Geralt is not the only one who can get better gear and upgrades in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. His trust mare, Roach, can also get access to several horse equipment and horse upgrades in the game.
There are four different types of horse upgrades in The Witcher 3 that you can look to get for Roach. These will reduce her fear levels, increase her stamina, increase her total weight limit, and give you valuable buffs and passives.
You can get upgrades for your horse in TW3 through a number of methods including purchases from vendors or even as loot in guarded treasures.
The following guide will go through all four types of horse equipment in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. You will also get to know about the best horse upgrades to get and from where.
Blinders
Geralt needs Roach to stay calm in all situations, especially during combat. When approaching groups of enemies or if Geralt is engaged in combat nearby, Roach will start to panic.
If her fear levels increase too much, Roach will run away. Do not worry, you can still call back your mare, but her fear levels can make it difficult to fight while mounted and also race in the game.
So, you need to find some good horse blinders for Roach. These reduce her fear levels by a certain amount.
The best blinders will reduce fear levels by 60 points in The Witcher 3. There are several of them for you to find, craft, and purchase. They are not rare. For example, you can get the Undvik horse blinders as part of the Skellige armor set.
Speaking of fear levels, you can also drink a Nekker Warrior decoction to entirely remove the fear mechanic. The decoction also increases your attack power as well as your mounted combat damage.
| Item | Effects | Ingredients |
|---|---|---|
| Nekker Warrior decoction | Mounts never panic, +50% attack power, +50% mounted combat damage | 1x Nekker Warrior Mutagen, 1x Dwarven Spirit, 1x Fool’s Parsley Leaves, 1x Ranogrin |
Saddles
Roach has a stamina meter, just like Geralt. If her stamina gets too low, she will no longer be able to sprint, which can be bothersome while racing or when trying to escape monsters in the game. Hence, you need to give Roach a good saddle to increase her total stamina.
The Caparison of Lament is easily the best horse saddle to get in The Witcher 3. It is the only saddle in the game to give 100 stamina points. It also has a bonus passive that demounts any enemies that get close to Roach.
Lastly, Roach transforms into a demonic horse while wearing the Caparison of Lament, so there are aesthetics to think of as well.
The Caparison of Lament saddle is exclusive to the Hearts of Stone expansion pack. You need to let Gaunter O’Dimm take Olgierd’s soul to unlock the bad ending of Hearts of Stone. You then need to choose “To be as swift as the wind” from the list of available rewards.
There is a common bug regarding Roach’s stamina that many players experience and Roach’s stamina doesn’t refill. If you happen to experience this bug with Roach’s stamina not regenerating, there are several options that can solve with some working for some while others being useless.
- Get off Roach and let her leave. Go around the area, then call her again. When you start running with the horse, the stamina would fill up this time.
- Leave Roach and complete a quest without using her. Once you come back, the problem will probably be gone.
- Use the Axii sign to calm Roach down, which can stop her from using the stamina.
- If you have some of the stamina left, which is not regenerating, finish all the stamina and then wait for the bar to fill up.
- When nothing works, it’s better to turn off the game and relaunch it.
Make sure not to use any potion as it would just waste it. As far as it’s known, they won’t work for stamina unless the bar is working properly.
Saddlebags
If you want to increase your overall inventory size, you need to give Roach a good saddlebag. This allows you to carry more weight, which is important if you are looking to make money in the game.
The Beauclair saddlebags are the best saddlebags you can try to get in The Witcher 3. They increase your total weight limit by 110.
You can either loot or purchase the Beauclair saddlebags in the Blood and Wine expansion. Head to the Tourney Grounds near Beauclair in Toussaint and speak with the armorer. He likes to play Gwent as well and uses a Nilfgaardian Empire deck. He will sell you the Beauclair saddlebags for around 250 crowns.
If you do not want to spend any money, you can loot the saddlebags for free during the Knight Errant in Distress quest. This will be west of Mont Crane Castle in Toussaint.
Trophies
When you kill special, rare monsters in The Witcher 3, you get their trophies. These are parts of your kills that you can hang from Roach to give you special buffs.
For example, the Water Hag trophy will allow you to get 5% more experience from killing humans and monsters. The King of Swineherd’s crown, which is one of the best trophies in the game, allows you to earn 15% more gold from every source.
