Unlike EVE Online, where I keep a close eye on finances, I tend to not think too much about currency in World of Warcraft.
Every so often I go on an auction house binge. I get Auctioneer installed and running, then go looking for stuff to sell. But that does not happen very often.
So I was a bit surprised to notice my gold count running past 3,000 pieces a couple of weeks back. It turns out that running all those daily quests for the Kalu’ak, as well as the Dalaran and Shattrath cooking and fishing daily quests, started adding up.
And then the Dalaran fishing daily paid off big with a gem that sold at the auction house for 800 gold. (I considered keeping it, but I have no socketed gear at all right now.)
That put me within striking distance of something I never thought I would have: The epic flying mount. It was time for another auction house binge.
Vikund, my main, is an engineer, which is not a particularly lucrative profession. (You can make a bunch of stuff other people have problems using. How like real life!) But he does have the mining skill to go along with it, so I started going out of my way to mine. Outland ore, fel iron and adamantite, were especially good to me. Nagrand has ended up being the best zone for me to mine in, being rather sparsely populated most of the time.
Last week I got close enough that I sent a couple hundred gold from another character and took the plunge.
That is the achievement you get for spending 5,000 gold on the artisan riding skill. Then just another 200 gold for the actual epic flying mount and I was… broke.
It has been a long time since I had only that much gold. In fact, I had to dig some soulbound stuff out of the bank to sell to a vendor to be able to finance ongoing auction house work. But it was worth it.
The epic flying mounts boost your ground speed by 100%, the same as the level 60 epic riding mounts, and in the air it acceleates you by 280%. Add in the extra 20% speed boost Vikund gets from his paladin Crusader Aura and you have a pretty fast ride indeed.
I suppose, being an engineer, I should have gone for the Turbo-Charged Flying Machine, but I was selling all my raws to pay for the artisan riding skill. So, instead, I went for the Swift Blue Gryphon.
High Speed Paladin
If the flying mount gave a feeling of freedom in the game, then the epic version multiplies it. The gryphon seems to be about as fast as the ones used to go between the various flight points in the game. I have not tried racing one from point to point, but I have followed a couple of people in flight and have been able to keep them in sight.
Now I have to carry on with my auction house binge though. Vikund is closing in on level 77 at which point he will be able to get the Cold Weather Flying skill which will allow him to fly around Northrend.
Fortunately, the boosted flying speed makes harvesting ore in the Outlands just that much quicker.
The Ancient Gaming Noob 
it’s been a couple of years since I played WoW, but do they still have the “carrot on a stick” item that gave you a 10% boost that you could get from a gadgetzan quest? think there was also a ring that did something similar….
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You are so screwed.
You will not be able to stand crawling around at the slow speeds on your alts now. Once I got an Epic mount on my main, it became very, very hard to play my alts. Unfortunately I have recently switched mains from elemental shaman to my shadow priest and every time I have to fly somewhere I sob uncontrollably.
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@Akura- Yes that carrot on the stick is still there. Also a Riding Crop is available to give you a speed boost.
This is my current quest to get an epic flyer.
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@Akura – The two items that Theerivs mentions are still there, but they only work for characters that are level 70 and below. Ouch.
@Dave – Don’t I know it. I was feeling very lethargic flying around on my alt’s bird last night. The agony.
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Jealous I am. I don’t have that much cash since I spent 1k on my Dual Spec recently for my Paladin. I do have an epic flyer on my Mage already, the dragon from Outlands, but still, I want to fly in Northrend as soon as I can. Est. Cost will be 7K, since I will need the normal flying skill, Epic flying skill, flyer and the Cold Weather.
But doing dailies at 80 helps a lot with cash flow. Especially if you are also doing left over quests. Some 3 and 5man quests can net you gear and 22g a pop, which is nice.
Again, gratz on the skillz.
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Also, just to mention, if your a Paladin, items that increase speed don’t help if you have the talent to increase your speed.
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Gratz! You know, I still don’t have that flying mount or the riding skill. I keep blowing my coin on damn enchants, gems, Cold Weather Flying, the dual spec and stuffs… okay stuffs = beer!
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Remember,
Beer = good!
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You will need another 1k to fly in Northrend once you hit 77….and you dont have money for flight points 0_0
Grats, I have two epic fliers and could afford to get them for the rest of my toons, but it would be a waste since none of my other ones have gathering skills.
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