Quick answer (TL;DR): The level-60 epic (100% speed) mount in WoW Classic Era costs 1,000 gold at neutral reputation, ~900 gold at Honored with your race's capital city (the standard 10% rep discount), and as low as 800 gold if you stack a second discount. Unlike The Burning Crusade, Classic Era has no separate "epic riding skill" to train — the riding skill you bought at level 40 already covers it, so the mount item is the whole 900g wall. With no daily-quest gold faucets and a deflated economy, farming that from scratch takes roughly 11–18 hours of focused gold-making (~50–80+ gold per hour on good farms). Your realistic options are: (1) grind it deliberately, (2) fund it with profession income, or (3) top up the gap by buying gold — where delivery method matters far more than the headline price (~$12–18 per 1,000g on Era realms). Here's the full breakdown, plus the two classes that skip the 900g entirely.
Hitting 60 in Classic Era is the start of the gold grind, not the end of it. The first thing almost every fresh 60 wants is the epic mount — going from the slow 60% pony to a full-speed ride changes how the whole game feels. But 900 gold is a genuinely large number in a permanent Vanilla economy where no dual spec, no daily quests, and no catch-up mechanics exist. This guide breaks down exactly what the mount costs, who gets it cheaper, how long the grind actually takes, and the honest farm-vs-buy math so you can decide the fastest safe path to your ride.
How much does the epic mount actually cost at 60?
The single most important thing to get right — and where half the guides online are wrong — is that Classic Era is Vanilla, not TBC. In The Burning Crusade the riding skill was split up and epic riding trained for 600g while the mount itself was only 100g. None of that applies here. On patch 1.15.x Classic Era realms, the riding skill you trained at level 40 is all you need; the 100%-speed mount is simply an expensive item you buy from your racial mount vendor.
| Milestone | What you're buying | Cost (no discount) | With rep discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 40 mount (60% speed) | Apprentice riding (~20g) + mount (~80g) | ~100 gold | ~80–90 gold |
| Level 60 epic mount (100% speed) | The epic mount item only (no skill to train) | 1,000 gold | ~900g (Honored) → 800g (both discounts) |
The discount stacks like this: Honored reputation with your race's home faction knocks 10% off the mount (1,000g → 900g). As one Blizzard forum thread notes, players get a "10% discount off of mounts when Honored is reached with the home faction." A second 10% discount stacks on top once you reach PvP Rank 3, bringing the epic mount down to 800 gold with both applied (a niche path most players never bother with). For the average player, 900 gold is the number to plan around.
For context on why 100 gold at level 40 already feels brutal, Blizzard Watch put it bluntly back at Classic's launch: "That's a total of 100 gold, which itself is a huge chunk of money for anyone in the WoW Classic economy — where no daily World Quests exist to help you out." Multiply that feeling by nine and you understand the epic-mount wall.
Do Paladins and Warlocks get a cheaper epic mount?
Yes — and if you're one of these two classes, this is the biggest money-saver in the game. Paladins and Warlocks do not buy their epic mounts from a vendor. They earn them through a level-60 class questline instead:
- Paladin — the Charger (Alliance) / equivalent Horde questline: a level-60 quest chain that awards the epic class mount at a steep discount versus the 900g open-market price.
- Warlock — the Dreadsteed of Xoroth: a longer level-60 questline (including a Dire Maul instance run) that rewards the epic warlock mount, again far cheaper than 900g once you account for the reagents.
Both classes also get their level-40 mount for free as a class ability rather than buying the 60% pony. If you're leveling a Paladin or Warlock specifically to save gold, that's a legitimate strategy — you sidestep most of the mount wall. Every other class pays the ~900 gold, full stop.
How long does it take to farm 900 gold?
This is the part that surprises returning players: Classic Era gold is scarce by design. There are no world-quest payouts, no mission tables, and the population on permanent Era realms is small, so very little new gold enters the economy. Raw gold-per-hour on good level-60 farms lands in a realistic band:
| Farm quality | Gold per hour | Hours to reach ~900g |
|---|---|---|
| Casual / average farm | ~50 gold/hr | ~18 hours |
| Strong farm or good market timing | 80+ gold/hr | ~11 hours |
So the epic mount realistically costs you 11 to 18 hours of dedicated gold-making on top of the ~150+ hours it already took to hit 60. That's why so many fresh 60s spend their first weeks at cap still riding the 60% mount — the 900g gap is real, and it's the number-one reason players look at buying gold. (For the full menu of where level 60s actually make money, see our best gold farms in WoW Classic Era guide.)
What are the fastest ways to reach 900 gold?
If you're farming it, not all gold is equal. The fastest routes to the mount, ranked by realistic return:
- Gathering professions (Mining + Herbalism). The most reliable raw-gold engine at 60. Ore, herbs, and especially high-demand reagents sell constantly on the Auction House. Herbalism in particular feeds the consumables economy (flasks, elixirs), so it prints steadily. See our breakdown of the best gold-making professions in Classic Era.
- Crafting flips (Alchemy / Enchanting). If your realm has an active raid scene, transmutes and enchanting mats turn a modest buy price into a reliable margin — but this needs starting capital.
- Farm routes with vendor + AH value. The classic level-60 grinds (elemental water, mageweave, dense stone, specific dungeon trash) that stack raw gold plus sellable drops. These are your steady ~50g/hr backbone.
- Auction House flipping. Zero combat, highest skill ceiling. Buy underpriced mats, relist, repeat. On a thin Era realm this is slower than on busy realms, but it's the least time-intensive per gold once you learn the market.
The honest truth: if you have limited hours, specialize. Pick one gathering profession, run one efficient route, and list on the AH consistently. Scattershot farming is why people take a month to afford the mount.
Should you farm the epic mount or buy the gold?
Here's the math players actually care about. Farming 900g costs you 11–18 hours. Buying it costs money — and on permanent Classic Era realms, gold is expensive relative to newer servers because the economy is old and deflated: roughly $12–18 per 1,000 gold in 2026, versus ~$1.80–$3.50 per 1,000g on the busy Anniversary/TBC-line realms. (Full pricing in our how much does Classic Era gold cost breakdown, and the wider trade-offs in gold: farm vs buy.)
So the decision is a straight time-vs-money trade:
- Farm it if your gold/hour is high, you enjoy the grind, or you're a Paladin/Warlock who barely needs 900g anyway.
- Buy the gap if 15+ hours of farming is worth more to you than the cash — the common move is to farm what you can and top up the rest.
One critical caveat, because it's a money brand telling you the truth: buying gold violates Blizzard's EULA on every Classic realm (there is no WoW Token on Classic), and the stated penalty is "removal of the gold and a permanent suspension for your account," with first offenses commonly landing a ~14-day suspension. If you do buy, how the gold is delivered matters far more than the price — sensibly sized, hand-delivered trades from a trusted seller carry a fraction of the risk of the cheapest botted listing. We cover the safe-delivery playbook in is buying WoW Classic Era gold safe.
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FAQ
How much is the epic mount in WoW Classic Era? The level-60 epic (100% speed) mount costs 1,000 gold at neutral reputation and ~900 gold at Honored with your race's home city (the standard 10% discount). A second 10% PvP-rank discount can drop it to 800 gold. There is no separate epic riding skill to train in Classic Era — that's a TBC feature — so the mount item is the entire cost.
Do I need to train an epic riding skill at 60? No. In Classic Era (Vanilla, patch 1.15.x) the riding skill is not split into apprentice/journeyman/expert/artisan tiers like later expansions. The riding skill you bought at level 40 already lets you ride the 100% mount — you only buy the epic mount item itself.
Which classes get a cheaper epic mount? Paladins (the Charger) and Warlocks (the Dreadsteed of Xoroth) earn their epic mounts through a level-60 class questline instead of paying ~900 gold at a vendor, and both get their level-40 mount free as a class ability. Every other class pays the full ~900g.
How long does it take to farm 900 gold at 60? On realistic level-60 farms making ~50 gold per hour, roughly 18 hours; on stronger farms or with good Auction House timing (80+ gold/hour), closer to 11 hours. Classic Era has no daily-quest gold faucets, so the grind is slower than on retail or newer progression realms.
Is it cheaper to buy Classic Era gold than to farm the mount? It depends on what your time is worth. Era gold runs about $12–18 per 1,000 gold in 2026 — pricier than newer realms because the permanent economy is deflated and low-supply. Many players farm what they can and buy the remaining gap. Buying gold does violate Blizzard's EULA on Classic, so if you buy, prioritize a trusted seller and safe, hand-delivered trades over the cheapest listing.
