Newbie Guide Mounts, Riding, and Pets
Newbie Guide Mounts, Riding, and Pets
This guide written and published by p(Baca/Endo)
"That is Shadowfax. He is the Chief of the Mearas, lord of horses, and not even Théoden, King of Rohan, has ever looked on a better. Does he not shine like silver and run as smoothly as a swift stream? He has come for me: the horse of the White Rider. We are going to battle together."
Gandalf, JRRT, The Two Towers
The goal of this guide is to help newer players to use mounts and pets.
Many parts of this guide reference to the MUME help pages which can be found at:
https://mume.org/help/help_index
Bold words can be looked up in the games help files. Like help ride.
Exploring in MUME can be done on foot, but you can get much farther, faster if you are using a mount. Your movement points only go so far before you run low and get tired, slow, or weak. Riding a mount is one of the best ways to make your moves last much longer and travel farther.
Contents
How to Ride
All you really need is a mount and some Ride skill. The higher your Ride skill is the more efficiently you use your mount and fall off much less. The closer you can ride your mount down toward zero moves, or push it to low moves. And the less you get thrown off your mount. Falling off a mount does some minor damage (4-9ish hits) but if you are awful hits with bleeding wounds, falling off a mount could be fatal.
At lower levels (1-4) you can probably get by with 40%-50% Ride skill easily. But as you progress with the game, you'll want higher ride skill, maybe 70%. If you are riding away from PKilling or hunting down someone you'll need higher ride 85%-100%.
ride pony, ride warhorse, ride mule, ride warg
Where to get Mounts
Many mounts load for free in many areas of the game. Learning a few good mount load spots of often the first part of map knowledge many new players learn. You can also always 'upgrade' a mount while you are playing. Say you found a pony, use it until you come across a mountain mule or a pack horse. A pony is better then nothing. Check for mounts at some of the many farms in the game. Also some camps, stables, farms, corrals, and other areas are good for mounts.
If you are using mappers, look for letters on the map like: M (mules) P (ponies) W (wargs or wolves) H (usually pack horses)
You can also buy some mounts at several pet shops in the game. Just visit a pet shop and type list.
Types of Mounts and Riders
First we'll go over the types of mounts in the game and who primarily uses them.
I will be listing them from the least useful to the most useful for each category of races that can use them:
- Having less moves, less move regen, and lower Strength is what makes a mount less useful.
- Having more moves, more move regen, or higher Strength is what makes a mount more useful.
Some mounts are just better at getting around then others.
Hobbits and dwarves are shorter and can ride donkeys, ponies, mountain mules, and dales ponies. They can attempt to ride taller mounts, but will fall off FREQUENTLY, and get hurt.
donkey -> pony -> mountain mule -> dales pony
The dales ponies require you to be a hobbit or a dwarf and have a citizenship in the Shire. You can buy them at the pet store up by Dwaling in the north east corner of the Shire. Save up, dales ponies cost 10 gold each!
All elves (including half elves) and Men (including Black Númenóreans) can ride most of the mounts that the shorter races can ride. They can also ride docile horse, pack horse, trained horse, warhorse, and horse of the Rohirrim. Docile horses will wander on you, so they are kind of frustrating to use. Save up, warhorses cost 6 gold!
pony -> docile horse -> mountain mule/pack horse -> trained horse -> warhorse -> Rohirrim horse
Horse of the Rohirrim are only accessible by doing a quest or saving one from a Dunland chieftain that has captured one.
Rohirrim subrace of men get some bonuses to riding. Allegedly, elves don't need a saddle to ride, gaining the benefits of saddle while bareback riding.
Tarkhnarb orcs and Morruhk orcs can ride brown wolves and hungry wargs. In addition Morruhk can unlock a special warg just for themselves called a slavering warg in the game.
brown wolf -> hungry warg -> slavering warg
Black Númenóreans also can get access to a special dark steed from Dol Guldur, kind of like the Nine Black Riders had in LoTR books.
Trolls, Zaugurz orcs, and Bears cannot ride at all. Actually trolls often just eat the mounts corpse.
Riding Mounts
Expect your moves to last like 50%-75% more efficiently. Expect to run into alot of rooms you cannot enter while you are riding. Buildings, some water rooms, dense forests, caves, areas with very broken ground, etc... are NO-RIDE rooms. You'll need to lead your mount to enter those rooms.
Also all horse-like mounts in the game cannot climb or swim. So if you are going through exits that require climb and swim expect to leave your mount behind.
Some options with riding mounts is if you don't have one, but someone else in your group does have a mount, you can ride behind them. That means 2 players on the same mount. It does use up the mounts moves somewhat faster, but is an option if you don't have enough mounts for your group.
Also, if you are getting some spam when using your mount, you can change spam mount to reduce the messages on the screen.
change spam mount
Mount Gear
There is really one mount gear item in the game. A saddle or a saddlecloth. There is exactly no difference between the 2 items. They are exactly the same with different names.
The main benefit of using a saddle is your mount is immune to the summon and transfer spells. Those are rare cleric spells that can magically teleport your mount away from you. So if you are worried about your mount being magically pulled away, saddle it. Saddles can be found in a few spots in the game for free. Or often purchased from some of the general or travel shops in the game. Saddles can also hold a few items, but less then what a backpack can do. Not a bad place to put a spare water skin or flask of oil.
Saddles allegedly allow you to ride a mount a bit more efficiently, slightly lowering the amount of moves you use while riding. Similar to boots while walking. But I'll be honest I've never really noticed the benefit much. I do saddle my rare or expensive mounts to make sure they will not be summoned from me.
Riding whips do nothing, they are simply a cosmetic item, or cheap loot to sell.
Mount commands
Ride and Lead are the main mount commands. But others are useful to know.
Ride simply lets you ride a mount. Ride behind lets you ride 2 players on a mount.
Lead keeps your mount with you while you are walking around. Be careful fleeing, you will leave your mount behind and will need to find it again. If you see everyone in your group leading or they opened a door PLEASE lead your mount too. Or you will get left behind as they enter a door you cannot fit through.
Abandon mount is a way to leave your mount in a specific room, hopefully to come back to it later. You can abandon mount while leading.
Dismount is another option that is similar to abandon. You will no longer be riding and you will leave your mount behind.
Saddle mount will let you put a saddle or saddlecloth on your mount.
Unsaddle mount will let you take a saddle back off of a mount. Unsaddle also unloads items off of the mount.
Label is a VERY useful command to use with mounts. Every pack horse looks the same. You can very easily get your pack horse confused for someone else's pack horse. The best way for you to keep mounts straight is to label your own mount. That way you know which mount is yours or can even find it easier if you lose it, like after fleeing around.
If you examine your mount, you can see if it has a saddle and what is in its inventory. If your Ride skill is high enough, you can also see an estimate of your mounts movement points. Like if the mount is tired, slow, or weak for its moves.
Warhorses and slavering wargs have a special command to call the mounts to you! If you are separated, and still near by your mount, they can come when you call them. Try tell warhorse come here, or tell slavering come here.
exam mule, label horse mine, lead, dism, aba dales
saddle horse, saddle donkey, unsaddle warg, unsaddle trained
Mounts as Loot Assist
Your mount can also substantially help with carrying items that you've looted. Most mounts have pretty high moves, move regen, and Strength. To have your mount help with looting, give items to your mount. Such as:
give sword mount, give all.shield mount, give all.axe mount, give all.chain mount
Your mount has an inventory that can get filled up the same as your character does. If you want your mount to carry even MORE weight, put items in a large sack, then give the full sack to your mount. It is possible to give a mount enough weight it will eventually get tired, but they can carry more then most characters, farther.
Then to get your loot back from your mount's inventory use the unsaddle command. Just typing unsaddle mount will take the saddle off of their back. If you want to get the items from their inventory type the command:
unsaddle mount sword, unsaddle mount all.sword, unsaddle mount sack
If you master this mount looting trick, your rate of earning gold and silver will increase. Probably by alot.
Stables
Stables function much like an Inn where you rent your character. But instead of your character, you rent your mount there. The only item mounts can rent with is a saddle. Any other items on your mount will be handed to you as you rent it. You will also get a ticket from a stable master. The ticket is how you get your mount back out if it's "rent".
When you return to ANY stable master later, you just type trade ticket. And your mount will instantly appear. Getting a mount out of rent from a ticket costs a some silver, depending on what type of mount you rented, and which stable you are at. Most cities have stables. If you lose your ticket, you are out of luck getting that mount back, and will have to get a new mount somehow.
rent pony, rent trained, trade ticket, exam ticket
Pet Shops
You can purchase a mount from a pet shop. Pet shops are located in most cities in the game. You cannot sell ANY items at a pet shop, they are only there for selling pets and mounts. Some mounts, like warhorses or dales ponies, can ONLY be gotten at a pet shop. Other mounts can be found or purchased at a pet shop.
Not all pet shops have the same pets for sale. Type list at pet shops to see what animals they might offer, there is some variety in different towns.
Not every pet shop sells every type of mount. For example dales ponies are only sold in one special shop. Warhorses are harder to find for sale as well.
You can also name your mount or pets at a pet shop. Instead of buy pony, use the command
buy pony Bill. When anyone examines your mount, it will also say it's name. You can
do this for any pets.
buy falcon, buy trained, buy warhorse Shadowfax
Pets
The only way to obtain a pet is by purchasing from a pet shop. Some pets are fairly cheap, others cost several gold. Generally the lower "level" the pet is, the cheaper it is. All mobs in the game, including mounts and pets, have a level. Most of the pets are low level, like 1 to 4. You can just get a pet for fun, or to have it help in combat.
Pets do NOT make good tanks, they are probably lvl 1-4. So they die in a few hits, or flee from combat. But pets can assist you! Some pets have poor moves, and can't go very far. Other pets can travel a few zones before they might need to rest.
If you do use a pet, I recommend using the Label command on it, like with mounts to help keep track it. Also, be careful not to hit your pet in combat. If you hit your pet, it will hate you and not follow your orders anymore. Like don't type kill bird and accidentally hit your falcon.
Some of the pets you can get are rather weak, and won't help much. If you are really just looking for a somewhat effective combat assistant, I recommend getting a falcon or two.
Falcons fly: can fly over surface water, and fly up climb exits. So they can keep up with you in most areas of the game. Also they have very impressive moves and can fly for many many zones. They do auto flee when hit, so they cannot tank for you. I have used falcons with several of my characters to help them level up.
Pigeons are a pet that offer a delivery service. You can buy a pigeon, a pen, and a quill and have the pigeon fly and deliver a note or letter for you. They might even be able to deliver some other very very small and light objects as well, or some coins. There is a small chance the pigeon will get lost and not deliver if it's sent to someone in a dangerous or hard to get to area.
Command Skill
In order to order your pets around, like to dance or assist you in combat, you must use the command skill and the order command. To order one low level pet, you can probably get by less then 50% Command skill. Two pets will require at least 50%+ command, and higher if you get more pets. I did not have very many issues with 3 falcons and 76% command. If you are having issues ordering your pets around, probably need to put a couple of more pracs in command skill.
You MUST group your pets for them to follow your commands. If they are not grouped with you, they will not follow any of your orders. Also if you want them to help you in combat, you need to group with them in case one of your pets kills the mob with a hit. Otherwise you will not get any of the kill xp. If you order your pet to do illegal actions in a town, you will be arrested because you told them to do it.
To use the command skill type order followers, or order that specific pet:
order followers assist, order cat dance, order falcon rest
Call Familiar
This is a level 7 mage spell that magically summons a pet to help you. These pet familiars that show up are very easy to command, and want to listen to your orders. They disappear at the end of the duration of the spell, but the duration gets longer and longer as you level up. When the duration is done they simply disappear. They can be a nice assist mob if you are a low or mid level mage. Another bonus is they are free! Just costs some mana.
The pet you will summon is random, you might get a cat, rat, dog, fox, crow, snake, etc.. You can only have ONE familiar at a time, if you summon another the old one will disappear.
They are also the only pet in the game that you can command out of your own room. So you can use a familiar you have summoned to scout in rooms ahead. It's a very fun and interesting spell, and if you are a low level caster, I recommend playing around with it. If you end up not liking or need the spell, you can always decay it later. Don't forget to group your familiar!
cast 'call familiar', order rat assist, order crow cry, order familiar east, order familiar look, label familiar mine
Leadership Skill
If you get a group larger then 3 that you are leading around, you will start to experience what we call "movement delay". Leading around larger groups slows you down in the game. Which means it takes longer to move from room to room. If you have a mount, and two pets, and a group member, and their mount, all following you... that's a big group! Your group will suffer from "movement delay". It's also a large group with alot of noise. You will be making noise that can be heard from several rooms away.
To reduce group noise and group movement delay, you need to use the Leadership skill. Leading a small group around might need 30% leadership to remove the delay. Leading larger groups will require higher % in the Leadership skill. I've had a mage with 3 falcons, my mount, and my familiar and had some movement delay with that large group. Some pracs in leadership took care of it, removing my movement delay.
The Leadership skill requires no actions other then grouping whatever is following you. It will automatically affect anyone following you and grouped.
If you later decide you don't like using pets, you can always decay the Command skill and Leadership skill and get your practices back to spend on other skills or spells.
Charm and Charmies
Charm is a higher level spell, and I won't go into great detail here about it. But if you are a caster character, you might want to charm at later levels. A GREAT way to practice to see if you like the Charm spell is to use Pets from a pet shop OR get the call familiar spell. They all use the Command skill and the order command.
Also, do not bring aggressive charmies in to a town. They will very likely attack a mob and they you will lose your citizenship and get you arrested for the attack. Mounts and pets from pet shops won't do this, unless you command them to attack a citizen in town.
If you have aggressive charmies they may also attack other players. This can also lose you a citizenship if it happens in a town. And it also gives you a much longer no-quit. Sometimes they can even attack your own group members, or just a friendly person riding down the road.
Draw Backs of Mounts and Pets
Here is a list of some issues that might arise while leading a pet, mount, or charmie around.
You can lose them. Either by fleeing away from them, losing them in a randoms area of the map that can force followers in groups to break up, or falling off a broken bridge with them. Some bridges in the game can only handle so much weight before they break and give away.
Rattlesnakes are a mob that is the bane of mounts. If you enter a room while riding a mount with a rattlesnake, it will autoattack your mount, and if you don't react, might kill it. Rattlesnakes also have some of the strongest venom or poison in the game, and the poison can end up killing your mount if it is bit!
You can also be tracked while riding your mount, but the tracker will need to follow your mounts tracks.
Sneaking with a mount following you makes you... well.... much less sneaky. Other players will quickly notice your mount moving around and assume there could be a sneaking player with it. Removing most of the advantage of you sneaking in the first place. Most mobs really won't notice this.
The sneak and hide skills don't work well while riding... or even leading a mount.
Also be careful using the earthquake spell with your mount. 100's of horses have died in this game because of the earthquake spell!
Link back to the wiki guides:
