Talbuk Mounts for Horde Characters in World of Warcraft

Almost every World of Warcraft player with the Burning Crusade expansion wants a Talbuk mount. Talbuk are antelope-like creatures that World of Warcraft characters ride to get from place to place more quickly. They are similar in appearance to the popular Alterac Valley or Dwarf ram, but are available to Horde characters as well. Talbuk come in white, black, tan, or blue, and can be outfitted with battle armor or ridden without it, depending on your aesthetic preference.

There are many reasons Burning Crusade players are after a Talbuk mount. These mounts are epic items that increase a character's native run speed by 100%. Talbuk are also relatively cheap, priced from 70 to 100 gold depending on the armor style. Best of all, the Talbuk is unique to the Burning Crusade; this new mount model has never been seen before in World of Warcraft.

Obtaining a Talbuk Epic Mount

To make the Talbuk available for purchase, your character must be of Exalted reputation with one of two in-game factions. If you are obtaining the Talbuk on an Alliance character, you must become Exalted with the Kurenai faction. If your character is Horde, you must gain the trust of the Mag'har faction.

When working to get my Talbuk on my Horde Priest, I noticed a great number of Alliance-based guides circulating online. A reliable Horde guide, on the other hand, was difficult to find. I've taken it upon myself to help my fellow World of Warcraft players by writing a short guide on how to get a Talbuk mount on a Horde character -- with a minimum of grinding. To make the best use of this guide, you must already own the Burning Crusade expansion for World of Warcraft, have a level 60 or above Horde character, and be at least minimally familiar with the game.

Getting Started

You cannot begin your quest to become Exalted with the Mag'har until your character is around level 60. I also highly recommend that you purchase your race's default epic mount before venturing into the expansion zones. Outland (the Burning Crusade continent) is large, and difficult to navigate without an epic mount. Furthermore, the bulk of an epic mount's purchase price comes from buying the training to 150 riding skill, which you will have to buy anyway to ride your Talbuk. Consider the purchase an investment in your future vanity mount.

Hellfire Peninsula (Levels 60-62)

Once you have gone through the Dark Portal and have entered Hellfire Peninsula, travel to Thrallmar, the major Horde hub in this zone. Enter the large building near the Wyvern master, and speak to Nazgrel to pick up the quest called "The Assassin."

To finish the quest, you must find a corpse located at the end of the Northern path, past the Hellfire Citadel. Turn in "The Assassin" and continue with this quest line. Only one of these quests will net you Mag'har reputation; finishing the entire quest line, however, is vital as it unlocks new opportunities to gain reputation. Eventually, you will come to the final part of the chain, "Messenger to Thrall."

Once you travel back to Orgrimmar to complete this quest, a new quest line will unlock, which in turns unlocks a new series of quests at Mag'har Post in Hellfire Peninsula. Complete all the quests that have been unlocked at Mag'har Post. Each quest will net you 500 reputation with the Mag'har, and some nice equipment rewards for casters. When combined with the 700 reputation from the Assassin chain, that's almost enough reputation to get you from Neutral to Friendly before seeing a Talbuk for the first time.

Nagrand (Levels 65+)

The next quest that gives Mag'har reputation is in Nagrand. Don't rush off to Nagrand just yet, however. To quickly complete the Nagrand quests, your character should be level 64 or higher. To expedite Mag'har quest completion later, I recommend spending some time exploring and completing quests in Zangarmarsh and Terrokkar to become familiar with the zones.

Once you are level 65 or 66, head to Nagrand. The main horde hub in the zone is Garadar, and any single quest you pick up from this city will give you some Mag'har reputation. There are a lot of quests from Garadar, so this may take you several days. In particular, however, be sure to complete the following three quests and quest lines:

1) "The Blademaster" quest line, which starts with "The Impotent Leader" and ends with "Ruthless Cunning." You can pick up the starting quest from Jorin Dead-eye in Garadar. You can easily complete this quest line at levels 64 or 65. All of the quests can be completed solo.

2) "Altruis the Demon-Hunter" quest line, which begins with "He Calls Himself Altruis" and ends with "Forge Camp: Annhiliated." Pick the starting quest up from Matron Celestine in Garadar. The first two quests in this line may be completed solo. All other quests must be completed in a group of three or more players.

3) "The Totem of Kar'das" escort quest, which can be picked up from the Mag'har Captive in Sunspring Post, to the West of the zone. If you play on a PvE server, please note that the Mag'har Captive will attack any Alliance players who happen by. You may need to flag PvP to complete this quest, and should be level 65+.

After all three of these quest lines are completed, the "A Visit with the Greatmother" quest line will open. You can pick up the first quest in this line from Garrosh in Garadar. This questline is the ultimate pathway to earning reputation with the Mag'har.

There are fourteen quests in the line, each earning you anywhere from 20 to 2,000 reputation. Many of the quests can easily be completed solo. One quest, "Achnidoun..." must be completed in the Auchenai Crypts dungeon in Terrokkar with five players. Another, "What the Soul Sees" requires 15 elite kills, and is best done in a group of three.

After completing all of the quests obtainable from Nagrand, you should be partially into Revered reputation -- one reputation bar away from purchasing your Talbuk at Exalted!

Ogre Grind (When All Else Fails)

Unfortunately, a little grinding is required to make the final push into Exalted reputation. Grinding can be boring, but if you throw on a little music you'll find that the mobs go down in no time.

To obtain Exalted and your epic Talbuk mount, you will need to grind the rest of the reputation by killing Ogres in Nagrand. You will earn 10 reputation for each Ogre killed. You will also be collecting an item called "Obsidian Warbeads" that you can loot from downed Ogres. The Warbeads drop at about a 30% rate, and all Ogres drop Warbeads at roughly the same rate.

Turn your beads in to Warden Bullrok, near the Wanted poster in Garadar. He collects Warbeads in stacks of ten via a repeatable quest called "More Warbeads!" You will receive 500 Mag'har reputation for each stack of ten.

There are five places to kill Ogres in Nagrand: Warmaul Hill, Laughing Skull Ruins, Burning Blade Ruins, and the North and South Clefts near Halaa. You may also kill Ogres in the Bleeding Hollow Ruins in Terrokar Forest.

My personal favorite place for grinding reputation is the Laughing Skull ruins: the Ogres are relatively easy to kill (Shaman and Warrior-type mobs), and the ruins are closest to Nagrand. The mobs are levels 55-56. Unfortunately, on many servers this is also the most popular place to kill Ogres - so you may have to fight for kills. If you're having a tough time finding Ogres, try one of the other grinding spots instead.

My second favorite grinding place is the North and South Clefts near Halaa. The ogres are Warrior and Mage-type mobs, the Ogres respawn quickly in a network of underground caves, and there are relatively few people grinding for reputation at these locations.

My least favorite place is the Laughing Skull Ruins. These ogres are warrior and warlock-type mobs with imp minions. Worst of all, a number of elite "Mountain Gronns" wander these ruins, and will kill you in a few hits if you're not constantly on the look-out for them.

Hopefully this short guide will help you get to Exalted reputation with the Mag'har, with a minimum of grinding. I'm sure you'll find your new Talbuk epic mount from the World of Warcraft worth a few days of work.