Bio Engineer Archive

sithvindicator had an excellent post responding to a question about how the CH skills work that I've copied it here in hopes that it helps the novice CH. There are a couple of issues that I've fixed, but most of the credit goes to the original poster. One thing to note is that Wookie's get a bonus labled 'Creature Taming Bonus +10' that has some impact on the calculations used when taming pets. What this is exactly isn't known definitively (yet) but there is plenty of conjecture in other posts.

This is how the skill boxes break down I hope this helps.

The first box is the Taming branch. This branch dictates what level creature you can Tame or your Max level of pets. At Taming I you can tame lvl 25, non-aggressive creatures. Taming II lets you tame level 35 aggressive creatures. Taming III gives you another 10 levels which brings you to level 45 and taming IV adds 5 for a total of 50. There are times when you won't be able to tame a certain creature even though it appears like you should. This is because the level of the creature is only one factor used to determine if you can tame a creature. You also need to look at the creatures Ferocity level. You get 10 levels ofTame Vicious Creatures(ferocity) at every level of Taming. Crooth note: If this is in fact part of the calculation, it must be your Taming Vicious Creatures skill minus 1 that is checked because creatures with Ferocity 10 can't be tamed even with +10 to TameVicious Creatures. I wish we knew this definitively but right now (9/22/03) we do not. Also note that the Tame Wild Creatures skill indicates the ease with which you are able to tame non-aggressive creatures.

Before you can Call a creature that you are about to tame you need to make sure that your Max level of pets is matched by Max number of pet Levels. The Training branch gives you your Max number of pet Levels, which is the combined level of pet or pets that you can call out at one time. At Novice you can call out level 15 creatures this is the same for Non-CHs . Training I allows you to call level 25 pets. Training II lets you call out level 35 pets, Training III and IV let you call out level 40 and 45 respectively. If for example you are 1-0-0-0 you can theoretically tame level 25 but you can't call them out on the field, therefore you can't tame them. You first need to get 1-1-0-0 in order to call out and tame level 25 creatures. Basically Taming I is useless without training I. Training II gives you a Max number of pet levels of 35 and it also gives +2 stored pets. If you are a novice CH you can have 4 stored pets and you get 2 more once you get either one of these: Training II, Empathy II, Management II, Training IV, Empathy IV, or Management IV. Once you get all of these you'll have a grand total of 16 stored pets. You also get +5 to your max number of pet levels at Empathy IV and Management IV. Assuming you have reached Training IV, Empathy IV and Management IV you'll have a Max number of pet levels of 55.

The fourth branch is the Management branch. At Management I you get the Group command, you can teach this command to your pets allowing you to form a group with them. It is very usefull because it lets you keep a better track of their HAMs. Once you reach management III you'll get +1 Additional pet. Which means that you can call out 2 pets at the same time as long as their combined levels don't exceed your max number of pet levels. So if you have Training I you can call out 2 pets whose levels do not add up to more than 25. Management IV lets you teach the Transfer command to your pets. This command lets you transfer or trade level 16 and higher pets to other CHs. Right now as it stands anyone can trade level 15 or lower pets via the secure trade window.

I left the third branch for last because a lot of people consider it to be useless. Empathy I lets you teach the Trick 1 command to your pets, this lets you heal their mind pool. You get Trick 2 at Empathy II but there doesn't seem to be a difference between the two. You get Two abilities with Empathy III and IV Enrage and Embolden. You can't teeach these or command your pets to do it they are like special attacks that happen at random.

Bah - you can't have 2 rancors - I meant 2 Graul Maulers. Sheesh you'd think the FAQ thread would be filled with facts or something...

Crooth wrote:

Q: Do faction pets count against the pet limits?

A: Nope, you can have 3 faction pets plus your CH pets (2 rancors, 3 Grand Wrix, etc.)

so, with the current 60 max cap, it's not possible to have 3 Gwrix out, nor 2 graul maulers out at the same time, right? if i did my math right, 3 x 22 = 66, and 2 x 34 = 68... but i have seen some non-wookie CH running around with 2 fully grown mtn squills, how was that possible? does the nerf only hurt those that hasen't reached CHM at the time of the nerf?

Master CH have a Max Number of Pet Levels of +70. That means they can (and do) call out 2 Graul Maulers or 3 Grand Wrix or 2 Mountain Squills or ...

Ran into this today at lunch. Trained commands are case sensitive. This means if you train

attack = attack

and your customer either says "Attack" or creates a macro using a capital "A" it will not work. This is especially confusing because when you say

"attack"

in game other players SEE you say

"Attack"

Very nasty to track down; the pet will act like it doesn't hear anything until you correct the case.

Q: What level pet can I use at 1.1.x.x - what about 2.2.x.x (as of 9/23/03)?

A: This is more difficult to answer than it first seems and I am going to describe the facts for a non-Wookie. First, there are the limits set forth in the skills tree and appear in your skills list. First you have the Max Taming Level (?) value that comes from the Taming branch; second you have the Max Pet Levels value that comes from the Training branch. The former is the old value that indicates the maximum level pet you can tame. The latter is the new value (added to prevent novice CH from using Rancors) that indicates what the maximum levels of all your pets can be. So, if you can call out 1 creature, that's the maximumlevel that one pet can be. If you can call out 2 pets, you can call out 2 as long as the total level of both added together doesn't exceed that value. With the addition of the new value they also added a limit on what you could tame such that if you can't call it out, you can't tame it. For example, at Taming 1 you havea Max Taming Level of 25 but you can't tame any creatures beyond level 15 until you also learn Training 1. So, at 1.1 (Training 1 & Taming 1) the maximum level pet you can tame and call out is level 25. At 2.2 the maximum level pet you can tame and call out should be 35. However, it is at this level that most people run into the second issue (and that frustrating Graul Mauler - see the previous FAQ question on Graul Maulers.)

There is another limiting factor that impacts what you can tame and call out. This has to do with Vicious (or aggressive) creatures. Starting at Taming 2 you get +10 to Tame Vicious Creatures and that does seem to allow you to tame most aggressive creatures within your taming range. However, there are some notable exceptions (Mr Graul Mauler, for example.) If you don't get the Tame radial menu item but it is within your taming and calling out level, suspect the aggressive nature problem.

And of course, there are bugs and other strange issues that sometimes make these rules look wrong such as the aggressive Greater Womp Rat can be tamed at 1/1, and that a higher level CH can give you a Graul Mauler and you can use it at 2/2 until it reaches adulthood when suddenly you'll be too low to call it.

And finally note that there is a boost to both taming and calling at other portions of the CH tree and especially Master that can bring your total up to 70. While there aren't any pets above level 50 having a Max Pet Levels of 70 allows you to have 2 pretty nice creatures - 2 Graul Maulers for example.

My hunting partner just snagged a merik's queen baby 2 nights ago on endor, lucky him, ehh? I was to low level to train it, he willing gave me a cowardly gurreck so he had room for this one...

Once I hit the proper level, I will be on endor waiting formanitrigue babies... I have died to those nasty things so many times, I really don't want to discuss it..

Ok, I know it has been discussed, but I want a definitive answer to this. I am a wookie. I have taming 2, training 2 and management 1 or 2/2/0/1. At this level can i tame and call a graul mauler? If so, I am positive I am gonna go get one.

Ok I don't know if anyone can give me a definate answer to this but I'm sure it has to do with the vicous pet bonus you gain at taming 2. A few days ago I was on Rori attepting to tame a Ravenous torton baby now after 3 hours of failed attempts and lots of running away various time, My question is if in theory I should need taming 3 to actually succeed why is it letting me at 2/2/0/0?

I have three questions: What levels do i need to take out 2 greaters sludge panthers? What does it mean to have say 25% effectiveness? And what is the difference between Max level of pets and Max pet level and which gives me more pets in my data pad?

If somebody tames a Kliknik Defender or Mountain Vesp (both are CL25 or below but are aggressive), will I be able to call and use the adults at 1 1 0 0 ? If not, what is the minimum I need to use it?

1 2 0 0 or 2 2 0 0?

Q: Should I unequip my weapon and walk in to appear 'less threatening' to baby animals?

A: It's unknown whether this makes *any* difference or not. My opinion is that it probably doesn't make a difference. I do unequip my weapon since if the baby animal attacks me--I won't kill it in seconds--but my hand2hand skills are low (if you're Teras Kasi maybe you want to equip a carbine or ax or something).

You can run up to baby animals and it doesn't seem to make any difference.

Q: What should I do if the baby attacks me?

A: Just don't kill the baby. If you're in with aggressive creatures, lead the baby well away from mommy and daddy. Babies don't hit hard. If they start to lose interest, hit them with your weakest range weapon (once) to keep 'em interested. The idea is that you take them to a safe spot where you can tame in peace without worrying about mask scent breaking.

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I agree that it probably doesn't make a difference. I have done it both ways many many times and there does not seem any discernable difference. As of nowI just leave my weapon equipped.

I have a macro setup for taming that will not let me auto attack if attacked by the baby (/tame <target>; /peace. I actually don't mind and prefer to get attacked during a tame. Just start running in the oppisite direction of Mom and Pop. The baby will follow for a little bit and then start to head back. Key here is to get to it before it does.

I haven't done any low level taming in a while now, so it is all high level and I cant remember the last time this failed to work. Hope this helps......

One very handy thing I have done is to make up a "Creature Handler Spreadsheet" in Excel. Very simple to do. You could make up a hand-written table instead, wouldn't take very long.

With a single glance, I can tell what my CH will and will not be able to do at certain levels. Try this, it's a big help. And it answers a heck of a lot of the questions I see asked here.

Here are a few things I've figured out, just thought I would share:

• The +10 taming bonus for Wookies applies to BOTH wild (yellow-con) and vicious (red-con) creatures. So, if you want to tame low-level aggro critters without having Taming II, you need to be a Wookie.


• In order to call 3 pets simultaneously, you have to be a Master CH. Being a Wookie doesn't help here.


• The "Trick" command serves the same purpose for pets that watching an entertainer does for a player. It cures the pet's battle fatigue and mind wounds.


• Players can heal a pet's Action and Health wounds in a camp. These wounds don't heal while the creature is stored, although their HAM damage does (and quite quickly).


• A good strategy is to have multiple pets stored. When one becomes seriously injured, store it and call out a fresh replacement. This saves big money on Pet Stims.


• As has been stated before, the first skill to raise in the CH tree should be Management. Raise this to level III before training anything else. This skill allows you to call and control 2 pets at the same time, and effectively double your CH experience gains. Doing this cuts the time required to reach Master CH by (duh) half.


• CH experience is calculated on how high the target cons to your pet, not to you (and not to your group). The best way to gain CH experience is to hunt with a group tackling high-level MOB's. As long as your pet gets at least one hit on the target, you will gain CH experience. An example: If you are hunting solo, and you send your pet in on a red-con mob, you might get 266 CH xp when you kill it. If you are in a large group, and you send your pet in on a blue-con mob, you might get 465 CH xp when the group kills it (as long as your pet got at least one hit on the target). IOW, it all depends on the difficulty level of the target. So...if your group is attacking a camp of pirates on Lok, try to make sure that your pet gets a hit on each of them before they are killed. This way you get multiple experience gains from one battle. Once you get Management IIIand can call out an additional pet, using this strategy pays huge dividends.


• CH is the only profession I've seen in SWG that can actually get some use out of the Strategy Guide published by Prima. Much of the creature information in this Guide is wrong, but the Creature Levels seem to be pretty accurate.