Guides

[center] [size=2]Intro | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684942]Golden Rule[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684943]Starting[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684945]Pyramid[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684946]Line[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684949]Requests[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37685694]Extras[/url][/size] [img alt="A large header reading 'Ganondorf's Breeding Guide' in all caps. The text is engraved into a brown plaque, with 'Ganondorf's' in a larger bold font. At the top center of the plaque is a baby Coatl with Plague (red) eyes, red Crystal and Facet genes (making both the body and wings crystalline), and purple Circuit gene (giving the body a circuitboard pattern). On the left are the heads of three male adult Coatls with similar colors to the baby but various genes; on the right are the heads of three female adult Coatls, also with similar colors but various genes."]https://i.imgur.com/pTGBGN3.png[/img] [i]AKA, how to get almost any dragon your heart desires.[/i] -----[size=5][b]Introduction[/b][/size]-----[/center] You did it again. You went into the scrying workshop, and came out with a beauty you simply must possess. You rush to the Auction House, input all the right parameters and... nothing. You widen the parameters, maybe there'll be easy parents to hatch the dragon from. Still nothing. As your heart plummets, you try again, this time with such wide parameters you're sure the dragon you find will look nothing like what you wanted, but you still have to [i]try.[/i] [b]Still nothing.[/b] What do you do? Well, that sounds like a breeding project. There are a number of ways to go about breeding for a specific dragon, so the methods illustrated in this guide are not necessarily the be-all, end-all of breeding projects, but these are the methods I have preferred over all others, as, especially in the case of the first, they offer the best control to drive towards the goal baby, hatching that perfect dragon, without ever needing a single scroll. [quote][center][size=5][b]Hold Up![/b][/size][/center] Have you ever bred two dragons together before? If you are brand new to breeding or to Flight Rising in general, I strongly recommend trying out breeding first and get a feel for how it works, [i]before[/i] attempting a breeding project. Breed your progenitors together, or pick up a couple cheap adults on the Auction House, and see what comes out. Get dragons with different genes, see what genes get passed down. A single breeding might not tell you much, but the baby previews either in the Nesting Grounds or [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?p=scrying&view=progeny]Forsee Progeny[/url] can give you a larger sample size of what the parents will produce. Once you have an idea of how breeding works, then this guide will make more sense for you. [/quote] [center]-----[size=5][b]Table of Contents[/b][/size]-----[/center] [list] [*]Introduction [*][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684942]The Golden Rule[/url] [list] [*]Calculating Odds of Breeding Pairs [*]The Smirch Trick [/list] [*][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684943]Starting A Project[/url] [list] [*]Picking a Method [*]The Costs: Time & Money [/list] [*][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684945]The Pyramid Method[/url] [list] [*]Guidelines & Walk-Through [*]Examples & Variations [/list] [*][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684946]The Line Method[/url] [list] [*]Guidelines & Walk-Through [*]Examples [/list] [*][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684949]Breeding Requests[/url] [list] [*]Guidelines [*]Buying & Studding Etiquette [*]Examples [/list] [*][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37685694]Extra Resources[/url] [list] [*]Tools & Other Guides [*]Credits [/list] [/list]

All breeds and genes are divided into different rarity tiers. When paired together, lower rarity tiers will be inherited more often, while higher rarity tiers will be inherited less often. Breeds and genes on the same tier will be inherited equally.
The Breeding Rarity Comparisons guide is your bread and butter to a functioning project. It tells you which breeds and genes are in which tiers, and the odds for each tier versus each other.

Why is this important? If you do not want to buy any gene or breed scrolls, then using this knowledge is mandatory. If you are okay with buying breed or gene scrolls, then this rule can be broken.

Let's look at an example: I want... a female Imperial. Obviously, I cannot change a dragon's breed to Imperial, so I must hatch one. I found a male Imperial, and I have several options for his partners: A Fae, a Spiral, a Skydancer, a Nocturne, and a Wildclaw.

If I paired him with the Fae, a plentiful breed, the lowest tier, then on average, I would only get 1 Imperial among every 33 dragons:

That's pretty terrible. What about the Spiral, a common breed, the next lowest tier? It's an improvement, but still not great, with just 1 Imperial among every 10 dragons, on average:

Let's try the Skydancer, an uncommon breed, just under the Imperial in tiers. 1 in 7 (rounded) odds sounds pretty nice:

That alone wouldn't be too difficult to breed, however, breeding projects rarely only have one single factor we're trying for, so can we do better? Absolutely, here's the Nocturne, equal in tiers with the Imperial:

1 in 2, 50% chance, is excellent odds, and sometimes, may be the best you can get, if your goal is the highest tier, rare. Speaking of which, what if I paired my Imperial to the Wildclaw, a member of the rare tier?

Now that's more like it! 97%, or 32 out of 33, babies, on average, will be Imperials in this pairing. This works massively in my favour, and the boost from 50% to 97% is well worth the extra 5 days waiting on the Wildclaw's cooldown.
Now that we've figured out how to get our best odds for the breed from the pairing by choosing the highest available tier, the Wildclaw, to pair with our Imperial, how do we combine those odds with the odds of other traits, in order to calculate the chance of a hatchling being exactly what we want? After all, I specifically want a female Imperial.

This requires some basic math. If math is really not your thing, there are a number of tools available to do the math for you, and they will be linked in the Extras post.

I promise, however, that the math isn't too difficult. For my example, I have a male Imperial and a female Wildclaw, and I want a female Imperial. If I breed them together, what is the chance of getting a female Imperial?

There are two ways to visualize the odds: As percentages, and as fractions. It's up to you which one you prefer, but I will show both. First, the breed, to get an Imperial from a pairing between an Imperial and a Wildclaw: Second, the sex, it is an even split for males and females: To get the combined odds, we multiply these two numbers together: If you want your fraction to be read as "1 in __", simply divide the top number and the bottom number in the fraction by the top number: To add more traits into the equation, each fraction or percentage is multiplied, just like we did with the sex of the dragons. If the Imperial has Bar (uncommon) and the Wildclaw has Tiger (common), and we want Tiger, we would multiply the fraction by 3/4, and the percentage by 75%. If their primary colour range is Sable to Tarnish (5 colours in this range), and we want Umber, then we multiply the fraction by 1/5, and the percentage by 20%, and so on.
Now that you know how to manipulate the odds in your favour to inherit the right genes and breed you want, by pairing them against genes of equal or higher tiers for the best odds, your options for potential pairs for your project may have just shrunk, as you eliminate lower tier genes and breeds from your searches.

Enter Smirch. Smirch is in the limited tier, so it can be paired with all tiers but rare, the only tier higher than it, to have reasonable odds to inherit other genes. It's also dirt cheap. Let's say you want a dragon with Lace (uncommon), you have a potential parent with it, but you're struggling to find good partners with tertiary genes of equal or higher rarity. Instead you've found an excellent dragon in all other aspects... but it has Underbelly (common).

Slap a Smirch on that dragon, which will bump up the rarity to limited, and laugh your way to a Lace-filled world.

This same technique can be used for other genes as well: Morph is cheap, and can be used for projects needing the uncommon tier or less for the secondary gene, and the coliseum genes for Gaolers (Phantom, Spirit, Weathered) and Banescales (Candycane, Sugarplum, Skeletal) are all in the limited tier, and very cheap as well.

[center] [size=2][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_2630512]Intro[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684942]Golden Rule[/url] | Starting | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684945]Pyramid[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684946]Line[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684949]Requests[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37685694]Extras[/url][/size] -----[size=5][b]Starting a Project[/b][/size]-----[/center] To get started on a breeding project, the first thing you want to do is take a look at the [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/auction-house/buy/realm/dragons]Auction House[/url] and the [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/search/dragons]Dragon Search[/url], and look up dragons in the colour range you want, with the goal genes/breed, as well as genes/breeds of equal or greater tiers. This will give you an idea of how many dragons are available to use, and how best to tackle the project. If you have pages upon pages of options searching ranges of 5 colours on either side, you know it'll be an easier project, and you can probably get away with just a requested breeding or maybe line-breeding. If you have to go out to 20 or 30 colours on either side just to see a handful of dragons, that's the sign of a more challenging project, and you'll probably need a full-on pyramid with wide starting colour ranges. [center]-----[size=4][b]Picking a Method[/b][/size]-----[/center] There are different methods to breeding projects, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. These are the methods covered in this guide. [b][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684945]The Pyramid Method[/url][/b] This is my go-to method for the toughest projects and the rarest combos. [columns] [b]Advantages:[/b] [list] [*]Can reach any colour combination, no matter how rare. [*]Can incorporate genes from dragons whose colours are way off. [*]Can get all desired genes and breed, saving money on scrolls. [/list] [nextcol] [b]Disadvantages:[/b] [list] [*]High starting cost (need to purchase many dragons). [*]High space usage, especially in the beginning. [*]Can be very slow. [/list] [/columns] [b][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684946]The Line Method[/url][/b] This method is somewhat specialized, but saves on lair space compared to a full pyramid method. [columns] [b]Advantages:[/b] [list] [*]Useful in scenarios where two colours are common but one is not (eg. X/Obsidian/Obsidian or Crimson/Crimson/X) [*]Useful if you have a single good starting dragon, and not much else. [*]Takes less space and has a lower starting cost than the pyramid method. [/list][nextcol] [b]Disadvantages:[/b] [list] [*]Very situational and highly dependent on the colour range of the project. [*]Can take a long time, as long as the pyramid method. (This can take 5-6 generations.) [/list] [/columns] [b][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684949]Requesting Breedings[/url][/b] Perfect, if you can find super close parents to your goal. [columns] [b]Advantages:[/b] [list] [*]Can be very quick and easy. [*]Minimal cost and space required. [/list][nextcol] [b]Disadvantages:[/b] [list] [*]Relies on borrowing dragons from others. [*]Only useful if close dragons exist. [/list][/columns] [center]-----[size=4][b]The Costs: Time & Money[/b][/size]-----[/center] A very common question I get is how long does it take? According to the data I've collected, breeding projects of all sorts range from 2-18 months on average. Some, especially breeding requests, can be as fast as a single month. Some, like difficult pyramid projects or a line project gone wrong, can take years. There are a huge number of factors involved here, so it is nearly impossible to predict how long a project will take, but in general, projects involving dragons with longer breeding cooldowns will take longer. With the typical project being on a timeline of many months, it is important to consider whether the cost in time is worth saving the cost on scrolls. If the scroll requires gems to buy, most consider the cost in time worthwhile. However, if the gene isn't readily available in your selection of dragons for the project, and you must search for very far-off dragons, it might not be worthwhile to spend months breeding a Freckle gene into the project, when two days in the fairgrounds can get the job done. This time-vs-money situation will vary from person to person and from project to project, so do your research on the prices of genes and decide what works best for you. The last consideration for cost is the cost of buying dragons. Especially for the pyramid method, where you can be buying up to 32 dragons to start a project, this can make a significant dent in your wallet. To counter that, though, especially for the pyramid method, keep in mind that you will be breeding a [i]lot[/i] of rejects, and over time, you can easily make back what you spent, and then some, by selling or exalting the rejects you breed. One thing to keep in mind when buying the initial parents is price ranges. This is personal preference, but it's a good idea to keep a cap on how much you will spend on a project dragon. As an example, I stick to dragons priced less than 50kt/50 gems. I will only consider dragons up to 100kt/100 gems if I am very desperate and the dragon is close to what I need. I can count on one hand the number of dragons I have bought listed for more than that, and one of those dragons was the goal dragon - the investment in such an expensive dragon was worth skipping the breeding project entirely.

[center] [size=2][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_2630512]Intro[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684942]Golden Rule[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684943]Starting[/url] | Pyramid | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684946]Line[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684949]Requests[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37685694]Extras[/url][/size] -----[size=5][b]Pyramid Method[/b][/size]-----[/center] For lack of a better name, I call this method the Pyramid method, as, when it is drawn out, it looks a little like an up-side-down pyramid. In this method, you are essentially creating a pedigree for your dream dragon. [center]-----[size=4][b]Guidelines for Setting Up[/b][/size]-----[/center] To start, we must set up the first generation of the project. The generation you start at will depend on the quality of the dragons you can find. You can use the following guidelines to help you figure out which generation is ideal for a given dragon. If most of the dragons you are finding for your project fall within a certain generation, you know you can start at that generation. If a few fall between two generations, pick the higher generation - overkill is better than underkill in breeding projects. Avoid picking up dragons that are related to each other, even if you're not breeding them directly to each other yet - you will be breeding their offspring to each other. Two dragons who just need another generation's distance from their common ancestor should be fine, assuming you are not pairing them to each other this generation, but picking up dragons closer than that will require you avoid pairing their kids to each other until enough generations have passed - which can get pretty messy and difficult to work with. [b]Genes & Breed[/b] [list] [*][b]Parents (1 Pair):[/b] Genes & breed should be perfect, or of a rarity tier higher than the required gene. 1 wrong gene from the same rarity tier is tolerable, but not ideal. [*][b]Grandparents (2 Pairs):[/b] Genes & breed are almost all perfect, or of a rarity tier higher than the required gene. 1-2 wrong genes from the same rarity tier are tolerable, but not ideal. [*][b]Great-grandparents (4 Pairs):[/b] If any wrong genes or breeds of the same tier are present, they should definitely be paired against the correct genes or breed to eliminate them. All pairs ideally should have every required gene & breed across the two dragons in each pair, or have genes & breeds of a higher rarity. [*][b]Great-great-grandparents (8 pairs):[/b] Focus on eliminating wrong genes & breeds of the same tier as the desirable ones by pairing them with the desirable ones or with each other - avoid pairing them to genes & breeds of higher tiers, to reduce the amount of them passing down to the great-grandparent generation. Pairs in this generation are a mixed bag, but most should have 2-3 correct traits between the pair. [*][b]Great-great-great-grandparents (16 pairs):[/b] Ideally, try to have at least 1-2 desired traits (gene or breed) among each pair, with 3-4 being nice, but not expected nor realistic for every pair. Some pairs having no right genes or breeds among them is tolerable, but the fewer, the better. [/list] [b]Colours[/b] [list] [*][b]Parents (1 Pair):[/b] Parents should be near-misses of the goal. Ideally, all 3 colours should be only 0-2 off the goal at most. [*][b]Grandparents (2 Pairs):[/b] Grandparents need to be able to produce near-misses. To achieve this, all 3 colours should be within 5 of the goal. [*][b]Great-grandparents (4 Pairs):[/b] Ideal dragons are at most 10 colours off of the goal. A single colour that is a little more than that is tolerable if the other two colours are very close. [*][b]Great-great-grandparents (8 pairs):[/b] Ideal dragons are at most 20 colours off of the goal. A little further is tolerable, but not ideal, especially if all 3 colours are further. [*][b]Great-great-great-grandparents (16 pairs):[/b] Any range can be in this generation, but ideal dragons are no further than 30 colours. [/list] [img alt="Part of the Flight Rising color wheel, ranging from the blues, through the greens, yellows, reds, and browns. Above it are color coded ranges: a solid dark green above the center-most green color (Radioactive); lighter greens on the two colors left and right of the center labeled 1; 4 colors out, labeled 2; 10 colors out, labeled 4; 20 colors out, labeled 8; finally 30 colors out, labeled 16."]https://i.imgur.com/Q4pM45c.png[/img] [b]Note:[/b] Be careful with dragons with colours beyond 43 off of the goal. If you find a dragon further than this, you need to make sure the intended partner is close enough to not flip the colour wheel to the opposite half. For example, if Radioactive is the goal, and you found a dragon with Coal, you need to make sure the intended partner is Grapefruit or closer. If you have a partner with Banana or farther, you'll get the other half of the colour wheel, which will not help you get radioactive. [img alt="Part of the Flight Rising color wheel, ranging from the blacks, through the purples, blues, greens, and yellows. The color coded ranges from the previous image remain, but are cut off on the right at the 8 range."]https://i.imgur.com/jNg3Jlf.png[/img] [center]-----[size=4][b]The First Generation[/b][/size]-----[/center] With these guidelines, let's set up an example project, an old project of mine: [center][img alt="Female Pearlcatcher with Cream Iridescent, Peridot Toxin, Raspberry Okapi and Nature eyes."]http://flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=1&body=163&bodygene=1&breed=4&element=10&eyetype=0&gender=1&tert=160&tertgene=9&winggene=12&wings=144&auth=16157fb0d31a8a9544a1358b1458adc9a8d4a7c5&dummyext=prev.png[/img] [b]Cream Iridescent/Peridot Toxin/Raspberry Okapi female Pearlcatcher[/b][/center] In the example project, my first generation, the great-great-grandparents, looked like this: [img alt="A set of 7 breeding cards for 7 pairs of dragons. Their color ranges all fall within white-to-pink primaries with only one in the reds, green-to-yellow secondaries, and white-to-pink tertiaries. The dragons are of various breeds and genes."]https://i.imgur.com/w9oQ1GE.png[/img] [size=2][i]Breeding cards by [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=userpage&id=34928]Straif[/url]![/i][/size] I went with an 8-pair start, as the vast majority of the parents selected fell within the parameters of that generation. Only one, Witch, had a colour farther than 20 colours (Crimson primary). Iridescent was the only gene of concern. Though all but 1 pair had it, it was still a 50% chance for some. For the other genes and the breed, all the undesirable genes were higher in rarity, meaning the desired genes would have a higher chance to pass down. This spread of genes is suitable for the great-grandparent generation (4 pairs), with only Iridescent vs non-Iridescent rare genes being the biggest hurdle, but since the colours were not good enough for that generation, I went with a 8-pair start. You might notice there's only 7 pairs here. Unfortunately, I wrote this guide long after I finished the project, and forgot what the 8th pair was. They wound up getting replaced by a much closer AH find in the next generation. [center]-----[size=4][b]The Next Generations[/b][/size]-----[/center] Once you start receiving babies from the parents, it is time to sort through them to pair up the best of the lot. The ideal babies to keep are ones whose colour fit into the next generation, and who have the best possible gene & breed outcome from their parents. Subpar, but still manageable babies are ones who have maybe one colour just outside of the next generation's ideal range, or lack one desirable gene or the desirable breed they could have inherited, assuming that isn't the only copy of that gene or breed in the project. It will likely take multiple rebreedings to get a good, useable baby, and to get a good, useable partner. Patience is a must, as you don't want to settle for very poor quality babies. If a pair, after many breedings, just isn't able to get even a subpar baby, you may need to look at replacing one or both of the dragons in the pair, if possible. When pairing up the babies, do not use more than one from each pair. If you create two separate pairs for the next generation using siblings, you will not be able to breed their kids together, and the project falls apart. Each of the above pairs in the example has contributed a single dragon to the second generation: Xing and Battlerun produced Sihaya, Sharpfang and Woodchime produced Lasciel, and so on. My recommendation is to discard parents and siblings of new pairs, to make sure a related dragon doesn't sneak into the next generation. [img alt="A set of 4 breeding cards for 4 pairs of dragons. Their color ranges all fall within white primaries, green-to-yellow secondaries, and white-to-pink tertiaries. All but one have the Iridescent gene, but various others."]https://i.imgur.com/1mVWhqx.png[/img] In my project, the 8th pair never gave me anything useable. I found Laharin to replace them. Laharin actually had near-perfect colours, Cream/Chartreuse/Raspberry, and could have even been a final parent - if he weren't a Spiral. Since he was a Spiral, I stuck him in the great-grandparent generation, to breed out Spirals sooner rather than later. [img alt="A set of 2 breeding cards for 2 pairs of dragons. Their color ranges are both white primaries, green secondaries, and pink tertiaries. The first pair is 50/50 with Metallic, the second pair is 100% Iridescent. They have various other genes."]https://i.imgur.com/3K4kkvC.png[/img] The process of picking babies with the best possible gene/breed outcome from their parents, colours in the ideal colour ranges for the next generation, repeats until you're in the final generation. Again, try to avoid subpar babies, but sometimes they end up being the best the parents produce. As you can see, Bellurdan inherited Metallic from Cottoncandy, and that persisted right to the final pair. [center]-----[size=4][b]The Final Generation[/b][/size]-----[/center] [img alt="1 breeding card, for Tae the Male Pearlcatcher and Quara the Female Skydancer. They have breed odds of Pearlcatcher 75% Skydancer 25 %, color ranges of a single white primary, Metallic/Iridescent 50/50; a single green secondary, Shimmer 3% Toxin 97%; and two dark pink tertiaries, Runes 15% Okapi 85%."]https://i.imgur.com/uTDSf6S.png[/img] Tae and Quara were actually the fourth "final" pair I created. I usually keep rebreeding the grandparents until I have a pair that is under 1 in 10, or 10% chance of getting the goal baby. While waiting for good enough parents to hatch from the grandparents, it doesn't hurt to pair up what [i]is[/i] available, on the off-chance that a pair with higher odds manages to hatch the perfect baby. This pair had a 1 in 13 total chance of producing the goal baby, and wound up hatching her in their very first egg. [url=https://i.imgur.com/Ct2b6Lj.png]Click here for the family tree[/url], drawn out, as a visual aide for the example used in this guide. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512/10#post_55094743]Click here[/url] for the text description of the family tree image. [center]-----[size=5][b]Pyramid Method Examples[/b][/size]-----[/center] Here are some examples of past projects that utilized the Pyramid method. Click on the dragon to view their family tree. As you will discover, breeding projects rarely go according to plan, so be prepared to improvise. [center] [url=https://i.imgur.com/GES2I0E.png][img alt="Coatl hatchling with gloom savannah, buttercup spinner, grapefruit crackle, and fire eyes."]https://i.imgur.com/OyfASO5.png[/img][/url][url=https://i.imgur.com/upuouXP.png][img alt="Wildclaw hatchling with cobalt jaguar, robin alloy, shadow peacock and light eyes."]https://i.imgur.com/0suD4MP.png[/img][/url][url=https://i.imgur.com/Dz9zgbL.png][img alt="Fae hatchling with oilslick slime, caribbean constellation, robin peacock and water eyes."]https://i.imgur.com/RoARtaL.png[/img][/url][url=https://i.imgur.com/HltjpOn.png][img alt="Skydancer hatchling with grey iridescent, oilslick peregrine, obsidian peacock and light eyes."]https://i.imgur.com/cpEs1Zf.png[/img][/url] -----[size=4][b]Variation Examples[/b][/size]-----[/center] [columns][url=https://i.imgur.com/I5xPPH3.png][img alt="Gaoler hatchling with teal wasp, rose trail, rose blossom and arcane eyes."]https://i.imgur.com/FqZLh87.png[/img][/url][nextcol] [b]Combining Requests with a Pyramid Set-up[/b] Breeding requests may need a back-up plan, especially if you can only do one or two breedings, and the pairing doesn't manage to get the goal baby in those breedings. If the babies from the breeding requests are of the pyramid method's final pair quality, then you have one half of the pyramid complete, and just need half the number of required pairs. [/columns] [columns][url=https://i.imgur.com/bCXadPn.jpeg][img alt="Gaoler hatchling with steel phantom, sunset breakup, turquoise veined, and plague eyes."]https://i.imgur.com/5dIzqeJ.png[/img][/url][nextcol] [b]Using the same 16 Starter Pairs to breed an Unrelated Pair[/b] Because the great-great-great-grandparents will be unrelated to the final baby, it is possible to reuse them to create multiple separate family trees in order to get unrelated identical or nearly identical breeding pairs in rare colour ranges. This could also, in theory, be used for extraordinarily rare combos that even a 16-pair start isn't sufficient for starting on, since it effectively gives an extra generation to work with. [/columns] [columns][url=https://i.imgur.com/68k8lLQ.png][img alt="Wildclaw hatchling with lemon giraffe, amethyst trail, orca capsule and shadow eyes."]https://i.imgur.com/Tf1xDxa.png[/img][/url][nextcol] [b]Using Dragons of Varying Quality[/b] If most of the dragons you can find are of a poor quality, but you have a couple good-quality dragons, it can be a waste to pair them to something significantly worse. Instead, you can put them into the generations they fit, and adjust the pairs needed accordingly - if you have a grandparent, you only need to breed 3 more grandparents, for example. [/columns]

Not to be confused with the real-life euphemism for in-breeding, this method refers to breeding each successive generation to a new, unrelated partner until you get the goal. This method works best in colour ranges that are very common, as multiple unrelated but close dragons are needed. It can work in scenarios where two of the colours are common, but the third one is more unusual, such as Obsidian or White doubles with a rare third colour.

Gather up a variety of dragons, ideally all unrelated, in the range, and arrange them from worst to best. Take the worst dragon, and find that one a partner, either from your pool, or with an additional purchase. Then, pair the kids, who ideally should be closer to the goal, with the next-worst option, and so on, until you reach the best.

If odds aren't under 1 in 10 ideally or 1 in 20 at most, then more acquisitions may be needed. If the best of the original dragons cannot actually reach these odds with the kids, then you may need to breed a second family line - you can use the starter pair and breed 6 generations with more unrelated dragons, or you can gather up entirely new options.

Once you have close kids from two lines all unrelated to each other, then you can breed them together for better odds, ideally. Here is the example goal I will be using, another old project of mine:
I used the line method for this project because as it turns out, Tan/Obsidian/Obsidian is a very common colour combination. I likely could have done this in one breeding with an exact pair, or found a hatchery pair to buy a baby from, but I had a secondary goal in this project: the goal baby, Sivir, needed to be descended from another dragon of mine, Azir. So, he was the first dragon in the project, and was relatively far from the goal.

Since the general range for Tan/Obsidian/Obsidian dragons was so common, I had picked up multiple unrelated dragons. Because we still want the final pairing to have the best odds, and Azir was relatively far from the goal, I paired Azir to the dragon I had picked up with the worst odds, so my first generation was thus: Even though their colour range is wide here, that's okay, because I don't need this pair to nail the colours, just to get close. If the female has a few colours in the opposite direction than Azir, that gives a larger range of acceptable near-misses I can get from the pair to then pair up with the better-quality dragons I have reserved for the next generations.
From here, I just need to keep breeding the offspring to unrelated Tan/Obsidian/Obsidian (or close) dragons. The first generation pair produced a boy that I was able to pair to the second-worst unrelated partner I had, to create a slightly closer-ranged second generation: This process is repeated for as many generations as you have unrelated dragons for, ideally getting closer and closer with each successive generation.

Generation 6 dragons will be unrelated to the original pair, and any kids that original pair produces that they do not directly descend from (aka, the siblings of generation 2's parent, but NOT that parent). You can use this to your advantage, and create multiple lines, assuming you have enough unrelated dragons, and once one of those lines is far enough from the original pair, those kids can now be bred to the other lines, possibly for even closer odds.

Since I wanted to guarantee that Sivir would still be related to Azir, I actually only had one more generation left in the project. I saved the best unrelated dragon I had for this final pair, and since they were both plentiful, I felt comfortable with their 1 in 12 odds for colours and sex. The female, which descended from the second generation pair, inherited Lace rather than Okapi, so I gave her Smirch to give myself better odds of inheriting Okapi in the final pair. It took this final pair a few re-breedings, but I eventually got her. With the selection of dragons that I had available, I didn't bother to try to get Ripple or Mirror bred in, and bought those scrolls instead. Stripes and Okapi were common choices for genes in the range, so I was able to have those inherited easily.

Click here for the family tree, drawn out, as a visual aide for the example used in this project. Click here for the text description of the family tree image.
Here is an example of another past project that utilized the Line method. Click on the dragon to view their family tree. Unfortunately, because I frequently am breeding for very rare combos, I use this method so infrequently, that I don't have any more good examples for the guide. I'll try to keep an eye out for more opportunities, but if you have a past project you think would be a good example to include here, feel free to let me know!

[center] [size=2][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_2630512]Intro[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684942]Golden Rule[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684943]Starting[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684945]Pyramid[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684946]Line[/url] | Requests | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37685694]Extras[/url][/size] -----[size=5][b]Breeding Requests & Buying Unlisted Dragons[/b][/size]-----[/center] This section discusses finding dragons on the [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/search/dragons]Dragon Search[/url] for a breeding project, and how to best utilize them, both for very close breeding requests, and wider-ranged options. -----[center][size=4][b]Guidelines for Using Dragon Search[/b][/size][/center]----- Dragon Search is a helpful companion to the Auction House when looking for dragons for a breeding project. Here are the situations in which it can help: [list] [*]When you first start a project, look up a short range around the goal colours and maybe some key genes you don't want to buy, and see if someone already has a breeding pair, or if two dragons in two different lairs could make the goal baby if bred together. [*]If options on the Auction House are slim for a difficult or rare project, set up a search on the Dragon Search to look for any dragons in fodder tabs or unlisted in sales tabs. [*]If a project is proving stubborn, keep a saved search on hand for keeping an eye out for any new fluke hatchlings in the range you need. To save a Dragon Search, copy and paste the URL of the search into a notepad, dragon bio, or elsewhere. [*](Tip: Sort your searches by ID: Highest First to see new hatchlings, rather than clicking through pages of older dragons that are likely permanent dragons at this point.) [/list] -----[center][size=4][b]To Stud or To Buy?[/b][/size][/center]----- How do you know when you should ask to buy a dragon, versus when you should simply ask to borrow for a breeding or two? [columns] [b]Buy when...[/b] [list] [*]The dragon is in an obvious fodder or sales tab. [*]The dragon is part of a breeding pair - if the partner is identical or similar enough, ask to buy a baby from them! [/list] [nextcol] [b]Stud when...[/b] [list] [*]The dragon is obviously a permanent dragon - if it is dressed, leveled to 25, has lore, etc. [*]The pairing you intend to breed together has 1 in 10 or better odds. [/list] [/columns] -----[center][size=5][b][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2874247]Dragon Buying Etiquette[/url] & Studding Etiquette[/b][/size][/center]----- The link above goes to a guide on how to ask to buy dragons not listed on the Auction House. Many of the tips listed there also apply to requesting breedings from a dragon (also called studding), but here are a few more specific to studding: [list] [*][url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?p=scrying&view=bloodlines]Assay bloodlines[/url] first! It'd be pretty frustrating to go through the effort of coordinating studding, only to find the dragons can't breed. [*]Don't bother with unbred, gened up G1s. G1 collectors are fanatical about their dragons being unbred. [*]Decide what type of nest you need beforehand, and share this detail right away. [list] [*]If the eyes don't matter, or the owner of one of the dragons to be studded happens to have the right eyes, then offer to have the pair nested in their nests. [*]If you need a specific nest type other than theirs, offer to rent a nest from a public nest rental service, rather than a friend. These can be found in [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/drt]Dragon Trading[/url], and the person you're borrowing the dragon from may feel they are more trustworthy. [/list] [*]Try to reduce the number of breedings needed - have a back-up plan for those "perfect" pairs, and prioritize finding a pairing to make with the longer-ranged requests' kids, so that you no longer need them. [*]Name all the kids you get from borrowed dragons immediately. If there's a naming scheme, try to stick with it, or better yet, ask the lender what they'd like the offspring to be named. [/list] -----[center][size=5][b]Breeding Request Examples[/b][/size][/center]----- Here are some examples of breeding requests I have done in the past. The ones directly below were simple requests from either already existing breeding pairs or two dragons in separate lairs. The images link directly to the dragons so you can see their parents. [center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/57519110][img alt="Gaoler hatchling with brown phantom, pumpkin trail, maroon gnarlhorns, and fire eyes."]https://i.imgur.com/VwX0mww.png[/img][/url][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/63306951][img alt="Pearlcatcher hatchling with ivory basic, buttercup stripes, cream underbelly and light primal eyes."]https://i.imgur.com/AYNnLgi.png[/img][/url][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/73049051][img alt="Banescale hatchling with ice ragged, ice tear, ice wraith, and lightning eyes."]https://i.imgur.com/0pyrAcF.png[/img][/url][/center] -----[center][size=4][b]Variation Examples[/b][/size][/center]----- [columns][url=https://i.imgur.com/I5xPPH3.png][img alt="Gaoler hatchling with teal wasp, rose trail, rose blossom and arcane eyes."]https://i.imgur.com/FqZLh87.png[/img][/url][nextcol] [b]Combining Requests with a Pyramid Set-up[/b] Breeding requests may need a back-up plan, especially if you can only do one or two breedings, and the pairing doesn't manage to get the goal baby in those breedings. If the babies from the breeding requests are of the pyramid method's final pair quality, then you have one half of the pyramid complete, and just need half the number of required pairs. [/columns]

[center] [size=2][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_2630512]Intro[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684942]Golden Rule[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684943]Starting[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684945]Pyramid[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684946]Line[/url] | [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2630512#post_37684949]Requests[/url] | Extras[/size] -----[size=5][b]Extra Resources[/b][/size]-----[/center] Here is a list of resources for anything related to breeding projects. If you have a suggestion to add, feel free to let me know! -----[center][size=4][b]Tools for Determining Odds of Pairings[/b][/size][/center]----- [b][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/3231610]Breeding Rarity Comparisons[/url][/b] by [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/clan-profile/67383]arcaneidolriots[/url] [list][*]A guide on breed & gene rarity tiers, useful for determining odds of different genes being inherited against each other.[/list] [b][url=http://fr.fintastic.net/]Flight Rising Colour Predictor[/url][/b] by [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=userpage&id=6641]Peixes[/url] [list][*]A tool for viewing the colour ranges between two dragons.[/list] [b][url=https://jiyoumcc.github.io/FlightRisingTool/]Flight Rising Breeding Tool[/url][/b] by [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?p=view&tab=userpage&id=200704]JiYou[/url] [list][*]A tool that combines gene odds & colour ranges in one viewable page, as well as gives percentage odds of getting a specific goal from the pair.[/list] -----[center][size=4][b]Other Useful Resources[/b][/size][/center]----- [b][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/3323155]Breeding Mentorship Hub[/url][/b] by [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/clan-profile/595989]PixelEnchanter[/url] & the DWF [list][*]A place to ask breeding questions and get help with breeding projects.[/list] [b][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/3053786]Dragon Search Link Generator[/url][/b] by [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=userpage&id=522575]Saphira455[/url] [list][*]A spreadsheet that takes a scry image URL and produces both Auction House and Dragon Search links with it.[/list] [b][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/2874247]Dragon Buying Etiquette[/url][/b] by [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=userpage&id=1976]Tserin[/url] [list][*]How to politely ask to buy a dragon that is not currently listed on the Auction House.[/list] [b][url=https://keelanrosa.com/fr/]Breeding Stat Cards[/url][/b] by [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=userpage&id=34928]Straif[/url] [list][*]Simple breeding cards for displaying.[/list] -----[center][size=5][b]Credits[/b][/size][/center]----- [list] [*]Introduction banner created by [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?p=view&tab=userpage&id=264790]Alphazi[/url]. [*]Golden Rule probability images created by me. [*]Colour ranges in the guidelines for setting up a pyramid breeding project generated with [url=http://fr.fintastic.net/]Flight Rising Colour Predictor[/url] by [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=userpage&id=6641]Peixes[/url], and edited by me. [*]Breed cards used in the pyramid & line method walk-throughs were generated with [url=https://keelanrosa.com/fr/]Breeding Stat Cards[/url] by [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=userpage&id=34928]Straif[/url]. [*]Family tree images were created by me, with the colour ranges pictured in these generated with [url=http://fr.fintastic.net/]Flight Rising Colour Predictor[/url] by [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=userpage&id=6641]Peixes[/url]. [*]Alt text for images in the guide written by [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/clan-profile/182667]amuseoffirebane[/url] & myself. Feedback is welcome!

Update, the Zig-Zag method now exists!

@Hephzibah, it can take some time to figure out what all this means when you aren't familiar with Flight Rising's breeding mechanics. Give yourself a couple months of experimenting, and in time, the pieces of the puzzle should begin to come together!

I would suggest scrying for those plant/tree-themed dragons and finding out what you like the looks of. After all, you can't breed for something when you don't know what that is!

@ganondorf I remember that coatl project. it was a pain for you! I hope this helps more people!!