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Catch-All of New Tamer Questions

VahnNoa

Visitor
I played ultima online back in 2009 with my Uncle, but never really learned about the systems. I'm back now as a tamer, and have questions:

1) Can you raise a pet's stats through combat, similar to how you can raise a character's? I see a lot of info on using animal training system to do this, but can they naturally grow up to the cap shown in the pico's ui lore menu?

2) Same question with resistances

3) How important are skills for pets? I have a cu that seems to be smashed all the time, but it also had low skill levels.

4) Animal training makes pet take up more control slots. At what point is a 5-control trained creatures( for this example, let's say a cu) better than a firesteed and a cu?

5) Very much by accident, I discovered the Ortanord's in Eodon, and how great they are at training pets. However, when in combat with one, my cu's healing seems to just *not raise*. 72.8. Any way to push that up?

6) How important is the power hour for pets?

7) What si the best pet to get right now? 4-slot greater and train him?

8) I saw someone say that once you teach a pet chivalry, they'll never use any other spells. Accurate?

9) Finally, some ******* has been farming the cu spawn with a script for over 12 hours. If anyone has any ideas how I can kill him so I can get to taming, would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance. I scoured the web and forums, but found no up to date or complete answers to the above questions
 

Basara

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There have been MAJOR changes to taming in the last 3 years. There is now a system in place that allows you to raise many low-slot pets to 5 slots, and others can be raised 1 or 2 slots. Only 5-slot pets, a few creatures that have had bug issues, and some of the mounts are permanently stuck with what they start with. Each time a pet's slots are raised, the required skill can (and usually does) go up, and you get 1500 or so points to spend (with some things costing multiple training points (as much as 18) for 1 point added, others being 1 TP = 2 points of stat).
  1. You can raise a pet's Dex/Stamina to 125 through play. Not sure if any pets with lower stats in other categories raise. Then, once the pet hits 125, the new pet training system can be used. Training the pet and raising the pet's dex from below 125 wastes valuable training points, so if it's not already 125, wait until it is. Typically, I take my new pets to someplace safe like an orc or bandit camp, and have it kill low-level crap until the dex/stamina hits 125, before starting the training process. And, occasionally, you'll get some of the combat skills into the 80-90 range doing that, if they started low (wrestling, tactics, etc.); Meditation and Focus will get to or close to 100 in the process (as special moves and magics will use mana, even if they don't for a PC). To a lesser extent, also gains in Anatomy (which starts at 0), Resist Spells and Parry (though parry doesn't display until the pet is 100 or more Wrestling, for some reason)
  2. Part of the new training system is that you can apply some of the pet's training points to resistances. The max you can put into a single resist is raising it to 80 (if not already higher), and you can only have a total of 365 resist points. You'll often see trained pets with resists such as 80/80/45/80/80, or 75/75/65/75/75 (while the lowest resist is often in cold, it's not always the case). You can't reduce an overcapped resist, so something that started with a 90 resist in Fire might end up looking like 80/90/45/75/75.
  3. A pet's skills drop when tamed (and can drop 0.1 with each death), but can be trained back up to 100 or its pre-tamed cap, whichever is higher. Finding a high-skill pet is really only important for finding those pets with over-100 skills possible, as you can now apply POWER SCROLLS to pets at the cost of training points. So, if you find a creature with 118 wrestling, it will effectively be scrolled to 118, and only using a 120 PS would improve it (And typically wouldn't be worth it). This can save you hundreds of point otherwise spent to apply scrolls if you have multiple skills already around 105 or higher on the pet.
  4. Personally, I would say the second you take the cu up one slot and complete training.
    In that first taming round, you can
    a. add resists to make it a capable tank against 4 of the 5 damage types,
    b. add HP & mana regen,
    c. add more HP and mana,
    d. maybe add more base damage,
    e. then add an additional ability or two to go with the base healing. For example, you can make a Cu be a Discorder (my personal favorite), Spellweaver, Mystic, Mage, Chivalry user (if tamer is positive karma) or Necromancy user (if tamer is negative karma); I think poisoning might be a choice as well. Special attack moves (including area of effect) also are possible. Some of the threads for specific animals are much better guides to this.
  5. Fight something that poisons a lot, and you'll get better healing gains. But, even scrolled to 120 Healing, pets with healing tend to stop gains about 10 points under their cap, because they hit the 100% skill success mark. Using disco on the pet (by a player bard, would have to be the tamer or an ally) can get higher gains, but it temporarily lowers all the resists, stats, and skills, making it harder to keep a pet alive.
  6. It's useful, but I don't keep track of it - I typically just play my pet until it gets to where it needs to be.
  7. A trainable 4-slot greater is a pain to find. Many people just go with a 4 or 5 slot cu (some people like keeping pets at 4 slots so they can ride an Ethy as needed with the pet in combat) or Beetle (a 5 slot giant beetle with gm poisoning, Rune Corruption, and Armor Ignore is fun, especially since new-tame beetles start at 1 slot, not the old 3 slots - and it's still a mount and pack animal, with adding strength removing the old "your mount is fatigued" BS). For some people, a pet with 100% poison resistance is key for fighting certain mob types, so the Najasaurus from Eodon comes in a lot. Most tamers will eventually create pets for certain situations (1 100% fire pet like a fire steed or fire beetle, 1 100% poison pet, at least one pet that is 100% physical to act as a tank, and at least 1 cu, that does 50 energy/50 cold). And the Greater Dragons and Frost Dragons (map spawn from Hoard and Trove level maps, plus the GD can be found anywhere Dragons spawn) are still great tankers even at 5 slots with no taming, and are often used when doing the Shadowguard rooms in Eodon.
  8. ANY time you apply or change a "magic", a pet LOSES any pre-existing magic, even if trained to 120 in that stat. So, adding Chivalry to a Dragon or nightmare takes away their magery. As will adding Discordance, Poisoning, etc. The only exception is that the creatures that START with certain things may keep it - Cus and certain felines in Eodon keep their Healing, and one of the Ter Mur tamables that looks like a mini-dragon STARTS with both Magery and Mysticism (and you can screw up both of them if you try adding/changing). You WILL waste over a half-level's worth of training points, forever lost, if you change magics. So, typically, it's best to start fresh with a new pet if you mess up and put the wrong one on.
  9. Can't really help you there - all you can do is report them. Other actions, well, those are as likely to get you kicked as they are to stop him. You can always slow him down a little by hunting cus and changelings in there, and letting the chaos of respawning monsters have their way. Look at the abilities of the Dryad, Cu, and Changeling, for ideas on playing perfectly legally, but make it harder for someone not playing by the rules.
 

The Doctor

Seasoned Veteran
Stratics Veteran
UNLEASHED
1) You can raise pets stats to 125 dex /str etc without advanced training. I usually train pets wrestle to GM before beginning advanced training and this lets me hit the 125 cap and save some training points. Also you get more advanced training gains the more you are able to hit most targets. Pro tip, take five one slot bonded pets to gm skills on shadow ele at the same time and save hours.

2) no, resistances are static unless you adjust them with advanced training.

3) You get hit less with higher wrestle is as well as do more damage with higher tactics etc.

4) A chiv cu with armor ignore will do more damage than that combo. Also it should have Mana Regin raised to 30 from advanced training compared to the 0 the untrained pets have. This helps pets continue to cast spells and more often than untrained pets. For single target dps chiv & ai does the most single target damage, combine this with a pet that does 100% energy damage if that is the targets weakest resist and you have a better weapon than any untrained combo as well.

5) It will raise on things that due more damage, more on things that poison after 80. Raise healing to max before adding chiv.

6) this power hour helps pet leveling not wrestle gains etc.

7) pick the best weapon for the job at hand like you would on a fighter.

8)If a pet has magery to start and you choose chivalry it will overwrite magery. It will only use one magic at a time and that is the last one trained, it can not have two in use at the same time by training.

9) Dragging spawn onto someone in trammel is considered bad form and could get action taken against your account. Maybe they just don't want to talk etc or maybe they are not there, never seen scripting in Cu area myself.

Pet Training A-Z

Trainable Animal Bestiary | uo-cah.com check out the calculators, videos etc. Was made by tamers more knowledgeable than myself.
 
Last edited:

celticus

Crazed Zealot
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Can't think of any possibility for someone to script there. The area is so convoluted, and also affected by Dryads and Satyrs, not to mention the Changellings, and once in a while Irk and company..The other player is not likely scripting, he/she is spawning Cus for colors etc. That is not illegal. He also maybe non-English speaking of not willing to talk. Usually most spawners will give you Cus if you want them.
 
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