Beast Mastery

Beast Mastery is an advanced discipline in UO-Sagas that builds upon the core skills of Animal Taming, Animal Lore, and Veterinary. It allows players to not only tame but also form strong bonds with powerful creatures, training them to become loyal companions in both battle and exploration. Beast Masters excel in controlling multiple pets, managing their abilities, and unleashing devastating coordinated attacks.

In UO-Sagas, Beast Mastery is seen as the pinnacle of taming prowess, allowing skilled players to harness the strength of some of the fiercest beasts in the world while ensuring their loyalty and effectiveness in combat. Success in Beast Mastery relies on proper training, understanding of creature strengths, and strategic use of bonded pets.

Whether you seek to command a pack of Frenzied Ostards or ride into battle on the back of a Nightmare, mastering this path will elevate your playstyle and make you a force to be reckoned with.

Before you can train a creature, you must first tame it. The taming process requires meeting several conditions:

• Skill Requirement: Your Animal Taming skill must be equal to or greater than the creature's minimum taming skill.
• Follower Slots: You must have enough available follower slots (maximum 5 total).
• Maximum Owners: A creature can only have up to 5 different owners in its lifetime. Each new owner makes the creature harder to tame.
• Subduing: Some powerful creatures must be reduced below 10% health before taming can begin.
• Gender/Race Restrictions: Certain creatures may only be tamed by specific genders or races (e.g., CuSidhe requires an Elf tamer).

• Taming takes 9-15 seconds (3-5 attempts at 3 seconds each).
• During taming, stay within 8 tiles of the creature and maintain line of sight.
• The creature must not take damage during the taming process.
• Failed attempts may anger the creature, causing it to attack you.
• Each previous owner adds +6 to the minimum skill requirement.

When tamed, a creature's stats and skills and other values are adjusted. These reductions are compensated by leveling, which significantly increases damage and armor.

In UO-Sagas, every tameable creature has a leveling system that determines its progression and strength.

• Regular Pets: Can level from 0 to 8.
• Evolving Pets (EvoPets): Can level from 0 to 10, and their appearance changes as they grow.

Creatures gain XP through combat:

• Dealing Damage: 25% of damage dealt is converted to XP.
• Receiving Damage: 25% of damage received is converted to XP.
• Distance Requirement: You must be within 16 tiles of your pet for it to gain XP.
• XP Cap: XP gained from a single opponent is capped at that opponent's maximum health.

Each level provides:

• +10% Damage (cumulative, based on original damage)
• +10% Virtual Armor (cumulative, based on original armor, max 95)
• Abilities scale with level, becoming more powerful

At maximum level (8 for regular pets, 10 for EvoPets), pets become significantly stronger than their wild counterparts.

Pets require feeding to maintain their loyalty and recover stamina.

Each creature has preferred food types:

• Stamina Recovery: Restores pet stamina based on amount fed.
• Loyalty Increase: Each successful feeding gives approximately 10 loyalty points.
• Bonding Progress: Feeding is required to bond with your pet.

To feed your pet, simply drop the appropriate food item onto it.

Bonding creates a permanent link between you and your pet, providing significant benefits.

• You must be the pet's control master (not just a friend).
• For pets requiring over 29.1 taming skill, your base Animal Taming must meet the requirement.
• The pet must not already be bonded.

1. First Feeding: Start the bonding process by feeding your pet. You'll see the message: “Your pet has started to bond with you.”
2. Wait Period: Wait at least 3 hours.
3. Complete Bonding: Feed your pet again after the waiting period. You'll see: “Your pet has bonded with you!”

• Resurrection: Bonded pets can be resurrected by players with Veterinary skill. Non-bonded pets cannot be resurrected.
• Slower Loyalty Decay: Bonded pets lose loyalty 2x slower than non-bonded pets.
• Release Protection: Only bonded pets can be intentionally released by their owner.

Loyalty represents your pet's happiness and willingness to obey commands.

Loyalty decays over time when your pet is active in the world:

• Bonded Pets: ~48 hours from 100% to 0% (approximately 2% per hour)
• Non-Bonded Pets: ~24 hours from 100% to 0% (approximately 4% per hour)

Loyalty does NOT decay when:

• Pet is stabled
• Pet is being ridden (mounts)

When loyalty falls below 25%, your pet will show distress: “* [Name] looks around desperately *”

If loyalty reaches 0%, your pet will go wild:

• The bond is broken
• The pet becomes untamed
• You lose control of the pet

Each pet requires a certain number of follower slots. Players have a maximum of 5 follower slots.

Animal Trainers (Stable Masters) allow you to safely store your pets.

• 30 gold per week per pet

• Pet must be alive and under your control
• Pet cannot be in active combat (within 12 tiles of an enemy)
• Pack animals must have empty backpacks before stabling

• Say “stable” to an Animal Trainer to stable a pet
• Say “claim” to claim all your stabled pets
• Say “claim [petname]” to claim a specific pet
• When claimed, pet loyalty is restored to 100%

Your maximum stable slots depend on your taming-related skills:

Base Slots (Animal Taming + Animal Lore + Veterinary):

High Skill Bonus: For each skill (Taming, Lore, Veterinary) at 100 or higher, you gain additional slots:

• +1 slot per 10 skill points above 90

Example: With 100 Taming, 100 Lore, 100 Veterinary (300 total):

• Base: 5 slots (sum >= 240)
• Taming bonus: +1 (100-90)/10
• Lore bonus: +1
• Vet bonus: +1
• Total: 8 stable slots

Players with houses can rent a Stable Module for additional stable capacity:

• +10 stable slots per module
• Weekly rental fee: 35,000 gold (withdrawn from house owner's bank)

Pack animals are special pets that can carry items for you.

• Storage: Double-click the animal to access its backpack.
• Access Control: Only you, your pet friends, and GMs can access the pack.
• Death: Items drop to the corpse when the animal dies (unless bonded and resurrected).
• Stabling: Pack animals must have empty backpacks before they can be stabled.

Some pets have the Mule ability, which gives them a pack backpack like a pack horse. These pets also cannot be stabled while carrying items.

Mounts are rideable creatures that provide faster travel.

• You must be the pet's control master
• Cannot mount while polymorphed (unless in human form)
• Cannot mount in no-mount regions
• Cannot mount poisoned pets
• Cannot mount while in a trade window

Mounts have a stamina system for riding:

• Maximum riding time: ~64 minutes of continuous riding
• Recovery: Stamina recovers when the mount is dismounted (1 unit per second)

Not all mounts are rideable by default. Some pets require the Rideable passive ability to be mountable.

Tameable creatures can have up to 3 ability slots: Active, Passive, and Ultimate. Abilities are randomly assigned when the creature spawns and scale with the pet's level.

• Active Abilities: Triggered during combat (usually on melee attacks). Most have cooldowns of 100-150 seconds.
• Passive Abilities: Always active or trigger when the pet takes damage. Provide ongoing benefits.
• Ultimate Abilities: Powerful abilities triggered through the Animal Lore Skill Mastery system.

• Offensive: Increase damage output or harm enemies
• Defensive: Improve survivability or protect allies
• Utility: Provide special non-combat functions

Active abilities trigger during combat, typically on melee attacks.

Icon	Ability	Category	Trigger	Cooldown	Effect
	Fire Breath	Offensive	10% on hit	100-150s	Deals 20 + (Level x 6) fire damage. 10 tile range. 50% damage vs players.
	Small Fire Breath	Offensive	10% on hit	100-150s	Deals 15 + (Level x 5) fire damage. Weaker version of Fire Breath.
	Poison Breath	Offensive	10% on hit	10-15s	Deals 10 + (Level x 3) poison damage and applies poison. 10 tile range.
	Rage	Offensive	On hit	100-150s	Massively increases attack speed (+1000% Dex). Duration: 3 + (Level x 0.5) seconds. Changes pet's hue.
	Small Rage	Offensive	On hit	100-150s	Increases attack speed (+600% Dex). Weaker version of Rage.
	Noxious Bite	Offensive	5% on hit	None	Applies poison based on level (Lesser at L0-2, Regular at L3-5, Greater at L6-8, Deadly at L9+).
	Armor Piercing	Offensive	10% on hit	None	Reduces target's armor by 1 per level per hit. Armor recovers after 30 seconds.
	Mule	Utility	N/A	N/A	Gives the pet a backpack for carrying items (like a pack horse).

Passive abilities are always active or trigger when the pet receives damage.

Icon	Ability	Category	Effect
	Iron Will	Defensive	+2 Magic Resist skill per level (max +20 at level 10).
	Iron Hide	Defensive	+5% Virtual Armor per level (max +50% at level 10).
	Primal Might	Offensive	+4% melee damage per level.
	Spell Surge	Offensive	+2 Eval Int skill per level (max +20 at level 10).
	Poisonous Blood	Offensive	2% chance per level to poison melee attackers.
	Poison Immunity	Defensive	Immune to poison up to level based on pet level (Lesser at L0-2, Regular at L3-5, etc.).
	Musical	Offensive	+6% melee damage per level against barded targets (pacified, provoked, or discorded).
	Woundlicker	Defensive	10% chance when damaged: if below 50% health, heals 4% x Level of max HP. 1 minute cooldown.
	Detective	Utility	Reveals hidden players and containers within 2 + (Level / 2) tiles. 20 second cooldown.
	Flee	Defensive	When pet would die, teleports 6-9 tiles away, hides for 10 seconds, heals to 25% HP. 30 minute cooldown.
	Rideable	Utility	Allows the pet to be mounted and ridden.

Ultimate abilities are powerful effects triggered through the Animal Lore Skill Mastery “Call for Blood” proc.

Icon	Ability	Category	Effect
	Wyrmfire	Offensive	Unleashes a cone of dragon breath in front of the pet. Deals (Level x 30) damage per tile. Does not harm controlled creatures or dead bonded pets.
	Heart of the Pack	Defensive	Fully heals, cures poison, and restores stamina for the pet, owner, all allied pets, and party members within 10 tiles.
	Venomfall	Offensive	Rains poison on all enemies within 8 tiles. Poison level based on pet level. Visual meteor rain effect.

Nightmares spawn in two variants - a stronger 3-slot version and a weaker 2-slot version.

• Feed regularly: Keep loyalty high, especially before logging off.
• Stay close in combat: Within 16 tiles for your pet to gain XP.
• Bond your pets: The resurrection ability alone is worth the 3-hour wait.
• Check abilities before taming: Use Animal Lore to see ability slots on wild creatures.
• Invest in skills: Higher Taming, Lore, and Veterinary means more stable slots.
• Consider EvoPets: They require more XP but reach higher power levels and change appearance.
• Stable Module: If you have a house, the +10 slots are valuable for serious tamers.

• Animal Taming
• Animal Lore
• Veterinary