Most Albion Online veterans would agree that ganking is one of the most lucrative and fun activities in the game. But aside from the best ganking weapons and builds, you’ll also need the best mounts for ganking if you want to succeed.
The problem is there are many available mounts in Albion Online, but not all of them are good for ganking.
There are almost a hundred different mounts in the game, which may be overwhelming for beginners. But don’t worry, we wrote this article to help you!
If you’re looking for the best mounts for ganking, then read on.
What Makes a Mount Good for Ganking?
Before we list the best ganking mounts, it’s better to first understand what makes them good.
When looking for the best mount for ganking, the single most important factor is speed. Without enough speed, it’s practically impossible for you or your group to catch anyone.
Most players in full loot zones will be prepared and always have their mounts ready when needed, so it’s unlikely that you catch them on foot. So aside from dismounting them, your best bet is outrunning their mounts using your own.
Base and Gallop Move Speed Bonus
Every mount provides two movement speed bonuses: base move speed bonus and gallop move speed bonus.
The base move speed bonus refers to the initial speed bonus of the mount. It’s the bonus you immediately gain when you mount up and lasts for a few seconds.
On the other hand, the gallop move speed bonus refers to the additional speed buff you receive after a few seconds of moving while on your mount.
However, the bonus speed buff is removed when you unmount or when your mount takes damage, which also puts it on cooldown for a few seconds.
As you can imagine, mounts with high base and gallop move speed bonuses are ideal for ganking.
Gallop Buff Delay (Usually Irrelevant)
The delay before gaining the gallop move speed buff differs for every mount. Some mounts like the Direwolf and Saddled Greywolf have a five-second delay, while others like the Moose and Stag only have a two-second delay.
However, the gallop buff timer is rarely relevant when you’re ganking since you’ll be the one doing the chasing (and inflicting damage).
This is relevant only when you’re the one being ganked. Receiving damage removes your gallop move speed buff, so you’ll have to wait for the timer to regain the buff. Therefore, the shorter the gallop buff timer, the higher chance you’ll get away from your gankers.
Average Market Price
As we’ve mentioned, the most significant factor in looking for a ganking mount is its speed. However, we should also consider its average market price due to practicality.
Players in Albion Online don’t have access to infinite silver (or do they?), so economic concerns are always important in most activities.
Although some mounts are better and faster than others, their price difference may be too big despite only having a minimal (and sometimes insignificant) upgrade. In these cases, the upgrades are simply not worth it.
Now that we’re in the clear regarding our criteria, here’s our list of the best ganking mounts in Albion Online.
Swiftclaw
- Base move speed bonus: 75%
- Gallop move speed bonus: 120%
- Average market price: 120k – 140k silver*
The Swiftclaw is arguably the best ganking mount in Albion Online. It’s among the top fastest mounts in the game, and it’s also relatively cheap.
Swiftclaws are generally the default mount for gankers due to the combination of their high move speed bonus and relatively cheap price. Although the Swiftclaw is slower than a few other mounts, it’s the optimal one based on its speed-to-price ratio.
This mount has a base speed bonus of 75% and a gallop speed bonus of 120%. These values are both high enough to let you keep up or even overtake other mounts.
Direwolf
- Base move speed bonus: 85%
- Gallop move speed bonus: 132%
- Average market price: 335k – 355k silver*
Next on this list is the Direwolf. Direwolves are faster than Swiftclaws both in terms of their base move speed and gallop move speed bonuses, so you’ll have better chances of catching up to your targets when on a Direwolf.
However, we’ve placed it only second on this list because it’s much more expensive than Swiftclaws. The average market price for Direwolf is around 335k to 355k silver—almost three times the price of a Swiftclaw!
Since the speed difference is not game-breaking by any means, it’s better to just buy three Swiftclaws than a Direwolf, especially for beginners or players who are short on silver.
However, if you have tons of silver and don’t mind spending more for a better mount, then feel free to buy the superior Direwolf.
Saddled Greywolf
- Base move speed bonus: 85%
- Gallop move speed bonus: 130%
- Average market price: 335k – 375k silver*
The Saddled Greywolf is basically the Direwolf—but slightly worse. Saddled Greywolves look just as menacing as Direwolves, but they have a slightly lower gallop move speed bonus and slightly lower HP.
Their base move speed bonus is also 85%, but their gallop move speed bonus is only 130% compared to the Direwolf’s 132%. Although the 2% difference may not seem significant in most situations, having a speed bonus of 132% is strictly better than having only 130%.
The average price for the Saddled Greywolf is close to the Direwolf’s, so I can’t think of any reason to get the former over the latter.
We still put this mount on our top three because despite being an inferior version of the Direwolf, the Saddled Greywolf is still much faster than most other mounts in the game.
Special Mentions – Other Ganking Mounts
The three ganking mounts we listed above are the best in terms of speed and cost. But here are a few other good mounts that didn’t make the list because they either require a niche strategy or are too expensive for the minuscule bonus speed they offer.
Elite Greywolf
In terms of gallop move speed bonus, the Elite Greywolf is the fastest mount in the game. It boasts an unmatched gallop speed bonus of 135%. Also, it’s surprisingly tanky for a fast wolf mount with more than 900 HP.
However, the additional 3% increase in speed and extra HP aren’t really worth the extra millions of silver. The average market price for the Elite Greywolf is a whopping 3.6 – 3.9 million silver! You’d have to be great at making silver to afford multiple Elite Greywolves.
This mount also possesses the unique ability Hunter’s Mark. But it’s more intimidating than practical.
Pest Lizard
The Pest Lizard is the strangest one on this list. Although it has a high base move speed bonus of 103%, its gallop move speed bonus is also the same!
The Pest Lizard belongs to the unique group of mounts with a particular theme: their base and gallop move speed bonuses are equal, and they’re all lizard-like creatures.
Other mounts that belong to this group are the Saddled Swamp Salamander, Saddled Swamp Dragon, Elite Swamp Salamander, and the Avalonian, Venom, and Flame Basilisk. All mounts in this category also have relatively high HP.
What makes the Pest Lizard viable for ganking are its unique abilities, Toxic Cloud and Toxic Reaction. These abilities provide a fear effect that allows you to disable your targets.
The idea is to use Toxic Cloud on an entrance to block off your target. You can also purposely let a mob hit your mount to trigger Toxic Reaction and fear any nearby enemies.
However, due to the “cheesy” nature of this strategy—not to mention the low speed and high cost of the Pest Lizard—ganking with this mount may seem more like a meme. This mount is also expensive, costing around 400k silver.
Note: As of April 2023, Pest Lizard isn’t yet available in Albion East.
Morgana Raven
Next on this list is one of the Adventurer’s Challenge mounts, the Morgana Raven.
This mount used to be on our top four (now three) ganking mounts. Unfortunately, Morgana Raven’s market price has drastically risen in the last six months, so it’s not really that worth using anymore.
The Morgana Raven has two useful abilities: Raven Scream and Reactive Scream. These allow ganking groups to fear their dismounted targets, preventing them from escaping (with enough coordination).
What makes the Morgana Raven a top ganking mount are its high base and gallop move speed bonuses. It has the same base speed bonus as the Direwolf with only a 2% lower gallop move speed bonus. This means that it’s also faster than the Swiftclaw.
Note: As of April 2023, Morgana Raven isn’t yet available in Albion East.
Divine Owl, Snow Husky, and Spectral Bat
We grouped these three mounts together because they all have exactly the same base move speed bonuses and slightly similar gallop move speed bonuses.
These mounts also belong to the same category as the Morgana Raven. They’re all unique mounts from the monthly Adventurer’s Challenge with move speeds equal to the Morgana Raven’s, so they’re perfectly viable for ganking.
However, they’re still unique in their own ways because of their unique abilities. The only issue is they’re usually more expensive (in the case of Spectral Bat and Snow Husky) or their abilities aren’t as useful for ganking (in the case of Divine Owl).
Note: As of April 2023, Divine Owl, Snow Husky, and Spectral Bat aren’t yet available in Albion East.
*All prices indicated are based on April 2023 Albion West marketplace average listings.
