TBC Anniversary Mounts Guide: Riding, Flying and Costs

In Burning Crusade Classic Anniversary, the important purchase is the riding skill behind a mount. Your first ground mount unlocks at level 30, fast ground riding at 60, and ordinary flying for most classes at 70. A useful spending plan secures those practical milestones before expensive colors and rare trophies.

Checked October 20, 2026 for TBC Anniversary. Sha'tari Skyguard and Netherwing progression are already available. Zul'Aman and its Amani War Bear are announced for October 22 and are still future content on the check date. Later expansion systems, including unrestricted flying across Kalimdor, do not apply.

Riding levels, speeds and separate costs

These are base prices before eligible discounts. Training a higher rank does not refund earlier training. Mount prices describe the standard vendor option, rather than reputation rewards or auction house purchases.

Training and mount prices are separate; eligible ground discounts and class exceptions are explained below.

Speed percentages are increases over normal movement. A +100% ground mount travels at twice running speed; +280% flying means 3.8 times running speed. A basic flyer provides +60% both in the air and on the ground. Your +100% ground mount therefore remains faster along an unobstructed road. Flying earns its value by crossing obstacles directly and reaching otherwise inaccessible ledges.

Expert requires Journeyman, and Artisan requires Expert. For an ordinary character who already has fast ground riding, going from no flying to a standard fast flyer costs 6,100 gold: 800 for Expert, 5,000 for Artisan and 200 for the final mount. Buying a 100-gold slow flyer along the way raises that total to 6,200. This is not a reason to postpone flying you need now: the intermediate mount costs far less than Artisan training.

Which discounts belong in the budget?

Eligible racial ground trainers and vendors use their associated city reputation: Friendly reduces prices by 5%, Honored by 10%, Revered by 15%, and Exalted by 20%. With the same discount applying to both NPCs, the first complete package costs 40.5 gold at Honored or 36 at Exalted. Fast ground riding plus a standard mount costs 630 or 560 respectively. If the trainer and vendor have different affiliations, inspect their prices separately.

Do not carry that city discount over to ordinary flight training in Shadowmoon Valley. Budget 800 and 5,000 gold for the flying skills. A discount on a reputation nether ray or hippogryph applies to that particular mount purchase, rather than reducing Artisan's 5,000-gold bill. Wrath prices and the old Classic system, where the ground mount itself held most of the cost, are unsuitable for this calculation.

Where to train and buy mounts

Ground riding trainers are generally near the corresponding racial mount vendors. For a first character, your own racial supplier is the straightforward choice: you do not need Exalted with another city just to buy a working mount.

Both flying trainers are in Shadowmoon Valley. Separate nearby vendors sell the mounts: Brunn Flamebeard for Alliance at approximately 37.6, 56.0, and Dama Wildmane for Horde at approximately 29.2, 29.4. Alliance buys gryphons and Horde buys wind riders. Train the appropriate rank first, then read the item's requirement. Owning a cheap mount does not replace its riding skill.

Racial ground families include horses, rams, mechanostriders, sabers and elekks for Alliance; wolves, raptors, kodos, skeletal horses and hawkstriders for Horde. Ordinary purchases from another race within your faction generally require Exalted with its city. Reputation does not override an item's explicit race restriction, so check mechanostriders and a tauren's eligible models particularly carefully. You cannot unlock an opposing faction's restricted mount merely by farming reputation.

Where flying works

Flying is available in the outdoor world of Outland, including Shattrath, subject to local restrictions. It is the normal way to reach Tempest Keep's floating dungeon entrances and many elevated areas. It does not enable flight inside dungeons, raids, battlegrounds or arenas.

Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms remain ground travel regions. The blood elf and draenei starting territories are also outside the Outland flying area. Do not buy a flyer expecting to soar over Silvermoon or the Exodar. Cold Weather Flying is not a TBC Anniversary purchase either; it belongs to another expansion.

Class routes and Engineering

Paladins obtain their basic class horse through a level-30 spell, while warlocks receive their felsteed route at the same level. This avoids buying a standard racial animal separately. Check your spellbook and riding skill after training before paying a conventional riding instructor again.

The level-60 epic class mounts involve quest chains. They are not free fast flying: materials, required purchases and organizing a group can cost both gold and time. Alliance and Horde paladin steps differ. A warlock can save money by finding someone who already owns the reusable ritual items for the Dire Maul finale. Compare the actual chain expenses with the discounted cost of an ordinary fast ground package.

Druids have a distinct flying advantage. At level 68, after Journeyman, a druid can learn basic +60% Flight Form from a class trainer and gain Expert without paying its separate 800-gold training bill. The spell itself has a trainer fee. A 100-gold vendor flyer is unnecessary as well. This is useful for an alt, but it does not remove the earlier ground riding prerequisite.

Swift Flight Form is already available from Anniversary Phase 2. Its quest chain requires level 70 and purchased Artisan Riding, costing 5,000 gold. The route involves Loganaar in Moonglade and Morthis in Zangarmarsh, ending with Anzu in Heroic Sethekk Halls. Blizzard specifies at least Honored with Lower City for heroic access. Basic Flight Form saves the initial flying expense; it does not waive the expensive fast rank.

Engineering aircraft are appearance choices for characters with the profession. Flying Machine Control requires Engineering 350 and Expert, while Turbo-Charged Flying Machine Control requires 375 and Artisan. Materials and the crafted item do not include riding training. Buying an aircraft from another player does not remove the profession requirement for using it. Changing professions purely to move quickly is usually a poor substitute for buying the relevant riding skill.

Reputation mounts: choose one useful route

Reputation offers visible progress instead of relying on a rare drop. Most rewards change your mount's appearance rather than unlocking a higher speed tier. Pay for the required riding rank first, then choose activities you want to repeat.

Talbuk progress comes from Nagrand quests, ogre kills and Obsidian Warbead turn-ins. Alliance uses the vendor in Telaar, Horde the vendor in Garadar. Both riding and war talbuks provide +100% ground speed: the cheaper riding version is not a slow mount. Halaa's dark talbuks are a separate PvP route, rather than automatic rewards for Exalted Kurenai or Mag'har reputation.

For Sha'tari Skyguard, combine daily quests with enemy reputation and repeatable turn-ins around Skettis. Basic flying helps you reach the hubs and start working, but the epic nether ray still requires Artisan. Sha'tar and Sha'tari Skyguard are separate reputations; progress with one does not substitute for the other.

Netherwing is a live Anniversary Phase 3 route. Ledge dailies and eggs advance your standing, but competition and your play schedule prevent a guaranteed completion time. Full progression requires Artisan and the associated quests, including Blood Oath of the Netherwing. The free final drake reward does not make its 5,000-gold riding prerequisite free.

Cenarion War Hippogryph is a more expensive reputation alternative: reach Exalted with Cenarion Expedition and buy it from Fedryen at Cenarion Refuge in Zangarmarsh. Its 2,000-gold base price becomes 1,600 with the Exalted discount required for the purchase. It needs Artisan and provides +280% flying. This is an appearance purchase rather than a way to save on training.

Vendors provide a predictable purchase, reputation takes time, and rare loot depends on luck and a suitable group.

Boss mounts you can pursue now

Treat rare mounts as additional goals during repeatable group content. The following sources exist in the current Anniversary content, but killing the boss does not guarantee the item. Agree on loot rules before the first attempt: one dropped mount is not automatically awarded to everyone present.

Other classes can win and use the Raven Lord. The class condition concerns summoning Anzu, rather than exclusive ownership of his mount. Normal Sethekk Halls does not provide this route. The heroic lockout limits attempts, so this is not an unlimited sequence of fresh runs in one day.

For Karazhan and The Eye, plan around raid lockouts rather than immediate dungeon resets. Ashes of Al'ar has its own +310% speed, but it is not another riding rank sold by a trainer and does not automatically accelerate every other flyer. An ordinary swift gryphon or Netherwing drake remains a +280% option.

Future and seasonal targets

The Amani War Bear arrives with Zul'Aman on October 22 at 22:00 UTC, or October 23 at 01:00 Moscow time. It rewards the timed hostage rescue, rather than an ordinary Zul'jin kill. On the check date you can prepare a group, but you cannot yet obtain the bear.

Swift White Hawkstrider belongs to Kael'thas in Heroic Magisters' Terrace, a later content route. It is excluded from the current farming plan. Seasonal rewards also need version-specific confirmation: a Hallow's End calendar entry alone does not establish a particular permanent mount or acquisition method in Anniversary. Holiday items are consequently outside this guide's guaranteed budget and essential progression plan, rather than being imported from Retail or an older TBC calendar.

PvP and a sensible purchase order

Your faction's PvP vendors offer ground war mounts for battleground marks. These provide a different appearance without paying gold for a racial animal, but do not let you skip Journeyman training. Halaa requires battle and research tokens as well as your faction controlling the settlement. It is a worthwhile separate target for someone who enjoys world PvP, rather than an instant saving when Nagrand is quiet.

Gladiator drakes reward an Arena season result. Do not confuse them with reputation drakes: daily quests cannot unlock a Gladiator model. They are prestige goals, not a readily available substitute for a new character's ordinary flying mount.

For a main character, secure one functional ground mount, fast ground riding and enough flying access for the content you play. Artisan becomes especially valuable when gathering regularly or traveling between daily hubs across Outland. If you spend nearly all your time inside instances, delaying it can preserve gold for character preparation.

For an alt, inspect existing skills and class spells first. Avoid paying for something already learned, and leave collecting every color until useful speed is funded. Budget separately for each character: a reward unlocked or a model owned by your main does not replace an alt's required training. Choose a single reputation target that fits that character's normal activities.

Secure access and speed first; reserve rare models and extra colors for a separate collection budget.

Frequently asked questions

What level unlocks my first mount?

Ordinary ground riding starts at level 30 with Apprentice. The base package costs 45 gold before discounts; paladins and warlocks have class alternatives.

How much does fast riding cost?

Journeyman at level 60 costs 600 gold, plus 100 for a standard ground mount before discounts. Fast flying requires 5,000-gold Artisan and a 200-gold standard flyer, with Expert trained first.

When can I fly in Outland?

Most classes need level 70 and Expert Riding. A druid can learn basic Flight Form at 68 after obtaining Journeyman.

Can I obtain a rare mount without buying it from a vendor?

Yes. Attumen, Kael'thas in The Eye and Anzu in Heroic Sethekk Halls have mount loot, while the first Netherwing drake comes from completing reputation progression. The required riding skill still applies.