This is probably the most versatile taming template there is.
The key to going from a good mage to a great one has less to do with your "Skill level" and more to do with the way you use your mage. A Good mage and tamer is a Deadly effective combination.
This character could introduce himself as a Mage, (PvP Mage), Tamer, Treasure hunter, or any of the possible combinations and be 100% correct.
You can GM the most important parts of magery and animal taming and still have 200 skill points left over. Some Tamer/Mages even put trade skills like inscription or tailoring on this character.
There are just so many areas that make this one of the strongest UO templates available, spells that are immediately useful to taming a dragon, or using dragons in combat are:
There are a lot more spells that come up, but these are used a lot.
Cure: Fast, low mana cure, if the poison does not look too bad and my mana pool is limited (as it would be in many combat situations) I will usually use cure so as not to waste the additional mana by casting "arch cure".
Teleport: This will let you go up onto ledges, or move behind something, over small walls, and onto some roofs.
Telekinesis: If you cant loot a corps that your right next to but the game sayes your too far away, cast telekinesis on it and it will usually open the corps for you, happens when looting big corpses like dragons and daemons a lot.
Harm: When something has no blue on the health bar, but is still "kicking" harm is a mana Efficient spell to finish things off with.
Arch Cure: This is a good spell for curing serious poison quickly, its much faster than bandages and will cure almost any type of poison in 1 try.
Sometimes level 5 Poison, from poison elementals will take numerous attempts to cure.
Greater heal: Excellent healing spell, fast and efficient mana vs hit points restored. In several seconds you can heal 200 hitpoints of damage by mana dumping G-heals onto your tame. This in conjunction with non-stop bandaging will make killing insanely tough monsters (like shadow wyrms and Balarons) possible.
Wall of stone: Quick easy to cast little spell that makes a small stone wall, the wall is only there for a few seconds, but that is often enough time to do whatever you need to do or box in whatever needs to be boxed in. Use it multiple times to build a longer wall. Many times when I use this it is to separate myself and tame from a HOARD of monsters, I will keep moving until I find a narrow point, then cast wall of stone. Once the stone is up It usually stays up long enough to get a gate off and get you and your pet out of there.
Paralize Field: This is the most important spell for the actual taming process. Cast paralyze field, get behind it, and let the dragon/drake/wyrm/nightmare walk into the field, while they are paralyzed you stand 1 step away attempt to tame them, repeat entire process over and over until you succeed.
Invisibility: Casting invisibility on yourself takes you out of the targeting que of any and all monsters bearing down on you, its very very important while trying to tame the big 4, because once you get them in the para field, they can still be casting on you
Energy Bolt: Probably the most efficient blend of Damage vs Mana and a fast casting time. Energy bolt is the staple combat spell.
Explosion: Almost the same damage vs mana ratio as energy bolt, with the difference of explosion has a few seconds before it goes off, so you can Paralyze a victim, shoot them with Explode and shoot them with Energy bolt, since there is a delay on the Explode spell it wont take them out of paralyze until you hit them with the energy bolt, done right both the explode and energy bolt "go off" at the same time.
Flame Strike: 7th level spell, roughly 1/3 stronger than energy bolt in terms of damage, but expends 40 mana in the process instead of the 20 mana used for eb.
Energy field: This is like a longer, more predictable larger wall of stone, very useful for "shutting off" dungeon passages.
Gate Travel: If you can cast 7th level spells, or use a scroll this is the fastest and most efficient means of travel, its also one of the only ways to save your pet if they are locked in combat or one of the only ways to get them "unstuck" if they move out over water. Cast gate, tell them to follow you until you hear the happy sound, then jump into the gate, they will appear with you on the other end.
One of the greatest things about having a lot of Magery and meditation, even if your not a high level mage is Mana Dumping G-heals on your pet.
With a little help from a good mage pets can take some very powerful creatures.
