Is Aldor or Scryers for Mage?

Key Takeaways

Scryers offer the best trinket and shoulder enchant for Mages
Aldor staff is lackluster for Mages compared to other options
Scryers provide spell damage pants enchant and hit rating trinket
Some specs may prefer Aldor reputation gear over Scryers
It depends on your focus – PvE, PvP, fire, arcane, etc.

Which faction is better for Mages in TBC – Aldor or Scryers?

Based on the available reputation rewards, Scryers seems to be the optimal choice for most Mage builds and specializations in The Burning Crusade Classic. Here’s a comprehensive look at the key benefits of siding with the Scryers as a Mage:

Powerful caster trinket

The Scryers offer a trinket called The Icon of the Silver Crescent which grants +35 spell hit rating as well as an on-use effect to increase spell damage by 150 for 15 seconds. This can be a very useful trinket for Mages who need extra hit rating to reach the spell hit cap as well as boost their damage during burst phases with the on-use.

Strong shoulder enchant

The Scryers also provide access to the Greater Inscription of Discipline shoulder enchant which grants +18 spell damage and +10 critical strike rating. This is generally considered one of the best shoulder enchants for Mages in TBC.

Spell damage pants enchant

Scryers offer the Enchant Boots – Vitality enchant which can be applied to leg armor to grant +9 spell damage. This gives a nice damage boost compared to the Aldor leg enchants.

Fire-focused staff not ideal

The Aldor-exclusive Staff of the Redeemer is focused on boosting fire damage, making it not very useful for Frost and Arcane Mages. The stats are also not as strong as other readily available pre-raid staves.

Useful arcanum

Scryers also provide the Arcane Intellect Arcanum enchant for head gear which grants +8 intellect, a moderately useful enchant for boosting mana and crit as a caster.

Better gearing options available

Since a staff is not essential for Mages, the Aldor staff is not as much of a draw. Other strong weapons like Eternium Runed Blade or Maelstrom’s Fury from quests provide better stats. And items like Neltharion’s Tear from Black Temple surpass the Aldor staff.

So in summary, the Scryer rewards closely align with the itemization priorities for Mages including hit rating, spell damage, crit, and intellect. The Aldor staff is lackluster and unnecessary compared to alternative weapons that are relatively easy to obtain in early TBC.

What are the key differences in Aldor vs. Scryers rewards for Mages?

Here’s a quick rundown of how the available rewards from Aldor and Scryers differ for Mages:

Trinkets – Scryers has a strong spell hit/damage trinket. Aldor lacks a useful caster trinket.
Shoulder enchant – Scryers provides a superior spell damage and crit enchant. Aldor has a weak 5 intellect enchant.
Staff – Aldor has a fire-focused staff which is not very good for Mages. Scryers has no staff.
Pants enchant – Scryers offers a spell damage pants enchant. Aldor provides stamina or mana restoration.
Arcanum – Scryers has a +intellect head enchant. Aldor lacks an arcanum.
Ring enchant – Aldor and Scryers both provide a +4 stats ring enchant.

So in terms of pure optimization for a Mage, Scryers provides clearly better gearing rewards than Aldor in TBC Classic.

Might Aldor be better for some Mage specs or situations?

While Scryers generally aligns best with Mage itemization priorities, there are a couple specs or situations where siding with Aldor could be worth considering:

Fire Mages – The Aldor staff provides +139 spell damage as well as boosts to fire damage specifically. So for pure fire builds, it can be a useful weapon. However, there are still stronger options available.

PvP – In PvP, survivability and regen are more important. So the Aldor leg enchants providing stamina or mana restore may be useful. The extra stamina on the Aldor staff also helps versus being bursted down.

Healing off-spec – If you want to heal occasionally on your Mage, the Aldor staff can be viable for that purpose. The mana restore leg enchant also facilitates this off-spec.

Aesthetics – Some may prefer the aesthetic of the draenei-themed Aldor to the blood elf Scryers. But aesthetics are subjective.

So in a few niche cases, Aldor can provide some benefits for a Mage. But for most players, Scryers will be the optimal reputation faction choice for end-game PvE success.

What are the best Aldor and Scryer rewards for a Mage in TBC?

Here are the most useful Aldor and Scryers rewards specifically for a Mage in The Burning Crusade Classic:

Aldor

Staff of the Redeemer – A fire-focused caster staff – mostly beneficial for Fire Mages
Greater Inscription of Warding – Shoulder enchant for PvP survivability
Vitality – Leg enchant for stamina if prioritizing PvP health
Sage’s – Leg enchant for mana restoration

Scryers

The Icon of the Silver Crescent – Excellent trinket for hit and burst damage
Greater Inscription of Discipline – Strong shoulder enchant for damage and crit
Enchant Boots – Vitality – Useful spell damage leg enchant
Arcane Intellect Arcanum – Decent head enchant for intellect

As you can see, the Scryers rewards align much better for power and optimization as a PvE Mage. But Aldor provides some niche benefits for PvP or Fire Mages.

What are the disadvantages of choosing Scryers as a Mage?

While Scryers is ideally the best faction for a Mage in TBC, here are a couple potential downsides to consider:

Cannot get the Aldor-exclusive Staff of the Redeemer, which can be useful for Fire Mages
Missing out on the extra stamina from Aldor shoulder enchant and staff if prioritizing PvP
Duplication of effort if you want alts to take both factions. Scryers rep would be better spent elsewhere.
Some groups may still assume Fire Mages should be Aldor and expect that.
Potentially weaker synergies for group compositions favoring Aldor.
Blood elf aesthetics of Scryers may not appeal to all players. Some prefer the Aldor draenei NPCs.

Overall though, these are quite minor considerations, and most Mages will still gain more benefits siding with the Scryers faction. But it is something to be aware of if you highly value the Aldor staff or PvP survivability.

Can Mages switch between Aldor and Scryers in TBC?

Unfortunately, no – once a player selects Aldor or Scryers, they are locked into that choice on that character. The two factions are directly opposed, so you cannot gain reputation with both on the same character.

The only way to switch would be to complete the lengthy Aldor/Scryer grind to exalted on one character, then switch factions and repeat the grind on an alt character.

So it is quite an investment to get exalted with both factions. Most players will pick the single faction that aligns best with their class, spec, and focus. For Mages, that is typically going with Scryers for their strong caster-focused rewards.

5 Key Takeaways – Choosing Factions as a Mage in TBC

Scryers offer the best gearing rewards for Mages – hit/damage trinket, shoulders, leg enchant
Aldor staff is lackluster for Mages compared to other weapon options
Some niche cases like Fire PvP builds may prefer Aldor gearing
Scryers rewards fit great for all Mage specs – Frost, Fire, Arcane
You cannot swap factions on a character – choose wisely!

Conclusion

Based on a comprehensive analysis of the available rewards, the Scryers are clearly the best reputation faction choice for Mages in most cases during The Burning Crusade Classic.

The Scryers offer a fantastic spell hit and damage trinket, strong shoulder enchant, useful pants enchant, and overall gearing that strongly aligns with Mage itemization priorities including damage, crit, and intellect.

Meanwhile, the Aldor staff is rather underwhelming for Mages, and most of their rewards cater more towards survivability which is less essential in PvE. There are a couple potential niche cases like Fire Mages where Aldor can be useful, but for overall min-maxing, Scryers is king.

One key tip is that you cannot reverse your faction choice on a character, so choose carefully! Evaluate your build, specialization, and focus in TBC end-game content, and if in doubt, you certainly will not regret siding with the Scryers as a Mage.

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