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Xavion
Level 75
The Perfectionist
Joined: 10/15/2013
Threads: 434
Posts: 5,682
Posted: 8/3/2014 at 10:20 PM
Post #1
Hello! And welcome to my 6-vis Breeding Guide! My name is Xavion! Also known as Xav to many, and I often refer to myself in third person as "Xavi." ... don't really know why. Ever since my beginnings in the Fall Festival of 2013, I've loved themed pets! And so, I've taken the themes that I like the most and I've turned them into 6-vis projects!
If you're wondering why you should even follow to my advice to begin with, allow me to show off my FIRST successes. And by first, I mean I bred the very first 6-vis for the theme.
*Stars mark pets with restricted traits that had a maximum of 4 visibles for purebred pets
Of course when I first started out with the Ryori and Lupora themes, I had no idea what I was doing. But through trial and error (many an error) I gained the knowledge and experience needed to perfect my 6-vis breeding technique. I've assisted many with their projects by sharing as much information as I possibly could through private messages, but it wasn't until just recently that the thought to make a forum even occurred to me. So for all of those in the Spring Festival who jumped up for my offer of sharing a few tips for projects, I thank you! And I hope that this forum will be of assistance to you all, and for any who come after you. :)
If, by chance, anyone has any questions regarding the forum, breeding in general, the game in general, or even about this crazy-obsessive themed pet breeder, feel free to ping me a question on the forum or to shoot me a private message. But be warned! I do have a Questions and Answers section in the forum, so your question may well end up displayed for all to see! (I won't add any names though, I promise :D)
If you would like to see my other project goals, feel free to take a look here. :)
*please don't, that forum is so outdated, lol
Forum Contents:
[The Basics!]
*Useful information for ANY project, regardless of intended number of visibles.
*States the difference of Visible and Carried Traits
*States the Breeding Restrictions for related pets.
*States the Breeding Cooldowns for pets.
[Image Codes!]
*States how to obtain an image code.
*States how to read an image code by breaking it into smaller segments.
*States how to use image codes to preview traits, gender changes, and so on.
[Starting with Essences]
*Gives a mock project on how to start a project with the bare minimum number of essences.
*Details breeding strategies through three generations of offspring!
[Starting with Themed Pets]
*Gives tips on how to obtain, sort, and tweak an ideal group of Themed Pets.
*Gives tips on which traits are the most important using real examples.
*Gives an example of a Themed Pet Project that includes breeding through generations!
*Details the best way to pair pets for your Project.
[Advanced Breeding!]
*Gives tips on when, how, and why you should remove certain pets from a project.
*Explains the use of Primary and Secondary Studs to rapidly produce 6-trait offspring.
[Breeding For Specific Traits!]
*Gives two examples of breeding a predetermined 6-vis from random 6-traits.
*Gives one example of breeding a predetermined 6-vis from scratch.
[Breeding for Maxed Stats!]
*Gives the basics of my strategy for breeding pets to maximum stats.
[Questions and Answers!]
*Lists any additional questions asked, and the answers to them.
Edited By Xavion on 11/1/2018 at 11:14 PM.
Xavion
Level 75
The Perfectionist
Joined: 10/15/2013
Threads: 434
Posts: 5,682
Posted: 8/3/2014 at 10:20 PM
Post #2
THE BASICS!
Visible and Carried Traits!
The first step before I even begin to go into detail is teaching some of the basics! To begin with the very beginning, I'll clarify the difference in visible traits and carried traits.
Visible Traits are those that can clearly be seen on the pet.
Carried Traits are those that the pet still has in it's genetics, but it isn't able to be seen on the pet itself. These traits won't be seen on the pet's profile page unless it was generated, or if it has been genetically tested.
There are many pros to having a visible trait, and not just because it makes the pet look pretty! When it comes to breeding visible traits are much stronger than carries, because they will ALWAYS pass on to the offspring. On the other hand, a carried trait is much weaker than a visible trait, and has about a 50% chance to pass on to the offspring.
But don't count carries out just yet!
It takes either a visible or a carried trait in the same slot of BOTH parents in order to make a trait visible in an offspring.
For the first example:
A Zolnixi female has Visible Tri Tails in Mutation slot 1.
A Zolnixi male has Carried Tri Tails in Mutation slot 1.
When bred together, the offspring will have roughly a 50% chance to produce Visible Tri Tails, and a 50% chance to have Carried Tri Tails. Luckily in this situation, there is no risk of producing an offspring with nothing in mutation slot 1.
For the second example:
A Zolnixi female has Carried Tri Tails in Mutation Slot 1.
A Zolnixi male has Carried Tri Tails in Mutation Slot 1.
When bred together, their offspring have roughly a 25% chance to produce Visible Tri Tails, a 50% chance to have Carried Tri Tails, and there is a 25% chance that the offspring will have absolutely nothing.
For the third example:
A Zolnixi female has Visible Tri Tails in Mutation Slot 1.
A Zolnixi male has absolutely nothing in Mutation Slot 1.
When bred together, their offspring will only produce a single result: carried Tri Tails.
For the fourth example:
A Zolnixi female has Carried Tri Tails in Mutation Slot 1.
A Zolnixi male has absolutely nothing in Mutation Slot 1.
When bred together, their offspring have roughly a 50% chance to produce Carried Tri Tails, and a 50% chance to produce absolutely nothing.
For more information as to why this trend occurs, refer to the Image Codes post. And don't forget! Carried traits will only be revealed after an offspring or captured pet has been genetically tested. The Exceptional Testing Kit from the diamond shop is ideal for any aspiring breeder, but for those who don't have the means there are plenty of people willing to test pets for others.
Breeding Restrictions!
The second matter of Basics to tend to, is the breeding restrictions! Many people first struggle with this in the beginning, and often get frustrated with the error message of pets that "refuse to breed together."
Don't fret! I have the answer! And to keep things simple, I'm putting them into human terms. (Just don't put too much thought into it! These are pixel pets after all!)
A parent CANNOT breed with their child.
A sibling CANNOT breed with their sibling.
An Aunt/Uncle CAN breed with their Nephew/Niece
A grandparent CAN breed with their grandchild.
A cousin CAN breed with their cousin.
Anything beyond those relations can obviously breed together.
Now to put this back into a technical perspective, to make it seem a little less gross. The determining factor as to whether two pets can breed together is on the PARENTS. So long as the PARENTS are not the same on either side (same mother, same father, one pet IS the mother or father) then the pets are able to breed.
Breeding Cooldowns!
The third matter to address is the breeding cooldown, which is a certain period of time in which a female may not be used for breeding. There are two classes of pets where breeding cooldown is concerned. Fabled, which have a breeding cooldown of 7 days, and non-fabled which have a cooldown of only 3 days.
Currently the Fabled Pets include the following:
Aeridini (found only in the Spring Festival Zone)
Lighira (found only in the Summer Festival Zone)
Ryori (found only in the Fall Festival Zone)
Griffi
(found only in the Winter Festival Zone)
Nephini (found in the wild at any time in Astryl's Vale and all festival zones, but are extremely rare.)
Ny'vene (never found in the wild, but available from the Arena in Ethernia and themed variations.)
Ferrikki (Found in The Lost Grove aka The Megazone, and by themed variation.)
All other species are considered Non-Fabled Pets and have a 3-day breeding cooldown.
Edited By Xavion on 12/21/2018 at 11:33 AM.
Xavion
Level 75
The Perfectionist
Joined: 10/15/2013
Threads: 434
Posts: 5,682
Posted: 8/3/2014 at 10:20 PM
Post #3
IMAGE CODES!
Uses of Image Codes
Image codes are perhaps a bit too advanced to be called 'basic,' but they can be a breeder's greatest tool - at least, once a pet has been gentically tested. For those familiar with a tested image code, it will tell you just about EVERYTHING there is to know about a pet's genetics. It will tell you the species and the gender of the pet. It will tell you what traits the pet has, if the traits are carried, visible, or recessive. It will tell you how old a pet is, and with a little math, how long it will take to get to the next growth stage. If you're familiar with hex codes, it can even tell you all of the colors.
To begin my guide to image codes, we'll have to take one and dissect it! So grab your lab coats and protective goggles everyone! This may get messy...
Everyone, say hello to Birdy! Birdy here will serve as my example for reading image codes! If you want to see her image code, then right click on her image and select 'copy image url' 'copy' or whatever similar command your internet browser may have. Then, paste it! Paste it in a forum, paste it in a word document, or even paste it to your address bar! Anywhere you can put in text, you can paste the image code.
That horrific mess up above would be the result of pasting an image code! Confusing to the eye at first, I know. And that's why for my tutorial we're going to break that long string of text up to make it much easier to understand!
https://www.sylestia.com/image_builder_pet.php?
This segment here simply gives us the website of the image's origin. Necessary, but there's nothing we can really do with it. So let's move on!
There we go! Now we have something we can work with a bit!
The species portion is pretty loud and clear - it tells us the species of the pet. If for example you wanted to see a different species with Birdy's colors and the matching trait options, all you would have to do is change the species name. For example, changing =aurleon to =bulbori, would give you this image instead.
The breed= portion currently serves no real purpose, as any and all pets have the same 'sylesti' result. It's rumored that it serves more as a placeholder, meaning one day it may very well be used.
The gender portion of this is used to change the gender of the pet. Say for example you wanted to see what Birdy would look like if she was gender-swapped! Just change female to male, and the end result would look like this.
&gd1=DD&gd2=NN&gd3=AC&md1=NB&md2=NN&md3=ND
This strand of information here is by far my favorite portion to play with, as it is extremely useful for themed pet breeders! If we split this section up further, a common trend can easily be seen.
gd1=DD gd2=NN gd3=AC md1=NB nd2=NN md3=ND
6 important little segments. Familiar number? Of course it is! This thread is about breeding a 6-vis!! Every piece of this section tells you what traits the pet has. But before going into detail, I need to go over a few basic points.
Every part of this image code has TWO letters. The reason for this is that when it comes to breeding, an offspring will acquire ONE of the two letters from each parent for each respective slot.
For Birdy, the traits are "DD" "NN" "AC" "NB" "NN" and "ND"
A lot of N's yes? Well that would be because the letter "N" essentially stands for "nothing," meaning that there's nothing in that particular space. But, every trait has TWO parts, so now that I've established the meaning of "N" let's move on to the reason why it's so useful. :)
A VISIBLE trait will have TWO letters, that are not N.
For example, gd1=DD tells us that the designated trait in gene slot 1 is DD. This marks a visible trait.
Now there are two ways to check and see what "D" really means. The first way is to use the pet generator. When selecting traits, it will give you a drop-down menu for every slot. The other way to figure out the meaning is to look in the advanced search and set it to look for that particular species. When looking at traits, both methods will show you the trait and the designated letter that goes with it.
Either source you use, the end result is the same. "D" in gene slot 1 stands for Marked Tips. Which, as we can see, Birdy has visible.
Moving on the gd2=NN, we can see TWO N's. This means that there is absolutely nothing in the gene two. No visibles, no carries.
Move on to gd3=AC and we get to another fun part of breeding! I've briefly mentioned recessives before, and now I finally get to properly explain them!
The "A" in "AC" marks the visible trait, Advanced Runes. The "C" marks another trait that is hidden behind it, which would be Cloud Runes. So what does this mean for Birdy?? It means she has a recessive!
Recessive traits are what happens when you breed two pets together that have different traits in the same slot. In this case, one parent would have had Advanced Runes, while the other would have had Cloud Runes. When bred together, the Law of Dominant Traits decrees that the earlier letter will always be the visible trait. ALWAYS. A>B>C>D>E and so on. The farther along the alphabet the trait's designation is, the weaker it becomes in the Law of Dominance.
This Law does NOT effect which traits will pass on to the offspring, however, as either letter will pass on to Birdy's offspring. Whether the offspring will get Advanced Runes or Cloud Runes is all up to chance, which admittedly can lead to a lot of frustration in the long run.
Say though, that you at least wanted to see what Birdy would have looked like if that recessive trait was visible. All you need to do is change the gd3=AC to gd3=CC (or even gd3=C) and you would have your image preview.
Such a thing is extremely useful when you want to breed for specific traits, which I'll go over in detail a little later.
For now, let's move on the Birdy's next trait! md1=NB
Remember again that "N" means nothing, but in this case there's still another letter. The "NB" means that the pet CARRIES the trait. For Aurleon like Birdy, md1=NB means that the carried trait is Pheonix Flames.
Say though that you wanted to see what Birdy would look like if Phoenix Flames was visible. All you would need to do is remove the N to make that section simply say "B" or just change the N to another B to get "BB." The image code would then give you this result.
For the next one, md2=NN , we once again have a case of absolutely nothing. But since we're having a bit of fun with traits, let's change things up a bit. Let's say that Birdy was actually a captured pet, and you wanted to apply a greater genetic mutator. Well, mutation slot 2 is open, so why not test a few visibles there?
Change the "NN" to another set of letters. "AA" "BB" "CC" "DD" and so on. By altering those two little letters of the image code, you can see all of the possible traits as visibles.
And now for our final trait, md3=ND. Just like Phoenix Flames (NB) this trait is a carry! For the Aurleon trait "D" in mutation slot 3 would be Terror Beak. Just like the other carry, in order to see what this trait would look like visible all you would have to do is remove the N, or just change it to DD.
These here represent the colors on the pet! Color hexes aren't the easiest of things to understand, and it takes a lot of time to memorize what all of the numbers actually mean. Generally speaking, it's easier to use the preview generator when dealing with color hexes, but I'll still go over what everything means! It can be quite useful in contests and the like where you're requested to add in all of the colors.
ec = eye color
c1 = color 1
c2 = color 2
c3 = color 3
ac = accent 1 color
ac2 = accent 2 color
gd1c= gene color 1
gd2c= gene color 2
gd3c = gene color 3
md1c = mutation color 1
md2c = mutation color 2
md3c = mutation color 3
If you're daring enough then feel free to play around with the hex codes! But for now I'll only be mentioning a few. FFFFFF is pure white. 000000 is pure black. FF0000 is bright red. 00FF00 is bright green. 0000FF is bright blue. FFFF00 is bright yellow. 00FFFF is teal. FF00FF is bright purple. Any string of identical numbers/letters will give you a various shade of gray, such as 222222, 777777, aaaaaa, dddddd and so on.
And now to clean up the tail end~
&species=aurleon&breed=sylesti&gender=female&maturity=216
&species= determines the Species, obviously.
&breed=sylesti is... just a part of the code... Never really got an explanation on that, I don't think.
&gender= determines the gender.
&maturity= determines the maturity, and this part of the code has various uses.
Maturity will tell you how old your pet is, by way of hours.
At 0 a pet has just been made/born.
At 72 hours, it's ready to hatch.
At 216 a pet is officially an adolescent.
At 648 hours it's officially an adult, and ready to breed.
The adult age is perhaps the most important, as you can calculate how much longer you have to wait. Subtract a pet's current maturity from the 648, and what you have left is the number of hours until the pet is an adult. Divide it by 24 if you're curious about the number of days. :)
And finally,
&size=200
As for the size, it has it's subtle uses. 500 is for the largest of images, while 250 will allow you to set two pets side-by-side in a forum. When you need an even smaller image, try size 150 or size 200.
Edited By Xavion on 11/1/2018 at 6:25 PM.
Xavion
Level 75
The Perfectionist
Joined: 10/15/2013
Threads: 434
Posts: 5,682
Posted: 8/3/2014 at 10:20 PM
Post #4
STARTING WITH ESSENCES!
Making your Project!
Essences are perhaps the easiest way to go when it comes to breeding projects. By using the pet generator you can design just about anything, which makes it incredibly easy to set your designs.
For the sake of having an example, I'll set up a mock-project to show how this setup will work.
This here is a 6-vis Zolnixi pair. Their visible traits are the following:
Gene 1: Back Stripes
Gene 2: Dapple
Gene 3: Lifelines
Mutation 1: Tri Tails
Mutation 2: Feathered Wings (Tips)
Mutation 3: Ball Mask
The bare minimum number of essences required to complete this project is 3 regular essences, and a whole lot of time. Just be wary that all essences have a color swing which may mess up a color or two of your pet, so you may need a few color dyes. (Mystical Essences have near-perfect colors.)
Cover All 6 Traits!
In order to breed a 6-vis, you must first have access to all 6 slots. To do this with regular essences, that means that every pet will have 2 DIFFERENT carries.
For example:
With essence one: G1 and M1 are carried.
With essence two: G2 and M2 are carried.
With essence three: G3 and M3 are carried.
For a second example:
With essence one: G1 and G2 are carried.
With essence two: G3 and M1 are carried.
With essence three: M2 and M3 are carried.
You can mix and match these traits however you so choose, as long as all 6 slots are filled.
Genders!
Gender selection is extremely important when it comes to timing, as the genders you choose will set the pace for how quickly you start out. You can have either two males to one female, or one male to two females. Regardless of which option you choose, there are always two parts that are necessary. At least ONE must be a male, and at least ONE must be a female. Three males can't make you any babies, and neither can three females. The third pet in this scenario will determine the pace that your project moves at.
If a female is chosen, then you can start out by breeding the male to both females. We'll call the Male M and the females F1 and F2. Any male offspring bred from M and F1 will be able to breed with F2. Any male offspring bred from M and F2 will be able to breed with F1.
The progress for this project will start off fairly quick, since you can breed two eggs at once from the beginning, but in the long run this is the SLOW option.
For a quicker overall pace, choose a male for your third pet. This time around we'll call the pets M1 and M2, for the first and second male, and F for the female. You can choose one male specifically, or you can use both males in the beginning of the project. What's most important in this case is their offspring. ANY female offspring bred from either male, will be breedable to the other male. Females bred from F and M1 will be able to breed with M2. And female offspring bred from F and M2 will be able to breed with M1. This means that you can amplify your number of breeders with every single female offspring you hatch.
For my theoretical Zolnixi example up above, I'll go with two males and one female.
M1: Carries Back Stripes and Tri Tails
M2: Carries Dapple and Feathered Wings (Tips)
F: Carries Life Lines and Ball Mask.
The First Generation!
For simplicity's sake, I'll start by breeding only M1 and F together. Their eggs are capable of producing a vast number of results, from passing on absolutely nothing, to passing on everything. The ideal offspring would be a 4-carry, but don't count on getting such a result soon as it's fairly uncommon.
For this example, I'll work with 3 offspring from the M1 and F pair. If you choose you could always continue to breed them together throughout the entire project, but using 20 examples here would be redundant!
O1: (female) Carries Back Stripes, Life Lines, and Ball Mask.
O2: (female) Carries Life Lines and Tri Tails
O3: (male) Carries Back Stripes, Life Lines, Tri Tails, and Ball Mask.
The two female offspring will be able to breed with M2 once they reach adulthood. This will allow for more traits to merge together. As for the 4-carry ideal male, he'll be used a little later.
The Second Generation!
By breeding M2 and O1, you now have the potential to breed a 5-carry offspring. Again this result won't be common, but it's definitely possible. Just like the last time I'll randomly generate three offspring, which will be labeled O1-1 O1-2 and O1-3.
O1-1: (male) Carries Back Stripes, Dapple, and Life Lines
O1-2: (female) Carries Dapple, Life Lines, Feathered Wings (Tips) and Ball Mask.
O1-3: (female) Carries Back Stripes, Life Lines, Feathered Wings (Tips) and Ball Mask.
By breeding M2 and O2, you have a second chance of getting a 4-carry offspring. And one more time, I'll generate three potential offspring, labeled O2-1, O2-2, and O2-3.
O2-1: (male) Carries Dapple, Tri Tails, and Ball Mask.
O2-2: (female) Carries Life Lines, Tri Tails, and Ball Mask.
O2-3: (female) Carries Dapple, Life Lines, and Tri Tails.
The Third Generation!
Each of those 6 offspring, bred from the first line of offspring, are able to breed with M1, F, and O3.
For the male offspring (O1-1 and O2-1) currently they can only be paired with F. In both cases the ideal result would be a 1-vis with 3 carries.
The female offspring (O1-2, O1-3, O2-2, O2-3) are currently able to breed with M1, and with O3. Considering that M1 is a 2-carry, and O3 is a 4-carry, the best breeding partner to use is O3.
Rather than going through a ton of offspring results, I'll simply state the ideal outcomes for each pairing.
O1-2 with O3: Visible Life Lines, Ball Mask.Carried Back Stripes, Dapple, Tri Tails, Feathered Wings - Tips. That's all six traits covered which is the first phase of 6-vis breeding.
O1-3 with O3: Visible Back Stripes, Life Lines, Ball Mask. Carried Tri Tails and Feathered Wings - Tips. This result has three visibles and two carries.
O2-2 with O3: Visible Life Lines, Tri Tails, and Ball Mask.Carried Back Stripes. This result has three visibles and one carry.
O2-3 with O3: Visible Life Lines and Tri Tails. Carried Back Stripes, Dapple, and Ball Mask. This result has two visibles with three carries.
At this point I've explained the gist of breeding with essences. Simply continue to breed between the lines and restrictions, and eventually you'll build up to multiple 6-trait pets, and eventually 6-visibles. This example was of course set up with the bare minimum, so naturally adding more essences, or using a higher quality of essence, can speed up the process.
For continued information on how to progress a breeding project after reaching the 6-trait goal, please refer to the Advanced Breeding section.
Edited By Xavion on 5/16/2015 at 9:53 AM.
Xavion
Level 75
The Perfectionist
Joined: 10/15/2013
Threads: 434
Posts: 5,682
Posted: 8/3/2014 at 10:20 PM
Post #5
STARTING WITH THEMED PETS!
Know What You Want!
So you've found a themed pet that you absolutely adore! Welcome to the club! :D (No really, welcome!)
I'm sure that most of you first want to start out by grabbing as many of the tagged pets as you possibly can for your project, and that's perfectly fine! I myself once held 40% of the game's population of tagged Barn Owl Nytekrie on their initial release! I will warn you though - make sure that you actually have the room to house them all, and their offspring! They stack up rather quickly if you don't pay attention!
For those of you with limited space or who are more picky with traits, I suggest first exploring the theme's traits in the Generator. All you really need is to take the image code of ONE tagged pet of the species, and you'll have a general idea of how the colors look for all genes and mutations. Keep in mind however that there is a color swing which adds a bit of variation, so don't be afraid to check everything on two or three tagged ones.
Be sure to save your goals somewhere! Either in a forum, or on your profile page, or in the generator! :D
Find What You Want!
Once you know what you're looking for, the next step is getting what you want. Hunting in the Festival Zone is easy enough, but there's no telling what you'll run into! So that's why I'm going to give a few tips on how to obtain tagged pets from other players!
To start, many players will capture or create themed pets that they don't want for themselves, and put them up for sale on the public market. The easiest way to find these pets is the advanced search! When looking for pets in the search you're given all the tools you could possibly need to narrow things down.
(need to fix stupid photobucket images...)
The first bit of information you need to plug into the search is the SPECIES of the pet you wish to breed. This will automatically update the search with other important information, such as all of the different theme types, and all of the genes and mutations for the species.
The second thing you need to do is find the name of the theme.
The third step is to search for pets that are already set up for sale.
The fourth step is optional, but it is advised. Change the sorting option to "Sale Price" rather than Pet ID. This way you'll be able to see the least expensive pets first!
If you're trying to track down a specific gene or mutation, now is the time to add that to the search. Keep in mind that it's best to search with the 'either' option rather than choosing a visible or a carry, because 'either' will allow you to search for BOTH. It's also best to search for only one trait at a time, because the more traits that you add to the list at once the least likely you are to find any results. Chances are, many times there won't even be a result for an individual trait.
Hit the search, and you're on your way to checking out some new themed pets for your project!!
There are other routes you can take to getting ahold of some themed pets, but they require a bit more player-to-player interaction.
One example would be to set up a forum in the Pet Auctions section. For your subject title, just mention that you're hunting for a specific themed pet, or themed pets in general if you're doing multiple projects. [ B ] is the general symbol for "Buying" while [ LF ] is a general symbol for "Looking For."
Another example is to occasionallymention it in the regional chat. I say occasionally, because no one likes a spammer. Try and mention your project when such a topic arises, either a mention of someone selling that type of themed pet, or generally speaking about the theme, or about projects. There are many players who will announce when they come across a themed pet, and will offer to try and catch them for other players in the region.
If you're well known in the region or if the right person is paying attention to the chat, there are also players who will specifically hunt for themed pets for other players - especially those who are tackling a project and those they are familiar with. Just try not to spam about it, otherwise you may just annoy the players that you're trying to advertise your project to. ;)
Sorting What You Want!
So you now have the tools to acquire your desired themed pet! But where do we begin?
The first step in sorting out your themed pets is to keep an eye on what traits you acquire. In order to breed a 6-vis themed pets, you must fill every slot for traits with at least one gene or mutation. If you need to quickly look over your own stock, then I suggest using the advanced search.
(need to fix stupid photobucket images...)
Step one is to add YOUR userID or username. This will obviously limit the search to pets owned by you.
Step two is to plug in the information about the theme by adding the species and the name of the theme.
Optionally, you can also search for pets with specific trait slots or specific traits by using the gene and mutation filters.
If you find that you've acquired way too many themed pets with all the hype, now is the time to look through them and possibly consider selling or releasing a few. But there are a couple of key factors to always keep in mind.
Prioritize the number of traits in each pet first and foremost. The more traits you have for the pet, the faster your project will progress through breeding.
If you're planning to use multiple traits for multiple 6-vis potentials, then try and keep at least ONE tagged pet with the desired trait. (Female if possible.) Keep in mind that you can also use genetic mutators. You can add traits at random with lessers, add traits specifically with greaters. And if you really love the theme or the species, you can save some of your tagged pets for mutating with new trait releases in the future!
Cyberpunk Spooky Ryori anyone? Nope, only me. Because I was able to mutate the traits into the theme. ;)
Females are more critical to keep than males. More females means more eggs, which gives more opportunities to get decent offspring.
However, GOOD males are more important than females. One or two males with 2-5 traits would give you an excellent start for breeding. Or if at all possible, a 6-trait male would mean you're about a quarter of the way done with your project already, but the chances of that are rather slim. ^^;
Fill in the Gaps!
Now say you're actually lacking in a specific trait, or a specific slot, and you can't find anything that's up for sale. The advanced search has a solution to this too! With BREEDING!
(need to fix stupid photobucket images...)
Step one is to once again input the species and the theme of the pet!
Step two is to search for pets that are up for breeding.
Optionally, you can also limit the search for either gender, or to track down specific traits or trait slots. You can also change the sorting to show the pets with the least expensive breeding fees first.
If you manage to find a pet with the trait you need as a VISIBLE, then one or two breedings should do. Be wary of recessive traits if you're after a specific one, however, as they only appear on the search when a pet has been genetically tested.
If you can only find a carry of what you need, then it may take multiple breedings to get the result you need. If the pet is a male, then breed two or three of your females to it for the first go. It won't guarantee that the trait will pass on to the offspring, but it gives a good chance that it will. If it's a female, then be sure you remember her just in case the first breeding doesn't give you the trait!
Quantity over Quality!
Once you've acquired all of the traits you want for your project, it's time to officially set up for breeding!!
Now this may come as a shocker to some of you, but for a 6-vis breeding project it's more vital to breed for multiple CARRIES than it is for one or two VISIBLES. And here is why!
Meet Sir Tyto Alba the Gallant, and Prince Aurantia the Gold! Both are tagged Barn Owl Nytekrie, which is a theme designed by yours truly.
As you can see on their profile pages, both are epic males that were captured with 4 carries, and were later given their visible traits with Greater Genetic Mutators. And where do their visible traits happen to be? In the slot with NOTHING in it on the other male, and for a very good reason~
ANY offspring from Sir Tyto Alba is guaranteed to carry Gallant Armor. Which means that whenever a female offspring turns adult and can breed with Prince Aurantia, there's an automatic chance to hatch a 6-trait offspring.
In the reverse, ANY female offspring of Prince Aurantia will have carried Flower Petals, which means that when bred to Sir Tyto Alba there is another chance to hatch a 6-trait offspring.
The resulting offspring of Prince Aurantia and Sir Tyto's child, would then be able to breed back to Sir Tyto. The resulting offspring would then be able to breed back to Prince Aurantia. And that offspring, back to Sir Tyto.
Essentially this went on, and on, and on, until multiple 6-trait offspring were produced. Now that I've reached that point, however, I've set my focus on other projects that aren't as advanced, or to those that are closer to completion. So these are on hold...Currently though, I do have 22 purebred Barn Owl Nytekrie that have all 6 traits filled with either visible or carry, with the highest being three 3V/3C (3-visible and 3-carry) females and one 3V/3C male. This one serves as an ideal example, since she's an offspring bred from Sir Tyto's offspring with Prince Aurantia's offspring. While this girl here was the result of breeding one of Sir Tyto's daughters to Prince Aurantia.
So remember, CARRIES WORK!
Setting Up Your Project!
Now, let's move on to a more standard lineup, since obtaining two 4-carry epic males for your project is pretty unlikely. For this example, I'll be using the Aster Luffox for a mock-project set up. (Thank you Sparklepwny!) I've worked up a list of 7 Aster Luffoxes based on tagged ones that were captured, and now I'm going to develop a 6V project around them.
I'll list the traits that the pets have, with carries in italics and visibles in bold.
Now we have our line-up, but how exactly do we line them up?
We'll start by focusing on M1, the 4-carry epic. Out of all six traits, the only two he is missing is gene one and mutation one. So let's take a look at our females.
F2 has mutation slots 1 and 2 covered. This means that when bred with M1, one of his missing traits has a chance to be filled. At best, their eggs can produce this result:
Note that this result won't be typical, but it IS possible. At the absolute least, their offspring will produce a 2-carry with Wispy Tail and Ram Horns, but it's quite likely that at least one or two of the male's traits will pass on as well.
F4 also has mutation slot 2 covered, so we'll be pairing her up with M1 as well. At best, their eggs can produce this result:
Again this isn't a typical result, but the possibility is there. At the absolute least the offspring will carry Bunny Tail, but don't let this deter you. Most likely there will be at least another two or three carries to go along with it.
Now let's move on to our next male, M2, with a visible in gene slot 1, and a carry in gene slot 2. Currently there are two females remaining - there's F1 who also has a traits in gene slots 1 and 2, and F3 with traits in gene slot 3 and mutation slot 2. While you may be tempted to pair the traits with matching traits to get visible results in the offspring, DON'T! It is far more efficient to do the exact opposite and breed for carries when you're aiming for a 6-vis. So let's pair M2 with F3.
The offspring of M2 and F3 can produce this result:
Like before this isn't a typical result. At the absolute worst the offspring will only carry Clouded Leopard. Chances are though, you'll get at least a 2 carry.
Now we're left with M3 and F1. When bred together, their eggs can produce this result:
Gene One: Tabby
Gene Two: Petals
Gene Three: None
Mutation One: Bunny Tail
Mutation Two: None
Mutation Three: Demon Wings
Still, not typical, but possible. However, in this case you can get a true dud, with no traits at all. So sad. :(
[Continued below, since I ran out of room to give full details of breeding offspring!]
Edited By Xavion on 10/9/2017 at 11:21 AM.
Xavion
Level 75
The Perfectionist
Joined: 10/15/2013
Threads: 434
Posts: 5,682
Posted: 8/3/2014 at 10:20 PM
Post #6
The First Generation!
Now that we've established our pairs and our perfect breeding results, let's fastforward through the breeding process to our first generation of offspring! And don't worry, I'm going to use realistic results. :)
With the maximized results, you're almost ready for the next phase of 6-vis breeding, which is breeding with 6-traits! But, since the project isn't entirely there yet I'll do one more round of breedings.
O14: Male Offspring. Bred from O1 and O4.
Gene One: Tabby
Gene Two: Wavy
Gene Three: None
Mutation One: Wispy Tail
Mutation Two: Ram Horns
Mutation Three: None
And you can also breed O32 back to M1 from the very beginning! When bred together, they can produce this result:
Gene One: Clouded Leopard
Gene Two: Wavy
Gene Three: Circuit Runes
Mutation One: Bunny Tail
Mutation Two: Ram Horns
Mutation Three: Chibi Wings
You can also breed O32 to O1, for a chance at this result:
Gene One: Clouded Leopard
Gene Two: Wavy
Gene Three: Circuit Runes
Mutation One: Bunny Tail(With recessive Wispy Tail)
Mutation Two: Ram Horns
Mutation Three: Chibi Wings
Now let's move on to O14, who has only one ideal breeding partner. By breeding O14 with O2, you get a chance at this result:
Simply continue on until you have a decent amount of 6-trait offspring, and then you're ready for the next phase!
Edited By Xavion on 8/6/2014 at 11:01 PM.
Xavion
Level 75
The Perfectionist
Joined: 10/15/2013
Threads: 434
Posts: 5,682
Posted: 8/3/2014 at 10:20 PM
Post #7
ADVANCED BREEDING! Warning, everyone! It's time to get SERIOUS!
Taking Inventory!
With enough work and persistence, and perhaps a touch of luck, you will eventually amass a good handful of 6-trait offspring! Now depending on how your progression has gone, you may be looking at a ton of excess pets, and many of them will have served their usefulness. It's time to thin the herd! Starting of course, with the weak.
Sad as it is, at this point in time there is no way to track down themed offspring, so sorting through your pets may be a little bit difficult. But it IS vital. Many players opt to use spread sheets, tons of notebook paper, or other outside sources. But for this general guide, I'm keeping things entirely based for the site.
(need to fix stupid photobucket images...)
You will first need to add YOUR userID or username.
Second, you need to sort for the SPECIES of the pet. ONLY the species when seeking themed pets, as the offspring will not show up if you search for the theme's tag.
Optionally, you can add a filter to the pet search to show ONLY the offspring and not captured pets. I recommend this if you intend to hold on to all of your tagged pets.
Raising The Bar!
The number of pets you keep for your project is entirely up to you, but it is neccesary to raise the bar from time to time. Unless they are the ONLY option for a particular trait that you want/need, pets that have 1 or 2 traits can definitely hit the road, and in many cases, so can the 3 and 4 traiters. You can either try and sell them, or simply release them. But if they stay in your stables as adults they WILL be on your breeding generator list, which can be detrimental to your overall project if you continue to use them.
The following example explains why.
Breeding Pairs!
M: 6-trait stud. 2 visibles, and 4 carries.
F1: 2-trait female. 1 visible and 1 carry.
F2: 4-trait female. 1 visible and 3 carries.
F3: 2-trait female. Both visibles.
F4: 5-trait female. 3 visible and 2 carries.
F5: 3-trait female. 1 visible and 2 carries.
F6: 4-trait female. 2 visibles and 2 carries.
F7: 6-trait female. 3 visibles and 3 carries.
The male will be bred to all females in the order they are shown in the breeding generator.
Breeding Version 1!
F1 passes on both of her 2 traits. M passes on 5. The end result is a 1-vis with 5 carries.
F2 passes on 3 of her traits. M passes on 2. The end result is a 2-vis with one carry.
F3 passes on both of her traits. M passes on 4. The end result is a 6-trait.
F4 passes on 4 traits. M pass on 1. The end result is 1 visible with 3 carries.
F5 passes on only 1 of her traits. M passes on 5. The end result is a 1-vis with 4 carries.
F6 passes on 3 of her traits. M passes on 3. The end result is a 6-carry.
F7 passes on all 6 of her traits. M passes on only 2. The end result is a 2-vis with 4 carries.
Breeding Version 2!
Now let's say that instead of being used, the 2-traits F1 and F3 were removed from the situation. The females will give the same results of the initial test, and the male will give the same results in order of the breedings.
F2 passes on 3 of her traits. M passes on 5. The end result is a 2-vis with 4 carries.
F4 passes 4 traits. M passes on 2. The end result is a 1-vis with 4 carries.
F5 passes on only 1 of her traits. M passes on 4. The end result is a 5-carry.
F6 passes on 3 of her traits. M passes on 1. The end result is a 4-carry.
F7 passes on all 6 of her traits. M passes on 5. The end result is a 5-vis with one carry.
When lesser pets are being used for breeding, THAT is the opportunity that might be missed. Why? Because the male passed on his best of traits to the worst of partners, which essentially wasted the chance to strike gold.
To put the odds in your favor you must remove the weak from the project. Otherwise you may very well be taking one step forward, and two steps back.
How to Raise the Bar!
Where you set the bar is entirely up to you.
The number of pets you have going for your project and their quality/quantity of traits.
The number of pets you want to keep versus the amount of space you have.
The need to keep specific traits in the breeding line.
All of these are key factors in deciding where you set the limitations, but there must be a bar set somewhere for pets you will and will not keep. Otherwise you may continue to miss chance after chance to raise your progress by leaps and bounds, and forever be stuck dealing with low-trait pets. Breeding may be based a lot around luck, but that doesn't mean you can't sway the odds to your favor!
If you're dealing with a limited amount of traits this should be a fairly easy task - simply boot out the lowest caliber pets so far as the number of traits is concerned.
If you're dealing with multiple traits, or in some cases ALL available traits, then you will have to be EXTREMELY CAREFUL when it's time to thin the herd. Watch your traits carefully, and ensure that you keep at least one pet with the desired trait (female whenever possible, as you will need more females than males for the project, and you can use EVERY female for breeding no matter what, rather than cycling through a handful of males.)
I learned this the hard way myself when I nearly wiped out Ethereal Ribbons from my Blood Scream Ryori stock. I had TWO 1V/5C 6-traits left out of nearly 100 6-trait Screams, and one 1-carry tagged. I'm still sorely lacking in Ethereal Ribbons, since the two I so miraculously managed to keep are low in trait quality. DO NOT MAKE MY MISTAKE. It can be very costly if you need the trait for your end-goals.
Primary and Secondary Studs!
Now that we've thinned the herd, it's time to find a couple of studs! Use the advanced search to look through your own pets again, but this time search only for MALES. If you have at least 2 NON-RELATED 6-trait males, then you're in perfect shape for mass-breeding! If you don't then that's fine as well, but it may take a bit of searching to find suitable mates for your top boys.
If you still need to breed a few more 6-traits, then continue lining up pairs for 6-trait potential. Find a few males with at least 4-traits, and pair them up with ANY available females that can fill their missing slots.
Once you have successfully bred at least 2 NON-RELATED 6-trait males (by the standard of breeding restrictions, where the males would be breedable if one was a female) then you're ready to set up your Primary and Secondary Studs. The purpose of the Primary and Secondary Studs is simple.
Since they are 6-trait males, they will have a chance to produce 6-trait offspring with ANY breedable female. Since they are NON-RELATED, any female that is in your project should be able to breed with at least one of the males. If it doesn't work out with one male, it should work with the other. This will allow you an easy gateway to getting more and more 6-trait offspring.
Since there are at least two males, then any female offspring from one male will be able to breed with the other male.
For those of you who read over the starting guide for Breeding with Essences, you should be familiar with this basic concept from the first three regular essences. For those of you who are dealing with themed pets, it's the same concept I used for Sir Tyto Alba the Gallant and Prince Aurantia the Gold.
Getting an Upgrade!
Your female offspring from the studs are automatically given a place in the project, but what of the males?
If at all possible, you should 'upgrade' your Primary and Secondary studs as much as you can. But always be sure that at least two of your studs are NON-RELATED to ensure that all females will have a breeding partner.
Swap out your studs if you hatch a male with a higher caliber of traits, or if you hatch a male that has a specific trait if you need to raise the trait's presence in the breeding line. If your aren't careful and your breeding studs have matching traits, then you can easily overpower your whole stock with those traits.
Always Raise the Bar even as you're hatching more offspring, and go over your entire stock regularly to remove any pets who don't make the cut. For Fabled pets, I generally do a full clean-up for every two-to-three rounds of breeding. It allows for a majority of the new offspring to be near adulthood to keep a decent amount of breeders in the works. For non-fabled I generally breed these at a slower rate than the cooldown. Otherwise there would be up to 8 rounds of offspring already bred before the FIRST offspring even make it to being adults, with the 9th round within hours' reach.
Just Keep Breeding~! Just Keep Breeding~! Just Keep Breeding, Breeding, Breeding~! What Do We Do, We Breed, Breed~!
As you continue to breed using your 6-trait studs, you will eventually amass in 6-trait females. With EVERY breeding of a 6-trait male to a 6-trait female, you have a chance to hatch a 6-vis result!
The best example I can give of carries pulling together to make a 6-vis, is Beautiful Mishap. At one point I was going to have a 2-vis design for Spooky Ryori using Marbled and Wings of Illusion that I had named Divine Beauty. Both of her parents had those two traits visible, and 4 carries along with them. I wanted NONE of those carries to pass. Instead, all 8 of them did. Giving me that gorgeous accidental result. I decided to name her, obviously, but she has since been released do to lack of space. >.>'
So don't give up if your breeding attempts fall flat! It may take a few tries of breeding 6-traits, or it may take several. When I first got to the 6-trait phase of Spooky Ryori, they kept throwing me 5V/1C pets, just one evil carry that decided not to pass on. Eventually, I got to where I wanted to be. And now I have countless Spooks and Screams that I... really don't even need...
Of course that's because I'm trying for specific traits, which I go over in detail down bellow!
Edited By Xavion on 10/9/2017 at 11:21 AM.
Xavion
Level 75
The Perfectionist
Joined: 10/15/2013
Threads: 434
Posts: 5,682
Posted: 8/3/2014 at 10:21 PM
Post #8
BREEDING FOR SPECIFIC TRAITS!
Breeding for specific trait combinations is one of the most advanced parts of a 6-vis project. It takes a lot of work, a lot of dedication, and a ton of organization and persistence.
It is PARAMOUNT to understand the Law of Dominance for visible and recessive traits in order to breed for specific visibles.
Knowing the letter designation of traits for each slot of the pet species will make this process a lot easier, since it will save time when looking at an image code.
It is easiest to start breeding for traits once you are already breeding with 6-trait pets.
It is still possible to breed for traits early on, but the process starts off much slower.
Okay, major points made. Now let's move on!
Starting with 6-traits!
The first thing you need to do is be 100% positive about the goals you have set. Ensure the you have access to the traits, either in your own stock or from breeding. An impossible goal is just that - impossible. You can't get a visible of a trait if you can't even access it, and there's just no getting around that.
The second thing you need to do is find a way to organize your pets to work towards goal. The easiest way to do this, is names. No, not individual names for each pet. A name for the goal itself. This will make your pets much less likely to sell should you run out of a use for them, but keep in mind that these are YOUR goals that you're working for, and at this stage in the game you should focus on breeding for yourself rather than for others.
The best example I can possibly give for breeding for specific traits, is my Reindeer Griffi Project. I have 9 goals in total, with the only one being complete at this time. But, with every generation I'm moving closer and closer to the remaining 8.
I'll use my goal "Comet" for this example, since I officially have 1 stud with all of the right traits.
This is the end-goal for project Comet. She's the projected image of purebred 6-vis Reindeer Griffi with Quagga, Wing Tips, Tribal Runes, Snow Leopard Tail - Tiger, Whirling Snow, and Frosted Fae Wings. (And all of those traits I recited using the image code! So it is possible with enough time to get familiar with the species! :D)
This male here I have named "Comet Breeder" because he has every trait needed to produce that result with either visible, recessive, or carry. He has Visible Quagga, with no recessive. Visible Wing Tips, with recessive Faded Wings. He carries Tribal Runes. He has Visible Unicorn Tail, with recessive Snow Leopard Tail - Tiger. He has Visible Majestic Regalia, with recessive Whirling Snow. And he has Visible Feathered Wings, with recessive Frosted Fae Wings.
Now, let's see how I got to this result by taking a look at the father and the mother.
The male is named Comet G13 M123. This means that he has the right traits for those individual slots, with either a Visible, Recessive, or Carry. Immediately in the Breeding Generator, I know that I will need to pair him with a female Comet that has G2.
The female is named Comet G123 M3. This means that when paired with Comet G13 M123, there is a chance to have a visible of the required trait for G1, G3, and M3, while having a possible carry or recessive for G2, M1, and M2.
I have many other Comets, all with their required traits marked directly in the name. Though it may take multiple tries for a pair to give me the right result, I know for a fact while breeding them that there is a chance for success. Eventually, I'll be able to hatch a mate for "Comet Breeder," or perhaps another male just like him. If I'm lucky, I may even get multiple females with the right traits, for many chances of breeding the perfect 6-vis result.
In the early stages it will be a bit harder to find perfect matches, so I'll give a second example.
This is one of my 12 zodiac-inspired Star-Crossed Griffi goals. Specifically, project Virgo. For all of my Star-Crossed Griffi I've worked out my projects just a little bit differently, as I'm not all that picky about the tails. Plain, Tips, Stripes, Spots, it really, reallydoesn't matter - you can barely spot the difference! So instead, all that matters to me is the shape of the tail. Virgo is designed with Visible Marbled, Wing Tips, Frost Runes, Horse Tail - any, Whirling Snow, and Elegant Feathered Wings.
The male on the left is named Virgo G1 M23 all up. "All up" is a marker that I've given these to show that where a trait is lacking, it is either empty, or it has a trait that is lower in dominance to the trait that I wish to be visible. To be more specific, in G2 he has Double Stripes, which is recessive to Wing Tips. In G3 he has Tribal Runes, which is recessive to Frost Runes. And in M1, he has absolutely nothing.
The female on the right is Virgo G2 M12 all up. In G1 she has Tribal, which is recessive to Marbled. In G3, she has Tribal Runes, which is recessive to Frost Runes. In M3, she has absolutely nothing.
When bred together, their offspring have a chance to produce Virgo G12 M123. The offspring would still be lacking in G3, but it would have 5 correct traits instead of 3, as both parents have. This would be a major step in progress to getting the right result for a "Virgo Breeder" and later, "Virgo."
Technically you can start breeding for traits as early as the beginning, but I will say this. Trying to match specific traits can, and usually will, slow down your actual progression towards getting a 6-vis. If you're in a rush to finish, or if you're not all that picky about traits, then I advise simply breeding for the 6-vis without setting specified goals. If you're passionate enough to go for set goals, as I have, then I wish you luck! And above all, I wish you patience.
Edit: I ran out of patience. Both of the example projects are no longer in the works. XD
Starting from scratch!
With the release of the Coal Griffi, I've decided to try my hand at aiming for perfect traits from the very beginning, as well as a challenge to myself on just how fast I can breed up to my goal. The starting date was 1/8/15, and it's still in progress. My goal is this 6-vis pair:
With a lucky twist of fate that gave me a small fortune (thank you, festival prizes!) I was able to obtain 5 tagged Coal Griffi with every trait I needed. Throw in a few gender-swapping philters, and I had the ideal setup. A male with both Battle Armor and Majestic Regalia, and a female with recessive Dragon Tail (Stripes) and Astral Wings. When bred together there's a chance to get all of the correct results for the female's mutations. For the genes, I have a male with Double Stripes, and a female who has Frost Runes and recessive Fancy Stripes. Breed them together, and with a lot of luck and patience the traits can play nicely and give me a result like this.
For the male version, I have my first Coal Griffi with the Wing Tips and the Elegant Feathered Wings, which I will be breeding to the male with Battle Armor.
As of the edit date, I have managed only one offspring with the needed traits out of four. It's a slow, slow beginning with a lot of failure.
The first milestone I am aiming towards is a total of six perfect offspring. A male with Fancy Stripes, Double Stripes, and Frost Runes. A female with Fancy Stripes, Double Stripes and Frost Runes. A male with Dragon Tail (Stripes,) Majestic Regalia, and Astral Wings. A female with Dragon Tail (Stripes,) Majestic Regalia, and Astral Wings. A male with Wing Tips, Battle Armor, and Elegant Feathered Wings. And finally, a female with Wing Tips, Battle Armor, and Elegant Feathered Wings.
From there I will breed the perfect genes to the perfect mutations, and keep any resulting offspring with 4-traits or more. I will also keep 3-traits if they are perfectly compatible to the male and female with Wing Tips, Battle Armor, and Elegant Feathered Wings.
Give it a few months of breeding with the perfect traits and slowly but surely I'll be building them up into a 6-vis, without having to breed anything out later on. That's the plan anyway... assuming I make it past that first step.
Edited By Xavion on 1/20/2015 at 9:05 AM.
Xavion
Level 75
The Perfectionist
Joined: 10/15/2013
Threads: 434
Posts: 5,682
Posted: 8/3/2014 at 10:21 PM
Post #9
MAXED STATS Breeding! Section still under construction
My number one recommendation, regardless of what kind of STATS project you intend, is this:
BREED FOR YOUR VISIBLE TRAITS FIRST!!!
Stats philters of all kinds must be given to the pet as it hatches. This means that if you hatch a pet that fails visually, you've just wasted your philter and potentially set your project back by several steps, especially if you still use the pet for breeding regardless of its traits. And if you try to philter THOSE offspring, you'll likely be taking your project back even further while wasting even more philters. So get your visibles in line first!
Step One: Track your stats pets. I name almost all of my 6V stats breeders "STATS ____ ____ hp" The first _ is for the lowest base stat. The _hp is for their health. Or I'll simply focus on Stats ____ for just marking the health since this stat generally takes the longest to raise. This makes them easy to track in the Advanced Search, so I seriously recommend this.
Step Two: Glance over your stats. I rank hp as the most important, so I base my findings on that. If I see that most of the pets have 750 hp and above, I mark that as my new Culling Point.
Step Three: Track your Traits. Use the Culling Point to make up a list of traits that fall short of the Culling Point; these are the traits still need to make it up to the standard. I recommend keeping an organized "Preservation List" with each slot separated to make Step Four easier. These traits would be at-risk of complete removal in Step Four if you do not have them written down.
Step Four: Track all of your stats pets once again. Search for those that fall short of the Culling Point. (For my example, pets with less than 750 health.) When you come across one of these pets, check over the traits. If none of their traits are on the Preservation List, you can boot them from the project. If even one of their traits are on the Preservation List, KEEP THEM. Their stats may be lower, but they will be your only option for keeping the trait in the gene pool once the herd has been culled.
*Be careful with your males, as you will still need at least two - preferably three - non-related males for breeding progress. Be careful that you also keep enough females to make the eggs. If either of these numbers fall too short, lower your Culling Point to allow more pets to remain in the project.*
Step Five: For the pets that sit below the Culling Point but have Preserved Traits, make sure to breed them with your strongest. This gives them the best chance of yielding offspring above the Culling Point. Once enough of those traits have passed beyond the Culling Point, and you've bred more pets far above the Culling Point from other breedings, return to Step Two and continue the cycle.
Cautionary Note: Don't be too eager to release pets. Remember to keep enough adults in the breeding line to continue breeding as needed. Your adults should be the first to fall below the breeding point, but that doesn't mean you have to immediately throw them out and be left with only adolescents, and thus have to sit on your thumbs and wait for a few breeding rounds. ;)
Hatching your eggs!
If you're starting from scratch with a new project, I recommend "hatching" your eggs while you're working on the visibles. "Hatching" the egg when it's ready will give the pet an additional 20 health; letting the egg hatch on its own will give it a small boost to its lowest stat. Since health is more important, "hatching" the egg is your best option.
Once you have your visibles in line and your pets are ready for philters, philter them. That one is obvious. :P
By the time your project gets extremely close to finishing, keep an eye out for pets with 1980-1999 health. These can be "hatched" to reach the maximum health without having to use an entire philter on them.
Nurturing your hatchlings, or getting other players to nurture them, will boost their base stats as well. The nurtures will boost their lowest stat first and the requirement for nurturing them follows accordingly. (For example: if a pet's lowest stat is Strength, you will need to work out with the pet.)
Edited By Xavion on 5/17/2017 at 1:31 PM.
Xavion
Level 75
The Perfectionist
Joined: 10/15/2013
Threads: 434
Posts: 5,682
Posted: 8/3/2014 at 10:21 PM
Post #10
Questions and Answers!
Here I will post various questions that I have been asked, and supply the answers.
If you would like to ask a question, post it here on the forum or shoot me a private message. Just know that it will probably end up listed below. :)
Q: For the babies, will I need to use the kit to reveal all of their genes in order to breed them with one another so that the markings will show/carry?
A: The genetic testing kit is used to update the pet's profile with all of the carried traits, and by using the image code it will also show you traits that are hidden as recessives beneath visibles and the maturity (age) of the pet.
Traits will still pass on through breeding regardless of whether or not a pet has been genetically tested.
The main difference is that it is much more challenging to know what traits a pet has and doesn't have when you can't simply read it.
Granted, by use of the test breeds function in the breeding generator you can generally pick out when a pet has a carry by giving it ten or so tests to see if the offspring result ends up with any visibles (since it is required for both parents to have a trait in the same slot in order for a trait to be visible in the offspring.)
And even without a maximized result, the offspring between the first two have the highest chance to have a trait in G3 and M1 since it has a chance to pass from BOTH parents. Even a 2-carry offspring with those traits would have the potential to breed a 6-trait offspring with the third generated pet. It wouldn't be a common result, but that's the maximum potential.
Or, for a more balanced suggestion where you won't get any 100% fails in the beginning...1-vis / 2-carry parents.
For the third generated pet in this scenario, I would suggest this format:
G2
G3
M2
M3
That way when bred to even the minimum offspring result from the other two, there's still a chance to breed a 6-carry offspring. BUT, the minimum offspring between the third generated and the lowest offspring of the first two generated would be a result of no traits.
As for the maximum result of the first two generated, being bred to the third generated, it would be a 4-vis with 2 carries.
It all depends on how you want to progress. A chance total failure from your first two generated pets right at the beginning, or a chance of total failure in the second step where you breed the offspring to the third generated pet.
As for using only visibles, it would basically set you back a full generation, but it would enable you to breed multiple sets of the first or second example I gave. It can get really crowded, really quick with this method, so I don't really advise it. It's similar to my first attempt when I didn't really know the breeding restrictions so I used like... 8 regular essences. >_>;
Mother:
G1 VISIBLE
G2 VISIBLE
Father:
G3 VISIBLE
M1 VISIBLE
Offspring: same result every time
G1 carry
G2 carry
G3 carry
M1 carry
(Look familiar? It's the same as the mother in the first example.)
Third generated pet also with VISIBLES
M2 VISIBLE
M3 VISIBLE
Minimum result when bred to the offspring - 2 carry.
Q: I'm a bit confused about the terms "theme" and "tagged" still. For someone who has just started here, it seems to be hard to find definitions for those words.
Where do themed pets come from? What makes a pet a theme pet? And how are pets tagged?
A: For 'themed' and 'tagged' pets, it all has to do with the game's much-loved Festivals!
For every season and for certain other holidays, the admins will host a themed Festival, like the Summer Festival, Fall Festival, Winter Festival, and the Spring Festival for the seasons which are the biggest festivals, and then they'll have smaller ones like The Week of Love for Valentine's Day, the Fortune Festival for St. Patrick's, and other similar events.
For each festival, the admins design a specialized Festival Zone. The zone will have many features unique to the theme, such as special bosses you can defeat for new avatar items, special items you can find from chests (or even pumpkins!), events held within the festival zone itself, and one of the most popular additions - themed pets.
Themed pets can only be found in the Festival Zone or through Festive Events during the Festival, and they all have a specific color scheme that goes along with the theme. Using the Sweet Potato Qitari from last year's Fall Festival as an example, you can see that their colors are all nearly identical. And if you click on the image to their profile link and scroll down to the Genetics table, in purple lettering it will say "Sweet Potato Qitari." The purple lettering is the 'tag' for the theme, and all themed pets encountered in the wild will have the tag as a name rather than the standard "Wild _ Species _"
Themed pets can be found with any of the available traits for the species, which makes them an ideal candidate for breeding since a mass array of traits can be obtained. The offspring will also maintain the colors of the theme through the generations about 99% of the time, so the results of a project can be easily predicted. There is a slight color swing for the themes found in the wild, however, so there is a slim chance to get an off-colored offspring.
Giving an example of the color swings being a bit unpredictable, I once bred two Barn Owl Nytekrie together that were on opposing sides of the color swing (one nearly white, the other more of a brown tone) and the offspring ended up being a shade of pink. I chose to remove the pink offspring from the breeding project since I'd much rather have my Barn Owls look like Barn Owls.
It's an extremely rare fluke in themed pet breeding and seems to be most common in the lighter colors for pets since it's far more noticeable when a color gets skewed.
Themed pets are also quite popular, so there's always a market for both tagged pets, and for the purebred offspring which would have the same appearance of the parents. (Unless of course dyes are used on the themed pet, which would mean the offspring's colors would be effected.)
There are also two 'tiers' of themed pets. For each festival the admins will release two or more variations into the Festival Zone itself. These pets are found at random, and can be captured with nets just like regular pets.
The second tier would be the Exclusive Pets, which are obtained through much harder means. Many Exclusives require special events to acquire, such as the Winter Bakery and Spring Garden where specific items must be found within the festival in order to get the pet. Fabled Exclusives often require luck as well as hard work, which raises their values to millions of gold, or thousands of diamonds.
Q: Is there a way to name your own design so that it would show it on the pets?
A: At the moment there is no way to actually 'tag' your own pet projects. The best way to show that they're a part of a project would be in the pet names. You can also advertise them in the Breeding Discussion part of the forums.
Q: I keep seeing the word disrupted in regards to themed pets. What does this mean?
A: A while ago the admins added in a new philter called a "Philter of Trait Disruption (Themed)" which allows players to randomly swap out the traits on a tagged themed pet, provided that it has not been bred.
To be more specific, say you get an exclusive pet egg but it hatches with traits that you don't like. With the Philter of Trait Disruption, you would be able to scramble the traits to get a randomized result of different traits. The pet will still keep the same number of traits, and on occasion not all of them will be changed, and the results are completely random. (Meaning you can't choose a trait or slot for the pet to receive.)
