How to Complete Never Saddle on Quality in WoW: Forever (Pristine Leopard Pelts)

Never Saddle on Quality is one of the brand-new quests World of Warcraft: Forever added to Dun Morogh – and during launch week it was one of the quests players searched for most. The task sounds simple: bring a rancher six leopard pelts. The catch is that only one specific kind of leopard drops them, and for the first two days there weren't nearly enough of those to go around.

This guide is for Alliance characters (Dwarves, Gnomes and anyone else questing in Dun Morogh). The quest is level 10 and can be picked up from level 7. It's checked against World of Warcraft: Forever as live on November 11, 2026.

Quick facts

Where to pick it up

Rudra Amberstill runs Amberstill Ranch, the farmstead on the road east of Kharanos, roughly halfway between Kharanos and the South Gate. She stands by the ranch buildings:

/way 63.1 49.8 Rudra AmberstillCopy

Ignore the coordinate 70.2, 48.2 that some NPC pages list – that's from the modern Dun Morogh map, not the Forever version of the zone. Rudra both starts and ends the quest, and there's nothing you need to do first. On a normal route through the zone you'll reach her at around level 9 after the new Misty Pine Refuge quests to the north-west.

Rudra also gives the classic quest Protecting the Herd, which sends you after Vagash – a level 11 elite. Don't mix the two up: Never Saddle on Quality is fully soloable.

Step by step

1. Accept Never Saddle on Quality from Rudra Amberstill at Amberstill Ranch.
2. Head east from the ranch. The leopards live on the snowy slopes east of Amberstill, around Helm's Bed Lake. The best area is roughly between 73, 55 and 76, 57 – for example /way 74.2 56.0 Elder Snow LeopardsCopy.
3. Kill Elder Snow Leopards only. Each one can drop a Pristine Leopard Pelt. Check the name plate before you pull: ordinary Snow Leopards and the younger leopards in the area look almost the same but never drop the pelts. The Elders are level 9–10, so at level 8 or below expect a tougher fight.
4. Collect 6 pelts. If a slope is empty, sweep the next ridge over – the leopards are spread out along the hills rather than packed in one camp.
5. Return to Rudra Amberstill at the ranch and turn the quest in.

What the November 6 hotfix changed

At launch, Never Saddle on Quality was a bottleneck. There were very few Elder Snow Leopards, the pelts didn't drop often, and the busy launch crowd of Dwarf Shamans and Gnome Priests was fighting over the same handful of spawns.

Blizzard's hotfixes on November 6, 2026 addressed it directly: the quest's spawns and quest item drops are now "more plentiful", in Blizzard's words. In practice that means more Elder Snow Leopards on the slopes and a better pelt drop rate. If you gave up on the quest during launch week, it's worth picking it back up now.

Rewards

The quest pays out about 630 experience and 75 reputation with Ironforge. There's no item or gold reward, and nothing follows on from it – it's a standalone quest. That makes it a quick, good-value stop if you're already heading east toward Gol'Bolar Quarry or the South Gate, but not something to make a special trip back for at level 12+.

Tips and common mistakes

• Wrong leopards. The number-one mistake. If you've killed ten leopards and have zero pelts, you've been killing regular Snow Leopards. Target only mobs named Elder Snow Leopard.
• Bundle it with the area's other quests. Gol'Bolar Quarry, right next to the hunting slopes, has Those Blasted Troggs!, The Public Servant and Stolen Blasting Powder, and Earthseer Farsen's new quests start nearby. Pick them all up before heading out.
• Share it. The quest is shareable, and in a group each player needs their own pelts – tag leopards together or split up along the hills to cover more ground.
• Watch out for Vagash. The elite wendigo from Protecting the Herd roams the hills near the ranch and has a stun. Give him space if you're solo.
• Don't wait in a crowd. If the main slope is busy, the leopards on the far side of Helm's Bed Lake are usually quieter.

Video walkthrough

Where to go next

Once you've turned in the pelts, finish the Gol'Bolar Quarry quests and the Underground Map chain from the Dark Iron spies by the lake, then head for the South Gate and Stout to Kadrell, which takes you on to Loch Modan. All our zone routes and stuck-quest fixes are collected on the WoW: Forever quests page.