Kal Online Battle Horse system: the four grades, how Combine works, and what riding locks down

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Quick Summary

• Battle Horses come in four grades: Normal, Uncommon, Rare and Epic.
• You raise the grade through Combine, feeding other horses to the one you keep.
• The mount effect only applies while you are actually riding the horse.
• Riding blocks a job-specific list of skills, and it blocks fishing and item drops.
• An Epic Battle Horse lifts almost all of those restrictions, leaving only the speed up skill blocked.
• Battle horse equipment has five slots, and its effects scale with satiety, which drains as the horse takes hits from skills.

The four grades

Battle Horses have four grades from Normal to Epic, and the grade is raised through Combine. A horse only gives you its mount effect while you are riding it, so a high grade sitting in your inventory does nothing until you are in the saddle.

Battle Horses can be ridden in PvP content including Castle War, and you are not dismounted when you move to a town. You can inspect your Battle Horse and its equipment through the Riding UI, which opens with the E shortcut key.

How Combine works

1. If you have several identical Battle Horses, you can upgrade one to a higher grade by combining the others into it.
2. Same type horses can be used as material at the same grade or lower.
3. Different type horses can only be used as material if they are Rare grade or higher.
4. The upgrade is not guaranteed to add new random abilities, so treat it as a grade change first and an ability roll second.

Random abilities

Each horse carries random abilities, and the official guide lists how many you get per grade:

• Normal: 1 random ability
• Uncommon: 1 random ability
• Rare: 2 random abilities
• Epic: 2 random abilities

The abilities themselves are drawn from a long pool that includes Strength, Health, Intelligence, Wisdom, Agility, HP, MP, OTP, evasion, DEF, Absorption, PvP Attack, PvP DEF, PvE ATK, PvE DEF, Critical Hit Evasion Rate, Critical Hit Damage Reduction Rate, Explosive Blow Evasion Rate, Survival rate, Skill Casting Time Reduction Rate, and PvP status effect hit and evasion rates. Random abilities can be unlocked and reset using the Egg of the Golden Dragon item, which sits in the Rest tab.

One thing worth knowing before you trust the numbers: the page's own summary text says you can obtain up to 6 random abilities, while the table it publishes lists 1, 1, 2 and 2. The 6 almost certainly includes the collection abilities described further down the page, which you unlock by owning specific combinations of horses. Read the per grade list above as the limit for a single horse, and the collection list as the extra layer on top.

What riding locks down

Riding a Battle Horse blocks skills that depend on your job:

• Knight: Rush, Walk on the Air, Run, Rest, Artillery Transformation Skills, Revival, Advanced Rush
• Magician: Purification
• Archer: Emergency Escape, Sharpness, Search
• Thief: Sting, Hiding, Wrath of Heaven, Haunted
• Shaman: Liberation
• SwordTrickster: Control Blade I, Mind Sword Master, Concentration Enhancement - Mind Sword

Riding also blocks fishing and item drops. The restriction that matters most is the one that disappears: when you ride an Epic Battle Horse the skill restrictions are lifted and you can use every skill except the speed up skill.

Equipment and satiety

Battle horse equipment comes in five parts: helmet, armor, saddle, saddle cloth and magnet. Their effects only apply while you are riding, and they change depending on satiety.

Satiety is the resource that keeps the equipment working. It decreases based on the number of hits the horse takes from skill use, and it can be recharged by consuming honor points or jewels. Riding the horse is maintained even at zero satiety, but the equipment effects scale up with the satiety you put in, so an empty horse is a weaker horse.

Enchanting and upgrading the equipment has real failure states:

• Equipment can be enchanted up to level 10.
• A failed enchant destroys the enchant materials and the zamogeons.
• A critical failed enchant also destroys the equipment itself.
• Only level 10 equipment can be upgraded to the next grade.
• A failed upgrade deducts only the upgrade materials and the zamogeons, and leaves the equipment in place.

The NPCs who handle upgrades and enchanting are the horse sellers Charles and John, located at the Temporary Fort of Geum-Oh Castle.

FAQ

Q: Do I get the mount effect while the horse is in my inventory?
A: No. You must be riding the Battle Horse for the effect to apply.

Q: Can I use a different type horse as Combine material?
A: Only if it is Rare grade or higher. Same type horses work at the same grade or lower.

Q: Which skill stays blocked on an Epic Battle Horse?
A: The speed up skill. Everything else is available.

Q: What happens when satiety hits zero?
A: You keep riding, but the equipment effects drop. Recharge with honor points or jewels.

Q: Where do I enchant and upgrade the equipment?
A: From the horse seller NPCs Charles and John at the Temporary Fort of Geum-Oh Castle.

Sources
GameAgit: Battle Horse System guide
GameAgit: Kal Online Powerbook update notes
GameAgit: Kal Online official portal