Check out this walkthrough video!
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What is pet deed incubation?
It's a totally optional secondary process that a bio-engineer can perform upon pet deeds, after they have been crafted. Think of it as "slicing for pets" - thank you to Tatwi for that reference! It happens in three phases, and will improve the stats of the pet deed, but you can craft and use pet deeds without doing this step if you so choose. However, if you're going to do it, it must be done before generating the pet for the first time. It can't be done after the pet deed stops being a deed.
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- How to Incubate a Pet Deed: the Quick & Dirty Guide -
You need an Incubator Station (craftable at Novice Architect) to perform the incubation process.
You will need:
1 Pet Deed (crafted by a Bio-Engineer)
1 Creature Egg (this can be crafted by a Bio-Engineer using 3 Hydrolase Enzymes, 3 Lyase Enzymes, and 3 Isomerase Enzymes, or can also be "foraged" by searching creature lairs.)
Put the Incubator somewhere in your house and stand nearby.
Open the input hopper on the Incubator using the radial menu, and place the pet deed and creature egg inside. Close the window.
Use the radial menu on the Incubator and choose "Incubate Pet Deed."
Wait while the magic happens, and see what stat modifications you get!
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- The Tools of the Trade -
Incubator Station
* Craftable at Novice Architect.
* Identical in resource and component requirements to the Food & Chemical crafting station.
* Also functions as a Food & Chemical crafting station, so you no longer need one of those to craft pets, if you have an Incubator Station nearby.
* Put one Pet Deed which has not yet been incubated and one Creature Egg into the Incubator Station's input hopper, and a Bio-Engineer can use the radial menu to begin the three-phase incubation process.
Enzyme Extractor
* Craftable at Novice Bio-Engineer.
* Takes 40 organic and 60 steel, and has a varying number of uses, dependent upon resource quality (66% DR, 33% OQ).
* Useable by any player, on a corpse they have loot rights to, to extract a Hydrolase Enzyme. Each corpse will only yield one enzyme.
Enzyme Centrifuge
* Craftable at Novice Bio-Engineer.
* Takes 180 aluminum, 75 fiberplast, and 1 electronics GP module. Quality does not matter.
* Put one Hydrolase Enzyme into the centrifuge and a Bio-Engineer can use the radial menu to convert the enzyme into two random Enzyme Elements.
* The Enzyme Centrifuge and its contents will be consumed upon use.
Enzyme Refining Tray
* Craftable at Novice Bio-Engineer.
* Takes 75 crystalline gemstone, 60 liquid petro fuel, and 110 metal. Quality does not matter.
* Put one of each Enzyme Element (A, B, C, D, and E) into the tray and a Bio-Engineer can use the radial menu to convert the Elements into one random-colored Isomerase Enzyme.
* The Enzyme Refining Tray and its contents will be consumed upon use.
Enzyme Re-Processor
* Craftable at Novice Bio-Engineer.
* Takes 180 aluminum, 75 fiberplast, and 1 control unit. Quality does not matter.
* Put two Enzyme Elements and one Live Creature sample into the re-processor and a Bio-Engineer can use the radial menu to convert them into one Lyase Enzyme. The color of the enzyme you get will be determined by the combination of Elements and Live Creature sample you use.
* The Enzyme Re-Processor and its contents will be consumed upon use.
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- The Enzymes -
Hydrolase Enzymes
* Extracted from dead creatures using an Enzyme Extractor (craftable at Novice Bio-Engineer). Any player can extract Hydrolase Enzymes (but if you don't have at least Scout, the corpse may disappear too quickly to use the tool).
* Cannot be extracted from extremely high level creatures.
* Contain two values: Enzyme Purity and Mutagen Potential, both of which play a role in which stat modification you get during the phase of incubation where the enzyme is used.
* High Purity or Mutagen Potential also increases your chances of having an Epiphany (gaining a rare schematic) Mutant schematics are determined by Mutagen Potential, as well as whether or not you are combining your Egg with an appropriate creature deed. Purity affects chance to gain a regular creature Epiphany schematic.
* One Hydrolase Enzyme is required for each phase of incubation.
Enzyme Elements (A, B, C, D, E)
* Created by processing one Hydrolase Enzyme in an Enzyme Centrifuge (craftable at Novice Bio-Engineer, usable by Novice Bio-Engineer or higher).
* One Hydrolase Enzyme yields two random Enzyme Elements.
Isomerase Enzymes
* Created by processing all 5 Enzyme Elements (one of each Enzyme Element, A-E) in an Enzyme Refining Tray (craftable at Novice Bio-Engineer, usable by Novice Bio-Engineer or higher).
* Comes in ten colors (random color is created).
* Color plays a role in which stat modification you get during the phase of incubation where the enzyme is used.
* One Isomerase Enzyme is required for each phase of incubation.
Lyase Enzymes
* Created by processing 2 Enzyme Elements and 1 Live Creature Sample in an Enzyme Re-Processor (craftable at Novice Bio-Engineer, usable by Novice Bio-Engineer or higher).
* Comes in ten colors, and which color you get depends on the combination of Enzyme Elements and Live Creature Sample used.
* Color plays a role in which stat modification you get during the phase of incubation where the enzyme is used.
* Has a randomly generated Baseline stat, which plays a role in whether or not you have a chance to have an Epiphany. (Bigger Baseline isn't necessarily better - what you're wanting is a match with your Reference number on your Egg. If you get a match, you have a chance to have an epiphany. How great that chance is, depends on the Purity or Mutagen Potential of your Hydrolase Enzyme.)
* One Lyase Enzyme is required for each phase of incubation.
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- The Creature Egg -
* Craftable at Novice Bio-Engineer.
* Takes three Hydrolase Enzymes, three Isomerase Enzymes, and three Lyase Enzymes
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- Questions -
What are the stat modifications I could get during incubation?
- Level decrease (one level possible per phase)
- Addition of Light Armor to a pet with No Armor (this modification will only apply once, regardless of how many times you "get" it)
- Increase in HAM by 2%-8% per phase
- Increase in one resist (+10 to +20 Kinetic or Energy, or +10 to other resists - one resist increase possible per phase)
- Increase to-hit by 5%-22% per phase
- Increase in min and max damage by 1%-5% per phase
- Decrease in attack speed by 3%-6% per phase (caps at speed of 1 - lower = faster = better)
Okay, but how do I get the stat modifications I *want*?
-That's something you're going to have to figure out! The color of the Isomerase Enzyme, the color of the Lyase Enzyme, and the Enzyme Purity and Mutagen Potential values of the Hydrolase Enzyme all affect the stat modification you're going to get, and the combinations it takes to get each different stat modification are different for each of the three phases. Document all of these stats and what you end up with for each phase, and you'll be on your way to figuring out the "magic!"
I heard something about Epiphanies?
-Yes, you can have a chance to have an Epiphany (i.e. earn a random rare pet schematic) during every phase of incubation. Whether or not you have a chance at all to have an epiphany during a phase depends upon whether the Reference number you got for that phase is a "match" for the Baseline value on your Lyase Enzyme. And your chance of succeeding at the epiphany if you do get a match is based upon your Hydrolase Enzyme's Purity or Mutagen Potential value. The higher the value, the better your chance of having an epiphany. Purity affects your chance to get a regular creature Epiphany Schematic. Mutagen Potential affects your chance to get a mutant Epiphany Schematic, BUT you will only get the mutant Epiphany if the deed you are combining your Egg with is of the right creature type - i.e. if you are incubating a Dewback deed, you'd get a Horned Dewback. If you're incubating a Langlatch, you wouldn't get a schematic, because there is no mutation for a Langlatch.
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- Career Ideas -
Forager
Scouts can search lairs for live creature samples, or an unknown creature's egg. These will both be in demand for Bio-Engineers.
Enzyme Harvester
Anyone can use an Enzyme Extractor to extract a raw Hydrolase Enzyme from a creature they have killed. You can sell these to Bio-Engineers who don't want to take the time to extract their own.
Enzyme Refiner
A Novice Bio-Engineer or above can use Hydrolase Enzymes and crafted tools to produce Isomerase and Lyase Enzymes in various colors, and sell those to Bio-Engineers who don't want to refine their own. Isomerase will always refine to a random color, but it's possible to get the specific Lyase color you want by using particular combinations of ingredients.
Eggmaker
A Novice Bio-Engineer or above who combines enzymes to make eggs that other Bio-Engineers can use to incubate pets. Once you've worked out the specific combinations, you SHOULD be able to reliably craft eggs that will give any set of three stat bonuses the end user wants. These could then be applied on-demand to stock or special order pet deeds.