Flying Mounts

[Lechuza]

It's a bit early for my wife and I to be looking at this, but which flying mount is easiest / fastest to obtain?

As a dwarf, I loved the look of the faction mount (the gryphon) so it was a no-brainer to grab it for farming rep / gold to start working towards the Nether-drake.

The simple truth is, I can't stand the look of the Windrider, and my wife likes it even less.

Lechuza is an engineer, so I believe I'll be able to build my own Roflchopter the moment I hit 70, but what choices does she have? The new Cenarion Expedition Hippogryph is beautiful, and the Sha'tari Nether Rays are nice, but which would be easier to farm rep for? Has anyone here worked their rep up on either of these factions, who could give some advice? And, are these the only two choices she has BEFORE Epic?

If I remember right from my Alli days, the Sha'tari reputation quests are only available after level 70, so that would make the CE faction much easier to start early on, maybe even getting Exalted BY 70. Does that sound right?

Any info / advice would be appreciated.

 

[galatian]

um sha tari is only after 70 and its ok to get exalted with. CE is a PAIN but u can do it b4 70. the only thing is neither of those r non epic mounts. the only non-epic flying mounts that i know of r the faction one and the engineering one

 

[Lechuza]

um sha tari is only after 70 and its ok to get exalted with. CE is a PAIN but u can do it b4 70. the only thing is neither of those r non epic mounts. the only non-epic flying mounts that i know of r the faction one and the engineering one

I actually am planning on skipping the non-epic anyway, and grabbing the Professor Plum right at 70.

Wife liked the look of the Hippogryph, but if I am correct, it's twice the price of other Epics. Not an issue, really, but worth noting.

 

[Vallados]

you can skip the flying mount u cant skip the 800g training for it however so u might as well get the slow UGLY wind rider

 

[Lechuza]

you can skip the flying mount u cant skip the 800g training for it however so u might as well get the slow UGLY wind rider

Again, the gold isn't an issue. (DE / Auctioneer FTW!) As I see it, then, the only thing is the grind up to level 70. The CE rep grind can be done at the same time (pre-70) so, cost aside, I should be able to get it at the same time as the faction one.

Which I don't want. At all.

So, by my research, I should be able to build my engineering mount (neither the normal NOR the turbo model require a Primal Nether, so I can build it pre-70) and farm the CE rep to get the Hippogryph.

Now, it should be noted that the Hippogryph is an Epic mount, and therefore requires the Epic flying skill, which is 5000g (no discount possible). The mount itself costs 2000g (1600g with the discount applied) which makes it the most expensive mount in the game. Remembering that the Netherdrake ALSO requires the Epic skill, and requires it as PART of the grind (you must have it to complete the quest chain) this just seems to me as a reasonable part of getting that one as well.

Blizzard has already said that we will need to improve our flying skill to fly in Northrend in TWoTLK expansion, so for many of us, the Epic skill is a must-have. I will also note that as a Primal Farmer / Daily Quester, the extra speed really does help, and has been shown to repay itself within weeks of paying the 5000g for it.

So, at the moment one hits 70, (cost not being an issue) 3 different Epics are available to a player: The faction flying mount (which I think is even uglier than the normal flying windrider), the Engineering , and the CE.

I know that cost IS an issue with most of us: this is mainly theory, and planning for those who have a level 70 farmer or who are adept at making gold on the way up to 70. I'm just excited that we've been given a choice before we hit 70.