Grand Black War Mammoth
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Look it up on WowheadHow to get it
Rare drop from each of the four bosses of the Vault of Archavon, the raid inside Wintergrasp Fortress: Archavon the Stone Watcher, Emalon the Storm Watcher, Koralon the Flame Watcher and Toravon the Ice Watcher, in the 10-player and the 25-player raid alike. The raid only lets in the side that holds Wintergrasp.
Chance 6.8% once a week, so about 15 tries on average — Worked out for one clear of all four bosses from the Wowhead loot counts that record 287 read on 2026-10-10; not read again. Wowhead counts the Alliance reins (item 43959) and the Horde reins (item 44083) against the same recorded loots of each boss, both raid sizes pooled, and a looter only ever gets their own side's reins, so the two are added: Archavon 736 + 576 in 69,331 (1.89%), Emalon 686 + 467 in 67,747 (1.70%), Koralon 666 + 504 in 65,790 (1.78%), Toravon 438 + 427 in 54,178 (1.60%); 4,500 in 257,046 kills, 1.75% a boss. One clear: 1 - 0.9811 x 0.9830 x 0.9822 x 0.9840 = 6.8%. This assumes both sides drop it equally often. The Alliance item alone shows 0.81-1.06% a boss, which understates it; wow.gg says about 1% a boss without a source, the tooltip gives no figure
Inside Vault of Archavon, a raid (10 or 25 player)
Time there about 8 min a visit
Before you go
- The Alliance holding Wintergrasp at the time of the visit: the raid can only be entered while the character's own side controls the zone. Control is settled by the Battle for Wintergrasp, fought in the zone itself; the side that wins keeps the fortress until the next battle
Getting there
/way Wintergrasp 50.1 11.2 - Take the portal from Wizard's Sanctum to Crystalsong Forest*
- Fly the rest of the way
/way is for the TomTom addon. Travel times are estimates: flying at 55 yards a second in a straight
line and 30 seconds for a portal. A star marks a portal that needs a quest or other unlock done first.
Notes and sources
Getting in is the weak point, not the drop. The wiki and wow.gg both say the raid opens only to the side that controls Wintergrasp, and Wowhead's comments show it still enforced: for years players of the losing side got in through a gap in the fortress wall, and a 2026 comment says that was closed on 17 June 2026. The wiki adds that the bosses turn to stone from 10 minutes before a battle until it ends.
wow.gg (updated 2026) says the battle 'formally takes place every few hours' but is almost never fought, and suggests another time of day or a character of the other side. A 2019 comment says a character logged out inside the fortress can enter whoever holds the zone, and one of 2018 that the raid can be entered while a battle is running if the side held the zone before it; neither was confirmed for 2026.
A character of the other side fits the mount being shared: Wowhead comments of 2017 and 2024 say either side's reins teach the mount for both, so a Horde character's drop (item 44083, the Horde's Grand Black War Mammoth) should give this one as well. The wiki does not say so.
About 15 clears are expected at 6.8%. By size, both sides' reins together: 10-player 1,524 in 90,528 (1.68%), 25-player 2,976 in 166,518 (1.79%), so the size makes little difference to the chance. Whether the two sizes lock separately was not read for this raid; one clear a week is what is counted here. Several comments report two reins in one clear.
The time on the spot is wow.gg's 5 to 10 minutes for a full clear. The entrance is from the game's own table; wow.gg gives 49.0, 13.9.
Wowhead also lists reins in the loot of Doomwalker, and comments of 2024 and 2025 report the mammoth from Doomwalker and from Archavon as world bosses of the WoW Anniversary event in Tanaris; whether the 2026 event has them was not looked up.
A three-person mount; the item binds when picked up and learning it gives the feat of strength Grand Black War Mammoth (wiki). The wiki notes it has also been listed on the Black Market since patch 8.2.5, a mention only. The Black War Mammoth is a different mount, sold by the Wintergrasp quartermaster.
These are the Alliance's reins (item 43959: boss drop, Vault of Archavon, by Wowhead's tooltip). Everything else here was read for the Horde's mammoth and not looked up again.
Confidence in this entry: medium. Looked up in 2026.
Sources