Pet Training

The Pet Training system, introduced with Publish 97 in 2017, transformed how tamers build their pets. Before Pet Training, a tamed creature had whatever skills, stats, and abilities it was tamed with — improvable only through the slow grind of fighting alongside it. After Publish 97, the tamer can actively raise pet stats, increase pet skill caps via Power Scrolls, and grant the pet new abilities, special moves, area-effect attacks, and magical schools — fundamentally redefining the late-game taming meta.

Eligibility

Most tameable creatures can be trained. The exceptions:

• Battle Chicken Lizard
• Chicken Lizard
• Swamp Dragon
• Paroxysmus' Swamp Dragon
• Grizzled Mare
• Albino Squirrel
• Imprisoned Dog

5-slot pets are also already at maximum strength and cannot be further trained — their slot count is the cap.

To start the training process, take the Discovering Animal Training Quest from any Animal Trainer NPC found at city stables. The reward is the Ethologist title; the quest unlocks the training UI.

Pet creature classifications

Some abilities are restricted to specific creature classifications:

• Magical — innate spell-casters (Daemons, Liches, Wisps, Dragons, etc.)
• Necromantic — undead (Skeletal Mage, Lich, Vampire Bat)
• Sticky Skin — slug-bodied creatures
• Clawed — claw-equipped creatures (felines, drakes, large hounds)
• Tailed — tailed creatures (Hiryu, drakes, snakes)
• Insectoid — bugs (Beetles, Scorpions, Centipedes)

A pet may belong to multiple classifications, and only those classifications gate certain abilities. See the Tameables article for the per-creature classification table.

Power Hour

When a pet first gains training progress, it enters a Power Hour — a one-time-per-pet boost where training progress accumulates faster than usual. This applies to fresh tames and to pets that are still under their original training cap. Use the Power Hour for the most expensive abilities.

Stat caps

Each tameable pet has individual caps on its stats. Training pushes these caps gradually toward the absolute maximums:

Base damage by slot

A pet's base damage cap scales with the pet's slot count:

Only the minimum base damage can be raised; the maximum is creature-fixed. A 22 base damage pet (the cap) shows on the Animal Lore gump as base damage 24–33 once the system's standard randomization range applies.

Pet skill caps via Power Scrolls

Pet skills can be lifted from 100 (Grandmaster) to 105/110/115/120 by feeding Power Scrolls during the training process. The character must have the relevant Power Scroll in their backpack when upgrading the pet's cap. Two skill categories:

Magic skill caps (cost 200 training points each from GM to 120)

• Magery
• Evaluating Intelligence

Magic skill caps (cost 20 training points each from GM to 120)

• Magic Resistance
• Meditation
• Focus

Combat skill caps

• Wrestling (200 training points)
• Tactics (200 training points)
• Anatomy (20 training points)
• Parrying (20 training points)
• Healing (20 training points)

Other Magic skill caps (Power-Scroll-eligible)

• Necromancy
• Spirit Speak
• Spellweaving
• Mysticism
• Chivalry
• Discordance
• Ninjitsu
• Bushido

Skills WITHOUT Power Scrolls (cap stays at original tame value)

• Poisoning — capped at GM unless tamed with higher; e.g. a Rune Beetle tamed with 120 Poisoning keeps 120, but added Poisoning starts at 0 and caps at GM.
• Hiding
• Detect Hidden

Ability slots

A pet's training menu offers four ability categories. Total of 3 options across 5 possibilities:

• 1 Magical Ability
• 1 Special Ability
• 2 Special Moves
• 1 Area Effect

Some Magical Abilities consume all ability slots, locking out the other categories.

Magical Abilities (1 slot, or all-slots variants)

Standard Magical Abilities (1 slot — pet still has remaining slots for other categories):

• Discordance — pet gains Discordance skill.
• Magery — pet casts Magery spells.
• Necromancy — pet casts Necromancy spells.
• Spellweaving — pet casts Spellweaving spells.
• Mysticism — pet casts Mysticism spells.
• Chivalry — pet casts Chivalry spells.
• Magery Mastery — pet casts mastery abilities.
• Bushido — pet gains Bushido + free Whirlwind Attack special move. Tokuno-native Magical creatures only.
• Ninjitsu — pet gains Ninjitsu + GM Hiding. Tokuno-native Magical creatures only.
• Poisoning — any pet (regardless of classification) can learn Poisoning, which unlocks additional Special Ability and Area Effect choices.

All-slots Magical Abilities (lock out other categories):

• Piercing — Bleed + Armor Ignore + Paralyzing Blow special moves + Pierce/Thrust Skill Mastery abilities.
• Bashing — Disarm + Paralyzing Blow + Heightened Senses/Shield Bash Mastery.
• Slashing — Nerve Strike + Armor Ignore + Disarm + Focused Eye/Onslaught Mastery.
• Battle Defense — Mortal Strike + Concussion Blow + Disarm + Toughness/Stagger Mastery.
• Wrestle Mastery — Disarm + Paralyzing Blow + Knockout/Rampage Mastery.

Special Abilities (1 slot)

• Angry Fire — devastating fire attacks.
• Conductive Blast — energy resistance reduction.
• Dragon Breath — fire damage scaling with target HP. Magical-classification only.
• Grasping Claw — physical resist reduction. Clawed-classification only.
• Inferno — fire AoE + fire resist reduction.
• Lightning Force — energy damage attack.
• Mana Drain — drains mana from nearby targets.
• Raging Breath — fiery breath with persistent burn DoT.
• Repel — incoming damage reflected at attacker.
• Searing Wounds — reduces target's healing effectiveness.
• Steal Life — energy attack that converts damage to self-healing.
• Venomous Bite — poison AoE. Requires Poisoning skill.
• Vicious Bite — festering DoT on approachers. Requires Poisoning.
• Rune Corruption — damage resistance reduction. Insectoid-classification only.
• Life Leech — leech HP on attack. Necromantic-classification only.
• Sticky Skin — slows attackers' swing speed. Sticky Skin-classification only.
• Tail Swipe — direct damage + paralysis chance + INT/DEX debuff. Tailed-classification only.

Special Moves (2 slots)

Mostly mirror player special moves; mana cost is the pet's mana, not the tamer's:

Area Effect (1 slot)

• Aura of Energy — energy AoE.
• Explosive Goo — energy AoE.
• Essence of Earth — physical AoE.

Poison-gated AoE (require Poisoning skill on the pet first):

• Aura of Nausea — debuff to swing speed, hit chance, defense chance, faster casting.
• Poison Breath — Lethal Poison AoE.
• Essence of Disease — poison AoE damage.

Animal Lore

The supporting skill that pet trainers cannot do without. Animal Lore:

• Reads pet stats, resists, skills, and elemental damage distribution.
• Affects ability to control a tamed creature.
• Improves Veterinary heal output.
• Counts toward total stable slot limit.

At 100 Animal Lore the tamer can also target untamed animals for stats; at 110 they can read untamed monsters' stats.

GM Animal Lore is universal in tamer builds — the read-pet-stats function is the whole basis of training decisions, and the Vet heal-output bonus matters on every fight.

Strategy notes

• Burn the Power Hour on training points. The 1-time-per-pet boost is best spent on the highest-cost upgrades (500-pt Special Moves, 200-pt skill cap raises). Don't waste it on cheap 100-pt moves.
• Pet skill Power Scrolls are independent of player Power Scrolls. A 120 Magery scroll consumed on a pet does not affect the tamer. Plan per-pet scrolls in addition to the tamer's own.
• Greater Dragons are the canonical 5-slot pet. Already at max; cannot be trained further. The training system is irrelevant for this creature; tame-as-found is the rule.
• Cu Sidhe + Wrestle Mastery is the high-end PvM tank build. Knockout passive + Disarm + Paralyzing Blow + GM Wrestling + GM Tactics + 120 Anatomy. Requires GM Animal Lore + Taming + Vet to manage.
• Rune Beetle is the canonical Insectoid trainer's choice — Rune Corruption ability boosts party damage on tough bosses by stripping resists. Pair with Bashing or Wrestle Mastery for the Disarm follow-up.
• Bake Kitsune + Ninjitsu Magical Ability = stealth-tank pet. The pet inherits GM Hiding, sneaks alongside the tamer, ambush-engages with Talon Strike. Tokuno-native classification required.
• Pet feeding stays the same. Pet Training affects skills/abilities only; the feeding loyalty system, Bonding (week of ownership), and stat-loss-on-non-bonded-death rules are unchanged.

See also

Animal Taming, Animal Lore, Veterinary, Discovering Animal Training Quest, Power Hour, Tameables, Pets, Pet Bonding, Pet Guide, Pack Animal, Stable, Power Scrolls, Greater Dragon, Cu Sidhe, Bake Kitsune, Hiryu, Rune Beetle, Mare, Whirlwind Attack, Mortal Strike, Disarm, Paralyzing Blow, Skill Mastery, Tokuno Islands, Ethologist.