Unlocking mounts in Diablo 4 won’t require you to beat the game’s campaign. That’s the good news from Blizzard’s very own Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson, following some confusion around how getting access to Diablo 4 mounts would work. A prior blog post discussing customisation options in the RPG game had implied that your first Diablo 4 horse might not be available until after full campaign completion, but that’s not the case.
“It actually happens as part of the questline during the campaign,” Fergusson clarifies in a Twitter response to a Kotaku article reporting that mounts would be off-limits until finishing the game’s campaign. Diablo community manager Adam ‘PezRadar’ Fletcher adds, “We updated our Play Your Way blog to help clarify some questions related to mounts and when these become available.”
Unfortunately, the exact timing on the mount is still a bit of a tease, as the updated post simply describes them as being “Unlocked through completing a questline as you progress naturally through the main story campaign.” While mount-related vendors were visible in the Diablo 4 beta, we didn’t get access to mounts during the act one early access period, which suggests that they might not unlock until a bit further through.
By comparison, Lost Ark hands the player a horse almost immediately upon arriving in the first town. However, I might actually prefer Blizzard’s approach here – Diablo 4 is already emphasising a focus on actually paying attention to the locations you explore around Sanctuary by removing the action-RPG staple that is the overlay map, so encouraging players to wander around on foot more during their first adventure makes sense.
Looking to spruce up your mount’s appearance right out the gate? The upcoming Diablo 4 server slam event gives you a chance to unlock the Cry of Ashava Mount Trophy, which places one of the world boss’s giant horns on your horse’s flank. You’ll have to work hard to get it though, as you’ll need to both hit level 20 and defeat Ashava during the server slam period (meaning it’ll be harder than during the previous beta tests, which capped at level 25).
With the Diablo 4 release date looming ever closer, make sure you’re up to speed on all the Diablo 4 classes available at launch so you can pick a favourite, and ensure your PC meets up to the game’s hellish demands by checking the Diablo 4 system requirements now so you have time to squeeze in any upgrades.