose.
- The patterns, inscriptions, and rewards offered by both factions are different but roughly equivalent in quality and quantity.
- Like other reputation rewards, the Aldor/Scryer crafting patterns are BoP, but the gear made from the patterns is all BoE - so the crafted Arcane/Fire-Resistance gear, threads, and armor kits can be sold (or bought) in the Auction House, worn by members of the opposite faction, and so on. (Prices for the resistance gear vary greatly, and the armor kits aren't as popular as the Clefthide or Cobrahide Leg Armor, but the threads in particular tend to go for large sums.)
- Each faction has similar facilities: bank, inn, mailboxes, quartermaster, and so on.
- The faction-related quests are different but go to the same places in the same order and can be done at the same time by a single group containing both Aldor and Scryer devotees.
It does make some difference which one you choose.
- Aldor and Scryer vendors offer distinctly different weapons and gear. At Revered, for instance, the Aldor quartermaster offers a fine caster staff (Seer's Cane), while the Scryer qm offers an equally fine healer staff (Auchenai Staff).
- Inscriptions from the two factions are quite different, especially those available at Honored reputation. For PvE, I believe Protection Warriors and "Tankadins" are better off with the Defense orientation of the Scryer tanking inscriptions. (Tanking Druids reasonably may prefer the Dodge bonuses of the Aldor equivalents.) Conversely, the Aldor healing inscriptions are vastly superior to the Scryers'. PvPers in other classes may find Scryer inscriptions more appealing; PvEers are perhaps better served by the Aldor.
- Quest rewards for the Aldor/Scryer quest lines in Netherstorm are different. Killing Socrethar for the
Aldor gives a choice of five items.
Doing the same for the Scryers yields completely different gear:
All rewards are blue ("Rare"), but some classes or talent specs may suit one faction's choices more than the other's.Aldor Scryers Paladin belt Warrior gloves Mail gloves Shaman boots Rogue/Feral Druid shoulders Rogue/Feral Druid belt Caster boots Caster Druid shoulders Ranged/melee ring Caster wand - Basically, Aldor crafters learn to make Fire Resistance gear (good for Ramparts instances); Scryer crafters get Arcane Resistance patterns (good for The Mechanar and Karazhan). (Note: Scryer tailors get shortchanged - the cloth Arcane Resistance patterns come from elsewhere.)
- Magical "thread" is the tailoring equivalent of an enchantment or armor kit for the legs. Aldor tailors can learn to make two different sorts of thread for healers: Silver Spellthread and Golden Spellthread. Scryer tailors can learn two different sorts of thread for spellcasters: Mystic Spellthread and Runic Spellthread. (More information here.)
- Aldor leatherworkers can learn to make a Vindicator's Armor Kit for tanks; Scryer leatherworkers can get the pattern for a Magister's Armor Kit for casters.
- Both factions offer jewelry patterns, but Aldor also has a jewelcrafting trainer; Scryer does not. Scryer has a single alchemy recipe; Aldor has none.
Some of these differences will be more important to you than others, of course, and any one of them may prove decisive. Choose accordingly, and don't look back.
If none seems particularly significant, and you still can't make up your mind, go with the Scryers. As a guildmate pointed out, so many quests for the Shattered Sun Offensive involve killing Sunfury Blood Elves (e.g., Sunfury Attack Plans and Taking the Harbor or Crush the Dawnblade) that the Scryer reputation tokens dropped by them have become easier to obtain - and cheaper to buy in the Auction House - than the Aldor equivalents. This was not the case before Patch 2.4, and things may change again, but for now the Scryers are the practical choice.
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