Mastering Horse Taming and Leveling in Crimson Desert
In Crimson Desert, taming a horse can be a bit tricky. You might have spotted a wild horse and tried to hop on, but the minigame for subduing it can be quite confusing. There are also other horse mechanics that might leave you scratching your head, like leveling them up and unlocking their skills.
Let’s break down how to tackle these challenges, including the best strategy I found for mastering the horse taming minigame.
To level up your mount and unlock its skills in Crimson Desert, focus on these three main activities:
Mixing these actions will help you level up your horse quickly and unlock its skills. I recommend carrying horse feed, which you can buy from any Saddlery, to speed things up. To check your horse’s skills, go to its tab in the inventory menu and press 5. Your starting horse comes with the following skills:
|
Required level |
Skills |
|---|---|
|
Level 2 |
Dash: Tap shift (A on controller) to move quickly |
|
Level 3 |
Drift: Press WASD and alt (left stick and B on controller) while dashing to slide while moving quickly Back Kick: Right mouse button (or RT on controller) to kick an enemy positioned behind |
|
Level 4 |
Spring: Tap shift (A on controller) while dashing to move very quickly |
|
Level 5 |
Swimming III: Can move faster in water Quick Start: Sets off quickly when starting to move Double Jump: Jump while in midair one more time |
While the double jump isn’t as impressive as Torrent’s from Elden Ring, it’s still handy for navigating tougher terrain.
You can find wild horses roaming the map, especially near the river areas to the east and south of Hernand. The taming process instructs you to keep your WASD keys (or the left stick on a controller) aligned with the horse’s tail, which can be frustrating. Instead, I recommend positioning the camera behind the horse and simply holding down S.
You’ll need to adjust the camera as the horse moves, but it’s manageable to keep it focused on the tail. Once the yellow circle fills up completely, you’ll have successfully tamed the horse—just make sure to do this before your stamina runs out and you get kicked off. If that happens, just run up to the horse and interact to get back on.
After taming, you can view your horse’s stats and register it as a mount. Extra mounts can be stabled at any stable, like the one north of Hernand or at the Royal Trading Post. You can also purchase horses at the stable.
If your horse takes significant damage and needs reviving, you have a few options:
Any of these methods will work, but using Force Palm: Healing is the quickest. Keep an eye on your horse’s current health in its tab in the inventory menu.
