WotLK achievements and mounts worth chasing, from easy first points to Invincible
Achievements arrived with Wrath of the Lich King, and in patch 3.3.5a they give every character a long list of goals beyond reaching level 80. Some are free points you will earn just by playing, some are meta achievements that reward rare mounts like the Red Proto-Drake, and a few lead to the most famous mounts of the expansion, such as Mimiron’s Head and Invincible.
How the WotLK achievement system works
The achievement system was added in patch 3.0.2, the update that went live just before the expansion launched. Press Y to open the achievement window. Achievements are sorted into categories: General, Quests, Exploration, Player vs. Player, Dungeons & Raids, Professions, Reputation, World Events and Feats of Strength.
Each achievement is worth a number of points, and your total is shown at the top of the window. Points do nothing on their own; they show how much of the game you have seen. Feats of Strength are the exception: they are worth no points and usually mark things that can no longer be done, or that very few players manage.
A few things worth knowing about achievements in 3.3.5a:
- They belong to the character, not the account. Every character starts from zero.
- Many achievements give rewards. Titles, tabards, companion pets and mounts are all handed out by achievements, either directly or by mail.
- Meta achievements bundle other achievements. A meta achievement is complete once you have finished every achievement on its list, and metas are where most of the mount rewards sit.
- You can compare. Inspect another player and choose to compare achievements to see what they have done that you have not. Shift-clicking an achievement links it in chat.
Easy WotLK achievements to start with
These come quickly, and most you will earn without trying.
| Achievement | How to get it |
|---|---|
| Level 10 to Level 80 | Reach each level milestone. One achievement per ten levels. |
| Giddy Up! | Learn the first riding skill. |
| Fast and Furious | Learn the second, faster ground riding skill. |
| Into the Wild Blue Yonder | Learn to fly. |
| Represent | Equip a tabard. |
| Shave and a Haircut | Visit a barber shop. |
| Going Down? | Fall a long way without dying. A tall ledge and a lot of health do the job. |
| Somebody Likes Me | Reach exalted with any one faction. |
| Explore a zone | Uncover every area of a zone’s map. Each zone has its own achievement. |
| Northrend dungeons | Defeat the last boss of each Northrend dungeon on normal difficulty. |
A few of these grow into longer goals:
- Exploration builds toward one achievement per continent and then World Explorer, which gives the title “the Explorer”. It is a good thing to work on while leveling, since you will cross most zones anyway.
- Northrend dungeon completions build toward Northrend Dungeonmaster for normal mode and Northrend Dungeon Hero for heroic mode. If you are not sure which dungeon suits your level, see WotLK dungeons by level.
- Higher Learning asks you to find and read a series of books scattered around Dalaran. It rewards the Kirin Tor Familiar companion pet.
Meta achievements that award mounts
These are the long projects. Each one is a list of harder achievements, and finishing the whole list rewards a mount that is otherwise hard or impossible to get.
| Meta achievement | What it asks for | Mount reward |
|---|---|---|
| Glory of the Hero | Special challenges in heroic Northrend dungeons | Red Proto-Drake |
| Glory of the Raider (10 player) | Challenges in Naxxramas, The Obsidian Sanctum and The Eye of Eternity, 10 player | Plagued Proto-Drake |
| Glory of the Raider (25 player) | The same raids, 25 player | Black Proto-Drake |
| Glory of the Ulduar Raider (10 player) | Hard modes and challenges in Ulduar, 10 player | Rusted Proto-Drake |
| Glory of the Ulduar Raider (25 player) | Hard modes and challenges in Ulduar, 25 player | Ironbound Proto-Drake |
| Glory of the Icecrown Raider (10 player) | Challenges in Icecrown Citadel, 10 player | Bloodbathed Frostbrood Vanquisher |
| Glory of the Icecrown Raider (25 player) | Challenges in Icecrown Citadel, 25 player | Icebound Frostbrood Vanquisher |
| What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been | The meta achievement for each of the year’s holidays | Violet Proto-Drake |
| Leading the Cavalry | Collect 50 mounts | Albino Drake |
Glory of the Hero
Glory of the Hero is the meta most players can realistically finish, because it only needs a five-player group. Each heroic Northrend dungeon has one or more challenge achievements: killing a boss within a time limit, killing it in a particular way, or meeting a special condition during the fight. Most are simple once you know the trick. The Red Proto-Drake is the reward, and it is one of the most common ways to get a proto-drake in Wrath.
Glory of the Raider, Ulduar Raider and Icecrown Raider
The raid metas are harder because they need a full raid that agrees to play for achievements rather than speed. Glory of the Raider covers the first tier of Wrath raiding, with challenges such as defeating Sartharion while his three twilight drakes are still alive. The Ulduar meta leans on the raid’s hard modes, which is part of why Ulduar is still loved; see the Ulduar raid guide for how those work. The Icecrown meta asks for a challenge on each boss of the final raid, covered in the Icecrown Citadel raid guide.
The 10 player and 25 player versions are separate achievements with separate mounts, so a dedicated raider can earn both.
What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been
This meta asks you to finish the main achievement for each holiday on the calendar, from Brewfest and Hallow’s End to the Feast of Winter Veil. Because each holiday only runs at its time of year, it takes a full year of patience rather than skill. The Violet Proto-Drake is the reward.
Well-known WotLK mounts and how to earn them
Outside of achievements, Wrath has a wide spread of mounts from reputation, raids, dungeons, professions and the open world.
Reputation mounts
Reputation mounts are the most reliable way to add to your collection: there is no luck involved, only time. The WotLK reputation guide covers how to raise each faction.
- Sons of Hodir: the Ice Mammoth and Grand Ice Mammoth are sold by their quartermaster in The Storm Peaks once you reach exalted.
- Wyrmrest Accord: the Red Drake is sold to players who are exalted with the dragons.
- The Oracles: at revered, their vendor sells the Mysterious Egg. It hatches after a few days, usually into a companion pet, with a small chance of the Green Proto-Drake.
- The Argent Tournament: a large set of horses, hawkstriders, elekks and other mounts are sold for Champion’s Seals earned through the tournament’s daily quests. See the Argent Tournament guide.
The mammoths
Mammoths are the signature ground mount of Northrend. Besides the Sons of Hodir mammoths, the best known is the Traveler’s Tundra Mammoth, sold in Dalaran. It carries the rider and two passengers, and when the seats are empty two vendors ride along with you: one sells general goods and the other repairs your gear. It is one of the most useful mounts in the game, and one of the most expensive.
The Grand Black War Mammoth drops from the bosses of the Vault of Archavon, the small raid under Wintergrasp that opens to the faction holding the zone. The Wintergrasp guide explains how control of the zone works.
Raid drop mounts
These are the rare ones that players remember.
- Mimiron’s Head: dropped by Yogg-Saron in 25 player Ulduar when the raid defeats him with none of the Keepers helping. It is the hardest version of the fight.
- Invincible: Arthas’s own undead horse, dropped by the Lich King on 25 player heroic Icecrown Citadel. It is the closing reward of the expansion’s final raid and one of the most wanted mounts in the game.
- Black Drake and Twilight Drake: dropped by Sartharion in The Obsidian Sanctum when he is defeated with all three of his drakes alive, the Black Drake in 10 player and the Twilight Drake in 25 player.
- Drakes from Malygos: Malygos in The Eye of Eternity can drop drake mounts in both raid sizes.
- Onyxian Drake: the level 80 version of Onyxia’s Lair, added late in Wrath, can drop the Onyxian Drake in both raid sizes.
Dungeon and world mounts
- Blue Proto-Drake: dropped by Skadi the Ruthless in heroic Utgarde Pinnacle.
- Bronze Drake: a reward for beating the timer in heroic The Culling of Stratholme.
- Time-Lost Proto-Drake: a rare flying monster in The Storm Peaks that appears without warning and has to be found and killed.
- White Polar Bear: can come out of the reward bags from the daily quests at Brunnhildar Village in The Storm Peaks.
Profession mounts
Engineers can build the Mekgineer’s Chopper (Alliance) or Mechano-Hog (Horde), a motorbike with a sidecar for a passenger. Tailors can make flying carpets.
Start your collection on Lasthavens
Lasthavens is a free Wrath of the Lich King 3.3.5a realm that runs in your browser, with no 17 GB client to download and no launcher. It is a PvP realm with twice the normal experience from kills, quests and exploring, so the Level achievements come quickly and you reach Northrend’s dungeons and reputations sooner. At the character select screen, the AddOn Library lets you switch on curated addons such as AtlasLoot and Deadly Boss Mods. It plays on Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook, iPhone, iPad and Android, and the first visit downloads about 50 MB to reach the login screen, where you make an account with Create Account. Play Lasthavens and press Y to see how many points you can collect.