The Hivemind — How to Get the Secret 5-Player Mount

The Hivemind is a secret mount from the Battle for Azeroth expansion, added in patch 8.1.0. It is a massive flying brain with tentacles resembling a jellyfish and the first 5-player mount in the history of World of Warcraft. Obtaining the mount requires completing a chain of puzzles, some of which are done solo while the final stages must be completed strictly as a group of five.

The mount's speed increases by 10% for each passenger who joins your Hivemind. With a full group of five, you gain an additional 40% speed boost.

• Unique mechanic — the only mount in the game that seats five players simultaneously
• Collector's value — a secret mount that not all players know exists
• Speed bonus — +10% per passenger, up to +40% with a full group
• Prestige — obtaining it requires solving complex puzzles and group coordination
• Convenience — you can transport friends without waiting for each one to travel on their own

The mount is bound to a specific group of five players: only the four people with whom you last completed the final ritual can ride along. To bind the mount to a new group, simply complete the ritual again.

The process is divided into several stages:

1. Purchase the Talisman of True Treasure Tracking from the vendor Griftah
2. Obtain four colored monocles (solo puzzles)
3. Group stage in Suramar — the Withered, a cat toy, and manasaber cubs
4. Group puzzles — phase platforms and the crossing logic puzzle
5. Final ritual — all five players stand on points and receive the mount

The solo stages (monocles) can be completed in advance and in any order. The group portion takes about 15–20 minutes if you already know the solutions.

Head to Shattrath, to the Lower City district. Find the vendor Griftah and buy the Talisman of True Treasure Tracking from him.

Equip the talisman — four items on the table behind Griftah will begin to glow. Each one opens the path to one of the four colored monocles.

Each monocle is obtained through a separate puzzle. The order does not matter — solve them in any sequence.

Blue Crystal Monocle (Anagrams)

Reward: Blue Crystal Monocle

The puzzle consists of finding seven letters in various locations across Azeroth. Each letter contains an anagram pointing to the next location. The letters are found in the following locations:

At the top of the Nexus you will find a box called "Gift from Miss Graham" containing the monocle.

Green Crystal Monocle (Control Panel)

Reward: Green Crystal Monocle

Location: Skyreach dungeon in the Spires of Arak, Draenor.

Clear the dungeon and defeat the final boss — High Sage Viryx. After the kill, find the scroll "Basic Instructions," which will reveal a control panel with buttons.

Enter the sequence: Right, Up, Down, Up, Right, Right, Up, Left, Down, Up, Left, Down (abbreviated: RUDURRULDULE).

After entering correctly, a chest with the monocle will appear.

Yellow Crystal Monocle (Constellations)

Reward: Yellow Crystal Monocle

Location: Halls of Origination dungeon in Uldum.

After entering the dungeon, take the elevator up and turn right. Find the Stellar Refraction Device — a matrix of crystals and constellation symbols in four colors.

Three types of crystals change colors differently:

• Corner Refractor — changes symbols in a cross pattern (+)
• Jagged Refractor — changes symbols diagonally (X)
• Round Refractor — changes adjacent symbols

The goal is to bring all symbols to the same color. It is recommended to install the Hivemind HoO Puzzle Helper addon, which greatly simplifies the solution. After solving successfully, a chest with the monocle will appear.

Red Crystal Monocle (Shell Trading)

Reward: Red Crystal Monocle

Location: Vashj'ir (Cataclysm underwater zone).

The longest puzzle of the four. You must complete a series of trades with underwater NPCs, starting with purchasing shells from Sir Finley Mrrgglton.

General order of actions:

1. Buy shells from Sir Finley Mrrgglton
2. Trade them with five underwater merchants for various materials
3. Collect items in strict order — symbiotic plankton, scales, lotions, cavitation bubbles, snail secretions
4. Each trading stage has a timer from 5 to 60 minutes
5. Final purchase — the monocle for 2,380 gold from Sir Finley

This stage takes the longest due to timers between trades. Plan around 2–3 hours for full completion.

Each monocle has an inscription with letters. If you remove these letters from a doubled alphabet, the remaining words spell "Dire Withered" — a hint pointing to four NPCs in Suramar.

From this point on, all actions are performed as a group of five. Four participants equip monocles of the corresponding colors; the fifth is free.

Four Withered NPCs are located in different parts of Suramar:

Each player wearing the matching colored monocle attacks "their" Withered. When the enemy's health drops to 1 HP, it becomes invulnerable and starts regenerating. At this moment it uses the "Energy Drain" ability, disabling one of the four beams in a specific house in Suramar for 6 seconds.

The group must synchronously bring all four Withered to 1 HP so that all four beams are disabled simultaneously.

The fifth player (without a monocle) waits near the house with beams in upper Suramar.

When all four beams are disabled simultaneously, the fifth player gains access to the room for 6 seconds. Inside is a lost cat toy behind the cushions. Interacting with it deals a fixed amount of damage to your character and teleports you outside.

Write down the exact damage number — this is a five-digit code for the next stage. If the number has fewer than five digits, add leading zeros (e.g., 123 becomes 00123).

The fifth player heads to the Court of Stars dungeon in Suramar. Inside, find Lady Chatton and five manasaber cubs.

Pet the kittens strictly in the following order:

For example, if the damage code is 12068, pet Madam Fluffington 1 time, Shadowfur 2 times, Meowser 0 times (skip), Cinder 6 times, Bella 8 times.

When entered correctly, a Sinister Orb will appear — a portal to the next stage.

The entire group of five finds themselves at the edge of an abyss with floating platforms. Each platform, when stepped on, activates 0 to 3 adjacent platforms. A platform disappears if no one is standing on it and nothing is activating it.

The goal is to guide all five players to the other side by coordinating movements. The solution requires approximately 90 coordinated steps. It is recommended to find a ready-made walkthrough diagram in advance and designate one "dispatcher" to command the movements.

A mistake at any stage resets the puzzle to the beginning.

The final puzzle is a classic crossing problem, similar to the wolf, goat, and cabbage riddle.

Five players are randomly assigned roles:

• 1 ferryman
• 2 adults
• 2 children

Allowed combinations on the platform:

• Ferryman + 1 adult
• Ferryman + 1 child
• Ferryman + 2 children

To determine roles:

1. Find out which two players always travel together — one of them is the ferryman
2. Determine who the ferryman is (they are present on every trip)
3. Test combinations of three players — find the two children
4. Complete the crossing using the standard algorithm

After all the puzzles, the group arrives in a room with The Hivemind. On the floor are five purple points. All five players simultaneously stand on the points and begin channeling a spell.

After the channeling completes, each group member receives The Hivemind in their inventory.

• Collect monocles in advance — all four solo puzzles do not require a group. Gather them before you assemble your five-player team
• Assign monocles beforehand — each participant is responsible for their color. Not all four monocles need to be on one player — you can hand out one per person
• Install the Hivemind HoO Puzzle Helper addon — it greatly simplifies the constellation puzzle in the Halls of Origination
• Use voice chat — synchronization during the Withered and phase platform stages is critical
• The Red monocle takes the longest — start with it if you want to optimize time
• The mount can be re-bound — if you want to fly with a different group of friends, simply complete the final ritual again with the new lineup
• Mistakes reset progress — on the platform and crossing stages, any mistake returns you to the start of that stage, not the entire chain
• Same-faction group — all five participants must belong to the same faction and be in the same War Mode setting