There are already well over 800 mounts to collect in World of Warcraft, with likely dozens more coming once the new expansion drops. Mounts are a powerful status symbol in the game but you don’t necessarily need to own several hundred of them to show off. All you really need is just one or two of the rarest WoW mounts you can get your hands on. What are some good candidates? I’m glad you asked because we have a whole list of them down below.
Before we begin let’s discuss a couple of ground rules. First off, we’re only looking at mounts that are still obtainable as of this writing. No point drooling over mounts you can’t get your hands on anymore, right? Secondly, we’re only interested in the rarest mounts that can be acquired in-game. In other words, no TCG mounts.
A lot of the rarest WoW mounts are from the old trading card game, but generally, the only way to get them these days is to straight-up buy them for real money. Obviously, not everyone can afford to spend hundreds or even thousands of USD on a mount, so that’s why we’re not including those. The point of this list is to discuss mounts that can be acquired by anybody.
Blizzard doesn’t disclose stats related to mount rarity so we’re going to use the Data For Azeroth database instead. The database gets updated fairly regularly so the actual ranking may differ a bit depending on when you’re reading this. Most of these mounts are from Shadowlands, specifically patch 9.2.
With all of that out of the way, let’s take a look at the rarest WoW mounts that are still obtainable in-game as of May 2022.
20. Solar Spirehawk
The Solar Spirehawk has been one of the rarest WoW mounts for quite a while now. This flaming flying mount was introduced to the game alongside Warlords of Draenor and immediately became highly sought-after. Alas, almost eight years later, less than 1% of players can brag about owning the Solar Spirehawk. And that percentage will probably not change significantly anytime soon.
The Solar Spirehawk drops from the world boss Rukhmar in Spires of Arak. The drop chance is only 0.21% and while Rukhmar respawns fairly quickly, you can only loot it once per week per character. Twice if you have a bonus roll. You might be able to get the mount after a couple of tries if you’re really lucky but, realistically, it will probably take you hundreds if not thousands of attempts.
19. Vicious War Croaker
The Vicious War Croaker is the generic rated PvP mount reward during Shadowlands season 3. As it’s always the case with these, you need to reach a rating of at least 1400 during the season and then continue to win further matches until the progress bar reaches 100%. Once it does, you will be awarded the Vicious War Croaker mount.
As a little side note, it looks like the number of Alliance players who own this mount is quite a bit lower than the number of Horde players. That said, according to the database, only around 1% of players from both factions own the Vicious War Croaker as of this writing, which still makes it one of the rarest WoW mounts around. I suspect that’s probably going to change as we approach the end of the current season.
18. Vespoid Flutterer
The Vespoid Flutterer is one of the new wasp mounts that were introduced a few months ago. There are four of these in total and they can all be crafted via the Protoform Synthesis system. To craft this mount, you’ll first need to get your hands on 30 Cosmic Energy. Go to the north of Zereth Mortis and kill the mobs located around the coordinates 51.27, 28.00 to get the Cosmic Energy needed.
Next, you’ll need to head over just south of that location to find the Locus Shift Teleport System. The entrance is at around 50.82, 31.46. Once inside, teleport to level one and look around for some piles of sand. A box containing the Vespoid Flutterer schematic can be found half-buried in one of the piles. After you find the schematic, you can bring it back to the forge to craft the mount. Provided you have the necessary mats of course.
17. Curious Crystalsniffer
It is curious indeed that this is currently one of the rarest WoW mounts because it’s not particularly difficult to obtain. Its rarity can mostly be attributed to the fact that it was introduced recently, which is the case with a lot of the mounts on this list. Well, that and the fact that the schematic for this mount is found inside the Sepulcher of the First Ones, the most recent raid added to World of Warcraft.
Don’t worry if you’re not a hardcore raider because you don’t need to get too far into Sepulcher of the First Ones to find the schematic. The schematic appears in the second room of the raid after you kill Halondrus. More specifically, you’ll find it in a box next to a glowing plant located in the northern part of the room.
The box shows up on all difficulties, including LFR, which should make things easier. Once you have the schematic, craft the Curious Crystalsniffer just like any other Protoform Synthesis mount.
16. Goldplate Bufonid
The Goldplate Bufonid is a Protoform Synthesis mount. While unlocking it is pretty straightforward, you’ll need a fair bit of luck to get the schematic to drop. The schematic needed to craft the mount drops from Accelerated Bufonid mobs, which can mostly be found towards the south of Zereth Mortis and around the entrance to the Sepulcher of the First ones.
The drop chance is around 3% so not terrible but you’ll probably need to kill around a dozen or two of the mobs before you can get the schematic to drop. Luckily, these aren’t elite mobs so you shouldn’t have much trouble killing them. Once you have the schematic, you can craft the Goldplate Bufonid at the forge using 400 Genesis Motes, a Bauble of Pure Innovation, and a Bufonid Lattice.
15. Prototype Leaper
The Prototype Leaper is another Protoform Synthesis giant frog mount that can be acquired in a number of ways. You’ll need to craft it yourself using a schematic regardless of how you want to go about it, but you do have a couple of options when it comes to acquiring said schematic.
The easiest way to get it is to fly over to the Untamed Verdure in Zereth Mortis and look for the schematic on top of the mountain found at around 67.0, 69.4. If you don’t have flying yet, things get a bit more complicated but you can still reach the location using either Door of Shadows or the temporary frog mount you unlock during the ‘Frog’it’ daily quest.
14. Son of Galleon
Similar to the Solar Spirehawk, Son of Galleon is another mount you can loot from a world boss. If you’re lucky enough to get it to drop, of course. This one is even older as it was introduced during Mists of Pandaria along with three other mounts that are also extremely rare, two of which can be found further down on this list.
Son of Galleon is a ground-only mount that drops from the world boss Galleon in the Valley of the Four Winds. The drop chance is one of the lowest in the entire game at a meager 0.05%. You’ll need tons of patience and an army of alts if you plan to go after this one. Similar to other world bosses, Galleon can only be farmed once per week per character. You can increase your chances with a bonus roll but your odds of getting it to drop are still incredibly slim.
13. Heavenly Onyx Cloud Serpent
Speaking of incredibly low drop chances, next up on our list of rarest WoW mounts we have the Heavenly Only Cloud Serpent. This is another one of those MoP world boss mounts I mentioned earlier and it’s by far the most sought-after of the bunch. Cloud Serpents are pretty cool in general but this one is really something else. I’m usually not a big fan of recolors but I’ll happily admit that the Heavily Only Cloud Serpent looks absolutely stunning.
The world boss you’ll need to farm for a chance at this mount is the Sha of Anger located in Kun-Lai Summit. You know how I said earlier that Son of Galleon has one of the lower drop chances in the game at 0.05%? Well, the drop chance for the Heavenly Only Cloud Serpent is a mere 0.01%. Anyone who manages to get their hands on one of these puppies deserves a huge round of applause because those odds are just ludicrously low.
12. Desire’s Battle Gargon
Next up we have a few other Shadowlands mounts, starting with the Desire’s Battle Gargon. This mount is available exclusively to Venthyr players through the Ember Court scenario. To kick things off, you’ll need to upgrade the Ember Court in your Sanctum to at least level 4 and work towards becoming best friends with the Countess by repeatedly inviting her to the Ember Court. Once you’re best buddies, invite her to the Court again and make sure she’s Very Happy or Elated by the end of it.
If you did everything right, the Countess will give you a tribute chest that contains the mount at the end of the scenario. The Desire’s Battle Gargon is a guaranteed drop so you only need one tribute chest from the Countess. However, befriending the NPC and even upgrading the Ember Court in the first place is a very lengthy process.
If you’re starting from scratch prepare to spend many weeks on this. You’ll also need close to 30K Anima and 80 Redeemed Souls just to upgrade the Ember Court to level 4.
11. Bronzewing Vespoid
The Bronzewing Vespoid is a pretty cool-looking wasp mount. There are only a handful of these in World of Warcraft as of right now and they all came with patch 9.2. The bronze version is the rarest of the bunch according to the database but it’s not particularly difficult to get your hands on one.
Start by going to the Gravid Repose in the north of Zereth. Once inside, go up the ramp and you should find the schematic in a container located at the top. That’s pretty much all there is to it. Of course, this is a Protoform Synthesis mount so you’ll need a bunch of materials to craft it but that shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
10. Colossal Soulshredder Mawrat
I hope you love Torghast because you’ll need to run it A LOT to unlock this next mount. The Colossal Soulshredder Mawrat is a reward for completing the meta-achievement Flawless Master (Layer 16). You get that by completing all the other Flawless (Layer 16) achievements. There are six of them in total.
To get a Flawless run you’ll need to finish a wing with a score of at least 200. And you’ll need to do that for each of the six wings at layer 16. This achievement can be extremely frustrating if you don’t particularly enjoy Torghast. And honestly, the reward isn’t that great. There are four other Mawrats in the game, some of which look arguably better than this one. However, this is the rarest of the bunch.
9. Darkened Vombata
The Darkened Vombata is a Protoform Synthesis mount that’s pretty easy to get if you know where to look. Go to the Arrangement Index in Zereth Mortis and look for a big rock with a cage hanging over it. The schematic can be found inside the cage. If you haven’t unlocked flying yet, you’ll need to use a Goblin Glider Kit or find some other way to climb the rock so you can access the cage.
I’m guessing the main reason why this is still listed as one of the rarest World of Warcraft mounts in the database is because most people don’t know about it. That said, some people are saying this is bugged and that the schematic often doesn’t appear where it should. That might also explain the mount’s rarity. If you do manage to get the schematic, you can craft the Darkened Vombata much like any other Protoform Synthesis mount.
8. Unsuccessful Prototype Fleetpod
The Unsuccessful Prototype Fleetpod is a very strange mount. On one hand, it’s arguably one of the best-looking snail mounts introduced in Shadowlands 9.2. If not the best looking. It can also be used by level 1 characters, which is always nice. But on the other hand, the Unsuccessful Prototype Fleetpod is a very slow mount that caps at 110 speed at level 60. It is a snail, after all.
The Unsuccessful Prototype Fleetpod is a Protoform Synthesis mount that takes quite a bit of effort to unlock, but the process is pretty fun. First, you’ll need to research Metrial, Aealic, Dealic, and Sopranian Understanding from the Cypher Research Console. Next, complete the A Means to an End storyline, unlock the Camber Alcove, hop into the Inert Prototype found inside, and play a minigame that involves gathering cosmic energy.
Once you complete that minigame you’ll receive a schematic that lets you build the Unsuccessful Prototype Fleetpod. I can see this one becoming quite common in the near future but for now, it’s technically still one of the rarest WoW mounts out there. Much like a lot of other Protoform Synthesis mounts.
7. Thundering Cobalt Cloud Serpent
Yet another Mists of Pandaria world boss mount, the Thundering Cobalt Cloud Serpent can be obtained by killing Nalak on the Isle of Thunder. We don’t know the specific drop rate for this one but we can assume it’s similar to that of the Heavenly Only Cloud Serpent or Son of Galleon given its rarity. Possibly even a bit lower. According to the database, this is the rarest world boss mount right now and there are a couple of reasons for that.
The low drop chance is obviously the main reason, but there’s also the fact that the Thundering Cobalt Cloud Serpent is a pain to farm. Nalak dies in a couple of hits these days and there are always tons of people waiting around for it to respawn. You have to be really fast on the draw to land a hit on the boss before it dies. If you’re not, the whole thing can get pretty frustrating and I have a feeling that a lot of people avoid farming Nalak due to that very reason.
6. Mawdapted Raptora
Next up on our list of rarest WoW mounts, we have the Mawdepted Raptora. You’ll need to do quite a bit of farming if you want to get your hands on this one because the schematic needed to craft it only drops from Mawsworn Hulk mobs. These are level 61 elite mobs that pack a mean punch so you probably don’t want to try farming them solo if you can help it. The mobs only spawn in a small region in northeastern Zereth Mortis. Expect to run into a lot of competition while you’re there.
Mawsworn Hulks have about a 1.7% chance to drop the Mawdepted Raptora schematic, which isn’t too bad in the grand scheme of things. However, farming these mobs is a pain at the moment if you’re on a high population server. If you’re not, it’s still a pain though not because of the competition, but because you’ll find it harder to put together a farming party.
Either way, it’s a bit annoying to get the schematic. If you do manage to get it to drop, you will need 350 Genesis Motes, a Mawforged Bridle, and a Raptora Lattice to craft it via Protoform Synthesis.
5. Shimmering Aurelid
Next up we have the Shimmering Aurelid, another jellyfish mount based on the Fathom Dweller model. You can get your hands on this one by completing all the Sepulcher of the First Ones raid achievements. As always, some of the achievements are relatively simple while others require you to run the raid multiple times.
The good news is that you only need to run the raid on normal difficulty to unlock the required achievements. The bad news is that getting together a raid group willing to go after the Glory of the Sepulcher Raider meta-achievement is almost impossible unless you’re part of a good guild that raids regularly. Hence, why the Shimmering Aurelid is currently one of the rarest mounts in World of Warcraft.
The mount itself is pretty disappointing considering it’s not a new model. If you want a mount that looks very similar and requires less effort just go after the Cryptic Aurelid.
4. Prestigious Bloodforged Courser
Usually, a mount stops becoming particularly rare once it’s been around for a while, but there are some exceptions. The Prestigious Bloodforged Courser is one of them. This armored unicorn remains one of the rarest WoW mounts despite having been around for almost four years at this point.
The reason why you don’t see a lot of people riding this one is because you need to reach Honor level 500 to unlock it. Yes, you read that right, 500. That’s an insane amount of Honor to grind even for players who regularly engage in PvP, let alone those who don’t. You’ll need to be extremely patient and determined to get your hands on this one.
While a bit more common, the Prestigious Midnight Courser also deserves a little shoutout. That one only requires you to reach Honor level 250.
3. Russet Bufonid
The Russet Bufonid is another giant frog mount introduced in Shadowlands 9.2. Getting your hands on a Russet Bufonid is quite a hassle. You’ll first need to earn exalted with The Enlightened in Zereth Mortis and then further grind reputation to buy Enlightened Broker Supplies. These caches contain the schematic needed to craft the mount but the drop chance is very low.
If you do get your hands on the schematic, you’ll need 350 Genesis Motes, one Lens of Focused Intention, and a Bufonid Lattice to craft the mount. Your best bet to get a Bufonid Lattice is to farm Gorkek but the item can also drop from a couple of other mobs in Zereth Mortis.
2. Cosmic Gladiator’s Soul Eater
It probably won’t surprise you to find this one on a list of rarest WoW mounts. Gladiator mounts are always very rare, especially those that were introduced towards the end of an expansion when the playerbase is starting to dwindle.
The Cosmic Gladiator’s Soul Eater is given as a reward to teams that do exceptionally well in the Arena during Shadowlands season 3. If you’re into PvP, you already know how this works. Every season there’s a different recolor of the same mount model so the novelty factor wears off after you’ve earned one of these. But getting one, to begin with, is definitely very challenging.
In addition to the mount, becoming a Cosmic Gladiator also gets you one of the rarest WoW titles.
1. Zereth Overseer
Shadowlands is one of the most underwhelming World of Warcraft expansions but it did introduce a number of interesting mounts. One of the more unique of the bunch is the Zereth Overseer. This one drops from The Jailer after beating him on mythic difficulty.
Few guilds are able to do Sepulcher of the First Ones on mythic and even fewer are able to complete the entire raid, hence why this is one of the rarest WoW mounts as of right now. Unless you’re the leader of a guild that does mythic raiding, you’re unlikely to get your hands on this one anytime soon. As per usual, these types of mounts will become more common once the next expansion rolls around.
Outdated
The mounts below were rare enough to warrant a place on the main list when it was originally written, but they have since become significantly more common. We didn’t want to remove them completely so we’re placing them in this separate category.
Heartlight Vombata
This one will probably stop being among the rarest WoW mounts once the new patch launches but it is still quite rare in 9.2 The Heartlight Vombata is unlocked as a reward for pushing your reputation all the way up to exalted with The Enlightened.
Once you reach the required reputation you can head over to Vilo in Zereth Mortis to get yourself the mount. Unfortunately, you won’t get it automatically. Instead, you’ll have to buy it from the vendor for 5,000 Anima. It’s not a great reward considering it’s a ground-only mount but at least it looks nice. Kinda.
Cryptic Aurelid
The Cryptic Aurelid is a jellyfish mount you can acquire by completing the From A to Zereth meta-achievement, which involves completing seven other achievements. Most of those achievements have multiple requirements and one of them requires you to obtain exalted status with The Enlightened. While not particularly difficult, unlocking this mount can be a bit tedious, especially if you don’t enjoy Zereth Mortis.
The Cryptic Aurelid doesn’t have a new model but this particular color variant looks pretty good all things considered. The Cryptic Aurelid counts as both a flying mount and an aquatic mount, meaning it swims just as fast as mounts that can only be used underwater.
This list was last updated on May 29th, 2022.
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This is honestly a really dumb post. Most mounts are from the new system and are “rare” just because they are new and most people haven’t got that far into the new crafting system. A better list would of talked about actual rare mounts people have put a lot of effort into like pandaria world boss drops, bug mount from archeology, love rocket, 1 post about all tcg mounts, etc.
Well, you see, that’s why I prefaced it by saying ‘no TCG mounts’ and ‘Most of these mounts are from Shadowlands, specifically patch 9.2.’ There are already dozens of lists featuring all the rare mounts everybody already knows about so I wanted to do something different. A lot of these will become more common in time, as I have mentioned several times throughout the article, and then the list will be updated accordingly.
But you have it titled in a click baited way that says they are still obtainable. I mean there are mounts that are on the Black Market Auction House that is the only way to get them but they are still technically still able to be gotten by players. I would say the most common of those is still rarer than the rarest of the mounts on this click bait list.
They’re really not. You can look up the site I used for the data to see that the Plagued Proto-Drake is the rarest BMAH mount and it’s not as rare as any of the mounts on this list. Maybe one or two since the data was updated since this was posted but it’s still not as rare as the majority of them. This list will also be updated to reflect the new data in the coming days. I guess if you have issues with a list like this you can take it up with the folks running Data For Azeroth. I linked to their site at the very beginning for a reason. Not sure why you’re hassling me for. I made the list using exclusively their data and I explained why some mounts were excluded and why most of them are from Shadowlands. But I suppose it’s asking a lot to actually read the intro before commenting.
I agree 100%
These are all newer mounts.
They want to talk of rare unobtainable hiw about the Black Qiraji mount for one
Yeah, let’s just pretend this isn’t a post designed to get people to play The Shadowcrap expansion to chase down the majority of your list. A great deal of the mounts you list share the same model for crying out loud.
How much did Blizzard pay you for this?