Chillet

It comes out of a Huge Dragon Egg, which can hatch either this or Chillet Ignis. The two are the same mount in different colors with different rarity tints, so there is nothing to reroll for if you got the one you did not want. Both are part of the Palworld crossover, the lunge is a nod to its signature move over there, and the damage bump you get while riding echoes its partner skill in that game. Like the other Pals it can be petted, which does nothing whatsoever.

The running speed is fine and it softens falls, but the reason to ride it is the dash. Double tap a direction and it lunges forward with a small hop, and connecting with an enemy during that lunge hurts them and hands you a stretch of invincibility. That window is generous for a pre-Hardmode item, and it turns the mount into a defensive tool rather than a movement one. You can lunge straight through a boss and come out the far side untouched, which is a completely different way to play the early game.

The dash cancels the instant you face away from the way you are traveling, which no other dash in the game does. It costs you something real, since you cannot lunge away from an enemy while shooting back at it: turning to aim ends the lunge on the spot. Used deliberately it becomes the best thing about the mount. Cutting a dash short right after it starts still redirects your momentum, and because the cooldown only begins when the dash ends, canceling early lets you chain microdashes far faster than any dash accessory allows.

Contact damage is what the invincibility eats, and contact damage is most of the threat in Eye of Cthulhu, Queen Bee and Skeletron. A mount that ignores it on hit removes most of that difficulty. With extra jumps and a Featherfall Potion to control the descent it keeps earning its slot well past its tier, up through Duke Fishron and Plantera. The lunge also travels at a steeper angle than other dashes, which pairs neatly with jump accessories: dash off the ground, then jump out of the dash. If you want it to shove rather than only hit, the knockback scales with a Titan Glove or a Titan Potion.