As an action RPG veteran with over 2000 hours across the Diablo series, mounts have always been my favorite method of traversal in Sanctuary. Not only do they enable faster movement, but also extra carrying capacity, impactful combat abilities, and intimidating aesthetic customization.
However, mounts take time and effort to acquire in Diablo 4‘s sprawling open world. This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything involved in unlocking that first magical mount, optimizing your rider- mount synergy through customization and utilizing their powerful combat skills to obliterate demons across Sanctuary!
When and Why Unlock Mounts
You first gain access to mounts in Act 4 after completing the "A Master‘s Touch" main story quest. This unlocks a new quest called "Mount: Donan‘s Favor" which lets you acquire a mount from Oskar the Stable Master in Kyovashad.
I highly recommend prioritizing this questline as soon as it becomes available for several key reasons:
Faster overworld travel – Mounts provide up to 210% increased movement speed over walking. This adds up to hundreds of hours saved traversing Sanctuary‘s vast open world throughout the full campaign and endgame.
Extra carrying capacity – Mounts can carry 50-100 extra pounds of gear before becoming overburdened. Very useful when farming rare crafting materials from distant zones.
Powerful combat skills – Special abilities like the Dismount Attack deal huge AOE damage when mastered properly. Makes traversing dangerous areas and winning mounted battles easier.
Prestigious aesthetics – Mounts are the ultimate status symbol. Why hoof it on foot when you can ride an armored nightmare steed into battle against Lilith‘s minions!
I chose to unlock my mount instantly upon getting the quest at level 33. Those QOL improvements made the rest of my first playthrough smooth sailing!
Acquiring Your First Mount
Gaining your first mount in Diablo 4 is straightforward:
- Progress through the main story quests until you complete "A Master‘s Touch" in Act 4
- Accept the follow up quest "Mount: Donan‘s Favor" by speaking with Oskar in Kyovashad
- Select your preferred free starter mount from Oskar‘s available options
And that‘s it! Oskar will explain the mount handling basics and you‘ll be riding your noble steed across Sanctuary in minutes. Time from receiving the quest to riding away rarely exceeds 5 minutes if you skip dialogue.
When starting out, I recommend choosing the Grey Horse or Brown Horse mounts. These sturdy starter mounts have no associated unlock costs. Saving your earned Platinum for specialized mounts later on.
Now let‘s move onto effectively handling your mount…
Mount Controls and Handling Guide
Becoming an expert mount handler ensures you get the most out of your steep investment. Here are the complete controls for riding your mount on PC and controllers:
To Mount:
- PC – Press Z
- Controller – Press right D-pad
To Dismount:
- PC – Press spacebar
- Controller – Press B
Sprint (3 charges):
- PC – Press left Shift
- Controller – Press RT
Dismount Attack:
- PC – Press 1 while dismounting
- Controller – Press X while dismounting
Make sure to only tap the sprint button up to 3 times in rapid succession. After the 3rd speed boost, a short 5 second cooldown prevents additional sprinting.
Mastering the precise dismount attack timing takes practice. Attempt to predict when you‘ll pass through the center of large enemy groups for maximum impact damage.
It‘s also vital to keep your mount‘s health high by avoiding attacks. If its health fully depletes, you‘ll be forcibly dismounted and unable to remount for 15 seconds.
Now let‘s explore customizing your mount‘s appearance and abilities…
Customizing Your Mount‘s Look and Skills
What good is a mount if it doesn‘t embody your personal flair and complement your character build?
Luckily, Diablo 4 provides tons of customization options. To modify your mount, visit any Stable Master and select the Customize Mount dialogue option.
Here‘s a breakdown of customization categories and associated costs:
| Customization | Details | Average Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Hide Color | Change fur/scale color | 500-5000 gold |
| Armor Skin | Alter physical armor appearance | 1500-15000 gold |
| Decor | Banners, packs, lanterns, etc | 2000-25000 gold |
| Vendors | Special skins for Platinum | 575-1150 Platinum |
As you can see, basic color and ornamentation runs cheap at a few thousand gold. But specialized vendor skins carrying unique effects cost premium Platinum currency.
Over my regular playtime, I‘ve amassed a diverse mount collection including:
- Scorched Hellhorse: Burning demonic steed inflicting +10% weapon fire damage
- Elder Tiger: Massive tiger with +15% critical strike chance
- Gilded Horse: Golden armored horse boosting gold find by 25%
Be sure to check back often with stable masters as new skins get added over time. I prioritize skins benefiting my current Necromancer build.
Let‘s dive deeper into acquiring specialty mounts…
Unlocking Exotic Mounts
Beyond the starter horse variety, Diablo 4 contains menagerie of exotic creatures you can earn as mounts. However, securing them requires surmounting specific challenges:
| Mount | Acquisition Method |
|---|---|
| Spectral Wolf | Complete 750 dungeon runs |
| Bale Hound | Slay 2000 rare elite monsters |
| Grave Ram | Finish 500 cemetery events |
| Corrupted Unicorn | Achieve 1 million player kills |
As shown above, the rarest mounts demand extensive grinding. But their intimidating aesthetic and damage bonuses make the effort worthwhile!
To track your progress towards unlocking each mount, open the achievements panel (default hotkey is Y) and browse the Mounts category.
I ultimately chose the Spectral Wolf with +25% movement speed to complement my Necromancer‘s hit-and-run playstyle. But the choice is yours!
Let‘s wrap up with final tips for mastering mounts…
Concluding Mount Mastery Tips
After 60+ hours perfecting my mounted combat strategies across various classes, here are my top 4 mastery tips:
1. Bind sprint to mouse wheel up – This allows easier spamming/timing of the crucial 3x sprint boost.
2. Use flags to avoid ambushes – Attach a large flag to give approaching enemies less chance to surprise-attack you.
3. Rotate armor sets per biome – Heat/cold weather skins prevent incremental health damage in deserts/tundras.
4. Match mount speed to skills – Faster mounts help land abilities for mobile builds. Tankier mounts allow casting sustained spells.
Mastering these advanced tactics takes considerable practice. But elevates your Horadrim rank substantially! Veterans distinguish themselves through combat-ready mounts, and now you can too.
That concludes my ultimate guide on acquiring your perfect battle-ready mount in Diablo 4! Let me know which exotic mount you‘re working towards unlocking down below!
