You can afford your WoW Forever level 40 mount without farming gold if you stop paying for things the game hands out for free. Forever changes how you pay for it: Blizzard’s systems panel recap (September 13) says riding works the way it did in The Burning Crusade, so the riding trainer gives you a mount when you learn the skill and you don’t buy one on top. The level 40 mounts in Forever’s game data at launch (client build of November 4) cost 20 gold at the vendor, but trainer prices aren’t stored in the client, so plan for Classic’s total of about 100 gold until you see the trainer’s price. In WoW Classic the bill is 20 gold for training plus 80 gold for the mount, before discounts.

The six tips below work in both games. The bag quests in tip 4 are Classic quests, and Forever keeps Classic’s quests in the original zones; where Forever changes a tip, the tip says so.

Updated November 5, 2026: now covers WoW Forever, where riding training includes your first mount. Fixed: Classic’s reputation discount starts at Honored, not Exalted, and the quest database links are gone.

1. Don’t buy gear

It might be tempting to spend those 40 silver on a new weapon once you hit level 10 and get to the major city for the first time. But it’s a trap! You will most likely replace it with a quest reward in a couple of levels. Every little you save along the way helps getting the gold together for that level 40 mount.

2. Don’t learn abilities that you won’t use

Learning your class abilities is a big money sink. A mistake many people make, especially new players, is to learn everything they can, even if they don’t use the ability. Some examples for this is Track beasts and Track humanoids. Think to yourself what you actually need to keep killing enemies at your level, and only learn those skills. You can learn everything else once you get your mount. In WoW Forever, talents start at level 10 and you change them at a class trainer in a major city (Blizzard’s class articles); Blizzard hasn’t said what a respec costs, so pick a leveling build and keep it until 40.

3. Use the Auction House to sell things

One of the first things you should do when starting out in classic wow is to create a bank alt. You don’t have to walk him to the city right away, you just want someone you can mail you items to. You should try to sell any greens you are not using on the auction house. Even white items like cloth and meat can sell! Profit is profit, right? Many people will try to upgrade their gear for cheap, and if you can get 20 silver for a level 10 green item that would vendor for 3 silver, that’s a massive profit for you.

4. Do quests that reward bag

You might be tempted to spend your gold on large bags early on. While bag space is important, there is no need to spend the gold the buy expensive bags from vendors. There are quests in the game that reward you with bags, here is a list of them:

  • Westfall, 4 slot bag (Alliance)
  • Durotar, 4 slot bag (Horde)
  • Darkshore, 6 slot bag (Alliance)
  • Westfall, 8 slot bag (Both)
  • Wetlands, 10 slot bag (Alliance)
  • Duskwood, 10 slot bag (Alliance)
  • Wailing Caverns, 10 slot bag (Horde)
  • Multiple Zones, 14 slot bag (Both)
  • Uldaman, 14 slot bag (Both)

5. Get your discount

In WoW Classic, reaching Honored reputation with your home city faction gives you a 10% discount on the mount and on riding training. You should try to do quests that award reputation with it while leveling, so you can save 10 gold on your level 40 mount. Another thing that grants 10% discount is the PvP Rank 3, and these two bonuses do stack, so you can get the price down by 20% if you can get both of them. WoW Forever hasn’t confirmed either discount. Its Legacy perk Bartering takes 10% off vendor items, but Blizzard’s October 15 beta notes stopped it from discounting training, so it most likely won’t touch your riding bill.

6. Every little helps

There are a lot of little things you can do to keep your money together. Ask mages for food and drink when you see them. The tip will most likely be much cheaper than buying food from a vendor.
Sell white items on the Auction House. In world of warcraft, there is a use for everything of White quality and above. Meat is used by cooks, cloth by tailors, and so on. You could even ask a tailor to make bags out of the cloth you loot, or even get it yourself.
If you do all these things, you should have enough to afford your Mount at level 40. If you are close to level 40 and notice that you are quite far off that amount you need, you can always grind mobs for a level or two. Grinding mobs around level 35-37, especially humanoids, is very viable and can earn you anywhere from 5 to 10 gold per hour (our 2019 Classic estimate).

Still short on gold? Our low-level elemental farming guide shows where to farm elementals around level 38, in WoW Forever and Classic.

Level 40 Mount in WoW Forever: What Changes

WoW Forever moves the cost of your first mount into riding training. What that means for your savings, as of November 5, 2026:

  • Training includes the mount. Blizzard confirmed that you get a mount when you learn to ride, so don’t buy one from the vendor first. Owners of the Cerulean Prideclaw from the Skyborne packs still have to buy the riding skill to use it.
  • Level 40 and 20 gold mounts. Forever’s game data at launch puts the first mounts at level 40 and lists them at 20 gold, against 80 gold in Classic Era’s data. That’s the price of an extra mount from the vendor, not the cost of learning to ride.
  • Training price unknown. Trainer prices come from the server, not the client, and Blizzard hasn’t published them. Save 100 gold anyway: whatever the trainer doesn’t take goes toward your level 60 mount.
  • No confirmed discounts. Blizzard hasn’t said whether Honored reputation or PvP ranks still lower the price, and Bartering, the Legacy perk in our WoW Forever Legacy System guide, no longer covers training.
  • Paladins and Warlocks. In Classic their level 40 mounts come from class quests. Blizzard hasn’t said whether Forever’s class mounts also need paid riding training; our paladin mount quest guide covers the Forsaken Paladin’s own mount quest.

Our WoW Forever mount guide has every race’s riding trainer on a map and compares Forever’s riding costs with Classic’s. Most of your gold before level 40 comes from quest rewards, so follow a quest route like our WoW Forever leveling guide. For the rest, our WoW Forever gold guide names what to gather and sell on the way to 40.