TBC Anniversary Reputation Guide: Mounts, Keys

This TBC Anniversary reputation guide is meant to complement your “Dungeon Route: Reputation to Heroics Fast” article, not compete with it. Your dungeon route answers the routing question: what to run, in what cluster, and when to rotate for the main reputation tracks. This guide covers the part that usually causes wasted time even when the route is correct: how to verify Heroic key requirements on your ruleset, how to recognize when a normal dungeon has dropped into low-value reputation, and how to finish keys cleanly with quests and repeatables instead of forcing extra low-value runs.

The outcome is simple: unlock the Heroic keys you need on schedule. Then, once Heroics are stable, you can add optional reputations like mounts without derailing your gearing pace.

Heroic keys and the reputation gate that matters

Heroic access is usually a two-part gate: you reach a specific reputation tier with the faction tied to the dungeon cluster, then you buy the Heroic key from that faction’s quartermaster. The mistake that wastes the most time is assuming the reputation tier from another version, another ruleset, or an old memory. Your clean solution is to treat the vendor tooltip as the only source of truth that matters for your server.

Do this once per track you plan to unlock:

• Go to the quartermaster for the faction you are pushing.
• Find the Heroic key on the vendor and read the exact reputation requirement on the tooltip.
• Commit to that tier as your goal and stop at that goal. Do not add extra grind “just in case.”

Anniversary note (important for alts): Anniversary-style rulesets sometimes add alt-friendly mechanics for Heroic access, such as an account-wide unlock item, a transferable key, or a reduced reputation tier for alts after your first character completes the full requirement. If you plan to play multiple characters, verify this on your server at release by checking what the quartermaster actually sells and what the tooltip requires on each character. If alts have reduced requirements, do not repeat the full grind on every character. Push the main unlock once, then only do the minimum required tier per alt.

There is also a second kind of gate that often gets mixed into reputation discussions: entrance gates. Some dungeons can have one-time entry steps like a physical door key, a quest chain, or a one-time access unlock that affects getting into the instance area. That is separate from the Heroic key system. Treat entrance gates as one-time efficiency unlocks. If you hit one, complete it once, then return to your reputation loop. Your weekly pace is determined by the repeatable gate: the Heroic key requirement.

Why reputation “stops” in normals and how to rotate without guessing

Outland dungeon reputation is front-loaded. Early normal dungeons are efficient early, then often hit a low-value phase where reputation slows down hard or stops for that difficulty range. When players say “my rep is stuck,” it is rarely bad luck. It is usually one of two problems: they stayed in the first dungeon too long past its efficient window, or their group pace collapsed and rep per hour fell even if the dungeon still pays some reputation.

You do not need to memorize every cap detail to play correctly. You need one repeatable rotation trigger you can apply to any track.

The rotation trigger that keeps rep per hour high

Use this method any time you push a key reputation:

• Track reputation gained per run for your last 2 to 3 clears. You are looking for a sharp drop compared to earlier clears in the same dungeon.
• If your reputation per run drops sharply, or your run starts giving close to zero compared to earlier, treat it as a pivot signal. Do not “force a few more” out of habit.
• Pivot inside the same track first. Use your dungeon route table to move to the next dungeon in that faction chain that still pays reputation well.
• Pivot for pace, not only for reputation. If you wipe, stall, or spend a lot of time recovering, your rep per hour is already losing. A faster, cleaner run in the same track is often the better choice.

This is the habit that prevents the classic time sink: doing ten extra clears that barely move the bar, then feeling forced into an even longer grind later.

What you see in session	What it usually means	Best next move
Your rep bar barely moves after several runs	You are past the efficient phase for that dungeon tier, or you hit the reputation threshold for that difficulty	Rotate to the next dungeon in the same track, then finish the last gap with quests and turn-ins
Runs are slow and wipe-heavy	Your limiting factor is clear speed, not the reputation track itself	Stabilize pace first: swap to a cleaner group, or switch to a simpler/faster dungeon that still advances the same track
You keep switching tracks and no key unlocks	You are splitting effort and delaying every gate	Finish one key unlock first, buy the key, then start the next track
Someone cannot enter Heroic	They do not meet the key requirement on that character, or they are missing an Anniversary-specific unlock step	Check the quartermaster tooltip on that character, then farm the fastest sources to the exact tier

Quest turn-ins and repeatables: finish keys cleanly without extra low-value runs

Quests and repeatables are not “alternative content” for a key push. They are control tools. Dungeon spam is high value while it is high value because it gives reputation and gear at the same time. The moment dungeon reputation loses efficiency, quests and predictable turn-ins become your clean way to close the remaining gap without forcing extra low-value clears.

A simple way to time this at level 70:

• Early in a track, take the cheap reputation first by running the dungeon routing while reputation per run is still strong.
• When you are close to the key tier, or when reputation per run drops hard or hits near-zero, stop forcing more runs out of habit and switch to finishing tools.
• Turn in quests when they unlock the key now, or when they replace multiple slow runs you would otherwise do after the dungeon’s value dropped.
• Use repeatables and item turn-ins as last-mile tools. They are best when they save time, not when they become your main grind.

If you also care about saving quests for gold at 70, keep a small pool of reputation-relevant quests unturned so you can still finish a key on schedule. Save the rest if you want, but do not let gold planning delay the unlock that accelerates all future gearing.

Optional reputations for mounts (do these after your Heroic keys)

Mount reputations are a great long-term goal, but they can easily distract from early unlock momentum. The clean rule is simple: secure your core Heroic keys first, stabilize your Heroic clear pace, then add mount reputations in focused blocks when you are not blocked by key gates. This section is not about doing everything at once. It is about knowing which mount reputations exist and how to slot them into your schedule without slowing down Heroics.

Mount reputations that fit a clean weekly routine

These are the mount-focused reputation tracks most players care about in TBC-style content. The key to doing them efficiently is not grinding harder. It is picking the right time window and keeping the work modular so you can stop and return without losing progress.

• Netherwing: Netherwing drakes. This is a dedicated long-term reputation track that usually involves repeatable tasks and dailies in Shadowmoon Valley. It is best started once your dungeon week is stable, because it competes directly with your time budget. Treat it like a separate daily block you do after your key sessions, not instead of them.
• Sha'tari Skyguard: Nether Ray mounts. This is often easier to run as a side track because you can complete progress in short sessions and stop cleanly. If you want a mount rep that does not disrupt your dungeon momentum, this is the style of reputation that fits well.
• Kurenai (Alliance) or The Mag'har (Horde): Talbuk mounts. This is one of the cleanest ground-mount tracks to push because it is straightforward and can be progressed in predictable chunks. It also pairs well with general Outland open-world time when you do not have a group ready for dungeons.

How to prevent mount reputations from slowing your gearing:

• Keep mount reps as a fixed time block. For example, do them after you finish your key-track runs for the day, not before.
• Do not start a mount rep on the same day you are one session away from unlocking a key. Finish the key first. Unlocks compound value. Mount reps do not.
• Use mount reps as your fallback activity when you cannot form a dungeon group or when you want productive solo time between dungeon sessions.

Conclusion

Your dungeon route guide gives the fastest answer to “what to spam.” This reputation guide makes that route efficient by removing the three biggest time sinks: guessing key requirements, overstaying in a normal dungeon after its reputation value drops, and spending quests or repeatables at the wrong time. Keep the core loop simple: confirm the key requirement on the quartermaster, farm the track while reputation per run is strong, rotate as soon as it drops, then finish the last gap with predictable turn-ins instead of extra low-value runs.

Once your Heroic keys are secured and your Heroic clears are stable, add mount reputations as optional progress that fits around your dungeon week, not inside your key unlock window. That way you get both: faster access to Heroics now, and steady mount progress without slowing down the gearing engine that makes everything else easier.