Hi, I'm new here, I started about yesterday. I know this game is pretty old, and I actually find it really astounding so far! There's plenty of features to keep you playing, but I have a few questions;

Aging Questions
1) How long does it take an egg to hatch? I only have two right now, and they already have a really big crack. But I was just wondering if it depends on how much you nurture them, or if there's actually a set amount of days?

2) How long until hatchlings become adolescents?

3) ...and how long until adolescents become adults? XD I'm most curious about this one since starter pets start as adolescents and I'd kind of like to breed soon.

Breeding Questions
I've read a lot about breeding on the forums already and let me tell you before I get into this, I absolutely LOVE genetics. It's something that would keep me playing this game for a long time-- because I adore them. They are by far my favorite subject in science.

1) Do people usually use essences to get a mate for their selected choice of female/male?

2) Does breeding take a long time? This game is very time-oriented, so I'm just curious if breeding does take a certain amount of time, how long?

Other Questions

1) Is there a suggested way of getting gold? I know you can do quests and that gives a sort of a decent amount, but I was just curious if there's a very good way that many of you would suggest?

2) Does this game require a lot of... over leveling? The two creatures that I currently have are level 30, and I am trying to fight the undead archmage at the top of the tree in Faerina's Shrine in Umbra Forest, but I have lost every single time. I've managed to defeat the archmage with minimal health left, but his/her goons usually defeat me after that. I'm not trying to complain about over leveling, I just want to know if I need to so that I can progress. (:

What is AP for? Is it to buy something, and if so, what? I've been wondering this for a while now, but I just decided to finally ask.

Link: https://www.sylestia.com/forums/?thread=60225&page=1#2 Author: Zilrenba Time Posted: 4/19/2018 at 6:27 PM What is AP for? Is it to buy something, and if so, what? I've been wondering this for a while now, but I just decided to finally ask.

You use it to buy some things! The only thing I'm currently aware of is wardrobe for your character.

AP: Obtained by generally doing things- battling, breeding, nurturing, plot progression, and used for
- buying base things for the avatar
- buying extra design slots in the generator
- buying extra party preset save slots

Aging Questions
1) How long does it take an egg to hatch?
Eggs have a timer at the top of their Genetics section that shows ?/72, with the ? being their age, and the space between that age and the 72 being how long left they have to hatch.
The base time for an egg that's been bred to hatch is 3 days (72= 72 hours), but for every five nurtures they get they get aged up an additional hour.

2) How long until hatchlings become adolescents?
About 6-7 days, less if they get a lot of page views

3) ...and how long until adolescents become adults?
18 days

So the total time is roughly 27 days, unless a magical pie is used.

Breeding Questions
I've read a lot about breeding on the forums already and let me tell you before I get into this, I absolutely LOVE genetics. It's something that would keep me playing this game for a long time-- because I adore them. They are by far my favorite subject in science.

1) Do people usually use essences to get a mate for their selected choice of female/male?
Depends on what they're after. If, say, there are no sylesti with a trait or trait setup they're after up for breeding, or if they want to start a project from scratch, then sure

2) Does breeding take a long time? This game is very time-oriented, so I'm just curious if breeding does take a certain amount of time, how long?
Again, depends on what exactly you're after, but yes, generally breeding projects take a long time- even with magical pies, any given breeding may not produce the offspring you need trait-wise, so you've gotta keep trying, so depending on your breeding stock and what you're after, it cant take well over a month to get a single new generation.

For an example, we've been doing a Nyte max-stat project, and started with stat-boosted exclusive nytes we made last spring fest (> During Spring Fest you can make pets via the flower garden when you have the right items, > exclusive pets have double the base stats of wild-caught pets, > the ability to use specific items to boost the stats of pets made via seasonal pet making activities adds to this), also aiming for a specific set of traits
So we started with 800HP, 100mana, and ~55 in the other stats.
Max stats have the goal of 2000HP, 100+mana*, and 100 in the other stats
(*species dependent on what the actual mana is)
Our first generation are now some 300 days old, and, on our seventh generation, we're still some few hundred HP away from max (and only so close with lots of nurturing), so we'll need to get some lucky gene rolls on the ones that have yet to hatch, wait for them to grow up, and then we have to wait at least one more generation- so we expect at least two more months to go into this, bringing us to about a year.
(and we're only going for a three-trait setup)
Many projects take more than a year.

Other Questions

1) Is there a suggested way of getting gold? I know you can do quests and that gives a sort of a decent amount, but I was just curious if there's a very good way that many of you would suggest?
Missions.
There's a guide to making gold here and a guide to missions here.
Missions are by far our favoured way of getting gold.

2) Does this game require a lot of... over leveling? The two creatures that I currently have are level 30, and I am trying to fight the undead archmage at the top of the tree in Faerina's Shrine in Umbra Forest, but I have lost every single time. I've managed to defeat the archmage with minimal health left, but his/her goons usually defeat me after that. I'm not trying to complain about over leveling, I just want to know if I need to so that I can progress. (:

If you're in Faerina's Shrine, you should be able to get your third party slot at Sanctuary of Saerielle.
We'll look at your pets, but at a quick glance, do remember to allocate their lv30 prof point

Okay, let's see...
Nightmare (she's very cute)
Lv30
Shadow
1HP, 1unallocated

Relic: Int/Agi, lv15, epic
Armor: Int/Agi, lv20, rare
Acces.: Int/Dex, lv25, rare
Acces.: Int/Agi, lv20, rare

Runic
Lv30
Earth
1HP, 1unallocated

Relic: Str/Dex, lv15, rare
Armor: Str/Dex, lv20, rare
Acces.: Str/Dex, lv20, rare
Acces.: Str/Dex, lv20, rare

Okay, so.
I have. No idea who your tank is meant to be and who the attacker is meant to be.
Tank elements: Earth, Shadow, Water.
Profs: Statted for HP/attack/Agi

Of the two, I'd say you'd want to make Runic the Tank, so you'd want to give him Str/Agi based equips (I'd personally restat the proficiency to 1Str/1Agi, but that's just how we ran our earth tank at that level, and different people have different styles that suit them)

Nightmare would be the attacker, and you'd want to stat towards Int, maybe toward Dex, give her Int/Dex equips.

With equips, higher rarity>higher level (to a boundary of some ten levels- lv50 legendary gear is a sliver better than lv60 epic, for example), but you still want to try to keep your equip levels close to the pet's level (this case, however, is far, far better than many we have seen)
If you do some missions following the instruction of guide we linked, you should be able to get some lv25 legendary equips after a while from mission satchels if you do the Very Hard Esior Haven missions, or even just epic equips from the Hard ones.

Link: https://www.sylestia.com/forums/?thread=60225&page=1#4 Author: Scathreoite Time Posted: 4/19/2018 at 7:45 PM AP: Obtained by generally doing things- battling, breeding, nurturing, plot progression, and used for - buying base things for the avatar - buying extra design slots in the generator - buying extra party preset save slots Aging Questions 1) How long does it take an egg to hatch? Eggs have a timer at the top of their Genetics section that shows ?/72, with the ? being their age, and the space between that age and the 72 being how long left they have to hatch. The base time for an egg that's been bred to hatch is 3 days (72= 72 hours), but for every five nurtures they get they get aged up an additional hour. 2) How long until hatchlings become adolescents? About 6-7 days, less if they get a lot of page views 3) ...and how long until adolescents become adults? 18 days So the total time is roughly 27 days, unless a magical pie is used. Breeding Questions I've read a lot about breeding on the forums already and let me tell you before I get into this, I absolutely LOVE genetics. It's something that would keep me playing this game for a long time-- because I adore them. They are by far my favorite subject in science. 1) Do people usually use essences to get a mate for their selected choice of female/male? Depends on what they're after. If, say, there are no sylesti with a trait or trait setup they're after up for breeding, or if they want to start a project from scratch, then sure 2) Does breeding take a long time? This game is very time-oriented, so I'm just curious if breeding does take a certain amount of time, how long? Again, depends on what exactly you're after, but yes, generally breeding projects take a long time- even with magical pies, any given breeding may not produce the offspring you need trait-wise, so you've gotta keep trying, so depending on your breeding stock and what you're after, it cant take well over a month to get a single new generation. For an example, we've been doing a Nyte max-stat project, and started with stat-boosted exclusive nytes we made last spring fest (> During Spring Fest you can make pets via the flower garden when you have the right items, > exclusive pets have double the base stats of wild-caught pets, > the ability to use specific items to boost the stats of pets made via seasonal pet making activities adds to this), also aiming for a specific set of traits So we started with 800HP, 100mana, and ~55 in the other stats. Max stats have the goal of 2000HP, 100+mana*, and 100 in the other stats (*species dependent on what the actual mana is) Our first generation are now some 300 days old, and, on our seventh generation, we're still some few hundred HP away from max (and only so close with lots of nurturing), so we'll need to get some lucky gene rolls on the ones that have yet to hatch, wait for them to grow up, and then we have to wait at least one more generation- so we expect at least two more months to go into this, bringing us to about a year. (and we're only going for a three-trait setup) Many projects take more than a year. Other Questions 1) Is there a suggested way of getting gold? I know you can do quests and that gives a sort of a decent amount, but I was just curious if there's a very good way that many of you would suggest? Missions. There's a guide to making gold here and a guide to missions here. Missions are by far our favoured way of getting gold. 2) Does this game require a lot of... over leveling? The two creatures that I currently have are level 30, and I am trying to fight the undead archmage at the top of the tree in Faerina's Shrine in Umbra Forest, but I have lost every single time. I've managed to defeat the archmage with minimal health left, but his/her goons usually defeat me after that. I'm not trying to complain about over leveling, I just want to know if I need to so that I can progress. (: If you're in Faerina's Shrine, you should be able to get your third party slot at Sanctuary of Saerielle. We'll look at your pets, but at a quick glance, do remember to allocate their lv30 prof point Okay, let's see... Nightmare (she's very cute) Lv30 Shadow 1HP, 1unallocated Relic: Int/Agi, lv15, epic Armor: Int/Agi, lv20, rare Acces.: Int/Dex, lv25, rare Acces.: Int/Agi, lv20, rare Runic Lv30 Earth 1HP, 1unallocated Relic: Str/Dex, lv15, rare Armor: Str/Dex, lv20, rare Acces.: Str/Dex, lv20, rare Acces.: Str/Dex, lv20, rare Okay, so. I have. No idea who your tank is meant to be and who the attacker is meant to be. Tank elements: Earth, Shadow, Water. Profs: Statted for HP/attack/Agi Of the two, I'd say you'd want to make Runic the Tank, so you'd want to give him Str/Agi based equips (I'd personally restat the proficiency to 1Str/1Agi, but that's just how we ran our earth tank at that level, and different people have different styles that suit them) Nightmare would be the attacker, and you'd want to stat towards Int, maybe toward Dex, give her Int/Dex equips. With equips, higher rarity>higher level (to a boundary of some ten levels- lv50 legendary gear is a sliver better than lv60 epic, for example), but you still want to try to keep your equip levels close to the pet's level (this case, however, is far, far better than many we have seen) If you do some missions following the instruction of guide we linked, you should be able to get some lv25 legendary equips after a while from mission satchels if you do the Very Hard Esior Haven missions, or even just epic equips from the Hard ones.

Thanks so much for the answer! You misunderstood my question about the breeding. I meant how long it takes for a couple to generate an egg? But aside from that everything else is a huge help! Thank you!

Eggs are created instantaneously upon breeding.
(regular females then have a 3 day cooldown until they can breed again, and fabled females have a 7 day cooldown, but the egg appears instantly and it placed in the hatchery)

Hello!
How can I get Trait Points for creating new sylesti?

It depends on the essence you're using. Regular gives 2 points, and mystical and enhanced give 4 points

And what's an essence and how can I get it?

an essence is something that is needed to generate a sylesti. They are available for purchase in the diamond shop or you can buy it from other players on the trade broker. You can also get it from battling or nurturing, but you'll need to battle/nurture a lot