Reins of Poseidus

Reins of Poseidus is an epic aquatic mount added to World of Warcraft in the Cataclysm expansion (patch 4.0.3). The reins summon the Subdued Seahorse, one of the two unique seahorses in the game. Unlike the regular Vashj'ir Seahorse, which is obtained through the story line, the Subdued Seahorse works in any body of water and remains a prestigious collectible trophy.

The mount is guaranteed to drop from the rare creature Poseidus — an elite level 35 seahorse that dwells in the flooded areas of Vashj'ir. The difficulty lies not in the drop chance (which is effectively 100%), but in encountering Poseidus himself: he has only five spawn points and a long respawn timer.

• Rarity and prestige — the Reins of Poseidus is still considered one of the most prestigious aquatic mounts, since its appearance depends on luck and patience. On the auction house it costs tens of thousands of gold, since the item is bind on use.
• Underwater versatility — unlike the Vashj'ir Seahorse, the Subdued Seahorse can be summoned in any aquatic location — from Tirisfal Glades to Nazjatar and the underwater zones of Khaz Algar.
• Unique model — a seahorse with large scales and a rich color scheme, noticeably different from the standard seahorse model from the Vashj'ir starting campaign.
• Collector achievements — the mount counts toward your total number of collected mounts and brings you closer to achievements such as Mountain o' Mounts and higher.
• Can be sold or bought — the item is bind on use, so it is freely traded on the auction house. If you are not prepared to hunt Poseidus for weeks, the mount can be purchased from lucky players

Vashj'ir is an underwater starting zone of Cataclysm. Reaching it is not difficult, even if you skipped the expansion's story line.

For the Alliance

1. Head to Stormwind City
2. Go to the harbor and find the NPC Chief Mechanic Mehagan at the western pier. He gives the introductory quest to Vashj'ir.
3. Or take the portal to the Vashj'ir grotto via the navigator at the dock.

For the Horde

1. Head to Orgrimmar
2. Find the NPC in the main harbor who hands out the introductory quest to Vashj'ir — usually this is Commander Thrag
3. The quest takes you onto a ship that is wrecked, and the player ends up in the starting area of Vashj'ir

If you completed the campaign long ago and do not want to give up flying, you can simply jump into the water off the southern coast of Darkshore (Alliance) or fly over the ocean to the west of Desolace (Horde). However, the introductory quest is useful at least because it grants the spell Sea Legs — it works only in Vashj'ir and allows you to breathe underwater indefinitely.

There are five spawn points for Poseidus in the game: four in the Shimmering Expanse and one in the Abyssal Depths. Poseidus is a gigantic dark seahorse, hard to confuse with ordinary mobs.

For convenient searching, use these commands:

The coordinates are reference points: Poseidus swims around a small area near each point, so he should be searched for within a radius of 50–100 meters.

The strategy depends on how much time you are willing to spend. There are two approaches: passive waiting at a single point and active patrolling across all five.

Passive waiting

1. Choose one point (usually the Ruins of Vashj'ir due to the absence of aggressive mobs)
2. Anchor your character there and log into the game every few hours
3. When Poseidus appears, attack immediately to tag the kill for yourself

Active patrolling

1. Start the route from the point nearest to you and fly around all five in sequence
2. Between the Shimmering Expanse and the Abyssal Depths, use aquatic transport or flight over the water if you have a flying license in Vashj'ir
3. Complete a full circuit in 10–15 minutes and repeat the cycle

Fighting Poseidus

Poseidus is level 35, and at the maximum level of 80 he is killed in one to two seconds by any class. There are no difficulties in the fight; the main thing is to land the first hit if other players are nearby.

• Use ranged attacks so you do not lose the target
• If another player has spotted you, competition is possible: Poseidus is tagged by whoever deals damage first
• Be prepared for the server to be crowded — on some realms Poseidus is watched by dozens of collectors

Since Poseidus is a rare mob, searching by hand takes time. Add-ons speed up detection:

• SilverDragon — a modern equivalent of the classic NPCScan, it alerts you when rare creatures are detected nearby
• HandyNotes + a plugin with Vashj'ir spawn points — shows all five of Poseidus's spawn points on the map
• TomTom — a handy navigator that accepts /way commands for quickly plotting a route

All add-ons work in the current The War Within version and are updated regularly.

Choosing a class

For patrolling the underwater zone, the most convenient classes are those with increased swim speed or flight over water:

• Druid with the Aquatic Form gains a substantial speed boost underwater
• Shaman with the talent that increases swim speed also moves faster
• Any class at the maximum level can use a flying mount over the water and only dive to check the points

Consumables for speed

• Potion of Water Breathing — if you have not completed the introductory quest and do not have Sea Legs
• A boot enchant with a swim speed bonus will speed up patrolling between points

How much time it will take

With a respawn timer of 4–6 hours, a single player on average spends from several days to several weeks of active waiting. On crowded realms competition is higher, so it makes sense either to hunt early in the morning by server time or to choose less populated spawn points (for example, the Abyssal Depths).

Alternative — buying on the auction house

Since the Reins of Poseidus is bind on use, the mount appears regularly on the auction house. The price fluctuates within the range of tens of thousands of gold depending on the realm. If you have accumulated funds, this is the fastest way to add the Subdued Seahorse to your collection.