Mawsworn Soulhunter

Mawsworn Soulhunter is an epic ground mount added to World of Warcraft in the Shadowlands expansion (patch 9.0.2, November 2020). It is one of only two mounts you are allowed to ride inside the Maw, which makes it one of the most useful finds for players who regularly visit this max-level zone. Visually, the mount is a black shadehound clad in the grim harness of the Mawsworn, with smoldering souls hovering above its back.

The mount can only drop from the Gorged Shadehound, an open-world boss that appears in the Beastwarrens exclusively during an active Hunt: Shadehounds.

• Rides in the Maw — one of only two mounts that bypass the restriction on mount usage inside the Maw.
• Maximum speed — +60% or +100% movement speed depending on your riding skill, on par with top-tier ground mounts
• Themed model — a unique shadehound model with a smoldering effect that matches no other mount in the game
• Unlocks account-wide — once obtained, the mount becomes available on every character on your account, regardless of faction or class
• Saves time in Torghast and Stygia farming — being able to ride through the Maw greatly speeds up gathering Stygia, completing daily quests and hunting rare enemies

Obtaining the mount consists of three major stages: building reputation with Ve'nari, unlocking the Beastwarrens, and a lucky drop from the Gorged Shadehound during an active hunt.

1. Gain access to the Maw by completing the Shadowlands intro campaign and reaching Oribos
2. Build reputation with the Ve'nari faction up to Indifferent (14,000 reputation points)
3. Take the quest Rule 6: Concealment is Everything from Ve'nari and complete it by collecting 15 runes in the Beastwarrens
4. Wait for the active rotation of the Hunt: Shadehounds. There are four hunts in the Beastwarrens, and each lasts ~3.5 days — you reach the shadehounds once every two weeks
5. Head into the Beastwarrens at coordinates 53, 79 (Prodigum camp), kill six groups of soul-devouring Mawsworn and Voracious Shadehounds, interrupting the feeding rituals
6. Finish off the Gorged Shadehound that appears and take the loot
7. With a small chance (empirically 1–3%), the loot will contain the Mawsworn Soulhunter. If you are unlucky, try again in two weeks during the next hunt rotation

Ve'nari is a broker merchant hiding from the Jailer in the Maw. Her reputation is mandatory for obtaining the mount: without Indifferent standing you physically cannot enter the Beastwarrens.

How to Quickly Build Reputation

• Ve'nari's daily quests — the most reliable source. Pick them up from Ve'nari in her hideout every day
• Weekly quests — grant 700–1,400 reputation points per week depending on the quest location
• Maw rare enemies — 60 reputation points per unique rare each day
• Maw knowledge items — drop from rares and events, turned in to Ve'nari for 100 points each
• Torghast — clearing Torghast layers also yields reputation points

The approximate time to reach Indifferent with active daily farming is 3–5 weeks. If you have already earned reputation on another character, some of Ve'nari's bonuses unlock by your highest account rank, but the reputation level itself must be grinded anew for access to the Beastwarrens.

The fight is split into two stages, and an unprepared player can lose their shot at the mount if they fail to finish off the boss within the allotted time.

Stage 1 — Feeding Rituals

Groups are scattered across the location: one Mawsworn soul devourer and two Voracious Shadehounds are devouring a Suffering Soul. Your task is to break up six such groups. After killing the sixth group, the mob itself appears in the center of the zone.

Stage 2 — Gorged Shadehound

1. Start the fight and deal substantial damage to the boss. After losing roughly half its health, it retreats into the Echoing Caves
2. Follow the boss into the cave. By the cliff edge, interact with the Descent Chain to safely lower yourself to the level below
3. Finish off the boss below. Note that there is no way to leave the lower level without a teleport scroll or hearthstone
4. After the boss dies, loot the body. The loot is guaranteed to contain Stygia, Ve'nari reputation and experience, and with a small chance — the mount

Loot Lock and Characters

The Gorged Shadehound can be looted once per week per character. With a weekly hunt rotation, this means each character gives you on average one attempt at the mount every two weeks. To speed up the process:

1. Build reputation on as many characters as possible
2. Each active hunt week, run the mob on all of your prepared characters
3. Group up with other players — the boss is fully cross-faction and available to a raid group

Lowering Your Eye of the Jailer Level

In the Maw, your character accumulates an Eye of the Jailer level: the higher the level, the stronger the debuffs and the fewer rewards you receive. Before the hunt, make sure your Eye level is no higher than 3:

• Buy threat-reduction items from Ve'nari
• Don't make pointless kills on your way to the Beastwarrens
• If your Eye level reaches 5, leave to Oribos and wait for it to reset