Talk:Animal Taming

This is Lyrrin's sandbox page, for detailing how the new taming system works and finding places that need tweaking.

Stats and Skills

General idea

Level 1 (AOE)

Lowest hit points, stats, and skills, but you can have up to 5 of them

All combat skills

Balanced str and dex, low int

Level 2 (Ranged)

Heavy emphasis on magic skills, but can train melee skills

Moderate str, low dex, high int

Level 3 (Healer)

Emphasis on combat skills, weak magery for healing/cure. Adult gets boosted to a moderate amount of magery.

Mostly balanced stats, str > dex and int

Level 4 (High damage)

All combat skills. Slightly higher HP than L3, much lower HP than L4

High str, moderate dex, low int, for high damage combat

Level 5 (Tank)

All combat skills. Highest HP, but lower stats than L4.

Stat total equivalent to L3 but distributed differently. High str, moderate dex, low int.

All special attacks will use stamina. This leaves L2 and L3 able to do fewer special attacks, as a trade-off for being able to cast spells or heal while still doing melee combat.

Baby Pets

	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 5
Hit Points	50	70	80	90	120
Str	100	75	100	140	120
Dex	100	50	75	100	100
Int	25	110	70	25	25
Stat Total	225	235	245	265	245

	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 5
Wrestling	50	30	60	65	70
Tactics	50	0	60	65	70
Anatomy	50	0	0	65	70
Magic Resist	50	55	60	65	70
Magery	0	55	30	0	0
Meditation	0	55	30	0	0
Eval Int	0	25	0	0	0
Skill Total	200	220	240	260	280
Skill Caps	80	80	80	80	80

A baby pet will grow up into an adult as soon as any of its skills reaches 80. With the current setup this means it will take longer to train a level 1 than it will take to train a level 5. I actually like this, since you can simultaneously train 5 L1's together but can only train one L5 at a time. Having L5 need less time to get to adult sounds like a fair tradeoff to me and a "benefit" of GM-ing taming. This does cause a problem with balance though, if training a L5 to 80 turns it into a 4-GM pet. Should their skills just go to 80?

IDEA: Higher taming = faster pet skill gain?

Adult Pets

	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 5
Hit Points	100	150	200	225	300
Str	125	75	125	175	155
Dex	125	50	90	125	125
Int	25	170	90	25	25
Stat Total	275	295	305	325	305

	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4	Level 5
Wrestling	80	*	80	85	90
Tactics	80	*	80	85	90
Anatomy	80	*	*	85	90
Magic Resist	80	80	80	85	90
Magery	0	80	60	0	0
Meditation	0	80	*	0	0
Eval Int	0	80	0	0	0
Skill Total	320	>350	>330	340	360
Skill Caps	110	120	130	140	150

"*" denotes that these skills are left at the pet's current skill level.

L2 combat skills are capped at 80.

L3 magery is capped at 80.

Behavior

The following rules apply to all pets
Attack	All pets will attack a given target with the "kill" command. When the target dies, the pet returns to the owner's side and switches to "guard" mode. Pets will periodically try to use their special attack On successful melee hit, they have a 25% chance to use their special attack. On successful special attack use, there is a 30 second cooldown before another attempt will be made. Lyrrin note: Is 30 seconds too low for cooldown? Also, since swing speed is dependent on stamina, should the pets be smart enough to not use the ability if they are below X stamina?
Guard	Pets will only attack mobs that are attacking their owner or themselves, in that order. As with attacking, if the target mob dies the pet will return to the owner and stay in "guard" mode.
Follow	Pets will stay at your side and not attack anything. They will ignore any mobs that attack them. Pet follow speed has been increased so that they keep up with you when you are running or mounted. If a pet gets more than 16 tiles away from you, it will teleport to your side. It will also do this while attacking or guarding.

Each level of pet has special behaviors during attack and guard:

Level 1 - Split up to attack multiple targets
Attack	When given the 'kill' or 'all kill' command, each L1 pet from the same owner will attack a different target within 5 tiles of the original target. If there aren't enough targets in range, they will split up existing in-range targets between them. L1 pets do not care about what L2+ pets are doing, so they may attack the same target as an L2+ pet from the same owner. Because peripheral target selection is not under the player's control, L1 pets are hard-coded not to attack their owner, other players, anyone's pets or summons, or anything that will flag the owner as criminal, even on the mainland where PvP is allowed.
Guard	L1 pets will split up and attack different targets, but only ones that are currently attacking their owner. Targeting restrictions for attacking do NOT apply for guarding. If a player or their pet attacks the owner, L1 pets will attack back. (Lyrrin double-check that this is true)

Level 2 - Ranged (magery) attack
Attack	L2 pets primarily attack with spells, with close-range melee as a backup. To attack with spells, L2 pets need reagents. Players can drag/drop reagents onto the pet or open their backpack and put reagents inside. If they run out of reagents, they will say, "*Stops casting to look around for more reagents*". This message is throttled to only happen every 1 minute, to avoid spamming. While out of reagents, they will revert to melee combat. As long as they are able to cast, they will try to stay 3 tiles away from the mob they are attacking to avoid getting hit. If they run out of mana, they will revert to close-range melee attacks until they have more than X mana (Lyrrin needs to re-evaluate this in light of the new regen code) L2 pets will not use special attacks unless they are doing melee combat.
Guard	If a mob attacks their owner, L2 pets will guard by casting spells or doing close-range melee the same way they attack. If no mobs are currently attacking the player, L2 pets will meditate. When they start meditating, they will say, "*Settles into a trance, regaining energy*". This message is also throttled to every 1 minute to avoid spamming.

Level 3 - Healer
Attack	In addition to melee combat, L3 pets can heal themselves, their owner, and their owner's other pets. To heal, L3 pets need reagents. Players can drag/drop reagents onto the pet or open their backpack and put reagents inside. If they run out of reagents, they will say, "*Stops casting to look around for more reagents*". This message is throttled to only happen every 1 minute, to avoid spamming. While out of reagents, they will not be able to heal and will do melee combat. Healing takes priority over combat. L3 pets will attempt these actions in order: Cure a poisoned owner/pet, cast greater heal, cast heal, do melee combat. Healing/cure has a cooldown of 10-15 seconds before any heal/cure action can be used again. The cooldown is dependent on the owner's taming skill. 60 taming = 15 seconds, 100 taming = 10 seconds. If the pet runs out of mana, they only do melee attacks until they have enough mana to cast cure or heal again.
Guard	If a mob attacks their owner, L3 pets will guard by healing or doing melee combat the same way they attack. If no mobs are currently attacking the player, L3 pets will meditate. (Lyrrin double-check this is true)

Level 4 - High Damage
Attack	L4 pets do standard close-range melee combat. They have a small chance (10%) to stun their opponent on successful hit. (Lyrrin hasn't programmed this yet)
Guard	L4 pets follow standard pet guarding rules.

Level 5 - Tank
Attack	L5 pets do standard close-range melee combat. They have a small chance (10%) to taunt other mobs to attack them. Will not taunt if HP is below XXX. (Lyrrin hasn't programmed this yet)
Guard	L5 pets follow standard pet guarding rules.

Special Attacks

Birds - Peck

"Peck" is the weapon ability Bleed Attack. Mobs will take damage regularly for 10 seconds.

Canines - Howl

This is a modified version of Devotion's "Dispel Evil" spell. For each mob in a 5 tile radius of the pet, there is a chance to make the mob flee for 30 seconds. Chance increases with wrestling skill. There is also a chance to dispel summoned mobs. (Lyrrin's note: after testing this I don't like it so much. It would get annoying on group hunts, L2 canines wouldn't really be able to use this ability at all due to low wrestling, and having multiple L1 canines has little benefit over having 1 L1 canine.) Other suggestions to replace this:

1. Low-level AOE damage within 5 tiles,
2. Debuff a random stat of nearby mobs for 15 seconds, debuff is stackable
3. Modified version of the necro spell "Evil Omen" that magnifies the effect of the next harmful attack, on all nearby mobs
4. Whirlwind attack weapon ability, which strikes all nearby mobs

Felines - Sneak Attack (Not programmed yet)

This is a modified version of Deception's "Backstab". The pet will temporarily hide, then strike with a 2x bonus to damage, and unhide.

Reptiles - Fire Breath (Not programmed yet)

Modified version of fire field. Pet breathes out field of fire centered on mob.

Does this work for raptors as well?

Ursines/Bovines - Stun (Not tested)

This is the weapon ability Paralyzing Blow. Target will be unable to move, cast, or attack for 6 seconds, or until it receives combat damage.

Arachnids/Beetles - Poison (Not programmed yet)

Will cause poison on next hit. Level of poison is dependent on wrestling skill, TBD.

Plants/Earth - Entangle (Not programmed yet)

Need to think on this one. There don't seem to be any special abilities or spells that reduce swing/attack speed. Best analog is to drain most of the mob's stamina? There is also the mysticism sleep spell, which reduces movement speed, or I could try to make a paralyze that does NOT wear off when taking combat damage. Could also change to "Thorn Strike", which could be weapon ability "double strike" or even bleed attack, and use talon strike for the birds.