Like most open-world RPGs, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War has plenty to do, as well as lots of areas to explore. While you’re more than welcome to run around on foot the whole time, learning how to get yourself a mount is going to make getting around much easier in the long run. Of course, getting a mount isn’t going to be easy, and today we’ll go over all of the information you need to know to unlock the mount skill in Shadow of War, and how to dominate your first mount in the game.
How to Get a Mount
In order to unlock the mount skill you’ll need to open up the Character Menu from the pause screen. Here you’ll see all the skills that you can unlock for Talion in Shadow of War, which you’ll want to peruse quite thoroughly throughout your playing time in the game. The skill that you’re going to be looking for is called Mounted, and it can be located down at the bottom of the skill trees. It includes the follow skills
- Caragor Rider – Allows you to dominate and ride a Caragor.
- Graug Rider – Allows you to dominate and ride a Graug.
- Call Mount – Allows you to call a mount—such as a Dominated Caragor—to your side.
- Shadow Mount – Allows you to instantly mount a broken Graug, Caragor, or Drake.
- Dragon Rider – Lets you dominate and ride a broken Drake.
It’s also worth taking into account the fact that each of these skills also includes various upgrades that you can pick up to fit your playing style, and each skill has its own limitations. Make sure to remember that the Shadow Mount skill cannot be used to mount a Drake until after you have unlocked the Dragon Rider skill. It will however allow you to Shadow Mount a Caragor and a Graug, as you unlock those skills before you get the Shadow Mount skill.
Once you have the appropriate skills unlocked, it’s time to find a mount that you have the skill level to break and mount. Make sure you’re choosing a mount that you have the skill unlocked for. Otherwise, you’re just going to have a hard time breaking the mount and being able to ride it. In order to break a mount, you’re going to need to damage it a little bit. This will weaken its resolve. The easiest way to do this on Caragors is to use your Elf-Shot attack from a distance. Once broken, approach the creature and follow the button prompts that appear onscreen to mount it and take control of it.
The mount that you like best depends on your playstyle. Personally we’ve found success riding the Caragor, as it allows us to focus on ranged attacks with our Elf-Shot. When first looking into unlocking mounts, don’t rush into things. Take a moment, consider the skills, and then slowly move deeper into them as you unlock new mount possibilities.
Now that you know how to unlock mounts, be sure to head back over to our Shadow of War guide for more helpful and in-depth guides into the open-world action of Monolith’s latest RPG.
