Soulmask's map is enormous, and running everywhere on foot gets old fast. Fortunately, there are two ways to cut down travel time significantly: Mysterious Portals that let you jump between biomes instantly, and mounts that speed up ground travel when portals aren't available. Knowing how both systems work will save you a lot of frustration early on.
How do Mysterious Portals work in Soulmask?
Portals are your primary fast travel option in Soulmask. They don't just appear active in the world waiting for you to step through. You need to activate each portal manually before it becomes usable, and activation costs some of your Crystals.
The process works like this:
- Find a Mysterious Portal in one biome and interact with it to activate it (spending Crystals).
- Travel to a different biome and find the portal there.
- Activate that second portal the same way.
- Once both portals are active, you can move between the two locations instantly.
The key thing most players miss early on: you can't use a portal as a one-way shortcut. Both ends need to be activated before the connection works. Plan your Crystal spending accordingly, since activating portals isn't free.
What mounts are available, and which ones are fastest?
When you're in areas without active portals, mounts are your best option for covering ground faster than on foot. Soulmask has at least three rideable creatures: the Alpaca, the Panther, and the Ostrich.
Here's how they compare:
The Alpaca is the most accessible mount early in the game. It's slow compared to what comes later, but it still beats running. Feed it Corn when it gets hungry. If your mount is starving, it will sit down and refuse to move until you feed it, which is an easy way to get stranded mid-journey. The Alpaca may also drop Corn Seeds after eating, which is a small but useful bonus for your farming.
The Panther and Ostrich are faster alternatives available later in the game. Exact speed values and food requirements for these two aren't fully confirmed yet, so the main takeaway is they're noticeably quicker than the Alpaca.
How to keep your mount from stopping mid-travel
Mount hunger is the most common reason players get stuck on long trips. Your mount won't give you much warning before sitting down, so the practical solution is to carry food before you set out. For the Alpaca, stock Corn in your inventory. Once the mount eats, it gets back up and you can continue.
This is especially relevant during longer cross-biome trips where you haven't yet connected portals. Running out of mount food in a dangerous area is a real problem, so treat mount food the same way you'd treat your own food supply.
Keep Corn stocked for long rides
Which travel method should you use?
The two systems serve different situations. Here's how to think about it:
- Mysterious Portals are best for long-distance travel between biomes you visit often. Once activated, they're free to use and instant.
- Mounts are best for shorter trips within a biome, or for reaching portal locations before you've activated them.
The ideal setup is to activate portals between your most-used locations as early as your Crystal supply allows, then rely on mounts for everything else. As you unlock faster mounts like the Panther or Ostrich, ground travel becomes much less of a chore even in areas without portal coverage.
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