Kal Online has two mount systems. The regular riding animals are for travel. The battle horses are a separate system that changes how your character fights, and most of the players I see in Castle Siege are still using regular horses because they never looked into the battle horse mechanics.
The four grades
Battle horses come in four grades: Normal, Uncommon, Rare, and Epic.[1][2] You start with Normal or Uncommon and upgrade through the combine system. Epic is the endgame grade and the only one that removes all skill restrictions while riding.[2]
Getting your first battle horse
There are four battle horse items, each bought from a different currency:[2]
- Horse: bought with zamogeon from John at the Temporary Fort of Geum-Ohee Castle
- Wild battle horse: bought with zamogeon from the same NPC
- Black horse: bought with reward points from Charles
- Assault captain's battle horse: bought with reward points from Charles
- Premium battle horse (brave captain's battle horse): bought with jewels from Edmund, the battle horse manager
The combine system
You combine two identical battle horses to upgrade to a higher grade. The rules are specific:[2]
- Same type horses can use any same-grade or lower-grade horse as material
- Different type horses can only be used as material if they are Rare grade or higher
- You can get up to 6 random abilities on a battle horse, depending on grade
- Random abilities can be re-rolled with the Egg of the Golden Dragon item
Battle horse equipment
Battle horses have five equipment slots: helmet, armor, saddle, saddle cloth, and magnet.[1] These are separate from your character equipment and only work while you are riding the battle horse.
Equipment effects depend on satiety. Satiety decreases as the horse takes hits from skills and normal attacks. When satiety hits zero, you stay mounted but the equipment effects drop.[1] You refill satiety with honor points or jewels.
Equipment can be enhanced up to +10. Enhancement has two failure types:[1]
- Fail: you lose the enhancement materials and zamogeons, but the equipment stays
- Critical fail: the equipment is destroyed along with the materials
First grade equipment comes from the exchange shop with Charles at the Temporary Fort of Geum-Ohee Castle.[1] You upgrade 10-enhanced equipment to the next grade. Upgrade failure costs the upgrade materials and zamogeons but does not destroy the equipment.[1]
What riding a battle horse does to your skills
Riding a battle horse restricts which skills you can use. The restrictions are class-specific and there is a common list that applies to everyone.[2]
Common restrictions while riding: resurrection, superior rush, divine movement, and transformation skills are blocked.[2]
Class restrictions:[2]
- Knight: rush, walk on the air, run, rest, artillery transformation
- Magician: purification
- Archer: emergency escape, sharpness, search
- Thief: sting, hiding, wrath of heaven, haunted
- Shaman: liberation
- Sword Trickster: control blade, mind sword master, concentration enhancement (mind sword)
Where battle horses matter
Battle horses can be ridden in PvP content including Castle War, and they do not dismount when you move to a town.[2] This is the key difference from regular riding animals. A regular horse is for getting from point A to point B. A battle horse is a combat mount that happens to also be fast.
The satiety system means the horse degrades during extended fights. If you are planning a long Castle Siege session, you need honor points or jewels available to keep the equipment effects active. A battle horse with zero satiety is just a fast regular horse.
Sources
[1] GameAgit Kal Online guide: Battle Horse
[2] Kal Online official guide: War Horse system