Read our exclusive interview with Palia’s Director of Production about the Palia mounts, and how the game is expanding here.
Palia getting mounts is a fulfillment of a long-requested feature. The Royal Highlands is a turning point in the cozy MMO, with faster traversal and different map design. Palia mounts are the latest gameplay update in the new expansion, which adds one more adventure zone, the Royal Highlands.
Developer Singularity 6’s patch notes for Patch 0.202 released a lot of information about the Palia mounts system and how it interacts with other mechanics in the game, and how players can start their horse journey. We’ve pulled together everything you need to know about the new mounts, the horses you can get, and what you can expect from this traversal upgrade.
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To read the full Patch 0.202 notes, you can head here. But for highlights of what’s coming with the new mount system, see below.
What are the new mounts in Palia: The Royal Highlands?
The new mounts aren’t just here for traversal; they’re also helping flesh out the history of Ancient Humans in this cozy MMO. Once thought lost to time, the discovery of the Royal Highlands has brought them back to Palia. For the first time in thousands of years, you can ride a horse across the open spaces of Palia.
Each of the available Palia mounts is a horse based on real-world breeds. While the Dawnspur is available right off the bat, the Akwindu is unlocked by accumulating horse traits through breeding.
Horse Breeds in Palia:
- Dawnspur: Every player will meet a Dawnspur, a breed inspired by the American Quarter Horse, once favored by Ancient Human royalty and originally bred by the Mudan.
- Akwindu Thoroughbred: This Arabian-inspired breed is unlocked by collecting a wide variety of horse traits through breeding. Riding access is granted via the Riding License that comes exclusively in the Highlands Supporter Packs.
- Phoenixfire Dawnspur: For those seeking something even rarer, the Phoenixfire Dawnspur is a mythical variant said to be touched by the Phoenix itself. Can be obtained by progressing through Binnie’s side quests in the Royal Highlands, with riding unlocked via the Riding License purchased in the Premium Store.
How to unlock Palia mounts:
When players first arrive in the Royal Highlands, they have the opportunity to pick up a quest that introduces them to their first horse. This quest is available upon entering the Royal Highlands and is not tied to the main story, meaning that it can be completed immediately, and without the rest of the story content. Finishing the quest rewards players with their very first horse and lets them start horse ranching.
The quest also allows you to engage with horse ranching, allowing you to purchase, breed, and raise additional horses with both new cosmetic and functional traits. Because of this, players should make sure to have completed Elderwood so that the stables are available for usage.
Ranching is critical to engaging with Palia mounts to the fullest. Horse ranching will allow players to purchase, breed, and raise additional horses with new cosmetic and functional traits. Horses you breed can be ridden once fully grown.
What to expect from horse ranching in Palia?
When players stable their horses, they will have the ability to breed their dream horse mount. Like other ranching animals, horses can display a variety of visual traits, ranging from realistic coats to rarer, more fantastical ones that arise through breeding.
When stabled, the horses also produce resources with breed-specific variations:
- Dawnspurs drop Weed Blocker, Water Retention, Star Quality Booster, Harvest Booster, and Growth Booster Fertilizer.
- Akwindu Thoroughbreds also drop the same resources as Dawnspurs, in higher quality but lower quantity.
- Phoenixfire Dawnspurs produce a variety of spicy foods.
Are there Palia mount buffs?
Yes, there are! Stabled horses can also generate and inherit functional traits that impact behavior and performance. The traits are often paired together.
Traits include:
- Wild: Horses move faster but will turn slightly slower than without the trait
- Bulldozers: Horses move quickly with reduced turning ability
- Marathoners: Horses manage their stamina but move a little slower than without the trait
- Steady: Better at managing stamina, slightly worse at turning
- Fancy Feet: Better at turning, but is slightly slower than without the trait
Are there breeding buffs for Horse Ranching?
While the functional traits themselves work as buffs for Palia mounts, players can also get buffs from Horse Treats, which influence breeding outcomes (similar to Chocobo breeding in FFXIV).
- Rider’s Pedigree Cookie: Increases the likelihood that riding traits will be passed down to offspring.
- Rider’s Reroll Cookie: Allows you to replace riding traits on a horse, useful if your mount is too unruly or not unruly enough.
- Rider’s Trait Cookie: Increases the chance that new riding traits will spontaneously appear, giving advanced breeders even more control over their stable’s potential.
Riding is designed to feel both grounded and approachable, so you can comfortably navigate the world while soaking in the scenery and enjoying every hoofbeat of the journey.
How to customize your riding experience:
The mount system in Palia is different from that of others out there. The developers shared that riding a horse in Palia was designed to feel both “realistic and accessible.” Horses in Palia move through multiple gaits, including walking, trotting, cantering, galloping, and springing, with your full control over acceleration and direction.
Stamina dictates your horse’s speed and gait, and it can be replenished by riding through the glowing Flow Sparks in the Royal Highlands. Running out of stamina will automatically reduce your horse’s speed back to gallop. In the Patch 0.202 notes, Singularity 6 also shared the specific customizations that players can interact with set their mount up just right for them.
Customizations to riding are listed below:
- Steering and Camera: By default, the camera turns with your horse, but you can change this to manual, fully automatic, or hybrid modes in settings.
- Menu Behavior: Horses will pause automatically when you open menus, such as dialogue or the map. However, we realize some players may want to keep riding while menus are open, such as the map. You can adjust this to keep your horse moving while interacting with menus.
- Speed Control: Tap up and down to finely adjust speed, or hold up to move as fast as possible. Holding S (or holding down on the left stick) will stop your horse quickly.
- Stamina and UI: A user interface element near your horse shows current speed, controls, and stamina, similar to the climbing meter. You can disable this in the Menu if you prefer a more scenic ride.
- Collision and Jumping: If your horse hits an obstacle, it will buckle and stop. Horses can also jump, adding another layer of mobility to your travels.
Where can you ride your mount in Palia?
Horses can be ridden in your housing plot and in the open-world areas of the game. Still, there are a few places where mount riding is restricted. The Village Center, Underground, and certain private spaces will restrict the use of mounts.
