Animal Handling is a combat skill in Project Gorgon that lets you tame animals and fight alongside them as active pets. The skill focuses on pet control, pet survival, and long term pet growth rather than direct player damage. If you enjoy managing companions and building power through preparation, Animal Handling fits that playstyle well.

Animal Handling does not play like a normal weapon skill. Your pet does most of the work, and your job is to keep it alive, positioned, and using the right abilities.

What Animal Handling Does

Animal Handling allows you to tame wild animals and summon one pet at a time to fight with you. Pets act as your main source of damage, tanking, or utility depending on the animal type.

You issue commands rather than attacking directly. Positioning, timing, and pet choice matter more than button spam.

How Animal Handling Works In Combat

Animal Handling has no basic attack, epic attack, or nice attack of its own. All damage comes from your summoned pet.

Your abilities focus on commanding, buffing, healing, or directing your pet. A few skills allow the player to deal damage directly, but those are exceptions rather than the norm.

If your pet goes down, your damage drops sharply until it is revived.

Learning And Training Animal Handling

Animal Handling has no prerequisites and can be learned early.

Gisli in Serbule teaches Animal Handling for 2000 Councils. He also unlocks levels 51 to 60 and 61 to 70.

Crelpin in the Fae Realm unlocks levels 71 to 80.

Levels 81 to 90 are unlocked by Emersil the Ever Gloating beneath Povus.

How To Level Animal Handling

Animal Handling levels by actively using pet abilities in combat. Your pet must be summoned and participating for experience to count.

If you summon a pet and let it idle, progress will be slow. Ability usage and consistent fighting are required.

Taming Animals Explained

Before an animal can become your pet, it must be tamed.

Taming uses a channel ability that lasts 20 seconds. Both you and the target animal must survive for the full duration.

You can tame animals at your Animal Handling level or up to 5 levels higher.

Shrines around the world unlock different tame abilities for specific animals.

Available Tame Abilities

Tame Rat learned from Gisli
Charm Rat learned on Anagoge Island
Tame Cat unlocked at the Cat Shrine in Eltibule at level 20
Tame Bear unlocked at the Bear Shrine in the Kur Mountains at level 40
Tame Bee learned from Crelpin at level 70

Each animal type plays very differently in combat.

Pet Types And Roles

Different animals fill different combat roles.

Rats focus on poison, debuffs, and utility.

Cats deal high slashing damage and excel at burst and control.

Bears are durable and often function as tanks or heavy hitters.

Bees provide ranged damage and unique elemental pressure.

Choosing the right pet matters more than raw level.

Pet Levels And Bond Levels

Pets have their own level and bond level.

Pet level affects base stats like health and damage. Bond level increases as you fight together and improves damage, health, and armor.

Pets must visit an Animal Handling trainer to level up once they earn enough XP.

Happiness And Enthusiasm

Happiness affects how much XP your pet earns. If a pet dies, its Happiness is reduced.

Enthusiasm affects critical hit chance and how quickly Happiness recovers.

Enthusiasm mainly comes from pet focused equipment worn by the player before summoning the pet.

Stable Slots And Pet Management

Pets are stored in stable slots, which are shared with mounts.

You can buy additional stable slots from Stable Masters. Costs increase with each slot.

Stable Masters can revive pets, rename them, release them, and handle pet leveling.

Summoning Pets

You may only summon one Animal Handling pet at a time.

Animal Handling pets can be active alongside pets from other skills like Necromancy or Battle Chemistry.

Stable order matters, since summon abilities pull pets based on slot number.

Healing And Keeping Pets Alive

Animal Handling includes multiple pet healing tools.

Feed Pet heals during combat.

Thatll Do heals out of combat and is useful between fights.

Good First Aid Kits can also revive or stabilize pets in emergencies.

Keeping your pet alive is more important than chasing damage.

Synergy Skills For Animal Handling

Animal Handling gains bonus synergy levels from several skills.

Animal Husbandry
Anatomy and creature anatomy skills
Skinning
Compassion
Fishing

Animal Husbandry is especially important for players who want to breed pets with better stats.

Is Animal Handling Worth Using

Animal Handling is ideal for players who like preparation, planning, and pet focused gameplay. It shines in solo play and offers strong flexibility through pet swapping.

The skill requires more setup and patience than direct combat skills. If raising and managing animals sounds fun, Animal Handling is one of the most rewarding long term skills in Project Gorgon.

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