Breeding chimeras is easy to do but it is a challenge to master. Chimeras' complicated genetic makeup causes them to exhibit some rather unnatural looking hides. This becomes more complicated when mixing breeds and transmuting them. So to explain the entire concept of breeding, we'll break it down in to smaller parts.
Breeding Basics:
Your chimeras will be ready to breed at age 7. However, many trainers may wait for their chimeras to reach 75 days before they begin breeding. More on that decision in the Stats section.
The breeding process itself is fairly straightforward. Choose the pair of adults you want to mate, and select Mate from the Actions Menu on each one. The female will show 0% pregnant upon successful completion of the process. Congratulations! The parents are not required to remain together. There is no partnering or automated breeding of any kind.
Basic Breeding Info:
- Both Chimeras must be the same version, one male to one female, and must show 100% lust.
- Chimeras must not be hungry or knocked out.
- Chimeras take 3 days to get to 100% Lust. ( except for the 7th day of a chimera's life. When it becomes a prime it will have 100% lust already )
- Once pregnant, a female will take 1.5 days to give birth, and will take 2.5 days to recover after giving birth.
Breeding Ratio:
Each chimera from a brood stone has 9 matings. A fused chimera could have up to 10. (See Fusions) The mating ratio is 1:1, however, a female will take 3 days to gain 100% lust, 1 and ½ days to give birth once pregnant, and then will be in recovery for 2 and ½ days. So a male will be at full lust once every 3 days, and a female will be matable once every 7 days. The chimeras will be able to mate as long as they have matings remaining, regardless of age. Up to 5 matings can be added by using Fertility Elixirs.
Some genetic strains of hides and eyes are stronger, or more dominant, than others. The genetic experts of the Obsidian Circle have helpfully created a 5-tiered identification system to aid breeders. Because the chimeras were originally created from natural animals, their genetic structure seeks to revert back to this original state. A baby chimera will generally inherit the most dominant hide and eye from its parents, but there is a possibility it could inherit a recessive or "hidden" hide or eye instead. The baby will also inherit a "hidden" genetic legacy that it can call forward as it becomes a parent. This is how the higher tiered traits were first discovered through breeding. A clever breeder has an understanding of the tier system in order to bring wonderfully creative projects to life. You may find reading up on basic genetics helpful.
Here is a simplified example: Momma is a sable with cobalt hidden, daddy is an arctic with wolf hidden. Baby shows sable, so either arctic or wolf is the hidden trait.
Tier 1 traits are the most dominant genetic strains. They include the natural hides and eyes (or starter traits) of the chimeras, and some of the more potent genetic strains that try to overpower the higher and more delicate strains.
Tier 2 is made up of all the hides and eyes that may result from use of the various transmutation scrolls.
Tiers 3 and 4 are progressively more fragile strains. They can be easily overpowered by the lower tiers..
Tier 5 is the most recent discovery by the researchers of the Orders and is the most delicate of all the genetic lines.
For a complete list of possible chimera hides and eyes, look here.
Quite a few hides and eyes can be discovered through breeding newly created chimeras called starters. However, there are also a variety of hides and eyes that can be discovered through other means such as special breedings from Bloom events, Fusions, Limited Edition Ritual books, Transmutation Scrolls, and the even Wild can also produce new and exciting possibilities.
A new behavior we have seen exhibited is the manifestation of hearts between a pair of chimeras. We are calling this "Love Bonding." Chimeras can now identify a good match for mating when they roam near chimeras of the opposite sex. Small red hearts floating over their heads indicate that the pair has at least one matching hidden trait. If you see brightly glowing red hearts floating over their heads, they are a perfect match.
You may have noticed that combat and other competitive events are quite popular pastimes among the orders. To be successful, you will want to incorporate a training regimen into your breeding practices. As your chimera ages, it gains one training point and one to ten health points each day that it has access to proper nutrition. Don't starve your chimeras!
How do stats pass? Chimera parents a percentage of their combined stats to their offspring. They start-off passing a maximum of 50% of the combined total in each stat. For example, if mother has 50 strength and father has 70 strength, the baby can get a maximum of 60 points in strength (50+70=120, divided by 2 = 60). This is a sliding scale that increases by small increments as the chimera goes through each breeding in its life.
Feeling Lucky? If your chimera is "Feeling Lucky" it means that the next time it breeds, its baby will get a bonus shift on the sliding scale.
Last Breeding: This breeding will give you the best scale shift in the baby's stat boost. If you use a Fertility Elixir, each additional breeding will also give you the last breeding boost.
The exotic traits are alchemically introduced via Transmutation Scrolls and Limited Edition Ritual Books and are not genetic. They run on a what you see is what you (might) get system. You will never get an exotic trait from a direct offspring or from the background ancestry unless it is showing on a parent. In fact, because the exotic traits are alchemically introduced, the chimeras are always fighting against passing the traits down. Yes, even the snake tail!
What is fusion?
Fusion is the process which takes two live chimeras and fuses them into one. Both of the live donor chimeras used will be permanently lost, but they will produce a new chimera that has a combination of traits inherited from them.
Will a fused hide change?
The hides will not change the original fusion configuration, nor will they adopt new hides into the fusion through breeding. Once fused, the new hide stabilizes and will pass the same as any similarly tiered hide.
How do stats pass?
The new Fusion Result will receive its stats from the donor chimeras, but with a better range than an offspring. The fusion result will receive between 50%-75% of the average on stats from the donor chimeras. (Chimeras pass a 10%-75% of the average on stats in a standard mating.)
What about exotic traits?
The fusion process takes the exotic traits into account and passes them at the same percentage chance as a regular breeding would. The Fusion Result is not guaranteed to receive the traits, just as the normally bred offspring would.
Multi-eye
The fusion process has an increased chance to produce a multi-eye in the newly-fused offspring.
Number of matings:
Unlike an offspring, the Fusion Result will receive the combined total of the Donors remaining matings +1, up to a maximum of 10 matings. For example, a chimera with 5 matings fused with a chimera with 2 matings will produce a Fusion Result with 8 remaining matings. A chimera with 8 matings fused with a chimera with 7 matings will produce a Fusion Result with 10 matings.
DO NOT FUSE A PREGNANT CHIMERA OR THE BABY WILL BE FOREVER LOST.
What is Fusion? Fusion is a process that combines, or fuses, two chimeras together. You will need a fusion array and two chimeras which will be sacrificed to create the fusion. Once the fusion is performed the two donor chimeras will be gone forever, so be sure you want to use them. The new chimera created will be a 0-day old infant.
The alchemists of the Obsidian Circle occasionally discover rare blooms of alchemical flowers in the Obsidian Valley. These blooms are harvested and given to a specific pairing of chimeras and provides a chance for a special bloom hide. You can see a video from the very first Bloom event here. Bloom updated version and Crimson dragon special bloom at the Enclave