farming raid mountsThere are so many raids that drop mounts and any raid that isn’t current content typically has a 1% chance, or less, of dropping a mount. So you should settle in for many attempts and become accustomed to disappointment. This is my current, weekly farming route for raid mounts. The route is subject to change as I acquire said mounts; thus the potential for multiple parts.

There are a few addons and weakauras you can use for mount farming. Rarity seems to be the most popular mount/pet/toy farming addon. It’s highly recommended by my guild mates. I’ve just started using it myself so I cannot provide too much feedback, or support (at the time of this post).

You will also need your Hearthstone (which you should always have) and I would also keep your Dalaran Hearthstone handy. Also, make sure you have lots of space in your bags and a vendor mount is super handy (such as the Traveler’s Tundra Mammoth). Since some mounts only drop from specific difficulties I suggest to always have your Raid Difficulty set to 25-Man Heroic.

Here are the list of raids/encounters I farm weekly (the number indicates the mounts available):

There are 18 mounts from those raids/encounters. As I said previously, obviously this isn’t a full list but there are only so many hours in a day and I try to use as many toons as possible in a given week. Therefore I have to have a manageable list.

Onyxia’s Lair, MoP World Bosses & Throne of Thunder

I think Onyxia is a great place to start. It’s really short; in fact it will probably take you longer to get there than to kill her. She is located in Dustwallow Marsh. Make your way to Stormwind (or Orgrimmar) and I would use the portal to Uldum and take a taxi to Mudsprocket. You could probably get there faster flying on your own, but I’m lazy.

Boss: Onyxia
Item: Reins of the Onyxian Drake
Approximate time to clear: about 2 minutes

Hearth.

Next I go kill the four Mists of Pandaria World Bosses, which I’ve already covered in a separate post. As I mention at the end of that post, after you kill Nalak, instead of hearthing you can enter the Throne of Thunder. There are two mounts in Throne of Thunder and it doesn’t even require clearing the entire dungeon. This is one of those raids where a vendor mount will be handy, unless you decide not to loot any trash you kill along the way. I loot everything because every little bit of gold helps (buy more mounts).

Boss: Horridon
Item: Spawn of Horridon

Boss: Ji-Kun
Item: Clutch of Ji-Kun

Approximate time to finish: about 25-30 minutes

Hearth.

At this point you can do the remaining raids in any order you want, with the possible exception of Eye of Eternity, Icecrown Citidel and Ulduar. I usually hit Firelands next.

Firelands, Eye of Eternity, ICC and Ulduar

Make your way to Stormwind (or Orgrimmar) and take the portal to Hyjal. Mount up and fly south to the entrance to Firelands. You can’t miss it, it’s the big castle covered in flames. There are a couple of vendors outside and inside the dungeon so take the opportunity to empty your bags, there is a lot of trash in this one, although you can use a mount throughout most of this dungeon.

I head straight for Alysrazor, killing as much trash along the way to trigger Shannox. All bosses must be killed to get to Ragnaros. Important Note for Hunters: Dismiss your pet for the Lord Rhyolith fight, they have been known to bug out the encounter.

Boss: Alyzrazor
Item: Flametalon of Alysrazor

Boss: Ragnaros
Item: Smoldering Egg of Millagazor

Approximate time to finish: 12-15 minutes

Hearth.

Lich King Raids

The next three raids are all in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion so you want the “Dalaran, Crystalsong Forest” portal from your respective portal room. Again, the order in which you do this is up to you. I usually start with Eye of Eternity; it’s the one that is farthest away but it can be done in about 2 minutes.

Boss: Malygos
Items: Reins of the Azure Drake, Reins of the Blue Drake
Approximate time to finish: 2 minutes

Follow this guide and Invincible could be yours!

If you still plan to go to ICC and/or Ulduar, I wouldn’t hearth. Just leave the dungeon and fly to your next raid. I usually go for ICC next. There are only a couple of places where you can use a mount in ICC so make sure you empty your bags as frequently as you can because you have to kill just about every boss to get to Arthas. Valithria is the only one you can skip by hugging the wall. In fact you have to skip her on classes that do not have a healing spell.

Boss: Lich King
Item: Invincible’s Reins
Approximate time to finish: 25-30 minutes

If you still need to do Ulduar its your choice how you want to get there. You can hearth and take the Dalaran portal again, or leave the dungeon and fly there. In Ulduar you don’t have to kill all the bosses but you do need to defeat the four keepers and DO NOT ACTIVATE THEM. You need to defeat Yogg-Saron with NO KEEPERS.

Boss: Yogg-Saron (No Keepers)
Item: Mimiron’s Head
Approximate time to finish: 20-25 minutes

Dragon Soul and Nighthold

If you’re going to do Nighthold first, use your Dalaran Hearthstone. There are two mounts in Nighthold, both of them drop from Gul’dan but only one drops on Mythic difficulty. I tried to solo Mythic Nighthold on a level 120 Paladin tank with a 467 item level and I still died on the second boss. So Mythic might be a challenge even at 120. I’d probably stick to just going for one mount on Heroic difficulty. I’ll admit that I’m not farming Nighthold frequently, at the moment. In fact this one may get pushed to the next farming iteration (or until I have Heroic Shadowlands gear so Mythic is easier).

Boss: Gul’dan
Items: Living Infernal Core, Fiendish Hellfire Core (Mythic Only)
Approximate time to finish: I don’t know for sure. Maybe a half hour; longer if you’re trying Mythic

Hearth.

Dragon Soul

The entrance for Dragon Soul, in case you’ve forgotten, is in Caverns of Time. There should be a portal to CoT from your respective portal rooms in Stormwind or Orgrimmar. You will have access to some vendors in the base of Wyrmrest Temple, which you will need because a lot of loot drops from trash and bosses.

A few things before you start Dragon Soul. I would get the “Dragon Soul Mount Farming” weakaura, it’s super helpful for the second-to-last boss. Also, make sure you don’t have any abilities, trinkets, or enchantments that cause damage when you take damage. The spine boss can be especially difficult if you cause incidental damage. Hunters and Warlocks should dismiss their pets or put them on Passive. The weakaura will help you prevent Deathwing from doing his Roll ability. Basically you want to keep strafing left and right while you kill enough Corrupted Blood to get enough stacks for the Hideous Amalgamation to become super heated. It’s tricky but its doable, you just need patience and concentration.

Boss: Ultraxion
Item: Experiment 12-B

Boss: Madness of Deathwing
Items: Life-Binder’s Handmaiden, Reins of the Blazing Drake

Approximate time to finish: 25-30 minutes (depending on your efficiency on the Spine of Deathwing encounter)

If you haven’t done Nighthold, use your Dalaran Hearthstone, otherwise hearth home. You’re done … for now.

Final Thoughts

Perseverance is the key. Most of the mounts have a <1% drop rate so you have you keep at it and don’t give up. You’re going to walk away empty handed probably 99% of the time. Of the 18 mounts available in this list, I have only collected 4 of them, and some of them I’ve been farming for almost 2 years. I try to do all of these encounters on 5 different toons a week.

There is a silver lining (for some, perhaps). You will collect quite a few appearances for transmog if you are using multiple classes of different armor types. There are also quite a few pets that can drop, especially in Firelands and ICC. You will make quite a bit of gold too; probably a few thousand per toon.

If you would like to share your tips and tricks for farming raid mounts or would like to share any stories, please leave them in the comments.

Good Luck and Good Hunting.

duke-nukem-sm If zombies attack the world, everyone will run and hide. Except for us gamers, of course. We’ve been waiting for this all our lives!