How Much Does a Mount Cost in Vanilla WoW?

The cost of a mount in Vanilla World of Warcraft (WoW) isn’t as straightforward as a single price tag. It’s a combination of factors, including the mount’s quality, the required riding skill, and even your reputation with different factions. In general, acquiring your first mount in Vanilla WoW will cost you somewhere between 100 to 1020 gold, depending on your choices and discounts. The baseline is 80 to 1000 gold for the mount itself. This doesn’t include the separate cost for training the riding skill. Let’s break down all the costs.

The Core Costs of Mounts in Vanilla WoW

The total cost of acquiring a mount in Vanilla WoW can be divided into a few key categories:

Riding Skill Training

Before you can even think about hopping on a mount, you’ll need to learn the appropriate riding skill. In Vanilla WoW, there are two main tiers of riding skill for ground mounts:

• Apprentice Riding: This skill allows you to ride 60% speed mounts. The base cost is 35 gold.
• Journeyman Riding: This skill allows you to ride 100% speed mounts also known as epic mounts. The base cost is 600 gold.

These riding skill costs can be reduced depending on your reputation with the faction of the riding trainer, so keep an eye on your reputation level.

Mount Costs

The mounts themselves also come with different price tags based on their quality. There are three primary types of ground mounts in Vanilla WoW, each with a different cost:

• Normal (60% speed) Mounts: These mounts, often called common or blue quality, typically cost around 80 gold.
• Rare (100% speed) Mounts: These are often called epic mounts and have a base cost of 1,000 gold.
• Class Specific Mounts: A select few classes have unique mount questlines and sometimes offer discounted mounts.

Reputation Discounts

Vanilla WoW features a significant reputation system, which impacts mount costs. If you have a higher reputation with the faction that sells your mount (e.g., Stormwind for humans), you’ll get discounts on both the riding skill and the mounts. These discounts can significantly reduce the amount of gold you need to spend, especially if you manage to become Exalted with the relevant faction. These discounts can be as high as 20% per rank depending on your reputation with the selling faction. These discounts typically include:

• Friendly
• Honored
• Revered
• Exalted

Total Cost Example

Let’s look at a typical example to understand the range. A new level 40 player wanting to buy their first normal mount would need to budget:

• Apprentice Riding: 35 gold (before reputation discounts)
• Normal Mount: 80 gold (before reputation discounts)

For the first time, a player might expect a price close to 115 gold, but this could be considerably lower with reputation discounts. If they wanted to buy a 100% speed epic mount then:

• Journeyman Riding: 600 gold (before reputation discounts)
• Epic Mount: 1000 gold (before reputation discounts)

This would be a total cost of 1600 gold, which again could be significantly reduced with discounts.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Can I buy any mount at any level?

While technically you can buy any mount at any level, you won’t be able to ride it until you have the required riding skill. Most players aim for their first mount around level 40, when they unlock the Apprentice Riding skill.

2. What is the cheapest mount in Vanilla WoW?

The cheapest mount, generally speaking, is any of the 60% speed mounts costing 80 gold.

3. What is the most expensive mount in Vanilla WoW?

The most expensive mounts are the 100% speed epic mounts, costing 1,000 gold before any discounts.

4. How can I get a discount on my mount cost?

You can significantly reduce the cost of your riding skill and mounts by increasing your reputation with the faction that sells them. The higher your reputation, the lower the cost will be, up to a maximum discount when at Exalted reputation with the selling faction.

5. Is there a free mount in Vanilla WoW?

Yes! The Human race can obtain a free level 40 mount through a class questline, involving a quest giver named Duthorian Rall. This free mount is a one off for human paladins, you cannot simply get a free mount through a quest as other classes.

6. How does reputation affect mount costs?

Reputation with a faction can greatly reduce the cost of mounts and riding skills. A very high level of reputation such as Exalted can reduce costs up to 20%.

7. Are there any mounts that don’t cost gold?

Some mounts, like those obtained through specific quests or rare drops, don’t cost gold from a vendor. However, they might require a significant investment of time, skill, or luck.

8. What about PVP Mounts?

The high ranking PvP mounts obtained at Rank 11 are unique mounts requiring a large investment of time and effort in player-versus-player combat.

9. How do I learn the riding skill?

You can learn the riding skill from riding trainers located in major cities like Stormwind, Orgrimmar and others.

10. How much do flying mounts cost in WoW Classic?

Flying mounts are not available in Vanilla WoW. This is a feature introduced in later expansions. However in certain versions of classic, these are available and are usually significantly more expensive, with Epic Flying Mounts sometimes costing up to 5,000 gold and normal flying around 1,000 gold, also including a requirement for higher riding skill training.

11. What are some of the rarest mounts in WoW Classic?

Some of the rarest mounts include the Black Qiraji Resonating Crystal, Deathcharger’s Reins, and the Swift Zulian Tiger. These are obtained through luck from specific bosses or through specific questlines.

12. What is the best class to level for easy gold?

The best classes for making gold early in vanilla wow are typically hunters, due to their self sufficiency and speed at clearing mobs, and mages due to AoE farming capabilities and portal selling.

13. Which professions are good for making gold for mounts?

Professions like mining and herbalism are great for gathering materials to sell. Tailoring can be good for selling bags early on. Enchanting can provide a source of income if you learn which enchants are in demand.

14. Is there a level requirement to learn riding?

Yes, you need to be at least level 40 to learn Apprentice Riding, and level 60 to unlock Journeyman Riding and acquire epic mounts.

15. Are the costs the same for Horde and Alliance?

Generally, the base mount costs and riding skill training costs are the same for both Horde and Alliance. However, discounts are faction-specific, based on your reputation with your faction’s main cities.

By understanding these costs and potential discounts, you’ll be well-equipped to secure your first mount and ride off into the world of Vanilla WoW! Good luck, and happy riding!