WoW Classic: Darnassus Reputation

A few things to note before I start the post: 

First, I talk about the cost of items in terms of AH price.  That’s because for the purpose of this post, that’s the only value that matters. 

Second, it doesn’t matter how easy/hard it is for you to farm Runecloth, or Un’Goro Soil, or anything else.  The best items to farm is a completely different discussion.

Third, just because you farmed an item, doesn’t make it “free”.  If you farmed it, you spent time doing so.  Also, you could sell the item on the AH instead of using it for…whatever.  One day I'll write a post about opportunity cost.

Ok, let’s get started!


Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty

You want to get a kitty mount but you don’t have long, pointy ears.  Time to grind that Darnassus rep up to Exalted!  While any number of non-repeatable quests will give you reputation, at some point you’ll have to grind out the remaining rep.  There are two* repeatable quests for Darnassus reputation:

1.     Additional Runecloth** 

2.     Morrowgrain Research

Additional Runecloth is simple.  Give Raedon Duskstriker in Darnassus 20 Runecloth, you get 50 rep. 

Morrowgrain Research is simple turn in as well, but much more math is involved in determining the best way to obtain Morrowgrain and how the cost compares to Runecloth turn-ins.  The turn in itself is similar to Runecloth: Give Mathrengyl Bearwalker in Darnassus 10 Morrowgrain.  He gives you 50 rep & a Cenarion Circle Cache.  Note that Wowhead says you get 100 rep, but it's 50 at level 60.  I personally tested this on a live Classic server.  

Morrowgrain? More Like RNGgrain

You can either get Morrowgrain directly on the AH, or you can grow your own.  I know what you’re thinking, actual farms weren’t introduced until Mists of Pandaria, wtf are you talking about “grown your own”?  You can indeed grow your own, without the need of a farm.  You need 3 things:

1.       Evergreen Pouch

2.       Packet of Tharlendris Seeds

3.       Un’Goro Soil

The initial Evergreen Pouch and Packets of Tharlendris Seeds are provided the first time you do the quest.  After that, you’ll need to purchase Packets from Mathrengyl Bearwalker for 9s each (that includes Darnassus Honored rep discount).  You keep the Evergreen Pouch after you complete the initial quest.  If you happen to have destroyed it for bag space, you’ll have to purchase another for 90s.

Each time you use the Evergreen Pouch, it requires 1 Packet & 2 Un’Goro Soil.  The Seed Pouch has a 10 minute cooldown (real time, cooldown counts down while you’re offline).  It produces an Evergreen Herb Casing, which will contain either 1-5 Morrowgrain, or 1-3 low to mid-level herbs (no chance of a Black Lotus I’m afraid).  I have read comments and posts that having Herbalism, particularly at 300, increases the chance and quantity of Morrowgrain received.  I’ve not seen empirical evidence either way.  If it’s true that Herbalists are more likely to get Morrowgrain, then the expected value of the Evergreen Herb Casing for Herbalists is slightly higher (owing to more Morrowgrain), and non-Herbalists slightly lower.  

The Math

In my calculations below, I use the drop rates from Wowhead. 

The full calculations can be found in this Google Sheet.  You can save a copy and edit the prices for your server; your results may vary but the largest factors will be the price of Runecloth, Morrowgrain, and Un’Goro Soil.

Note that with the Morrowgrain Research quest, you get the Cenarion Circle Cache with a variety of food, water, elixirs, potions, and scrolls in addition to the reputation.  When calculating this turn-in, I have done the calculations assuming you will vendor everything you get in the Cache and credited that against the cost of the Morrowgrain.  Some of the Elixirs/Potions may be worth listing on the AH, but most of them are not quick sellers.  You’ll end up re-listing them multiple times running up deposit fees. 

There are several questions that you can use the calculations in the Google Sheet to answer.

1. Is making Evergreen Herb Casings profitable?

• If yes, they should be made on cooldown, regardless what we do with the resulting     Morrowgrain. 
• If no, don’t make them. (Duh.)

2.  Which turn-in is cheaper per point of reputation?

     a.  If Runecloth, do Additional Runecloth.

• If Casings are profitable, make them and sell all of the contents, including Morrowgrain and buy Runecloth
• If Casings are not profitable, don’t make them.

     b.  If Morrowgrain, do Morrowgrain Research. Sell your Runecloth and:

• Buy Un’Goro Soil and make Casings if they profitable to make
• Buy Morrowgrain

The Bottom Line

Unless prices on your server are VASTLY different to mine, the bottom line based on the numbers above is to do Runecloth turn-Ins & make Evergreen Herb Casings and sell the contents.

1.       Additional Runecloth is by far the most cost-effective way to get reputation.  At 6s (typical AH price for my server) per Runecloth, that’s 1g20s per turn or 2s40c per point of rep.  Not bad until you consider that just for Revered to Exalted is 21,000 points of reputation, meaning just that portion will cost over 500g.  Most likely you’ll only be around halfway through Honored by the time you hit 60, so the total cost will likely be closer to 650g or more. 

2.       Evergreen Herb Casings are profitable to make, but not massively.  It’s a good small passive income.   Make them while browsing the AH, between pulls in instances/raids, while you’re out farming other things, etc.  It’s usually worth buying the Un’Goro soil (plug the cost into the linked spreadsheet to verify).  It’s a ok supplemental farm if you’re in Un’Goro for herbs, ore, or Devilsaur Leather, but probably not on its own.

You might have a question at this point.  If Runecloth is the cheaper way to get rep but making Casings is profitable, who’s buying all the Morrowgrain?

1.       People who are questing and want the XP.  The first time you turn in Morrowgrain Research, it gives a good bit of XP.  For those wanting to level as fast as possible, it’s worth buying Morrowgrain to complete the quest rather than trying to grow it in Casings.

2.       People who haven’t done/can’t be bothered to do the math. 

Notes:

*Technically there is a third, Pristine Yeti Hide, but it's not reasonable to try to farm.  It has a low drop rate, it's unique, and you have to travel from Feralas to Darnassus (then back) each time to turn it in.

**In order to unlock Additional Runecloth, you must first complete A Donation of Wool, A Donation of Silk, A Donation of Mageweave, A Donation of Runecloth.

That's all for this post. Thanks for reading!