I’m back with the promised update of this brand new expansion to Horse Isle 3! The Sky Lands are every bit as enormous as the lands below them and the Caverns beneath. There are five biomes to discover, as well as some new plants and other items to photograph. A new mode of transportation will help you get from island to island, and there are two ways to reach the sky. This is somewhat “end game content” though it is possible to explore everything by working hard and not spending any real world money. I appreciate that from the developers, who know that not everyone has a lot of real world money to spend on a game.
Getting to the Sky Lands
The simplest way to get there is by balloon, and I suggest having at least fifty balloon fuel with you before starting. If you don’t have your own balloon, they can carry passengers so you should be able to use the ride along feature with a friend. Balloon fuel has more oomph to it than it used to, so you won’t actually need that many to get to the upper atmosphere – however you may be waiting a bit as you slowly drift over an island. To help a bit with this, you can save time by launching from the top of a mountain. Then watch your altimeter carefully and only land or press “x” when it says you are over land. Otherwise you risk falling through an edge or missing your target, and having to start all over.
Hot Air Balloon Fuel Recipe: 5 corn, 2 coal, 1 tar
Walking around in the Sky Lands is pretty good, the footing is secure and I wasn’t slipping around the way you sometimes do on the Crashed Island objects. I saw a few Esrohs up there, petted one, and photographed them. Got a funny message when I tried to lasso it! You can earn achievements for photographing unique Esrohs, which is another nice little bonus. I also photographed some of the new items, including gems, flowers, and ruin blocks.
Moving Around
The Dust Pack is a new piece of equipment, costing either 20,000 Mobia or 80,000 essence. It costs 250 gold dust per 3 seconds of thrust, but you can actually stretch that pretty well by walking as close as possible to your destination before launching. Space launches you and the directional buttons, or using the mouse, lets you move forward and turn. You don’t need the Dust Pack to walk around on an Island but you need it, or a balloon, to move from one to the other. I actually love the Dust Pack and didn’t spend as much Gold Dust as I thought I would when using it. This is partly because you can jump in a big arc, but cut your thrust at the top and just finish the arc without power, saving a bit of dust. Wearing it makes your landings non-bouncy so you won’t accidentally fall off things as easily.
Interestingly, your horse can jump much higher in the Sky Lands! My best comp horse usually jumps 1.6 meters, but in the Sky Lands he cleared over SIX METERS. Practice with caution but this could be useful depending on what you were trying to. I’m guessing you’d need a pretty brave horse like my good boy the comper. Have fun with it! However, watch out….
Tip for a Speedy Return
With the Dust Pack unlocked and at least one Gem Dust, you can use a Sky Tower to be shot back up into the Sky Lands area, then activate your dust pack with * before you fall back out again. At that point you can use the dust pack to fly to any nearby island! Much faster and saves on balloon fuel.
New Items
There are some new items to be found. Along with Essence you can also find Giant Rubies and Sapphires. Clicking on them gives you Gem Dust that can be traded for trips up in the new Club towers. They kind of look like giant cannon and can shoot you high into the sky. Landing on an island isn’t guaranteed but it’s a great view!
You can also find the new rare item, Magic Nectar, which will de-age a horse by one year but also render them unbreedable. Also the horse needs to be 3 years old or more. Very useful for that favorite comp horse that decided to get old on you! If you have terrible luck, it’s also available for purchase, fairly cheaply, with Mobia.
Finally, I was happy to find that when I logged out on an island, I was still there when I logged back in. Very handy, that. I had a blast exploring this new area and expect I will have more fun for a long time to come! I tested it and no, it’s not possible to save travel spots, but I expected this. I’ll probably be noting what kinds of islands are near my favorite mountains for next time I want an aerial adventure.
If there are questions let me know and I’ll add more to this article. See below for pictures of the different sky biomes.
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