The wide World of Warcraft has a lot to do in its newest expansion Battle for Azeroth, but undoubtedly even the most excitable fan will want a break in the action from tackling the minions of G’huun or the enemy faction’s chiefest gladiators. One of the best and perhaps most accessible forms of non-structured game progression in World of Warcraft is the Achievements system introduced in its second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. Through this semi-structured system, players can work on completing various in-game events to receive not only a higher achievement point score and rare Feats of Strength but incredibly rare rewards and collectibles for in-game use. This week we wanted to take a look at one of the more accessible and potentially undervalued achievements, Mountain o’ Mounts.
For newer players, Mountain o’ Mounts and its subsequent achievements are achievements all around gathering mounts, the player vehicles in World of Warcraft. Each tier of achievement (from 100 collected and up) will reward players with a unique mount, up to 400 individual mounts. Many players who have been playing for several expansions may have already cleared the 200 variant, Mount Parade. I myself have collected over 300 on my original US account, with another 150 on my newer EU account. These achievements are not by themselves difficult, but they can be time-consuming to clear, especially as this achievement only includes mounts you can use on ONE character. This week we’re dedicating WoW Wednesday to put together the easiest 100 mounts for your perusal so you can figure out the best way to cross off of your list.
The Twilight Drake, a reward for the clever raider.
3/100 – The Dragons of Wyrmrest
To newer players, the Wyrmrest Temple of Dragonblight in Northrend may stand out as a sore spot on an otherwise bleak and barren landscape of Scourge warfronts and Dragon Graveyards. The mysterious tower is the seat of draconic power in Azeroth, and where the Wyrmrest Accord was founded to combat the Blue Dragonflight’s magical war in Northrend. Inside it are also the five portals to each of the Dragonflight’s individual sanctums, locations where the unhatched eggs of each flight can come to maturity in peace.
In the Obsidian Sanctum, Sartharion stands guard for his master, Deathwing to guard the eggs of the Twilight Dragonflight, twisted dragons intended to be more powerful than any natural creature. On guard are his three Twilight assistants, the drakes Shadron, Tenebron, and Vesperon. Defeating Sartharion in both the 10 and 25 man versions without executing his assistants will reward the Black and Twilight Drake mounts respectfully, an easy task for players higher than level 90. This will take two separate weeks to complete, as difficulties now share lockouts.
For those who want to become exalted with the Wyrmrest Accord faction, easily completed by collecting Timewalking Reputation badges, players can also pick up the Reins of the Red Drake at Exalted.
## 4/100 – The Bronze DrakeThe Culling of Stratholme is a dungeon which is steeped in the history of the Warcraft franchise, carrying the capstone moment of the Fall of Arthas Menethil, and his descent into what would later become the Lich King. However, manipulated by the Infinite Dragonflight, this all threatens to come apart and doom the timeways. Deep within the Heroic difficulty of The Culling of Stratholme lies an agent of the Bronze Dragonflight, trapped in time and threatened with death. For those who can quickly complete the dungeon (an easy feat for a max level player) and free the agent, they’ll find a new companion and the Reins of the Bronze Drake for their collection.
58/100 – Faction Racial Mounts
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The Swift Stormsaber, one of the fastest wild cats of Darnassus.[/caption]
Now, this is one of the more daunting collections on our list, but each of the seven major factions of the Horde and Alliance have a wide collection of mounts for you. However, unless you’re a member of their race they won’t be giving them away for free. If you can get to Exalted with each of the major factions, you’ll be entitled to purchase their slew of mounts, quickly raising your mount count and even nabbing you the <Ambassador> title and Achievement! While you can easily grind to Exalted by wearing racial tabards while leveling through dungeons, you can also circumvent this by simply leveling a character of each race to level 20 to purchase their particular racial mount.
For each faction, after you learn how to ride flying mounts, you can also purchase a series of either Gryphons or Wind Riders for the Alliance and Horde respectively.
## 65/100 – The Black War MountsThis one requires a bit of PvP to achieve, something most players won’t appreciate. Sold by a vendor near your faction’s respective Champion’s Hall are five Black War versions of the racial mounts of your faction. Requiring 15 of the new ‘Mark of Honor’ currency, these can be ground out through a few wins in Random Battlegrounds over the course of a few days.
There is also a particular variant of mount available through your faction’s representative in Alterac Valley for another 15 Marks of Honor. A Black War Mammoth is also available for whichever faction currently dominates Wintergrasp in Northrend for another 15 Marks.
79/100 – Crafted Profession Mounts
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The Steelbound Devourer, a demon of the Legion that can only be contained by the chains of a Blacksmith.[/caption]
Already in the home stretch, these profession related mounts may cost the most on our list, but take the least amount of effort. Crafted by the Jewelcrafting, the Jewelled Panther mounts do not require any skill in the profession to learn, and can often be bought incredibly cheaply on the Auction House. The three Flying Carpets do require some skill in Tailoring, but you can simply pick up the profession and then quickly drop it to learn the three. The Flying Machine mounts like the carpets do require 1 skill point in Engineering, but the others (Sky Golem, Depleted-Kyparium Rocket, Geosynchronous World Spinner and Mechano-Hog/Mekigineer’s Chopper) don’t require any sort of skill.
While there are additional profession mounts to collect, they are a touch more expensive and are best put together by end-game collectors.
## 82/100 - Yakkin’ Packin’The Grummels of Pandaria’s Kun-Lai Summit are known far and wide for their strange lucky-doo’s and traveler ways, being one of the hardier races in the land. For the exploratory hero, they also sell members of their Yak Herd to carry your burdens throughout the treacherous mountains. While the Blonde and Grey Riding Yaks are far more affordable, the Grand Expedition Yak will give you a three-seater mount, allowing you to carry your friends to the next raid or vendor your goods when riding alone. And it only costs a lucky-doo!
83/100 – That Takes Class!
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The Battlelord's Bloodthirsty War-Wyrm. It also answers to, "Mister Bitey."[/caption]
In Legion, each class will undertake a series of quests to ensure the proliferation of the Class Order in the world of Azeroth. For those that complete the main storyline and continue the fight onto the Broken Shore, you’ll be able to unlock your own Class Hall Mount, a class-unique creature to ride into battle. While many class halls carry multiple variations (the Paladin hall notably has four) which can now be purchased once unlocked, several only reward one mount which changes colors depending on your specialization.
Several classes in the game also can unlock two mounts while leveling from 1 through to 60. The Paladin and Warlock will unlock their variations through leveling, while the Death Knight will earn their Acherus Deathcharger during the starting zone and must later purchase the Winged Steed of the Ebon Blade, a skeletal gryphon unavailable to any other class.
## 84/100 – UnBEARable Trolling!To newer players, the dreadful kingdom of Zul’Aman will never be seen, let alone discovered. Initially launched in The Burning Crusade expansion, Zul’Aman was the ancestral home of the Amani Tribe of Trolls. Revamped in the third expansion Cataclysm, players can now unlock a unique Amani War Bear mount by freeing several captives throughout the instance before they are sacrificed to the gods of the Amani Tribe.
88/100 – Get More from the Kirin Tor!
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The Wooly Mammoth, one of Northrend's most dangerous herbivores.[/caption]
Known as the City of Mages, Dalaran is lorded over by the Kirin Tor, the magical government who regulates and develops magic throughout Azeroth. But even throughout a city of culture and wild magic, there are those who prefer a far more humble vocation then disenchanting poor students suffering from Polymorphism. Talking to Mei Francis in Dalaran, you can purchase another four mounts which do not require any reputation with the faction, one of which will become another three-seater mount for you and your friends!
## 100/100 – The Argent Tournament!Topping our list is one of the more invested, but linear forms of grinding mounts; the Argent Tournament. An often forgotten part of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, the Argent Tournament was founded to select the final strike force to lay siege upon Icecrown Citadel, the seat of power for the Scourge in Northrend. Every race is in attendance to put their mightiest heroes forward, and each faction there has two mounts to collect, tied to a currency you can earn through daily quests in the region. This is the lengthiest grind in our list, requiring you to earn the right to Champion each of your factions five racial representatives at the tournament as well as the representative faction of Dalaran. However, there are plenty of rewards and toys along the way to incentivize the grind, as well as unique achievements and titles for those who have already become exalted with their faction’s major racial groups.
Members of races outside of the original five founders of their faction must start with either Orgrimmar or Stormwind in order to further unlock other races in the Tournament, though any member of the founding five may start with their own race.
Bonus Round – Dungeons, Crusaders and Achievements, Oh My!
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The Vicious War Clefthoof, rewarded to prolific Gladiators of the Horde during Battle for Azeroth's Season 1 of PvP.[/caption]
Now, these aren’t the only ways to complete your collection, but they are indeed the most reliable. Below I’ve detailed several other mounts which the lucky (or dedicated) may find more enticing to collect and farm.
The Deathcharger’s Reins are held tight-fisted by Lord Aurius Rivendare, the master of Stratholme, and can be collected from his corpse there.
Heroes braving the Temple of Ahn’Qiraj raid can find several Qiraji Resonating Crystals as they kill trash mobs throughout the instance. Three of which are frequent drops, but the fourth Red Qiraji Resonating Crystal will not only offer an extra mount but reward you with a Feat of Strength.
The Reins of the Raven Lord are the personification of Anzu, the Raven God of the Outland Arrakoa. It can be farmed from the boss of the same name in Sethekk Halls, Heroic.
The Swift White Hawkstrider is Silvermoon’s regal mount and is held by its last ruler. Prince Kael’thas Sunstrider in Magister’s Terrace, Heroic has the chance to drop this mount.
Skadi is one of the Vrykul’s champions in Utgarde Pinnacle. Dedicated adventurers can farm him for the Reins of the Blue Proto-Drake on Heroic Difficulty.
Each expansion features at least two meta-achievements for its released raid tiers. Each one rewards a unique mount upon completion, allowing you to quickly increase your mount count over a few weeks of consistent grinding.
The Darkmoon Faire has several mounts for sale to those willing to play its games and turn in tickets. Two of its mounts cost a measly 180 tickets, while the Darkmoon Dirigible, a flying blimp, costs over 1000.
To those inclined to PvP, the top-tier Gladiators of each season can win a unique Seasonal Mount for finishing in the top percentile. Less dedicated players can earn a Vicious War Saddle to turn in at a vendor near their faction’s Champions Hall. There they can purchase a unique racial Vicious War Mount to ride on the battlefield.
For those wanting to complete the Argent Tournament, the Argent Crusade themselves offer several mounts for those who have earned the right to represent each of their faction’s races in the tournament. While two can be earned for becoming an Exalted Champion, only Paladins can hope to earn and ride the exclusive Argent Charger mount.
Several End-Tier raids have unique mount drops with tragically low drop rates, from Arthas’ rarely seen mount Invincible, to Kael’thas’ reborn Phoenix in Tempest Keep.
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The Violet Spellwing, a limited gift from the Kirin Tor to those who stopped the Legion's Fourth Invasion.[/caption]
