Hello everyone! We all hope you enjoyed the first month of the new year and the end of the Winter Festival!



January's monthly items were absolutely amazing! Especially the handheld owls. I'm not sure I've seen so many customs made in one month before!

Besides the winter festival, this month has also been a month of trait and mutation touch-ups. Layering issues were fixed on quite a few pets, including the Lupora and Sylvorpa.



Along with the festival, we were given 28 new mutations, most of them winter or spring themed. And the Ryori got an absolutely gorgeous new gene a few days later, Petal Markings.



Lastly, and also very very exciting, is the completion of the new search! It allows to search for pets with specific traits, as well as carried or visible, and is in general much easier to use and far more accurate than the old search.

Article by Selestial

Behind The Scenes - Interview with Fimbry

Q: How did you become an artist? Was there something that inspired you?
A: It must have been all those animated films I watched as a kid, and I was extremely into The Land Before Time and was drawing dinosaurs constantly. I've been drawing since I could hold a crayon, honestly. Drawing for fun, drawing the stories and creatures in my head.

When I was 5 I remember watching a documentary on the making of Bambi, and I was so inspired it made me want to be come a professional artist. I was still mostly drawing dragons and dinosaurs, and all those fun things. When I was around 15 I joined Deviantart and continued to draw more and more dragons. My parents were just waiting for me to grow out of this "art phase" (a phase that had lasted my entire life!).

Years later, I've recently graduated art school with an animation degree! By now I'm not really afraid of drawing anything, though I still enjoy drawing creatures the most! Never really grew out of that, and art school was a good environment to explore creature design despite majoring in animation. It was wonderful, and I'm very happy I followed through. It was a lot of work, but I find art to be so rewarding that I keep doing it and enjoying it.

Q: How did you start doing art for Sylestia?
A. It's kind of funny, I was just browsing the Flight Rising tag on Tumblr and came upon a hiring ad for Sylestia! I checked it out and decided it was something I would be interested in, so I applied. I am so happy I did, too. I love doing art for this site! It also got me started playing too, and it is extremely fun. I really enjoy the RPG component.

Q: How do you go about making a gene or mutation? What is the most challenging aspect?
A: The most challenging aspect used to be the shading because it needs to follow the site style. It was challenging to get "right" for me, but now I think I have it.

Now the most challenging part is just making sure new things work with other mutations and drawing around those! Need to be watchful of wings and things like that to prevent clipping.

Q: How long does it take to make a gene or mutation?
A: For really simple ones it might take me around 20-30 minutes, but some of the more complex ones can take me something like two hours!

Q: Do you have any preference when doing either mutations or genes?
A: I almost feel like I enjoy doing mutations more because mutations only go on the adults. When I do genes, I finish the adults and then I realize, "Oh no! I still have to do the babies!" and it always surprises me for some reason haha. Even though mutations typically take longer to do, the "surprise" work at the end of genes always gets me. I really enjoy doing both of them honestly. Genes and mutations can be a lot of fun for me.

Q: Do you have any favorite mutation or gene?
A: Right now my favorite gene might be the Petal gene for the Ryori. I really love how that one looks, and I just love Ryoris in general. Not sure what my favorite mutation is! I really like the horns for the Ryori though... There I go talking about Ryoris!

Q: Anything you would like to say to readers?
A: I'm really so happy that you guys seem to enjoy my additions to the site, it's so uplifting! I have a great time drawing pretty things for you guys, so the positive feedback is a great feeling. The users here have been so wonderful! Also, thank you for those of you that came by my stream the other day and kept me company!

Article by Starfall

Newbie Spotlight



Everlost: How did you find out about Sylestia?
Wonja: Oh that'd be through you, sweetie c;


Everlost:What made you want to join?
Wonja: Uh.. The fact that I like to examine all the adoption/breeding sites <3 Especially is they're in Beta.


Everlost:What were your first impressions?
Wonja:I really liked the idea of exploring, and the variety of pets is incredible <3 I immediately took a liking to a few of the species, (The Ryori, Sylvorpa and Nytekrie) and knew immediately that if this was still in Beta, it was going to be awesome when it's done. ^^


Everlost:Do you like the community on Sylestia?
Wonja:I personally haven't reached out to the community or been reached out to by the community, so I honestly don't know, but I imagine that it is awesome cx

Everlost:Do you plan to keep playing for a while?
Wonja: Oh yes, definately, once I get the hang of it I'll be hooked <3

Article by Everlost


Hihi everyone, happy new year~ (even if we're a month or two into our new year)
Here I am again with some more advice for you guys.

I APOLOGIZE for the lateness of my article. :c My internet has been down during the last week of January (internet provider issues). I've been communicating minimally from my 4G plan on my phone, but otherwise, this article has been written during my offtime. :c

I was suggested to do a column on pet speccing (a.k.a. stat building) and pet gearing, and was provided some input from both the suggester and Krinadon about one and the other. I'll share them with you, in hopes that you guys can have an easier time with battle instances, such as with quest bosses, event bosses (like the Ice Queen-tier bosses), and so on.



I. Choosing your pet team!

-Pick pets that you like!
You're going to be seeing your pets time and again when you're out battling, all throughout your journey when facing enemies. So pick a trio that you would like to see travel with you. All pets can be built the same way, regardless of their species, so don't feel restricted with your choices! You can pick 3 pretty puffs, 3 tough scary ny'vene, or even mix it up, it's all up to you. c:

-Generated Pets v.s. Wild/Tamed Pets
Rule of thumb is that generated pets will have better base stats than wild pets that you caught. Within generated pets, enhanced/mythical stats are better than regular generated stats (no difference between enhanced and mythical). If those hair-splitting differences are accountable (like in arena), you can keep that in mind.

-Fabled Pets v.s. Regular Pets
Fabled pets (the Ny'vene, Lighira, Ryori, Griffi, and Nephini) tend to have better base stats than the rest of the pets. This difference is bigger than the generated/wild pet gap. But it's still feasible to use regular pets if you build them right.

-Bred pets can have benefits!
There are breeders who breed to enhance stats, using philters to add points to a base stat at hatching time. It is possible to breed a pet with stats better than the previously mentioned pets with constant usage of philters, if you're interested in breeding super-statted pets for battle or arena. c:

-Figure out what your team will consist of.
I'm speaking for basic exploring/roaming teams (so not arena teams): a good 3-pet team consists of a tank and 2 main damage dealers. The main point is to have a durable team that doesn't die. That being said, you should figure out which pet should take on which role, so you know how to build each from the start, focusing on which stat it needs. (I recommend writing down how you want each pet to go on paper or keep your thoughts in a notepad.)

^{Protip: Keep in mind you can make more than one party!}
If you can't make up your mind, whether you like one set of pets to go out, or you have many which stats/builds that you like, you're able to create more than one Party set in the Party menu. c: So if you want to switch out one party for another depending on your situation (i.e. between exploring and boss fighting, or you just want to see your pretty puffs one day and ny'vene another day), you can set them from a drop-down menu.

II. Pet Building (Two Parts)

A) Proficiency Points

-Put them in stats, not attacks.
You'll be needing them in your stats, which backup what your pets stand on as a build. Put them in the top row of your respective tree, where HP and two other stats are. You won't be needing to put any in the attacks that you get at lvl25 and lvl50, because you'll already be building their effectiveness from the stats, and not their effects. c:

-Remember that proficiency points work better in stacks.
Most people put a majority of their proficiency points in one stat, which increases to an exponential effect, than spreading their points across two or 3 boxes.

^{"My lvl 60 pets just have 10 in w/e the most valuable stat is and then 2 in another stat or 2 in something that might sometimes help...
If I do put 10 in the most valuable stat (let's say Strength), then I'll probably spend most if not all of their level up points into Health. Higher health = bigger mends and less chance to get quickly wiped out by errant attacks."
Krinadon}

Don't be afraid to put all your prof. points in one area. You'll be making up for it in different areas of pet specs and pet gearing. c:
For now, I recommend putting your first 10 into the stat you need most (usually HP for tanks, and str/int for your damage dealers), then by the time you get more than 10 points, put them in a place where it'll benefit your fighting style.

^{Protip: "Current best tanks are water and shadow. Earth would be the best if we were at max level."
Savynn}

B) Level-Up Points

-Try not to spread yourself thin over all 5 stats.
Like proficiency points, stats aren't too effective when spread all over the place. A recommendation is for your level-up points to be divided over 2-3 stats at best.

Tanks: HP and Agility (can be 50/50, or 75/25, whichever; agility helps with mitigation more than putting points in other stats)

Physical Attacker: Strength and HP (same ratio as above, I recommended HP so you can have more HP on your damage dealer so it isn't too squishy; additional offensive stats like Dexterity can be built upon with gear, mentioned in later section)

Magical Attacker: Intelligence and HP (same reasoning as Physical attacker)

^{Protip: Let your level-up points be the icing of your pet build.}
Imagine your pet build as a cake.
Your proficiency points are kinda like the cake itself, baked and constant.
Your level-up points should be the suitable icing to said cake. The points themselves are cheaper and more flexible to work with, compared to the proficiency points. The focus here is to make a solid foundation with the proficiency tree points, then compliment it with finishing touches from the level-up points. c:

III. Pet Gearing
(please note I'm going to be talking about gear that drops from regular enemies and instances, not special gear like town-bought/arena-bought/mythical gear)

-Always have the best gear available for your pets.
The gear you'll equip will be the enhancers for your pet. You'll want to remember these two things:
-Legendary and epic gear (orange and purple respectively) will always be recommended over uncommon/common gear (blue/green respectively). You can find these from either doing exceptional/hard missions or on the trade broker. c:
-Always have the highest level of gear that your pet can have equiped. You don't want your lvl40 pet wearing lvl25 gear.
Exception: Legendary/epic gear can match the regular gear of 5-10 levels above it. (i.e. lvl25 legendary gear is about the same as lvl30-35 common/uncommon gear.) It's an investment to keep those.

^{Protip: "Best gear in the game currently is in the second dungeon. Second best is from arena." This tip is for people who want mythical-grade gear. c:}

-Get acquainted with the gear sets.
Each gear item has an adjective (i.e. Tough) for each level tier it's in. Here's a list of the current sets that are out.
They also have certain builds that specialize in two stats, based on the class name at the end of their name (i.e. Assassin, Evoker). The same link above says which stats each class focuses on, but here's a suggested match-up of class to pet role:

^{Physical strength-based tank (earth/water trees): Assassin Gear
Magical intellect-based tank (shadow tree): Illusionist Gear
Physical strength-based DPS (damage per second) (wind tree): Myrmidon Gear
Magical intellect-based DPS (fire/light trees): Evoker Gear
Credit to Savynn for this table!}

This table is a base example for statting and gearing. When you get to a point where you're good at fighting, you're free to stat and gear your pets differently from these guidelines. c:

^{Tip: "Always use a relic that has either physical damage or magical damage, not both...a pet can only use one type of attack, physical or magical, and that will be based on whether the physical ability or magical ability is stronger. So stats in the weaker one is worthless."
Savynn}



If you made it this far from reading everything, thank you! I hope you're able to build a better team for the future. c: It REALLY goes a long way, from being able to beat bosses that once creamed you, to cutting down the time it takes to get through battles.

"I mean, (I hope), there's never a right answer on how to spec a pet. If there is, I really failed lol.

If you can beat content, you're doing it right. And at that point, play how you want.

I'm sure there's some sort of "statistical" perfect combination... but I couldn't even tell you what it is. And I don't think any game is meant to be played that way... I hope with our new system that I'll unlock even more possibilities of how to play because I honestly think atm it's pretty restrictive."

Krinadon

Thank you, readers, and have fun playing Sylestia~ c:
Article by Flute

January's Monthly Customized Items

Hi, everyone! InnocentWings here! This here lovely article is about the monthly items you can customize for x amount of diamonds! I have hunted down found the following items in this thread and displayed them with all the glory they deserve!

Katasaur

Katasaur has done this adorable pink, cream and dark brown owl as her custom item for the month. Its name is Freya!

Snowdoll

Snowdoll has done this snow-themed owl. Its name is Guardian of the Frost. Its alternative name is Europa; after one of Jupiter's moons!

Lostwords13

Lostwords13 has done the staff; Fluffy Marbled Polearm Thingy.

Darkwingedangel

After some struggles and lot of help from Krinadon, Snowdoll, Flute and Keyoshi; Darkwingedangel managed to complete her owl called The Owl of Fantastical Dark

InnocentWings

After some lot of frustration with Sai program, InnocentWings, managed to complete and order my Blood-Stained Sword of Darkness. Oh? The story behind this sword? The original blood stains on the original 3 cleavers inspired InnocentWings to customize the item based on those stains! It is said that she has the only copy of original in existence inside her inventory.

Oh! How rude of us to have forgotten about InnocentWings's other item....Blended Rose! She also went through struggles with Sai and came out victorious. Yukihoshika has the only copy of the original staff.

Everlost

Oh sweet heavens, did our dear Editor of Sylestia Times finally get a customized item? It is called Peacock of Doom -giggle-

Whoa this month's sure full of creativity! I hope to see lot more next month! Do you want to see your items featured? Be sure to make custom items then let me know and I will feature you!

Article by InnocentWings

Hello everyone! I didn't receive any request for specific pets or pet variations this month, so I'm going to jump back and do what I usually do, price the fableds. Remember to post here or send me a request if thee's something specific you'd like to see!

Ny'Vene: Despite efforts, this species remains the least expensive fabled. Not even recessive traits are the saving grace for Ny'Venes anymore. A 2vis or a 4carry can be purchased for as little as 2k, and at 6k you start to find 2vis2carry. 5-traited begin to mark in around 8k, 4vis 1carry at 15k. When it comes to a 6-traited Ny'Venes, they can be found sparsely even for as low as 10k, but are more common at close to 40k and upwards of it, all the way to 250k. Ny'Venes are by far the hardest of the fabled pets to price in this way. They are ballpark, and not even a fairly accurate ballpark, due to the vast variance of prices.

Lighira: Unfortunately, Lighira suffer from the same mass-breeding effects as Ny'Vene. 4- and 5-carries can be bought for under 1k, a 2-vis 3-carry for 2.5k, and a 6-trait for 3k. 2-vis 4-carries go for around 25k with a sudden steep increase that only increases further after that, as a 3-vis 3-carry can head up to 175k and 4-vis 2-carry to 250k+.

Nephini: Nephs remain the most expensive species on the site, for how long they've been released. Any Neph found under 10k isn't likely to have more than 1 carry. At 10k, there's anything from 1-carry to 4-carry, and that trend continues with mixed 1- and 2- vis up until about 50k, where 2-vis 2-carry start to show up. 80k is roughly where 5-carries begin to show up, a 3-vis 1-carry at roughly 100k, along with 1-vis 4-carry. 2-vis 3-carry check in at about 200k, and a 6-carry at 250k.

Ryori: Ryori are finally starting to leave the funk of the just-released festival pet: plenty for almost nothing maybe 1 carry, if that, and one vis elevating the price dramatically. Currently they seem to be priced, on the lower end, at about 1k per carry. A visible trait can bump you up to about 7k. 1-vis 3-carry goes up to about 30k, and a 2-vis 2-carry about 45k. 5-carries begin to show at about 50k, 2-vis 3-carry at 65k. 6-traits checks in at about 90k. This is another difficult species to price due to the sheer amount of Holiday variations included that are understandably more expensive.

Griffi: The newest fabled species is still very much stuck in the 'just-released festival pet' funk. There are plenty listed for nothing that also carry and show nothing, and a single carry will bump the price to about 2k. 2 carries double the price to 4k, and 3 to 8k. Prices rise quickly, and even a single visible trait will bump the price up to 15k minimum, 20k when there are added carries. a 2-vis or 4-carry can both be found for about 65k, and the first (and only) 5-carry can be purchased for 400k.

Article by Selestial

Chi: Hey, 'Ren, head to the hatchery and get those new profile links for me!
Serenity: Humph! Fine! I don't see why I have to though...!
Chi: 'Cause I have to get these Hatchlings up in the Pet Auction's and because of that INCIDENT last month...!
Serenity: ...Right. ...I'll be right back!
Chi: What I thought.
*Ten minutes later*
Door: Ping...!
Chi: *Looks up* Hello! Feel free to browse the board, but we'll be having a few more pets added in just a little while!
Customer: Gimme all your money!
Chi: ...Seriously? ...I'm bein' robed? ...This is a joke, right? STAR SET THIS UP, DIDN'T SHE!
Customer(Robber?) : This is not a joke, gimme your money!
Chi: Aha! Very funny Star. Knock it off and stop impersonating someone. How'd you get you name to not hover above your head?!
Customer(Robber?) : ...*Holds up weapon*...This is not a joke, who is Star, GIVE ME YOUR MONEY.
Chi: ...OH. So...NOT a joke?
Robber: NO.
Chi: ...Uhuh. Lemme ask you somethin'.
Robber: ...Uh, Sure?
Chi: You realize you are attempting to rob a store, on an island in which all its inhabitants are professional adventurers with highly skilled, magical creatures.
Robber: ...You don't have any good creatures on you know though!
Serenity: Hey, Adven'! Got those Lin...WHY IS THERE SOMEONE POINTING A WEAPON AT YOU WE'RE JUST SELLING PETS WHY!
Chi: Have at him.
Serenity: *charges an attack*
Robber: AAHHH STUPID IDEA STUPID IDEA! *Runs away*
Serenity: *Chases, shooting off flames*
Chi: I feel like I should call the police...But the Viridian Guard is still busy. Oh well. Guess I need to do it. *Sighs* An Adventures work is never done! BENNY YOU'RE IN CHARGE! *Charges off*
Benedict: *Pokes head out of back* H-Hey! Where're you going?! ELI, YOU'RE IN CHARGE! *Chases after*
Elizibeth: W-Wait! NO I WANNA GO TOO! *Flips sign to close and rushes after* OH ARE WE CHASING SOMEONE?! WOOO!

Article by Chidori

All done! I apologize one behalf of the entire newspaper team; it has been a very hectic month for all of us, with being away, being dragged away from anywhere with internet unexpectedly (My fault and the reason the paper is a day late), and losing internet totally.

*feels guilty* I'll get back as soon as my grades go up... XD