As a new player to Final Fantasy 14, unlocking mounts should be on the top of your to-do list. Mounts make traveling throughout Eorzea much faster and you can even train your chocobo to fight alongside you in battle. This handy guide focuses on everything from unlocking mounts to flying versus land-based mounts, so you can have your Warrior of Light travel around Eorzea in style.
Unlocking mounts
Running from location to location is probably one of the most tedious things when starting on a new character, so you should unlock your mount as soon as possible. You’ll need to be at least level 20 in a class and have joined one of the three Grand Companies through the main story quest “Hero in the Making.” If you meet the requirements, your Grand Company Commander will display the quest “My Little Chocobo.” Overall, this is a simple quest that requires you to buy a company Chocobo Issuance with 200 company seals. The seals are awarded to you at the beginning of the quest anyway, so no need to grind for them. Present the Issuance to the stable master of your city and they’ll award you with a whistle to summon your very own chocobo! Additionally, as you complete parts of the main story quest, your chocobo will increase speed in related areas until its max speed is unlocked.
Unlocking battle companion
Soon after unlocking your company chocobo, you’ll have the opportunity to use this same mount as a battle companion who will fight by your side to defeat enemies. Once you’ve reached level 30, keep an eye out for the quest “My Feisty Little Chocobo” in Camp Tranquil, which teaches you how to use Gysahl Greens, a food item that when fed to your chocobo allows them to fight alongside you for 30 minutes or until defeated in battle. Additional Gysahl Greens can be bought from Maisenta in Gridania, Bango Zango in Limsa Lominsa, Roarich in Ul’dah, or from the marketplace. When in battle companion mode, you can assign your chocobo to focus on its healing, tanking, or dps skills depending on which may most benefit your currently equipped class. There is also a free mode which uses a mix of all three skills. Your chocobo will earn skill points every time they level up, and the points can be used to buy new skills. The best way to level up your battle companion quickly is to complete the Bosom Buddy challenges in the weekly challenge log or train your chocobo daily in their stable.
Unlocking flying mounts
Until reaching Heavensward, there is nothing to unlock concerning mounts after the initial two chocobo quests. However, Heavensward does allow you to unlock flying mounts, and with a speed twice as fast as land bound mounts, flying mounts make it much easier to navigate the expansion’s larger maps. Previously, the quest “I Believe I Can Fly” was used to unlock the ability for all mounts to be able to fly and was restricted to certain mounts, but currently, to unlock flying you will need to attune to various aether currents in an area. Some currents are found in the open world while others are rewards from side quests so make sure to keep an eye out. Once you’ve attuned to all the currents, you’ll be able to take to the sky and soar in any mount of your choosing.
Terrestrial vs. Airborne
Not to be confused with the initial land bound mounts or the unlockable flying mounts, terrestrial and airborne are used to describe the mount’s actual movement. Terrestrial mounts, like your company chocobo, run along the ground while airborne mounts, like the Gloria Airship or an Ahriman mount, hover slightly above the ground when moving but they do not move any faster than terrestrial mounts and cannot fly any sooner. The main differences between the two are aesthetic and overall movement. There are fewer airborne mounts in the game than terrestrial, so they’re cooler to show off, but otherwise, both kinds function similarly
Multiple seater mounts
Lastly, there are single seater, double seater, or four seater mounts. A majority of mounts are single seaters, but multiple seaters can come in handy when driving your lower level friends around to different areas. There are seven double seater mounts in the game at the moment, but many of them are on Mogstation behind a paywall while there is only one four seater mount currently available in the game.
