My Journey to GM Taming and Beyond!
First thing, this is a guide on how I got to GM taming. This probably isn't the most efficient path, and you may find that some things work better for your playstyle, but that's the beauty of this game, you can do it your way. I went for the path of least resistance and tried to balance between dungeon and overland spawn for gains.
Secondly, you need to understand how passive gains work. For every .1 you gain in taming you also "bank" .1 passive gains. In order to use these passive gains you will need to use your pets to kill mobs and they will have a chance to activate the passive gain and gain .1 in taming. Your pets only need to damage the mob in order to have a chance to activate your passive gain, you can kill it yourself after that. You can bank a maximum of 2.5 "banked" passive gains so the strategy here is to tame until you have a full bank and then hunt until the next bracket. I will explain more in the guide.
Lastly, there are NO BONUS GAINS FOR TAMING. None. Not in the newbie dungeon, not on Shelter Island, and not in any dungeon with a bonus to skill gain. I see a lot of people thinking that there are but the only time you will have any bonus is when we get the rare alacrity scroll for downtime.
*Warning* This guide contains mass murdering of innocent creatures, some of which you explicitly told you would "protect from the dangers of this world". If you have any reservations about that then perhaps you should try something else like mining.
Starting Template:
50 Taming
49 Magery
1 Peacemaking
Use your starting check to purchase 49 in Peacemaking (Bard), 50 points in Animal Lore (Stablemaster), and 1 point in Magery (Mage).
I recommend macroing a bit to get your musicianship and peacemaking to 70 in the newbie dungeon.
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Range: 50-57.5 Taming
Location: Newbie Dungeon
Target: Colossal Frog (non-aggressive)
Find the Corpser room in the newbie dungeon and stand in the middle. This way the Corpsers can't get to you and you can tame all the frogs you could ever want. Once you successfully tame one of these cute little buggers you will send them bravely to their deaths for your amusem*nt by telling them to "guard" you. The Corpsers should make short work of them. For the beginning you can ignore the passive bank and just tame all the way to 57.5. (You can actually take this all the way to 70 but the gains slow down a lot since you succeed too often and beat out the respawn rate)
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Range: 57.5-60 Taming
Hunting Time
Now its time to murder more things, but this time you will use your pets in their intended way. As mindless, heartless, killing drones.
Around this point it is advised that you get a starter team of pokemon tames for your passive gains. Thanks to Stormy Daniels for this roster:
1x Rock Guar
4x Familiars
Both of these can be found in the Newbie Dungeon near each other.
At this point you should have 2.5 passive gains banked (you can check this via your character info page under Help > Player Status > Followers)
You should also have a bit of gold that you can use to purchase Veterinary from the stablemaster. Use your posse to depopulate a target area of a dungeon or overland until you've used up all of your banked points. The higher the difficulty of the monster (use animal lore to check) the more chance to use your passive gain. Remember, your tames don't actually have to kill it by themselves, you or a buddy can help.
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Range: 60-62.5 Taming
Location: Newbie Dungeon
Target: Cave Bear (non-aggressive)
There are 3 cave bear spawns in the Newbie Dungeon that you can rotate to. You can send them diligently to their deaths against the Ettins and Ogres in the area once you have lured them with promises of glory and fame or you can get your hands dirty and kill them yourself if you're a heartless bastard. The bears are very laid back and chill so there isn't any need to peace them. You can also now upgrade your squad of Familiars to Imps (also in the Newbie Dungeon) and get some gains in the process.
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Range: 62.5-65 Taming
Hunting Time
Take your pets out for some fresh air with a light hint of murder and drain that passive bank. After this point you can leave the newbie dungeon and maybe macro your musicianship and peacemaking as it will help out tremendously in the next parts.
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Range: 65-67.5 Taming
Location: Inferno
Target: Searing Lizard and Embear
There are a couple of spots in Inferno that have both of these mobs for you to sweet talk into doing your bidding, after which of course you'll be using them as target practice for the denizens of the dungeon. If you find yourself running out of spawn you can also add in the Flamehounds and Firebats that are all over the place. This is where your peacemaking skills will start to come in handy. Most of the spawn on the first level will give you gains so just make your way back and forth for the fastest gains.
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Range: 67.5-70 Taming
Hunting Time
You know the drill. Take your posse out for their daily bath in the blood of your enemies until you're out of banked passive gains.
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Range: 70-72.5 Taming
Location: Inferno and Ossuary
Target: Searing Mantis (Inferno), Scarab (Ossuary), Cave Bat (Ossuary)
There are 2 good spots for taming the Searing Mantises in Inferno. One of the spots has a double spawn and one is solo. You can continue to tame the Embears in between these two spots for extra gains. Feed your new found friends to the locals in exchange for 5-Star Yelp! reviews.
The scarab in Ossuary is just west of the level 2 golden moongate and is alone in the room. Pacify him with your sweet rendition of We Are The Champions played entirely on a lute and start taming. Then head to level 3 and head north into the hole in the wall. There are a few cave bats here but beware of the Skeletal Dragons. They hurt more than stubbing your pinky toe on the bed frame but are great at disposing of "undesirables" such as your newly tamed bats.
Alternate between these two dungeons if you find the you're beating out the respawn rate. Having 60 magery is all you need to never fizzle recall and can be macroed up in the newbie dungeon fairly quickly.
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Range: 72.5-75 Taming
Hunting Time
Yup, you guessed it! Kill some time by killing some mobs and drain those banked passive gains.
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Range: 75-77.5 Taming
Location: Nusero or the mountains Northwest of Horseshoe Bay.
Target: Drake Whelps (Alternative: Fire Beetle in Inferno)
Time to get out of the claustrophobic dungeons and get some sunlight on your pasty skin. People are starting to worry. There are 4 spawns of drakes and drake whelps in the mountains Northwest of Horses-hoe Bay and should provide plenty of line-of-sight spots for you to safely tame without getting aggro on everything else on the screen. Then feed them to their parents while giggling maniacally.
If you choose to stay inside because the big bright thing in the sky terrifies you as it does me then Nusero has plenty of drake whelps for you to tame. 2 are located right at the entrance of level 2 and the nearby drakes will gladly assist you with bringing your follower count down.
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Range: 77.5- 80 Taming
Hunting Time
This will be the final outing for most of your current roster of pets cause we're about to level up! Drain that bank and let your Familiars/Imps take their long overdue retirement package. I leave it up to you if you want to dismiss them from the stable into the care of the stablemaster or release them in town to the warm embrace of death at the hands of the local guards. You will be judged for your choices. The Rock Guar still owes you money so he's going to be re-enlisted for another tour of duty.
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Range: 80-82.5 Taming
Location: Inferno
Target: Searing Imp or Bullvore
Back to the fiery depths of Inferno for the next leg of our journey. There are two spots near the start of Inferno with solo searing imps and a very useful bridge between them. Tame yourself one of these spicy devils and check their stats. (Stats explained below) If they pass your high standards take them to your stable until you have 4. These will serve you well until GM Taming. Those that are deemed failures, much like you are in the eyes of your family, can be sent to "Patrol" the bridge and point out all the traps they find. This is a very quick method of elimination and will most definitely be brought up when you're ultimately tried for war crimes.
If you find yourself no longer aroused by the incineration and decimation of these poor devils, or if you run out of things to deep fry, you can head down to level 2 and tame some Bullvores. There is one right up the stairs west from the entrance and 2 more a bit further down the path. There are flame purgers near by that need corpses to purge. Give them a hand and become a local celebrity.
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Range: 82.5 - 85 Taming
Hunting Time
Time to take out those new Searing Imps and set some hearts on fire, as well as the rest of the body. Drain that bank of passives as per usual.
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Range: 85-87.5 Taming
Location: Nusero or the mountains Northwest of Horseshoe Bay.
Target: Drakes (Alternative: Dragon Whelps North of Pulma)
Hey we're back in our old stomping ground and now we those drakes we were fattening up with their own offspring are too fat to resist our charm. Pull the drakes to a secluded location, where no one can see, and proceed to "tame" them. Drakes are both plentiful in the mountains Northwest of Horseshoe Bay and in Nusero level 2.
You can also toss in some Dragon Whelps if you don't mind stealing the only thing more precious to a dragon than their gold; their children! You can find them next to their parents above Pulma.
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Range: 87.5-90 Taming
Hunting Time
Take your pets and add to that growing list of war crimes and terrorize the world for a bit. Once the banked passive points are gone skulk back to the stable and hide your sins.
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Range: 90-92.5 Taming
Location: Ossuary
Target: Sand Crawler
At the entrance to level 3 you'll find this absolute unit of a bug. Lure him into the nearby dark alley with a trail of candy and tame him away from prying eyes. No one needs to know your business. You don't owe anyone an explanation! The respawn rate is fairly quick and you can watch people get stuck in the nearby corridors between the Mummies and Nightmares.
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Range: 92.5-95 Taming
Hunting Time
Are we ready for more bonding with our pets? I hope so because you're going to be spending a lot of time hunting with them. As usual, drain the passive gains bank and we're ready for the final stretch to GM Taming!
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Range: 95-97.5 Taming
Location: Nusero
Target: Wyvern Hatchling
These little bastards will poison you 108% of the time they touch you. Carry some greater cure pots with you for those times you fail your peacemaking at the wrong moment. They are still much easier to peace than Dragons and have the same success chance. There are 2 spots near the start of Nusero level 3 where you can taunt the Wyvern Hatchling into attacking you without alerting their bigger, meaner, and uglier, parents. Standing under the bridge (green spot) or next to the cave wall will ensure that the damn Ophidian Mage doesn't slither down and try to sell you some car insurance.
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Range: 97.5-100 Taming
Hunting Time
Take your pets for quick hunt and hit that coveted GM Taming mark! Congratulations,
achieved something!
Now what? Well if you're staying at GM you're done. Go and finish off your template with whatever skills you'd like. If you are ready to upgrade your Searing Imps and Rock Guar to their Final Form head to Aegis Keep and get yourself 4 Aegis Imps (near the entrance to level 2) and an Aegis Scorpion (Near the first Red Moongate on level 2). I recommend keeping peacemaking for this part as the imps and scorpion are level 100 tamables and will only have a 1% chance to be tamed. The Aegis Scorpion is one of the best tanks in the game with base 75 Armor and 100 Resist and takes up only one slot. After you've leveled him up he becomes a terrifying little monster that can take more abuse than Chris and Bobby Brown can dish out together!
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