Pets, riding and flying
Even riding starts somewhere. Everyone begins with a donkey. With patience you will ride a horse, an ostard, a unicorn, and one day a sky-drake or a dragon.
Taming
Stand next to a wild animal and press T. You spend a few seconds calming it, over three tries. If it takes, it is yours: you name it, it follows you, and it fights whatever attacks you or whatever you attack. If it doesn't, an animal that can hurt you may turn on you.
Each kind needs some Animal Taming. Chickens and donkeys need none; a dog 5; a horse 25; a white wolf 35; a snow leopard 50; a unicorn 60; a polar bear 65; a sky-drake 85. Animal Lore helps too.
| Action | Mouse and keyboard | Controller (PS5) |
|---|---|---|
| Tame the nearest animal | T | The pause menu: Settings, then Game, Tame the animal nearby |
| Pet window: guard, stay, heal, ride, release | Y, or click your pet | The pause menu: Gear, then Pets |
| Ride, get off | R | L1 + d-pad right |
| Gallop | Shift | L3 |
| Take off on a flying mount | Space | ✕ |
| Climb, dive (dive to the ground to land) | Hold Space, hold C | Hold ✕, hold ○ |
Direct controller buttons for taming and the pet window. Coming
Pets grow
- You have five pet slots. Small animals take one, big ones two or three. Farm animals take none.
- Pets gain experience from kills near them, and the one that made the kill gains double. They level up to 20, growing a little tougher and stronger each level.
- At levels 5, 10 and 15 a pet learns a trick, in its own kind's order: a bite that heals, a hide that shrugs off blows, a bite that chills, a call for lightning.
- A wild pet may come with a trait: Sturdy, Fierce, Swift, Thick-hided, Keen, Quick learner, Runt or Giant.
- Heal a hurt pet with a bandage and the Veterinary skill.
- Release a pet and it goes wild again.
Breeding
Ingrid, the breeder in the Proving Grounds, pairs two grown pets of the same kind (level 5 or more) and gives you a young one that takes after them, often a little better. The young is ready in a couple of minutes, even while the game is closed. Its parents' traits can pass down, and now and then it is born with a new one.
Riding
Horses, llamas, ostards, donkeys and a few rare animals can be ridden. The stablemaster in the Proving Grounds sells a donkey for 60 gold and a horse for 400. Animals you leave at the stables don't take up your slots and come back rested.
Each mount needs some Riding: a donkey none, a llama 10, a horse about 30, an ostard 45 or more, a war-wolf 55, a unicorn 70. A donkey is a little faster than walking; a unicorn twice as fast. A mount has its own breath for galloping and jumping, and gets it back while you are off it. Riding rises as you travel in the saddle. You can't climb on in the middle of a fight.
Flying
Two mounts fly. The sky-drake needs Riding 80 and Taming 85. The dragon needs Riding 90 and Taming 95, and is faster still. Press Space or ✕ on the ground and it beats its wings and climbs into the sky. Hold to climb, hold C or ○ to dive, and dive to the ground to land. High above the world the air grows too thin to climb any further.