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flying mounts (WoW)  

Flying mounts, as the name implies, are mounts which are capable of flight. Like land mounts, they come in both rare and epic forms. The rare form bestows 60% faster movement speed; the epic form's movement bonus is 280%. These mounts cannot be used in combat, and can only be summoned in Outland and Northrend.

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Obtaining a Flying Mount

Finding a Rare-Level Mount

Purchasing and riding a flying mount requires one to have a riding skill of 225, which can only be obtained at level 70. The cost of training is 800 gold, with no reputation discount available; the mount itself is a further 100 gold. Training and mounts can be found in Shadowmoon Valley, in either Wildhammer Stronghold for the Alliance or Shadowmoon Village for the Horde.

Druids, as an alternative to a flying mount, may learn the Flight Form ability. This ability is gained at level 68, with the only requirement being a riding skill of 150. When trained (at a cost of 7g), the Druid will also learn Riding (225) free of charge.

Engineers can create a special sort of flying mount, the flying machine. This does not earn them a waiver to their fee to learn riding skill, however.

Alliance characters may purchase their choice of a golden, ebon, or snowy gryphon. Horde characters have the options of a tawny, blue, or green windrider.

Finding an Epic-Level Mount

The epic level flying mount is far more expensive, requiring a riding skill of 300, which is purchased at the price of 5000 gold, no discount available. The mount itself costs 200 gold, with the exception of a drake from the Netherwing dragons, who reward your choice of mount for free at the end of a questline. (Note that you can purchase a drake of a different color later, at the same price of 200 gold.) Also, certain mounts have a reputation requirement associated with the faction who control them.

Druids can learn the Swift Flight Form ability at level 70, but must purchase the riding skill for 5000 gold before they can start the necessary questline. With the advent of Wrath of the Lich King, Druids can also train Swift Flight Form at level 71 from any Druid Trainer. (Flight Form and Artisan Riding are still required before purchase.)

Available Epic Flying Mounts
Faction Available Mount Types Additional Requirements
Alliance Swift Blue, Red, Green, or Purple Gryphon None
Horde Swift Red, Green, Yellow or Purple Wind Rider None
Both Cenarion War Hippogryph Exalted with Cenarion Expedition, 1600
Both Green, Purple, Red, Silver or Blue Riding Nether Ray Exalted with Sha'tari Skyguard
Both Azure, Cobalt, Onyx, Purple, Veridian, or Violet Netherwing Drake Exalted with Netherwing, questline
Both Turbo-Charged Flying Machine Level 375 Engineering
Both Swift Flight Form Druids only, questline, level 71 Trainable.
Both Armored Blue Wind Rider or Armored Snowy Gryphon Riding (300) - Only obtainable in Dalaran

Cold Weather Flying

Upon entering Northrend players will be ground bound as the treacherous winds are to difficult to master with novice Outland wings. Once the player reaches level 77, Cold Weather Flying can be purchased for 1,000 gold from Hira Snowdawn, Roxi Ramrocket or Pilot Vic. Druids will have to train Cold Weather Flying to regain use of their Flight Form.

Originally in the Wrath beta "Cold Weather Flying" was attained via a quest chain, while it was later changed to being purchased. The questline is still available for those interested in learning to brave the Northread skies.

Weslex Quickwrench

Pilot Vic

Benefits of a Flying Mount

The most obvious benefit to having a flying mount is just being able to avoid obstacles on land, such as trees or rivers. Though the basic flying mount travels slower than an epic land mount, avoiding obstacles and enemies often makes it a faster option for travel. However, there are also many areas only accessible through the air, including an instance hub known as Tempest Keep. Players on flying mounts also often find it much easier to locate resource nodes for their gathering professions. And of course, flying is just sheer fun! Obtaining a flying mount is often one of the first goals of newly level 70 characters.

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This page last modified 2009-03-06 22:29:16.