Start pinching your coppers now to save up for World of Warcraft’s newest gold sink, the Sporebearer Fungal Strider

Blizzard has announced that Midnight’s upcoming patch 12.1.5 will include a new mount obtainable for a mountain of gold, the Sporebearer Fungal Strider. Interested players should begin budgeting now, as it will only be available for purchase until the end of the expansion.

It looks like we’re continuing the tradition of expensive, unique, long-necked mounts with useful NPCs along for the ride. With the appearance of a cross-breed between a brutosaur and a mushroom, this fungal strider has a blue/pink color scheme with a Harandar-themed saddle and reins system.

The sticker price on this mushroom long boy is a cool 5,000,000 gold. This base cost includes two passengers who offer vendor/repair and mailbox services. But wait, there’s more! Crafty consumers will be able to purchase access to additional NPCs. A transmogrifier will set you back an additional 500,000 gold, and an Auction House representative will tack another 1,500,000 gold to the bottom line.

At the end of your trip to the Ridiculously Massive Steed Shop, you’re looking at a total cost of 7,000,000 gold. As someone who has rarely seen a six-figure gold total in my bag at any time, I am part of the majority of players who will be restricted to pressing our noses up against the glass of the fungal strider showroom.

If earning gold is one of the activities you enjoy most while spending time on Azeroth, then careful planning may yet result in enough copper and silver scratched together to purchase this fungal behemoth. Using the power of math and an educated guess at the release date of The Last Titan, you’ll need to set aside roughly 18,817 gold per day. It’s certainly achievable for players who dabble in crafting and surfing the Auction House.

If you’re wondering about the shortcut route of purchasing WoW Tokens until your gold total hits 7,000,000 then ready yourself for a shock. At the current value of 244,159 gold, you’ll need to buy 29 WoW tokens, setting you back 580 real, actual US dollars. We’ll let you process that price tag in your own way, but as per our own tradition, that’s the equivalent of 96,000 googly eyes.

Whether or not we’ll see Silvermoon City invaded by gigantic mushroom steeds remains to be seen. With all of the NPC functions already available on other mounts, there may be less of a demand for the Sporebearer Fungal Strider. There is also the looming possibility that a black recolor will be available for real-world cash in the in-game shop sometime in the future.