Breeding

Breeding is now in PixARK so that you can foster tames that are more desirable. As of May 30th, 2019

**Mating**

* Before breeding, it is advisable to check the in-game bestiary to confirm if breeding is available for the desired species. Tame one male and one female breedable species will be the first step to breed.
* Once the couple is set to patrolling mode, they will automatically start mating, which is indicated by the three hearts. A mating progression bar is visible on the female. As the bar progresses to its fullness, mating completes.
* Distance restriction is applied to mating. If the couple is too far away from each other, mating will stop, and it will start from scratch once they are close to each other again. To keep the couple in close distance, it is suggested to press U to call them to stop, or build a small space to enclose them.

**Gestation and Incubation**

* Breeding can be done by incubation and gestation in PixARK.
* When the mating ends, gestatable female will be bred with pregnancy. Its pregnancy progression bar will show up when player character gets close it her. Gestation will be completed as the progression bar is filled up, and a new-born comes to the world of PixARK.
* A fertilized egg will be produced once the incubation couple finish their mating stage. The egg needs to be carefully preserved under suitable temperature for it to begin hatching. The hatching progression bar will show up when player character gets close to the egg. As the progression bar is filled up, a new-born comes out of the egg. It is advisable to be wary of the surrounding temperature, because hyperthermia and hypothermia will both stall the hatching and drain the egg’s HP.

**Raising New-borns**

* New-borns need to be claimed immediately after they are born. Otherwise, they will be running around and you risk losing it. For claimed babies, their growth is indicated by their growth progression bar, and their size grows as the progression bar increments.
* New-born babies are at the most vulnerable, so be sure to take good care of them once you claim the babies. They consume food faster, and can not be fed from feeding trough, so players you need to keep an eye out on the and constantly replenish their inventory with feed before it runs out. Once their growth progression reaches 5%, you can start putting feed into the feeding trough for them to eat.
* As the babies grow, Imprinting tasks will be available. Completing the task will increase the imprinting value, which attributes to stats increase when the babies grow up.
* Closely tied to their beloved caregivers, bred grown-ups with 100% imprinting will enjoy extra stats increase when mounted by the player who takes good care of them.
* Stats of Offspring ~Firstly, the offspring will inherit the parents’ stats, randomly getting assigned one from the two per attribute and stat. ~Secondly, there is a possibility for the offspring to mutate and enjoy additional value on top of the inherited stats. See more below.

#### Mutations

* New-borns can gain a mutation from either the female or the male. The chance is based on the gained levels of each parent above their base level. This appears to be limited by the parent with fewer gained levels so level up both parents prior to breeding.
* Mutations are randomly applied and increase one attribute of the offspring by three wild levels. While the speed stat can get a mutation applied, extra speed levels do nothing in PixARK. Offspring that get a mutation with no increase in stats, or an increase in Food or Oxygen should probably be discarded.
* Parents should never be bred together if both have mutations gained. Parents pass their mutation counter to their offspring so you will fill up your available mutation counter exponentially by breeding them together.
* Always keep females with zero mutations for breeding so you don't increase that mutation counter faster than necessary.
* If you are serious about breeding for mutations, breed a large number of females with zero mutations first. Breeding comes with a high amount of randomness so the more breeding chances you can give yourself the more valuable tames you will breed.

**Notes to Breeding**

* Creatures can be made sterile, and thus lose the ability to mate.
* Females can not mate again until a mating cooldown interval has passed. Males have none.
* Pregnant female creatures cannot be turned into a PixBlock.
* Always be prepared for having more than one baby creature to be born upon incubation or gestation. There is a chance to have twins and triplets, so be sure to supply with plenty of feed.
* Claimed babies are tied only to the claimer. Other members from the same tribe as the claimer can help feed the babies, but can not help with finishing the imprinting tasks.
* Pre-adult creatures are very fragile. They are neither able to fight nor to be turned into PixBlocks.

1. ↑ https://steamcommunity.com/games/593600/announcements/detail/1593624963023874560