An introduction to the guild advancement system

One of the most interesting additions coming with the Cataclysm expansion is the guild advancement system.  Come December, guilds will begin earning experience points for many of the actions that its members take.  As these guild experience points accumulate, guilds increase in level, earning a number of useful perks in the process.  Read on for a look at what we know so far about the guild advancement system.

Guild Leveling

Beginning with the launch of Cataclysm, guilds will gain levels in a way that is similar to character advancement.  There are currently a total of 25 guild levels to advance through, and reaching each level automatically conveys a useful perk to all of the members of the guild.  For example, upon reaching guild level 2, all of the members in that guild will immediately begin receiving 5% more experience from killing mobs and completing quests!

Blizzard is still tweaking the amount of guild experience points that specific actions reward, but here are all of the ways that members will be able to contribute toward the advancement of their guild:

  • Questing, including daily quests (higher-level quests will grant more guild experience)
  • Advancing faction reputations
  • Advancing tradeskill professions
  • Killing a dungeon or raid boss while in a guild group
  • Winning a rated battleground while in a guild group
  • Winning an arena match while in a guild group
  • Completing a guild achievement (see below)

As you can see, you won’t have to go out of your way to level your guild up — it will happen naturally over the course of time as you and your fellow guild members participate in nearly every type of solo and/or group play.

If you’re inclined to actively work on speeding up the guild leveling process, the best method of accomplishing that will likely be completing guild achievements.  Guild achievements work similar to individual achievements, the goals are simply greater in scale and will likely require several guild members working together to complete them.  For example, to finish Crittergeddon, your guild needs to slaughter 100,000 innocent critters.  Guild achievements reward a very significant chunk of guild experience, so they’re worth pursuing for guilds that want to level up quickly.

One final note on guild leveling: Blizzard is capping the amount of experience that each guild can earn on any given day.  The reason that they’re doing this is so that small guilds aren’t at an extreme disadvantage to large ones when it comes to earning guild experience.  A guild with 20 active players in it should level at about the same pace as a guild with 100 active players, so no need to go on a recruitment spree before Cataclysm arrives!

Guild Rewards

You may be wondering what exactly you gain by advancing your guild up through the ranks.   The following table shows the guild perks that become available as guilds increase in level, up to the current maximum of 25.  These rewards are automatically available to every member of the guild as soon as the guild reaches the level requirement.

Rank

Reward

Description

2 Fast Track (Rank 1) Experience gained from killing monsters and completing quests increased by 5%.
3 Mount Up Increases speed while mounted by 5%. Not active in Battlegrounds or Arenas.
4 Mr. Popularity (Rank 1) Reputation gained from killing monsters and completing quests increased by 5%.
5 Cash Flow (Rank 1) Each time you loot money from an enemy, an extra 5% money is generated and deposited directly into your guild bank.
6 Fast Track (Rank 2) Experience gained from killing monsters and completing quests increased by 10%.
7 Reinforce (Rank 1) Items take 5% less durability loss when you die.
8 Hasty Hearth Reduces the cooldown on your Hearthstone by 15 minutes.
9 Reinforce (Rank 2) Items take 10% less durability loss when you die.
10 Chug-A-Lug (Rank 1) The duration of buffs from all guild cauldrons and feasts is increased by 50%.
11 Mobile Banking Summons your guild bank. Instant, 1 hr cooldown
12 Mr. Popularity (Rank 2) Reputation gained from killing monsters and completing quests increased by 10%.
13 Honorable Mention (Rank 1) Increases Honor points gained by 5%.
14 Working Overtime Increases the chance to gain a skill increase on tradeskills by 10%.
15 The Quick and the Dead Increases health and mana gained when resurrected by a guild member by 50% and increases movement speed while dead by 100%. Does not function in combat or while in a Battleground or Arena.
16 Cash Flow (Rank 2) Each time you loot money from an enemy, an extra 10% money is generated and deposited directly into your guild bank.
17 Guild Mail In-game mail sent between guild members now arrives instantly.
18 For Great Justice Increases Justice points gained by 5%.
19 Honorable Mention (Rank 2) Increases Honor points gained by 10%.
20 Happy Hour Increases the number of flasks gained from using a flask cauldron by 100%.
21 Have Group, Will Travel Summons all raid or party members to the caster’s current location. Unlimited range, 6 sec cast / Channeled, 2 hr cooldown
22 Chug-A-Lug (Rank 2) The duration of buffs from all guild cauldrons and feasts is increased by 100%.
23 Bountiful Bags Increases the quantity of materials gained from Mining, Skinning, Herbalism, and Disenchanting by 15%.
24 Bartering Reduces the price of items from all vendors by 5%.
25 Mass Resurrection Brings all dead party and raid members back to life with 35 health and 35 mana. Cannot be cast when in combat. 64% of base mana, Unlimited range, 10 sec cast

Guild Reputation

One final addition worth mentioning is the ability to gain reputation with your own guild.  Some of you may have noticed that since the arrival of patch 4.01, you’re currently listed as “neutral” with your own guild when checking your various reputation levels.  Once Cataclysm arrives, everyone will be able to begin earning reputation with their guild — any action that awards guild experience will also automatically grant guild reputation, so guild rep levels should rise naturally over time without extra effort.

What is this rep useful for?  Blizzard is adding several rewards to the game that will require high levels of guild reputation to obtain, including new heirloom gear and mounts (check out the horde and alliance guild mounts!). You’ll simply buy these items from a vendor once you meet the guild reputation level requirement.

For those of you that are thinking that joke /gkicks just got a whole lot less funny, don’t worry — Blizzard has confirmed that removal from a guild will not immediately reset your reputation level to zero.  A player’s guild rep level will only be reset when they join a completely new guild.

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