Dev Blog #8 - Riding with Style: Gear, Stats, and you!

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Outfits and tack items are an important part of our game! But serving looks is only one part of our equipment system: today we’re taking a closer look at our customization options, gear upgrade system, and explaining what each stat does. Read on to learn more about how our stats impact your gameplay and how you can use this information to do better in races!

Our game has different customization slots for horses and riders, giving you a lot of different options and combinations for outfits! Horse tack consists of saddles, bridles, saddle pads and leg wraps, while the player’s outfits consist of hats, tops, bottoms, shoes and gloves.

Thanks to our cosmetic and equipment system, you'll never need sacrifice style for performance! You decide which items are cosmetic and which you want to wear for performance and stats by assigning items under the “Equipment” or “Cosmetics” tabs.

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On the Gear tab of your inventory, you'll see you have eight different stats. Their totals will change depending on what you’ve equipped. Riding, Jumping, Control and Fitness make up your player’s stats; your horse’s stats comprise of Speed, Agility, Endurance and Strength.

But what exactly does this mean?! Let's break it down into more detail...

• Strength lets your horse accelerate faster and reduces your speed penalty when riding uphill.

• Endurance increases your maximum Stamina and Stamina recovery for sprinting.

• Speed determines how fast you can go on horseback.

• Agility influences how tightly you can turn and how precise your jump input needs to be.

• Riding influences your maximum speed and acceleration.

• Jumping is used to define your Jump Input Area together with Agility.

• Control influences your turn rate, again together with Agility.

• Fitness determines your maximum Stamina as well as Stamina recovery, alongside your horse’s Endurance

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Did you know you can upgrade your gear's stats at the Farrier? Samuel will happily take your foraged items and in exchange increase your item's star level. Each time an item gains a star, a random stat will be upgraded. When an item has been upgraded five times that means you'll receive a total of five skill bonuses!

Don't like the stat that was upgraded? Our newest update lets you reroll individual stats for 200 silver coins! This way you'll be able to choose which stat bonuses to keep while trying your luck with getting the perfect spread.

Your horse’s performance is directly dependent upon a combination of your horse and rider stats and player technique. While you might want to get all your stats as high as you can, setting priorities for specific races could help you optimize your time!

Take Forest Weave for example: this twisty, windy racetrack that takes you through the forest. Prioritizing Agility and Control would help you tackle those tricky turns! In hilly races like Lighthouse Climb, you’d do better if you focused on strength. This would help your horse power up the steep inclines. If a race track has a lot of jumps, prioritizing Agility and Jumping would help your rider and horse have an easier time clearing race hurdles.

If your goal is to improve your race times, consider looking at your gear and picking the best stat spread for that particular race. You should also keep a look out for any unconventional shortcuts!