Sass' Chocobo observations (A mini-guide)

[Sassafras]

Hi guys & gals,

With the advent of the new Hot & Cold game, amoung other things, I've been getting many, many questions about raising chocobos. In an attempt to answer your questions, I'm going to start posting here.

I'll start a new thread for Q&A, but this thread will be locked to keep it neat & organized. I know, I'm a bit rediculous about keeping things neat & orderly, but it's the only way I can ever find anything.

~Sass

P.S. Someone asked me how many choco's I have raised. I have 12 adults, 0 chicks/teens. Elvier has 1 to ride and had another 1, but decided she wasn't going to use in the future /toss card. There are 20 other chicks on the books. Some were tossed at day 4 due to wrong sex (don't need 10 males in my stable XD) or abilities, others tossed at day 19 for wrong color. I've also raised 3 for friends and helped at least 3 people with the raising of their chocobos.

P.P.S
Attribute Levels:
Level 1 - "Poor"
Level 2 - "Substandard"
Level 3 - "A bit deficient"
Level 4 - "Average"
Level 5 - "Better than average"
Level 6 - "Impressive"
Level 7 - "Outstanding"
Level 8 - "First-class"

 

[Sassafras]

About Eggs

Most of you can just read ffxiclopedia for your information. It's good stuff. http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Category:Chocobo_Raising

I have no intention of repeating here, all the information they have over there. This thread is about my observations so far.

Get an egg:

1. Do the quest.
2. Buy from Vendor.
3. Do an ISNM battle.
4. Breed for specific stats (Finbarr, Upper Jeuno Stables). Get egg after JP midnight next day.

Not gonna go over the quest, which you do not have to do in order to raise a chocobo. The vendor is in Jeuno, go look it up. ISNM is in Aht Urgan, go look that up.

Let's talk about breeding your choco. Keep in mind this is based purely on what I know so far.

Known Color Combinations:

Keep in mind that which Honeymoon Plan you choose might effect your result. SE made the plans a chance, not a guarantee.

• Black + Black = Black or Green
• Black + Blue = Black, Blue, Green, Red or Yellow
• Black + Green = Black or Green
• Black + Red = Black or Red
• Blue + Blue = Blue
• Blue + Green = Blue or Green
• Green + Green = Black or Green
• Green + Red = Black, Green or Red
• Red + Red = Red
• Yellow + Black = Yellow or Black
• Yellow + Blue = Yellow or Blue
• Yellow + Green = Yellow or Green
• Yellow + Red = Yellow or Red
• Yellow + Yellow = Yellow

Breeding in Abilities:

Combine Male and Female with the same abilites. You have a good chance of having chick born with same abilities.

Combine Male and Female where only one has abilites. You might get one ability to carry over, you might get both, you'll likely get none.

Breeding in other attributes & stats:

Thus far, I've only personally had personality carry over, maybe color. I'm on 2nd set of chocos right now.

Stats have not carried over for me, however I've heard that they can. Perhaps if you have Male & Female with the same Better than Average stats?

Weather preferences can carry over too, but again I've not had it happen.

 

[Sassafras]

What you need

Keep in mind this is my experience. Lots of other people do things differently. I'll present a couple other options of which I know.


Time:

• 15-30 minutes at about the same time each day.
• At least 29 days for just something to ride.
• If you want abilities on a digging choco, about 40-60 days.
• If you want abilities on a racing/riding choco, sorry babe, you're in for a really long road. (You're lucky though, I've got one female with both Canter & Gallop. If you get Male with same stories, you're welcome to all the cards you want until you get a chick of the right color, etc.)

Food:
For each day my chocobo was awake, starting with day 5, I fed 1 carrot and 1 Azouph green.* Why? Carrots push the desired stats up a bit faster, Azouph greens have max affection. You need a "Completely Full" chocobo with "Parent" status to achieve the best results.

Digging DIS/REC chocobo: 1 Zegham Carrot, 1 Azouph green.
Racing STR/END chocobo: 1 Vomp Carrot, 1 Azouph green.

*There were days when I didn't do this, I'll go into that in the Chick notes. On those days it was A.greens x2.

Paste: I know others which feed Paste all through chick phase. Not recommended for DIS/REC plans since Vomp carrots are in the Carrot Paste. Also I tend to get Parent status by day 6, others take longer. There could be other benefits to paste, I just haven't explored it.

Sharug Greens: Other people I know feed 2 carrots + 1 Sharug green to get more stat increases. I'm not willing to loose the Affection by taking Azouph greens out of my care plan. Up to you, let me know your results.



Medicines:

• Tokopekko grass - bit ill = feed 1, slightly ill = feed 2
• Gausebit grass - only needed if you push your choco to hard & gets injured.
• Celerity Salad - cures lovesickness.
• Garidav grass - only gonna need this if you over feed like Val.
• Parasite worm - used to "flip" personality from "physical" to "mental." Caution: Attributes(stats) reduced to Poor). More on this later.

IMPORTANT TIP: Feed Meds before other food, otherwise you're throwing away money & possibly will need that Garidav grass. In other words, meds given to full chocobos have no effect, other than resulting in an upset stomach from over-feeding.

I've never needed anything else.

 

[Sassafras]

Chocobo Basic Timeline

Day 0 - Turn in egg
Day 4 - Chick - learn sex
Day 19 - Teen - learn color
Day 29 - Adult - see physical appearance changes; can ride once Whistle quest complete and if you have Chocopass.

• STR - long claws
• END - extra tail feathers
• DIS - big beak
• REC - crown of feathers

Day 43 - "Best time to improve attributes" CS
Day 64 - "Growth Stabilized, distinguished air" CS
Day 130 - "All grown up, time for VCS to take over" CS

 

[Sassafras]

Egg Phase

Once you turn in your egg, return everyday about the same time or later to check on your Chocobo.

Your options are pretty limited at this point.

No care plans to choose from, you can Care for or toss your Egg.

Care for your Chocobo = Watch over. (suggest at least 3/day)

Day 0 - feels the warmth of your gaze
Day 1 - seems to want out
Day 2 - seems to want out
Day 3 - anxious to meet you
Day 4 - Chick Phase.

 

[Sassafras]

Chick Phase

Congratulations! You've survived the most boring 4 days of watching a white blob rock back & forth.

Goals for Chicks:

1. Use Care Plans available to push stats up.
2. Get the correct personality for your goal choco.
3. Get the 2 stories from walks.
4. Achieve Parent status affection by running health bar down daily.

Care Plans:
Time to think about where you're going with your Care plans.

STR - Strength(STR): Affects a chocobo’s speed.
END - Endurance(VIT): Affects a chocobo’s stamina.
DIS - Discernment(INT): Affects a chocobo’s pace setting, and item use timing.
REC - Receptivity(MND): Affects a chocobo’s ability to avoid accidents.
*Weather: Affects a chocobo’s performance in certain types of weather
*Abilities: Some abilities affect the other attributes

*Thus far, no signs of being able to raise all 4 stats to highest level at the same time. I suggest you pick either Physical or Mental stats and run with it all the way. The chick Care plans (Taking a Walk, Listening to Music) don't cause any noticable energy or affection drain. So I just leave on all one or the other until they hit Teen phase. I've only had to use Resting in the Adult phase.

Personalities:
The key thing to accomplish in Chick phase is developing the personality you need in order to get the best results for which type of chocobo you're aiming.

• ???: Easygoing
• STR: Ill-Tempered
• END: Patient
• DIS: Sensitive
• REC: Enigmatic

Perky days:
Your opportunity to switch your chick's personality.

• Feed Parasite worm to flip personalities from/to Physical (STR/END) to/from Mental(DIS/REC).
• Feed Parasite worm to get away from Easygoing personality.
• Feed Z.carrot to move from/to DIS to/from REC.
• Feed V.carrot to move from/to STR to/from END.

TIP: To avoid over feeding and to maximize your meds click on NPC and check your choco's status before trading meds/food to NPC for your choco.

Getting Stories for future abilities:
Take your chick on as many walks as possible. There are now 2 stories available during this phase. If you have trouble getting stories, I've found that switching my routine works. e.g. I normally do 3x walk, then 3x watch over. Thus I do, watch, walk, etc. or watch, watch, walk, etc. You're smart, you'll figure it out for yourself.

Note: If you see glint in the distance, when you get back, do a watch over. If you have parent status, you'll get an item. Items received so far: Olive flower, Flint Stone, Z.carrot, T.grass, Goblin mask.

Care for your Chocobo:
Run that health bar all the way down by mixing Walks & Watchovers.

 

[Sassafras]

Teen Phase

Day 19 - Yay! Just look at that color (or cry). This is my favorite choco stage, but it's much too short compared to the chick and adult phases.

What color will my adult be?
Yellow with white tips = Yellow
Yellow with black/grey tips = Black
Yellow with blue/purple tips = Blue
Yellow with green tips = Green
Yellow with orange/red tips = Red

Important things to focus on in Teen Phase:

1. Getting stats up. Stats at Avg on day 29 will show in Adult appearance.
2. Keeping affection up.
3. Aquiring stories for abilities.

Care Plans:
Several new Care Plans are available now. Though you might want to see them all, it's best to do mostly the highest level for the stats you want to raise. STR/END chocos will want Exercise alone, Exercise in Group and Carrying packages. DIS/REC chocos will want Interacting with Children, Interacting with Chocobos or Exhibiting to the Public. Teen Phase is only 10 days.

Care for your Chocobo:
To keep affection up, be sure to run that health bar down, and get in a few watch overs. Also try to give 2 days in a row of the lower teen plan, like interacting or exercising.

Though you can now read your Chocobo stories, be careful what you read. You are limited to 2 abilities, once learned, they can't be un-learned. Do not get stuck with something you don't want. Check your Key items before reading stories if you're not sure which you have. Also note that DIS/REC need to be Average or better to learn abilites in my experience.

TIP: Even after 2 abilities are learned, chocobo may be inspired by stories, receiving full health bar back for more activities.

Auto-Regen: Story of a Happy Chocobo(home nation) - Compete against others: Win x3
Burrow: Story of a Worrysome Chocobo (Bastok-Zopago) - Taking a Walk meeting x3
Bore: Story of a Youthful Chocobo (Windurst-Pulonono) - Taking a Walk meeting x3
Gallop: Story of an Impatient Chocobo (San d'Oria-Hantilion) - Taking a Walk meeting x3
Canter: Story of a Curious Chocobo (Jeuno-Brutus) - Taking a Walk meeting x3
Treasure Finder: Story of a Diligent Chocobo(home nation) - lost Chocobo quest

Once a story is aquired from walks, you no longer need to do that walk. Concentrate on other walks to learn other stories.

Status effect (illness):
New illness, Boredom, strikes. If you Compete against other Chocobos once, the next day your chocobo will be over their boredom. Some personalities suffer from boredom more so than others. It's nothing to stress over.

Spoiled might also strike. Scold your chocobo once that day, should be over their spoiled attitude by the next day.

 

[Sassafras]

Adult Phase:

Day 29. Finally you can ride your baby, given that you can get the whistle today.

Things to note. Stats above average on day 29 will show up as:
STR - long claws
END - extra tail feathers
DIS - big beak
REC - crown of feathers

How to get your Chocobo Whistle.
If you started in San d'Oria, you're in for a treat as you don't have to travel from city to city.

1. Check your chocobo, feed it, but don't do any "Care for your Chocobo" activities.
2. Talk to your Choco NPC, if not in San d'Oria, they'll send you to talk to Hantileon at the South San d'Oria Chocobo Stables.
3. Chat with Hantileon. He'll tell you to find the item your Chocobo hid.
4. Go back to your Choco NPC, find the hidden item on different walks with your Chocobo. Here is where you'll burn up your "Care for your Chocobo" energy. Wait until your chocobo is engrossed in it's activities, then look. Don't bother looking if they're just happy, they catch you every time.
5. Take the key item you found to Hantileon in South San d'Oria. He will give you your Chocobo Whistle.

Status Ailments:
In Love. While you can cure this by feeding Celerity Salad before other food as with any med, to avoid the extra expense follow the following steps. I've never had to feed Salad. Scold your Chocobo that day, Set 1 day of Rest in Care Plans. Scold your Chocobo once the next day if not better. The day after will be Rest and you won't have to check your Chocobo. I usually do, sometimes they are over their love-sick status already and I wake them up by Scolding. Other times, they don't get better until they are awake on the 4th day. Love-sick is a bit annoying.

Injured. Feed Gausbit Grass. 1x for bit, 2x for slightly injured. Gausebit Grass is fairly easily obtained from Fly mobs in the M. Mountains.