Umber Nightsaber

Umber Nightsaber is a rare ground mount added to World of Warcraft in the Battle for Azeroth expansion with patch 8.1, "Tides of Vengeance." It is a massive dark-brown nightsaber from among the kaldorei war beasts that the night elves use both as a mount and as a striking force.

The mount is available to Horde players only. It drops from the rare NPC Athil Dewfire in Darkshore within the phasing of the "Battle for Darkshore" warfront. The Alliance has a mirror mount with an identical model — the Captured Umber Nightsaber, which drops from a different rare NPC. The Umber Nightsaber uses the same model as the Kaldorei Nightsaber, the Priestess' Moonsaber, and the Sandy Nightsaber, differing only in coloration — a deep dark-brown coat.

• Horde exclusive — this is one of the few nightsabers the Horde can obtain directly. Kaldorei cats are usually a night elf legacy, which makes it a satisfying trophy for orcish and goblin mount hunters.
• Unique coloration — the dark-brown coat stands out noticeably against the usual black-gray or white nightsabers, and this color appears nowhere else in the game.
• Rounds out the nightsaber series collection — together with the Captured Umber Nightsaber, Kaldorei Nightsaber, and Sandy Nightsaber mounts, it completes the saber family from the warfront.
• Account-wide — once obtained, the mount unlocks for all of your Horde characters.
• Easy target at level 80 — Athil Dewfire was a level 51 rare NPC, and at the current level 80 in The War Within she goes down in one or two hits with any specialization.

You can get the Umber Nightsaber in only one way — by killing the rare NPC Athil Dewfire during the phase when the Horde controls Darkshore. The mount has a drop chance of about 5%, and you can loot the boss once per warfront cycle.

1. On a Horde character, activate Battle for Azeroth Timewalking through the NPC Chromie in Stormwind or Orgrimmar (if you choose current content this is not required — level scaling works anyway).
2. Complete the introductory 8.1 story campaign — "Awakening of the Night Warriors" and "The Rite of the Night Warrior." Without this chain the Horde cannot open the warfront and reach the combat phasing of Darkshore.
3. Wait for the phase when the Horde controls Darkshore (check via the warfront icon in Zuldazar's Port of Zandalar, or through the warfront calendar).
4. Use the warfront table in the Port of Zandalar and teleport to Darkshore.
5. Fly to the Twilight Vale at coordinates /way 41.3 74.7 — this is west of the Grove of the Ancients.
6. Find and kill Athil Dewfire — she is an elven sentinel with two wolves.
7. With a 5% chance, the corpse drops the Umber Nightsaber.
8. If the mount does not drop — wait for the next warfront cycle, when the Horde takes control of Darkshore again.

The warfront itself and the Darkshore phasing with rare NPCs are locked behind the Battle for Azeroth story. If you have never entered the warfront before, you will have to complete several preparatory quests.

1. Raise your reputation with the The Honorbound faction to "Friendly" — this opens up naturally over the course of the BfA story.
2. Pick up and complete the "Night Elf Awakening" chain — this is a scenario in Darnassus/Darkshore where you help Tyrande restore the power of Elune.
3. Before the final story step, complete "Nightcry" — the last mission in Duskwood, after which the warfront opens.
4. Once the story is finished, you will receive the "Warfront: The Battle for Darkshore" quest. Take it to the warfront table in the Port of Zandalar.
5. After that, the warfront table shows the cycle calendar and lets you teleport into the combat phase of Darkshore, where the rare mount NPCs spawn.

If you have already done the warfront before, you already have access. Just open the warfront table in the Port of Zandalar and check which cycle phase is currently active.

The rare NPCs in Darkshore do not work like ordinary ones. They reset neither daily nor weekly — the reset is tied to the warfront cycle.

The warfront cycle consists of four stages that change roughly once a week:

A full cycle takes about 4 weeks: roughly 7 days of battle, about 7 days of Horde control, then battle again, and then Alliance control. For the Horde, the mount-hunting window opens once every 4 weeks and lasts about a week.

Within a single Horde control window, Athil Dewfire respawns every 5–10 minutes, but you will only receive loot from her once per cycle. Killing her again in the same phase is pointless — the chest and mount will not appear, only the standard reflecting prisms.

While you farm the Umber Nightsaber, it makes sense to make the rounds of all the other Horde rare NPCs in Darkshore. Many of them drop unique mounts and toys.

The Alliance has a mirror lineup of rare NPCs and mounts, including the Captured Umber Nightsaber. If you have characters on both factions, you can collect both versions.

Preparation before the cycle

• Make sure the BfA quest chain is finished, the warfront table in the Port of Zandalar is open and showing the calendar.
• Create a /way 41.3 74.7 macro in advance for a quick route.
• Keep a Dalaran hearthstone or a Zandalar heraldic stone on hand — they place your teleport close to the warfront table.

On a "Horde control" phase day

1. Head into the Port of Zandalar, open the warfront table, and teleport into the combat phasing of Darkshore.
2. Fly straight to the coordinates /way 41.3 74.7. Athil Dewfire stands in a small clearing with two wolf companions.
3. Kill her — at level 80 this takes a few seconds with any specialization.
4. Check your bag — if the mount dropped, congratulations. If not, you will have to wait for the next Horde cycle.
5. While you are at it, make the rounds of the other Horde rare NPCs in Darkshore: each one resets once per cycle and may give a mount or a toy.

Multi-farming on Horde alts

Since Athil Dewfire's loot lock is personal but tied to the cycle, it can be bypassed with other Horde characters.

1. Have several Horde characters with access to the Darkshore warfront unlocked.
2. Each Horde control cycle, kill the rare NPC on every one of them.
3. Each alt is an independent 5% chance at the mount, and in a single cycle you can make as many rolls as you have prepared characters.
4. The mount follows the account-wide collection rule — as soon as it drops on any Horde character, it appears for every character on the account, including Alliance.

The farm math

With a 5% chance, the probability of getting the mount over N attempts is calculated as 1 - 0.95^N:

• 10 attempts — 40% probability
• 20 attempts — 64%
• 30 attempts — 79%
• 50 attempts — 92%
• 100 attempts — 99.4%

With a single character and a 4-week cycle, the average player may spend a year to two. With five Horde alts, that shrinks to a few months.