Give a Noob a Break Here :)

[Jonathan Baron]

This forum is rather demanding. Prior to posting you're told to read pages and pages of background info. There are no dumb questions, only dumb people who ask questions.

Of course I'm kidding. I get it. Not trash talking you fine gentlemen and ladies. However, in order to tame animals you have to START AT THE BEGINNING. There is no beginning in any of the articles, nor on the boards.

I'll say it again: there is no info on how to begin...anywhere.

How do you attempt this act? I wandered up to a creature, puzzled what to do next, clicked on it, up popped a box that said "Tame" and.....you get the idea. Kinda helps if you knew that the icon for taming on the client's skill page can be dragged to a tool bar, assigned a hot key, and with one key press you can target the animal and another commences the taming attempt. Or go with macros.

It's different for the latest client than it is for for the original but each can do at least what the other can.

I rant even though I'm past that now. A fellow pulled me aside in the game and went over it with me. In the game people do that. Yet I feel badly for folks yearning to do this and failing because there is no help at the most basic level.

Okay, another beginning that never begins: how do you get close enough to a kill-you-on-sight creature without pissing it off beyond the power of design limit skill to tame it? 100 points, people. That's what the game provides for any one skill: one hundred points. If you're exceeding the design specs - even though that mod seems to have become necessary - that should be mentioned...somewhere.

Noob sees templates filled with 120s that add up to 720.

Clearly you love helping people. There is no online game on this fragile sphere where veteran players are more helpful, more generous, more patient, and who make you feel more wanted than the UO community does. Been here two months after a lapse of ten years, I've played and developed online games for 15, and this is, far and away, the finest and richest MMO in the world.

So....let's get some stickies on stuff all of you have known so long you cannot remember when you didn't.

1. What is taming in UO?
2. Why do people tame animals? (it's freaking unique)
3. How do I attempt to tame an animal? (client setup included)
4. Which tamed animals can I ride?
5. Which animals can be combat allies?
6. What are slots, apart from those machines that make all that noise in Vegas?
7. Why did a bunch of animals appear in my house suddenly? I vaguely recall taming them that day but...(perils of not explaining slots or catch and release)
8. Why are people torturing animals, day and night, outside the stables at Luna, and who's the guy who keeps hitting the robot?

Yes, some of this is mentioned in article intros on this and other sites, but they're not assembled in a manner where material meets the mind of the uninitiated. Plus, as I've said perhaps too often, nothing at all about client setup. I could also find nothing explaining the slot system, just that you got more of them somehow if you did something, and how this relates to the number of pets you can put in the stables. I learned this by running afoul of it. And, yes, every animal I tamed one day did magically appear at the tavern of the Inn at New Haven where I log off (don't have a place on Chesapeake). I'll spare you the, "A deer, a llama, a horse and a polar bear go into a bar," joke.

Allow me to conclude this necessary rant with reiterating the question that brought me here but I could not find an answer to after combing the threads of this forum and doing all the suggested reading:

Again, what strategies do you employ to tame extremely dangerous animals? And what does disco have to do with it, or this stuff that sound like it's, "Dragon Taming: The Musical."

Sorry, but phrases like, "spam taming while going in and out of inv," means about as much to the likes of me as those Ex Rex Kor Por Flambe Dominus Vomita things you see above your head when casting a spell mean to...well...no one. They're nonsense. That phrase I cited is not. It's shorthand for something meaningful.

I know there are myriad paths...Mage/Tamer, Bard/Tamer, Warrior/Tamer, Musical Theater/Tamer, whatever. All these roads lead to the same place....well two: coming home with Godzilla's little brother or a fine collection of gray robes.

It's easy really. Just share your recollections. 120 points of skill in anything here doesn't just appear one fine day on your skills sheet.

You'll enjoy it and THAT will be the sticky noobs and vets will likely relish.

Thanks folks

Jonathan
Eaglerock on Lake Austin
Luscombe and Malcolm on Chesapeake

 

[Jlapps]

I actually do agree with this, and not just Animal Taming. I've received a ton of advice on this and other UO forums already during my short return to UO However, if there were even a brief sticky on the forums that talks about getting a tamer started, maybe a good template or two for beginners, it might be easier to get new players started and interested. Already I like the UO forum community better than the World of Warcraft one (I played WoW before I returned to UO in a fit of nostalgia ). But, I've looked here and on the Bard forums, among others, and despite the great community, absolutely no stickies to help new players get started - especially combined with the absence of accelerated skill quests for new characters in Haven, this can be somewhat discouraging. Taming and bard skills aren't as straight forward as spamming spells or other combat skills, as well. I think a new player help thread has merit! Let's get some of the great forum minds here together and make a sticky or two!

 

[uoBuoY]

When I started UO (almost 10 years ago, nonstop) I worked as 'The IT Guy' in a 120 seat radio station. I'll brag a bit but I did a fantastic job which meant I had very little daily support work. I spent 4-5 hrs a day on Stratics, UOGuide, UOForums, etc. trying to understand UO. I printed out hundreds of pages of guides, how-tos, charts, tables, etc. But that just didn't explain or assemble a real, functioning game plan.

I think most of problem is the extreme sandbox nature of UO. There's at least 3-4 ways to build/play/outfit a Tamer/Bard another 3-4 ways to build/play/outfit a Tamer/Mage...ad infinitum. And don't forget different styles/techniques for PvM and PvP. Then there are the power-gamers versus the just-play-to-gainers. Add in fairly constant game mechanic changes and, all in all, a whole lot of different write-ups and updates. I think you're correct more information on the the very basics of Taming would be a good start. Don't forget you have written elsewhere that we UO old-timers speak and think in a shorthand that presumes a certain amount of basic UO knowledge (after ~10 years, I don't think to explain Shift-Control!). The best write-ups would probably by created by 2-3 newbies documenting their training/advice/ apprenticeship regimen from 2-3 vets. Much of your own posts really highlight this technique! You ask questions until everything necessary is revealed because you don't have predetermined knowledge!

I still remember how completely baffling UO was when I first started. I started with a Swordsman, a Mage/Bard, a Tamer/Archer, a Resource Gatherer and a Crafter...without a clue! My friend, who brought me into the game, helped me incredibly. For example, he said "....avoid red names...". For the first few months, I ran, screaming like a little girl every time I saw a red name...on a red healer...in Tram. I forgot my friend said "in Fel"! Details!

In the beginning, in spite of all my extensive research, almost every time I asked a player for help I got better answers, clearer explanations and better suggestions on how to accomplish whatever goal. And I think this is really good for UO. You are so right, UO has an incredible community (better 10 years ago but still really helpful!).

 

[Jonathan Baron]

Whew! I was a mite worried when I posted this that folks would think, "Damn this dweeb is a long winded noob." Then again....I am.

Some time after I posted this I got Llewen on ICQ. He'd been there all along but I had NO idea he was a master tamer until I read this forum.

WITHIN MOMENTS my knowledge increased at least seven fold. Big difference is that the current client has so much added functionality yet it too is terra incognita. He walked me through how to set up to do what that fella said - spam taming. He was most precise with setting the interval times and such. He also counseled me about the stuff I'd need to survive - the shortcuts and features a sword guy would never think of.

We went through several matters that a guy needs before he even THINKS of chasing their ideal beast. Mine is the White Wrynn. It's majestic and I have a Vollem to back it up for matters of magic. I am not going to collect a closet full of gray robes to ride something that looks ugly, but I digress....

Just share your tales from day one until you stuck that Greater Dragon (honestly, they could have come up with a better name for it, don't you think?) in the stable....or wherever you put those things.

I get the feeling that this is one of those things that's as much art as science. Sure would make for some harrowing and fascinating tales either way or both.

Put yourself in my position. Moments after posting, I'm checking out hunting sites in the taming runebooks at Luna. I see one with the fluffy name, rideable llamas. Love riding llamas. They're darned cute too.

But I'm a sword guy in the skin of a magic user/tamer fella in a silly hat. I get beamed into a spot right next to an Ostard. Got one in the stable...bonded even. It's cute too.

Yeah, but THIS Ostard acts as if I'm a lawyer about to serve papers on him. I was so astonished that this thing was savagely attacking me that I hit the Sacred Journey button instead of Recall via spell (I've been a Paladin 99% of the time since my return) and suddenly I'm not only dead....I'm dead deep in the desert of the Lost Lands. Not a llama to be seen. Long hike out.

Okay, so I should have known about the Frenzied cousins of my Ostard, Eddie. Meat eaters too. Even though Eddie is clearly reluctant to discuss that side of his family, THAT sort of info is readily available. I had good reason to feel stupid about that one, but I kept beaming back and out...and back until I grabbed my uninsurables.

With my now better informed arrangement of things and sound advice I can continue to be stupid yet survive. Yeah, like when I beamed into that ice cave to check out the White Wrynn.....just did make it out of there. Not yet nearly good enough to even *think* of talking one of them in to leaving with me....had to see it though. Gotta be better prepared when you've got a book in your hand instead of a sword.

They should at least put spikes or something on those spell books.

Jonathan

 

[Wenchkin]

This forum is rather demanding. Prior to posting you're told to read pages and pages of background info. There are no dumb questions, only dumb people who ask questions.

It's not so much that I believe certain questions are dumb: everyone has to learn and as a new tamer it's all fresh new stuff.

But, someone has to answer the questions, and if the veterans here get fed up repeating themselves, I get asked to add things in the FAQ. If I didn't, we'd all just get fed up and not bother. That doesn't help the new tamer at all.

The reason I ask people to look in the FAQ and search the forum is because of the above and because it saves users time too - rather that wait on an answer, there's a place you can look it up instead. I think it's only fair if someone expects vets to take time answering their questions, that they take the time to check the FAQ and search to save said vets growing impatient.

Now if someone reads the FAQ and still doesn't understand? Absolutely make a new post. Same if your question isn't covered. And because the board isn't full of already answered questions, your question stands out and we'll have time to answer it.

As to the content of our stickies and FAQs, I think it's important to remember this is a forum rather than the main Stratics site. However, considering how large Mordanna's website is (which I think last got updated 5 years ago) it's no small undertaking to compile a taming guide that leads a player through from start to finish as it were. Animal taming is a big topic... you're talking a lot of work and content. I'm not saying no, more be patient, let's build things in manageable stages

I have more modest immediate plans in the short term - to get a barebone FAQ covering the basics and then when that's done I think it's logical to consider something more fancy. For one thing we'd have the starting content But there is a FAQ discussion thread to add more suggestions or submit guides where you'd be most welcome. I would love to see more discussion in there about what should or shouldn't be included and more guides added to the pool.

I've added your post to my notes collection so I'll see what I can do in the FAQ and any other guides we do

Wenchy

 

[Jonathan Baron]

I get that, Wenchy, BELIEVE ME. In every forum rich in complex expertise it's more than annoying when the forum is a new guys' first stop.

But I thought I read everything, even a slew of previous forum posts, before I lept in. Problem is that folks who participate heavily in a forum such as this are already way past the basics. They're into core veteran issues and stories. Thus the new player becomes a conversational interruption that feels like a random nonsequitur.

The FAQ appeared to be devoted to how to use the forum and how to properly participate in it. Nonetheless I ran searches of it using words like "slots" and others that confused me, with no results.

This is just the nature of things. I know it sounded like a criticism. If it did, I meant no offense. Folks devote substantial chunks of their lives to create and maintain venues such as this.

Jonathan

 

[Jlapps]

Heh, well I'll post what I've been up to so far - learned a bit from my other posts, and still had a little knowledge from way back in the day before I left.

My beginning template was as follows:

35 str
20 dex
45 int

My skills were:
30 Animal Taming
30 Animal Lore
30 Veterinary
30 Magery

At the time, this was my second character since my return to UO, the first being a Paladin. I also got a friend into the game, so I have another person to play with frequently. I was hoping there were accelerated skill gain quests for taming, like there are for almost all the skills in the basic character creation templates. Unfortunately, there aren't. Before I began actually raising Taming, I did the skill gain quests for my Magery and the supporting skills.

I began taming sheep, which took me quite a ways. At 45 animal taming, I stopped taming sheep and started taming hinds, eagles, and timber wolves. All of these are plentiful in New Haven, so I stayed there.

At 50 Taming, I moved to the Healer Grove near the Sacrifice (I think, it starts with an 'S') shrine in Iishnar to tame Hinds. This was the perfect taming area - no monsters, and should I somehow manage to die it was chock-full of healers! It will also be great when I need to tame Great Harts to continue raising my taming skill.

At roughly 55 taming, my gains from Hinds were slowing down. I took this time to become a friend of the Solen Hive and get a beetle for myself and my friend, which itself was a challenge. This is also when I created my 'stuck leveling taming' post on this forum, and received tons of helpful advice

I should mention as a side-note here that shortly after I began playing, an amazingly kind gentleman named Mustafa on Lake Superior told me he was quitting UO after playing for ten years. We became friends, and he gave me his home when he quit playing. This house has a very small personal rune library, including one with taming locations. I used this one to go to the Lost Lands, where I tamed horses, llamas, rideable llamas, forest ostards, black bears, and even continued to tame hinds and wolves when I couldn't find anything else until 60 skill.

After 60 skill, I moved to Ice Isle, where dungeon Deceit is located. Here I've been taming polar bears and walruses to raise my skill, which is nearing 70. My gains here are slowing, however. At 70, I will probably use taming jewelry to jump to the optimal skill to tame Snow Leopards for gains.

I should note that I did all of my taming solo. While my friend is on, we go work up our combat skills. I've led him on several hare-brained expeditions, from killing Ogre Lords (his sampire is still largely at expert and journeyman skill levels - not even a sampire, really) to farming for paragon Earth Elementals, to Daemon and Dragon hunting. In addition to breaking up the often-boring nature of taming, this helped raise my skills so that I could handle any monsters that I encountered taming easily.

I also raised magery on the animals I tamed, by releasing and then killing them. On a related note, the sounds of dying sheep make me sad.

Around 65 Taming skill, I used a +12 taming ring and a +13 taming bracelet, to give me roughly 90 modified taming skill. I then went and tamed a pair of Bake Kitsune. This was my first challenging tame The first one cost me three or four grey robes, largely because of the interference of several Tsuki Wolves. I did however, learn how to dash to my body, hit invisibility and collect my items from my corpse with minimal monster aggressiveness and then recall away I whittled the first kitsune's mana away with Blade Spirits and spells (it used mana dispelling the spirits, which would sometimes get a couple shots in). I also learned taming the first one, that polymorphed kitsunes have blue NPC names - it was NOT safe to stand by Lindsey at 1 HP and re-equip! Overall a good experience, though a little frustrating.

My second kitsune was much easier, although i has some issues there as well. The second kitsune I found, I had four Gamans in toe. I had read on Stratics that many people used Gamans as meat-shields for the kitsune to use mana on. Well, turns out my four Gamans killed it! I grabbed another, this time using three gamans, which the kitsune killed. Leading the kitsune around the houses along the road, I noticed something that was both very funny and a tiny bit irritating - someone had tamed, apparently used, and then released three or four cu sidhe's around their house! The cu's had positive karma, and so one attacked and promptly killed my kitsune. Finally, I got another one, worked it down with spirits and spells (by now I was pretty proficient with this method) and when it was low on health and mana (I could tell because most of its spells were healing, and they came less frequently) I got it caught on the corner of a house I moved to the other edge of the corner, just out of melee range. It could cast at me, but not melee (and thereby interrupt the tame)! And, I could tame it just fine!

So I did. Now I have a pair of kitsunes that will bond this Thursday, and then I can hunt with them when I need a break from 'tame bear - release bear -kill bear' type stuff.

Sorry for the utterly huge wall of text, I know it probably won't all be read but there's basically a journal page in the life of a new tamer

 

[Jlapps]

I have more modest immediate plans in the short term - to get a barebone FAQ covering the basics and then when that's done I think it's logical to consider something more fancy. For one thing we'd have the starting content But there is a FAQ discussion thread to add more suggestions or submit guides where you'd be most welcome. I would love to see more discussion in there about what should or shouldn't be included and more guides added to the pool.

This is exactly what I'm looking for Wenchkin Even just a basic, bare-bones FAQ or guide, as you said, would be fantastic! I don't think taming is too hard to pick up, once someone has their bearings and a place to start. There are also a number of topics regarding advanced taming such as invis-taming, training, etc, which are wonderful! I know you vets put a ton of time into helping others already, and there are stickies on a lot of good topics I just think it would be very helpful to have one small 'beginner's guide' sticky, for the very reason you mentioned - so that the vets won't have to repeat themselves! You guys can just say 'read the sticky' that way I'll also have to check out the FAQ discussion thread!

I absolutely understand your sentiment though. I made it a huge part of my WoW gameplay to help other people - I was good at the game, I knew my stuff, and I absolutely loved to help people. However, answering the same questions over and over, or seeing the same mistakes over and over, does get tiring. I actually wrote guides for my guilds, so I could just say 'hey, do you want some help? Go read this, it'll explain what you need to do'.

 

[Jonathan Baron]

Jlaps - many thanks! It didn't seem a long post to me

Please explain the release and kill method rather than simply tame and release? Others as well have told me that I should kill tamed and released animals. Why?

Many thanks

Jonathan

 

[gortman]

Jlaps - many thanks! It didn't seem a long post to me

Please explain the release and kill method rather than simply tame and release? Others as well have told me that I should kill tamed and released animals. Why?

Many thanks

Jonathan

Jonathan,

Taming, releasing and then killing the creature is usually favored because it creates additional opportunities to tame. What the heck does that mean? Let me try to explain, and I apologize in advance if you already knew some of what I'm about to say.

You only have a chance to get a skill gain in taming if you have not previously tamed a particular creature. So if you tame a polar bear, release it, and then tame it again, the game will not allow you a chance to increase your taming skill. I should mention that there may be a reason, in some cases, to tame and release. Why do this, when you can't gain in skill taming the same creature over and over? Well, it may be of service to other tamers looking to increase their skill. The reason is this: once a creature has been tamed and released, the game engine makes it more difficult for another tamer to tame it. Since taming skill gains are influenced by taming difficulty (see the calculator here: http://uo.stratics.com/content/skills/anim.php), trying to tame an "already tamed by someone else" creature may improve a character's chance to get a skill gain. When people tame and release, out of courtesy they usually rename the creature so you know it has already been tamed at least once. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe a creature can be tamed a maximum of five times (tamed by five distinct characters) before it can never be tamed again.

So back to the tame, release, and kill method. You already see one reason for this (can't gain off the same creature). A related reason again has to do with the game engine: periodically the game will calculate the number of creatures in a section of the game (think the correct term is subserver) and if that number is below a threshold, it will spontaneously birth new creatures in that area (otherwise known as respawn) so that they are at the threshold. Example: there are typically three bulls in the Jhelom pens. If you tame, release, and kill a bull there, after a relatively short period of time you will see a new bull appear in the pens. Good news if you are trying to get taming gains off the bulls, or just want to collect lots of leather and ribs.

If you wanted an alternative to tame, release, and kill, you can us the mage skill gate travel to move your recent tame to a different subserver. Then simply rename it and release it. For example, gate a bull from the Jhelom pens to Ter Mur, rename "a bull" to "bulloney" or whatever, and release it. This method to encourage respawn is probably highly preferred by your local ASPCA chapter.

Sorry for the long-winded explanation. Hopefully it helps.

 

[Jlapps]

Gortman beat me to it, and explained it much more thoroughly than I likely would have lol. Thanks gort! But yeah, the reasons he gave are why - once you tame a creature, the game sets that specific creature's taming difficulty to 0.0 for you specifically, while increasing the difficulty for others. So, while I can tame a polar bear and release it for you to gain from, I could not release and re-tame it for gains. Hence the tame - release - kill method.

 

[Jonathan Baron]

Okay, let me get this straight. Given that animals do not cross server boundaries, and are often restricted geographically anyway, you're mucking up the pool if folks unwittingly create herds of previously tamed creatures.

Problem with that logic is that many critters are spawn and withdrawn. This is particularly evident at my wee Keep at Lake Austin where the server does not perform a boundary check for housing and you end up with all manner of barnyard animals popping up in those grassy, walled in rectangles that exist for no reason I can discern in that most ubiquitous design.

The server routine is if grass, then sheep, goats....whatever. Give it a few hours, though, and they vanish...as will trapped Gypsies...Brigands...all sorts of things one could have fun with with screen captures.

So, where does that horse you were not aboard when you logged go to when it vanishes? Why does it go away some times and not others when it likely exists outside its region of origin?

How persistent are animals in UO? What auto-vanishes like stuff you don't lock down in your house? It behooves the game to ruthlessly seek to limit the number of total objects in the world at any one time. It's constantly striving to do so.

Animals in the stables do not exist as objects. Exemption. An animal you're sitting on is one object. Exemption. If the total number of objects does not rise above a certain number then your pet is still there when you log back in, even though you were not aboard it. The culling function was not called.

What you suggest is that one parameter for persistence is the number of a given species in a given region. This makes sense. It also explains a glitch I'm seeing where if someone takes a polar bear to the desert it will persist almost forever because its species is not on the list for that region and can be missed by the object scrubber.

I am guilty of this....it's a long story but due to something I did a polar bear was wandering around the woods outside of New Haven....killing mongbats like crazy too. There was nothing in the mongbat's AI subroutines to recognize them as bears. Thus they attacked, the polar bear defended itself. While the image of seeing a polar bear reared up on its hind legs fighting a mongbat was amusing, I realized I'd broken something.

You guys are hunting animals so high up the food chain that their numbers are, as Gortman said, tightly controlled. With the rarer animals I imagine you may very well see the same animal over and over for ages.

The proof of this I witnessed when watching the uber tamer of our guild on a Greater Dragon hunt. If the one he found didn't meet muster he'd have his GD kill it so that a fresh one would spawn.

In short, what you guys are saying makes sense for the level of tamers you are. I doubt it makes sense for sheep though.

On the one hand I can view this somewhat scientifically. I was working at Origin when object number and server boundary issues were HAMMERING the game.

You could make tall stacks of coins, thus making the server treat each coin as an object. That's MILLIONS of needless objects.

Folks would figure out where the server boundaries were, have one guy stand on one side with another guy on the other and pass gold back and forth. Back then this could trick the server into thinking that the guy passing the gold over still had it, and the guy taking and returning it had it too.

Clearly that's fixed and gold has been reduced to just a few objects.

On one hand I can see UO animals as integrated packages of light source shaded polygons, texture maps, animations and AI routines. But the game would lose its hold on me if I could stop myself from willingly suspending my disbelief while playing and regard the world as a world and the animals as animals.

Today I simply could not bring my self to kill the Forrest Ostard I'd tamed thinking it was a Frenzied Ostard. I rode around on Groucho (I'd named him when I still thought he was a Frenzied) until I found and tamed one of his Frenzied cousins. Couldn't kill him after that. So I changed his name to Mary and released him. Certainly nobody looking for a Frenzied Ostard is going to mistake a lizard named Mary for one.

I'll try to be more responsible about this, guys. Fortunately I tamed the Frenzied Ostards to keep and use as a wolf pack later. A buddy of mine is a crafter and needs leather, thus I'll have no problem killing off leather bearing beasts I tame. I'm finally at the point where everything I tame now wears leather Ain't going for no bugs.

Jonathan

 

[Jlapps]

The reason it applies to sheep isn't the problem of finding the same one over and over, although less time spent traveling means more time taming. It's that if you tame enough, and don't take measures to remove or re-locate them, you end up having tamed all of the creatures in your immediate vicinity, causing you to have to move. For instance, there are only so many sheep around the fields in New Haven, where they're most concentrated. If I tamed and released them, without either killing them or displacing them, I'd have to find a new, probably less concentrated, source of sheep to tame. Your friend kills the GD he doesn't want because it's not up to his standards, so he attempts to spawn a new one that is. I tame, then kill several sheep at a time, not due to standards, but simply because I need un-tamed sheep.

Animals in the server world are actually very persistant, barring glitches such as those which occurred with your keep. I could tame an ostard, release it in new haven, and find it days later barring someone else killing it or taming it - in fact, this is EXACTLY how I got my first ostard. Someone left it in the woods there, and I saw it for a day or two and decided to tame it.

As you said, each server / area / etc can only hold so many things. Even if there's a thousand sheep in New Haven, it's theoretically possible to tame them all and still need more. Now what? You have to do something with the sheep you've used. I know I've tamed dozens of polar bears already - probably enough to where if I didn't remove at least a few, I'd be seriously lacking in new bears to tame, especially if my 'used' bears linger for a couple days.

There are solutions to this though! Aside from killing them, what you did with your ostard is actually one way to go about it. It's not mucking up the pool, so long as you do indicate that the animal has been tamed before. As was said, your ostard was more difficult to tame than normal - and thereby provided better gains for a more skilled tamer Other solutions that have been outlined include gating your tames to somewhere else: I could take my herd o' polar bears and leave em in the desert. I've also tamed a pack of animals, used them fighting brigands (or other animal-appropriate spawn) and just replaced them as they died. You can also tame two animals, release one and use the other to kill the released one - this allows you to gain Veterinary and Animal Lore skill by healing the one you kept.

On a side note, while I don't know for sure if this is true, I read that an animal tamed and trained by a good-karma owner essentially gains its own karma. Again, don't quote me on this, I have no idea if it's actually true. Just an interesting thing I read somewhere could be absolutely false.

 

[Wenchkin]

I get that, Wenchy, BELIEVE ME. In every forum rich in complex expertise it's more than annoying when the forum is a new guys' first stop.

But I thought I read everything, even a slew of previous forum posts, before I lept in. Problem is that folks who participate heavily in a forum such as this are already way past the basics. They're into core veteran issues and stories. Thus the new player becomes a conversational interruption that feels like a random nonsequitur.

The FAQ appeared to be devoted to how to use the forum and how to properly participate in it. Nonetheless I ran searches of it using words like "slots" and others that confused me, with no results.

This is just the nature of things. I know it sounded like a criticism. If it did, I meant no offense. Folks devote substantial chunks of their lives to create and maintain venues such as this.

Jonathan

See, you've actually illustrated for me exactly why it's useful to get feedback from a FAQ user - slots for me aren't something I think about, because I understand them.

I'll see what I can do on a kinda introduction to the profession and perhaps a glossary. Not sure when I'll be able to get it done, but I'm realising now that it needs to be added in. I often find things fit in place after I sleep on them, or perhaps it's the chain coffee drinking I wake up with lol. Either way, I think we should be sorted.

As for the taming and releasing thing you're asking about, I'm sure I'll repeat what's been said before but this is how I'd explain it.

You can't gain on the same creature if you release and then retame it. So, the first reason you'd kill a creature after taming it would be if you wanted to spawn more fresh animals to tame. Say you are in Jhelom bull pens for an hour - you can't tame the 4 bulls in there all that time, you'd need to kill them so a fresh spawn arrives.

The second reason you'd want to kill creatures has to do with the taming difficulty. Animals can be tamed by a maximum of 5 different player characters. There isn't a limit for the times a pet can be traded/transferred between characters, but there is one for the taming.

Pretamed pets also increase in difficulty - each time a new player tames and releases a pet, it adds 6.0 to the minimum skill you need to tame the animal. If you pretame a creature and want to leave it alive after release, add on something like "once" to the end of it's name so another tamer will know it's had 1 owner. Some tamers will add one letter, then you'll see the next guy adds another and bulls end up called "a bullABabsE" etc. Each tamer adds what they call their own "tag" to a pet name, if there are other tamers using "one" then I add my initial along with the number. It lets that tamer know who tamed it, how difficult the tame will be and whether it's within range for them to get a gain.

Pretames that are released without a tag aren't always obvious and they waste time for some tamers who don't know what skill that pet needs to tame. So sometimes you'll arrive at a spawn and the animals are too difficult or have had too many owners. In which case they need to be killed so fresh ones spawn.

There are times when a player would want a pretamed pet - it might be better for them to gain on something a bit harder. So if someone else arrives at a spawn I'm working I usually ask if they want pretames and otherwise i'll just tame then kill critters.

I find it hard killing certain creatures - sheep are my bizarre one because I have some of my own in RL lol. I once upset a warrior training parrying because he had a whole flock of sheep attacking him. I mentioned (in character) that a big strong warrior shouldn't be worrying farm livestock and the shepherds would be after him... his friend then arrived and asked me to duel him in Felucca...over some sheep *giggle* One of my funniest moments ever

Wenchy

 

[Jlapps]

Awesome Wenchkin, thanks a ton! That will be a huge help for newcomers to the profession While I don't know a ton yet, I'd be happy to help assemble templates in one list (you can find advanced builds here, and it's easy to figure out how these builds would start out) and share what I have learned! Heh, yeah, dying sheep make the saddest noises. It's a lot easier to kill polar bears, especially because if I don't kill em in one hit they rear up and look all intimidating

EDIT: On a side note, the Treasure Hunter FAQ has lots of good info for beginners We could start with something kind of similar to that.

 

[Aroma]

Off topic i know

Damn nice Plane there is it yours i loved that early tail on them. Those wood wings in my opinion there stronger and more flexible than metal.

 

[Jonathan Baron]

Thanks guys....KEENLY informative.

And, yeah, my warrior did the Yew sheep pen trick to build points in Parrying. Were I not to know about this nearly traditional skill boost system, and I came across someone practicing it....yeah....I'd be asking the guy if he wore loose boots too.

Just got back from one of those tours veterans take you on...you know, six locations in seven minutes as if points were given based on speed.

Did the bullpen at Shalom, the Ridgeback range on Compassion, and leapt down a hole at a bend in the road just outside Trinsic....not to tame ants but regarding a quest for something preposterous called a Bag of Sending which sure can make your bank deposits go a whole lot more magically.

And I obeyed his orders to kill what I tamed. I was not, however, going to leave without carving out the leather and ribs. The leather you can sell and I use the ribs to feed my now FIVE member herd of angry, Frenzied Ostards.

Dunno, Jlaps, if you could pour karma into these guys. Actually they're as docile as the Forrest variety once tamed....to you, the tamer. As a wolf pack I'm expecting very different behavior from them once they're bonded.

After I get some good experience I expect I'll look back on my quest for five angry Ostards as good practice for approaching hostile targets. Each one attacked me with great vigor multiple times before I won them over. It astonishes me still that they went from full attack to making that adorable rumbling, squeaking purring sound after they'd decided I was their guy. It was like turning a Fox news commentator into a Socialist.

I never did kill a Ridgeback. Took more than one try each to tame them. They're fun to ride around and are so horrid looking I'd love ride one into a see-and-be-seen Luna bank on one of the high population shards. Transferred my guy from one of those shards last night.

Instead my experienced guide summoned an Earth Elemental to dispatch the hapless things. He had me transfer one to him, though, to ride on and take back, as he has one of those fit in your backpack horses.

Clearly the server architecture has changed since I worked there. Hell, Origin doesn't even exist anymore and the game has continued go grow with such fascinating diversity and richness of options beyond those leveling games suited to short attention spans.

Cutting the gadfly crap:

He said that if you tame bulls every day, regardless of your skill level, you will see modest but definite point gains. Really? We never stuck around long enough in any one place to tame enough animals to prove this.

He also said that a great way to build Animal Lore points was to tame two critters, have them attack each other, and heal the victor. Really? I'm sure Michael Vick knows.

Could someone please explain this slot system to me? I'd buy you a beer but this venue doesn't make that feasible. All I know is that I've got either or nine animals in the stable now with my Mage/Tamer whereas I was only allowed four as a Paladin. Is it the type of animal that determines how many you can stable?

Thanks again, folks. You've been WONDERFULLY helpful.

Jonathan

 

[Uthar Pendragon]

Seems like your building the Noob Tamer FAQ quite well in here. Since I am a bit late to the discussion, I will chime in on the last two items you hit on.

Control slots and Stable slots.

First lets look at control slots. Five control slots are given to everyone regardless of taming skill. Each pet/animal/summons takes away from that total. This is based on a predetermined value for that creature. Horses are a one slot pet, on up to the five slot Greater Dragon. You can have any combination of pets/summons up to the five control slot max.

For example, you could have 5 pack horses at once, yet only have one Greater Dragon in your control. Once a pet has been released, transfered, Killed (if unbonded) or stabled, you will regain the control slots used by said pet/summon.

Your current follower status will tell you how many/what type of pet you can get from the stables or tame.

Touching on stable slots.


All characters are allowed to store 2 pets with an NPC Stablemaster.

• A character that has a combined total of between 160 and 199.9 in Animal Taming, Veterinary, and Animal Lore skills can store 3 pets with a Stablemaster.
  
• A character that has a combined total of between 200 and 239.9 in Animal Taming, Veterinary, and Animal Lore skills can store 4 pets with a Stablemaster.
• A character that has a combined total of 240 or higher in Animal Taming, Veterinary, and Animal Lore skills can store 5 pets with a Stablemaster.
• Players will be awarded another stable slot for each of the following skills at 100.0, 110.0 and 120.0: Animal Taming, Animal Lore, and Veterinary.
  • In this way the maximum possible number of stable slots per character will be 14.
• All Players that have the Stygian Abyss expansion have an additional 2 stable slots.
• saying Stablecount to the stablemaster will give you your current stable numbers

Hope this helps

 

[Jlapps]

He said that if you tame bulls every day, regardless of your skill level, you will see modest but definite point gains. Really? We never stuck around long enough in any one place to tame enough animals to prove this.

He also said that a great way to build Animal Lore points was to tame two critters, have them attack each other, and heal the victor. Really? I'm sure Michael Vick knows.

Could someone please explain this slot system to me? I'd buy you a beer but this venue doesn't make that feasible. All I know is that I've got either or nine animals in the stable now with my Mage/Tamer whereas I was only allowed four as a Paladin. Is it the type of animal that determines how many you can stable?

Thanks again, folks. You've been WONDERFULLY helpful.

Ok, for the bull-taming point: It is feasable to go from the absolute minimum taming skill to tame bulls all the way until you're 100% guarenteed to tame them first try and still gain. However, as your success chance increases your chance to get gains per tame decreases. Bulls require at least 71.1 taming before you can even begin to tame them though. It's best to move on every five to ten points on to better challenges.

The short answer is that yes, you would get gains taming bulls every day: however, these gains would taper off slowly, until the 100's of taming skill probably, whereupon they would disappear completely.

As for getting Lore gains, in order to do as he said you need to be in a guild of some kind, or the pets won't damage each other. The other commonly used method is to tame two pets, release one, and have the tamed pet kill it. Then you heal the tamed pet as it fights. Either method gives great Lore and Vet gains. Lore also tends to raise very quickly simply by taming. I for example have almost 70 taming, and almost GM Animal Lore, just by taming!

Stable slots work as follows: you begin with two, or four if Stygian Abyss is installed. Then, as your skills raise, you gain more slots. (I forget the exact formula, but it's in the FAQ somewhere). The maximum number of slots you can have is fourteen, or sixteen with SA installed. While the type of animal influences the number of follower slots used, it does NOT in any way affect stable slots used. A squirrel or sheep takes up the same number of stable slots as a Greater Dragon or Rune Beetle: One.

Hope this helps clear things up!

EDIT: It should be noted that best possible gains for taming functions like a bell curve. At 71.1 taming, you'll probably get a gain almost every time you tame a bull: however, when you only tame once in every 100 tries or so, it's just as slow as having a 99% chance of taming and a minuscule chance of gaining per tame. Roughly 50% success chance is the sweet spot, as it were.

EDIT TWO: The above poster was nice enough to provide the stable slot formula! Thank you!

 

[Metalstorm]

I'm not sure about the taming of bulls despite skill level thing.

I didn't have much luck with them until my skill was in the 80's.

You can only gain skill on your successes once you're past newbie status. (high 30's or low 40's)


He's right about the vet/lore thing.
Using the vet skill will make lore rise.

I remember at one time my vet was low in the 70's and my lore was in the high 80's so I actually locked lore for awhile until vet got up to 80 (for ressing dearly departed beasties) then I unlocked it and let them both raise as they saw fit


My best advice for you is patience. I can't stress that enough. Taming (alongside bard skills) requires the biggest, longest investment of time.

There were times I felt like pulling my hair out just to break the monotony


Back when I could put in at least 14-24 hours a week into UO I spent 90% of my time taming and it took me 14 months to achieve legendary status in all three taming skills.
Actually lore and vet took less than a year but taming gets slower and sloooooower as your skill climbs.

The closer you get, the longer it takes

On the bright side if you only wish to reach 100 and then "jewel up" you should be able to reach it in under a year.

There is a good reason for why it takes so long.
That reason is: Because it's worth it.

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

A new players first port of call should be the playguide on the UO website. It covers most topics at the level of play you have spoke about here.

http://www.uoherald.com/guide/index.php

It is very easy to navigate, or you can just use google, for example if you type "UO stable slots" in google and go to the UOherald result you will find most of the information a beginner Tamer would need to know.

 

[Jonathan Baron]

Uthar: Thank you simply doesn't cover it. How someone can understand that system based on the terms that could only serve to obfuscate bewilders me beyond reason. BTW, how's that boy of yours doing?

Jlaps - always, always splendid information.

Thanks, Metalstorm.

That reminds me. I finally managed to tame a Lava Lizard today, and was trying to feed it. Meat, nope, no matter if cooked or raw. Apples, nope. Pulled out actual vegetables (carrots and ears of corn) instead of fruit. No way. Pulled up its sheet...it eats - YES EATS - metal. Gonna hunt down an ingot or two to put in my kit, just in case an animal with a bizarre diet crossed my path.

Why I feed them prior to releasing and dispatching them is beyond me. Probably should save it for it's useful purpose.

My doubt about this profession's demands to kill LOTS of critters vanished when I tamed a Ki Rin this morning on one of those Malas asteroids, SSE of Luna. Recalled there from an animal taming runebook I found on Luna from one of those NPC statue vendors.

Took awhile to find it as it was not in the open...ever, as the Unicorn was. Plus the woods were full of distracting pests I had to kill. Finally found one though and got it on the first attempt too. This puzzled the hell out of me. I shouldn't have been able to. I read something about it reading your karma which figures into its regard for you. Could that have had something to do with it?

OMG what a GORGEOUS horse it is! Ate fruit too. First time I felt proud when I gated us to that spot I recall to, just in front of the stable at New Haven. That beauty could make me reconsider my first choice of animal transportation. Up until that moment my favorite ride, by far, was llamas. Wonderfully maneuverable and fast, each of my characters has a bonded one. Ki Rin's too flashy though...feels a bit like bling Hey, that might make a good name for one.

I read that it has formidable combat capability too, even if you're riding it. The write-up says that it takes great exception to anything that wounds its rider.

Everything turned around quickly for me once I began to get some information and advice from y'all. Now I've moved my Mage/Tamer to where my guild is. Lots of taming and training expertise among them but it's show, not tell with that lot. Makes sense but I need both.

Heck, the reason I spent so much time building this character in secret was so as not to embarrass myself in front of them.

Jonathan

 

[Jlapps]

Always glad to help!

Yeah, ki-rins don't take well to their riders being seriously wounded. They can call a lightning spell (I think it is) that does a pretty good amount of damage. As for taming first try, you got lucky It'll happen sometimes! My mount of choice is a tie between a hiryu (amazing fighters, and different than a horse or llama) and an ostard. Ostards are just too adorable lol.

I'm still workin' up my own taming. Turns out you can NOT donate brown bears to the moonglow zoo, at least on Lake Superior. Only polar bears. I tamed four, went to donate, no luck Oh well, back to tame - release - kill.

 

[Llewen]

Sir Jonathan, you are a breath of fresh air. And I think you stumbled on the most helpful forum on all of Stratics. Us tamers are often maligned and we tend to stick together. However, my adhd makes it difficult to plow through all your posts - not your fault at all, and don't stop, just letting you know in case I miss something important.

I also think that taming is one of the most challenging and complex professions in all of UO. It's not hard to be a mediocre tamer, but becoming an accomplished tamer, that takes some time and effort, and the ability to remember lots of information. But then, I admit, I am biased...

 

[Jonathan Baron]

Hey Llewen, without you I'd still be sneaking up on animals, clicking on them, and selecting Tame.

The only reason I switched from riding Ostards to Llamas, Jlaps, was I kept getting my Ostards killed. I began a thread about folks with gaps of 10 years, or more, coming back to UO...with me as the poor soul who was overcome with bewilderment at all the changes. The unintended theme running though most of my posts was the frequent deaths of my rides, and the extraordinary variations of events leading to their demise.

I felt cursed. Another day, another bizarre pet death.

Forrest Ostards die easy if you loot for your money in UO. My primary character is a pure GM sword guy, except for Paladin spells, relying on loot for income. For that Trog dungeon not far from the Trinsic moongate that easily yields 30k per run, llamas are ideal. Ostards keep waving their long necks and tails around you see. You've got to do the Double-Click-For-Cash in a tight space in the middle of a fight. Damn I'd always catch one waving appendage or another and WHAM - dead Ostard. Llamas...just...stand there and are small, thus presenting far less accidental clickable area.

This, and trying to employ a Vollem in combat, is what got me into taming. I lacked the patience to wait a week for a pet to bond, became embarrassed going to my Guild elders (half the Guild are tamers) for yet another Llama or Ostard, and was frustrated when trying to control the Vollem (I did wait on it until it bonded). Plus all of them had such exotic pets. I'd care to see a whole lot less of GIANT bugs though. Bit of a CRUSHING PHOBIA regarding insects.

I'm quite attached to my Vollem, Cherri Baby. Because it, and an armored Swamp Dragon, were such stunning gifts from my Guild, I finally developed the patience to wait a week. Named the Dragon Gar, after the pet dragon Richard Cipher had in one of the Terry Goodkind Sword of Truth novels. The Vollem had already been named.

Gar has no personality. A stolid steed in battle though. We killed so many High Plains Bouras together that I damned near burned through his armor. Found me a Dragon Barding Deed in anticipation of the day it runs out of durability points.

The Vollem, however, has truckloads of adorable quirks and behaviors. Problem is that, no matter how high its loyalty rating (and the little cutie pie seemed genuinely devoted) once fighting ensued it would soon stop even noticing commands that would have saved its life. As soon as I'd hear that turbine winding up sound of its mage talents kicking in, I knew I could forget about reining it in.

After the third procession of me and its ghostly shadow self marching to the vet I'd finally had enough. To have complete control over a combat pet, I was told, you have to have substantial taming and lore skills.

I gave my tamer character a Vollem in crystal I received when I upgraded to that Smoked Sturgeon Abyss. Figured that would be the test at the time. Now I call that Ter Mir place Boura Boura, but I digress....

No. Firstly I think Vollems simply are that way by nature. Handing things over to a legendary tamer for an evening produced no change. My Guild's Cognoscenti found the whole matter puzzling. Plus, now that I'm DEEPLY into this, I imagine taming and controlling FIVE Frenzied Ostards in battle, not to mention the hand-me-down Dread Mare that successive owners passed along because each became fixated on Greater Dragons, will make my Vollem adventures seem pretty lightweight.

I keep hearing a Christmas song in my head when I think about this....Five Frenzied Ostards, two crazy Vollems, one Dread Mare Warhorse....five....golden...rings. I don't think we've got the calling birds, French hens or turtle doves though.

Jonathan

 

[Llewen]

...not to mention the hand-me-down Dread Mare that successive owners passed along because each became fixated on Greater Dragons...

I suggest you hang on to that "hand-me-down". You could easily sell it for 60,000,000 gold pieces, if not more... Assuming it truly is a dread warhorse, and not a nightmare...

 

[Jlapps]

Heh, yeah, ostards like to keep in motion. Controlling five of any pet can be a pain though! Although if you can get good at it, a pack of frenzied ostards are a force to be reckoned with - though you may want something more sturdy to take the hits. I have a friend I play with, so I can make him meat-shield for me I love the giant beetle, it's up there on my list of favorite rides. And they're easy for me to get.

If that is a dread warhorse though, you can't get them anymore and they're VERY powerful from what I've read. I'd hang on tightly to it, bond it, and use it! I believe dread warhorses take three slots (correct me if I'm wrong here), and a regular nightmare takes only two.

The UO tamer forum is amazingly helpful thus far I came here with a ton of my own questions and have only received positive, helpful and friendly posts. I'm glad I can start to give back a little, even with my limited knowledge thus far I think I'm having more fun reading the forums than I am actually raising the skill >.> 'Tame bear - release bear - kill bear' FTL lol. I know it'll be worth it though!

 

[uoBuoY]

...You've got to do the Double-Click-For-Cash in a tight space in the middle of a fight...

In tight looting situations, hold down shift and control at the same time to show all the corpse handles. 2-click the handle to open the corpse.

 

[Uthar Pendragon]

Firstly I think Vollems simply are that way by nature. Handing things over to a legendary tamer for an evening produced no change. My Guild's Cognoscenti found the whole matter puzzling.

I think understanding the pet commands and the effects of the commands on your pets will go a long way in helping you gain a better control over your pet/pets.





There are two modes that your pet will fall into. These modes affect how the commands are followed when issued.

• Aggressive: This mode allows the pet to attack and defend itself from attacks.
  • Downside is that if a pet is attacked while in aggressive mode, it will engage the target that has attacked it. So if a mongbat becomes aggressive to your pet before the Balron does, it will not go after the Balron until the mongbat is dead. You can direct it to attack another but the pet will most likely switch back to the original aggressor.
• Passive: This mode will make even the most destructive pet just ignore anything attacking it.
  • downside is a Mongbat could kill a dragon because the dragon will do nothing but sit and take damage.

Next lets look at the common prefix's used by the commands. These help define which pet/pets are affected by each command.

<petname> before the pet commands will direct the specific pet named with the command that follows it. i.e. "fido follow" will direct fido to follow a selected target.

The "All" prefix will direct all your pets currently under your command to follow the command that follows it. i.e. "all follow me" will command all your pets to follow you. This will also affect any pets that your are friended to within range. Meaning if your hunting with another who has pets out you are "Friended" to, it will cause those pets to follow that command.

The suffix command of "me" will override the targeting cursor that some commands will give you. i.e. "All Follow me" would make the pet/pets follow you without the need to select yourself as the target.

The Following commands are used in conjunction with pets/summons under your direction.

• Follow: This command will make the directed pets to follow the specified target.
  • It is used with either prefix, and can be followed by the "me" command.
  • This command will not change the pets current fighting stance.
• Kill/Attack: This command puts your pet into an aggressive stance and allows the pet to attack and defend itself from attack.
  • It is used with either prefix. The "me" suffix will be ignored.
  • You are given a targeting cursor to select the target of the attack.
• Stay: this command will make the pet stay in its current location.
  • It is used with either prefix.
  • This command does not change the pets current stance.
• Guard: This command will put the pet into an aggressive stance. It will defend the pet owner if the pet owner is attacked.
  • When the pet commands were last changed this command was limited to just the pet owner. It is used with either prefix. The "me" suffix can be used after.
• Stop: This command will cancel the pets current command. It will put your pet into passive mode. Meaning it will not defend if it is attacked.
  • It is used with either prefix.
  • commands affected by this are kill/attack, guard, and follow.
  • using this command will make the pet wander until it is given a new command.
• Come: This command is similar to the follow command as it will bring the pets to you. It does however invoke a different pet AI than follow and allows the pet to navigate obsticles that my block a pet under the follow command.
  • It puts the pet into passive mode.
  • It can be used to unbug a pet that is on a different axis than it should be. For example a pet that has died in flying mode will sometimes not be able to be resurected. stepping away and telling the pet to come will bring it out of the fly mode. The pet then will walk to you allowing you to resurect the pet.
  • this is also useful for when your pet becomes immoble when aggressive. (the pet does not advance to engage the target when directed to).

The rest of the pet commands while useful are less used than the above commands.

• Drop: this command can only be used after a pet has been bonded. It will cause the pet to drop what it is carrying. Pets that have bonded and not died will still carry their spawned loot.
  • It is used with the <petname> prefix.
• Friend: This command will allow the person targeted to command any pet that is friended to him/her.
  • It is used with the <petname> prefix.
  • you cannot direct a friended pet to kill/attack.
  • This command allows others to have access to a pets pack. (packies, beetles).
• Transfer: this command will transfer the pet to the selected person.
  • It is used with the <petname> prefix.
    

Most tamers will set up macros with the commands. The most effective will combine commands in the macros.
The all stop followed by the all follow me command will allow the pet to disengage its current target and come to you, ignoring any further attacks on it. In this manner you can extract your pet from a hairy situation to one which you have better control.
For example all kill and selecting a target will send your pet after its intended target. Then using the All stop, all follow me command will allow you to pull the pet away from a heavy spawn area. usually the monster that was initially attacked will continue to attack your pet. Thus causing the monster to follow your pet to a more desirable location.

If I got anything Wrong someone let me know so I can correct it.

 

[Jonathan Baron]

Damn, Uthar! That was, without doubt, the finest anti obfuscation explosive I've seen detonated since I arrived here. Point - BANG, point - BANG, not a wasted word. Brilliant. I'm a Yank. Thus "brilliant" means exactly that, as opposed the throw away manner the Brits use it.

I was simply going with the basic follow, stay, kill, guard, stop, all keymapped in a as logical a manner as I could. What could possible go wrong....the end key means stop, the delete key means kill. And when the elders of my tribe did that sic 'em on the rotting undead trick they were also bewildered by that little white gal's deafness once the mage in her spooled up. Damning her with faint praise, they said she something to have fun with.

Got two more in crystal. Cherri Baby was a gift from a Guildmate, and I got one each for my two accounts when I upgraded them to that depressing Sturgeon Abyss, with the queen in her palace on a hill and refugees fretting for their lives in tents outside the walls of the Royal City. Ever see a player flee over the bridge with a Boura on it's six, and watch the beast take out 10-20 refugees? But I digress.

Not letting those two Vollems out of crystal stasis until I'm damned sure I know what I'm doing. Not letting the Mare out either until. My elders have time to work with me on training here. I'll be pouring over that post of yours for awhile too.

There's a shady side to that deal with the Mare, Llewen, along with the loan of jewels and wearable buffs to make minimums for the horse to so much as allow you to be her master. Can't say I'm proud of how it went down, but I'm earning it with great concerted effort retroactively. They'll be no taming or vet jewels on me when she emerges from the stable.

I never imagined I could become a proper hunter/tamer, and I don't care for dragons apart from the White Wrynn. The dragon symbolizes many different things to many different cultures, none of them appealing to me.

A Paladin has to be in the middle fo the fight to be effective keeping pets red bars long, and even then only so much. Had to try a Mage eventually, and its essential limitations are such that I wanted an ally other than those Elementals of all varieties you can summon. Water Elementals have proven the best, or those blue mini tornadoes that are little whims of death.

Even with the most powerful (and mana sucking) weapons in my arsenal at this stage of my Mage's career, it's a tale of sound and fury signifying nothing as the great Bard said. I'll leave out the "told by an idiot" part

Lots of explosions, lighting and fire, and often nary a piece removed from the boss guy's red bar. Did the Ogre Lord level of one dungeon before the big server upgrade yesterday (I've got a recall into it). Boss Ogre spat out those blue things as well as the Elemental before my firepower was enough to finish the job.

With my Paladin it's simple. Take out the Ogres and take out the Ogre Lord. Rush the guys. Take 'em out fast, and get straight to your one-on-one with El Jefe' Ogre. Just have the right weapon and keep your stamina high. The Divine Fury spell takes care of that.

My Guild doesn't arrange group ops, as I said. Thus I figured I'd be going it alone into the netherworld featuring Henry Ford's definition of history: one damned thing after another. The esprit de corps on Lake Austin makes it worth foregoing frequent adventures that leave your hands shaking afterward. I brag about my Paladin but he can't solo a dungeon....he's not one of those Sampire mutants. Yeah, min/maxing or gaming the game is fun for some, but anathema to me. I'm more of a roleplayer.

Oh, that's crap! I did the get-four-Haven-weavers-to-attack-me-simultaneously trick, like the sheep pen in Yew, to run up a skill unnaturally fast....resisting spells and evaluating intelligence in this case. Went from the mid 30s to the mid 70s in Resist Spells in just over an hour. That's gaming the game. I'm so full of sh*t sometimes.

What I've been discovering though, and it was a key point made earlier, is that Tamers are tight because they're the Special Ops branch of UO, working with great care and stealth behind enemy lines, almost always alone, doing their best NOT to be noticed. There is no sneaking around a dungeon, nor can one make their way to the treasure chest without triggering waves of hell spawn. That's really the point of the exercise. Taming is its opposite....its ABSOLUTE opposite.

I never expected to find it so absorbing. No better medicine for the low population shard blues.

Ah, and there's always a trick, UoBouY...thanks for sharing that one with me. I thank you, my pets thank you, especially the llamas that can't take a hit and live once they've lost their rider. They tend to do better than most, though, because they just stand there and give you a shot at climbing back on.

What's cool is that this tread is ultimately sooooo not about me or any single contributor. It's been about getting that essential info written down for later editing and posting I hope, and enable more folks to answer that question from the start that we need to ask ourselves with everything we sink our time into: How do I win from here?

Jonathan

 

[Llewen]

I never expected to find it so absorbing.

I've played a number of MMO's. I've played all kinds of characters, from warriors, to wizards, to priests, to crafters, to thieves. Nothing has held my attention and captured my imagination like taming in Ultima Online.

 

[Jonathan Baron]

Apart from that string of promises to care for the beast always that coos and does everything you want after you've won it over, followed by murder, taming is oddly captivating. As you do to the beasts it does to you: sneaks up and seduces ya! Of course you betray 99% of them in the end, but that's pretty the norm among human relationships too

Idle at the moment - something I handle...poorly - I've pushed hard to render skill point jewelry moot. But it's not been a crunch or a race. Sure, it began that way. Then it became the grand paradox: a driven endeavor that relaxes you.

What I've really enjoyed the most has been my Ahab-like quest to tame a Nightmare. I probably would have by now except the hunting ground - some post nuclear charred forest, is so packed with such a large catalog of very potent bad things and this business of waving some book, shouting faux Latin phrases, and having supernatural stuff happen still hasn't wired itself yet to the combat portion of my brain.

But that's what the hunt is for, for key people in my Guild: to acquire and train the best combat allies they can. And why not? In the Abyss, when you aim to kill what they call "a peerless" to gain unique prizes that prove your mettle, you must disagree. It has a peer. Well....not "a" peer, but your daring band of adventurers....made daring because they fight behind the most lethal animals players can ally with.

Didn't understand this until last night. I've not been going on these because I had no idea they were happending. It's not that they don't like me. I've never felt that. It's simply a veteran squad who regard me as in the fundamental skill building state and theirs are not endeavors for beginners.

"Come along but stay to the rear," I was told. Not sure where we went....Abyss, of course, but I've not been since the quest needed to gain access there....like applying for access to hell. A gump appeared as we entered the area: a sharply phrased warning that, if you die where you're foolishly about to go - and I see no other outcome should you go it alone - you're pretty much screwed.

It's the bait-and-ambush next. One guy or gal (she's the best at this) running in to draw the boss, and ultimate phat loot, out. And they ran. All but one, with a Rune Beetle, had brought Greater Dragons. That means you go on foot. They take up all the slots allotted a player and, unbelievably, you cannot ride them. It also, logically, means you can't so much as take one from the stable if you're mounted when you do.

Three of these top-of-the-heap Dragons are ordered to attack this "peerless." The Rune Beetle rider patrols for monster spawn to the rear...lesser creatures it can dispatch quickly. Everyone else is locked onto the dragons, healing them relentlessly until the target goes down....after what both seems and is a LONG battle.

Suddenly my notion of White Wrynns, Ki Rins, Nightmare horses, and wolf packs of Frenzied Ostards feels foolish...dreamy. That's not true, but it means if I go that way, I go it alone. And for good reason too.

After it's over, after all that HONK, HONK, HONK....*ROAR*...HONK HONK endless battle cry of the GDs in triplicate, I realize that any animal I admire could not survive no matter how much healing magic you pour on it. I realize why our Elder in Chief kills several GDs, pulling up the stat sheet on each while his dragon fights the one that has no notion it's applying for a job.

I discovered just how much variation there is among creatures' capabilities when I'd feed my Ostard pack. Feeding puts the target cursor on the pet. You apply the Animal Lore skill (which I did not know how to for such a long time) and that pulls up the stat sheet. You all know this but people browsing this forum may not and become frustrated, as I did, when they try to figure out how to do this. It's an important baby step toward this game profession and it's not exactly intuitive.

Wow! One of these mini dinosaurs possesses far less strength that his battle brothers. Okay. Now I know which one to ride when the time comes to hunt. I don't have it in me to kill it and search for a replacement.

After that battle I referred to above ends, and everyone else has logged off for the night, boss elder tells me it's time for me to have one of these Greater Dragon monsters. I demur, he insists again, and disappears. This means he's on the hunt for one and I really don't have a choice in this. I'd mentioned earlier in the evening my admiration for the White Wyrnn. One of my party offered me hers. There's a message there.

Over the guild channel I ask to witness this Darwinian exercise. A moongate opens; I'm told to use it.

Suddenly I'm in that place I'd come to hunt a Drake...it's called the Dragon farm. There are walls, around it. The interior of these walls are splattered with blood, the bones of unfortunate souls litter the grounds, and lava pits "decorate" its center. A Wandering Healer is posted outside. I follow the honking and the roaring ahead of me.

Soon I see my Guild Leader standing next to his Dragon who has just slain another GD who had failed the job interview - the interview to become my dragon. It feels messed up at first. These are to be our comrades in arms. Just taming one feels like an impossible dream to me.

As the process continues, he dies at least twice, running out to be resurrected (he doesn't know my Mage/Tamer now has that capability over man and beast) and running back to rejoin this most peculiar interview committee of dragon and man.

"Got the one for you!" he says at last. He can't present it to me then. I vaguely recall him telling me to show up unmounted. I'm sitting there on my llama, George. A massive monster stands before it. The absurdity of this moment is not lost on me.

Back to Luna stable. In goes George, and my boss presents me with the Dragon who got the job. This was about equipping me to adventure with my comrades, not about teaching me how to tame dragons. I understand.

He asks me to pull its stat sheet. 939 hit points, decent stamina, mana and magery off the scale. At his request, I read off the hit point figure. He responds like Tony the Tiger. "939....that's gr8!" he says.

"Lets take it someplace," he says. "But it's not bonded," I reply. "That okay," he says. "Time to teach you something about how to train it. Its stam will go up." Stamina is the weak link on the Greater Dragon....shockingly so. Many of us have higher stamina than many Greater Dragons. My Ki Rin's is higher. Unimaginatively, I name the Dragon Grendel.

In a flash we're in the desert. An animal that looks like a lion wearing an Egyptian headdress appears. I know what my mentor wants me to do. I order the attack, I click on Grendel and pull the rectangle with its red bar to one side, get close and keep using that as my target to pour target healing and detox spells on Grendel as she fights this fine looking cat, called a Sphinx.

Despite the clear disparity in weight class, the Sphinx puts up quite a fight. The loot on its body is impressive. I call Grendel to my side. It displays the sweet, affectionate manner my Warrior's Vollem does. I've been won over. I feed Grendel some raw ribs, another Sphinx appears, and we repeat the process a few times. My mentor watches to make sure I know what I'm doing. In this place, on this training ground, Grendel can fight but she's safe. This is a rite of passage for us both.

After we return to Luna stable, he gives me a recall rune to that place, asks me to pull Grendel's stats, waits to notice if I see her stamina improvement. I do. As he's about to log for the night, I do display a final sign of the greenhorn. "Will her skill potential diminish if I wait until she's bonded before we resume?" I ask. "No," he said. "It's up to you." Two ways to take that, both of them flattering.

I'm still going to tame a White Wrynn. A gal who knows the ways of such things offered to guide me through it tonight. I'll still have my adventures with it and my Ostards but they will be my only companions. I now understand why.

Yet, as I brought my animals out, one by one, to feed them and check on them before I logged off, I noticed - to my complete surprise - that the Dread Mare's stats are not that far behind those of the huge dragon. In some categories they're even better. I noted something else. When I fed her I noticed that she's bonded with me now. Hmmmmm......

For a moment it felt faintly absurd as I rode away from New Haven stable on my llama, George. Only my status within the group had changed. I have not

Jonathan
-

 

[Llewen]

Apart from that string of promises to care for the beast always that coos and does everything you want after you've won it over, followed by murder, taming is oddly captivating. As you do to the beasts it does to you: sneaks up and seduces ya! Of course you betray 99% of them in the end, but that's pretty the norm among human relationships too

Too funny! I actually wrote a short story about that very thing.

 

[Jlapps]

You're a very good writer Jonathan. That was a great story to read I really need to spend time raising my animal taming... I want to be able to own a Greater Dragon, to be able to go Sphynx slaying and Peerless monster hunting. Unfortunately, I have a long way to go still.

However, I did get to take my newly bonded bake kitsune's out today. Kitsune's wouldn't be a match for a dragon, at least not my young ones, but I had fun killing paragon earth elementals. It's a start, and my new pets gained skill from them. I noticed some interesting quirks about them, too.

Star is the more aggressive, quick, go-get-em one. It seems to be able to navigate a little better than it's compatriot, and is always the first one to go after anything that shows up. It also seems a little more resilient than its battle-partner.

Sapphire is the other Bake Kitsune I hunt with. This one likes to get itself caught on edges and walls when running through dungeons. It's also the more timid of the two - while Star runs across the room and tackles an Earth Elemental as soon as it appears, Sapphire stays at my side until I give it the command. Ironically, it always seems to take the hits, though its skills aren't much lower than Star's.

It's funny to think of these things. They receive the same commands, they're the same creature, their programming and AI should cause them to function the same. But, for some reason, they're endearingly different. I know that these two will eventually be out-classed by Nightmares, Dragons, and so on, but I think I'll always have these two around and I'll keep hunting with them from time to time, even when I too have a Greater Dragon in tow, just for old time's sake.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, Star has this habit of standing over the corpse of its most recent kill, especially if I didn't actually issue the command to kill it. It sometimes stays stationary for several seconds, unless I issue it another command. I had to smile when I noticed this.

 

[uoBuoY]

...Ah, and there's always a trick, UoBouY...thanks for sharing that one with me...

I apologize, I should have explained strategy...
When carcasses are piled up to your kneecaps and your target is near death, hold down Shift/Control. When the target dies, study the handles where you think the target fell for maybe 0.5 second. Toggle Shift/Control, off then on, revealing the fresh kill's handle. Almost every time I've used this technique, my antique brain somehow immediately locates the fresh/new handle.

That location in Malas is hard for taming Mares because they spawn over a wide range of territory and there's a fair bit of bad spawn around the Mare. Personally I prefer the Kirin Passage. It's sort of challenging to get there but the Mare almost insta-spawns in a small area with no other bad guys.

You can't recall into Ilshenar so you have to run in from the Humility gate. At the bottom of this page is an enlargeable Ilshenar map. The Humility gate is in the lower left corner and the Kirin Passage is marked by the second skull under the gate. If I recall the entrance looks like a shimmering curtain in a southeast-facing rock face.

I'm pretty sure you will die at least once before you find the exact route...good training in running away! There's a fair bit of spawn between the moon gate and the Mare and some of it may be Paragon. In Ilshenar all spawn, including the Mare, has a chance to spawn as a Paragon version of itself...gold-hued and jacked on steroids! Take your bonded Dread Warhorse and just keep moving!

On your trip to the Kirin Passage make sure you locate a Healer or two for the inevitable dirt naps. Here's another trick. As soon as you are rezed, logout and back in. This will bring your pet to your location.

You will enter the Kirin Passage at the "E", lower left corner. Next to the "E" are to black round spots: the Mare is located in the first black round spot next to the "E". Run to the second black round spot next to the "E" and kill the Fire Elemental that spawns there. Now take a moment to stop shaking from the run in and get ready to tame a Mare. Run in and invis yourself. Check the Mares stats with your Lore macro (use skill Animal Lore, wait for target). If she's good, tame her. If not, kill with your Dread (won't re-spawn otherwise). When tamed, dismount Dread, mount Mare and recall out.

From your posts I don't believe you have adventured into Ilshenar...try something new!

 

[uoBuoY]

Random Thoughts

UO is all about choices and never more so than with pets. Deciding which pets you use depends on the situation.

GDs and Cus are incredible tanks but their DPS sucks.

5 Frenzieds dish out the most damage a Tamer's pets can produce but they can't tank for crap. You'll be rezing a lot!

A Rune Beetle and Bake Kitsuni or Nightmare deliver the second highest DPS and can tank. Personally I prefer the Kit because it has almost 4 times as manna as a Mare but you can ride a Mare...decisions!

When I want to farm gold I leave the GD and the CU in stable and take out my Rune and Kit. I love it when my Kit laughs!!!

The pet you remove from the stable first, will assume the role of the tank about 95% of the time. I usually have my Rune as the tank. In some cases, though, my Kit appears to get to the target before the Rune and plays the tank for a while. They're fairly good tanks!

 

[Jlapps]

Yeah, I plan on having a varied stable I understand about the situational usefulness of pets. I'll probably see which I prefer, the mare or kitsune. Kits have tons more mana, but I can ride the mare, and from what I understand they have much higher strength. One for high phys resist monsters, one for low maybe? I love the kitsune laugh too lol, unless it follows my getting killed by one while it's polymorphed.

Either way, I have a ways to go yet, and I'm kinda ADD on MMO's. I have two crafters, a treasure hunter, my tamer and a paladin and I started two months ago lol.

Thanks for the tip involving which pet tanks though! I'll have to keep that in mind! I'll have to go train my pair more later today.

 

[Llewen]

*snip*

Entertainingly and astutely written. Eventually you will learn that the way that others choose is not always the best way, and certainly not the best way for you. If your company had pulled one of the dragons off the big nasty critter and had the dragon take care of the riff raff, and if the rune beetle had taken it's place, the big nasty would have met it's demise much faster...

Rune beetles are the second most devastating power available to the tamer. I'm betting you'll never guess the most devastating power. It isn't the greater dragon. It's a pack of five fully trained, well chosen frenzied ostards. The only problem with them is keeping them alive, unfortunately...