Just a thought, since they are working on taming changes, might as well throw this out there. Since Paraoxysmus dragon has an innate 12% damage reduction and swamp dragon's get 10-20% damage reduction through dragon barding, how bout other non-ethereal mounts get some bonuses too?
For example, when a player is mounted on a non-ethereal mount:
Tamer Mounts:
Unicorn: +20% in healing spells, 5% SDI, MR+2
Kirin: 800 luck, +2 MR, +2 HPR, +2 SR
Fire Steed: +20% SDI, MR+2
Hiryu: +10% HCI, +10% DCI, +10% SSI, 15% per non-range melee attack to reduce target's physical resistance by 10%
Non-Tamer Mounts:
Ridgeback: +10% Damage Increase; each player melee attack has an 15% chance of an AOE attack (physical damage) when mounted
Grizzled Mare: Area of Nausea effect (nearby targets suffer reduction in SSI, HCI, DCI, FC)
Windrunner: +5% SSI, +5% Damage Inc, +2 SR
Lasher: -5% HCI to attackers; upon player being hit, 25% chance of Confusion effect occurring to the attacker (60 sec cooldown)
Something that would a bit diversity to mounts rather than just riding ethereals. Also, gives a bit of incentive to use other non-common mounts.
For example, when a player is mounted on a non-ethereal mount:
Tamer Mounts:
Unicorn: +20% in healing spells, 5% SDI, MR+2
Kirin: 800 luck, +2 MR, +2 HPR, +2 SR
Fire Steed: +20% SDI, MR+2
Hiryu: +10% HCI, +10% DCI, +10% SSI, 15% per non-range melee attack to reduce target's physical resistance by 10%
Non-Tamer Mounts:
Ridgeback: +10% Damage Increase; each player melee attack has an 15% chance of an AOE attack (physical damage) when mounted
Grizzled Mare: Area of Nausea effect (nearby targets suffer reduction in SSI, HCI, DCI, FC)
Windrunner: +5% SSI, +5% Damage Inc, +2 SR
Lasher: -5% HCI to attackers; upon player being hit, 25% chance of Confusion effect occurring to the attacker (60 sec cooldown)
Something that would a bit diversity to mounts rather than just riding ethereals. Also, gives a bit of incentive to use other non-common mounts.