Roach gets some serious upgrades in The Witcher 3 with faster saddles, special abilities, and gear bonuses
Image credit: Lowkeybiceps / Roach Gear Overhaul - Faster Saddles with Abilities and Set Bonuses; game assets belong to their respective owners Lowkeybiceps’s creator screenshot shows a mounted rider and fire trail at dusk; the original image is dark.
Poor Roach. Geralt gets legendary swords, enchanted armor, magical abilities, and enough potions to stock a small pharmacy. Meanwhile, his faithful horse gets a new saddle, some saddlebags, and the occasional opportunity to materialize on a rooftop.
Lowkeybiceps has decided Roach deserves a little more attention.
Roach Gear Overhaul makes your choice of horse equipment considerably more interesting in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Different saddles affect sprinting speed, stamina, and panic resistance, while saddlebags can offer benefits beyond simply carrying more loot. Nilfgaardian bags reduce the weight of weapons and armor in your inventory, Ofieri equipment can earn you additional gold from merchants, and some of the matched gear sets introduce special abilities.
And some of those abilities are pretty wild. The Fire Horse gear adds fiery effects, the Undvik set can bring nearby flying monsters down to earth, and the Ofieri set creates blinding sand while sprinting. Suddenly, choosing what to put on Roach isn't quite the afterthought it used to be.
The mod is intended for the remastered PC version of The Witcher 3, with both expansions listed among its requirements. Other mods that substantially change horse behavior or equipment scripts may interfere, and the creator has specific instructions for safely removing the overhaul.
It's a fun idea, giving Roach equipment that actually changes how you travel and approach situations rather than just increasing a few numbers. Although we're not entirely convinced Geralt should be encouraging his horse to become a mobile fire hazard. The poor thing already has enough problems navigating fences.
