Revision 5

Overview

Horse taming is one of the core traversal and life skill activities in Crimson Desert. Wild horses roam across Pywel, and players can tame them through a hands-on minigame. Horses are integral to both traversal and combat, with their own stats, equipment slots, and customization options. The game features 29 different mounts in total (visible in the Knowledge System), with horses being the most common and earliest available.

Getting Your First Horse

Your first horse is obtained early in the main story at Deepfog Basin, a battlefield area in the Hernand region. This is a scripted story event during one of the earliest missions. After acquiring the horse, you can summon it at any time by pressing down on the D-pad. The horse will run to your location from wherever it is in the world.

From this point forward, horseback riding is your primary method of long-distance travel. The estimated map size is 80 to 110 square kilometers, and crossing it on horseback takes roughly two hours compared to six hours on foot.

Horse Stats

Each horse has stats that influence both traversal and combat performance. Wild horses come with randomized stat distributions, meaning players who invest time in taming can search for horses with ideal stat spreads.

The skill tree includes dedicated mount nodes that can improve your horse's stamina capacity and other attributes. Investing in these nodes is especially valuable if you rely heavily on mounted combat.

Taming Wild Horses

How Taming Works

Wild horses can be found roaming various regions of Pywel. Taming them follows a minigame mechanic:

1. Approach a wild horse carefully

2. Mount the horse to initiate the taming sequence

3. The horse attempts to shake you off through a series of movements

4. Maintain your balance through the minigame to successfully tame the horse

5. Once tamed, the horse is added to your stable

Why Tame Multiple Horses

Since wild horses have randomized stat distributions, taming multiple horses lets you find ones with optimal stats for your preferred playstyle:

• Speed-focused horses: Best for players who prioritize fast travel and covering ground quickly.

• Stamina-focused horses: Better for extended sprinting sessions and long explorations without rest stops.

• Terrain specialists: Muscular horses for mountain regions like Pailune, leaner horses for desert and plains.

Horse Equipment and Customization

Horse Armor

Horses can be equipped with armor that provides protection during combat. The Deluxe Edition of Crimson Desert includes exclusive horse gear, and additional horse equipment can be acquired through gameplay:

• Horse armor reduces damage taken during mounted combat encounters

• Equipment pieces can be found, purchased from vendors, or crafted

• Different armor sets may offer different stat bonuses or protection levels

Dye Customization

Horse tack and equipment can be recolored at the Dyehouse in the Greymane Camp. Each piece has multiple dyeable layers, allowing for detailed color customization. Dyes are found through exploration or crafted via alchemy.

Mounted Combat

Basic Mounted Combat

While riding, you retain access to your weapon attacks. Combat on horseback combines your personal combat moveset with the horse's own capabilities:

• Weapon attacks can be performed while mounted, allowing hit-and-run tactics against ground enemies

• The horse provides a speed advantage, letting you charge through enemy groups and strike from unexpected angles

• Some enemies are easier to fight from horseback due to their size or attack patterns

Horse Combat Skills

The skill tree includes dedicated mount nodes that unlock horse-specific combat abilities:

Other Mount Types

While horse taming is the primary mount system, Crimson Desert features several other rideable creatures that become available through progression:

Dragons and the War Robot are intentionally time-limited to prevent them from trivializing ground exploration. Pearl Abyss has designed "tons of hidden corners" throughout the world that cannot be spotted from above, ensuring ground-level exploration with horses remains valuable throughout the game.

Managing Your Stable

You can steal NPC animals and bring them back to your camp, where they can be raised and either sold or butchered for resources. The Greymane Camp's ranch serves as the home for your collected animals. Note that stealing in towns triggers the wanted system, so exercise caution.

Taming Mechanics

When approaching a wild horse, players engage in a taming minigame comparable to Red Dead Redemption 2. Kliff swoops in on a pack of wild horses, mounts one, and must desperately cling on as it tries to kick him off. Successfully holding on long enough tames the horse and adds it to the player's stable. The taming process requires patience: players must approach wild horses carefully to get close enough to mount them without scaring them off.

Horse Equipment

Horses have four equipment zones that can be equipped and customized independently:

Each settlement's blacksmith and tailor offer horse equipment matching the region's aesthetic. Players can mix and match pieces from different settlements for unique combinations. Pre-order editions include exclusive horse equipment: the Exclaire Horse Tack Set (Deluxe Pack) and the Hyperion Horse Tack Set (Ultimate Pack). See Armor Sets for full pre-order equipment details.

Horse Customization

All four horse equipment zones can be dyed individually at the Dye Station in settlements (the same location as the Barber Shop). The Dyehouse offers full color and material customization, section by section. Dyes are found through exploration or crafted via alchemy. Horse customization is purely cosmetic and does not affect gameplay mechanics or combat stats.

Horse Summoning and Death

Press D-pad down to whistle and summon the horse to the player's location. The horse runs to the player's position for mounting. If a horse is killed in combat, it can be recovered at an outpost and is not permanently lost. However, losing a horse mid-mission can make traversal significantly slower until reaching the next outpost.

Horse Drifting

Horses in Crimson Desert can perform sharp, almost racing-game-style turns. This drifting mechanic, which echoes the horse Drift skill from Black Desert Online, allows rapid direction changes during mounted travel and combat. The feature has been described as "over-the-top in a very video game sort of way."

Horse Racing

Horse racing is confirmed as a side activity in Crimson Desert. Different mount stats affect racing performance, giving players incentive to tame and train horses with high speed and stamina. Racing joins other side activities like fishing, cooking, arm wrestling, and sheep wrangling.

Traversal Integration

Kliff can smoothly land from a Crow Wings glide directly onto a horse, allowing seamless transition between aerial and ground-based movement. Horses are faster and more efficient than sprinting on foot, making them the primary way to cover long distances across Pywel's open world, which is described as larger than the maps of both Skyrim and Red Dead Redemption 2.

There is no auto-path feature for horses. Riders must manually guide their mounts along roads and across terrain. Both horse riding and gliding require stamina, which can be upgraded through progression.

Traversal Comparison

Tips

• Summon your horse frequently with D-pad down. It runs to you from anywhere, so there is no penalty for dismissing it.

• Pay attention to horse stamina during long rides. Let the horse recover by slowing to a walk when stamina gets low rather than depleting it completely.

• Invest in the mount stamina skill tree node early. Extended sprinting makes exploration much more efficient.

• Tame wild horses whenever you encounter them. Each horse has randomized stats, and you may find one with a better stat spread than your current mount.

• Use mounted combat for hit-and-run tactics against groups of enemies. The speed advantage makes it easy to disengage and re-engage.

• Horse armor is worth acquiring before tackling mounted combat in dangerous areas. An unprotected horse can be knocked down, throwing you off.

• Visit the Dyehouse to customize your horse's appearance. Cosmetic changes do not affect stats, but they make your mount feel more personal.

• Different horse types suit different regions. Consider keeping multiple horses for different environments if you find terrain specialists through taming.