Highlights

  • Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree expansion introducing mount customization is unlikely and unconfirmed, but it would add a fun layer to the game's 'fashion souls' concept.
  • The Torrent mount in Elden Ring is useful for traversal and can even aid in boss fights, providing players with a new approach to combat.
  • The debut of mount cosmetics could allow players to customize the appearance of their mounts, further enhancing the personalization and creativity of Elden Ring and Soulslikes.

Elden Ring has a hotly anticipated expansion arriving at some point and though it’s presumably been in development for a while already it’s seemingly no closer to coming out. There’s still no release date for Shadow of the Erdtree and the likelihood of such an announcement only increases with each passing day, but in the meantime there’s a lot to speculate about what it could look like and what it could contribute to Elden Ring as a whole. Theorycrafting has already been underway for Shadow of the Erdtree concerning the singular image shared for it thus far, but gameplay is another aspect entirely.

Elden Ring brought crafting and an open world to FromSoftware’s Soulslike formula among other inspired features and it feels appropriately distinct as a result. Many of its new mechanics are admittedly optional, with players able to go through Elden Ring’s enormously vast Lands Between without ever needing to salvage resources to craft a recipe. Maneuvering through Elden Ring is far different than traversing Dark Souls or Bloodborne, though, and a big part of that is an entire mount system, which is in dire need of its own customization to help it contribute to FromSoftware’s creative ‘fashion souls.’

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Elden Ring’s Torrent Mount is Sorely Lacking in Soulslike Customization

Elden Ring’s Mount is a Means of Traversal and Little More

Elden Ring’s Torrent mount is a superb alternative to simply sprinting around in the open world, particularly when biomes mire players in some horrible terrain that is more perilous to wade through. That said, Torrent becomes unavailable as soon as players are indoors, making on-foot traversal necessary in a lot of cases anyhow.

Torrent is essential in helping cut down on travel time while outdoors, then, and can even aid players in certain boss fights by allowing players to ride around a colossal enemy and hack at their legs before darting away to a safe distance again, such as in Elden Ring’s early Flying Dragon Agheel fight in Limgrave. Of course, players have the choice once again of whether they wish to engage in these battles while dismounted or not, but it offers at least a bit of variety in how bosses and enemies can be approached in the open world.

Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree Should Debut Mount Cosmetics

Shadow of the Erdtree now has the opportunity to extend FromSoftware’s ‘fashion souls’ customization catalog of gear to Torrent. Such gear may not have stats in the same way that ordinary attire has in Soulslikes and expecting mount gear to have lore-related descriptions would probably be a big ask, but seeing alternate skins for Torrent would be incredible nonetheless.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice added late cosmetic-only skins for Wolf that were locked behind Gauntlet paths, for example, so it is not out of the realm of possibility that Torrent could receive skins similarly in Elden Ring ’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC.

Likewise, not many Soulslike players ever truly choose their outfits based on their range of stats, but on how their makeshift outfit may look when they’ve paired together garments from unique sets. This sort of an emergent debut is unlikely if it wasn’t meaningful, though if mounts are going to become more common in future FromSoftware games it would be neat to see decorative looks for mounts to be fashioned with nonetheless.

Even if these cosmetics were repurposed takes on gear players acquire for their avatar, it could at least give players the option to have their mount look as spectacular as them. Shadow of the Erdtree will almost assuredly reprise Torrent or some variation on the mount if it features an open world, and depending on what is added or neglected for the mount in this expansion may determine whether FromSoftware cares to pursue mount customization and other related features or not.

At this point, such customization wouldn’t be necessary. Either way, it could add a fun layer that builds upon Soulslikes’ established ‘fashion souls’ creativity and personalization, especially if mount cosmetics could be procured from fallen foes who were also fought while astride their own steeds and represented those mounts’ aesthetic.