Great moments in PC gaming: Finally getting that rare mount you’ve been after in World of Warcraft
Great moments in PC gaming are bite-sized celebrations of some of our favorite gaming memories.
World of Warcraft
Developer: Blizzard
Year: 2004 – present
You know the drill. You’ve spotted another player riding a flashy mount in Orgrimmar or Stormwind and you just have to have it. Maybe it’s not a new mount you’re after but one that’s been around for a while and it just hasn’t dropped yet. And maybe you’ve been farming the same content, week after week, hoping you’ll get lucky.
In my case, it was the Lich King’s mount, Invincible—with somewhere around a 1% drop rate. It wasn’t just how he looked, though that was what drew me to the mount in the first place. His lore fascinated me too. The fact that he was at Arthas’s side in life, and later in death, shows a great bond, and I’d always loved the fact that you can visit Invincible’s grave in Tirisfal Glades. I just wasn’t prepared for how many times I’d need to run the raid to get him.
Now, as great as Icecrown Citadel is, it becomes less great when you’ve cleared the entire thing 400+ times. There are no skips like there are in more recent raids so you have to work your way through every boss to get to the Lich King and be in with a chance of him dropping Invincible’s Reins. Granted, the bosses themselves aren’t difficult, it’s the running from place to place that made clearing it such a chore—especially when you knew you were likely to walk away empty-handed.
So when Invincible’s Reins finally did drop, I really wasn’t prepared. I mean, I knew I was there for the mount, but I’d done it so many times I wasn’t thinking about it when it came time to loot the final boss. I must’ve stared at the item in my bags for a good minute in absolute disbelief before it sank in. Of course, once I got over the shock, I immediately linked it in guild chat before putting it firmly on my mount keybind.
Naturally I headed straight to Orgrimmar, which is where I’d first spotted Invincible several years before, and loitered around the Valley of Strength showing off my new acquisition. Maybe I was hoping to inspire some other new WoW player into taking on a few years of largely fruitless farming.
Was it worth it? Absolutely. Invincible is still my mount today, even though his main task of late has been doing endless laps around Oribos as I sit on Discord chatting to guildies. I can’t wait to show him the Dragon Isles and even though he may have to take a bit of a back seat for a time because of dragonriding, Invincible will always be my favourite.
