Understanding when and how to summon the the Elden Ring horse isn’t clear immediately. Torrent, the spectral steed, is vital to get around but you don’t start with them available and it’s possible to miss them initially, leaving you on foot and taking ages to get around.
Even the most direct route to the Elden Ring horse involves a little exploration and some fighting by design, introducing some key aspects of the game. However, once you’ve found your first Site of Grace it’s possible to either fast track your horse ownership, or wander off and get it… eventually.
You’ll want the sooner option obviously as once you have Torrent the horse, you can get around the Lands Between quickly and easily. Running straight past dangerous enemies makes threat management way easier While the ability to leap up to areas you can’t reach on foot opens up the world complete. So, to get you mobile faster, here’s how to get the Elden Ring horse, as well as all the advantages and abilities that come with mounted combat.
How to summon the horse in Elden Ring
Players can unlock Torrent the Spectral Steed by visiting Sites of Grace – the glowing, golden, bonfire-like checkpoints – in the explorable world of Elden Ring. Most players will unlock the horse once they hit the Gatefront Ruins Site of Grace, so we’d advise following the light trail to get there as soon as possible, once you’re out in the world.
There has been some confusion because, to get the horse, you need to find a character called Melina. Now, the official word on how to do that, direct from FromSoftware is as follows:
“Note that Melina will appear at several predetermined Sites of Grace besides [the Gatefront Ruins], so you may encounter her elsewhere first if you explore other areas before visiting Gatefront.”
When you do meet her she’ll give you an item called the Spectral Steed Whistle, which you can trigger at any time to summon the horse in Elden Ring. It’s listed in your Key Items and can be equipped in the Equipment menu as a Quick Item, like your flasks. You can also slot it into your extra storage pouches to keep it separated from your Quick Items. Use it to instantly summon (or desummon) Torrent the horse beneath you. You can also quickly hop off and desummon Torrent by clicking in LS/L3.
How to ride and use Torrent the Spectral Steed
The horse in Elden Ring functions to increase the player’s manoeuvrability, while slightly limiting the range of actions that can be taken. Torrent moves quickly normally, but can switch to a gallop by pressing B/Circle. The steed can also double-jump, making it great for clearing large gaps and obstacles, and you can still use other items in your equipment slots, such as Flasks, if you need them while riding.
However, Torrent isn’t without its limitations. Being a large, fast-moving horse means Torrent is more unwieldy and less precise in its movements, so you’ll find yourself riding in wide circles of having to perform strafing runs to attack your enemies. Players also can’t use Weapon Arts from Elden Ring Ashes of War, block with a shield or weapon, or other behaviours while mounted, though they can still attack and engage in combat. LB/L1 and LT/L2 respectively become light and heavy attacks on the player’s left side while RB/R1 and RT/R2 become light and heavy attacks for the player’s right side only.
Torrent is also not immortal, and can be killed by both enemy attacks and fall damage. If it is killed, Torrent will fade out of existence, but can sometimes be instantly summoned again by using the whistle. In some situations, such as boss fights, your ability to summon Torrent can be limited, and you’ll have to sacrifice one of your healing Crimson Flask uses to bring the spectral horse back. However, you can avoid this by feeding Torrent an array of raisin food items to heal and impart other buffs.
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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.
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