World of Warcraft at Ten Ton Hammer

Man, your feet are killing you. You’ve spent the better part of a week walking up and down that long, winding road in Stranglethorn Vale. It seems that each quest you get requires you to travel the breadth of Stranglethorn Vale, then walk all the way back, then only to repeat the process again. Worse, as you travel along the road, the dust choking you while the sun beats down harshly upon you, are the higher level jerks who flaunt their fancy mounts in front of you. They gleefully run a few circles around you, do a few mocking jumps, and generally kick dirt in your face as they drive home the message: we’re going a lot faster than you and doesn’t it suck to be you? Well, don’t lose hope, my friend. Salvation is closer than you think. You won’t be able to beat them, but you will be able to join them. Soon, very soon, you will be able to join the ranks of the mounted hero and you too will revel in the joy of faster travel. You will become one of those jerks, prancing around plodding lower-level characters, showing off your superiority. You too will decide to check your mail while riding your giant mammoth, if for no other reason than to just make it more difficult for those lower level peons to see the mailbox.

This handy-dandy guide is here to provide an overview of mounts in World of Warcraft. We’ll look at the different types of mounts that you can acquire, and the different methods in which you can acquire said mounts. Don’t let the sheer number of mounts confuse you. All in all, mounts are pretty simple.

Basically, a mount is an animal (or vehicle) that you summon to ride. While you’re mounted, your speed of travel is increased. Mounts can be broken down into four categories.

Basic Ground Mounts: These mounts are available at level 30 and require you to purchase the apprentice riding skill, which gives you a riding skill of 75. These mounts can be bought at racial vendors and have a speed increase of 60%.

Epic Ground Mounts: These mounts are available at level 60 and require you to have the journeyman riding skill, which is 150. These mounts can be bought at various vendors. These animals have a speed listed as “very fast” which actually means a 100% increase in your movement rate. So, you’ll move twice as fast when riding one of these bad boys.

Basic Flying Mounts: Once you reach the Outlands at level 70, you can get flying mounts. Doing so requires you to get the expert riding skill of 225. Flying mounts are a necessity as that certain areas can only be reached by flying. In addition, being able to fly over pesky obstacles really rocks! The basic flying mounts provide a 60% increase to speed while on the ground or in the air. To be able to fly in Northrend, you have to purchase Cold Weather Flying, which is only available starting at level 77.

Epic Flying Mounts: These mounts are available at level 70, but require the artisan riding skill of 300. These mounts provide a 100% increase in land speed and a 280% speed increase in the air. You will love and worship these mounts.

Basically, there is no real difference between one mount and another, only speed, despite the fact that there are several hundred mounts available in WoW. The differences are cosmetic. The harder to get mounts look way cooler than the normal mounts. A normal epic mount might be a simple armored horse, while a rare drop epic mount might be a spiky armored horse with glowing red eyes with flaming hooves. One looks cooler than the other one, but the speed increase is still the same.

Where to get mounts?
Basic ground mounts are available at racial vendors and the basic flying mounts can be bought from Brunn Flamebeard in the Outlands. He can be found at the Wildhammer Stronghold in Shadowmoon Valley. Epic mounts can be bought from various vendors. In addition, you can get epic mounts (flying and ground) through quest rewards, PvP rewards, by having a high enough reputation with a faction, achievements, and rare drops.

Listed below are the various mounts that you can get in WoW, grouped by type.

Black War Bear

Blue Skeletal Horse

Basic Ground Mounts

Epic Ground Mounts

Sea Turtle

Black War Mammoth

Epic Ground Mounts
Faction Rewards

Alliance	Horde
Winterspring Frostsaber	Ice Mammoth
Ice Mammoth	Grand Ice Mammoth
Grand Ice Mammoth	Cobalt Riding Talbuk
Cobalt Riding Talbuk	Silver Riding Talbuk
Silver Riding Talbuk	Tan Riding Talbuk
Tan Riding Talbuk	White Riding Talbuk
White Riding Talbuk	Cobalt War Talbuk
Cobalt War Talbuk	Silver War Talbuk
Silver War Talbuk	Tan War Talbuk
Tan War Talbuk	White War Talbuk
White War Talbuk

Epic Ground Mounts
Argent Tournament

Alliance	Horde
Great Azuremyste Elekk	Swift Forsaken Warhorse
Darnassian Mistsaber	Great Mulgore Kodo
Swift Ironforge Ram	Swift Ogrimmar Wolf
Swift Elwynn Steed	Swift Darkspear Raptor
Turbostrider	Swift Silvermoon Hawkstrider

Epic Ground Mounts
Various

Name	Notes
Deathcharger	Rare Drop
Swift Zulian Tiger	Rare Drop
Swift Razzashi Raptor	Rare Drop
Fiery Warhorse	Rare Drop
Raven Lord	Rare Drop
Amani War Bear	Rare Drop
White Polar Bear	Rare Drop
Swift White Hawkstrider	Rare Drop
Mekgineer's Chopper	Requires 450 Engineering to make. Alliance.
Mechano-Hog	Requires 450 Engineering to make. Horde.
Armored Brown Bear	Dalaran Vendor
Wooly Mammoth	Dalaran Vendor
Traveler's Tundra Mammoth	Dalaran Vendor - comes with vendors
Blue Qiraji Battle Tank	Only usable in Temple of Ahn'Qiraj
Green Qiraji Battle Tank	Only usable in Temple of Ahn'Qiraj
Red Qiraji Battle Tank	Only usable in Temple of Ahn'Qiraj
Yellow Qiraji Battle Tank	Only usable in Temple of Ahn'Qiraj
Black Quiraji Battle Tank	Quest Reward
Swift Zhevra	Refer-A-Friend Reward
Black War Bear	Achievement Reward

Onyx Netherwing Drake

Blue Wind Rider

Basic Flying Mounts

Alliance	Horde
Ebon Gryphon	Tawny Windrider
Snowy Gryphon	Blue Windrider
Golden Gryphon	Green Windrider

Flying Mounts
Crafting

Name	Notes
Flying Machine	Requires 350 Engineering.
Turbo-Charged Flying Machine	Requires 375 Engineering.
Flying Carpet	Requires 380 Tailoring
Magnificent Flying Carpet	Requires 420 Tailoring

Epic Flying Mounts

Alliance	Horde
Swift Red Gryphon	Swift Yellow Windrider
Swift Blue Gryphon	Swift Red Windrider
Swift Green Gryphon	Swift Purple Windrider
Swift Purple Gryphon	Swift Green Windrider

Cenarion Hippogryph

Bronze Drake

Epic Flying Mounts
Faction Rewards

Name	Notes
Cenarion War Hippogryph	Faction - Exalted with Cenarion Expedition.
Blue Riding Nether Ray	Faction - Exalted with Sha'tari Skyguard
Green Riding Nether Ray	Faction - Exalted with Sha'tari Skyguard
Purple Riding Nether Ray	Faction - Exalted with Sha'tari Skyguard
Red Riding Nether Ray	Faction - Exalted with Sha'tari Skyguard
Silver Riding Nether Ray	Faction - Exalted with Sha'tari Skyguard
Azure Netherwing Drake	Faction - Exalted with Netherwing.
Cobalt Netherwing Drake	Faction - Exalted with Netherwing.
Onyx Netherwing Drake	Faction - Exalted with Netherwing.
Purple Netherwing Drake	Faction - Exalted with Netherwing.
Veridian Netherwing Drake	Faction - Exalted with Netherwing.
Violet Netherwing Drake	Faction - Exalted with Netherwing.
Red Drake	Faction - Exalted with Wyrmrest Accord
Green Proto-Drake	Faction - Revered with The Oracles

Epic Flying Mounts
Various

Name	Notes
Swift Nether Drake	PvP - Season 1 Arena award – 310% speed
Ashes of Al'ar	Rare Drop – 310% speed
Armored Snowy Gryphon	Dalaran Vendor - Alliance
Armored Blue Wind Rider	Dalaran Vendor - Horde
Bronze Drake	Instance Drop
Blue Drake	Instance Drop
Azure Drake	Instance Drop
Black Drake	Instance Drop
Twilight Drake	Instance Drop
Blue Proto-Drake	Instance Drop
Time-Lost Proto-Drake	Drop from a very rare monster
Argent Hippogryph	PvP Reward
Albino Drake	Achievement Reward
Blue Dragonhawk Mount	Achievement Reward
Red Dragonhawk Mount	Achievement Reward
Red Proto-Drake	Achievement Reward
Black Proto-Drake	Achievement Reward
Plagued Proto-Drake	Achievement Reward
Violet Proto-Drake	Achievement Reward

Swift Purple Windrider

Purple Skeletal Warhorse

Other Mounts

These mounts include mounts from the WoW trading card game (TCG), BlizzCon promos, and holiday mounts (mounts that can only be acquired during special events).

Name	Notes
Sea Turtle	Water mount – get in Northrend via fishing
Riding Turtle	TCG mount
Spectral Tiger	TCG mount
Swift Spectral Tiger	TCG mount
X-51 Nether-Rocket	TCG mount
X-51 Nether-Rocket X-TREME	TCG mount
Big Battle Bear	TCG mount
Big Blizzard Bear	BlizzCon promo
Brewfest Ram	Holiday mount
Swift Brewfest Ram	Holiday mount
Great Brewfest Kodo	Holiday mount
Rickety Magic Broom	Holiday mount
Magic Broom	Holiday mount
Headless Horseman steed	Holiday mount