Animal Training

Enhance your bond with your loyal companions and unlock their full potential!

Animal Training is an advanced form of pet skill development, enhancing the traditional methods through which pets have historically gained their abilities. This specialized training can be applied to any tamed creature, whether newly tamed or already 'fully trained' with maxed-out skills. However, pets that occupy 5 follower slots are considered to have reached their peak power and are thus ineligible for further Animal Training.

Using Animal Lore on a pet will reveal whether, and how, it can benefit from Animal Training. Two key figures are displayed: the first shows the pet’s current follower slot requirement at the start of training, and the second indicates its potential maximum slot requirement if all possible training is completed. It's important to note that these changes will not affect existing pets unless Animal Training is actively undertaken.

Initial Training

Before adding skills and abilities to your pet, it must first undergo initial training. To begin, click the blue button on the animal lore screen. Progress will be displayed in a bar at the bottom of the screen. Clicking the arrow to the right of the bar opens a detailed progress screen that updates in real time, though it will close the normal Animal Lore window.

During training, you'll receive messages indicating your pet's progress, such as “The pet’s battle experience has slightly increased,” with variations like “fairly increased” or “greatly increased.” If you see the message, “The pet does not appear to train from that,” it means the pet can no longer gain experience from that particular enemy, requiring a fresh target (though it can be the same type). For magic-casting pets, this message can also appear if the spells they're using are not of a high enough level to gain further training.

Advancing Your Pet

Once initial training is complete, you’ll have access to new options on the Animal Lore gump, specifically the pet training options. Click the blue button to open the Animal Training Menu. In this menu, the central button labeled “PLAN” opens a new window where you can view the total cost of the upgrades you want to make to your pet.

Enable planning mode by clicking “Enable” at the top of the new menu. Select your desired upgrades from the main menu and click “Add to Plan.” You can plan up to 20 selections at a time, adhering to normal training restrictions, which you can review by clicking the ‘INFO’ button on the menu (also listed below). To remove selections from your plan, click the button to the left of the entry.

Take time to explore the training menu and adjust your plan as needed. Once satisfied, disable planning mode and use your plan as a reference to train your pet. Copy each setting from your plan to the training gump. When ready to apply a new property, select “Train Pet” and confirm your readiness. Remember, all training decisions are final, so ensure you’re confident in your choices before proceeding. The pet’s slot requirement will update when you apply the first property.

If you find you have unused points at the end of the process and no options available for them, hover over the red button on the training gump to see the message: “Cancel Training Process.” Clicking this button will remove all remaining points, allowing you to start fresh if needed.

The Animal Training Menu provides a comprehensive list of available training properties you can apply to your pet. Here’s how to make the most of it:

Categories Pane: This section displays the categories of available properties, helping you navigate through different types of upgrades.

Training Points: The planning menu shows the number of training points available for the current stage and keeps a running total as you add items to your plan. Use these points wisely, considering Training Point Weights, Weight Caps, Individual Attribute Caps, and restrictions on magic schools, special abilities, and moves, as detailed in the game and summarized below.

As you mix and match properties, the available training points will decrease according to the weights of your selections. Each property has a different weight, affecting how many points are used.

Stats and Resists: This section allows you to enhance individual Stat and Resist properties for your pet. It also includes options for increasing Base Damage.

Understanding Training Points and Attribute Caps

In Animal Training, points are used to upgrade various properties, and each property has a different point cost. Additionally, attributes have both group and individual caps, which you must consider when planning your upgrades.

Training Point Weight Caps: For attributes like Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence, there are combined training point weight caps. Strength has a weight of 3.0x and a cap of 700, so reaching the maximum strength would require 2100 points. Dexterity has a weight of 0.1x with a cap of 150, requiring 15 points, while Intelligence has a weight of 0.5x with a cap of 700, needing 350 points. Achieving maximums in all three stats would total 2465 points, exceeding the cap of 2300 points.

Existing Stats: Your pet’s current stats are shown as a training point figure in the menu. For example, if a pet’s strength is 134 (equivalent to 402 training points), raising it to 334 would require 600 points, deducted from your available 1501 points.

For a detailed breakdown of training point weights, attribute caps, and point costs, refer to the full list below. Plan your training carefully to optimize your pet’s attributes within the available points and caps.

The Increase Magic Skill Caps and Increase Combat Skill Caps options allow you to raise the maximum skill caps for various magical and combat skills. This enhancement requires Power Scrolls and will only adjust the skill cap; your pet will still need to undergo traditional training to develop these skills.

To raise a skill cap, simply select the option while having the relevant Power Scroll in your backpack. This process ensures that your pet can achieve higher skill levels, but remember, additional training is necessary to reach those new caps.

Adding Abilities to Your Pet

Enhance your pet’s fighting capabilities with a range of abilities by choosing from four categories. Here’s a quick overview of how to add and manage these abilities:

Magical Abilities: Grant your pet magical powers from various spell schools. Note that selecting a new school of magic will disable any existing magical abilities and adding a new one will override previous selections. A pet can only have one magical ability, but some pets with natural magic abilities, like the Bane Dragon or Rune Beetle, can train both natural magics to their maximum.

Special Abilities: These are unique abilities different from traditional weapon special moves. Each pet may have inherent special abilities that cannot be replaced, so choose wisely.

Special Moves: Equip your pet with special moves similar to weapon special moves.

Area Effects: Enable your pet to perform area attacks that target multiple enemies simultaneously.

Selection Process:

1 Area Effect: Select one area effect. 2 Special Moves: Choose up to two special moves. 1 Special Ability: Add one special ability. 1 Magical Ability: Finally, select one magical ability, keeping in mind that it will replace any existing magical abilities.

Training Points and Slot Requirements:

Adding these abilities and raising skill caps will increase the pet’s control slot requirement. The maximum number of control slots for any pet is 5. As training progresses, if your pet’s slot requirement exceeds its capacity, the option to train further will disappear. Pets with pack instincts may lose this ability as their slot requirement increases.

Training Summary:

Review the Pet Advancements page in the Animal Lore gump to see your selected upgrades. Some abilities, such as 'Piercing,' may require multiple options and additional training prerequisites, like the 'Nerve Strike' needing 50 points in Bushido. Make your selections carefully, as training points spent are not refundable and each upgrade impacts your pet’s capabilities and control requirements.