I've been on here a while, but one thing I've never tried is a breeding project. So first I want to ask a few general questions, and then a question about the specific breeding project I want to work on. (And yes, I've tried reading the guide, but I think I need some specific answers to my questions and to just try things out to really "get it".)

First, is there a general of how many pets you will need for different numbers of traits? I worked out that a 2-vis project needs only two pets, both 2-carry. But how many is a good number for a 4-vis project? Can it be four, all with 2-carry? Same for all the other trait numbers. How many would be needed to accomplish a 6-vis? (A lot, I'm sure.)
Which brings me to the next question: can you accomplish more than a 2-vis project with just regular essences? It would be faster to use enhanced or mystical, but that's a little out of my budget.
Also, is it possible to accomplish a breeding project with just bought pets? I once tried to start a project by just buying all the Ryories that had the right traits, but there were so many unwanted traits as well that I gave up. (And it would have taken a lot of dyes, so it probably wouldn't have ended up any cheaper than starting with essences.)

Now, the specific project:

Misty Forest Faelora

This is a 4-vis design with
G2: Numbat
G3: Frosted Flower
M1: Ghostly Aura
M3: Fae Dust

How many essences do I need to purchase to accomplish this? It would be easy to accomplish a 2-vis version with just two:

G2: Numbat
M1: Ghostly Aura

I was thinking four would be enough, but in that case how would I best distribute the traits? I would guess something like:
Female with carry M1 and G2
Female with carry M3 and G3
Male with carry M3 and G3
Male with carry M1 and G2

That way I could breed the two sets of same trait faes and end up with 2-vis pets I could breed together. Is that right, or would another way be better.

This is a lot to go through and answer, so thank you very much for reading and taking the time to answer my questions!

1. The minimum amount of pets needed for ANY project is 3, or the next generation will be too closely related to breed and continue to get more visible traits. Obviously the project will be faster with more generation 0 pets, but even for a 6vis project is is possible.
I'm currently doing a 6vis morkko project staring with only 3 regular essence, each pet having 2 different carries.

2. It is possible to da a breeding project with just bought pets, but to get colours right you'll almost certainly need pet dye. This is called a dye project, and it's important to note that you dye THE FINAL PAIR.

3. for your project you will need to buy 3 essences and it will be faster to do the 2vis version, but if you have the patience it is definitely worth doing the first choice of design.

4. You can do the trait distribution however you like but I'm not sure what the most effective way is. The only thing that you HAVE to do is double-check that between the pets you have all the traits.

How exactly is a breeding project accomplished with just 3 pets? It seems to me that the offspring would have to be directed related to each other through one of the parents. It works out the same whether it's two males and one female, or two females and one male. Either way, they share either a father or a mother. Isn't half-sibling too close a relationship?

Edit: Ok, I just realized how it works. You breed two, and then breed the offspring to the third, and work from there. I wonder if it makes a difference choosing two males or two females...

Starting with 4 is much faster, but if time is not an issue, two males is best with 3 essences (then all daughters can be bred with the other male). With two females, daughters sit around doing nothing for a while, and sons can only breed once every three days (i.e. only one is really doing anything).

As long as you have 6 carries (from at least 3 pets), you can breed them with each other until you get the vis you want. But it can take a looong time! You just have to balance spending on more essences at the start vs just taking more time.

One thing to keep in mind when determining the cost of a project is the color swing of regular essences. I've never done a project with regular essences where I haven't needed to use dyes on the final pair to get the colors right. This is especially true for projects with very light and very dark colors. I typically save essences for traits I just can't find. As you mentioned, it can be difficult to find breeders with just the traits you are interested in and I swear the game knows what traits I don't want and those always cross. :-P

As others have mentioned, I like to start with four generated pets (two males and two females), but I've done projects with just three. If I'm only doing three, I'll generate the first pair and then do the third one once I know the gender of the baby of the first pair. It's always a bit slow at the start and it can be frustrating when carries just don't want to cross, but it gets better once you have a larger pool of pets to breed with.

You'll want to come up with a naming system for your project that works for you and I also found it helpful to limit yourself to a specific number of pets so you don't end up completely filling your stable. I give one tab per project and limit the males to my best five (just because that fits nicely on the bottom row). You really only need two unrelated males, but five allows me to have a mix of traits and I'm less likely to mess up and end up with a female that is unable to breed with any of the males I have.

I hope some of that helps with your first breeding project.

Yes, all your advice has been very helpful! Thank you!
I guess I need to collect a few more dyes, then, too. I have a few already.
I can definitely see the need for a naming system. All those un-named pets would get...insane.
I've collected three essences and I think I'll be making the first pair soon! I'm guessing I also need to enlist the help of a genetic testing service.

O.O
I see what you mean about color swing.



Why is she purple?!

She was supposed to look like this!

Ah, he turned out much better.