Hello everyone, Cymas here. I decided to write up this little guide because, well, I needed the information anyway and I think it makes a nice quick reference. :)

What is an Essence?

Basically, an Essence is an item you can use to create and customize a new Sylesti. They are particularly useful for breeding projects as you can determine what genes your pets are showing or carrying as well as selecting their colors.

Types of Essences

There are three different types of Essences for each breed of Sylesti: regular, Enhanced and Mystical.

The most common is the regular one, which will show up in your inventory as (Breed) Essence. It gives you only two Genotype points, which means you can have one visible gene or two carried genes on your pet. Also when generated the Sylesti's colors can be noticeably different from the ones you selected. However, it will have higher base stats than a captured/tamed Sylesti.

The Enhanced Essence is less common and gives you 4 Genotype points, which would be 2 visible genes, 4 carried genes, or 1 visible and 2 carried genes. It's also more accurate with colors.

Finally, the Mystical Essence is the rarest. Same amount of Genotype points as the Enhanced Essence and the most accurate with colors.

Acquiring Essences:

There are several ways to get Essences, however before we begin I'd like to emphasize that all drop rates are both low and random. If you're not finding any, don't get too discouraged. The RNG gods are fickle at best and luck is always a factor. If you're just looking to add more Sylesti to your stables there are other, much less frustrating ways to do it. Essences are a nice bonus when you get one but in my opinion, not really worth actively hunting for unless you're really broke and/or need them for a breeding project.

Buying

The easiest way is of course to buy them. There are two places where you can get them. First, from the Trade Broker. Prices and stock will vary and if you're just starting out you probably won't be able to afford them.

You can often find Essences up for sale, trade or auction in the Item Auctions forum.

All Essences are also available for purchase from the Diamond Shop. 250 Diamonds for the regular, 750 for Enhanced and 1,000 for the Mystical. Again, expensive and probably only worth it if you need it for a breeding project. There are much easier and less expensive ways to get Sylesti if you just need them to round out a battle party or for missions.

Scale Shop

Sometimes you can get a regular or Enhanced Essence from a Golden Egg in the Scale Shop. It is, as most of these are, a low random chance, as the Golden Eggs also drop numerous other items.

Nurturing

You can occasionally get an Essence from Nurturing Sylestis instead of a scale. You'll see a pop up message when you get one. The drop rate is really low but on the other hand, they are free this way and if you're collecting scales for the scale shop anyway it can be a nice bonus.

Jinxie's Jamboree

You can sometimes win an Essence from the bonus games in the minigame Jinxie's Jamboree. Again, really low chance but it is possible.

Battling

Occasionally you can get an Essence as a drop in battle. The Essence will be the breed of Sylesti it dropped from. Again, low drop rates but you'll likely pick a few up through the course of the story anyway.

Loot

The last in-game place you can find Essences is in mission satchels and treasure boxes. As with most things in the game, harder/higher levels means better rewards.

Other

Essences can be given out as prizes for official forum games and contests.

Using Essences

Once you have an Essence you want to use, it's pretty simple. Go to the Generator and select the type you have. Then select the breed and it will bring up the Generator. It's exactly the same as the one you used to create your very first pet.

Selling

If you acquire Essences you're not going to use for whatever reasons, don't just generate a Sylesti anyway and then try to sell that. Sell the Essence itself via the Trade Broker to maximize profit and minimize the chance of getting stuck with a pet you can't sell but may not want to keep or release.

Update Log
4/15: Guide created. Update #1: Links added.
Upcoming: Formatting improvements.