[D&D 3.X] Best Medium Sized Mount?

[WeeFreeMen]

Lets say your a Strongheart Halfling and your gonna be a knight or pally.
What have you.

What Mount/Animal Companion/Cohort-Mount/Etc
Would yo choose out of All DnD source books.
(Lets limit it to Core + MMs)

Say something that would be relevant to have at ECL 5,10,20. If you had to pick only one ECL 10.
(This is to restrict the Halfling Riding a Tarrasque at lv5)

Minimum Cheese is preferable however do what you must.
Consider this a thought exercise

[Eldariel]

MM3: Fleshraker. No contest, really. That thing is fast, tough-to-hit, brutally efficient combatant and a natural charger, thus perfectly suited for mount's role. Yes, on all of them (under ECL 4, Riding Dog). The better ones are all Large or larger, though Reduce Animal exists.

Though if we're pimping out, we can get a Young Gold Dragon with 50 HD (basic Supermount), which obviously is stronger just on the HD. As a base chassis though, Fleshraker is hard to beat. Only problem is it doesn't fly, but you can teach it Air Walk.

[IonDragon]

Riding dog is often considered the best animal companion for druids at low levels, and for the same reason I think it would make an excellent mount at lower levels.

Beyond that, I don't think there's any reason you have to stay with size Med mounts. You should be able to use Large just like everyone else. Dragons, etc. are cool.

[cupkeyk]

Dire Hawk from races of the wild. I was level 12-ish by the time i qualified to get one but i am sure there is cheese to alleviate that.

[WeeFreeMen]

Bump for Justice.

[Eldariel]

Your question has been answered. What more do you wish for?

[gorfnab]

Blink Dog with a Ring of Blinking so that you can "blink" at the same time.

[Zeta Kai]

MM3: Fleshraker...

+1. [/thread]

[BobVosh]

Fleshraker, riding dog, and a cheetah if you can justify it some how. 500 foot charge 1/day is hilarious.

[Seffbasilisk]

My new druid, has a Riding Burrower Saddle. Races of Stone.

...and a Medium Earth Elemental.

[Darklord Xavez]

Dire weasel. It looks totally cool when you ride it into battle.
-Xavez

[Zen Master]

Small humanoids should ride rams. Done.

Well that - or dire apes.

[Ravens_cry]

Fleshraker, riding dog, and a cheetah if you can justify it some how. 500 foot charge 1/day is hilarious.

Cheetahs have been raised by humans. I don't see why a halfling or gnome couldn't do the same.

[Akal Saris]

If you can get an animal companion, fleshraker. Otherwise riding dog and then eventually something else - gold dragon for supermount! and maybe a dire eagle otherwise.

[Person_Man]

Various things:

• Amber Amulet of Vermin: Summon a flying mount once per day. 800 gp. Magic Item Compendium p 68.
• Amulet of Aberrant Empathy: You can use a Handle Animal check in place of a Diplomacy check to influence the attitude of aberrations with low Int. Cheap. Comp Adventurer pg 132.
• Pendant of Dragon Empathy: You can use a Handle Animal check in place of a Diplomacy check to influence the attitude of dragons with low Int. Cheap. Comp Adventurer pg 134.
• Figurine of Wondrous Power, Gold Beetle or Ivory Camel. Good as mounts if you don't want to be bothered with Handle Animal. Sandstorm p. 133.
• Night Caller: You can blow this whistle over any grave to turn a corpse into a zombie that serves you loyally until destroyed. Useful as an endless source of easily replaceable mounts. Libris Mortis pg 79.
• You can use Handle Animal and an Exotic Saddle on pretty much any Animal your DM will allow. Baboon (Climb Speed), Bear (Grapple), Cheetahs (Trip, Sprint), Crocodiles (Swim speed), all the various dinosaurs, etc.
• If there's a Ranger or Druid in your party, there's no reason you can't ride their Companion.
• Since animals are cheap and easy to find, there's really no reason you shouldn't have multiple mounts. Make a point of acquiring and training new ones every level. This will allow you to trade out for whichever animal is most powerful for your current ECL, most suited to your next encounter, and it will let you quickly replace mounts that are killed. You can also train Animals to attack on their own. Though you probably won't want to spend an action to direct them during combat - you can simply command them to Guard before combat, and then wait for enemies to approach them on their own. If necessary, hire a trained NPC (3 sp per day) to follow you around and direct them.
• Knight Handbook.
• Leadership is probably your best option for a strong mount at level 6. If your DM doesn't allow it, consider Ashworm Dragoon, Aglarondan Griffin Rider, or Knight of the Iron Glacier.

Level 1-4:
Riding dog: Superior to pony.
Wolf Animal Companion: If someone in your party is a Druid.
Baboon: Climb Speed.

If you have ranks in Handle Animal, you could theoretically find and train a baboon (Climb Speed)