The history of World of Warcraft is filled with stories of extraordinarily low drop rates for rare equipment and items. Treasures from the MMO's first few expansions that are o longer obtainable command some of the highest prices even if they're no longer useful. There are items so rarely seen in-game that they still draw crowds of people when a player has it equipped.
While many of the rarest items in World of Warcraft are only available in the Auction House, there are some that anybody can get without having to pay millions of gold. Time is the real investment players have to make when it comes to finding rare items in World of Warcraft. All it requires is patience, dedication, and extremely good luck.
Updated on May 28, 2023, by Kristy Ambrose: The hunt for rare items continues in every version of WoW, whether it's to build a twink, complete an Achievement, or a piece for that transmog set. The latter is such a popular hobby that the retail version of the game allows players to use the design of old items to make new ones with the same skin. Classic players still have to do things the old-fashioned way, and in this case, certain add-ons can be extremely helpful. They can help a player find a certain NPC, find their way through a confusing instance, or determine if the object in question still exists in the game.
Useful Addons
World of Warcraft thrives on add-ons, and while it's feasible to acquire some of these items without external aid, some mods can go a long way in making this quest a little easier. Knowing the location of the item is only part of the quest, and the character still has to get there.
- Atlas . This is a map addon that was inspired by the lack of any map in the original WoW instances. Versions of Atlas exist for retail, Classic , and the WotLK , and players that are looking for rare items in dungeons. It also tracks bosses and rare spawns.
- Rare Alert . An addon specifically for rare spawns and treasure chests that appear in the Shadowlands, Dragonflight, and Wrath of the Lich King expansions.
- RareScanner . Scans the nearby area for rare mobs, treasures, and otherwise for the player to hunt down. Can be useful for casual and advanced item collection.
- SilverDragon - RareScanner . Rare monsters that carry special items are also known as Silver Dragons or "grays." This is an expansion for the RareScanner addon.
15 Brawler's Harness
- Expansion: Vanilla
- Acquisition: Auction House or Trade Chat
The Brawler's Harness was an item in Vanilla World of Warcraft that Orc, Troll, and Undead Warriors equipped in their first few levels and has since been discontinued. As a shirt, players could have it and a chest piece equipped simultaneously, making warriors look barbaric. It's not the rarest drop in WoW, but the sheer lack of them still in the game makes them quite the prize.
The Brawler's Harness was removed in the Cataclysm expansion when the leveling experience had a major overhaul. An updated version was introduced in Battle for Azeroth but doesn't have the same rare status. There are items in the game that serve a similar purpose, but if a player wants one of these original shirts, they can expect to pay hundreds of thousands of gold to get one.
14 Circle of Flame
- Expansion: Vanilla
- Acquisition: Ambassador Flamelash, a boss in Blackrock Depths
This is a rare but popular item in every expansion for those players that need that perfect finishing touch of a fiery crown. The flaming tornado that erupts when this item's special ability is used is also an impressive touch. The Circle of Flame has a drop rate of 9% from Ambassador Flamelash in BRD, which is better than most other obscure trinkets, but what makes it even harder to get is the Ambassador's location.
Lower-level players or those in retail, which scales the instances to each player's level, might need a group to farm this item. Higher-level players in Classic or WotLK who have all of the dungeon keys and have completed the Succubus' quest for some love potion ingredients can reach the Ambassador in a matter of minutes.
13 Miner's Hat Of The Deep
- Expansion: Vanilla
- Acquisition: Any mob in Uldaman
The Miner's Hat Of The Deep is the closest a player can come to being a Kobold in World of Warcraft, that is, besides using the Red Noggin Candle. The item is a helmet that adds a candle to the top of the player's head and theoretically can drop from just about any trash mob in the Uldaman dungeon.
However, the drop rate is so astronomically low that players who have farmed the dungeon over 1000 times still have yet to acquire it. While the odds of the item dropping are not publically known, all mobs in the Uldaman dungeon, save for bosses, can drop this unique headpiece.
12 Xorothian Firestick
- Expansion: Vanilla, Classic
- Acquisition: Lord Hel'nurath in Dire Maul
This rare gun is among the rarest items in World of Warcraft because players cannot get it organically anymore. This item was a rare drop from a boss only Warlocks could summon as part of their mount class quest in Vanilla World of Warcraft, a demon called Lord Hel'nurath. As with many items, it was removed when Warlocks no longer had this quest in Cataclysm.
The Xorothian Firestick was a bind-on-pickup weapon only Hunters could make use of, and it is impossible to acquire in Shadowlands. World of Warcraft Classic fans know this gun well, and many a Warlock has taken this opportunity to sell runs of the boss for just the chance to get this item in the Vanilla experience.
11 Zin'rokh, Destroyer Of Worlds
- Expansion: Cataclysm
- Acquisition: Troll Archaeology
Zin'rokh, Destroyer of Worlds is an item still very much available in Shadowlands but be prepared to farm Archaeology for years for this very visually appealing weapon. This weapon is a random drop from Troll artifacts, but the player must have at least a level 450 Archaeology skill to even have a chance at finding it.
Troll Tablets reduce the number of artifacts needed to solve Troll Archaeology puzzles. Ultimately, very few have completed this grind.
10 Pendulum Of Doom
- Expansion: Vanilla
- Acquisition: Four specific mobs Uldaman
The Pendulum of Doom is another item that drops from mobs in the Uldaman dungeon, just like the Miner's Hat of the Deep. This item, though, doesn't drop from everything in the dungeon, just Stonevault Flameweavers, Maulers, Brawlers, and Stone Stewards. It's a WoW BoE item, so if the character can't equip it they can sell it.
While thePendulum of Doom is exceedingly good for Classic Warriors and Shamans, it still drops in retail at the same extremely low rate it had in Classic. Still, it makes for a unique weapon transmog that'll get people looking your way.
9 Faded Photograph
- Expansion: Vanilla, Classic
- Acquisition: Quest Item
It's one of the longest and most notorious quests in all of Vanilla, and when it was re-released with WoW: Classic, there was much rejoicing. The whole quest starts with the player finding the remains of a raft in the wilds of Un'Goro Crater, which contains a few interesting items, including this photograph. This starts a quest with a familiar name, a reference from the Legend of Zelda franchise, "It's a Secret To Everybody."
Finishing this series starts another series with references from the vintage games featuring Link and his adventures in Hyrule, with certain names changed to avoid copyright violations. This series is followed by yet another, finally culminating in a quest called "It's Dangerous To Go Alone." The reward for this quest is a sword, obviously, but there's also an offhand that happens to be pre-raid BiS for casting classes. The sword has a design that mimics the one from the old Nintendo games and is equally coveted for transmog purposes.
8 High Society Top Hat
- Expansion: Cataclysm
- Acquisition: Elite mobs throughout Cataclysm
The High Society Top Hat is a craftable headpiece that, as the name implies, is formal headgear fit for a noble. Unfortunately, the crafting recipe for this item only drops from rare and elite mobs in Cataclysm, but it doesn't require the Tailor to be at a specific level like Zin'rokh requires of Archaeologists.
Once a Tailor learns the pattern for the High Society Top Hat, they can sell the finished WoW BoE item for literally millions of gold at the Auction House. It can be a reliable source of income, but the player must use a significant amount of time farming rares and elites in an outdated expansion to find the recipe.
7 Spellshock Leggings
- Expansion: Vanilla, Classic
- Acquisition: Random drop in Zul'Farrak
The word among players is that the Spellshock leggings are the rarest items in WoW, which is an indication of a twisted sense of humor from someone on the development team. It's got a ridiculous drop rate of less than .001%, which is only an estimate because it literally doesn't appear often enough to make a more accurate calculation.
Players might think this is some kind of amazing piece of gear, part of a set or something, but it's only a blue item with barely decent stats. It's not even BiS for raiders and isn't useful for anything more than a transmog pattern. The better news is that it's one of the WoW BoE items in the game, so if a player does happen to get it, it sells for many thousands of gold.
6 Rhinestone Sunglasses
- Expansion: Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria
- Acquisition: Any mob in either expansion's content
These sunglasses are, in a word, fabulous. What isn't fabulous is how rarely the crafting recipe drops. The player must be a Jewelcrafter to even have a chance at finding this item, but they drop at a .01% rate from every mob in the Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria expansions.
Blizzard confirmed that as of the Shadowlands patch, the Rhinestone Sunglasses are a transmog-able item for headwear. Expect to see more players flooding Azeroth and Pandaria in the next few months looking for this elusive recipe.
5 Boots of the Bay
- Expansion: Vanilla
- Acquisition: One of the prizes for winning the Stranglethorn Fishing Contest or the Kalu'ak Fishing Derby.
Most players who win the Stranglethorn Fishing Contest choose the trinket, which gives the player a swimming form and a fishing ability buff, or the ring, which is bind-to-account and gives the character wearing it an experience buff. In modern WoW, the Boots of the Bay are a popular transmog for anything related to pirates, sailors, or other nautically-themed characters. They also transport the character to Booty Bay the same way a hearthstone would, which is a hard quality to find in Classic or WotLK items.
Players in the WotLK expansion have a better chance of winning these items because they have access to the Kalu'ak Fishing Derby which is only available in this expansion. The goal of the contest is different, with players finding a single rare shark instead of a quota of Tastyfish, but the choice of rewards is the same in both competitions.
4 Chromatic Sword
- Expansion: Vanilla, Classic
- Acquisition: Scale Belly, Cape of Stranglethorn
The Chromatic Sword was once an unobtainable relic from the days of Vanilla World of Warcraft, but since Classic, it has been re-added to the game. It is only available from one mob, the elite mob Scale Belly found in The Cape of Stranglethorn. The problem is, this elite takes anywhere from one to three hours to respawn and is a very hot spot for collectors. Not only is the sword a rare drop but the NPC that has it is one of the rarest spawns in the game.
The best way to farm this item is to park an alt next to the spawn location of Scale Belly and wait. This is best done on low-population servers, where the chance of another player coming in and robbing the kill is lessened.
3 Sea Turtle Mount
- Expansion: Wrath of the Lich King
- Acquisition: Any fishing node in Northrend
Out of all the impressive cold-weather mounts that were introduced in The Wrath of Lich King, from giant mammoths to magnificent flying carpets, one of the rarest is the humble Sea Turtle. She doesn't fly and only moves at a 60% walking speed, but players still spend hours with a line in a fishing node just to find this rare item.
What makes the Sea Turtle mount unique is that although it's slow on land, it's zippy in the water, which is great for traveling through certain parts of Northrend. It's not the same as the purple Riding Turtle, which is found in the same way but was added in a later patch.
2 Teebu's Blazing Longsword
- Expansion: Vanilla
- Acquisition: Core Hounds in Molten Core, lockboxes from Black Rock dungeon
Teebu's Blazing Longsword is a flaming sword of burning fire. It drops from Core Hounds in the Molten Core raid and from lockboxes pickpocketed from mobs in Black Rock Depths and Lower Black Rock Spire. It's a WoW BoE item along with being one of the rarest items in WoW, making it available on the Auction House provided the character has about a million gold lying around.
Even to this day, its drop rate is so astronomically low that it has a successor in the form of Teebu's Scorching Straight Sword, making it one of the rarest items in WoW history. The new model looks a bit like a jet engine's exhaust, though, whereas the original was a billowing fire that barely took the shape of a sword.
1 The Big Love Rocket
- Expansion: Cataclysm
- Acquisition: Extremely rare drop from Apothecary Hummel.
The Big Love Rocket is a mount that has an extremely rare drop rate from the Valentine's Day in-game event, "Love Is In The Air." At a 1 in 3333 chance of dropping from an event that players can only do once a day for two weeks, it might just be the rarest item in World of Warcraft.
Fans have often debated whether the Big Love Rocket is a sexual innuendo or not (the icon is particularly suggestive of a certain adult toy). It got some sick upholstery and a garish pink paint job, which might not be for everyone. Either way, this mount is sure to attract crowds of people, awe-struck by the rarest item in WoW still available for players.