It’s probably fair to say that the Time-Lost Proto Drake is one of the most notorious mounts in World of Warcraft. Plenty of players have wasted weeks, if not months, trying to farm this mount without ever being able to get their hands on it. The Time-Lost Proto Drake is hard to obtain even in retail WoW, let alone Wrath of the Lich King Classic.
Since farming the Time-Lost Proto Drake tends to take a lot of time, it’s better to get started sooner rather than later. Whether you’re new to the game or a veteran returning to World of Warcraft after many years of absence, this guide will teach you everything you need to know about acquiring the highly sought-after Time-Lost Proto Drake.
General Information
The Time-Lost Proto Drake is a level 80 Elite Rare mob found in The Storm Peaks in Northrend. The drake has about 19K health and two abilities – a teleport spell called Time Shift and a stun called Time Lapse. In addition to the spells, the rare mob also uses both ranged and melee attacks, the latter of which can hurt quite a bit.
Upon being defeated, the drake has a 100% chance of dropping the Reins of the Time-Lost Proto Drake, an item that teaches you how to summon the titular mount. As an extra bonus, you’ll also get an Abandoned Adventurer’s Satchel along with a piece of gear.
You can farm the mount while you’re in a 5-man party with other players. Every player in the party that killed the rare has the same chance of getting the mount, however, this does not apply to raid groups. Also, important to note is that only the player (or the party) that first engages the Time-Lost Proto Drake is eligible for the drop. Nearby players that participate won’t be able to loot it, not even if one of them strikes the killing blow.
Spawn Points and Spawn Timer
The Time-Lost Proto Drake still has the same usual four spawn points in Wrath of the Lich King Classic. These are as follows:
- 31,69 – Frozen Lake
- 51,71 – Brunn Village
- 35,76 – Waterfall
- 52,35 – Ulduar Ravine
Similarly, the spawn timer is still anywhere between two and eight hours just like in the original Wrath of the Lich King. There’s no way of knowing for sure when the drake will spawn during this time interval. The Time-Lost Proto Drake shares its spawn points and spawn timer with Vyragosa, another rare drake that drops some interesting loot, but no mount.
When either the Time-Lost Proto Drake or Vyragosa die, their bodies will stick around for about 30 minutes. Make sure to loot the corpse during this window because you won’t be able to do it afterward. Once the body is gone, another drake won’t respawn for at least two hours.
Flight Paths
TLPD has four set flight paths, one for each of the four aforementioned spawn points. While camping the spawn points is a viable farming strategy, it’s far more efficient to follow the flight paths instead. Every flight path overlaps with one or two of the other ones.
As you can see from the map above, the flight paths cover almost the entire western part of The Storm Peaks but converge around a few key points. Namely, south of the Temple of Storms, east of Frosthold, northeast of Valkyrion, and right above the Engine of the Makers. Pay close attention to those spots.
Preparation
Farming the Time-Lost Proto Drake involves a bit of preparation, especially if you’re new to World of Warcraft and haven’t done this sort of thing before. First, you’ll need a level 80 character and a flying mount before doing anything else. Having some decent gear wouldn’t hurt either because you might need to fight other players for the mount. Chances are, you won’t be the only person trying to farm the Time-Lost Proto Drake, especially if you’re playing on a high-population server.
To fly in Northrend your character needs to be at least level 77 and possess the Cold Weather Flying skill. Make sure you save up while leveling because the skill is quite expensive. In addition, you’ll need to buy a flying mount if you don’t already have one. The Time-Lost Proto Drake is always in the air while traveling around The Storm Peaks, and it’s almost impossible to pull it from the ground.
Using an add-on that tracks rare mobs is a must while farming the Time-Lost Proto Drake. RareScanner is the best and most popular of the bunch, but there are a few other good ones out there. These add-ons scan your surroundings and alert you whenever there’s a rare mob nearby. These alerts can be personalized to your liking.
Tips and Tricks
Below you can find a few tips that will help you farm the Time-Lost Proto Drake more efficiently.
- Whenever possible, try to farm the mount during off-hours to avoid competition.
- Having multiple characters on multiple servers will greatly increase your chances of running into the rare mob
- When the servers reset so does the spawn timer. You can use this to your advantage
- Farming the mount while in a party is much more effective than farming it alone
- Join Discord groups dedicated to helping players find rare mobs and items. A great example of such a group is WoW Secret Finding & Collections
