Core Keeper 1.3 Riders of the Underground: Every New Feature

Core Keeper's biggest update since launch is live. Pugstorm shipped version 1.3.0.1, "Riders of the Underground," on September 21, adding a full mount system, a new sub-biome, and a mobility tool that changes how you move through the caverns below the Core. The update is free for everyone who already owns the game on PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch.

01What's in the Riders of the Underground update

The headline feature is mounts. Every domesticated cattle type in Core Keeper can now be ridden once you craft a Saddle or the faster Racing Saddle and equip it on an adult animal. A Saddle moves you at 95% of your normal on-foot speed while the Racing Saddle bumps that to 110%, so a mounted Racing Saddle run is your fastest way to cross open cave floors without burning stamina on movement scrolls or the Sprint skill.

A new cattle type, Orex, joins the returning Moolin, Bambuck and Dodo lines as a mountable animal. Orex hatchlings and adults both appear in the update's new sub-biome, so you'll need to breed and raise your own before you can saddle one up.

02New Moss sub-biome and the Hookshot

Riders of the Underground adds a Moss sub-biome tucked into the corners of the Forgotten Ruins, layering lush green growth over the Ruins' stone architecture. It brings its own resource set, cooking ingredients including Moorshroom and Orex Truffle, and two new hostile creatures, Wingling and Searpent, to defend it.

The second major traversal tool is the Hookshot, an off-hand item that pulls you toward a wall so you can cross chasms and gaps without laying down bridge tiles first. A Gilded Hookshot variant is also in the update for players who want the upgraded version. Between mounts for horizontal speed and the Hookshot for vertical and gap-crossing mobility, exploring the deeper biomes should take noticeably less backtracking than before.

03Combat and class changes

Summoning got a durability pass alongside the content additions. Minions no longer expire on a timer — they now persist indefinitely — and the skill tree gained two new talents built around that permanence, letting Summoning players commit to a minion loadout instead of re-casting on a clock.

The update also adds a new ranged weapon, the Sniper Rifle, plus several magic staffs and scepters that use curse mechanics, and fresh armor sets including Warrior, Moss, Bomb Scarab and Skirmisher gear. A wider spread of necklaces and rings with set bonuses rounds out the new accessory options, giving min-maxers more build paths to test against the Moss biome's new enemies.

Pet collectors also get new options: three additional pets, Azeos Jr., Hoppet and Cattiva, each ship with their own egg variant, so you can hatch and raise them the same way you would any other Core Keeper companion. None of the new pets are mountable — that ability is still limited to the cattle line and the Saddle system described above.

04Road to the Maw: what comes after 1.3

Pugstorm has framed Riders of the Underground as the first of three connected releases under the banner "Road to the Maw." Version 1.4, Trials of the Depths, and version 1.5, Beyond the Breach, are both planned as the next steps in that arc, though Pugstorm hasn't attached release windows to either one yet — treat any specific dates you see elsewhere as unconfirmed until the studio posts them.

If you've been away from Core Keeper since its 1.0 launch in August 2024, this is a reasonable point to jump back in: the mount system and Hookshot change basic movement enough that even fully explored worlds feel faster to get around. Because Riders of the Underground is a free update rather than paid DLC, it applies automatically to every existing save on every platform — there's no separate purchase or edition to track down before your world updates to 1.3.0.1.

Multiplayer worlds update the same way single-player ones do. If you run a dedicated server for your group, update it alongside your own client so everyone is on 1.3.0.1 before you head back underground together.

05How to update and get started with mounts

• Core Keeper updates automatically through Steam, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch storefronts — restart the game client if it hasn't already pulled version 1.3.0.1.
• Craft a Saddle or Racing Saddle at your workbench, then use it directly on an adult cattle you already own or one you've tamed.
• Breed an Orex pair in the Moss sub-biome if you want the update's new mount type rather than a returning Moolin, Bambuck or Dodo.
• Pick up the Hookshot from its new crafting recipe before pushing into the Moss sub-biome — the terrain there leans on vertical gaps that are far easier to cross with it equipped.

"Riders of the Underground - Out Now!" from Core Keeper's official YouTube channel, uploaded September 21, 2026.

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), September 21, 2026 on X