1.2 Why Taming is a Valuable Skill for Players

Taming is a valuable skill in Ultima Online, offering numerous benefits to players. It provides companionship, enhances combat effectiveness, and allows for unique gameplay strategies. Pets can serve as mounts, carry items, or engage in battles, reducing the need for extensive gear. Taming also enables players to earn gold by selling high-demand pets or using them for resource gathering. Additionally, taming enhances role-playing opportunities and strengthens guild contributions. The ability to command powerful creatures sets tamers apart, making the skill a cornerstone of both individual and group success in the game.

Character Creation and Skill Selection

Creating a tamer involves selecting skills like Animal Taming, Animal Lore, and Veterinary to enhance pet management and combat effectiveness, ensuring a well-rounded character build.

2.1 Essential Skills for a Tamer

The core skills for a tamer include Animal Taming and Animal Lore, which determine your ability to tame and control creatures. Veterinary is also crucial for healing pets, while Magery and Meditation support mana management for spellcasting and pet revival. Secondary skills like Provocation and Music can enhance combat dynamics. These skills collectively enable effective pet management, combat efficiency, and overall success as a tamer in Ultima Online.

2.2 Recommended Skills for Optimal Taming

While Animal Taming and Animal Lore are essential, additional skills can enhance your taming experience. Peacemaking and Provocation help manage combat dynamics, allowing pets to focus on specific targets. Spirit Speak enables pet resurrection, while Resistances protect pets from magical damage. Healing and Veterinary ensure pets stay alive during battles. For advanced strategies, Chivalry and Bushido provide combat bonuses. These skills complement core abilities, offering versatility and efficiency in both PvM and PvP scenarios. Balancing these skills can create a well-rounded tamer capable of handling diverse challenges in Ultima Online.

2.3 How to Allocate Skills at Character Creation

When creating a tamer, prioritize Animal Taming and Animal Lore as primary skills, allocating the highest values to these. Start with Animal Taming at 50+ and Animal Lore at 40+, ensuring a strong foundation. Use remaining points for complementary skills like Spirit Speak or Healing to support pet management. If playing a bard tamer, allocate points to Music and Provocation. Avoid spreading points too thin, as a focused build yields better results. This allocation ensures a balanced and efficient tamer ready for early-game challenges and skill progression.

Getting Started with Taming

Initiating the taming process involves targeting creatures like horses or dogs. Use a macro for efficiency and understand difficulty levels and passive gains to optimize early progress.

3.1 How to Begin Taming Animals

To start taming, target an animal and click the “Tame” option. Begin with low-level creatures like horses or dogs, as they require minimal skill. Use macros to automate taming attempts for efficiency. Ensure your Animal Lore skill is adequate to maintain control. Higher taming difficulty creatures demand greater skill levels. Focus on gaining early experience to build your taming proficiency and unlock more complex creatures as you progress. This foundational step is crucial for mastering the art of taming in Ultima Online.

3.2 Understanding Taming Difficulty and Skill Gains

Taming difficulty increases with each successful tame by a unique tamer, up to a maximum. Skill gains are difficulty-based, meaning taming creatures too easy or hard yields no progress. Optimal gains occur when taming creatures within your skill range. Passive gains are earned when pets kill monsters, based on pet strength, damage dealt, and your skill level. This system rewards strategic taming and pet training, allowing efficient skill progression when targeting appropriate creatures.

3.3 Passive Taming Gains and Their Mechanics

Passive taming gains occur when your pets defeat creatures, rewarding you with skill increases. For every 0.1 skill gained, 0.5 passive points are banked, up to 5 points. These points are used when killing monsters with pets. The chance to gain skill depends on pet strength, damage dealt, and your tamer’s skill level. Multiple pets can contribute to gains per kill, with a maximum of 0.5 skill per monster. This system encourages active pet training and strategic combat, maximizing efficiency in skill progression.

The Taming Process

Taming involves clicking animals to initiate the process, requiring sufficient Animal Taming and Animal Lore skills. Passive gains occur when pets kill creatures, enhancing skill progression efficiently.

4.1 Mechanics of Taming and How It Works

Taming in Ultima Online involves clicking on animals to initiate the process, requiring sufficient Animal Taming and Animal Lore skills. Each successful taming attempt increases difficulty by 6 for subsequent unique tamers. Taming gains are difficulty-based, with no skill gain for creatures too easy or hard. Passive gains occur when pets kill monsters, allowing banked points for skill progression. Understanding these mechanics is crucial for effectively taming creatures, from basic animals to legendary beasts.

4.2 Tips for Successfully Taming Higher-Level Creatures

To tame higher-level creatures, use multiple pets to kill stronger enemies, as this yields faster skill gains. Ensure pets are within 10 skill points of your taming level and target tougher monsters. Examples include using Scorpions or Grizzly Bears to defeat Earth Elementals. Passive gains are based on pet strength and damage dealt, so maximize this by employing appropriate pet-monster combinations. Utilize macros for efficiency and ensure each pet lands hits to gain skill points. This method can help achieve grandmaster status quickly, making high-level taming more accessible and rewarding.

4.3 Using The Trick for Efficient Taming

“The Trick” involves using a macro to repeatedly target and tame creatures, streamlining the process. Mount a fast pet like an ethereal mount, set your last target to the creature, and use the macro to tame while moving. This method minimizes downtime and maximizes taming attempts. Position yourself just within taming range to avoid combat interference. By automating the taming process, you can efficiently gain skill points and tame higher-level creatures with minimal effort, making the leveling process faster and more straightforward.

Training and Managing Pets

Training and managing pets is crucial for maximizing their efficiency in both skill gain and combat. Advanced techniques and strategies can significantly enhance their effectiveness.

5.1 How to Train Your Pets for Maximum Efficiency

To train pets for maximum efficiency, focus on optimizing their combat and skill gain potential. Use passive taming gains by letting pets kill monsters, which bank points for later use. Ensure pets are well-healed, either through Veterinary skill or distance healing. Assign specific roles to each pet, such as tanking or dealing damage, to maximize their effectiveness in battles. Utilize abilities like Peacemaking and Provocation to control enemy aggression and manage multiple pets simultaneously. Regularly review and adjust training strategies to adapt to higher-level challenges and ensure continuous improvement.

5.2 Advanced Pet Training Techniques

Advanced pet training involves refining your pets’ performance through strategic skill allocation and combat tactics. Focus on optimizing pet stats like strength, intelligence, and loyalty to enhance their effectiveness. Use macros to automate repetitive commands, such as healing or attacking, ensuring efficient management in battles. Integrate skills like Veterinary and Animal Lore to improve pet health and command responsiveness. Train pets to specialize in specific roles, such as tanking or dealing magical damage, to maximize their utility in various scenarios. Experiment with high-level creatures and adapt training methods to their unique abilities for optimal results.

5.3 Using Multiple Pets for Skill Gain and Combat

Using multiple pets simultaneously can significantly enhance both skill gain and combat effectiveness. Each pet that deals damage to a monster increases the chance of gaining taming skill, with up to 0.5 skill gain per kill. Strategic pet selection, such as pairing Scorpions with Grizzly Bears, ensures diverse damage output. Higher-level pets like Frost Spiders or Hell Hounds are ideal for tackling stronger enemies. Ensure each pet lands at least one hit to maximize gains. This method also boosts combat versatility, allowing tamers to adapt to various threats while efficiently progressing their taming skill.

Making Money with Pets

Taming pets can generate significant income through combat, looting, and passive gains. High-demand creatures like Scorpions and Grizzly Bears can be sold or used for profitable monster kills.

6.1 How to Earn Gold with Your Tamed Pets

Earning gold with tamed pets in Ultima Online is a lucrative venture. High-level creatures like Scorpions and Grizzly Bears can be used to kill monsters, yielding valuable loot. Pets with high damage output and speed are ideal for farming gold. Training pets to work in tandem enhances efficiency, allowing for faster kills and better drops. Additionally, certain pets can be sold to other players for a profit. Combining taming with skills like Animal Lore and Veterinary ensures optimal performance and longevity, maximizing gold accumulation.

6.2 Recommended Pets for Making Money

For maximizing gold income, certain pets excel in efficiency and profitability. Scorpions and Grizzly Bears are cost-effective choices for lower-level tamers, offering reliable damage output. Frost Spiders are ideal for speed and poison damage, making them valuable for farming specific monsters. Higher-level pets like Lava Lizards and Hell Hounds are sought after for their strength and special abilities, yielding higher loot. Training these pets to their full potential and ensuring their stats are optimized will significantly increase their earning potential in both combat and resale markets.

6.3 Items to Buy for Easier Taming and Pet Management

To enhance your taming experience, consider investing in a taming macro for automated taming attempts. Veterinary potions or bracelets can improve healing efficiency, while passive gain enhancers boost skill progression. Pet control bands help manage multiple pets, ensuring they follow commands effectively. Additionally, healing wands or remote heal tools allow you to restore your pets’ health from a distance. Lastly, taming charms can increase your success rate when attempting to tame difficult creatures, making the process smoother and more efficient for both new and experienced tamers.

Passive Skill Gains and Optimization

Passive taming gains occur when pets kill creatures, rewarding skill points based on pet strength and damage dealt. Bank up to 5 points for later use.