The Beast Master Expertise System is an exciting feature new to Star Wars Galaxies in Chapter 6: Masters of the Wild. These are creature-centric abilities available to all players, regardless of profession or level, through a third expertise tree.

Beasts gain levels and skills by participating in battle with their master. Through observation of other animals in the wild, the creature can learn new skills to take on enemies and become a force to be reckoned with.

Gaining Experience

The newly hatched beast starts at level 1. If the Beast Master is interested in having this new companion join in battles across the galaxy, the creature must engage in combat and do some damage in order to gain experience. The enemy NPC must also con green or higher in order for the beast to learn from the battle.

Several factors determine how quickly the beast gains levels, including the master's current level and the beast's happiness. The beast cannot be a higher level than the master, making the creature an evenly matched hunting partner that will stay by the Beast Master's side even through the toughest battles. Use the radial menu on the beast in the datapad to view the creature's level progress.

The Attack! expertise must be trained in order for the beast to gain combat abilities.

Once the Beast Master has learned this ability, the Attack button automatically appears in the Beast Toolbar.

Beast Toolbar

Unlike the character's toolbar, the player cannot add skills to the Beast Toolbar. Each beast ability is automatically added to the toolbar once it is learned. When the Beast Master learns the Attack! expertise, five buttons can be seen in the Beast Toolbar.

The first button in the toolbar is the Attack button. Target the enemy and click this button to send the beast into the fray.

The second and third buttons on the toolbar will instruct your creature to stay and wait for you in a specific area, or to begin following your footsteps again.

The last two buttons in the Beast Toolbar gives the creature orders on how to react when battle commences. The Defensive Stance button puts your beast on high alert, commanding the beast to attack anything that attacks you.

The last button on the toolbar, Passive Stance, tells your beast to wait before wading into a fight, and the creature will not attack until you use the Attack button. A highlight will appear on either stance to let you know which tactic the beast is following.

The fourth through seventh buttons on the Beast Toolbar are reserved for special beast abilities. The Beast Master spends expertise points to unlock each slot and fill them with abilities learned from creatures in the wild.  

Learning Beast Abilities

A Beast Master who studies animals in their native habitat through the Creature Knowledge expertise can pass on abilities to the beast. While the animal is in combat, click Study Creature to watch its actions. If the animal uses a special ability while the skill is active, the beast has a chance to learn it. The wild animal and the tamed beast must be a similar creature type for the lesson to be learned; for example, a narglatch can't learn abilities from a rancor.

Once the Beast Master has gleaned knowledge from these studies, click the Train Pet skill to open a window that shows learnable skills. Skills that the pet can learn are shown in white.

Click the Train button and the skill is automatically added to the Beast Toolbar. The abilities can be toggled on to be used automatically (as action and refresh time permit) by right-clicking the skill in the toolbar.

If the skills in the Train Pet window are listed as "Max Abilities Trained," the creature can learn the skill but the Beast Master must add the Additional Combat Command expertise to open a slot for it on the toolbar.

Up to three additional slots on the Beast Toolbar can be unlocked to add new skills for the beast.

If the Train Pet window displays "Ability Level Too High," the beast does not have enough training points to spend on the skill. Each ability costs training points. View the beast's stats in the datapad to determine how many training points are left to spend for all skills.

The amount of training points at the beast's disposal is determined by the creature's level and loyalty. Always keep your beast happy and healthy!