Pets

Pets are essential to nearly all characters in Ultima Online. Without a mount a warrior cannot hope to keep up with (or escape from!) his foes, and beasts of burden are essential for those who wish to collect resources. Most domesticated animals (such as Horses) require no skill to own, ride or command.

However, only those well versed in Animal Taming can hope to command the strongest of creatures. The dedicated tamer will also practise his Veterinary skill in order to keep his charges in top condition, and an additional dose of Animal Lore not only helps when applying bandages but also when giving commands.

Players may store pets they currently don't need at the stables located in most towns and cities. If a pet is worth keeping for any length of time, it should be bonded in order to preserve it should it die.

• For a comparison of high level hunting pets try Best Pets

• For more information on how to train your pets see Pet Training

Control Slots

Each character has a total of five control slots, a number cannot be increased in any way. Whenever any creature comes under their control, some of these slots will be used up. If the character does not have enough control slots available then they will be unable to take control of the new pet.

With the introduction of Publish 97 and the new Animal Training system you can now train pets with new skills and abilities. Some alterations to pet slot requirements are included in this publish which will affect new spawning creatures, however these changes will not be applied to existing pets unless Animal Training is undertaken. Using Animal Lore on the pet will reveal if, and how, your pet would be affected. Two figures are shown, the first is the pet’s slot requirement at the commencement of training, the second is its potential maximum if all possible training is completed. If the shown lower figure is different to the pet’s current requirement the pet will adjust to the shown figure when, or if, training is commenced.

Most animals (such as Horses and Pack Horses) require only a single control slot, meaning that the character may command up to five such creatures at a time. However, many monsters can also be tamed, and most require multiple slots.

For example, a Bake Kitsune requires two slots, while a Rune Beetle requires three. Hence a tamer may journey with one of each of these creatures at the same time, making for a powerful combination.

The Nightmare is a popular two slot, as it is not only powerful but ridable as a mount.

More powerful creatures require yet more slots. The Cu Sidhe (the only creature with the Healing skill) requires four, as does the Hiryu and Reptalon. Such pets are usually used as "tanks"; somewhat less damaging then a two-pet combo but typically much easier to keep alive in combat.

Most summoned creatures require spare control slots as well, including Ethereal Mounts. Those raised via the Necromancer's spell Animate Dead are one exception.

If a player has used all their control slots, in order to gain new pets they will need to release, kill or stable the old.

Obtaining a Pet

• From An NPC
  • Most towns have a stable available for the storage of pets, and it's also here where most players get their first steed. NPC Animal Trainers sell mounts (among other creatures) for a small fee. There is a small waiting period between purchases.

• From Another Player
  • Single clicking a pet will reveal a context menu, from which it's owner may select the "transfer" option before targeting another player. This brings up a standard Trade Window from which the creature can either be payed for or simply gifted - Providing the new owner has a sufficient level of Animal Taming/Animal Lore to command it.
  • If a pet has recently been tamed and has not yet been fed, it may refuse to be transferred even if it is "Wonderfully Happy". Young players may not have pets transferred to them in this way.

• From The Wild
  • The direct use of the Animal Taming skill on a creature can be used to bend it to your will, providing you have the skill required (and perhaps, the strength to survive it's assault!).

Naming a pet

To name a pet or change it's name dismount (if required), then click it and drag the mouse cursor away. Your pet's "bar" will follow the mouse, displaying (along with other things) it's name.

Click the text and you'll be presented with a cursor allowing you to change it. Note that you can't add any spaces to a pet's name, but you can delete around the ones already present to leave them intact. Press Enter to confirm your changes.

Commanding a pet

The creatures you control are of limited use if they cannot be ordered. Blade Spirits, Energy Vortexes, Nature's Furys and those risen through the Animate Dead spell won't pay you any heed and simply attack anything that comes near them. Just about everything else however can be given orders, making them very much a part of your character in the game world.

Tamed pets each have a "control chance" attached to them that is dependant on your Animal Taming and Animal Lore skills. While the former accounts for the majority of your influence, a good dose or lore is still recommended for those serious in taking the path of the tamer. It is only with high levels of both that you'll be able to command the most powerful of monsters.

Usually control chance can be roughly guessed according to the initial difficulty involved in taming the creature. For example, anyone may tame a Cat, and hence anyone may also control one. On the other hand, if you barely have the ability to tame a Dragon don't expect to be able to control it reliably!

If a pet hears an order and decides to ignore it, it'll lose happiness. As happiness goes down the chance that it'll ignore you again increases. If a pet becomes too unhappy it may attack you or become completely wild.

On the other hand, pets will regain some level of happiness every time they obey you, so if you have a high level of taming skill this is not something you need to worry about often. Some creatures (such as the Swamp Dragon, a popular mount) are very difficult to tame but can still be controlled by any character.

One exception of note regarding control chance and taming skill is the Lesser Hiryu. Although it'll happily obey a tamer like any other pet will, it'll also obey a character with no taming but a high level of Bushido instead.

Commands

• Follow
  • The pet will follow the target until ordered to do otherwise.
• Stop
  • The pet will cease all actions until ordered otherwise. While stopped, it will wander around in a similar fashion to a wild creature, but will not attack targets even if it is assaulted.
• Come
  • The pet will attempt to go to your location using more advanced pathfinding methods than with the Follow command. Those with magical abilities may attempt to Teleport directly (but will fail due to a house related "bug fix"). As the pet will Stop upon reaching you this should only be used if it has gotten itself stuck somewhere.
• Stay
  • The pet will stand still until ordered to do otherwise.
• Guard
  • The pet will follow it's master and attack anything that assaults that person or itself. Only the active pet can actively guard, and any damage that pet deals is credited to the owner.
• Kill
  • The pet will attack the target until either the victim or itself is dead. Once it has felled the enemy, it may attack any other creatures that are hostile towards it. The owner receives credit for all damage dealt within two minutes of giving this order - for long battles, it should be periodically repeated to ensure your character receives looting rights.
• Drop
  • Causes bonded, non-pack creatures to drop whatever they might be carrying. Allows you to for eg. salvage arrows that might have been shot into your pet.
• Release
  • The pet will be removed from your service. This will cause summoned creatures to disappear immediately, though monsters may use their new found freedom to attack you!