Gray Kodo

Gray Kodo is one of the three basic racial mounts of the tauren, available for purchase from a permanent vendor in Mulgore. It's a massive gray lizard-like reptile with a heavy gait, which the tauren have used for centuries as a pack and war animal. The mount model was refreshed in the Legion expansion: it received a more detailed hide, updated harness gear, and a smooth run animation.

The mount remains relevant in the current expansion — it's still sold by the same NPC as many years ago, and the kodo collection itself is considered one of the most accessible "racial" starter sets for Horde players. For tauren, the purchase requires no conditions other than a learned riding skill. Players of other Horde races will need exalted status with the Thunder Bluff faction.

• Classic Horde racial model — kodos are the signature of the tauren, on par with wolves for orcs and raptors for trolls. The Gray Kodo is the most neutral in color of the three basic kodos and pairs well with most transmog sets
• Cheap purchase — the base price is just 1 gold, and at exalted with Thunder Bluff an additional discount applies, bringing the cost down to a few dozen silver
• Three mounts of one line from a single vendor — alongside the Gray Kodo, the same NPC sells the Brown Kodo and the White Kodo, letting you fill three collection slots in a single visit
• Contribution to mount achievements — every new mount in the collection counts toward achievement counters
• Account-wide access — after purchase by a single character, the mount appears in the shared collection and becomes available to all your characters of the corresponding faction

To buy the Gray Kodo, a character must meet several conditions. Some apply to all players, others only to those who don't play tauren.

General requirements

• Character level: minimum 10. In the current system this coincides with the moment when the first riding training becomes available
• Riding skill: Apprentice Riding. Automatically becomes available at level 10; for the initial training it's enough to visit any Horde riding trainer — for example, in Orgrimmar or Thunder Bluff
• Faction: Horde only. The Alliance won't be able to buy the mount under any scenario

Requirements for non-tauren

If you play an orc, troll, undead, blood elf, goblin, Horde pandaren, or any allied race, in addition to the basic conditions you'll need exalted status with the Thunder Bluff faction. Without this reputation, the vendor won't show you the kodo mounts in the assortment.

The kodo mount vendor — Harb Clawhoof — stands in Bloodhoof Village in the central part of Mulgore, next to the large kodo pen on the western edge of the settlement. He's a large tauren NPC with several kodo models of various colors grazing in front of him — he's hard to miss even if you're entering the village for the first time.

At max level, the most convenient way to get here is through the portals from Orgrimmar.

1. Prepare your character. Make sure you have at least 1 gold on your account and that the character has reached level 10
2. Learn riding. Approach any Horde riding trainer (easiest in Orgrimmar) and learn Apprentice Riding. Without this skill the item cannot be used
3. For non-tauren — earn exalted. Bring your reputation with Thunder Bluff up to "Exalted." Detailed methods are in the next section
4. Open the trade dialog with Harb Clawhoof. In the goods list find the Gray Kodo and purchase it
5. Use the item. After purchase, right-click to activate it in your bag — the mount will be learned and automatically added to the mount collection journal (Shift+P)
6. Summon the mount with any hotkey or by dragging the icon from the journal onto your action bar

If you don't play tauren, you'll have to earn reputation with Thunder Bluff from scratch. The fastest way is a combination of a tabard and runs through old dungeons.

The fast way — tabard and dungeons

The most convenient way to earn reputation is to wear a themed tabard and clear dungeons of the required level.

1. Head to Thunder Bluff and buy the Thunder Bluff Tabard from Bravo Company Field Tester. The cost is a few gold
2. Put on the tabard and head into any random-mode dungeon at your level. All damage dealt to mobs and bosses will be converted into reputation with Thunder Bluff
3. The optimal options are classic dungeons, where there are many mobs and they die quickly
4. Continue until you reach "Exalted" status. This usually takes 10–20 runs depending on your level and the dungeon

Mulgore and Thunder Bluff quests

An alternative method is to clear the starting tauren quests in Mulgore and the Thunder Bluff story line. A full clear of these zones gives a significant reputation boost and combines well with dungeon runs. If you recently created an allied race character or leveled a new alt — quests will be the most natural way to gain your first reputation levels.

Turning in cloth

Another working method is turning in stacks of cloth to the Thunder Bluff emissaries in the capital. For stacks of wool, silk, mageweave, and runecloth you get 350–500 reputation each. In terms of speed it's no competitor to the tabard, but it's convenient if the cloth is already sitting in the bank with nowhere to go.