Ever seen sheep stuck to trees or within the walls of Dunbarton?
Want to know how it is done?
If so, this guide is for you.
*UPDATE* I've uploaded a video of how this is done. To be watched with annotations. Part of my video is screwed up unfortunately.
[video=youtube;OPiqkafRTlw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPiqkafRTlw[/video]
The next video is from Archibald, which can be used as reference for sticking sheep in Emain Macha. You can choose to log out of the wolf and log in again, just to save time.
[video=youtube;Y8XfPPMe4iE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8XfPPMe4iE&feature=player_embedded[/video]
Why do we want to trap sheep?
Trapping sheep stops the sheep from moving every few singles, making it easier for people to shear them. This saves precious time, clicking, stamina and knife durability.
This has been done for years by people who play on Mabinogi, in order for them to easily deal with weaving training or doing part-time jobs for holy water (mainly the Qilia healer and Dunbarton church jobs).
Stuck sheep usually only get unstuck after every Wednesday's maintenance, which is when the server is being reset. (Stuck sheep, may however, struggle around the obstacle and become unstuck if it is not properly trapped.)
Pros
- Plenty of sheep everywhere, many channels
- You only need to stick them once every week
- You can stick as many of them as you like, so long there is an obstacle nearby.
- Cost-effective and provides convenience to you.
Cons
- You need a pet wolf (that means Nx and real life $$$).
- You can use a monster wolf that is tamed by you but it is not as effective and is limited to certain places.
- Sheep may get unstuck.
- People with pet wolves may also deliberately/undeliberately unstick these sheep.
- Takes time to do, so you are limited to sticking sheep with your daily pet summon time limit.
- Sheep that are not close to any obstacle cannot be stuck.
- These sheep are considered public property of Mabinogi (free for all), so people who don't stick sheep may go into a shearing competition with you.
Requirements for trapping sheep:
1. Obstacle
2. Sheep(s) (the ones running around outside of towns)
3. Pet wolf * (You need Nx for this. Think of it as a one-time investment.)
[Image: http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/8866/sheepstickguide1.jpg]
* Pet wolf can be substituted with wild wolf monster that has been tamed through Animal Taming. However, this is not as efficient as using a pet wolf, not as easily available in most places (there are no wolf monsters near Qilia), and there is a limited taming duration (a few minutes). The technique is the same, except that it is slightly harder to control since you have to run in a way such that the wolf follows you. Using this method, you can trap sheep to fences or walls with some effort, but you might not be able to trap the sheep to trees.
These are the usual obstacles where you can trap sheep to:
- Fences (e.g. Emain Macha fences on northeast field areas of the map)
- Trees (available outside of towns, eg. trees outside of Qilia Base Camp)
- Moon gates (e.g. Dunbarton moongate)
- Smaller buildings on the map (e.g. shed outside west of Dunbarton)
- Housing board (e.g. board just outside of west of Dunbarton)
You have to log in as the wolf pet to trap sheep. You have to get the sheep to notice the wolf, and then observe how it runs.
Knowing the behaviour of sheep
To be able to trap sheep effectively, you need to know how sheep move when wolves get close to them.
When it notices the wolf, sheep will run away to a safe distance from a wolf and stop there until the wolf's next move.
Sheep usually run in either a somewhat linear fashion, or in an angle away from wolf (usually around 90 to 120 degrees, clockwise or anticlockwise). There may be times where you are not able to tell how the sheep moves, understand that this is ok.
[Image: http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/5676/sheepstickguide2.jpg]
If you do not know how the sheep moves, either log off from the wolf, or chase the sheep as far as you can from the original position. When the sheep is too far away, it will walk back in a somewhat linear fashion (sheep resets on its own). After that, try to "scare" it again with the hope that you will be able to understand how the sheep is moving on the next try.
[Image: http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/1460/sheepstickguide3b.jpg]
How to know where to trap sheep and how to trap sheep
In this guide, I'll be mainly covering trapping sheep to trees, because I find that trees are by far the most challenging obstacle to trap sheep to. The method is all the same, so if you know how to trap sheep to trees, you will also know the way of trapping sheep to fences, moon gates etc.
Down to the details. For example, you have this situation where there is a sheep where you want to stick the sheep to this tree.
(I should have used a tree picture, just take it as a tree even though I put a fence picture on it.)
[Image: http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/2189/sheepstickguide3a.jpg]
The point where I marked an "x" will be where you will want to get the sheep to, in order to stick it to the tree.
Why point "x" and not some other position at the tree? When the wolf is gone or when sheep runs too far away from the original position (as mentioned earlier), the sheep will "reset" and move towards the original position in a somewhat linear fashion.
Why did I say somewhat linear? Many times, sheep will just walk around the obstacle along the way back.
You will have to stick the sheep as close as possible to the obstacle at the start. When there is an obstacle in place, it is less likely that sheep will walk around it and go back to the original position.
[Image: http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/8131/sheepstickguide3c.jpg]
If the sheep moves linearly, then your job is really simple. You just need to chase it linearly to that position and then log out from the wolf pet.
[Image: http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/4249/sheepstickguide4a.jpg]
If the sheep moves in an angle, things are not as straightforward. You can probably reset the sheep, but I think it is a waste of time and you may not get the sheep to move in a linear fashion on the next try. The way to trap sheep will be to first observe how the sheep move, and constantly reposition the wolf in such a way that the sheep moves towards the final spot.
To reposition, position yourself (as pet wolf) as far away from the sheep. This probably means running round in an arc to the new spot, while the sheep stalls there.
[Image: http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/2632/sheepstickguide4b.jpg]
When you are done with getting the sheep to "x", log out and log in again to check if the sheep is being stuck. If it's stuck, happy shearing!
So, this is the end of the guide. If there's anything else that I've missed out, just say it. If you want to ask something about this, feel free to ask.
Hopefully with more people knowing how to trap sheep, everyone will have an easier time with wool with more available sheep that's trapped. If you ever meet someone who trapped sheep and let you share them, do say thank you, for it takes some skill, time and effort to trap sheep, and kindness on their part to allow you to use these sheep.
Credits
- Mabinogiworld wiki for the picture of sheep and wolf pets
P.S. This guide is for Mabination. It should not appear elsewhere without my permission.