Elk Isn't Worth It

[-Glue-]

I was really excited to get my first Elk, so I could more easily move around the world, but so far its extremely disappointing. My main issue is just how slow it is. It doesn't feel that much faster than the player. The turn speed is painfully slow, and its super unsatisfying how you stop every time you go up a block, making the Elk feel even slower. Even using slabs, it gets caught and stops all its momentum. This, is on top of the natural difficulty spike in traversing terrain with a large mount, just makes the Elk feel like a hindrance more than anything.

I like how you can slap on a bunch of stuff, like a bed, cooking pots, saddle bags, etc. Those make it feel super unique, helpful, and interesting! But as a traversal tool, absolutely does not feel worth it. I am considering not even taking it with me on my next story location adventure, as I feel like it will slow me down in the long run. The only reason I would, is for the extra storage for loot.

My suggestion:
- Fixing the block stutter should be a top priority, it is by far the biggest offender.
- Increase the turning speed, at least while not moving forward.
- And perhaps have some sort of way to further increase Elk speed. Such as wearable spurs, feeding it a special snack that temporarily boosts its speed. Or even just double tapping sprint to enter a temporary speed gallop.

Also, just as a side note. Every time I reload my world, or even just unload the chunk (I think) the rope used to tether my Elk disappears, so he can just wander off. The rope tends to be glitched, sticking out of the ground nearby. I can usually still grab it from the fence post, and it appears in my hand.
EDIT: Also, the running sound repeating every time you run down a block is really annoying. When on a slope, it just loops that first second of audio repeatedly. That also adds to the sense of jank.

Edited March 22, 2025 by -Glue-

[Zane Mordien]

I always have an axe, shears and a shovel on my hotbar when traveling on the elk. Getting stuck in the trees is very annoying if I don't keep these tools. The shovel is for the occasional 4 block high wall in my path.

[Thorfinn]

1 hour ago, -Glue- said:

- Fixing the block stutter should be a top priority, it is by far the biggest offender.

But the "block stutter" is the same reason you can get away from brown bears. They "stutter step" their way up slopes and over branchy leaves, while you avoid the issue by timing your jumps right. I get you want better control over your mount's ability to jump, but I hope they don't "fix" it by removing one of the few early game survival advantages you have against bears and shivers.

1 hour ago, -Glue- said:

- Increase the turning speed, at least while not moving forward.
- And perhaps have some sort of way to further increase Elk speed. Such as wearable spurs, feeding it a special snack that temporarily boosts its speed. Or even just double tapping sprint to enter a temporary speed gallop.

Try those out. Change the values in elk-tamable.json (IIRC) and see if any issues arise. Turning speed may not cause any other than it removes pretty much any downside to the elk, but increasing the speed is going to require a better machine than the minimum. Heck, I've seen some pretty beefy i7s not be able to handle a 2x fly speed.

[-Glue-]

1 hour ago, Thorfinn said:

But the "block stutter" is the same reason you can get away from brown bears. They "stutter step" their way up slopes and over branchy leaves, while you avoid the issue by timing your jumps right. I get you want better control over your mount's ability to jump, but I hope they don't "fix" it by removing one of the few early game survival advantages you have against bears and shivers.

That's true. Though, it usually ends up helping them a lot too. Whenever on rough terrain or surrounded by bushes, animals jump up and down erratically, and randomly shift directions making them really unpredictable. My lifeline is finding water and jumping over it, or into it if I have animal swim speed reduced, which I do. Predators are hard enough to avoid without them becoming speed boats as well lol
 

1 hour ago, Thorfinn said:

Try those out. Change the values in elk-tamable.json (IIRC) and see if any issues arise. Turning speed may not cause any other than it removes pretty much any downside to the elk, but increasing the speed is going to require a better machine than the minimum. Heck, I've seen some pretty beefy i7s not be able to handle a 2x fly speed.

I may try that out.
After playing with the Elk a bit more, the run speed is less of an issue than I thought. It was mostly due to the block stutter, since I live in a really hilly area. It makes the Elk feel slower than me most the time lol. Setting up my paths with half slabs also doubled the amount of times it stutters, and if you hit a block at an angle, the Elk can get stuck sliding off the block repeatedly. Its pretty rough.

[idiomcritter]

lately i've been practicing elk jumping.  just before a grade change up (cause down is less an issue), hit the space bar for a small hop.  smooths out the ruff edge.  jumping between near hills is also a way to speed through an area.  there is some timing involved, with a few seconds cool down between jumps.

i also try to keep the incline of stony paths 1-2 blocks up unless its an outright hill, again with jumping in mind

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwYN7mTi6HM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrL_LzX5wv4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=010KyIQjkTk

 

Edited March 22, 2025 by idiomcritter

[LadyWYT]

The main advantages to travel by elk is the extra inventory slots and the energy saved by not having to run. It's also nice being able to step up to two-block heights automatically. It is a bit jank though, and smoothing out slope traversal and tightening the turn radius a bit(at the very least, tighten it up for walk speed) would improve the experience.

As for the difficulty navigating thick forests and very rough terrain, I think those are fine realistic drawbacks to travel by elk. It's usually fairly easy to find a way around the terrain, though the ambitious rider can bring a pair of shears to hack their way through the undergrowth.

Overall, travel by elk is still a bit faster than travel on foot, but if you opt for foot travel you'll be able to cut a much straighter line between points(at the cost of needing more food).

[-Glue-]

On 3/22/2025 at 6:19 PM, idiomcritter said:

lately i've been practicing elk jumping.  just before a grade change up (cause down is less an issue), hit the space bar for a small hop.  smooths out the ruff edge.  jumping between near hills is also a way to speed through an area.

On 3/22/2025 at 8:04 PM, LadyWYT said:

The main advantages to travel by elk is the extra inventory slots and the energy saved by not having to run. It's also nice being able to step up to two-block heights automatically. It is a bit jank though, and smoothing out slope traversal and tightening the turn radius a bit(at the very least, tighten it up for walk speed) would improve the experience.

As for the difficulty navigating thick forests and very rough terrain, I think those are fine realistic drawbacks to travel by elk. It's usually fairly easy to find a way around the terrain, though the ambitious rider can bring a pair of shears to hack their way through the undergrowth.

After traveling on my Elk to finish up the story content, I can agree that its actually waaay more helpful than I first thought. Walking up two blocks makes hills and mountains a breeze, and learning how to properly time the jump can really speed you up in rough terrain. Plus, it takes less fall damage.

I still stand by that they need to fix the block stutter and turn speed asap. Those really make the Elk feel unsatisfying, especially on slabbed pathways. Walking over a smooth incline should not slow down the Elk at all. The turning is really frustrating, because if you get even slightly caught on something, it takes forever to get out. I say the short distance bit should have a better turn radius, or the slower you are moving, the faster you turn. That way its not as OP while running.

[Thorfinn]

I don't care if they make the elk fly and create the Elytra problem. So long as they don't take the stutter from the movement of bears and shivers, I'm fine. I'm not sure the early game is possible if your foes both outrun and outperform you.

I'm guessing based on your last couple sentences that you found out that tweaking the turn parameters makes it OP. Did you find any values for turning that you liked?

 

[-Glue-]

On 3/25/2025 at 11:07 AM, Thorfinn said:

I don't care if they make the elk fly and create the Elytra problem. So long as they don't take the stutter from the movement of bears and shivers, I'm fine. I'm not sure the early game is possible if your foes both outrun and outperform you.

I'm guessing based on your last couple sentences that you found out that tweaking the turn parameters makes it OP. Did you find any values for turning that you liked?

They could always tweak the mob movement to balance around the changes, if they were also affected.
And no, I never did end up tweaking the turn speed. I haven't used my Elk much since finishing the story content, been too busy building. I only said that it could make it OP, because any animal running full speed should not be able to turn on a dime lol. I just think if you are standing still, or moving at a trot, you should be able to turn around much faster. Getting stuck on a tree and having to spend 5 full seconds turning around to get out, while wolves run at you, is not fun!