Bethesda said on Thursday that mounted combat has arrived in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. This means players can now do melee and ranged combat while riding a horse. Players who opted into the latest Steam Beta Update will see the new feature in the PC version now. Information regarding mounted combat on other platforms will arrive on a later date.
"Thanks again to all our fans, we remain committed to supporting the game through our free updates, mod tools, and more. And yes, we’re still working on our first add-on, Dawnguard – some great stuff to show you soon, stay tuned!" the company said. "If you opt into the Beta, be sure to back up your saved games or simply be careful not to overwrite your existing saves. If you decide to opt out of the beta program, your old saves will still work with the current release of Skyrim on Steam (v 1.5)."
To get into the beta and download the new update, simply follow these instructions:
1. Log into Steam.
2. Click on Steam in the upper menu.
3. Select Settings.
4. Under the Account tab, go to the Beta Participation section and select Change.
5. A drop down menu will appear. Select Skyrim Beta.
6. Select OK.
7. Steam will now restart. After Steam restarts, Skyrim will be updated to the Beta version currently available.
"If you decide you don’t want to run the Beta anymore, redo steps 1 – 4," Bethesda added. "At the drop down, select NONE – Opt out of all beta programs. Let Steam restart, and Skyrim will automatically update itself back to the latest released version. To provide feedback on the beta update, use our beta forum."
In addition to adding mounted combat, the update brings numerous bug fixes which can be seen here. These fixes include general stability and memory optimizations, general AI pathfinding optimizations and bug fixes, optimizations and crash fixes for data leaks, and more.
