Update 7/15: The cast time for both ground and flying mounts is now 1.5 seconds.

--

Update 6/15: We've altered the original text to reflect that the decreased casting time for summoning mounts applies only to ground mounts. Flying mounts still require a 3 second cast time.

--

Update 6/11: For a list of changes to class abilities that result in movement speed increases, as well as a list of the factions offering flight skill discounts, see below.

--

In the next major content patch, we intend to adjust mount requirements to further improve the leveling experience in World of Warcraft. In addition, cast times for summoning all mounts will be reduced to 1.5 seconds, down from 3 seconds. The following is a breakdown of the upcoming cost and level requirement changes we are making for each riding skill.

• Apprentice Riding (Skill 75)
  
  
  • 60% land mount speed
    
  • Requires level 20
    
  • Cost: 4 gold
    
  • Mount cost: 1 gold
    
  • Mail will be sent to players at level 20 guiding them to the riding trainer

• Journeyman Riding (Skill 150)
  
  
  • 100% land mount speed
    
  • Requires level 40
    
  • Cost: 50 gold
    
  • Mount cost: 10 gold
    
  • Mail will be sent to players at level 40 guiding them back to the riding trainer

• Expert Riding (Skill 225)
  
  
  • 150% flying mount speed; 60% land mount speed
    
  • Requires level 60
    
  • Cost: 600 gold (faction discounts now apply: Honor Hold [Alliance]; Thrallmar [Horde])
    
  • Mount Cost: 50 gold
    
  • Can now be learned in Honor Hold (Alliance) or Thrallmar (Horde)

• Artisan Riding (Skill 300)
  
  
  • 280% flying mount speed; 100% land mount speed
    
  • Requires level 70
    
  • Cost: 5,000 gold (faction discounts now apply: Honor Hold or Valiance Expedition [Alliance]; Thrallmar or Warsong Offensive [Horde])
    
  • Mount Cost: 100 gold
  
  
  
• Movement Speed Training By Class
  
  
  • Druid
    
    
    • Travel Form: Requires level 16
      
    • Flight Form: Requires level 60 (150% flight speed)
      
    • Swift Flight Form: Requires level 70
    
    
  • Hunter
    
    
    • Aspect of the Cheetah: Requires level 16
    
    
  • Shaman
    
    
    • Ghost Wolf: Requires level 16
    
    
  • Paladin
    
    
    • Warhorse: Requires level 20
      
    • Charger: Requires level 40
    
    
  • Warlock
    
    
    • Felsteed: Requires level 20
      
    • Dreadsteed: Requires level 40

---

Q u o t e:
Does this mean that going from Journeyman to Expert actually reduces your land mount speed / removes your ability to ride an epic mount until you get Artisan?

---

No, if you have expert riding it means that your flying mount will travel 150% flight speed and 60% speed on the ground. Your land mount will still travel at 100% speed.

---

Q u o t e:
Why didnt you do this a month ago when i was actually leveling a person 1-58...

---

I rather wanted to make you squirm. :p

---

Q u o t e:
this has got to be a blue trolling i just cant believe this.

if they actually do this they have offcially caved completely to casuals.

---

---

Q u o t e:
Yay.

Also, in before game is too easy and I want a refund.

---

Missed it by one post, sorry. Better luck next time!

---

Q u o t e:
One question.. Does Cold weather Flying still apply to Northrend.. and is it still 1000 gold?

---

Cold Weather Flying remains unchanged.

---

Q u o t e:
Please stop changing the game to make it easier. It undermines what other players have already accomplished and cheapens content for players who have not yet experienced it.

---

The game has gotten quite a bit longer, and allowing players to get from A to B faster only very minimally decreases difficulty; more so, it decreases time spent traveling. We don't want to discourage players from trying out the game if they have not yet, and we especially don't want to discourage existing players from trying out new characters because the leveling process from 1-80 seems too daunting after flying around Northrend grabbing purples for a while.

Whether you leveled your first character from 1-60 within a month of the game's release when the leveling curve was less forgiving, and mounts seemed like a distant dream, or you leveled a character from 1-80 in the last month with mounts a little sooner, and experience gains a little accelerated from 1-70, no one's game play experience and fun -- the reason most people would play video games in their spare time in the first place -- is at all cheapened.

---

Q u o t e:
Blizzard I hope you refund people that have multiple 80' alts with epic flying skills their money back because I spent about 42K gold alone between 6 lvl 80's with all epic flying skill so a refund would be nice for the people who worked to get their mount money now that you have nerfed it yet again for the causal players!

---

We have no plans of offering in-game gold refunds on item costs to compensate for this content change, as has always been our policy.

---

Q u o t e:

Unanswered Questions for Blizzard

• How will the faction rep discount affect Artisan riding; Honor Hold rep? Kirin Tor rep? My understanding was that the riding trainers had no faction alignment.
• How will the changes impact:
  • Paladin Mounts
  • Warlock Mounts
  • Druid Travel and Flight Form
  • Shaman Ghost Wolf
  • Hunter Aspect of the Cheetah

---

I've just updated my original post to include the changes to class movement abilities:

---

Q u o t e:

Movement Speed Training By Class

• Druid
  
  
  • Travel Form: Requires level 16
    
  • Flight Form: Requires level 60 (150% flight speed)
    
  • Swift Flight Form: Requires level 70
  
  
• Hunter
  
  
  • Aspect of the Cheetah: Requires level 16
  
  
• Shaman
  
  
  • Ghost Wolf: Requires level 16
  
  
• Paladin
  
  
  • Warhorse: Requires level 20
    
  • Charger: Requires level 40
  
  
• Warlock
  
  
  • Felsteed: Requires level 20
    
  • Dreadsteed: Requires level 40

---

Players can receive discounts on expert and artisan flight skills with Honor Hold or Valiance Expedition faction for the Alliance, and Thrallmar or Warsong Offensive faction for the Horde.

We've altered the original text to reflect that the decreased casting time for summoning mounts applies only to ground mounts. Flying mounts still require a 3 second cast time.