In addition to his steel, fists, and command over souls torn from the Underhalls, a Carnifex will have access to skills to tame, train and lead his own hounds into battle. Far from a companion, these ruthless beasts are brought up under the rigors of combat, leaving them vicious and bloodthirsty. Although their masters are brutal, the hounds will fight to the death for their owners, providing useful backup and assistance to the Carnifex.
A skilled master of Warhounds will be able to command three of the beasts in battle at once, with a possibility of twenty total (thirty if a guilded Carnifex). Hounds can be bred with each other to pass on specific traits and abilities in an attempt to create the 'perfect' hound of war.
Abilities
| Skill | Rank | Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hounding | Inept | 0% | Manage your kennel of warhounds. |
| Naming | Inept | 0% | Name your warhound. |
| Ordering | Inept | 0% | Understand basic warhound commands. |
| Whistling | Novice | 0% | Order your hounds back. |
| Scent | Apprentice | 0% | Sniff out another. |
| Bloodtrace | Capable | 0% | Learn of another's passage through their blood. |
| Digging | Capable | 50% | Dig and bury items. |
| Preservation | Adept | 0% | Your hounds will never die. |
| Flanking | Adept | 25% | Intercept the cowardly. |
| Bestow | Adept | 50% | Give your hounds away. |
| Openings | Adept | 75% | Strike during opportunistic moments. |
| Sleuth | Skilled | 0% | Scent out the location of an item. |
| Initiative | Skilled | 33% | Your hound will choose its own attacks. |
| Target | Gifted | 0% | Attack specific limbs. |
| Courser | Gifted | 33% | Handle three hounds at once. |
| Report | Gifted | 66% | Get details about the hound's location. |
| Deliver | Expert | 33% | Like reverse fetch. |
| Breeding | Expert | 66% | Who doesn't love puppies. |
| Retrieve | Virtuoso | 0% | Actual fetch. |
| Track | Virtuoso | 66% | Send your hound to find and follow. |
| Soulpact | Fabled | 0% | Advance your hound in an instant. |
| Pedigree | Fabled | 33% | Leave a hound as permanent breeding stock. |
| Leading | Fabled | 66% | Your hound will bring others to you. |
| Outfit | Mythical | 0% | Protect your hound with armour. |
| Sniff | Mythical | 33% | Sniff the air for those nearby. |
| Focus | Mythical | 66% | Your hound will focus its attention. |
| Beastmaster | Transcendent | 0% | Remove one undesirable trait from your hound. |
Hound Attacks
| Skill | Rank | Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Howl | Inept | 0% | A piercing cry. |
| Bite | Inept | 0% | Sink your teeth in. |
| Shatter | Skilled | 66% | Shatter an enemy shield. |
| Ululate | Expert | 0% | Hit the high notes. |
| Terror | Virtuoso | 33% | Send their entities fleeing. |
| Hounding | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND REQUEST <MALE/FEMALE> |
| Description: | - Request a hound from the kennels. Must be used at a kennel.
HOUND LIST [<trait>] - Lists all Warhounds under your dominion. Optionally filter by trait. HOUND LIST DETAILS - See the full overview of all your hounds. HOUND INFO [<hound>] - Get detailed information on a specific hound. HOUND REJECT <hound> - Destroy an unworthy hound. Must be used at a kennel. HOUND <MAJOR/MINOR> LIST - List possible hound traits. HOUND <MAJOR/MINOR> <trait> - See details about a hound trait. You may only have up to twenty hounds in your kennel at once. |
| Naming | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND NAME <hound> <name> |
| Description: | Give your hound a unique name to distinguish it from the other mutts. Renaming it, should it
already have a name, will cost 1,000 gold to do so. |
| Ordering | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | The below are some basic commands you can do with your hound, once it has been taken out
from the kennels and is in your direct care. |
| Description: | HOUND GLANCE [hound]
- Glance to your hound's current location. HOUND RECALL <hound> - Recall a warhound from the kennels. Can be used anywhere. HOUND DISMISS <hound> - Send a warhound back to the kennels. Can be used anywhere. Warhounds can also be ordered like most other loyal critters, as outlined in HELP LOYALTY, although they will not attack on their own. They will require special commands on your behalf. |
| Whistling | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND WHISTLE [ALL/hound] |
| Description: | A sharp, high-pitched whistle that will call your active hound, or the specified hound, to your
side. The warhound must be outside of its kennel. |
| Scent | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND SCENT <target> |
| Description: | If the target is in the same area, your hound will be able to pick up their scent and discern where
exactly they are. |
| Bloodtrace | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND BLOODTRACE |
| Description: | If another's blood has recently been spilled in your room, your hound may detect the injured's
identity. |
| Digging | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND DIG and HOUND BURY <item> |
| Description: | The canine is an experienced digger, and can quickly dig up or bury items for you. |
| Preservation | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | This ability is passive. |
| Description: | Being a master of souls, you can preserve the soul of your warhound from death itself. If slain,
your warhound will eventually revive after a period of time, however it will lose some of its accumulated experience. |
| Flanking | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND FLANK <ON/OFF> |
| Description: | Your hound will intercept cowardly denizens that flee before your blows, preventing their escape. |
| Bestow | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND BESTOW <hound> <player> |
| Description: | You may permanently grant ownership of your hound to another player. It is recommended that the
warhound in question have the Obedient trait, otherwise they may have difficultly in handling it. |
| Openings | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND OPENINGS <ON/OFF> |
| Description: | When fighting denizens, your hound will create openings for you by attacking their flank. This will
allow your next blow to deal bonus damage. |
| Sleuth | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND SLEUTH <item> [target] |
| Description: | Your hound will attempt to seek out the location of an item in your current room, notifying you if
any present have the item in your inventory. You may optionally target a specific person to search. |
| Initiative | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND INITIATIVE <target> |
| Description: | HOUND INITIATIVE CEASE
Your warhound will decide its own attacks, attacking the target without any commands from you. |
| Target | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND TARGET <limb/NONE> |
| Description: | Direct your active hound to attack a specific limb when making use of the Bite ability, dealing a
small amount of trauma. You can view AB WARHOUNDS BITE for more information. |
| Courser | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND SWITCH <hound> |
| Description: | You are now capable of controlling up to three hounds in the fray at once. Simply make sure you
take out additional warhounds from your kennel in order to do so. Traits will generally work with your active hound only, unless otherwise specified. You will need to switch out your active hound in order to make use of your full rotation. |
| Report | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND REPORT |
| Description: | You may not only see through the eyes of your hound, but do so with greater discernment - allowing
you to gauge the health of those present as well. |
| Deliver | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND DELIVER <item> <target> |
| Description: | Order your hound to carry an item to someone on the same continent as you. |
| Breeding | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | Syntax: |
| Description: | HOUND PEN <hound>
HOUND UNPEN <hound> HOUND BREED LIST [MINE] [<trait>] HOUND BREED INFO <hound> HOUND BREED <hound #1> <hound #2> HOUND PUPPY LIST [DETAILS] HOUND PUPPY RETAIN <puppy> HOUND PUPPY REJECT <puppy/ALL> Once your hounds have reached six weeks of age, they are eligible for breeding. To begin the process, place the hound in the breeding pen. From there, you may breed it with a hound of the opposite sex. You may choose from your penned hounds or hounds which others have chosen to pedigree publicly. The breeding process takes roughly one real-life day, during which the breeding pair is unavailable. At the conclusion of that period, a litter of between three to five puppies will be produced. You may choose to keep or discard as many of those puppies as you wish, with respect to the maximum number of hounds allowed in your kennel. Puppies cannot be used for regular Warhound tasks until you have chosen to RETAIN them. Puppies will die on their own after seven real-life days if not retained. |
| Retrieve | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND RETRIEVE <item> |
| Description: | Order your hound to pick up an item from its location. |
| Track | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND TRACK <target> |
| Description: | Your hound will ruthlessly track down the victim you specify, moving quietly to their location. If
they are an enemy of yours, it will pin them down and stun them when the hound reaches them. |
| Soulpact | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND SOULPACT <hound> |
| Description: | Forging a pact between souls will allow you to unlock your warhound's potential, maximising its
level and unlocking all traits in the process. Additionally, it will no longer lose experience should it die. Keep in mind however, a soulpacted warhound can no longer be bestowed upon another, nor will it be able to breed. Make sure this is what you want to do before soulpacting it to you. Only hounds that have been soulpacted are eligible for customization. |
| Pedigree | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND PEDIGREE <hound> <PUBLIC/PRIVATE> |
| Description: | You can permanently send your hound to the kennels to be used as breeding stock, allowing you to
perpetuate their line. You will never be able to retrieve this hound, however, so be careful in your choice. Hounds set as breeding stock will no longer count towards the limit of hounds you may possess in your kennel, however you may only have ten private and ten public pedigreed hounds. You may toggle your hound to be available for public breeding using the public/private options. |
| Leading | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND LEAD <target> |
| Description: | Order your hound to attempt to lead a target - your hound will first track to that target, and then
motion your target to follow. For the next two minutes, the target will be able to PATH FIND HOUND in the room with the hound to reach you. After two minutes, the hound will return to you. |
| Outfit | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND OUTFIT |
| Description: | Outfit your hound in canine battle armour, increasing the percentage of damage reduced when it is
struck by another. |
| Sniff | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND SNIFF |
| Description: | Your hound will report the traces of all scents it picks up nearby, showing you all denizens within
a five room radius. |
| Focus | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | This ability is passive. |
| Description: | The focus of your warhound has improved to a point where certain abilities now have a secondary
effect should the opponent already be afflicted by the primary. The following is a list below: Poisonclaw - Causes limp veins if they have blisters. Shock - Causes hallucinations if they have epilepsy. Acidspit - Causes crippled if they have weariness. Stare - Causes impairment if they have berserking. Growling - Causes recklessness if they have dizziness. |
| Beastmaster | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND RETRAIN <old trait> <new trait> |
| Description: | Your mastery of hounds will now allow you to retrain one of your hound traits into something more
fitting of your liking. This only works on hounds that are max level and have been soulpacted to you. The first time you retrain your hound it is free. Subsequent retraining will cost 25,000 gold for a major trait, and 15,000 gold for a minor trait. |
| Howl | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND HOWL <target> |
| Description: | Your hound's howl will have an adverse effect upon your opponent, draining them of their mana. |
| Bite | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND BITE <target> |
| Description: | Order your hound to chomp down on your victim, causing cutting damage. |
| Shatter | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND SHATTER <target> |
| Description: | Order your hound to go forth and shatter your opponent's magical shield, destroying it in the
process. |
| Ululate | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND ULULATE |
| Description: | A emotionful mourning howl that will cause all those who hear it to tear
up, blurring their vision. |
| Terror | |
|---|---|
| Syntax: | HOUND TERROR |
| Description: | Send animals fleeing with a terrifying bellow. |