Wilderness & gathering skills¶
Tracking, taming, herding, mining, fishing, woodcutting, camping — the outdoor side of UO. Most are vanilla T2A; the big Lyonspyre-touched one is Animal Taming.
Summary¶
| Skill | What it does | Useful at | Lyonspyre changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tracking | Find nearby creatures/players by category & direction | Hunters, scouts, 60+ | None |
| Animal Lore | Inspect pet stats; gate for pet res; gate for high-skill taming | Tamers, 100 | None |
| Animal Taming | Tame wild creatures into permanent pets | Dedicated tamers, 100 (150 cap) | Initial target range 2 → 6 tiles; hard floor at MinTameSkill (no chance below); Beastcall dungeon-talent chance bonus |
| Veterinary | (cross-listed from Healing) Heal pets via bandage | Tamers, 100 | None |
| Camping | Set a campfire for safe logout (instant logout, regen bonus) | All outdoor builds, 50+ | None |
| Fishing | Cast a fishing pole for fish, junk, occasionally treasure | Casual / SoS chasers, 80–100 | None |
| Mining | Swing pickaxe at mountain tiles for ore | Smiths, 100 | None |
| Herding | Move a tame/wild animal where you want it | Quest skill, mostly | None |
Tracking¶
Use the skill, pick a category (Animals / Monsters / Humans / Sea), see arrows pointing at all matches in range. Range scales with skill (~10 tiles base, more at GM). The tracking arrow follows the target as long as they're in range.
Useful at: 60+ on hunters. 100 lets you spot nearby reds before they spot you (anti-PvP scouting).
Lyonspyre changes: None to the skill. Lyonspyre's Quest Tracker is a separate UI system that uses similar arrow rendering but is unrelated mechanically.
Animal Lore¶
Two main uses:
- Inspect a pet — see exact str/dex/int, skills, current/max HP, control slots, bonded status
- Gate for advanced pet operations — pet resurrect requires Vet AND Lore at 80+; high-skill taming requires Lore as a prerequisite
Also drives the lore-based "what's that creature" inspection some quest NPCs use.
Useful at: 100 for any serious tamer.
Lyonspyre changes: None to the skill itself. Lyonspyre adds pet stat rolls, levels 0–50, bonding at L1, skill-gap mechanics (pets foundation); these are pet-tree features, not Animal Lore mechanics.
Animal Taming¶
The big one. Target a wild creature, attempt to tame it through a 30-second cycle of skill checks. Successful tame = creature becomes your pet (you own it, it follows commands, you can name/release/transfer it).
Vanilla T2A formula:
with a 25-point window below MinTame where you can attempt at low odds.
Lyonspyre changes:
- Initial target range bumped 2 → 6 tiles. Vanilla 2 was frustrating with 3–4 tile targets; 6 matches the in-tame distance check.
- Hard MinTameSkill gate. You must be ≥ creature's MinTameSkill to even attempt. The 25-point sub-window was technically there but gave sub-0.5% chance — wasted player time. Dropping below MinTame now shows "You have no chance of taming this creature" immediately.
- Beastcall dungeon-talent bonus. If the player is inside a dungeon zone with the Beastcall talent unlocked, the skill check gets a per-rank bonus to taming chance. Dungeon-scoped only.
- 150 skill cap on Lyonspyre via Mote of Mastery (vanilla was 100). Tames above 100 require the cap raise; the formula extends linearly.
Useful at: 100 base / 150 capped for any tamer. Below 100 you're locked out of mid-tier tames (mares, dragons) entirely.
Veterinary (cross-reference)¶
See Healing → Veterinary. Same mechanics as Healing, applied to pets.
Camping¶
Light a campfire (uses kindling, or some wood + a fire-starter tool). While at the campfire:
- Instant logout — no 5-minute timer; useful in wilderness without an inn
- Slight regen bonus — heals slightly faster while near the fire
Useful at: 50+ for the instant logout in the wild. Skippable in town (inns/houses do the same).
Lyonspyre changes: None.
Fishing¶
Equip pole, target water tile, wait. Catches fish, occasionally junk (boots, shoes — joke loot from origin UO), occasionally Messages in a Bottle (SoS — Sunken Ship) that decode to treasure coordinates. SoS chase is the late-game fishing endgame.
Useful at: 80–100 for SoS chasers. 60 is fine for self-sourced food fish.
Lyonspyre changes: None to skill mechanics. Lyonspyre's Naval system (ships, cannons, salvage) interacts with the SoS loot table but the fishing skill checks are vanilla.
Mining¶
Equip pickaxe, target a mountain/cave-wall tile, swing. Returns ore (color varies by region on shards with colored-ore tree). Repeated mining of the same tile triggers the anti-macro cooldown; move between tiles to keep gaining.
Useful at: 100 for smiths.
Lyonspyre changes: None to the skill check. Colored-ore distribution is map-specific.
Herding¶
Move a tame or wild animal to a specific location by herding it (target animal, then target tile). Used heavily in old "shepherd" quest content. Most players never train it.
Useful at: Quest-gated only. Skippable.
Lyonspyre changes: None.