Pets 101 FAQ

Whether this is your very first pet, or you are a veteran pet owner with some new questions, feel free to look over the Pets 101 guide, and/or review the Frequently Asked Questions about pets. If you have a question about your pet and don't see it covered on here, please reach out to Karynda in game and I'll be glad to help you out.

Pets 101

Pet Cost

Bio-engineers and creature handlers make their living selling pets. You will find a variety of prices for pets depending on the attributes of the pet you are looking for. Costs are typically lower for basic buddy pets, and higher for custom pets that are used as a mission helper and have a higher than normal HAM bar, good resists, and/or special attacks. Sometimes pet training is included in the total price and sometimes training is extra. Seek out a bio-engineer or creature handler to help you find the perfect pet that fits your budget.

Pet Growth

All pets start out as a baby, or CL1. It takes 5 real life days for the pet to reach full CL (specifically, the pet starts at 10% ham and grows 10% every 12 hours which is 4.5 days, but I rounded up). You don't have to log in or call the pet during those 5 days, the pet will grow no matter what. But if you want to monitor its growth, you will need to call your pet from your datapad, click something else in your datapad, and then select your pet again in the datapad to see the updated stats in the datapad view window.

Feeding Your Pet

Your pet doesn't require any special foods and pretty much finds food on its own. If you want to see your pet think "Yum!", you can feed it any type of food from your inventory. Or if you have the forage ability, you can locate food for your pet that way. Just open your inventory, select a food item and drag it onto your pet. Be careful though, if you use Feed from the pet's radial menu, it will randomly eat any food item that is in your inventory, including your expensive Pikatta Pie or Synthsteak. That is why it is recommended to use the click and drag method of feeding. 

Pet Commands

Your pet can be trained in various commands by a qualified creature handler, and given a custom name of your choice. Just seek out a creature handler to negotiate a price for this training and naming service. See the table below for a list of the pet commands and their effects.

Miscellaneous Pet Commands

Pet, Nuzzle, Reassure, Hug - Your pet will perform random animations, such as sitting or laying down, each time you target it and type /pet /nuzzle, /reassure, or /hug

Tellpet - This command allows you to speak to your pet without the commands showing up in the spatial chat. Just type /tellpet (command). For example /tellpet group

Note: In order to set up macros for your pet commands, the command word or abbreviation must be at least 2 letters long.

Creature Pet Mounts

Pets can be trained as a mount by a qualified creature handler when the pet reaches a certain size (this varies by creature type but is typically after 3 real life days). Just seek out a creature handler to negotiate a price to have your pet trained as a mount. Mounts are stored in the data section of the datapad. Use the "Call" option to bring out the mount. You can climb aboard a mount by targeting it and then choosing "Climb Aboard Pet" from its radial menu, or targeting it and typing /mount. You can dismount by choosing "Climb Off Of Pet" from the creature's radial menu or by typing /dismount.

Mounts have their own /burstrun command called /gallop. After 3 minutes, your mount will become "winded" and return to its normal running speed while it rests. Pets remain winded for 8 minutes after the /gallop wears off. You can always end the /gallop earlier by using /gallopstop.

You can also use default attacks while mounted. Your mount will slow down so that you can engage in combat. No special combat moves can be used while mounted and mounts will not attack or defend while being ridden.

Pet Special Attacks

Wild creatures can be born with special attacks and bio-engineered pets can be created with special attacks such as: 

Blinding Strike, Crippling Strike, Dizzy Strike, Intimidation, Knockdown, Medium Disease, Medium Poison, Mild Disease, Mild Poison, Strong Disease, Strong Poison, and Stunning Strike.

Pet Buffs

Pets can have their stats buffed like players either through doctor buffs or special foods with buff enhancements. 

Doctor Buffs

Not all doctors are set up to buff pets, so be sure to seek out a doctor that performs this service.

Food Buffs

Foods that boost the health bar for pets include: Blap Biscuit, Sweesonberry Rolls

Foods that boost the action bar for pets include: Pastebread, Sweesonberry Rolls

Foods that boost the mind bar for pets include: Felbar, Sweesonberry Rolls

In order to buff your pet through foods, you must drag and drop a food item onto the pet from your inventory. Just like with player foods, pet foods have a defined duration.

Pet Healing/Pet Wounds

If you have Novice Medic skills, you can heal your pet's damage with the same stimpacks you use on other players. If you have no medical skills, you can use Pet Stimpacks made by Bio-Engineers to keep your pet healthy if it finds itself in battle. 

If your pet takes a Health or Action wound, you can heal it by feeding it after battle. Your pet will think "Hungry!" out loud. Just feed it any food such as travel biscuits or foraged food to heal it.

If your pet takes a Mind Wound or has battle fatigue, you'll need to play with your pet by having it perform its tricks. Your pet will think "Play!" out loud. Just have it perform its tricks until it is healed up.

Pet Vitality

If you place your pet in dangerous situations, it may become incapacitated or deathblown. All pets have a statistic called Vitality that starts at 100/100 and decreases any time the pet receives a deathblow. Over time, a loss of vitality can effect its HAM and other stats. You can use a Pet Vitality Medpack to heal the vitality, but each time you use the medpack it will decrease the overall vitality (for example, 99/99 then 98/98, etc.). A pet's HAM and other statistics are lowered over time if it continues to lose vitality. Be sure to look out for your pet and try not to put it in danger.

Frequently Asked Questions

I purchased a pet deed from the bazaar and tamed it, but it won't listen to me or do anything. I also can't rename it. What's wrong with it?

All pets (including pet deeds) need to be trained by a creature handler before they will "listen" to their owners, so seek out a creature handler to negotiate a price to get your pet all trained up. The creature handler can also train it to have a name of your choice.

I purchased a CL10 pet and when I clicked tame, it is now only CL1. Did I get ripped off?

No, you didn't get ripped off. All pets start out as baby creatures at CL1, whether they are wild tamed creatures or bio-engineered creature deeds. It takes 5 real life days for a pet to grow to the full level. The pet will grow in your datapad whether you are logged in or not, but you need to call it to see the CL update.

I purchased a creature mount pet deed from the bazaar and now that it has been 5 days, there isn't a saddle on it. Where can I buy a saddle for my pet?

Seek out a qualified creature handler to negotiate a price for them to train it in the mount command for you, which will place the saddle on it for you. Once the saddle is placed on your pet, it cannot be removed.

I purchased a CL10 narglatch from the bazaar but when I try to tame it, it says I lack the ability. It is CL10, so shouldn't I be able to use it?

Non CH characters can use non-aggressive pets CL10 and below. A narglatch is an aggressive creature no matter what level it is, and is unable to be controlled by a Non CH. Before you buy something from the bazaar, it is always a good idea to make sure it is a creature that you can control. A good resource to check is swgcreatures.info. Just search for the creature name, and then look on the description to see if it is aggressive - Yes or No. 

I know that Non CH characters can have 2 creature pets total. Does a mount count as part of that total number?

Yes.

What if I want to replace a creature pet in my datapad? I see Destroy in the radial menu, but I'd rather not kill the pet. 

Your pet doesn't get killed if you choose Destroy. That just destroys the Pet Control Device and releases your pet back into the wild. You could also consider giving or selling your pet to another player that hasn't met their 2 pet limit by trading it to them in the trade window.

I got a pet traded to me, but all it does every time I call it is just run away. Why doesn't my pet love me?

There is sometimes a glitch when you get a pet traded to you. Just be sure to tell your pet to follow you as soon as you call it. Then it will turn and face you, and listen to you from then on.