Stormwind Steed

Stormwind Steed is an epic ground mount of the Alliance faction, added to World of Warcraft in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion (patch 3.1.0). It is a stately horse with a blue caparison and the heraldry of Stormwind, bred specifically for the knights who represent the human capital at the Argent Tournament. Item description: "Though this breed was raised in Stormwind, it has shown an unusual adaptability to the cold climate of Icecrown."

The mount is purchased from Corporal Arthur Flew — the Stormwind quartermaster on the Argent Tournament grounds — for 100 Champion's Seals. To buy it you must play a human or earn the Champion of Stormwind achievement.

• Unique horse model — the Stormwind Steed differs from ordinary Alliance horses with its blue heraldic caparison and a larger silhouette. Among mount collectors it is prized as one of the members of the full Argent Tournament steed set
• Part of a large collection — five Alliance faction mounts, five Horde mounts, as well as shared mounts such as the Argent Hippogryph and the Argent Charger, are sold at the Argent Tournament. While you save up seals, it makes sense to collect them all
• Account-wide — once purchased, the mount appears in the collection of all your Alliance characters
• No element of chance — unlike mounts with a percentage drop rate, the Stormwind Steed is guaranteed to be purchased for a fixed amount of currency. It is only a matter of time
• Progress toward a meta-achievement — purchasing all of the Argent Tournament faction mounts counts toward the achievements tied to the "Crusader" title, which unlocks additional daily quests and speeds up seal earnings

If your character is a human, access to the Stormwind quartermaster opens automatically as soon as you reach Champion rank for at least one city. Characters of other Alliance races will need to complete the quest chain specifically for Stormwind.

The Argent Tournament is located in the northeastern part of the Icecrown zone in Northrend.

1. Open the portal room in Stormwind and use the "Dalaran, Crystalsong" portal — it will take you to Dalaran (Northrend)
2. From Dalaran, fly north — the Argent Tournament grounds are in Icecrown, to the northeast of Sindragosa's Fall. The flight takes about a minute
3. Land on the tournament grounds — you will see the faction tents, training areas, and the Argent Coliseum

The path to the mount consists of two stages: first you complete the Argent Tournament quest chain up to Champion of Stormwind rank, and then you save up 100 Champion's Seals for the purchase.

Stage 1: Reaching Champion of Stormwind rank

Progression at the Argent Tournament goes through three ranks: Aspirant, Valiant, and Champion.

Aspirant rank (3 days)

1. Speak with Justicar Mariel Trueheart in the building west of the Argent Coliseum and take the "The Argent Tournament" quest
2. Complete three training tasks: "Up to the Challenge," "A Valiant's Charge," and "The Grand Melee" — they teach you to use a tournament lance while mounted
3. Complete the Aspirant daily quests, collecting 5 Aspirant's Marks per day. Advancing to the next rank requires 15 marks — this takes 3 days

Valiant rank (5 days)

1. Choose the city you will fight for — for this mount you need Stormwind
2. Complete the Valiant daily quests, which grant 5 Valiant's Marks per day
3. Advancing to Champion rank requires 25 marks — this takes 5 days
4. After collecting 25 marks, take the "The Valiant's Challenge" quest and defeat the NPC champion in the lists

Champion rank

After your victory you earn the Champion of Stormwind achievement and access to the quartermaster, Corporal Arthur Flew. The minimum time from the start to Champion rank is 8 days.

Stage 2: Collecting 100 Champion's Seals

After reaching Champion rank, daily quests that grant Champion's Seals open up. On average you can earn 7–10 seals per day, depending on the number of unlocked cities and quests.

Main sources of seals:

• Champion daily quests (4 quests, 1 seal each)
• The "Among the Champions" daily quest (1 seal)
• The quest to kill Chillmaw (2 seals) — it may require help, though at level 90 in Midnight it is killed without much trouble
• The Heroic dungeon "Trial of the Champion" (extra seals from the chest)
• Crusader quests (available after earning the "Crusader" title — Champion of all five Alliance cities)

Earning 7–10 seals per day, collecting 100 of them will take about 10–14 days of daily quests.

Stage 3: Buying the mount

1. Find Corporal Arthur Flew in the Stormwind tent on the Argent Tournament grounds
2. Talk to him and select the Stormwind Steed in the list of goods
3. Pay 100 Champion's Seals — the mount will appear in your inventory
4. Use the item, and the mount will be added to your collection

Each of the five Alliance cities has its own quartermaster with a unique faction mount. All mounts cost 100 Champion's Seals each, and to buy one you must be a Champion of the corresponding city (or belong to that city's race).

Besides the faction mounts, shared mounts are also sold at the tournament: the Argent Charger (100 seals, from Dame Evniki Kapsalis) and the flying Argent Hippogryph (150 seals).

Become a Crusader

The "Crusader" title is awarded for reaching Champion rank with all five cities of your faction. After that, additional daily quests open up, increasing your daily seal earnings to 12–14. Leveling all five cities will take about 25 days from the start (5 days as a Valiant for each city), but it pays off in the long run if you are collecting several mounts.

Multiple characters

Champion's Seals are a personal currency, and the mount binds on pickup but is added to the shared collection. Therefore it makes sense to farm on a single character — duplicating the progression on alts for one mount is impractical. However, if you want to collect all the tournament mounts, you can level a second character in parallel.

How long it will take

If you are already a Crusader and earning 12–14 seals per day, collecting 100 seals shrinks to 7–8 days.