The Aldor Reputation Guide The Scryers Reputation Guide
Druid
Balance
Choosing either Aldor or Scryer for Balance is fine and really comes down to a few options that can sway you in one direction. Regarding Phase 1 BiS gear, choosing The Scryers gives access to Scryer's Bloodgem, which can help reach the cap for hit rating. If you are Aldor, you can swap out this trinket, but you will have to make up for the hit rating elsewhere, such as with gems. You want to aim for 12% hit rating since you can get 4% from talents in the Balance tree. You can potentially get away with less depending on your party setup, but it's generally a good idea to have a set of gear that reaches 12% on your own.
Balance Druid Pre-Raid BiS
The Aldor offer a better shoulder enchant with Greater Inscription of Discipline, slightly edging out Greater Inscription of the Orb. On the other hand, Scryer Tailors are also able to pick up and make their own Runic Spellthread, although the finished product can be bought and sold on the Auction House. In the long run, taking future phases into account, the Shattered Sun Offensive trinket proc off of Shattered Sun Pendant of Acumen is better if you are aligned with The Aldor.
Feral DPS
Unlike most other specs in TBC, the choice of Aldor versus Scryer faction has almost zero impact on the long-term PvE performance of a Feral Druid. For Feral DPS, the only permanently relevant items provided by these factions are the two shoulder enchants: Greater Inscription of Vengeance and Greater Inscription of the Blade, which require Exalted reputation with the Aldor and Scryer factions, respectively.
Feral Druid DPS Pre-Raid BiS
Despite providing different distributions of Attack Power versus Critical Strike Rating, simulations show that both enchants provide identical DPS value to within the simulation resolution of +/- 1 DPS. So feel free to choose either faction based on personal preference, as the choice will not impact your DPS output whatsoever in the long run. Overall, by a very minute edge, we'd recommend the Aldor for Feral Druids.
Feral Tank
Unlike most other specs in TBC, the choice of Aldor versus Scryer faction has almost zero impact on the long-term PvE performance of a Feral Druid. For bear tanks, the only permanently relevant items provided by these factions are the two shoulder enchants for threat and avoidance, respectively.
Feral Druid Tank Pre-Raid BiS
The Aldor threat enchant is Greater Inscription of Vengeance, and the Scryer version is Greater Inscription of the Blade, both of which require Exalted reputation with the Aldor and Scryer factions, respectively. Despite providing different distributions of Attack Power versus Critical Strike Rating, calculations show that both enchants provide nearly identical TPS value within current modeling accuracy, so feel free to choose either faction based on personal preference.
Restoration
Restoration Druids favor choosing Aldor. The shoulder enchant, Greater Inscription of Faith, from the Aldor is better than the Scryer alternative, Greater Inscription of the Oracle. There aren't any notable BoP items from either vendor.
Restoration Druid Pre-Raid BiS
Since many Restoration Druids tend to have tailoring, the Aldors also offer the ability to make your own Golden Spellthread with the BoP recipe Pattern: Golden Spellthread.
Hunter
For hunters, deciding between either The Aldor or The Scryers is not that big of a deal at the end of the day. However, the former should be the faction you choose to truly min-max your character, and it will affect your Pre-BiS gearing for Phase 1. The shoulder enchant Greater Inscription of Vengeance is ever so slightly better than Greater Inscription of the Blade from the latter.
Hunter DPS Guide
Besides the shoulder enchants, one of your Pre-Raid BiS rings will come from The Aldor, so that should be your indicator to go with them.
Mage
The Aldor vs Scryer choice for Mages is not super important. The key thing to keep in mind is the enchants, Greater Inscription of Discipline and Greater Inscription of the Orb.
Mage DPS Guide
They are very, very similar, which overall makes the choice not super impactful—we're talking 0.x% in favor of Aldor.
Paladin
Holy
The quick answer is that this is entirely preference-based, but the difference is rather small and will not make or break end-game content. Choosing either faction will ultimately be fine in the long run, so do not be dismayed if you went with your least preferred option.
Holy Paladin Pre-Raid BiS
The Aldor shoulder enchant is Greater Inscription of Faith compared to The Scryers getting Greater Inscription of the Oracle. The difference here is +11 healing power gained while losing 2 mana per 5. While the Greater Inscription of Faith is superior from an overall Healing, it's not a large enough margin to definitively say The Aldor is better and worth changing from The Scryers if you have already gone that route. Alternatively, The Scyers offers the better enchant from a Spell Crit perspective, with Greater Inscription of the Orb compared to The Aldors Greater Inscription of Discipline.
The last point of contention is which proc of the Shattered Sun Pendant of Restoration (available once Exalted with Shattered Sun Offensive) is superior for Holy paladins. This is a bit of future planning, as these necklace procs won't be available until the last content phase for TBC Classic, Phase 5.
In conclusion, The Aldor offers the most benefit from a healing perspective, with the better healing shoulder enchant and necklace proc in phase 5 compared to The Scryers.
Protection
For Protection Paladins, the main differences between the factions come in the early game with regard to quest rewards and rep vendor items that can help you gear up much faster for tanking heroic dungeons and Phase 1 raids. In terms of rep gain, the Scryers tend to be an easier faction to gain reputation with, so in that respect, Scryers are the superior option for those who want to get their shoulder enchants as fast as possible.
Protection Paladin Pre-Raid BiS
For the shoulder enchants, Greater Inscription of the Knight from the Scryers will edge out Greater Inscription of Warding, although marginal, it still offers more towards Crit reduction and overall Avoidance. The Aldor does offer a really solid tank chest, but this can easily be replaced with other gear. And on that note, the Scryers offer two relatively strong Threat pieces with Scryer's Bloodgem and Seer's Signet, and offer a really strong tank necklace with Thalodien's Charm, which you could be wearing longer than the tank chest option offered from The Aldor.
Although it's marginal, we recommend Protection Paladins opt into The Scryers for TBC Classic.
Retribution
The answer is that it doesn't really matter that much, but if you really want to minmax, you should choose Aldor, which has a very slightly better shoulder enchant, and will be the more relevant option in the final Sunwell Plateau phase as well.
Retribution Paladin Pre-Raid BiS
Priest
Healing
Although the Greater Inscription of Faith enchant is moderately better than Greater Inscription of the Oracle, the choice between The Aldor and The Scryers is fairly unimportant for healers, as both Zandalar Signet of Serenity and Resilience of the Scourge are virtually identical to the Aldor enchant in terms of value.
Healing Priest Pre-Raid BiS
The choice technically also affects whether Shattered Sun Pendant of Restoration will proc a healing power buff or a direct heal on your target in Phase 5, but as you'll likely already have Brooch of Nature's Mercy by then, this is also not really impactful.
In conclusion, if you care about the slight stat advantage, you should opt for the Aldor, but if you'd like to choose the Scryers, you should go for it, as the shoulder enchant won't ever make a noticeable difference.
Shadow
All of the gear from Aldor or Scryers is entirely negligible and will be replaced as soon as possible, meaning that the important parts are the Shoulder Enchants and the Recipes. Each faction gives a recipe for a Tailoring Leg Enchant: Aldor gives healing, and Scryers gives damage. The actual enchant can be freely traded, and they both tend to sell for around the same price, so this should not impact most players' decisions.
Shadow Priest Pre-Raid BiS
The biggest part of Aldor vs Scryer is the Shoulder Enchant. There are a few Shoulder Enchants that casters consider, and the best one depends entirely on class and spec. For Shadow Priest, the answer is simple, as Aldor provides a significant amount more Spell Power than Scryers and is by far the best Shoulder Enchant for Shadow. If you decide against going with the Aldor, your best option will be Zandalar Signet of Mojo, but let's be real, no one likes going back to Zul'Gurub, at least not in TBC.
Rogue
For rogues, choosing your Shattrath faction either The Aldor or The Scryers doesn't make that big of a difference in terms of raid performance. The main longstanding benefit will be the shoulder enchants from these factions.
Rogue Pre-Raid BiS
Greater Inscription of Vengeance from the former is very slightly better than Greater Inscription of the Blade from the latter, but it is such a minuscule difference that you are unlikely to ever notice it. You will do just fine choosing whichever faction you prefer.
Aldor offer a very slightly superior shoulder enchant for PvE damage dealing.
Aldor offers a decent sword at Exalted, Vindicator's Brand. This is good for starters, but it is already outclassed by other phase 1 weapons.
Scryers offer Plans: Enchanted Adamantite Belt, which can make leveling Blacksmithing much cheaper.
Scryers are usually the less popular faction, making their reputation turn-in items often cheaper than Aldor equivalents.
Overall, picking Aldor will benefit you more, however, in a Pre-Raid setting.
Shaman
Elemental
Shamans can pick either of the Aldor or the Scryers without much penalty. The Aldor shoulder enchant is slightly better, but the difference is minuscule from the Scryers enchant when considering your full gear stat bonuses.
Elemental Shaman Pre-Raid BiS
In general, it is best to pick based on which faction is cheaper to buy reputation materials for, as Aldor, for example, can often be extremely expensive due to having the favored shoulder enchant for most specializations.
Aldor offer a very slightly superior shoulder enchant for DPS.
Aldor also offers a decent staff at Revered, Auchenai Staff. This is okay for starters, but Main-Hand/Off-Hand combinations are better at level 70.
Scryers offers one of the best rings, Seer's Signet, at Exalted, and a powerful trinket, Scryer's Bloodgem at Revered, although you probably will not need its high Spell Hit due to getting so much of it from talents.
Scryers are usually the less popular faction, making their reputation turn-in items often cheaper than Aldor equivalents.
Enhancement
Shamans can pick both The Aldor or The Scryers without much penalty. The Aldor shoulder enchant is slightly better, but the difference is minuscule from the Scryers enchant when considering your full gear stat bonuses.
Enhancement Shaman Pre-Raid BiS
In general, it is best to pick based on which faction is cheaper to buy reputation materials for, as Aldor, for example, can often be extremely expensive due to having the favored shoulder enchant for most specializations.
Aldor offer a very slightly superior shoulder enchant for DPS.
Scryers offer a decent pre-raid leg option with Retainer's Leggings.
Scryers are usually the less popular faction, making their reputation turn-in items often cheaper than Aldor equivalents.
Restoration
Restoration Shamans favor choosing Aldor. The shoulder enchant, Greater Inscription of Faith, from the Aldor is better than the Scryer alternative, Greater Inscription of the Oracle. There aren't any notable BoP items from either vendor.
Restoration Shaman Pre-Raid BiS
Since many Restoration Shamans tend to have Leatherworking, there are various Leatherworking recipes from both factions, but nothing noteworthy enough to influence your decision.
Warlock
There is not a huge difference between Aldor and Scryers for Affliction Warlocks. You should most likely base this on personal preference, such as elevator type, location, profession trainers, tabard style, etc.
Warlock DPS Guide
That being said, let us look at the differences that influence gearing choices. The Scryers have the better items: Scryer's Bloodgem at Revered and Seer's Signet at Exalted. Although these are quite good, there are better items available in both slots in Phase 1. They do, however, offer additional flexibility in your gearing choices as you can swap them in and out to increase/decrease your total hit as required.
The Aldor has the better enchant, but there is a very small difference between the two; Greater Inscription of Discipline is about a 1-2 DPS increase compared to Greater Inscription of the Orb.
Shattered Sun Pendant of Acumen is a special neck that changes proc based on Faction alignment. This neck only becomes available by Phase 5, and in this Phase, there will be better alternatives, so this is unlikely to affect your decision.
Ultimately, The Scryers provide more early gearing flexibility, while The Aldor provide a very slightly better shoulder enchant. Whatever your choice is, it is the right one.
Warrior
Protection
Choosing between The Aldor or The Scryers determines which shoulders inscription you can access upon reaching exalted, which are basically equal for either side. But more importantly, your choice will affect the proc of your Shattered Sun Offensive necklaces in Phase 5, which should have a greater influence on your decision.
Protection Warrior Pre-Raid BiS
The Inscriptions
Mathematically speaking, the Aldor's inscription Greater Inscription of Warding totals slightly more raw avoidance at 1.30% avoidance, while the Scryers' Greater Inscription of the Knight provides 1.28% avoidance. This minuscule difference, at the scale of your entire gear set, is only a 0.06% difference in total mitigation value, which is to say negligible and irrelevant.
Math aside, it is worth mentioning that more defense can help facilitate your gearing process early on in Phase 1. This can be a good argument for choosing the Scryers, as you replace a lot of gear fast and have to adjust your crit immunity constantly.
The Necklace
The Shattered Sun Offensive tank necklace, Shattered Sun Pendant of Resolve, available in Phase 5 once you are exalted with this new faction, comes in two versions based on your chosen Shattrath faction. The Aldor version has a +100 dodge rating proc (+5.28% dodge) and the Scryers version has a +100 expertise rating proc (-6.25% dodge/parry).
While the Aldor necklace may look like the more survival-oriented choice at first glance, the Scryers version is in fact both the best of the two for threat by a landslide but also for damage mitigation thanks to the additional expertise reducing your chances to parry haste bosses, thus resulting in higher survivability than the dodge proc.
In conclusion, the Scryers is the obvious choice for a Warrior Tank since it offers the best shoulders inscription and the best necklace in Phase 5. Additionally, it also offers exclusive Blacksmithing plans that can save you a lot of gold when leveling that profession. And as a final bonus, it's also generally the less expensive faction of the two to max out, thanks to its lower popularity.
DPS
Both of the Shattrah factions offer similar shoulders enchants, with a marginal advantage for the Scryers one, providing more Critical Strike rating, more valuable than Attack Power.
Warrior DPS Pre-Raid BiS
The Aldor can give you access to Vindicator's Brand, a powerful pre-raid off-hand weapon, provided you have the finances to boost this reputation to Exalted early on. On the flip side, the Aldor is also generally the most popular faction, which usually drives the prices for Mark of Sargeras and Fel Armament up compared to the Scryers equivalents.
The Scryers' advantage primarily resides in its unique Blacksmithing plans, which will help you level Blacksmithing up to level 375 to craft your best weapons at a much lower cost. Sunfury Signet and Arcane Tome are also usually cheaper than the Aldor equivalents, both contributing to saving you a decent amount of gold at the start of the expansion.
In conclusion, neither faction will provide a real advantage after the beginning of Phase 1, and it's mostly a choice between an immediate power increase in the form of Vindicator's Brand at a high cost, or saving gold to increase your reputation and level up Blacksmithing.
Which faction will you choose to align yourself with in The Burning Crusade? Let us know in the comments down below!
