Black War Raptor

Black War Raptor is a ground PvP mount of the Horde faction, added back in the Classic era of World of Warcraft and originally intended as the battle version of the troll raptor for players with a high PvP rank. It is a massive black raptor clad in red forged armor, with a bone helmet and heavy metal plates on its body. The model is recognizable at a glance: unlike the ordinary raptors of Durotar, the war version has a predatory silhouette, glowing eyes, and angular horns with rounded tips that are characteristic of the war subspecies.

The item itself is called Whistle of the Black War Raptor, and when used it adds the "Black War Raptor" mount to your collection. In lore it is a descendant of the same predatory raptors that led the Gurubashi Empire to victory and from which the famous battle pet of beastmaster Halazzi of Zul'Gurub is descended.

In the modern game the mount is sold for 15 Honor Tokens by Bork Greatestaxe, the mount quartermaster by the Hall of Legends in Orgrimmar. No PvP rank, title, or battleground reputation is required anymore: any Horde character who saves up 15 tokens in combat gains access to the purchase. On patch 11.1 The War Within the mount is fully current and remains one of the easiest ways to complete the collection of "Black War" racial mounts of the Horde.

• Completing the Horde "Black War" mount set — together with the Black War Kodo, the Black War Wolf and others, the raptor is part of the classic set of PvP mounts for the Horde races. All five are sold by the same vendor at the same price
• A unique model among raptors — unlike the ordinary troll riding raptors from Sen'jin, the war version is larger, heavier and wears a full set of armor with the red-and-gold trim of the Horde. By silhouette and coloring it is a fundamentally different model that cannot be obtained through quests or reputation
• The historical legacy of the "Lieutenant General" rank — originally the mount was given only to trolls with a PvP title from the old ranking ladder (rank 11 and above). In patch 2.0.1 the rank requirement was removed, in 3.0.8 the racial restrictions were lifted, and starting with Legion (patch 7.0.3) the mount was switched to the single Honor Token currency. Now any Horde race can buy and use the raptor, but in the collection it is still listed as a PvP reward
• A cheap way to advance mount-count achievements — 15 Honor Tokens are farmed in a few wins in random battlegrounds. The purchase advances progress in "Cavalier", "Leading the Cavalry" and other meta achievements for the number of mounts
• Account-wide access — after using the item the mount enters the shared journal and is unlocked for all Horde characters on the account, regardless of class and race

Since patch 7.0.3 (Legion) the old grind of separate battleground marks was removed from the game, and all PvP mounts of this kind were switched to the single Honor Token currency. Today, to buy it you only need to take part in any PvP activities — separate Alterac Valley, Warsong Gulch or Arathi Basin marks are no longer needed.

Bork Greatestaxe stands near the entrance to the Hall of Legends — the orcish equivalent of the Stormwind Hall of Champions. The hall is located in Orgrimmar by the passages from the Valley of Strength and is marked on the map with a PvP icon.

Route from the hearthstone

1. Teleport to Orgrimmar via the hearthstone, the portal from Valdrakken, or from the main The War Within hub
2. Move from the Valley of Strength toward the entrance to the Hall of Legends. The building is located in the northeastern part of the Valley of Strength and is guarded by Horde guards
3. Bork Greatestaxe stands on the street in front of the entrance to the Hall of Legends in an open square together with other PvP quartermasters
4. Coordinates for the navigator:

If your character is Alliance

The mount is bound to the Horde and cannot be bought on an Alliance character. The only way for an Alliance player to complete this mount is to create or transfer a character to the Horde side, buy the raptor there and use it through the shared journal of allied Horde characters. On an Alliance character the mount will not appear in the journal.

Honor Tokens are the single PvP currency introduced in patch 7.0 along with Legion and still relevant today. At level 80 in The War Within it can be earned in practically any PvP activity.

Main sources

• Regular battlegrounds — for a win you get a chest with rewards that is guaranteed to contain Honor Tokens. A loss also gives a smaller amount of tokens. The fastest and shortest battlegrounds are Warsong Gulch and Temple of Kotmogu
• Epic battlegrounds — Alterac Valley, Isle of Conquest and Warsong Gulch (epic) give more tokens per win but take longer. They are optimal if you are farming several mounts from the PvP vendor at once
• Unrated 2v2 and 3v3 arenas — the skirmish mode gives several Honor Tokens for each win and does not require a pre-made team
• Rated arenas and battlegrounds — give an increased amount of Honor Tokens plus Conquest points if you are also progressing through the PvP season
• Weekly PvP quests in Orgrimmar — handed out by the local PvP quartermasters next to the Hall of Legends. The reward is small, but it is picked up on the way to Bork Greatestaxe himself

How long it takes

With active play 15 tokens are gathered in roughly 40–60 minutes:

• 3–5 wins in regular battlegrounds at 10–15 minutes each
• Or 1–2 wins in epic Alterac Valley
• Or 8–10 wins in unrated arenas

If the goal is to collect all five "Black War" mounts from Bork Greatestaxe at once, budget for 75 tokens and 3–5 hours of focused PvP farming.

1. Walk right up to Bork Greatestaxe by the Hall of Legends
2. Right-click to open the trade window
3. Make sure you have at least 15 Honor Tokens in your bag
4. In the list of goods find the Whistle of the Black War Raptor and confirm the purchase
5. Right-click the item to open it — the mount spell will be added to the collection automatically, and the raptor will become available to all Horde characters on the account
6. If you do not yet have the "Apprentice Riding" skill, you can learn it from any riding trainer in the Horde capitals

What else is worth buying from the same vendor

Bork Greatestaxe sells the full set of Horde "Black War" racial mounts. The price and conditions are the same — 15 Honor Tokens, no reputation or rank requirements:

It is optimal to spend one visit to the vendor on the whole set — this completes five entries in the mount collection and advances all the related achievements at once.