Don't miss out on the second half of the dungeon and raid mounts!
Our series is continuing with the second half of the mounts dropped from raids and dungeons throughout WoW! In this half we're looking at mounts ranging from Cataclysm to Warlords of Draenor instances. Don't miss out!
With our frosty journey through Northrend complete, it's time to move on to the scorching hot instances of Cataclysm and beyond! In case you missed out on any of the previous posts, make sure to take a look if you're missing any of the mounts! If you'd like any further updates on the mount series in the future, make sure to follow me on my Twitter! If you have any questions you can always reach me there or in the comments below.
Series Posts
You can check out the rest of the series below:
Introduction and Preparation (Part 1)
Dungeons and Raids in Classic, Burning Crusade and WOTLK (Part 2)
Dungeons and Raids in Cataclysm, MoP and WoD (Part 3) [You are here]
Without any further ado, let's get going!
Cataclysm
Vitreous Stone Drake
Mount: 
Reins of the Vitreous Stone Drake
Source: Slabhide in Stonecore, Deepholm.
Fastest route: Take your faction's quest portal to Deepholm. It will be located with the other Cataclysm portals in either Stormwind or Orgrimmar.
Notes: It's highly recommended that you do this on Normal, since you aren't affecting your drop changes at all by doing it on Heroic and it means you can farm it infinitely. Make sure you pull the trash slowly if you are on a slightly lower character, since some of them can deal very high damage.
Slabhide is a fairly easy fight, just try to avoid the various things on the floor.
Best class: Rogue.
Level requirement to solo: 90+ to keep it smooth.
Drake of the North Wind
Mount: Reins of the Drake of the North Wind
Source: Altarius in The Vortex Pinnacle, Uldum.
Fastest route: Take your faction's quest portal to Uldum. If you are yet to unlock this, you can instead take a portal from Dalaran to the Caverns of Time and fly.
Notes: Try to skip as much as trash as you can here, since they can be hugely irritating to deal with. When you approach the platform of Altarius after the first boss, make sure you have a ranged attack ready to hit the orbs in your path. If you just try to run through them, you will be thrown back.
The fight itself is extremely simple, just position yourself upwind of the boss so you get the damage buff.
Once the boss is dead and you need to reset, simply jump off the edge and you will be teleported back to the start. Make sure you keep the dungeon difficulty set to normal as well.
Best class: Rogue or Hunter.
Level requirement to solo: 90+
Swift Zulian Panther
Mount: Swift Zulian Panther
Source: High Priestess Kilnara in Zul'Gurub (Heroic), Northern Stranglethorn.
Fastest route: Take your faction's portal to the Blasted Lands and then fly west.
Notes: You want to try and avoid as many bosses and as much trash as possible here. Make sure that you have enough damage to kill the boss before the cats spawn. If you do not, you need to clear them out slowly otherwise they will overwhelm you and kill you. This only applies to lower levels.
It's important to note that you can only do this once per day, since it only drops on Heroic.
Best class: No difference here, since you can mount up.
Level requirement to solo: 90+
Armored Razzashi Raptor
Mount: Armored Razzashi Raptor
Source: Bloodlord Mandokir in Zul'Gurub (Heroic), Northern Stranglethorn.
Fastest route: Take your faction's portal to the Blasted Lands and then fly west.
Notes: The most important thing to note is that, if you have a pet summoned, the Bloodlord will one shot you with his ability and then reset. Make sure you do not have any pets summoned, including temporary ones, such as mirror images.
Best class: No difference here, since you can mount up.
Level requirement to solo: 90+
Amani Battle Bear
Mount: Amani Battle Bear
Source: Kasha's Bag in Zul'Aman (Heroic Timed Event), Ghostlands.
Fastest route: For Horde players, this is a very easy instance to get to. Take a portal to Silvermoon City and just run down to the Ghostlands. Note that flying isn't permitted here.
For the Alliance players, the fastest way is to take a portal from a Mage to Ancient Dalaran and then fly/run. Make sure you take the path on the map that leads to the Ghostlands, since there is a portal you need to enter from the Eastern Plaguelands. You cannot fly over the mountains.
Notes: When you click the gong to start the instance, a timer will appear. You need to just run through the dungeon as quickly as you can, killing the first 4 bosses along the way. You do not need to finish the dungeon to actually get the mount. You can check out this map detailing the route you need to take.
Best class: No difference here, since you can mount up.
Level requirement to solo: 90+
General Notes
From here on, there is very little difference in regards to classes. Some are still better, but it's now more based on the gear of those characters. If there is a specific class that is perfect for that fight, I will include it, but I will no longer list best classes for every fight.
I would also recommend using lockouts to help you skip bosses in each raid, since you can then clear them much faster. Follow our guides in the first dungeons and raids post to understand how to do this. You can find them under the Mimiron's Head and Invincible guide.
Drake of the South Wind
Mount: Reins of the Drake of the South Wind
Source: Al'Akir in Throne of the Four Winds, Uldum.
Fastest route: Take your faction's quest portal to Uldum. If you are yet to unlock this, you can instead take a portal from Dalaran to the Caverns of Time and fly.
Notes: In order to reach Al'Akir, you need to first kill the Conclave of Wind. This fight can be incredibly difficult to solo if you are attempting it on a lower geared character due to the debuffs each time you bring a boss to 1HP, as well as the fact that they need to be killed quickly after one another. You can skip this boss by getting help and then keeping a 1/2 defeated save.
For the boss itself, you'll just need to nuke Al'Akir while avoiding the lightning circling the platform.
Level requirement to solo: 90+, but being level 100 makes this a lot simpler.
Flametalon of Alysrazor
Mount: Flametalon of Alysrazor
Source: Alysrazor in Firelands, Mount Hyjal.
Fastest route: Take your faction's quest portal to Mount Hyjal and fly south to Firelands.
Notes: This boss is actually exceptionally simple to solo due to the insane buffs you can obtain while doing it. When you first engage Alysrazor, you can pick up feathers behind it. When you have 3, you will be thrown into the air and can cast while moving, as well as having a much larger melee range. Follow the bird around while flying through the rings of fire you see behind it. This will refresh your flight buff while also giving you a stacking buff that increases your haste by 8% per ring you fly through. When you reach 25 stacks, you'll also gain 75% more critical strike chance for 40 seconds.
With these buffs, plenty of classes can actually solo this boss on 10-player normal while still being level 85.
Level requirement to solo: 85+ if you want a slight challenge, but you'll need proper gear. If you want to be safe, go for 90+.
Pureblood Firehawk
Mount: Smoldering Egg of Millagazor
Source: Ragnaros in Firelands, Mount Hyjal.
Fastest route: Take your faction's quest portal to Mount Hyjal and fly south to Firelands.
Notes: Ragnaros is much more of a challenge for lower levels than Alysrazor. It's impossible to kill him before he enters his adds phase, regardless of your DPS, so you need to be prepared for the adds as a lower level. The damage of the explosions depends on your level, not your gear, so you need to kill every add that spawns when Ragnaros slams his hammer into the dais.
If you're doing it on Heroic, make sure you have enough DPS to finish off the last phase before you are overwhelmed.
Level requirement to solo: 90+ for very good soloing classes such as DKs, but I would advise you to do it on a level 100 so you don't have further problems.
Experiment 12-B
Mount: Experiment 12-B
Source: Ultraxion in Dragon Soul, Tanaris.
Fastest route: Take a portal from Dalaran to the Caverns of Time and then fly inside. You can check your map to see which entrance leads to Dragon Soul.
Notes: Ultraxion is a simple DPS-check. You'll need to kill him before his Hour of Twilight kills you. Make sure that, if you're soloing the boss, you never enter the other realm. If you do, his Hour of Twilight will hit nobody and he will then instantly kill you.
Level requirement to solo: I would strongly recommend a level 100 here.
Blazing Drake
Mount: Reins of the Blazing Drake
Source: Madness of Deathwing in Dragon Soul (Normal or Heroic), Tanaris.
Fastest route: Take a portal from Dalaran to the Caverns of Time and then fly inside. You can check your map to see which entrance leads to Dragon Soul.
Notes: The real challenge here is actually clearing the boss before, Spine of Deathwing. In order to so in a solo group, you will need to follow this strategy:
Start the fight and immediately kill all 4 of the tentacles.
Stand on one and roll the boss so that all 4 of the adds fall off.
Move to the middle and start strafing left and right so that Deathwing is kept in an eternal state of rolling left and right, but never actually doing it.
NEVER STOP STRAFING UNLESS YOU ARE SECURED AND READY TO ROLL.
Kill bloods until you can see there are at least 9, then kill the tentacle.
Run the large add over the bloods until it has absorbed 9 and then take it to the plate at the front of Deathwing.
Kill the add and let it explode.
The plate will raise and you can kill the tendon underneath.
Rinse and repeat!
For Madness of Deathwing, there isn't a huge amount of strategy needed, but you can still follow a few tips:
Always kill the Mutated Corruption that spawns at the back of the platform otherwise it will slowly kill the Aspects.
Make sure to kill Alexstraza's platform last, since she covers any AoE on the adds for you.
If you can't burst Deathwing fast enough, kill the regenerative bloods ASAP.
Level requirement to solo: I would strongly recommend a level 100 here.
Life-Binder's Handmaiden
Mount: Life-Binder's Handmaiden
Source: Madness of Deathwing in Dragon Soul (Heroic ONLY), Tanaris.
Notes: See the information above for the Blazing Drake for the majority of the tips. There is one change that applies to Heroic, in which you need to ensure that you kill the Corrupting Parasite when it spawns.
Mists of Pandaria
Heavenly Onyx Cloud Serpent
Mount: Reins of the Heavenly Onyx Cloud Serpent
Source: Sha of Anger in Kun-Lai Summit.
Fastest route: Take a portal to your faction's shrine in Vale of Eternal Blossoms and then fly north.
Notes: This boss can technically be soloed, but there actually is no point to do so. Since it is done solely on Personal Loot, you can do it in a group and not have your chances affected.
If you wish to solo the boss, there's one main mechanic you need to avoid. When the Sha starts to attempt to mind control you using Growing Anger, you need to run as far away from the boss as possible before the debuff expires. I would recommend aiming to run at least 60 yards away from the boss. Other than that, you just need to kill the boss. Soloing it is exceptionally difficult for many classes and impossible on others. Find a group and save yourself the trouble!
Bonus rollable? Yes
Level requirement to solo: 100
Son of Galleon
Mount: Son of Galleon's Saddle
Source: Galleon in Valley of the Four Winds.
Fastest route: Take a portal to your faction's shrine in Vale of Eternal Blossoms and then fly south.
Notes: As with the Sha of Anger, there is no need to solo this boss. It won't affect your loot tables at all, so grab a group and get in there.
If you insist on soloing, you need to have some very strong self heals. Bring a Death Knight or a very well-geared other class.
Bonus rollable? Yes
Level requirement to solo: 100
Thundering Cobalt Cloud Serpent
Mount: Reins of the Thundering Cobalt Cloud Serpent
Source: Nalak on the Isle of Thunder.
Fastest route: If you have the Mists of Pandaria Challenge Modes completed, then teleport to the Siege of Niuzao Temple. If not, take a portal to your faction's shrine and then fly to the respective portal at the Shado-Pan Garrison. You can then run to Nalak's spawn point outside Throne of Thunder.
Notes: Once again, there is no need to solo this boss. It won't affect your loot tables at all, so grab a group and get in there.
If you insist on soloing, you need to have some very strong self heals. Bring a Death Knight or a very well-geared other class. If you can get Nalak to aggro onto some of the friendly Shado-Pan NPCs, they might tank it for you, but he still does considerably AoE damage.
Bonus rollable? Yes
Level requirement to solo: 100
Cobalt Primordial Direhorn
Mount: Reins of the Cobalt Primordial Direhorn
Source: Oondasta on the Isle of Giants.
Fastest route: Take a portal to your faction's shrine and fly north. If you are Horde, it is very slightly faster to take the Jade Forest portal from Orgrimmar and then fly.
Notes: Once again, there is no need to solo this boss. It won't affect your loot tables at all, so grab a group and get in there.
If you insist on soloing, you need to have some very strong self heals. Bring a Death Knight or a very well-geared other class. Oondasta hits very hard with his cone attack, as well as the stacking debuff, so you'll need to kill him quickly while surviving. Save yourself the trouble and bring a group.
Bonus rollable? Yes
Level requirement to solo: 100
Astral Cloud Serpent
Mount: Reins of the Astral Cloud Serpent
Source: Elegon in Mogu'shan Vaults, Kun-Lai Summit.
Fastest route: Take a portal to your faction's shrine and fly north.
Notes: Elegon isn't an easy boss to solo. You receive a damage buff to help, but you really need to focus on the tactics in order to get it done. You have 2 main options, focusing on DPS or just staying alive. Obviously, this will depend on what kind of class you are playing, but these are the two main strategies.
In order to kill Elegon, you need to engage him and burst as much damage as you can. When he starts to draw power, position yourself so that you can kill every orb that appears underneath him. If any orb reaches its destination, the platform will despawn, so be careful. Keep killing the orbs until you can't do it anymore, then simply walk off the platform and let the floor despawn.
Adds will periodically spawn which need to be killed ASAP. They will cause a large explosion which you need to be off the platform for, since you will be taking increased damage.
When the down phase starts, adds will spawn that need to be killed. Kill these and DPS the pillars down. Once all the pillars are cleared, the floor will come back and you will just start again with the same tactic.
Bonus rollable? No
Level requirement to solo: 100
Spawn of Horridon
Mount: Spawn of Horridon
Source: Horridon in Throne of Thunder, Isle of Thunder.
Fastest route: If you have the Mists of Pandaria Challenge Modes completed, then teleport to the Siege of Niuzao Temple. If not, take a portal to your faction's shrine and then fly to the respective portal at the Shado-Pan Garrison.
Notes: Horridon has some very, very high healing requirements to solo due to the massive amount of adds that spawn. Pick up Horridon and drag him to the first door on the left of the door you entered from. Tank him there and wait for the adds to spawn, killing them as they come.
A larger add, a Zandalari Dinomancer, will drop down and it needs to be killed ASAP. Interrupt its heal and as soon as it transforms into a dinosaur, click on the glowing orb it drops. This will force Horridon to charge the door and then stop those adds spawning. Kill the remaining adds and then move Horridon to the next door, moving clockwise.
At the next door, you need to do the same thing, killing the adds and then focusing the Dinomancers. Repeat this until all 4 doors are closed, at which point you want to kill Horridon. At 30% HP, a mini boss, War-God Jalak, will spawn. Kill him and then finish off Horridon.
The fight is extremely long, so you need to either have a healer with you or a huge amount of self healing to stay alive.
Bonus rollable? No
Level requirement to solo: 100
Clutch of Ji-Kun
Mount: Clutch of Ji-Kun
Source: Ji-Kun in Throne of Thunder, Isle of Thunder.
Fastest route: If you have the Mists of Pandaria Challenge Modes completed, then teleport to the Siege of Niuzao Temple. If not, take a portal to your faction's shrine and then fly to the respective portal at the Shado-Pan Garrison.
Notes: Ji-Kun can be a real pain to deal with, since his damage later in the fight is incredibly irritating. My best advice is to grab your DPS characters and learn how to get yourself the Primal Nutrient buff. Here's how:
Stand just above the first nest and engage Ji-Kun with a ranged attack.
Jump straight down into the nest and kill the adds there ASAP.
Grab yourself a feather and then fly up to Ji-Kun.
Whenever he begins to cast Feed Young, activate your feather and fly directly above him.
When the blobs fly out, if they touch you in the air, they will give you 100% bonus damage.
Pop your cooldowns with the nutrient buff and kill Ji-Kun ASAP.
In regards to other tactics, you just need to move from the things on the ground and make sure you don't fall off during Down Draft.
Bonus rollable? No
Level requirement to solo: 100
Kor'kron Juggernaught
Mount: Kor'kron Juggernaut
Source: Garrosh Hellscream in Siege of Orgrimmar (Mythic), Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
Fastest route: Take a portal to your faction's shrine in Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
Notes: Firstly, find a group. You cannot solo Garrosh on Mythic. The fight is very simple if you have a group, just follow these steps:
Kill the adds.
Assign someone to kill one of the Engineers in P1.
Make sure the weapons are killed.
When inside the heart phases, kill the adds and dodge his smashes.
Interrupt those that are mind controlled.
Kill the adds. Again.
When he enters his Mythic-only phase, you should be able to burn him down without worrying about the tactics.
If you need to, move during bombardment.
You should be able to ignore the debuff, Malice.
He should be dead before he reaches 100 energy. If not, kite an iron star into him before he reaches 100.
Bonus rollable? No
Level requirement to solo: You cannot solo this.
Warlords of Draenor
Solar Spirehawk
Mount: Solar Spirehawk
Source: Rukhmar in Spires of Arak.
Fastest route: If you are Alliance, you can fly from your Garrison. If you are Horde, I suggest flying from Ashran instead. You can also use your Mage Tower/Spirit Lodge to get faster access.
Notes: Grab yourself a group for this in the dungeon finder tool and make sure to farm it weekly on every character you can!
The only real tip I can give you here is to make sure you bring even your undergeared alts to grab an attempt. It's also important to note that you CANNOT loot this on a bonus roll. It was confirmed by the Devs, as seen below:
Bonus rollable? No
Level requirement to solo: You cannot solo this.
Ironhoof Destroyer
Mount: Ironhoof Destroyer
Source: Blackhand in Blackrock Foundry (Mythic), Gorgrond.
Fastest route: Either fly from your Garrison or use a portal from your Mage Tower/Spirit Lodge.
Notes: This mount is one of two that is 100% but also gated behind a very high wall for many players. Find yourself a solid group for the run, whether it is through a guild group or a consistent pug. These mounts are often the target for ninja looting, so make sure you trust those that you are in the group with.
I would recommend checking out the forums in order to find a group that perhaps is already slightly established and they are just farming to get the mount. You can also start up your own group in which 20 players clear the raid, then the first person that joined gets the mount. You then replace that person with a new raider and so on.
If you want to brush up on the tactics, check out our Blackhand guide.
Bonus rollable? No
Level requirement to solo: You cannot solo this.
Felsteel Annihilator
Mount: Felsteel Annihilator
Source: Archimonde in Hellfire Citadel (Mythic), Tanaan Jungle.
Fastest route: Take the portal from Ashran to your faction's Tanaan base and then fly.
Notes: While this mount is once again a 100% drop rate, it's not the drop rate that would affect its rarity. As one of the most challenging bosses this expansion, Archimonde Mythic takes a seriously dedicated team to kill. This mount will not be easy to obtain, I would highly recommend focusing on the other mounts before pushing for this one unless you are already in a raiding guild.
If you want to give it a go, make sure you have a solid guild team with voice communication and very strong gear. You can check out the tactics in our Archimonde guide for the basic heroic guide, but there are still further changes on Mythic.
I won't go over the changes in Mythic, since it's very difficult to explain with a visual aid, but I would recommend checking out the FatbossTV guide to the boss below.
Bonus rollable? No
Level requirement to solo: You cannot solo this.
The End of Dungeons and Raids
That's the end of the RNG mounts from instances! Now you just have to look forward to years of farming them.
Our next post is going to be looking at detailed explanations of every meta achievement within the dungeons and raids achievements that reward mounts.
If you've got any feedback for me, please let me know in the comments below or over on Twitter. Thanks for reading!