First, read the official guide page for Mounts at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/basics/mounts/
See also:
- Transportation category for a detailed list of methods of transportation in WoW.
- Mounts category for a list of articles on mounts.
- If you want to get a head start, read a Guide for Preparing to Buy a Mount.
General Info
Mounts, and the training needed to ride them, can be first purchased at level 40. Training costs 20.
There are four types of mounts:
Normal mount (level 40)
- 100 total (80 for the mount, 20 for the training)
90 with Honored reputation 10% discount or PvP Rank 3 (Sergeant) 10% discount (72 for the mount, 18 for the training)
80 with both Honored reputation and PvP Rank 3 discounts (64 for the mount, 16 for the training) - Increases movement speed: 60% faster than walking.
PvP Rank Reward mounts
- Requires you to have earned the PvP Rank of "Commander" or "Lieutenant General" (Honor Rank 11).
- 90 (Base price is 100, reduced by PvP Rank 3 (Sergeant) 10% discount. Mount sellers are not associated with a faction so you cannot get an Honored reputation 10% discount)
- Increases movement speed: 100% faster than walking.
- Exactly the same as an Epic mount, but a different color.
Epic mounts (level 60)
- 1000 for the mount, no further training required.
900 with Honored reputation 10% discount or PvP Rank 3 (Sergeant) 10% discount.
800 with both Honored reputation and PvP Rank 3 discounts. - Increases movement speed: 100% faster than walking.
- Epic mounts also have a truly unique look compared to the normal mounts.
File:Orb.gif Flying mounts (level 70)
- Coming in the Burning Crusade expansion.
- Only usable in Outland.
- Note: Blizzard has stated that flying mounts will never be available in Azeroth, because its zones were never designed for it.
- One choice of flying mount has been confirmed in an article by the New York Times to be Nether Drakes. Source
Mount Upgrades
Mount upgrades work on both Normal and Epic mounts.
- Carrot On A Stick: +3% (Thottbot)
[Mithril Spurs]: +4% (Thottbot)
[Riding Skill] enchantment: +2% (Thottbot)
Max upgraded speed: 175% on normal mount, 218.5% on epic.
- Upgrades add 3% to your TOTAL speed, not just to your mount's speed. Since a regular mount moves at 160% of normal running speed, adding one upgrade boosts you to 165%, two to 170%, etc.
The paladin's Pursuit of Justice talent in the Retribution tree (third tier, two talent points) increases speed mounted and on foot by up to 8%. This amount does not stack with other items, so the only benefit you can get from these items is if you get all three of the buffs listed above, and then the difference will be 1%. With Pursuit of Justice, the maximum speed is 173% on the Warhorse, 216% on the Template:Lepic.
Mounts By Race
Each race has their own mount and an associated skill needed to actually ride the mount.
- Alliance :
- Night Elves : Nightsaber
- Humans : Horse
- Dwarves : Ram
- Gnomes : Mechanostrider
- Dranei : Unknown
- Horde :
- Tauren : Kodo
- Orcs : Wolf
- Trolls : Raptor
- Undead : Skeletal Horse
- Blood Elves : Unknown (however, Unicorns or Snap Dragons are highly considered)
Class Specific Mounts
Warlocks and Paladins can get class-specific mounts. They are equivalent to standard mounts, but require mana to summon.
- Warlock
- Felsteed at level 40
- Template:Lepic at level 60
- Paladin
- Warhorse at level 40
- Template:Lepic at level 60
Rare Epic Mounts
There are also rare mount vendors in the world. There are also PvP reward mounts from Battlegrounds. In addition, some rare mounts can be dropped from enemies.
- Alliance : Wintersabers (requires Exalted with Wintersaber Trainers--to buy the mount, and Darnussus--to learn Tiger Riding. Night Elves need only be Exalted with Wintersaber, since they can always learn Tiger Riding from Darnassus.).
- Alliance : Template:Lepic (Buyable ram mount earned from being exalted with the Stormpike Guard)
- Horde : Ravasaurs - not yet implemented in game.
- Horde : Template:Lepic (Buyable wolf mount earned from being exalted with the Frostwolf Clan)
- Both : Template:Lrare (to find epic mount drop from Baron Rivendare)
- Both : Template:Lepic (Template:Epic Drop in Zul'Gurub)
- Both : Template:Lepic (Template:Epic Drop in Zul'Gurub)
- Both : Template:Lrare (drops in Ahn'Qiraj and can only be used inside that instance. Comes in several colors: Blue, green, red and yellow.)
- Both : Template:Llegendary (Can only be obtained after completing several quests for opening the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj, a one-time server event.)
Purchasing Mounts Of Another Race
You can purchase your own race's mount regardless of your reputation provided you have the cash. To purchase another race's mount, your reputation with that race's faction must be "Exalted". You will also need additional training to ride that race's mounts. There are two exceptions: Tauren can only ride Kodo Beasts and Wolves, as they are just too large to ride anything else. Mechanostriders can only be ridden by Gnomes and Dwarfs, as they are the only races small enough. Also note that the usual 10% discount applies to your training and purchase price for 'Honored' or above reputation with your faction.