Horse Sense ESO Style

This article should really be called Riding Tricks because you get much more than just horses to ride in the game and there is a lot of handy hints that you can use.

You can get a whole host of weird and wonderful creatures that can transport you from pillar to post in the game. The picture above just shows a few available to you.

In the beginning there was just your feet.

When you first start as a new comer to the game, you reach a level when you can own and ride a horse. This is really cool because you can get from one place to another quickly, rather than walking or running around on the map. The good news is that your mount can be improved in speed, stamina and carrying capacity as you level up. Where to buy horses?

Any stables in the world will sell you horses, and they can be found in nearly every area of the game. You can view all the mounts you own when at stables, set your active horse there as well as rename and feed them.

If you can’t find stables simply open your map and check the map icons in the nearest town or village. Stables are typically located on the outskirts of towns, and indicated on the map by an icon resembling a horse’s head.

Stable News

If you speak to the dude at the stable you will discover that if you pay them two hundred and fifty gold you can improve your mounts statistics. This is what is meant by feeding your mount. Once a day you can visit this guy or gal to pay for this increase and believe me it is well worth the cost. Now speed is important but increasing your stamina means that it is harder for your enemy to pull you off your horse as you gallop by. You can increase your storage capacity once a day to a level of sixty. This is handy but I think speed and stamina for fighters should get priority and storage if you are a peaceful trader.

It’s A Lot of Gold

Speed

Increased speed is self-explanatory: higher movement speed on a horse means it gets you places faster. Many players recommend not buying the Common Horse at all since it has only 10% increased speed, so you may want to think purchasing a Light Horse right off the bat. The other mounts are unfortunately more expensive and you will have to save even longer for one, but it might be worthwhile in the end. Don’t forget, feeding your horse costs gold (explained above), so it can be a smart decision to save enough gold to simply purchase a Light horse first.

Stamina

Stamina determines how long your horse can gallop (sprint) and how much damage you can take while riding one without being dismounted.

Carrying Capacity

Horses don’t have an inventory of their own, instead their carrying capacity is simply added to your own character inventory. Not only is it convenient, but increased bag space is very helpful to have when adventuring considering how many different crafting materials and items you come across. You gain increased carrying capacity only from your active horse.

It seems a lot of gold to spend on just one horse, doesn’t it? However it is a slow process and it is really and truly worth the investment. Oh and if you want to take a short cut in improving your horse you can buy additional riding lessons from the crown store. This costs real money but if you are really in a hurry you can by-pass the daily visit to the stable.

Adventures in Cyrodiil

Once you get to this level and you can confidently visit Cyrodiil then you should do so as soon as possible. In Cyrodiil you have to travel huge distances. To help with this situation, you can further increase your speed with another handy ability. You will have to gallop about a bit and gain some experience points but as soon as you can you grab the skill listed under the Alliance War Skills, under the assault skill section. It is known as the Rapid Manoeuvre. It only lasts for a short time but it is really handy for escaping the enemy or rushing from one place to another to attack the enemy or rescue your team mates. It mobilizes your forces, granting Major Expedition and Major Gallop to you and your allies, increasing Movement Speed by 30% and Mounted Speed by 30% for 30 seconds. Also grants immunity to snares and immobilization. The effect ends if you cast any spell on an enemy or an ally. Later it can be morphed into the charging manoeuvre. This has the additional bonus of gaining minor Expedition, increasing your Movement Speed by an additional 10% for 8 seconds. Gain Minor Expedition when the effect ends, increasing your Movement Speed.

Chain Your Rapids

Although the effect is short lived, there is a technique that can be used to supply a continual flow of rapid energy to your character and his/her team mates. You may have heard of the famous Savage Hearts Diamond. This is a riding and fighting formation that allows you to gain some advantage from being close to your team mates. It works like this. When the rapid manoeuvre ability is activated any player who is nearby will receive the speed blessing as well. So if you launch into a gallop and one of your team mates uses the rapid manoeuvre all of you will get it. The trick is that as the blessing diminishes after thirty seconds, which is indicated on a green bar at the bottom of your screen you can use your own rapids and everyone close by gets the blessing. Therefore your high speed is maintained as each of you take it in turns to contribute to the groups speed. As your green bar diminishes the next player instigates his rapid manoeuvre. So instead of you all using your ability at once you can spread them over time and therefore travel large distances and keep a high speed for the whole group. It takes a bit of practice but once mastered the advantages are plenty.

A Whole Group

Imagine a whole army sharing this ability. They could arrive at a target in a very short time and swoop down on the enemy with crushing speed.

The other advantage of your rapid manoeuvre is that you can use it on foot and speed across short distances. You can come in on foot for a hard and fast attack with devastating results.

The rapid manoeuvre ability is a talent that you definitely should try to get as soon as possible. In other words it helps you in and out of many situations that could otherwise end in your death.

My Advice to You

The folks at ESO have really come up with a good system here so don’t waste your gold on fancy hats and clothing or different mounts, you can get rich later. Upgrade your mount daily, stick to that and be prepared for some exciting rapid movement.