Swift Purple Hawkstrider

Swift Purple Hawkstrider is an epic ground mount added to World of Warcraft in The Burning Crusade expansion (patch 2.0). It is one of three swift hawkstriders bred by the blood elves on the farms by the walls of Silvermoon City. Its plumage is dyed a deep violet-purple shade, while the wings and crest stand out with darker iridescence — the mount looks especially striking when paired with black and purple armor.

The mount is sold directly by Winaestra — a hawkstrider tamer at Turon's Stables, a small settlement just past the eastern exit of Silvermoon City, in the Eversong Woods. The price is 10 gold. Blood elves can buy it without restriction, while every other Horde race must first earn Exalted reputation with the Silvermoon City faction.

• Blood elf racial mount — hawkstriders are considered a symbol of Silvermoon City, and the purple variant is one of the most spectacular thanks to its deep violet hue. It's a must-have for a collection of Horde racial mounts
• +100% ground movement speed — this is a full-fledged epic ground mount running at the maximum speed of Expert Riding. In speed it is in no way inferior to the orc wolf, troll raptor, or paladin charger
• Low barrier to entry for blood elves — just 10 gold and basic Apprentice Riding. You can buy the mount at level 10, as soon as the first riding tier unlocks
• A plus to your overall collection — the mount counts toward meta-achievements for the number of mounts
• Account-bound — after the first purchase, the purple hawkstrider is automatically added to the collection of all characters on the account. You only need to buy it once on any eligible alt

In the current patch 11.1, riding skills unlock automatically upon reaching the required level — you no longer need to pay trainers to learn them. Apprentice Riding unlocks at level 10, and from that same moment you can buy and summon the hawkstrider.

Winaestra is a blood elf hawkstrider breeder. She stands near the bird pens at a small farm just past the eastern border of Silvermoon City, in the Eversong Woods zone. This is the classic spot for buying blood elf racial mounts going all the way back to The Burning Crusade, and Blizzard has never relocated this farm.

In addition to the swift ones, Winaestra also sells regular hawkstriders (red, blue, black, and purple) for 1 gold each. Her selection of swift hawkstriders consists of three colors.

If you are collecting all the Horde racial mounts, it makes sense to buy the whole trio in a single trip — the total cost will be 30 gold.

For a blood elf player, the procedure is as simple as possible and takes literally a few minutes.

1. Fly to Silvermoon City. The easiest way is to take the portal from the Orgrimmar portal room or use your Hearthstone bound to the blood elf capital
2. Leave the city through the eastern gate from the Court of the Sun side
3. Cross the small stone bridge and follow the road to the hawkstrider farm — this is Turon's Stables
4. Find Winaestra near the pens, navigating to coordinates 61.0, 54.6
5. Open the dialogue and switch to the trade tab
6. Buy the Swift Purple Hawkstrider for 10 gold
7. Right-click the item — the mount will be added to your collection forever
8. Summon the hawkstrider through the collection menu (the C key by default, the "Mounts" tab)

From logging into the game to adding the mount to your collection takes no more than three minutes.

If you play an orc, troll, tauren, Forsaken, goblin, Horde pandaren, or any other Horde race, Winaestra will by default refuse to trade with you. To access her selection, you must earn Exalted reputation with the Silvermoon City faction.

Quick ways to gain reputation with Silvermoon City

• Turning in cloth to Sorim Brightsong — the Horde quartermaster in Orgrimmar accepts cloth in batches of 20 for 75 reputation with Silvermoon City. This is the main way to quickly grind out the last levels from Honored to Exalted
• Quests in Ghostlands, Tirisfal Glades, and the Eastern Plaguelands — even at level 90, old quest chains award Silvermoon City reputation. Complete everything available before switching to turning in cloth
• Daily quests in the Scarlet Enclave in the Eastern Plaguelands also grant small portions of reputation with Horde cities, including Silvermoon City
• Reputation bonus windows — every few weeks the "Darkmoon Faire" festival and the lunar event kick in, increasing reputation gain by 50–100%. Farming during these windows is 1.5–2 times faster
• Reputation accessories — items add +10% to reputation gained. Equip them before you start farming

How long it will take

For a Horde player starting from scratch, the path to Exalted with Silvermoon City takes roughly 5–15 hours of real time depending on the chosen method. The fastest is a combination of old quests, turning in cloth, and bonus windows.

The fastest way to bypass the reputation requirement is to create a blood elf alt. The procedure takes literally 15–20 minutes:

1. Create a blood elf character of any class on the same account
2. Run through the starting zone to level 10 — 10–15 minutes, especially via Chromie's timewalking
3. Riding will unlock automatically, then fly to Turon's Stables
4. Buy the Swift Purple Hawkstrider for 10 gold (you can mail it from your main character in advance)
5. The mount automatically unlocks for all characters on the account, including your main

This method is many times faster than grinding Exalted with Silvermoon City from scratch. Using the same approach, you can close out the entire trio of swift hawkstriders at once.