How to get flying in Wrath of the Lich King Classic

Flying mounts became part of our lives again in Burning Crusade Classic, and flying continues to be a big part of the game in Wrath of the Lich King Classic. As we head into Wrath Classic, our lovely Gryphons and Windriders will have trouble adapting the cold, just like T-47s did when adapting to the frigid wastelands of Hoth. We’ll need to train our mounts in Cold Weather Flying to take to the skies in Northrend.

So save up your gold coins, because some of the later zones, like Storm Peaks and Icecrown require a flying mount to access certain areas. Let’s talk about how to get flying in Wrath Classic.

What will flying cost in Wrath Classic?

Cold Weather Flying costs 1,000 gold, but the process to learn Cold Weather Flying in Wrath is much simpler than it was to learn flying in Burning Crusade. It’s just one skill that allows your flying mounts to work in Northrend. There’s no Normal or Epic rank to buy. All you need to do is hand over your coins and you’ll have all the training you need to get airborne once again. Mind tricks don’t work, only money.

If you’re level 77 or higher and a little short on gold, you can get a loaner mount from “Honest” Max at K3 in Storm Peaks. The loaner mounts are slower than regular flying mounts, moving at just 60% speed, and they can only fly in Storm Peaks, Sholazar Basin, and Icecrown. But if you have to get to an otherwise inaccessible place, they’ll get you there. They may not look like much, but they’ve got it where it counts, kid.

Where to train flying in Wrath Classic

To train flying in Wrath, your character must be level 77 and already know Expert Riding. Because it’s required to fly in Burning Crusade Classic, you probably already have Expert Riding, but if you’re new to the game — or you’re rolling a new character on a Fresh Server — you’ll need to pay to learn Expert Riding before you can learn Cold Weather Flying. Druids will need to have met all the requirements for and trained Flight Form before they can learn Cold Weather Flying.

Once you’ve met the perquisites, there are three NPCs that can help you:

• Roxi Ramrocket at K3 in the Storm Peaks
• Pilot Vic at River’s Heart in Sholazar Basin
• Hira Snowdawn in Dalaran at Kraus’ Landing will sell you the Tome of the Cold Weather Flying which allows your alts to learn Cold Weather Flying at level 68 (she’ll also teach you to fly, of course). This will set you back a cool 1,000 gold, and you will need to have one character at level 80 before the item becomes available.

Where to get flying mounts in Wrath Classic

All your Burning Crusade era flying mounts will work in Northrend once you train Cold Weather Flying, but there’s a host of new mounts to collect as well.

Mei Francis in Dalaran sells an epic version of your basic windrider and gryphon. In Phase 3, the Argent Tournament will open allowing players to earn a currency called Champion’s Seals, which can be used to purchase the Argent Hippogryph (Alliance) or the Sunreaver Dragonhawk (Horde). Death Knights have their own unique flying mount, the Winged Steed of the Ebon Blade, which they can purchase from a vendor in Archerus.

But there are quite a few other flying mounts to find:

• Drops: Azure Drake, Blue Drake, Blue Proto-Drake, Bronze Drake, Black Drake, Invincible, Mimiron’s Head, Onyxian Drake, Time-Lost Proto Drake, Twilight Drake, X-45 Heartbreaker
• Crafting: Flying Carpet, Frosty Flying Carpet, Magnificent Flying Carpet
• Reputation: Red Drake, Green Proto-Drake, Silver Covenant Hippogryph
• PVP: Deadly Gladiator’s Frost Wyrm, Relentless Gladiator’s Frost Wyrm, Furious Gladiator’s Frost Wyrm

With Wrath Classic introducing the Achievement system, this is yet another way to earn mount. Mounts from Achievements include the Albino Drake, Black Proto-Drake, Blue Dragonhawk, Plagued Proto-Drake, Red Dragonhawk, Red Proto-Drake, Rusted Proto-Drake, Ironbound Proto-Drake, Bloodbathed Frostbrood Vanquisher, Icebound Frostbrood Vanquisher, and Violet Proto-Drake.

There were also five mounts that were available in the original Wrath of the Lich King from out-of-game sources, but it’s unclear if they’ll be available in Wrath of the Lich King Classic. These include the X-51 Nether-Rocket X-TREME, the Blazing Hippogryph, and the X-51 Nether-Rocket, all originally obtained from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game. If you still have the code for one of them, you can always try it. The other two are the X-53 Touring Rocket which was awarded via the Recruit-a-Friend program, and the Celestial Steed which was available for purchase in the Blizzard Store.

How fast are flying mounts in Wrath of the Lich King?

Mounts in Wrath of the Lich King came in one of three speeds: 150% flying speed, 280% flying speed, and 310% flying speed.

150% speed mounts: Flying Carpet

280% speed mounts: Albino Drake, Argent Hippogryph, Azure Drake, Black Drake, Blue Dragonhawk, Blue Drake, Blue Proto-Drake, Bronze Drake,  Frosty Flying Carpet, Green Proto-Drake, Magnificent Flying Carpet, Red Dragonhawk, Red Drake, Red Proto-Drake, Silver Covenant Hippogryph, Sunreaver Dragonhawk, Time-Lost Proto Drake, Twilight Drake

310% speed mounts: Black Proto-Drake, Bloodbathed Frostbrood Vanquisher, Deadly Gladiator’s Frost Wyrm, Furious Gladiator’s Frost Wyrm, Icebound Frostbrood Vanquisher, Ironbound Proto-Drake, Mimiron’s Head, Onyxian Drake, Plagued Proto-Drake, Relentless Gladiator’s Frost Wyrm, Rusted Proto-Drake, Violet Proto-Drake

Wowhead was not clear on the speed of the X-45 Heartbreaker or the Winged Steed of the Ebon Blade.

Which flying mounts can I get in Wrath of the Lich King Classic?

These are all the flying mounts that were introduced to the game in Wrath Classic. Most of the flying mounts from Burning Crusade will also still be available.

Basic mounts

• Armored Snowy Gryphon for the Alliance
• Armored Blue Windrider for the Horde
• Winged Steed of the Ebon Blade for Death Knights only.

PVP mounts

• Deadly Gladiator’s Frost Wyrm
• Relentless Gladiator’s Frost Wyrm
• Furious Gladiator’s Frost Wyrm

Reputation mounts

• Argent Tournament
  • Argent Hippogryph (Alliance only – 150 Champion’s Seals)
  • Sunreaver Dragonhawk (Horde only – 150 Champion’s Seals)
• Wyrmrest Accord
  • Red Drake
    • This is sold by Cielstraza at Wyrmrest Temple at Exalted Reputation with Wyrmrest Accord.
• The Oracles
  • Green Proto-Drake
    • You must be Revered with The Oracles, a faction located in Sholazar Basin, but that is only the beginning of your quest for this mount.
    • At Revered, you can purchase a Mysterious Egg. After 7 days, the Mysterious Egg becomes a Cracked Egg. When looted, it has a chance to drop one of 4 mini-pets, this mount, or some aged yolk. It takes 7 days to hatch and you can only have one at a time so you only have one chance per week to obtain this mount.
• The Silver Covenant
  • Silver Covenant Hippogryph
    • You must be exalted with the Silver Covenant and pay 150 Champion’s Seals.

Achievement mounts

• Red Proto-Drake is awarded from completing Glory of the Hero, a series of Achievements in various 5-man dungeons.
• Plagued Proto-Drake is awarded from completing Glory of the Raider (10 player) in Naxxramas.
• Black Proto-Drake is awarded from completing the Glory of the Raider (25 man) in Naxxramas.
  • During the original Wrath of the Lich King, the ability to complete either Glory of Raider achievement was removed when patch 3.1 released. This would be analogous to Phase 2 releasing in Wrath of the Lich King Classic. The developers have not commented on if the ability to obtain the Glory of the Raider mounts will be removed at the launch of Phase 2.
• Rusted Proto-Drake is awarded from completing Glory of the Ulduar Raider (10 player).
• Ironbound Proto-Drake is awarded from completing Glory of the Ulduar Raider (25 player).
• Bloodbathed Frostbrood Vanquisher is awarded from completing Glory of the Icecrown Raider (10 player).
• Icebound Frostbrood Vanquisher is awarded from completing Glory of the Icecrown Raider (25 player).
• Albino Drake is awarded from completing Leading the Cavalry (obtain 50 mounts).
• Blue Dragonhawk is awarded to Alliance characters from completing the Mountain o’ Mounts achievement (obtain 100 mounts).
• Red Dragonhawk is awarded to Horde characters from completing the Mountain o’ Mounts achievement (obtain 100 mounts).
• Violet Proto-Drake is awarded from completing the What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been achievement. This is a meta achievement from all the various holidays. This mount, and specifically the Achievement, School of Hard Knocks, was my nemesis from several years. Yes, years.

Drop mounts

• Azure Drake is a rare (0.3%) drop from Malygos in the the Eye of Eternity raid on Heroic difficulty.
• Blue Drake is a a rare (0.5%) drop from Malygos in the Eye of Eternity raid on Normal difficulty.
  • Some players reported it also dropped from the cache at the end of The Oculus 5-man dungeon on Heroic difficulty.
• Blue Proto-Drake is a rare (3%) drop from Skadi the Ruthless, the third boss in the Utgarde Pinnacle 5-man dungeon.
• Black Drake is a rare drop from Sartharion in the Obsidian Sanctum.
• Twilight Drake is a rare drop from Sartharion in the Obsidian Sanctum.
• The Bronze Drake is a 100% drop from the Infinite Corruptor boss in the 5-man Culling of Stratholme dungeon. The boss despawns 25 minutes after you enter the dungeon, so don’t dally!
• Time-Lost Proto Drake is a 98% drop from the Rare spawn, Time-Lost Proto Drake, in the Storm Peaks. Players farmed this for several expansions post Wrath of the Lich King.
• Onyxian Drake is a 1% drop from Onyxia on both 10-man and 25-man.
• Mimiron’s Head is a 1% drop from Yogg Saron in Ulduar. This is the coolest mount introduced in Wrath of the Lich King. I will not be taking questions on this. Thank you.
• Invincible is a rare drop from The Lich King in Icecrown Citadel. There are many players who still farm for this mount in retail WoW weekly.
• X-45 Heartbreaker is a rare drop (0.3%) from the Hearth Shaped Box awarded during the Love is in the Air holiday. This is another mount players continue to seek long after Wrath was over.

Tailoring mounts

For the Mage that wants to show his date the world. Do you trust me?

• Magnificent Flying Carpet
• Frosty Flying Carpet
• Flying Carpet

Into the wild blue yonder!

Flying in Burning Crusade was a game changer, but Wrath was designed with flying mounts in mind. There are so many flying mounts to acquire in Wrath. Which one will you be going after?