Sapphire Panther

Sapphire Panther is one of the five jeweled panther mounts that arrived in World of Warcraft with the release of the Mists of Pandaria expansion (patch 5.0.4). It is an elegant cat carved entirely from blue sapphire that soars through the sky and serves as a showpiece in any collection. The mount is crafted by jewelcrafters, but the item itself is not bound to the owner, so you can buy it on the auction house even without the profession.

Together with the Jade Panther, Ruby Panther, Sunstone Panther and the sapphire panther itself, you can obtain the legendary Jeweled Onyx Panther — a combination of the four colored panthers into a single mount.

• Unique model — a fully rendered figure of a panther made of a precious gem, one of the most recognizable models of the Pandaria era
• Flies and runs — the mount works both as a ground and a flying mount, and its speed depends on your riding skill
• Tradeable on the auction house — the item that teaches the mount is sold between players and only binds on use, so you can obtain it without the jewelcrafting profession
• A step toward the Onyx Panther — the sapphire panther is part of the set of four colored cats needed to create the Jeweled Onyx Panther, one of the most prestigious flying mounts of Pandaria
• Account-wide — once learned, the mount appears in the collection on all characters

To craft a single sapphire panther, a jewelcrafter will need the following reagents:

Material	Quantity	Note
River's Heart	20	A rare blue gem of Pandaria, obtained by cutting or by prospecting ghost iron and trillium ore
Living Steel	4	Created by alchemists from trillium bars and the Philosopher's Stone with a daily transmute cooldown
Serpent's Eye	2	Made by jewelcrafters from 10 Serpent's Eye shards
Orb of Mystery	1	Sold by Big Keech in the Golden Pagoda of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms for 20,000 gold

At current prices on many realms, the set of materials costs 30,000–50,000 gold, with the bulk of the cost coming from the Orb of Mystery and Living Steel.

1. Head to the Jade Forest. At max level, use the portal to Pandaria in your faction's capital or the travel service from Stormwind/Orgrimmar
2. Find the Arboretum — the Order of the Cloud Serpent settlement in the central part of the zone. Quartermaster coordinates:

3. Raise your reputation with the Order of the Cloud Serpent to Revered. The faction opens up after the introductory quest chain with Elder Anli, after which daily quests and the gathering of onyx eggs on the Windward Isle become available
4. Buy the Design: Sapphire Panther from the quartermaster San Redscale for 200 gold
5. Learn the recipe — for this, the character must have leveled the Pandaria jewelcrafting branch to at least level 75
6. Gather the materials — 20 River's Hearts, 4 Living Steel, 2 Serpent's Eyes, 1 Orb of Mystery
7. Craft the mount at any jewelcrafter's workbench and use the item to learn it

Reputation is gained mainly in the Jade Forest and can be fully maxed out in 2–3 weeks of regular play.

• Starting chain — quests from Elder Anli in the Arboretum let you choose a cloud serpent and unlock daily quests
• Daily quests — issued at three locations (the Arboretum, Windward Isle, Sky Tower) and grant up to 3,000 reputation per day in total
• Onyx eggs — collected on the Windward Isle; each egg grants 500 reputation and has no daily limit
• Cloud serpent races — an additional source of reputation and experience, with contests available daily
• Bonus events — on weekends with reputation bonuses for old factions, the gain is doubled, which speeds up reaching Revered and Exalted

The Sapphire Panther item is not bound to the creator and is sold on the auction house. The price varies across realms from 40,000 to 100,000 gold depending on jewelcrafter activity and the price tag on the Orb of Mystery. If you only need the mount model and do not plan to level the Pandaria jewelcrafting branch to level 75, buying the finished item is often more time-efficient than crafting it yourself.

• Raise reputation in bulk. At Revered, the designs for the Ruby Panther and a number of jewelcrafting recipes open up alongside the sapphire panther. It makes sense to collect all the recipes in one go
• The Orb of Mystery is the main expense. If you plan to collect all four colored panthers for the Onyx one, you will need 4 Orbs of Mystery at 20,000 gold each. Budget for it in advance
• Living Steel has a daily cooldown. An alchemist transmutes one living steel per day, so when crafting a whole series of panthers yourself, it is more convenient to buy the material on the auction house
• Use ore prospecting. If you combine mining with jewelcrafting, you can gather River's Hearts yourself by prospecting ghost iron and trillium ore
• Compare prices on the auction house. Sometimes the finished mount costs less than the total cost of the materials — check both options before crafting
• Don't forget about the Jeweled Onyx Panther. Creating it requires all four colored panthers and Exalted reputation with the Order of the Cloud Serpent. This is the final goal of a collector of Pandaria mounts