Elden Ring horse: How to unlock the horse and how Torrent works explained

How to unlock the horse in Elden Ring explained

As we mentioned, the Elden Ring horse is not available from the get-go. Once you’re out into the world, you must look for Sites of Grace, which are Elden Ring’s equivalent to Dark Souls’ bonfires.

In order to unlock the horse in Elden Ring, you need to have activated at least three Sites of Grace beforehand. Then, make sure to rest on the fourth you stumble upon. For us, the order was: Stranded Graveyard, The First Step, Church of Elleh, Groveside Cave and Gatefront, but any four will do.

It’s unsure whether or not you can just unlock this meeting if you only rest in Gatefront, for example, or if you can skip the Site of Grace in the Groveside Cave altogether (which is a dungeon and not a key location). But if you get to Gatefront and the cutscene doesn’t happen, make sure to revisit your steps in case you missed any of the aforementioned Sites of Grace.

If you’re wondering where Gatefront is, you only need to head north (looking at the map as reference) from where you start the game. After exiting to the outside and activating the Site of Grace called The First Step (where that NPC is), keep heading forward and you will stumble upon the locations we mentioned. After the Church of Elleh, there is a main road that serves as a path.

Once you get to Gatefront, the character Melina will pay you a visit for the first time (if she doesn’t, try in the next available Site of Grace after Gatefront). She’s one of the key characters in the game, providing you with lore snippets of the world as well as allowing you to level up your stats.

During this first visit she will grant you a ring called Spectral Steed Whistle. This allows to summon the horse, called Torrent.

If you’re wondering how the horse works both in combat and during free roam, jump (or gallop?) to the next section.

How Torrent works in Elden Ring

It’s highly likely that Torrent will quickly become your travel partner in Elden Ring. The horse allows for greater mobility than we’re used to in FromSoftware games, which is even more so important with the vastness of this new open world.

From the get-go, aside from increasing your overall speed, Torrent can double jump. This allows for more verticality during your exploration – if you happen to find treasure above ground or you’re just trying to escape from an enemy group, this is your go-to. There are also certain points on the map where you can perform a super jump.

Speaking of enemies, you can also use Torrent during combat. Mounted combat in Elden Ring is pretty different to regular encounters – you can only use your right hand weapon (during the network test, at least!) and it also allows for spells. That being said, it’s definitely worth practising with smaller enemies before trying to take down bosses on your horse.

Torrent may be ethereal, but not eternal. Your horse can take damage during combat and, if depleted completely, will die. Don’t worry though, as you can summon them back again at any time with two methods (at least from what we gathered during our time with the network test):

• Resting at a Site of Grace
• Using one of your Health Flasks to bring them back immediately

That’s all you need to know about Torrent – now go, let the legend come back to life!