Ride it Out: Black Desert Online Horse Skills Guide

Getting Your First Horse

Acquiring your initial steed in Black Desert Online offers three primary methods. Firstly, you can purchase a horse from stables. Currently, the least expensive option (and slowest) costs 15,000 silver. Secondly, taming a wild horse is an option, but this involves preparation, money, knowledge, and a degree of luck. You’ll need capture ropes and a lump of raw sugar (which you’ll need to craft). Finally, you might occasionally receive a free mount as a reward.

Equipping Your Horse

Your horse has a limited inventory for gear that significantly improves its performance. Five equipment slots are available, each enhancing a specific attribute. The saddle boosts endurance, stamina, and maximum HP. Stirrups enable mounted combat. A bard strengthens the horse’s armor. Horseshoes enhance galloping speed. Finally, a feather increases the horse’s maximum health.

Horses are categorized by tiers, ranging from 1 to 8. Tier 3 and below can be tamed, while higher tiers often necessitate breeding. Breeding and upgrading horses to higher tiers enhances their skills and capabilities.

Best Skills for Horses

Identifying the “best” skills hinges on your playstyle. However, some skills are nearly essential for any Black Desert Online equestrian.

Instant Acceleration

Imagine a temporary speed boost. Instant acceleration provides a quick burst of speed but significantly drains stamina. Strategically using this ability is critical to maximize efficiency.

Drift

Drifting is a fundamental skill for maneuverability. It enables your horse to slide around obstacles or opponents, significantly enhancing your ability to navigate the game world.

Sprint

Sprint converts your horse’s trot into a powerful gallop instantly. Paired with instant acceleration, it offers lightning-fast travel and significantly improves your speed.

High Jump

This skill is exactly what the name suggests: allowing for greater height in leaps, enabling quicker passage over obstacles and avoiding certain obstacles entirely.

Streak Jump

Streak jump is the ability to perform a series of jumps without interrupting or decelerating, making your horse’s movement agile and smooth.

Charge

The Charge ability empowers your horse to charge directly into enemy combatants, inflicting damage.

Other beneficial equestrian skills include quick boarding, caution (preventing the horse from falling off cliffs), sidestep (allowing the horse to sidestep obstacles), and quick back (accelerating when riding backward).

Breeding Horses

Breeding horses is a key step in raising their tiers. Higher-level horses generally produce higher-tiered offspring. The process requires a male and a female horse, strategically placed in a stable with enough space, and ensures both have full stamina (using recovery or carrots). You must register your horse at the breeding market.

The Courser System

Coursers are high-tier horses with innate skills. A golden icon in the mount menu will readily identify them. Breeding two coursers usually results in offspring with at least two pre-existing skills. Successfully awakening a tier 8 Courser may lead to a tier 9 horse, like Arduanatt the Pegasus, with distinct advantages like wings for gliding.

Awakening, however, is a risky endeavor, potentially resulting in a loss of progress. The previous mount is always restored in case of failure.

Thoroughly researching and understanding horse skills and their implications are paramount in Black Desert Online.