How To Unlock Flying Mounts in Shadowlands

Flight isn’t just the fastest way to make your way around the ever-increasing gigantic map of World of Warcraft, it’s also the coolest. With the rarest mounts and loot reserved for the highest leveled and most skilled characters, it’s clear that the skies of this MMO are reserved for the gaming elite. That hasn’t been true of the newest expansion, Shadowlands, which had no access to flight. But that is something that will soon change and we will be sure to have WoW accounts for sale with these exclusive flying mounts.

A recently announced addition to the campaign Shadowlands comes with some exciting news. Previously players were unable to utilized flying mount at all while assisting the factions that fight for control in the afterlife. Now, with the upcoming addition of chapter 3 to the campaign in the 9.1 patch, you will be able to fly in the Shadowlands. It is also been confirmed that there will be new flying mounts, but the exact details of that have remained unconfirmed. Some of the new ground-based mounts have been identified though, so it’s likely only a matter of time.

Much like in previous WoW expansions, your ability to fly in specific areas is tied to your training and competency, or in layman's terms your flight skill. That remains true for the Shadowlands as well. To be able to fly you need to be rewarded with Memories of Sunless Skies. This prize is given to you for completing chapter three of the campaign. Operating like Cold Weather Flying and Wisdom of the Four Winds, if you meet the requirements then you will be able to fly in Bastion, Ardenweald, Revendreth, and Maldraxxus. Unlike formerly rewarded flight abilities, Memories of the Sunless Skies doesn’t have a level requirement. It does still have a skill requirement of 225 in flight to utilize though, but chances are if you have reached the point of unlocking Memories of Sunless Skies, that skill level will prove a small obstacle.

Assuming you have all the prerequisite necessities, a flying mount and the like, you still need to complete the first three chapters of the Shadowlands campaign. Now, this campaign is specifically distinct from the individual covenant campaign. You do, however, need to complete the first chapter of your covenant campaign to access the general campaign of the expansion. So if you stopped playing the story the moment you joined your team, you are going to have to make a little bit of progress if you want to fly.

The 9.1 patch still being a couple of weeks away has led some players to become incredibly frustrated, saying that waiting for access to flying is unnecessary. It is probably fair to make the comparison of having a game’s fast travel locked behind a level/skill wall. It seems like it could be incredibly frustrating to have access to fast travel and then lose it each time you buy a new expansion for the game. On the other hand, some players argue that while flight is efficient, it takes away a sense of danger and exploration for the gameplay. Some players might argue that if you don’t like a function then you don’t have to use it, but in a massively multiplayer game, competition does way heavily on your ability to enjoy the gameplay.

Time would be the fundamental crux of the argument in both directions. When it comes to a subscription-based MMO, the length of time you get to play is strongly linked to the value you get from the game. If it takes longer for you from point A to point B, and you only have so much time to play a day, then the amount of content you have access to in a month is much more limited.

If access to content early in an expansion’s release is placed behind a literal wall of time then this is a way of artificially extending the content and ensuring subscription. If this is what is occurring by making the flight inaccessible in the expansion until an update patch, then the frustration felt by players seems warranted. Especially when you consider that flight isn’t just some run-of-the-mill extra ability, players have poured a lot of time and in-game currency in getting their flight skill to the appropriate level and unlocking their mounts.

But, perhaps these patches and times are necessary. WoW is a huge game after all, and integrating a long-standing mechanic is far from seamless. You don’t have to look far to find a player in the game who has bugged or glitched themselves somewhere they weren’t supposed to be, sometimes getting trapped. And that is something that can happen on foot, let alone adding a flying mount to the mix. Add in the fact that nobody has utilized one of these maps with a mount yet and we will be the first to admit that it is a recipe for game-breaking glitches.

And, being honest, it isn’t like the WoW community is known for their patience. While it was refreshing to see so many people accepting or even encouraged by the earlier delay of Shadowlands, you didn’t have to look hard to find naysayers. A couple of weeks, even with a paid subscription, isn’t terribly long. And while we are the first to point out Blizzard has done little to earn the trust of players of recent years, Shadowlands development has shown some promise. Promise that some of the players have said wasn’t present for a long time.

Whether you have practiced patience or feel as though you’re being conned out of your subscription time, mounts will get here when they get here, that much is certain. We will be keeping our ear to the ground and keep you posted on any more upcoming flight news, including updates on who the newest additions to the flying mount roster will be. Needless to say, the skies of the afterlife are about to get a whole lot busier, and that might be an improvement to the view in a land without sunrises or sunsets.