Axie Infinity is an exciting RPG game where you can breed and hatch Axies to fight on the battlefield. Players often get excited and want to breed their Axies as soon as they get their first Axie. However, don’t let the fun distract you from the fact that breeding Axie is not as easy as it may seem.
In our previous guides, we introduced how you can get started and how to play Axie Infinity. In this guide, we will teach you the 5 simple steps to breed an Axie.
1. Plan your breeding
Before you start breeding your Axies, you will first determine what Axie you would like to get. Do you need a purebred aquatic Axie that could lead you to the top of the leaderboard? Or do you want a quirky hybrid Axie that nobody has ever encountered before? Or maybe even a collector’s Axie that is unique and has rare body parts?
While some Axies are better than others, all of them have their use cases. Regardless, never breed without planning!
Assuming that you want to breed an Axie for PvP matches:
Above is a widely-used “backdoor bird” that can easily take down an opponent’s attacker by combining a Dark Swoop card to target the fastest enemy with three other high damage cards. Every card here well defines the Axie’s role in a team — an attacker. Hence, this Axie is considered a “good” Axie for PvP.
Now, let’s look at this hybrid Axie. The Axie has three offensive cards (Dark Swoop, Air Force One, Gerbil Jump) and one defensive card (Refresh). This looks not bad as the Axie could serve as offensive support at the second lane of a team. However, Dark Swoop and Gerbil Jump have the same purpose: skipping the opponent’s tank and hitting directly at the attacker. We don’t need to skip the tank many times. Hence, the card combination is not advantageous for PvP matches.
There are many different team compositions and skills so drafting a well-balanced team is important. As such, planning your breeding strategy is crucial. We can accomplish this by analyzing the potential parents’ genes.
Each Axie has a total of 6 sets of genes, which will determine an Axie’s six different body parts. Each part consists of 3 genes: Dominant (D), Recessive (R1), and Minor Recessive (R2).
The dominant genes will determine the body parts that are present physically on an Axie. Each gene has a percentage chance to be passed down to the offspring, including R1 and R2.
You can analyze your Axie’s recessive genes using the Axie.zone Finder to have a brief idea of what kind of Axie you can breed. Then, proceed to the next step of simulating breeding outcomes.
2. Simulate the outcomes
There are several Axie breeding calculators on the web, but we will use the Axie.zone Breeding Simulator in this tutorial. To do so, type your Axies’ IDs and click "Breed". You may simulate the breeding as many times as you want.
Do note that an Axie cannot be bred with its siblings and parents. However, an Axie can be bred with its non-immediate family. The main strategy to minimize the startup cost for a breeding farm by starting with only three Axies is called the ABC looping method.
3. Analyze the possibilities
Once you click “Breed”, one result will appear below the simulator. Click “Breed” at least five times to get a general idea of what your offspring will look like. It’s up to you if you want to simulate several times more.
It is essential to check if there are any recessive genes that you do not desire but have a high probability of being inherited by the offspring. This usually happens when the parents have the same recessive genes. Let's say the parents have the same R1 gene, then the chance of the gene being inherited will double from 9.375% to 18.75%.
Then, review the possible outcomes’ skill combinations, meta score, stats, appearance, and estimated market price. You might want to reconsider mating the two Axies if most of the breeding simulations seem off.
Class & Body Pattern
When two Axies are mated, the offspring will have a 50/50 chance of inheriting one of the parents' classes. Breeding two Axies with the same class has a 100% chance of returning an offspring with the same class. However, do note that breeding a secret class Axie is an exception.
The following are the recipes for breeding secret class Axies:
Axies have different body patterns, and the parents’ body patterns determine which body pattern the offspring will get. The formula to create certain body patterns is as shown below:
4. Review the breeding cost
Breeding an Axie requires two resources: Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) and Smooth Love Potions (SLP). Each Axie can be bred a maximum of 7 times. At the time of writing, breeding costs 4 AXS and some SLP to breed an Axie. SLP cost depends on the breed count of both parents.
You may view the exact amount of resources needed to breed by pairing two Axies from your inventory. Simply log in to the Axie Marketplace, and click My Account > Inventory. Next, select one of the Axie and click on “Breed”. Then, pair it with another Axie.
If you want to calculate the total amount of resources you need, you can check out our pages for AXS, SLP and other cryptocurrencies to use the currency converter on each page.
The amount of breeding fee denoted in fiat may fluctuate constantly depending on the market value of AXS price and SLP price, so don’t forget to check the price before you breed!
5. Breed and morph
Once you confirm the breeding cost, click “Let’s Breed!” on the breeding page to breed the Axies. After breeding, you will receive an Egg in your inventory. It takes five days for an Axie to mature. You can morph your egg into an adult Axie after five days and reveal the Axie's genes and class.
Mutation
If your Axie has a foreign gene that doesn’t come from either of the parents, don’t worry, it’s part of the breeding process.
Mutation occurs when a recessive gene changes into a completely random gene not inherited from either of the parents. Do note that the dominant gene of an Axie cannot be mutated.
Conclusion
Congratulations, by following this guide, you would have bred your very first Axie! Whatever the outcome is, cherish your Axie and fully immerse yourself in the game. If you are interested in selling the Axie that you have just bred, you can refer to our guide on selling Axies. We hope you enjoy this tutorial, and stay tuned for more Axie Infinity guides from us!
Watch our video guide:
Chin Yi Hong
Yi Hong is a market research intern at CoinGecko. He is a finance student who is learning more about blockchain technology.
