Taming

Tamable creatures may fit creature templates with pre-defined behaviors.

Taming is a gathering profession in Ashes of Creation.

• Animals can be found in herds across the lands of Verra that represent a gatherable resource.
• Genetic lines react to the type of mount or creature that has been captured or tamed.
• Combat proficiency may be required in order to tame wild beasts.
• Geographical location may be relevant for the creation of certain types of breeds.

One of the big components of Animal Husbandry is going to be taming. We talk about our Artisan system and you guys know this it exists within three main branches of Gathering, Processing, and Crafting. Now of course let me caveat this: anything I say here is subject to change, but with that being said, taming is one of the Gathering professions that players will be able to use to both locate, capture, and tame wild creatures in Verra. Tamed creatures can then be trained and bred- refined with the Animal husbandry profession. – Steven Sharif

Tamable creatures

Mounts and combat pets can be found in the wild and tamed.

• Tamable creatures may fit creature templates with pre-defined behaviors.

For example: A wolf or a dog may look different but may be balanced to the same templated behavior.

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  Dawnbreaker progression

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  Glimmering Geode

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  Horses

Animal husbandry

Screenshot of Dawnbreaker variant achievable through the Animal husbandry profession. Model by Jessica Jennings.

Those variations that were present with the Dawnbreaker: those are examples of how Animal Husbandry surfaces subtle changes- from subtle to extreme. Those were more subtle; those are wing variations, those were fur variations, color variations, eye color variations. All of that kind of stuff gets represented as part of the Animal husbandry system and it's cool to see what's available for players to experiment with.

Rare Flailrunner mount that can only be obtained via breeding two tamable creatures through the animal husbandry profession.

Animal husbandry is meant to be a pretty diverse profession: One that has a significant importance because players in MMOs love their mounts and we wanted to do something unique in that regard. – Steven Sharif

Animal husbandry is a profession within the processing artisan class.

• Animals found through taming can be bred to discover lesser-known species variants with untold powers and abilities.
  • Mounts, such as horses are an early gateway into the Animal husbandry profession.
• Stables are freehold buildings used for breeding animals within the Animal husbandry profession.
• Animal husbandry will be an exploritative profession.

Many animals that can be tamed and bred through the animal husbandry profession can be found in herds across the lands of Verra. These herds represent a gatherable resource, of sorts, that masters of the animal husbandry profession may then use to discover lesser-known species variants with untold powers and abilities. Mounts play a large role in Ashes of Creation, and animals like the horse are an early gateway into the unlimited possibilities that await those skilled in the arts of husbandry.

Breeding mechanics

Gryphon concept art.

These are some concept iterations of exactly how the animal husbandry profession's going to work as you create the offspring of different combinations of animals and you find and discover types of mounts. For example this Gryphon: You will have the ability to open up an in-game character customization screen for the animals; and you'll be able to use certain dials to touch different aesthetic aspects of the actual animal's features: On its wings, on its head, its beak, its armor that's going to be present; the claws and talons. You will be able to actually make a unique representation of this mount, so you're just not a cookie cutter like everybody else. – Steven Sharif

Animal husbandry will have discoverable blends of breeding.

• Creatures can be captured and tamed to breed animals with specific genetic traits.
  • Pets, Mounts, Livestock, and Beasts of burden have unique traits that can be bred to obtain the best version of that species.
  • Geographical location may be relevant for the creation of certain types of breeds.

  Creatures will have a wide variety of traits and characteristics, strengths and weaknesses, within their species. The best version of a species will need to be blended from creatures from many places across Verra... For example, the best horse would need speed from desert horses, the coat and the health from tundra steeds, and the size and strength of ones that might be in the riverlands. – Steven Sharif

• Royal mounts (such as Dragons) are dropped as eggs that can be cultivated by Animal husbandry artisans with a high enough stable upgrade on their freehold.
  • These mounts are not breedable.
• Mounts that are bred through animal husbandry may be sold at auction.
  • These mounts can also be applied as certificates toward the construction of caravans.

Once an animal is born, there are stages of development to raise that animal from birth to adulthood. Animal husbandry practitioners will be able to specialise their focus into raising and training creatures to maximise the quality of the creature in adulthood.

• Youngling stage: For mammals this relates to baby animals. For lizards (reptiles) this is an egg stage.

Once these creatures are actually born there is an element of raising the creature. So animals need to be raised from birth to adulthood and trained for the intended purposes, either as a mount, a pet, a beast of burden, or livestock. Animal husbandry feeds a lot of these different aspects; and you'll be able to specialize your focus as an 'animal husbandrist', if that's a word, to one of those particular ends. Players have a multitude of activities to perform like feeding, cleaning the creatures, taking them out for practice rides, training them to fight monsters, etc. This period is very important however- the training period- because it will have the greatest influence on the resulting quality of the genetically determined stats and abilities of the creature once they reach adulthood. So basically as you're discovering these different genetic paths when pairing different animals, and the offspring is born, it will have a window of where a stat block will land. But where it lands will be determined by the training phase by raising the creature up- and that's going to be an important aspect. – Steven Sharif

There may be a user interface rather than recipes for the animal husbandry system that records successes and failures of breeding attempts.

I'm not sure that there are going to be recipes per-se. Instead what we're thinking about with the husbandry system is going to be a user interface panel that gives a record of your successes and failures with certain types of breeding attempts; and then from there, if you choose to share that information with other individuals you can of course. But it's not something that's going to be streamlined through an interface that we would use for the player. – Steven Sharif

Some of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

There is a compendium of acceptable parameters for breeding, which isn't going to be known until players discover it. This discovery may be different for different players.

• Animals have a unique ID that is tied to the husbandry chart (compendium) that takes into account possible combinations between animals. There will be odd combinations, but there will be limits to what is possible.
• Discovery of certain breeding habits and different quests may grant access to slots in the compendium.

A modified character creation system allows customization of Summoner pets and Animal husbandry.

• Changes at the Youngling stage affect the appearance of the animal at adulthood.
• During the Youngling stage there may also be quests for specific types of cosmetic features.

There's definitely going to be odd combinations, whether it's a butterflyger, giraffealope I don't know, but there will be definitely caps that are present. – Steven Sharif

Genetics

Genetics and Animal Husbandry will follow a Mendelian model of real-life genetics overlaid with magical tools that help understand and influence the process of the breeding of these animals in a fantastical way. Creatures will have characteristics that are determined by their genetics. There will be a multitude of traits that are related to appearance, performance, combat efficacy, even the different abilities that breeders can bring forward in a particular mount or pet. So no two creatures in Verra will be the exact same. – Steven Sharif

Animal husbandry and taming create mounts and pets with unique characteristics that are determined by their Genetics.

• There will be a multitude of traits that breeders can bring forward in a particular mount or pet.
  • Appearance.
  • Combat efficacy.
  • Abilities.
  • Endurances.
  • Stats.
    • Speed.
    • Health.
    • Armor.
    • Energy.
• The genetic system will involve trial and error to determine what yields or combinations are possible. Like real-world genetics this will incorporate an element of RNG.

  You'll be able to breed creatures, study the offspring, and make informed decisions when the features you want to pursue in the next generation become apparent in you in the offspring you've created. – Steven Sharif

  There are elements of recessive and dominant genes; and the discovery of certain types of characteristics that mounts you breed will have based on that RHG element. You can increase the chances there based on proficiency. You can also increase the chances based on method, based on resources, so it's not something that is a pie in the sky RNG number, but rather something that you can hone over time. – Steven Sharif

• A dominant genetic trait might be discovered with a pairing or there may be a much smaller chance to unlock a specific breed or even an entirely new species.
  • These chances are improved based on the player's progression within the animal husbandry profession.

  Mastery in Animal husbandry will involve unlocking greater cross-breeding potential between species to create more fantastical creatures; and there's even the potential for entirely new species to be unlocked by master breeders who are pushing the limits. – Steven Sharif

• Powerful traits will be hidden in rare spawns and through rare mutations.

Mounts

Rare mount that can only be obtained via breeding two tamable creatures through the animal husbandry profession.

Similar in looks to his scalerunning counterpart, this rare animal husbandry mount is only possible to achieve through breading two tameable creatures elusive in the lands of Verra. – Steven Sharif

Mounts are obtained through an early quest that is available to players in starting areas.

• Mounts can also be found in the wild and tamed.
• There are three different tiers of mount.
  1. Ground/land mounts.
  2. Gliding/jumping mounts.
  3. Royal/flying mounts.
  • Aquatic/swimming mounts are classified as tier A.

  There are going to be classes of mounts; and you will be able to achieve skins in the game or you will be able to achieve different types of those classes and summon them. – Steven Sharif

• Different tier mounts have different abilities that are unique to that tier. These may provide horizontal or vertical power gains.
• Mount speeds are determined by the base mount that the skin is applied to.
  • Aquatic mounts are faster in water and slower on land. Land mounts are faster on land and slower in water.
• Mount skins can be applied to the appearance of mounts that were earned in game. These are applicable to specific classes (tiers) of mounts.
  • For example, the Ramstrider skin will only be applicable to the class of land mounts (tier 1), and the Nighthunter Gryphon skin is only applicable to the class of royal mounts (tier 3).
  • Certain tier 2 mount skins (such as the Emberstorm Dragon) can be upgraded to tier 3 skins if they also apply to royal mounts.
• Mounts will be purchasable from players utilizing Animal husbandry and taming.
  • Mounts will have rarities that they are either bred or acquired. These rarities may influence mount skills and visual effects, such as seasonal variations.
• Fall damage that occurs while mounted will be first applied to the mount; and if the mount dies as a result, then the remaining damage may overflow onto the player, but this will be determined based on testing.
• There may be emotes associated with mounts and pets, such as petting, hugging, or playing with them.

Aquatic mounts

Tidesnapper aquatic mount early Alpha-1 screenshot.

Aquatic mounts early Alpha-1 gameplay.

Aquatic mounts are Tier A mounts that may be obtained from taming underwater creatures.

• Aquatic mounts are faster in water and slower on land.
• Aquatic mounts will be able to fully traverse naval areas and water areas.

An intrepid explorer could choose to traverse on his tide snapper alone. – Sarah Flanagan

• Aquatic mounts will have utility skills that are useful in fishing, such as fish finding.

Mounts will have skills that relate to fishing in some way shape or form, least the water mounts. Whether that be getting out to a particular area, whether it be like some type of fish finding or chumming the area. There could even be benefits while fishing in the water while mounted, like, you're on the back of your turtle out there just sitting in the water casting your rod, or your line. – Steven Sharif

Combat pets

Combat pets (also referred to as Item pets or Universal combat pets) may be acquired by any archetype.

• Combat pets have a horizontal progression, not a vertical one. Unlike Summoner summons, combat pets do not increase a player's power, but instead require a sacrifice from the player.
• Combat pets may be tamed from certain creatures in the world.
• Combat pets are categorized by class and will adhere to a simple trinity structure (Tank/DPS/Support).
• Combat pets will also be categorized into different rarities.
• Combat pets may not be able to be summoned in certain dungeons, instances or other spaces.

It will participate in combat. It will allow you different options sometimes, but it won't necessarily increase your power and... you'll be sacrificing something for it. – Jeffrey Bard

See also

• Gathering
• Animal husbandry