Core Keeper Mounts Guide: How to Saddle Every Cattle Type
Core Keeper's Riders of the Underground lets you saddle any cattle into a mount — here's how to craft the Saddle, find all seven types, and use the Hookshot.
Core Keeper's Riders of the Underground update finally lets you stop walking everywhere. Version 1.3.0.1, a free update out now, turns any wandering cattle into a rideable mount with a single craftable item, and throws in a grappling-hook tool for the pits and chasms a mount can't cross. It's a co-op-friendly change too — Core Keeper supports up to eight players in one world, and every explorer can craft and saddle their own mount independently, so a full server doesn't have to bottleneck around a single boat or minecart line. Here's exactly what you need to craft, where to find every mount, and how the new Hookshot works.
01Riders of the Underground at a Glance
Riders of the Underground is the first stop on Pugstorm's "Road to the Maw" roadmap, a series of major content updates building toward a reveal of what lies beyond Breaker's Reach. Alongside the mount and Hookshot systems covered here, 1.3.0.1 adds a new Moss sub-biome, three new weapons, a new Scepter weapon type for the Warlock playstyle, three new pets, and a long list of balance changes across the Melee, Ranged and Magic skill trees. A follow-up hotfix, 1.3.0.2, landed the next day to fix a drill power-tick bug affecting circuitry builds, so update if your automated setups have been misbehaving.
02How to Unlock the Livestock Workbench and Craft a Saddle
Mounts run through a new crafting station called the Livestock Workbench. Build one at a Basic Workbench for 8 Wood, 2 Copper Bar and 1 Fiber — all materials you'll have within your first hour. Once it's placed, you can craft everything the update's ranching systems revolve around:
| Item | Materials | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Saddle | 8 Iron Bar, 3 Tin Bar, 8 Fiber | Turns an adult cattle into a mount at 95% run speed |
| Racing Saddle | 12 Solarite Bar, 5 Gold Bar, 8 Fiber | Upgraded mount speed, 110% of run speed |
| Leash | 8 Fiber | Hurries an unsaddled cattle along on foot |
| Cattle Transport Box | 6 Plank, 2 Tin Bar, 3 Iron Bar | Moves a cattle between bases |
| Feeding Tray | 10 Wood, 5 Copper Bar | Keeps cattle fed near a pen |
None of this requires late-game materials — Iron and Tin Bar are both available from the early caves, so a first Saddle is realistically a same-session goal once you've got a smelter running.
03Where to Find Each of Core Keeper's Seven Mounts
There's no separate taming grind — cattle you find in the wild are saddle-ready as soon as they're grown. Each of the seven mount types spawns in specific biomes, so knowing where to look saves a lot of wandering:
- Moolin — the Meadows sub-biome, inside the Dirt Biome and Azeos' Wilderness
- Bambuck — also the Meadows sub-biome
- Strolly Poly — The Forgotten Ruins and The Desert of Beginnings
- Dodo — Azeos' Wilderness and The Desert of Beginnings
- Drohmble — The Desert of Beginnings
- Kelple — The Sunken Sea
- Orex — the new Moss sub-biome, found inside The Forgotten Ruins
Orex is the update's new addition, and Pugstorm was careful to head off the obvious first impression: "Don't let its raptor-like appearance fool you, Orexes aren't interested in hunting big game — they prefer to spend their time scarfing down insects and snuffling Moorshrooms!" It only spawns in the Moss sub-biome, so if you've already cleared the surface-level Forgotten Ruins, you'll need to dig further into its damp, overgrown pockets to find one. The Moss sub-biome itself is new to 1.3 as well, described as a dark, humid pocket that stands out visually from the dry stone around the rest of the Ruins — a useful landmark if you're not sure whether you've actually found it yet.
04Picking the Right Mount for Where You're Headed
Since every Saddle works the same way mechanically, the real choice is which biome's cattle you tame first. If you're still clearing the Dirt Biome and Azeos' Wilderness, a Moolin or Bambuck from the Meadows sub-biome is the fastest to reach and the safest to reel in. Heading into The Desert of Beginnings for its ore and ruins means a Dodo or Drohmble saves you from its long, open sightlines where enemies can spot you from a distance. The Sunken Sea is the odd one out — a Kelple lets you cross its shallow channels without building a boat first, though you'll still want one for the deeper water. Once you've reached the Moss pocket inside The Forgotten Ruins, grabbing an Orex rounds out the set and gives you a mount native to one of the update's more dangerous new areas.
05How to Saddle Up, Rename and Customize Your Mount
Getting on a mount is deliberately simple: approach a cattle of the type you want and use the Saddle directly on it, the same way you'd apply a tool. No feeding sequence, no capture minigame. Once saddled, the animal is rideable until you remove the item again, at which point it reverts to ordinary cattle.
How to Get Your First Mount
- 1Place a Basic Workbench first if you don't have one, then craft the Livestock Workbench for 8 Wood, 2 Copper Bar and 1 Fiber.5 min
- 2At the Livestock Workbench, craft a Saddle for 8 Iron Bar, 3 Tin Bar and 8 Fiber.5 min
- 3Head to the biome that matches the cattle you want — Meadows for Moolin and Bambuck, the Desert of Beginnings for Dodo and Drohmble, the Sunken Sea for Kelple, and the Moss sub-biome inside the Forgotten Ruins for Orex.10 min
- 4Approach the cattle and use the Saddle on it directly, the same way you'd use any tool.1 min
- 5Open your inventory while mounted to rename your mount and set its behavior for when you're not riding.1 min
- 6Once you're smelting Solarite Bar and Gold Bar, craft a Racing Saddle for 12 Solarite Bar, 5 Gold Bar and 8 Fiber to boost mount speed from 95% to 110%.15 min
- 7Equip a Hookshot in your off-hand to grapple across pits, chasms and water that your mount can't cross.varies
Opening your inventory while mounted pulls up a dedicated Saddle UI, where you can rename your mount and adjust how it behaves when you're not riding it — useful if you'd rather it stay near a pen than wander into a Caveling camp. One 1.3 change worth knowing: cattle, minecarts, boats and chairs all now require line of sight to interact with, so if a wall is between you and your mount, you won't be able to climb on until you can actually see it. If you decide you want a different species later, just pull the Saddle back off and place it on another grown cattle.
06Racing Saddle: When the Speed Upgrade Is Worth Crafting
The base Saddle moves your mount at 95% of your normal run speed — already a convenience for exploring, but not a straight upgrade over sprinting on foot. The Racing Saddle pushes that to 110%, which is where mounts start actually saving you time on long trips between biomes. The catch is the cost: 12 Solarite Bar and 5 Gold Bar put it well past early game, since Solarite only starts dropping once you're fighting through the mid-game caves. Treat the standard Saddle as your starting option and upgrade once you're smelting Solarite regularly.
07The New Hookshot: Core Keeper's Grappling Hook
The Hookshot fills the gap mounts can't: crossing pits, chasms and stretches of water without a boat. Equipped in your off-hand, it functions like a grappling hook, latching onto a solid wall and pulling you toward it, and it doubles as a mining tool that adds bonus mining damage as you upgrade it. There are two variants in 1.3 — a standard Hookshot and a longer-range Gilded Hookshot — both usable alongside any mount, so you can ride to the edge of a chasm and hook across without dismounting first, then keep it equipped afterward since its mining damage bonus is worth upgrading over time rather than swapping back to a plain pickaxe. As the official announcement put it: "the more daring among you might enjoy swinging around the underground using the new Hookshot, which functions similarly to a grappling hook by latching onto solid surfaces like walls and pulling the player over pits and water."
Riders of the Underground is also just the opening move on that wider roadmap — Trials of the Depths (1.4) and Beyond the Breach (1.5) are both confirmed to follow, continuing the build-up toward the Maw. For now, though, mounts and the Hookshot are the two additions actually worth rearranging your playstyle around.
It's the moment you've been waiting for, Explorers ✨ #CoreKeeper's 1.3 update, Riders of the Underground, is out now! Travel across the underground on rideable mounts, uncover the new Moss sub-biome, jump over chasms with the new Hookshot...and more!
— Core Keeper (@CoreKeeperGame) on X
If you've been putting off exploring the deeper biomes because of how long walking takes, this is the patch that fixes it. Grab a Saddle, find the mount that matches the terrain you're heading into, and keep a Hookshot in your off-hand for whatever gap it can't jump.
FAQ
Do I need to tame cattle before saddling them?
No. Riders of the Underground skips a separate taming step — approach a grown cattle in the wild and use the Saddle on it directly to start riding.
How many mount types are in Core Keeper 1.3?
Seven: Moolin, Bambuck, Strolly Poly, Dodo, Drohmble, Kelple, and the new Orex, each tied to a specific biome or sub-biome.
What's the difference between the Saddle and Racing Saddle?
The base Saddle moves your mount at 95% of your run speed; the Racing Saddle, which costs 12 Solarite Bar, 5 Gold Bar and 8 Fiber, raises that to 110%.
Can I still use boats and minecarts with mounts?
Yes. Mounts, boats, minecarts and go-karts all exist alongside each other — a Kelple mount is handy on land near the Sunken Sea, but you'll still want a boat for deep water.
Where do I find the new Hookshot?
The Hookshot is a new off-hand item introduced in 1.3.0.1; equip it to grapple onto walls and pull yourself over pits, chasms and water.
Official resources
Jonas runs the guides desk at Tutorial.Games. He replays every route, build and boss strategy on the current patch before it goes up, and re-checks it when the developer ships a balance update. Soulslikes, co-op action games and anything with a build planner.
