Elden Ring, you sneaky sausage, clandestine chorizo and, possibly, underhand cumberland! In keeping with Shadow Of The Erdtree’s tradition of hiding entire new systems behind tucked-away items, a hidden NPC quest in the DLC gives you access to a special raisin that allows Torrent. your steed, to charge your foes with its big fat forehead. A delicious ‘fruit and nut’ bar, if you will.
The Spirit Raisin is an item you’ll first need to grab a certain cookbook to craft, so do have a gander at Keira’s guide to Moore’s quest if you’re curious. Craft the raisin, feed it to your spectral steed, and you’ll grant torrent to ability to yackety-smack into foes, knocking them back during galloping. It doesn’t do any damage to speak of, but it does stop you getting mobbed as you saunter about the land of shadow.
Also, it’s just nice to see Torrent getting in on the action. Personally, I’d have added a makeshift saddle with two of those greatbolt jar cannons on either side, but I am not a famous gamesmaker. I am simply a man, looking at a spirit yak, asking very nicely if someone will make a mod that lets it wear a very small mech suit.
May as well go out with a bang, right? Especially as this could be the last time we even get a mount in a FromSoft game, since it doesn’t sound like more open worlds are on the cards for the developer. “Where FromSoftware is right now, in terms of scale, I would say Elden Ring is really the limit,” Miyazaki said recently. “We’ve tapped every resource and talent that we have access to… scaling it even bigger, I’d have my concerns.”
Ah, but you see Miyazaki, you already have Armored Core VI, do you not? Anyone who complains about ‘asset flips’ when the end result is giving your yak a mech suit is not someone worth taking seriously. It wouldn’t even be the first time someone tried something so foolish, yet so utterly sublime. Until then, at least we have the headbutt raisin. I relate, Torrent, I honestly do. If someone tried to feed me a raisin in lieu of the infinite better snack options available, I’d want to wreck shop too.