First of all, let’s get into what taming is, how to tame, and then what’s the quickest way to tame. Taming is unlocked after you get an Estate through the main story and from then you can tame most animals for your animal pen. These can then be used as livestock for resources (the animal is destroyed in the process) or for mounts (only certain animals can be mounts).
Uses for Tames
As you’ll find out after getting your estate, you are introduced to new resources which are only obtained and used in your estate. You can read more on estates here (WIP). Some of these are obtained from your animal pen, and this is filled by taming animals in the open world using the methods described below. Your tames have two main functions; to be used as livestock for estate resources or to be turned into mounts for your characters. Note that not all animals can be used as mounts (check the stables from the start menu to see which can), and if you tame said animal that does not guarantee a mount.
Taming Methods
There are two main methods of taming; hit the animal as much as you can or via a Rare Species Trap. The trapping method only works for Rare animals – if an animal that isn’t rare steps in it, the trap will not work and will disappear. This method won’t be used often but it’s good to have a trap on you in case you do encounter a rare animal (like the Ghost Stag or Crimson Pillager) in their specific spawn locations.
The method we’ll be looking into is the brute force option. Firstly, you’re best getting a call (whistle) for the animal you’ll be trying to tame. These can be bought with gold from a Mount Merchant and will tell you which animal can be tamed as well as increasing your taming chance for 30 minutes. To boost your chances further, you can invest in a Fountain Pool large decoration from the Lumena Store / Marketplace which can be built on your estate – this requires a level 5 Estate.
Efficient Taming
The main point of mixed information is in how best to beat your animals. Is it a chance that is applied per hit or per animal?
Per hit would mean that you are more likely to get a tame by decreasing your power as low as possible to get as many hits on an animal before killing it. Per animal means that you can kill as many animals as possible to find the tamable animal. Oh and don’t worry; if an animal is tamable it cannot die. You will get a pop-up warning with a 10 second timer in which the animal will become immortal for that duration or until you tame it.
So which is more effective? I spent a couple hours testing – 1 hour taming per hit and 1 hour per animal. Per hit took a few minutes to kill each animal and after 1 hour I got 0 tames. Per animal it took about 10 seconds each and I got 5 tames. While the former could have just been extremely unlucky and the latter very lucky, it is more likely to be that one method is better than the other.
However, I did find that you do need to kill the animal – per animal does not mean that you can hit it once for a fraction of its health and find out if it’s tamable. The QTE (Quick Time Event) may trigger anywhere between 99% health, and 1% health; it’s all RNG. As such, the best strategy appears to be to clear out as many animals as quickly as possible.
The Taming Process
After getting your animal call for the planned tame, find an area where they are frequently found. After you have an area, use your call and start butchering the animals. Eventually, a warning will pop up with a 10 second timer. While this timer is active, the animal will no longer receive damage. If you fail to get to the tame within the 10 seconds the animal will return to normal and you will have missed out on the tame.
As the video below shows, after you go up to the animal and activate the QTE within your 10 second window, you will have to press a series of buttons – the timer to do this is quite slow and easy.
It is important to note that if your Labour Pool in your Estate is full you will not be able to get the tame!
After you have completed the QTE you will have successfully tamed the animal! They will then be immediately sent to your Stable in the Estate and will have a random chance to either be Livestock or Mount – you can check straight away by opening your map, selecting Estate, then check your Labour Pool. It is pure chance in getting a mount and you will usually get quite a few livestock before you find one that’s a mount.
Rare Tames
Rare Tames
Unlike “regular” tames, which come from almost any animal on the map and can be tamed, there are only 6 rare tames. These tames are even more limited as they have 5 fixed spawns each at which only 1 animal spawns per channel every set interval. This interval varies per tame as per below:
- Giant Panda – 6 Hours
- Moonwind Lioness – 6 Hours
- Goldenwave Ordia – 12 Hours
- Razortusk – 12 Hours
- Crimson Pillager – 24 Hours
- Ghost Stag – 24 Hours
As such, it is important to know when the last animal was tamed (or killed) so that you know when to expect the next spawn. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done as certain players/guilds tend to monopolize rare tames and will often quote a wrong time to mislead anyone trying to tame. Read on to see how to get accurate times…
Spawn Timers
Maintenance sets the stage for the week. Rare tames will spawn as soon as the server is up and that is your best chance to get a tame. For this reason, this is the most popular time for people to go hunting and tames will often get snatched within minutes. They will respawn again at 6/12/24 hours after their captured time so make sure to keep track of these times! The despawn timer lasts 30 minutes so for every respawn you miss there is an additional 30 minute window added on to the next respawn – though usually these are rarely delayed by over 20 minutes due to popularity.
It is possible for the developers to bring the server up before it is available to the public which gives tames a chance to despawn before you’re able to log on. If you check for them again at the next respawn 30 minutes earlier there is a chance you will find them. This depends on how long the maintenance lasts – if it was 2 hours, the tames could have despawned at any time; for example, if they despawned the 1 hour mark going to the next one 30 minutes early would still give them a chance to despawn a second time.
Note that servers are usually up before the players are notified, so you may have an advantage if you persistently try to log back on until it lets you in. Additionally, while tames usually spawn exactly 6/12/24 hours after their last capture/kill, they have been known to occasionally spawn later by a few minutes. Do yourself a favor and find a team with like-minded goals, and make notes. Write down the times you see each channel spawn even if they aren’t caught by you or your team. The more communication the better. It isn’t impossible for solo players, but it is easier with a team because you can watch more than one spawn location at a time.
Spawn Locations
The map below now has all 30 spawn locations – 5 spawns per tame. Upon each interval reset the rare will spawn at one of the five possible locations, with each channel getting 1 spawn. Sadly, the recent server reduction to 2 channels per server means there are fewer overall tames, and with no changes to spawn times this has made them even more rare.
Taming Process
Now that you know where and when to tame, if you’re lucky enough to be at the location of the spawn you should know how to tame it. Unlike regular tames, you don’t beat rares into submission. If you see someone doing this, chances are they want to kill it purely so you can’t tame it.
If you go to a Mount Merchant, where you usually buy whistles/calls, you are able to purchase the Rare Species Trap. If a Rare tame steps on this trap, a popup will show on the screen giving you 10 seconds to begin the QTE (Quick Time Event); this is slightly more difficult than with normal tames. The animal then goes to your Animal Pen in your Estate in much the same way as with regular tames, with a chance to either be Livestock to be turned into resources or a mount that produces its Mount Card. So don’t get too excited about your first rare tame as chances are it won’t be a mount… Livestock cannot and will never become a mount.
Anyhow, in order for the rare to step into the Rare Species Trap you will need to herd it. The animals are permanently docile, meaning if you approach them they will run away – likewise, if you hit them, they will remain docile and keep running away from you instead of towards you. I would suggest you hit it as trying to herd it naturally is awkward as it will run away and then return to normal walking even if you are close. You then have to back off and walk towards it again. If you hit it instead it will keep running away.
