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Mounted combat in Elin presents numerous advantages, making some character builds heavily reliant on mounts, summons, and companions. Despite its significance, the game doesn’t clearly outline how mounts function or the benefits they provide.
This guide aims to explain how to obtain mounts and highlight which creatures serve as the best steeds in battle. Most mounts are fully realized characters rather than ordinary farm animals, though there may be occasions where you ride a quadruped into battle without the complexities of interpersonal dynamics.
Note: The game is currently in Early Access, so expect updates to this guide as it evolves.
How to Use a Mount
Before you can ride a mount, you’ll need to acquire the Riding skill. Some starting classes, like the farmer, have this skill by default, but most players will need to visit the trainer in the Tinker’s Camp and pay some platinum coins.
Once you have the Riding skill, it will appear in your ability bar. You can activate this skill on friendly characters to ride them, which includes pets, villagers, and key companions. However, do note that your mount counts toward your total companion limit, and the game will notify you if your party exceeds your charisma capacity.
Tip: If you lack a suitable starting mount, the animal tamer in Yowyn has horses for sale at a few thousand Oren. Additionally, you can find more exotic mounts like carbuncles and dinosaurs from animal tamers.
How Do Mounts Work?
The Ride ability doesn’t provide much clarity on the advantages of using a mount, whether for travel or combat. Some aspects are intuitive, while others require examining the attributes of both you and your steed when mounted and unmounted. Here are a few key points to consider:
- While mounted, you benefit from your mount’s speed attribute, although this will be penalized if your riding skill is low, affecting both combat and general travel.
- In most scenarios, your mount will be the initial target of enemy attacks.
- Your mount still retains access to its attacks and abilities, but you control its movement entirely; they can’t utilize abilities that would reposition you.
- Spells targeting a single opponent will affect both you and your mount, including healing and buffs.
- If your mount falls in battle, they will faint rather than die, allowing you to revive them with healing or by waiting a short time outside of combat.
- You can gain traits from your mount, such as the ability to float over traps if your mount has levitation.
Consideration: Changing your mount’s appearance can be done using a hitching post. By default, all mounts appear as horses.
While riding has numerous advantages, there are also some downsides worth noting:
- Since your mount’s movements are dictated by you, they cannot take any actions while you’re commanding them, effectively using both your turns for movement.
- Both you and your mount may incur penalties related to accuracy, speed, and casting failures, especially with lower riding skills; more advanced mounts will require a higher skill level to minimize these penalties.
- You lose specific traits if your mount does not have them. For instance, if you’re riding a horse, a character with wings cannot fly.
Additionally, the symbiosis skill functions similarly to riding, but in reverse. The character you ‘host’ becomes attached to you, making it less likely to be targeted by enemies and sharing some buffs. However, the character will act based on your speed rather than that of the mount.
What Makes a Good Mount
When picking out a mount, a few factors are essential. Durability and speed are crucial attributes to consider, but the mount should also fit your gameplay style.
- A resilient mount can offset a rider’s lack of health.
- A fast mount allows for more actions per opponent action, which is vital since increasing your character’s speed can be challenging.
- Your mount’s attack range should ideally align with yours. A melee mount won’t be effective if you primarily rely on ranged attacks, and vice versa.
Warning: Some mounts may have hidden attributes that significantly reduce their speed while mounted. If you encounter the message "this creature is too weak to carry you," this implies their speed stat is dramatically decreased. This mainly applies to mounts like the silver bell, which could be overpowering otherwise.
You can acquire mounts in several ways:
| Mount Type | Uses |
|---|---|
| Starting Villagers | While not a great mount, Loytel can help with skill leveling and fills an early party slot. |
| Adventurers | With an affinity over 75, you can recruit most characters, but charisma must exceed their highest attribute. Regularly give gifts to adventurers with a simple interest until they agree to join you. |
| Captured Monsters | Beasts may have fewer equipment slots, requiring gene engineering for enhancement. A lightning drake, for example, can be a solid choice. |
| Divine Apostles | Most deities grant powerful party members when you accumulate enough piety. As these are automatically recruited, you don’t need to grind for skills or attributes. Some make great mounts, while others work better in different roles. |
Note: To recruit unique NPC adventurers, you must defeat them in a duel, often with equal-sized teams. You can choose to focus your attacks on the adventurer to make it easier.
Good Example Mounts
If you’re aiming to recruit reliable mounts, consider the following characters, which are easy to obtain and excel in their intended roles:
| Mount | Role | Details | How to Obtain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Knight Aliga | Tank | Highly resistant to damage, combined with abilities that enhance its durability. | Earn through piety rewards from Opatos by sacrificing ores at shrines; quantity matters more than rarity. |
| Steel Dragon Corgon | Tank | Offers a breath attack and the ability to taunt enemies, protecting vulnerable members of your party. | Progress through Loytel’s questline while developing Vernis and exploring the mines. |
| Carbuncle | Speed/Spellcaster | Fast and powerful spellcaster; capable of providing healing during battle, ensuring durability in the party. | Available from animal tamers on the second floor of the Fortune Bell. |
| Maiden of Blades Misaki | Tank/Speed | Gains speed and resistances with levels; it’s vital to monitor equipment to avoid negative speed effects. | Requires a high charisma to recruit; found tending the shrine of Horome in Nefu Village. |
How to Upgrade Your Mount
To enhance your mount’s effectiveness, consider the following strategies, which can also apply to your pets and party members:
- High-quality equipment is essential. Depending on the mount’s type, they can wear various gear types. For instance, a quadruped can have two sets of shoes while also using a weapon.
- Blessing a mutation potion with holy water guarantees beneficial mutations. Applying these to your mount can improve their speed, strength, and damage resistance.
- Equipping your mount with ether gear or applying ether spells can significantly boost their speed, though prepare antidotes for any side effects.
- Spells like Broomification can temporarily enhance your mount’s speed, though it may reduce other attributes.
- Mounts with fewer equipment slots receive extra gene editing slots, and granting them specific skills can help them protect you better.
Tip: Be cautious with Broomification, as it can negatively interact with specific mounts, suppressing their innate speed bonuses. It’s better suited for characters that do not have a naturally high speed.
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