The good news just keeps on coming as
Patch 2.4 is shaping up to be one incredibly sweet patch. Following the news of what might just be the coolest non-combat pet -- aside from the
Pet Bombling, imho -- the
Phoenix Hatchling, it appears that
Kael'thas drops even more amazing stuff like the new Swift White
Chocobo Hawkstrider. The model for the Swift White Hawkstrider has been in the files for quite some time now, and former speculation was that it was the PvP reward mount similar to
Red Skeletal Warhorses or
Black War Kodos. However, according to
MMO Champion -- which has been on a massive roll uncovering the sweet loot hidden in Patch 2.4 -- the mount drops off Kael'thas in Heroic
Magister's Terrace.
The new patch is shaping up to be very casual-friendly, as the vanity items such as the phoenix pet and this bragging-rights mount both drop from the 5-man instance (albeit in different modes), something that all players can reasonably aspire towards. Mount aficionados can now add this to their wish list along with (if they don't already have it) Zul'Aman's
Amani War Bear or the
Druid epic quest boss bonus drop
Reins of the Raven Lord. The bad news is that these Hawkstriders can't support the heft of Tauren or Draenei, so players dreaming of
cows on chickens will have to keep on dreaming.
Tags: 2.4, Hawkstrider, heroic, heroic-instance, kael'thas, kael'thas-sunstrider, magister's-terrace, Mounts, patch-2.4, swift-hawkstrider
Filed under: Odds and ends, Blizzard, News items, Mounts
Feb 14th 2008 at 1:30PM 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Island Feb 14th 2008 1:41PM
Horde only mount? Seems kinda of silly; its a neutral instance. Their should be drops for both sides.
Horde get the spectral tiger mount, and Brewfest Ram. Alliance gets... ZG tiger?
dart Feb 14th 2008 1:52PM
ZG Raptor and Fiery Warhorse.
seankreynolds Feb 14th 2008 2:35PM
Alliance get Wintersaber mounts, Horde can't. So the only faction-restricted mount is an Alliance-only mount.
Brewfest Ram is available to either faction. Yes, it's a ram, so it's "stealing" from the Alliance mount types.
Spectral Tiger is a factionless loot card, available to either faction.
Cap Feb 14th 2008 2:04PM
Spectral Tiger is for both Alliance and Horde, and comes from the WoW TCG:
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=33225#comments
Island Feb 14th 2008 2:15PM
I understand that the Alliance get the Spectral Tiger, as well as the Brewfest Ram. The point I was trying to make was simply that the Horde has access to "Alliance" only mounts. While Alliance has access to "Horde" mounts such as the ZG Raptor (Not tiger), and the Baron's mount. (Almost impossible to get)
But its doesnt matter anyways because it looks like it will be available for both factions.
Wark!
Beriana Feb 14th 2008 2:51PM
My BE Paladin has the ZG tiger, so its not limited to alliance only.
Todd Feb 14th 2008 4:12PM
Getting the ZG mounts is almost moot at this point, as most guilds don't bother with the old school instances with Outland looming in the distance.
Arras Feb 14th 2008 1:41PM
I'm guessing this is a horde only mount? The item description doesn't list alliance :( All the other boss-dropped mounts aren't faction specific, why should this one be?
Daniel Whitcomb Feb 14th 2008 1:43PM
I wonder if there's a bug with it being Horde-only, since pretty much every other droppable mount goes to both sides. I hope it's meant for both sides, I absolutely love the Hawkstrider mount and would totally farm me some Kael'thas for a chance at one.
nativebrown Feb 14th 2008 1:45PM
another mount tauren can't ride.
/cry
Tim Feb 14th 2008 1:49PM
Lose weight!
JohnC Feb 14th 2008 1:50PM
well ofc the 'hefty' draenei's cant ride it if its an alliance only mount?
Swarfy Feb 14th 2008 1:57PM
It's been reported that it is indeed a bug for it to be horde only. Fear not alliance, I'm sure they'll fix it before 2.4 goes live. (I want one for my fat cow druid!)
I just wish it would have looked like an actual chocobo. You know, Yellow beak... Makes me sad that i don't get an authentic looking bird.. :(
BillDoor Feb 14th 2008 1:58PM
I'll be very annoyed if it's not adjusted to let Tauren ride it. Although I think I'd still prefer a ZA Bear mount.
LostOne Feb 14th 2008 2:00PM
If Horde get a new mount, what is dropping for Alliance?
Rich Feb 14th 2008 2:04PM
A reason to reroll Horde?
j/k
mattarin Feb 14th 2008 3:52PM
screw alliance they don't need it. just make a horde toon and get it :P
Baluki Feb 14th 2008 2:25PM
Honestly, the next time someone says "chocobo", I'm going to...do something crazy.
Final Fantasy didn't create the whole rideable bird concept. Remember that regular Striders in WoW look like Ostriches or Emus, which have obviously been around a long time. And if you remember the original name for the hawkstrider, "cockatrice", you realize that they're also based on a mythical creature. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockatrice
So please, no more FF references.
Algorithm Feb 14th 2008 2:59PM
Well, Alice in Wonderland has her eating mushrooms to get bigger, but if I said:
"You can eat the mushrooms to get bigger"
What would you think of?
Come now! Warcraft is popular with gamers! What do you think they're going to call it?
Also gnomes have the original chocobo or whatever. It's still the best mount in the game in my opinion, even if it does have the most ridiculously obnoxious noise ALL the time.
darian Feb 14th 2008 3:02PM
You mean like this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8pJo1w1VYo