Ninian's Guide To Chocobo Raising V2

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Ninian's Guide to Chocobo Raising v2
 Fenrir.Niniann
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By Fenrir.Niniann 2012-08-24 15:42:27
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This guide is a compilation of things I've learned over the course of researching Chocobos. Many insights were gained through FFXIclopedia, JPWiki, and my own personal experiences. This guide is a work in progress, and should be treated as such. I will do my best to update the sections regularly.

Since this guide is a remake, you may view the old thread here.

Last Updated: 8/24/2012

What kind of Chocobo?

Before you continue reading this guide, you must ask yourself what kind of chocobo do you want?

Racer

A Racing Chocobo is what's going to net you the coveted chocobo pullus torque and Crystal Stakes gold cup. It also has the potential to earn you ~100k a day, and more if you place successful bets on your bird. However, I must warn you that these chocobos are very expensive to raise properly, and require a lot of care.

Digger

These chocobos are adept at finding things in the ground all over Vana'diel. It's classified as a craft, and as thus must be treated as such. It will cost a decent chunk of gil to raise your digging skill to max level, and there's a cap to how much you can dig per RL day(and how much you can dig in an area per game day) making the process very tedious. You can have the greatest digger in the world, but if you don't have the digging skill to back it up, you're not going to get very far.

Summonable Mount

These chocobos sole purpose in life is to make it easier for you to get around. Because they don't require much in the way of expenses, they're very easy to raise. Note that you can use any of the aforementioned chocobos as a suitable mount, but their top speed and riding duration depends on STR and END stats, and the abilities Gallop and Canter. Keep in mind your chocobo will only be as fast as a rental, unfortunately, never faster.

Breeder

These chocobos are created with the intent to have parents to create a whole generation of chocobos. They will be the color you desire, and have very high receptivity to pass on the traits you wish for your future chocobos. I find these useful only if you're having a hard time finding people on your server with C+ Receptivity, with the Color/Abilities you wish your future chocobos to possess.
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 Fenrir.Niniann
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By Fenrir.Niniann 2012-08-24 15:42:33
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Chocobo Raising

Eggs

According to JP Wiki chocobos have three color genes, and the color is determined by a combination thereof. For instance, if a chocobo has x2 of the same color gene, it will be that color. If it has red/blue/green genes, the colors can be yellow or black(possibly a third color?) depending on the order of the genes. The warmths of the eggs express the percentage of color, and the percents for the distribution of genes.

Gene RatioColor%
Three IdenticalTwo IdenticalDifferent Yellow Black Blue Red Green
Bit Warm25.0%50.0%25.0%95.0%3.0%1.0%0.5%0.5%
Faintly Warm17.5%60.0%22.5%85.0%5.0%3.4%3.3%3.3%
Slightly Warm16.0%65.0%19.0%75.0%10.0%5.0%5.0%5.0%
Little Warm15.0%70.0%15.0%32.0%18.0%18.0%16.0%16.0%
Somewhat Warm10.0%75.0%15.0%12.0%22.0%22.0%22.0%22.0%

Let me explain this table a bit. It shows the % chance of the gene ratio distribution, and % chance of colors. This is essentially the formula the ISNM eggs take. It works the same way for bred eggs, but you know the parents so you know that if you mate two blue chocobos for example, you're likely going to receive a Little Warm or Somewhat Warm egg, since the parents both have (at least) two blue genes.

ISNM

I suppose I should say good luck finding people to do these nowadays, but if you have a solid group of friends and some leftover Imperial Standing, you're ready to get started.

Little Warm Eggs: Call To Arms, Tough Nut to Crack, Making a Mockery

Somewhat Warm Eggs:
Compliments to the Chef, Happy Caster, Shadows of the Mind

Vendor/Quest

Bit Warm Eggs:
Chocobo on the Loose!(Quest), Dabih Jajalioh(NPC)

Faintly Warm Eggs: Dabih Jajalioh(NPC)

Slightly Warm Eggs: Dabih Jajalioh(NPC)

Breeding

You can also obtain chocobo eggs by breeding. The egg's warmth varies depending on many factors.

For the best results, it is recommended you find two chocobos of the color you want (male and female), who also have the ability you want to inherit. Keep in mind a chocobo can only inherit one ability. You can inherit the ability in either slot, but it seems you have a greater chance to inherit the one in the first slot.

It is also a bonus to find at least one parent with Receptivity C+, preferably the gender the corresponds with the stat up effect you wish to receive(these are based on honeymoon plans).

Honeymoon Plans:

These plans are crucial to the development of your chocobo. The increased stat gains cause your chocobo's enhanced stat to be about a level~a level and a half above what they would normally be. It is possible that having such a large bonus is dependent on other factors such as egg warmth or the parent's stats.

Gourmet Plan: Increased chance the resulting chick will be male. The chocobo's strength will increase at an accelerated rate.

Sports Plan: Increased chance the resulting chick will inherit abilities from the father. The chocobo's endurance will increase at an accelerated rate.

Hiking Plan: Increased chance the resulting chick will be female. The chocobo's discernment will increase at an accelerated rate.

Jeuno Tour Plan: Increased chance the resulting chick will inherit abilities from the mother. The chocobo's receptivity will increase at an accelerated rate.

Chocobo Feed

It is very important to consider your budget and resources when picking food for your chocobo. The food I have listed in the below care plans is the optimal food, but I understand that for some people Vomp carrot all day e'rry day isn't going to work. I will try to alleviate some of these problems my listening alternatives, and giving you information on what each item does.

Cheap Food

bunch of gysahl greens: satisfy the chocobo's hunger (moderate amount) and increase the chocobo's affection slightly. If you don't have gil to spend on food, this is going to be your bread and butter. They're very cheap and can be bought off the auction house for ~500gil a stack, and can be purchased off various vendors, including ones located very close if not inside the stables for 61~70gil a piece. Three will completely fill a starving chocobo.

San d'Orian carrot: raises Endurance (by 1?) and lowers Strength (by 1?), according to FFXIclopedia. JP Wiki states that it raises all stats by a small amount. I'd use this food with caution until I gather more information about it. If you cannot afford other carrots, personally I'd stick to a strict Gysahl Greens diet. Three will completely fill a starving chocobo.

Stat-Raising Food

It's possible to acquire these foods through various means. I highly suggest that you garden your food if your character(s) are more than three months old, and you have a supply of mules to garden with.

You may purchase bag of wildgrass seeds from Khaf Jhifanm in Aht Urhgan Whitegate inside the south-most port. Use earthen flowerpot if you want a cheap pot, but wooden flowerpot yields significantly better results. Check your plants every day else they'll wither and die, and feed them earth crystal if you want Vomp carrot, and ice crystal if you want Zegham carrot, bunch of Sharug greens and bunch of Azouph greens.

On some servers, people sell the feed through the AH, but I found this is a bit unreliable. Most servers will have a character who bazaars chocobo feed for profit, and they're usually sitting outside the most popular stables.

If you cannot garden or find someone willing to sell you the food, you're for the most part screwed. You can race your chocobo when it reaches adulthood to earn chocobucks to buy food, but I find that the food is overpriced, and by the time your chocobo is already an adult it's a bit too late to be worrying about top-notch food. If you had a chocobo before this, this is a viable option.

Vomp carrot: increases Strength and Endurance by a small amount(0.5?). This is the absolute best physical food you can feed your chocobo. Three will completely fill a starving chocobo.

Zegham carrot: increases Discernment and Receptivity by a small amount(0.5?). This is the absolute best mental food you can feed your chocobo. Three will completely fill a starving chocobo.

bunch of Sharug greens: satisfy the chocobo's hunger (moderate amount) and increase the chocobo's affection dramatically. Also raises a chocobo's physical stats slightly. Best paired with Vomp Carrots when using vigorous training regimes. Feed x2 Sharug Greens -> x2 Vomp Carrots, one by one. Four will completely fill a starving chocobo.

bunch of Azouph greens: satisfy the chocobo's hunger (highest amount) and increase the chocobo's affection dramatically. Also raises a chocobo's mental stats slightly. Best paired with Zegham Carrots when using vigorous training regimes. Feed x2 Zegham Carrots -> x1 Azouph Greens, one by one. Two will completely fill a starving chocobo.

Other Food

These foods do various things, from healing your chocobo from an illness, to restoring their energy.

clump of Tokopekko wildgrass: is used to treat illnesses.

clump of Garidav wildgrass: is used to alleviate stomach aches. You should never need to use this if you portion your food correctly.

clump of Gausebit wildgrass: is used to treat injuries.

cupid worm: is used to increase the chocobo's affection by a substantial amount (about +3 levels) and lowers one of your highest stats by a small amount. This effect is canceled when the bird is perky or in high spirits. This is only useful if you forget to take care of your chocobo for a while, you hopefully will never need to use one.

gregarious worm: is used to restore about 1/4 the chocobo's energy, completely filling the chocobo. Chocolixirs are a superior way to fill your energy bar, so there's no reason to use this ever.

parasite worm: lowers a random stat and allows your bird to eat more. It is used to change one of your chocobo's color genes. Really only useful if you're raising a bird that came from a NPC egg and you're hoping for color.

bowl of lethe potage: is used to erase unwanted abilies. Amount needed to feed varies from 1 to 6, and the effect is immediate. Useful for if your chocobo was born with an ability you don't want. Note that once you erase an ability, you can't get the story back to re-lean it, assuming it wasn't born with the ability.

bowl of lethe consomme: is used to erase unwanted abilies. Amount needed to feed varies from 1 to 6, and the effect is immediate. Useful for if your chocobo was born with an ability you don't want. Note that once you erase an ability, you can't get the story back to re-lean it, assuming it wasn't born with the ability.

chocolixir: when used will restore the chocobo's energy to full (provided it is given when the chocobo is not full), and completely heal all status ailments. Two will completely fill a starving chocobo.

chocotonic: is used to wake up a sleeping chocobo, slightly lowering affection. This was introduced as a way to fix the bird from the sleep glitch.

celerity salad: effective in curing most status abnormalities, and restores some health to the chocobo. Increases Discernment slightly.

ball of carrot paste: is feed for chicks that raises physical attributes, and fills the chick up rapidly, but lowers Discernment. Will lower affection if fed to a chocobo that is not a chick. I do not recommend this food.

ball of herb paste: is feed for chicks that cures illness. Will lower affection if fed to a chocobo that is not a chick. I do not recommend this food.

ball of vegetable paste: is feed for chicks, and increases affection. Will lower affection if fed to a chocobo that is not a chick. I do not recommend this food.

ball of worm paste: is feed for chicks. Will heal it slightly while increasing energy. It dramatically increases affection, but lowers it's stats. Will lower affection if fed to a chocobo that is not a chick. I do not recommend this food.

Choosing a Stable

Many overlook this part of chocobo raising, and just stick their eggs in their home nation. This isn't wrong, but I'd look into what each city has in store for your chocobo. Nowadays, getting to the various cities isn't exactly rocket science. If you really feel the need to change nations, go for it.

Learning stories earlier than normal isn't always that important, but giving your chocobo a weather preference is crucial for both racing and digging chocobos.

Racers tend to do well with a rain preference, and I strongly recommend you raise one in Bastok or San d'Oria if you plan to be serious about your chocobo. If you're looking into San d'Oria, try and set up your adolescence around rainy season. The seasons are based on a system similar to our months, and rainy season is spring. I think it takes about 4 real life days to go through a season, but I'm not too sure.

Diggers have a chance to dig up rarer items, and items more frequently while in the weather of their preference. However, you receive the opposite effect in weathers it dislikes. Research the items that are most profitable on your server, and make your weather preference match the zone you wish to dig in the most.

San d'Oria

Trade your egg to Hantileon if you choose to start your chocobo here

Can acquire the story for Gallop on short walks.
Can acquire the story for Burrow on regular walks.
Has a chance to encounter wind weather on regular walks.
Has a chance to encounter rain weather on regular and long walks.
Has a chance to encounter lightning weather on long walks.

Bastok

Trade your egg to Zopago if you choose to start your chocobo here

Can acquire the story for Burrow on short walks.
Has a chance to encounter earth weather on regular walks.
Has a chance to encounter lightning weather on regular and long walks.
Has a high chance to encounter rain weather on long walks.

Windurst

Trade your egg to Pulonono if you choose to start your chocobo here

Can acquire the story for Bore on short walks.
Has a chance to encounter wind weather on regular walks.
Has a high chance to encounter earth weather on regular and long walks.
Has a small chance to encounter fire weather on long walks.

Raising Your Chocobo

No matter if you want a racer, digger, or even a basic rider, raising a chocobo is the same during the beginning. You'll need to take into account your goals at a later date (around adulthood), but for now the way you wish to raise it is purely based on aesthetics.

Once you've got a vague idea of what you want to do with your chocobo, we're ready to start.

Egg and Chick

**Each real life day starts from the exact moment you traded your egg, not JP midnight.**

If you've raised your chocobo before, you should pick up green racing silks, otherwise you should grab it once your chocobo is an adult. It's an excellent item to enhance the effectiveness of chocobo raising.

The absolute most important thing you can do for your chocobo is to watch it 100~150x during it's egg phase. I cannot stress this enough. You don't have to do it all in one day--you have four days to do so, starting from the exact time you traded your egg. You however must do this. Doing this caps your Chocobo's affection--which is normally difficult to do--giving you an easier time raising your chocobo.

Alright, so four days have passed and your chocobo hatches. It's now when it'll tell you whether it's a male or female, and whether or not it learned any abilities. You won't know what color it is until it hits adolescence. I suggest naming your chocobo immediately if you plan to do Kamp Kweh, otherwise I'd wait until you know what color it is so you can give it a cute color-name.

DO NOT FEED YOUR CHOCOBO... after it hatches, it is completely full. If you feed it, you will potentially upset it's stomach, and it'll be a very, very sad chocobo. Now's when you set your chocobo's care schedule. This is the most important part about chocobo raising, since it gives you the most stat gains.

To access your care plan, talk to your chocobo trainer, then select Set up a care schedule.

Which care plan you set depends entirely on how you want your chocobo to look when it grows up. Most people raising racers want to go with the traditional 'racing' look--fluffy tail feathers and sharp claws. If you wish to have a chocobo that looks like that, then set your care plan to Taking a Walk. Do seven days and fill up all the slots. You'll need to remember to check this again later, as you don't want your care plan switching to basic care.

If you desire your chocobo to look more intellectual, with a large beak and fluffy head feathers, you're going to want to set your care plan to Listening to Music.

For the end-result of your chocobo, it doesn't matter much which stats you choose to raise first. If you're raising a chocobo strictly for PC Cup races, I do not recommend raising it's INT stats first, since those chocobos do not raise receptivity. However, all other racers--especially if it's your first racing chocobo--will require moderate receptivity to win a Pullus Torque and gain Solo Victory Points. I should note that it is entirely possible to place first in a C1 race with a chocobo with receptivity. Diggers of course will benefit from high-mind stats, but they also will need some physical ones as well.

Now that you have your care plans set, it's time to care for your chocobo. To do this, talk to your chocobo trainer, and select Care for your chocobo. You'll have the options Watch over the Chocobo, Scold the Chocobo and Go on a Walk (short). For Go on a Walk (short), it doesn't matter if you choose Leisurely or Brisk. They have the same effects, Brisk just skips the cutscene.

You're going to want to spam Go on a Walk (short) until you're unable to, then spam Watch over the Chocobo until it's out of HP.

Going on a walk raises it's affection and endurance slightly, while watching over your chocobo raises affection slightly. Spamming watches will help deplete your energy bar completely, which will allow you to eat three carrots the following day. If you do not completely drain the energy bar, you will only be allowed to feed it two carrots. There's talk about how if you completely drain your chocobo's energy it has a higher chance of getting sick and whatnot--I'm pretty sure it's complete BS. It's just random. And you're hurting yourself more by not getting in that extra carrot.

Day two onward, you start your day by talking to the chocobo trainer. He'll tell you the success (or failure) of your care plans, and if your chocobo has any statuses. Statuses can be positive or negative, we're going to ignore this for now, I'll come back to it later. If your chocobo does have a negative status ailment on day two, you'll potentially need to feed it a status-curing item along with it's normal food plan. I'll discuss this shortly. Assuming everything is normal, move on to the next step.

On day two it's finally time to feed your chocobo. If you're using Taking a Walk care plan, feed your chocobo Vomp carrot one at a time(you do this by trading the item to the trainer). Stop feeding it when it says that your chocobo is completely full. Feeding it something potent(such as bunch of Azouph greens or a carrot) at quite full will not cause it to have any stomach aches, so don't worry. You should easily be able to feed your chocobo three carrots a day.

If your chocobo is on Listening to Music, feed it three Zegham carrot one by one as stated previously.

Your typical days consist of this routine:

Check your chocobo. If it has a status ailment, what is it?

Ill: feed it clump of Tokopekko wildgrass after feeding it it's appropriate food minus one item.

Injured: feed it clump of Gausebit wildgrass after feeding it it's appropriate food minus one item.

Lovesick: feed it a celerity salad after feeding it it's appropriate food minus one item.

Bored: Compete against Others.

Spoiled: Scold the Chocobo(once).

These are the most common negative ailments your chocobo will experience. More statuses can be found here, most of which won't happen unless you neglect your chocobo. Hopefully you won't experience those.

If your chocobo doesn't have a status ailment, you're free to feed it it's regular food.

After your chocobo's fed, it's time to care for it directly. Once you're finished with that, it's always a good idea to check your care plans and make sure that they're set. It takes a day (after the day you set it) for the care plan to take affect, so be careful!


Kamp Kweh

I highly recommend participating in this event daily. If you have a friend with a chocobo in the same stables as yours, nag them to party with you, and talk to one of the following NPCs: Gerahja(Bastok), Fonteloube(San d'Oria), and Shaty-Monty.

Once you're done nagging your friend, make sure they're in the same zone otherwise this won't work. You both have to have checked your chocobo that day, and they need to be named. Once all that is taken care of, talk to your NPC. You're given a bunch of options: Call your chocobo, Let it play with others, Check the chocobos' vitals, Check mating compatibility, and Nothing.

Usually I start my visit with Call your chocobo. I don't know if it does anything, but I do it anyway. It's possible it's affection+, but I have no way to prove or disprove this.

After that I'll do Let it play with others. This will trigger a cute CS of the chocobos playing together and you may receive a stat-up. You can only receive one stat up per day(resets at JP-midnight), and it seems if you don't get a stat up with the first chocobo you play with, you won't get one for the rest of the day. These stat ups include: Your chocobo's strength has slightly improved(STR), Your chocobo has become slightly more patient(END), Your chocobo has become slightly more intelligent(DSC), and Your chocobo has become slightly more receptive(RCP).

The other options are fun to do. Check the chocobos' vitals allows you to view your chocobo's information and your friend's in a nice easy to read layout. Check mating compatibility will show you what color your chick will be if you mate the two chocobos, and you can do this once every day(resets at JP-midnight). If the parent chocobo is still a chick, it'll show it as a yellow chocobo regardless of it's actual color. The color of the chick may change daily depending on your genes. For example, my chocobo(blue) and my friend's chocobo(red) did mating compatibility quite frequently for funsies. Usually the chick turned out red, but occasionally it'd turn out to be green.

Nothing will quit you out of Kamp Kweh when you're finished.

Adolescence

Yay! You finally know what color your chocobo is. It'll either be yellow, red, blue, green, or black! If you haven't given your chocobo a name, you should do so.

Once your chocobo reaches adolescence, it has more care and careplan options. You may now Tell a Story
(DSC+), Go on a Walk (regular)(affection+ END+) and Compete against Others(STR+).

If you're going for physical stats, you have your choice of two regular walks and a bunch of watching your chocobo, or a mix of compete against others, walks and watching.

If your goal is to raise mental stats, you should spam Tell a Story, and make sure it's either random chit-chat, or a story you want your chocobo to learn. Nothing is worse than accidentally learning an ability you didn't want to learn. Deplete the rest of your chocobo's HP bar by spamming watches as usual.

As for the new care plans, you gain access to Exercise Alone, Exercise in a Group, Interact with Children, Interact with Other Chocobos, Carry Packages, and Exhibit to the Public.

If your chocobo is raising physical stats, switch your care plan to Carry Packages. If raising mental stats, switch to Exhibit to the Public. Set it to 7 days, all slots. You'll need to check this again before your chocobo reaches adulthood otherwise it'll switch to Basic Care.

Continue feeding your chocobo three of the appropriate carrots, and you're good to go until it reaches adulthood.

Adult

Now that your chocobo's an adult, you need to plan out it's future. I can give you tips and feedback, but this is ultimately your decision. I'll do my best to make this an informed one.

To make such a decision, you must understand the stats, and their effects as well as understanding how to allot points towards each stat to make your chocobo the best it can be.

Chocobo Attributes

Strength: is a physical stat which on the field affects your chocobo's movement speed. In races, it affects both it's base speed and top speed.

Endurance: is a physical stat which on the field affects your chocobo's riding time. In races, it affects how long you can maintain top speed.

Discernment: is a mental stat which on the field affects your chocobo's ability to find items while digging. During chocobo raising, various amounts of DSC are necessary to learn abilities. For racing, DSC allows you the chance to leave the gate early, and higher DSC allows your chocobo to pace itself so it doesn't burn all of it's Endurance at once.

Receptivity: is a mental stat that affects your chocobo's ability to communicate with other chocobos. It increases your chocobo's chance to pass down abilities to it's young through breeding. In races, it affects your ability to dodge attacks, and potentially increases your offensive item accuracy. It is also possible that higher receptivity increases the likelihood of meeting other chocobos during walks.

Attribute Points

Please reference the chart below, it displays the stats a chocobo has, and the number of points it takes to obtain it. Physical and mental attributes have a combined hard cap of 637 points. Please take this into consideration while choosing a stat distribution for your bird. For Cup races it's possible to break the 637 cap by using saddles, which explains why you'll sometimes see chocobos racing there with seemingly impossible stats.

Note: a bird with 224 points in STR and a bird with 255 points in STR will have noticeably different top speeds.

Attribute Levels

LevelDescriptionAbbreviationPoint Range
1PoorF0-31
2SubstandardE32-63
3A bit deficientD64-95
4AverageC96-127
5Better than averageB128-159
6ImpressiveA160-191
7OustandingS192-223
8First-ClassSS224-255

To give you an idea how to build your chocobo, here's some examples of racing chocobo stats. An extra letter added to one of the stats means that the stat is hardcapped or within a few points from it. SSS/B/A/D, SS/B/A/C, SSS/C/AA/C, SSS/E/SSS/C, and SSS/S/B/D are some of the builds I have witnessed in races.

If you want a chocobo pullus torque, or you just want to rack up Solo Victory Points, SS/B/A/C will give you the easiest time achieving your goal. If you're trying to win C1 races, you're going to have to be a bit more creative, and examine your competition. For instance, if you have a lot of NPCs in the race, you'll want at least D receptivity, preferably C. If you're racing against a bunch of PCs, receptivity isn't a huge factor.

A digger chocobo's build is a bit more set in stone. SSSing Discernment and Endurance is your main priority, all other stats coming secondary.

Abilities

All race chocobos regardless of what their goal is will want to have the abilities Gallop and Canter. If you cannot learn Canter for whatever reason, Auto-Regen is a suitable replacement. It's not as great, but it's better than nothing.

The most common abilities taught to digger chocobos are Bore and Burrow. However, the decision to teach your chocobo bore/burrow should not be made lightly. These abilities allow the chocobo to dig up items normally unavailable. Some of these rare items are profitable, but some are not. Since digging these items will cause your chocobo to fatigue faster, it'll potentially reduce your profit margin.

The abilities however increase the rate of successful digs since the pool of items you can dig is much larger. You should research the profitable dig sites and see if these abilities benefit your chocobo before you teach it to them.

Capping Your Bird

Hopefully you understand the basics of your chocobo's stats, and what each of the attributes mean. Now it's time to pick a build and stick with it. If you've looked over the care plans, you'll notice that because each plan lowers certain stats, that it'll be very hard to actually have high physical and mind stats just based on the care plans alone. It's actually impossible.

The only way to fully cap your chocobo is to invest in chocotrains. The easiest way to go about obtaining them is to spam Free Runs which is explained in the racing section. Alternatively, you may obtain chocobucks via Chocobo Hot and Cold or Cup Races.

To obtain chocotrains, talk to your nation's VCS Chocobuck Exchange Center NPC. Pabelle(San d'Oria), Gavoroi(Bastok), and Robino-Mobino(Windurst) are happy to assist you in making improvements to your chocobo.

Talk to your nation's NPC, and ask them about Raising Attributes & Dying Feathers. Select the 80 chocobucks option, and select the stat which you wish to raise. Keep in mind it takes about 9 sessions to raise a stat by one letter grade.

If you have access to a secondary account, or have someone who will sell you race chocobo training tokens, you can acquire these tradeable/AHable trains for use on your own chocobo. race chocobo training token randomly raises a stat, while race chocobo training token: STR, race chocobo training token: END, race chocobo training token: DSC, race chocobo training token: RCP, raises their respective stats. As long as your chocobo is still actively being raised (IE, not retired), all you have to do is trade these chocotrains to your nation's VCS Chocobuck Exchange Center NPC, and let them know that you indeed wish to raise this chocobo's attributes.

Alternatively, if your chocobo is retired, as them about Purchasable Items. Select the 100 chocobucks option, and select the stat which you wish to raise. To turn in, trade it along with your VCS Registration Card to the VCS Chocobuck Exchange Center vendor. I should note that these chocotrains are not as potent as ones for un-retired chocobos.

Food and Care

Depending on your chocobo's current condition and what you plan to do with it in the future, your food and care will change accordingly.

If you're currently raising physical stats, feed your chocobo bunch of Sharug greens x2, Vomp carrot x2. Your Care plan should be set to Carrying packages unless STR or END is severely lagging behind. If that's the case you'd pick Delivering messages to increase STR, or Exercising in a group to increase END. Once your STR/END reach S or SS you should switch plans to increases your other stats.

However, if you're currently focusing on your chocobo's mental attributes, you should be feeding your bird Zegham carrot x2, bunch of Azouph greens x1. For care plans, I would recommend Digging for Treasure, then if you plan to raise RCP use chocotrains (assuming you started with physical attributes first) otherwise Exhibiting to the public is an option to raise both DSC and RCP at the same time. Once your DSC/RCP reach S or SS you should switch plans to increase your other stats.

Adult: Day 64+

After day 64, your chocobo's stats will not raise any further via careplans. The VRS Trainer will note how distinguished your chocobo appears.

Switch your careplan from whatever it was to Basic Care. Ideally, you should change your careplan before day 64 so that it rolls over to Basic Care right when day 64 hits, but this isn't extremely important.

Once your chocobo is on the Basic Care plan, you no longer should need to feed it greens daily to keep its affection capped. You should still monitor your chocobo's condition daily, and adjust your feeding habits as you see fit.

Feed your chocobo x3 carrots of whichever kind fits your stat growths, and spam whichever care for your chocobo you need. If your chocobo's stats are capped, feel free to feed your chocobo three bunch of gysahl greens daily until retirement.

You're still able to acquire stories and learn them, so if you need to I suggest doing so.

If you're trying for a weather preference, continue doing so. Creating a mule and sitting it outside of your chosen zone is the most effective method I've found for doing this.

You should keep doing Free Runs and capping off your Chocobo's stats if they're not to your liking.

Your chocobo is force retired on day 129, so make sure you get everything done that you need to get done before then. You can still raise your chocobo's stats with chocotrains, but they're not as potent.
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 Fenrir.Niniann
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By Fenrir.Niniann 2012-08-24 15:42:48
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Chocobo Racing

All right! So you've raised the perfect racing chocobo... now what? Well, there's several things you can do. You can spam free runs for chocobucks, participate in the mission races to earn a chocobo pullus torque, or you can race your chocobo in Circuit Races.

Official Races

There's a good chance you raised a racer in hopes to obtain the coveted chocobo pullus torque. Well, if you follow my guidelines, you'll have one in no-time!

As I've stated in my raising portion, the build I prefer for these races is SS/B/A/C with Gallop and Canter. I've personally 1/1'd each of the mission races with this build, using the items I've listed below. Of course this isn't the only build that can win the missions, but it's especially tailored to the types of birds (and monsters) you'll encounter in the various missions. SS Strength for a high top speed. B Endurance because a lot of the races force your chocobo to run far faster than normal which causes an intense drain on your endurance. A Discernment to help correctly pace the chocobo so it's endurance doesn't drain as fast; it also helps with leaving the gate early. C Receptivity to dodge all of the pesky nukes and attacks that you'll encounter in the various races.

Before you start racing, make sure you grab an updated racing paper to trade the Free Runs NPC. Whenever your chocobo's stat changes, you are required to get a new paper to reflect these changes in the races.

To get to the races, enter the door that says Chocobo Circuit. You're now facing a desk with three people. The person in the middle is who gives you access to Free Runs and other beginning Official Race mission races. The person who gives you the more advanced Official Race missions is the same race as the Free Run NPC and is standing right next to them.

Your current mission race is titled Official Race (??? chocobucks).

Novice Races

These races are incredibly easy, and even a chocobo who's just became an adult should be able to win these. The purpose of these races is to introduce you to chocobo races, and beating them is required to access Free Runs which will be a major source of Chocobuck income.

A good chocobo won't even need items to win these races, but if your chocobo is young I'd suggest equipping a speed apple. speed apples are able to be bought at a NPC located within the Chocobo Circuit, I have instructions on how to acquire the apples below, but they can be bought at Reinwald located at Chocobo Circuit (I-10), Eastern Promenade, and Palson Chocobo Circuit (G-10), Western Promenade.

Keep in mind you need to place third or higher for all three of these races to progress in the missions, and all of the races are labeled on the menu as Official Race(0 Chocobucks).

Challenge Races

Honestly not much to say about these races. They're also very easy for a veteran chocobo. Equip a speed apple and hope for a win. If you're unable to win these races, your chocobo is probably not mature enough so try back when your stats are closer to cap.

The Pashhow Swamptrot

Here's where stuff gets interesting. Using normal items will also help all the contenders in these races. This renders Speed Apples completely useless. There are however other items that will aid you.

roll of chocobo taping: Raises your chocobo's speed. It's a very noticeable increase, and it surpasses the stat cap. This is my item of choice for SS/B/A/C chocobos, and possibly the best item regardless of build.

set of chocobo blinkers: Raises your chocobo's endurance and surpasses the stat cap. Useful for chocobos with an uncomfortably low endurance rating.

shadow roll: Raises your chocobos discernment and surpasses the stat cap. Probably won't make a big impact if your chocobo has poor discernment.

chocobo hood: Raises your chocobos receptivity and surpasses the stat cap. Useful for chocobos with an uncomfortably low receptivity rating, or if you find yourself getting hit by nukes and attacks frequently.

Once you find an item that suits your needs (probably roll of chocobo taping), you'll be using this item for every race up until the Lethal Race.

Lethal Race

Now you've finally reached the Lethal Race. Congratulations! This is the race that'll net you the chocobo pullus torque! This race is a bit different from the other ones. You'll be going up against Cactrot Rapido's little brother. If you've ever traveled to Altepa Desert, you've probably encountered this crazy Cactaur. He runs... very.. very fast. Wiki states, "Runs at approximately 250% normal running speed. He is able to outrun both chocobos and players using Flee, which both only provide 200% movement speed."

So yeah. You have to race that. Well now that I'm done scaring the ***out of you, I'll actually tell you how to beat him. He hates rain. And luckily for you, it disables his super crazy running move. So what do you do? You make it rain.

I know, you're probably made I scared you when it's actually a pretty straightforward answer. Te~he.

Equip a foulweather frog during this race to (hopefully) win.

Congratulations! You have a chocobo pullus torque! If you don't, retry the race. I've heard of people having to run this race a dozen times before they win. If that's the case you probably have an inappropriate build for it though.

Dream Race

You're probably thinking, "Wait, the chocobo pullus torque isn't the ultimate prize?" Nope! Of course this race is sort-of a let down, but if you won the Lethal Race with ease, you should probably do this one for funsies and story. If you had an issue with the previous race, this one's probably a waste of chocobucks.

To win this race just equip whichever item you used in the previous Pashhow Swamptrots, and collect win. Congratulations, you're now a Chocochampion~!

Chocobo Racing Circuit

Before you start racing, I highly recommend you switch your racing team to the team that holds first place the most frequently.

To get to where you sign up for races, enter the door that says Chocobo Circuit. You're now facing a desk with three people. Either on the left or the right of the desk, depending on which nation you're in, is a shiny teleporter. Take the teleporter.

Now you're in a different room. You either turn left or right depending on which nation you came from. Do not go through the double doors, go the other way on the red carpet. There's something in front of you with one NPC, and something to the side with four. What's in front of you is the grandstands. You enter here to watch the circuit races, and it costs 50gil to enter unless you have a free pass.

The side with the four NPCs is where you place your bets. If you're in Bastok or Windurst, the race signups are through the open doors in the betting room. If you're from San d'Oria, you'll need to speak with Amaduralle in the main hallway and ask to go to the Eastern or Western Chocobo promenade (it doesn't matter which). If you're not from San d'Oria, you may also speak to your guide to teleport anywhere. Guides are stationed around the Chocobo Circuit to assist players in reaching any of the racetrack facilities. This service is provided at no cost. The guides all wear red berets, and can be found at conveniently located throughout the premises.

Whether you talk to the NPC or walk down the hallway, you'll find yourself in front of four NPCs and Chocobos, and some sort of vendor in the middle of them.

This vendor sells speed apple, stamina apple, shadow apple, pepper biscuit, and fire biscuit. The only item relevant to your interests is speed apple.

The four NPCs are where you sign up for races. You may only participate in C4 races when you're first starting out, and it costs 500gil and 10 Chocobucks to enter.


Above are the times in which each race starts. The '0' refers to even hours, '1' refers to odd hours. Keep in mind that you can race once every 24hrs, and the day starts the exact moment you sign up for your race.

Entering a Race

If it's the appropriate time for the race, and you meet the qualifications to enter, you're ready to go. Below is a table depicting the requirements and rewards for each of the various races.


To sign up for a race, talk to the appropriate NPC during the appropriate timeslot. Trade them a speed apple if they're not already holding one.

Make sure to set the Jockey orders (I recommend Final Spurt), and under Equipment select the speed apple.

After you do that, Sign up your chocobo. It will then ask you to select a saddle. All saddles bypass the overall and individual stat caps.

Saddles

Lauan Saddle: a standard model, the lauan saddle will stabilize your chocobo's stride. I assume this means the saddle does absolutely nothing to your chocobo's stats.

Ash Saddle: a standard model, the ash saddle will stabilize your chocobo's stride. It also increases your mount's endurance slightly. It's possible this saddle reduces the duration of your top speed.

Elm Saddle: a standard model, the elm saddle will stabilize your chocobo's stride. It also increases your mount's endurance about a level. Requires your nation to be in first place to have access to this. It's possible this saddle reduces the duration of your top speed.

Brass Saddle: a bit on the hefty side, the brass saddle can be somewhat taxing on a chocobo's endurance. It compensates for this, however, by increasing the bird's strength.

Silver Saddle: a bit on the hefty side, the silver saddle can be somewhat taxing on a chocobo's endurance. It compensates for this, however, by increasing the bird's strength.

Mythril Saddle: a bit on the hefty side, the mythril saddle can be somewhat taxing on a chocobo's endurance. It compensates for this, however, by increasing the bird's strength. Requires your nation to be in first place to have access to this. This is my saddle of choice.

Grass Saddle: this lightweight grass saddle can create a marked improvement in physical performance. However, a chocobo will require some degree of discernment to reap its benefits. Lowers DSC.

Cotton Saddle: this lightweight cotton saddle can create a marked improvement in physical performance. However, a chocobo will require some degree of discernment to reap its benefits. Lowers DSC.

Linen Saddle: this lightweight linen saddle can create a marked improvement in physical performance. However, a chocobo will require some degree of discernment to reap its benefits. Lowers DSC. Requires your nation to be in first place to have access to this.

Rabbit Hide Saddle: crafted from the finest rabbit hide, this saddle can improve physical performance, but only for chocobos with at least moderate receptivity. Lowers RCP.

Sheep Leather Saddle: Crafted from the finest sheep leather, this saddle can improve physical performance, but only for chocobos with at least moderate receptivity. Lowers RCP.

Buffalo Leather Saddle: Crafted from the finest buffalo leather, this saddle can improve physical performance, but only for chocobos with at least moderate receptivity. Lowers RCP. Requires your nation to be in first place to have access to this.

Once you've chosen a saddle, you're now to select a lane to race in. I don't think this matters too much, so pick whichever number you like/is available. Once you've done that, you're good to go!

Now I highly recommend you come back to watch your race. It happens about ~45min after you sign up. I'd get there about 35min after to be safe.

Once you enter the grandstands, behind you and to your left is an NPC behind a counter. This allows you to scope out your competition. He gives you three options: Visit the paddock, See a list of the chocobos and Check the toteboard.

First I usually check See a list of the chocobos. It gives you a very straight-forward look at your competition.


Using this information you can gather a few details. Mainly the most important one is seeing which is PC competition. Chocobos with two names are PC chocobos. A PC chocobo can have one name, but that's only if their owner didn't name it before day 64. I've never seen someone with a chocobo like that. Anyway, besides having two names they'll also have a nation flag.

Depending on your chocobo's build, you'll either want to find C1 racing slots that have a bunch of PC birds, or ones that have hardly any. C2-4 usually are all NPCs given the nature of Solo Victory Points.

After I look at the list, I'll usually Check the toteboard to see what my chance of winning is.


When you bet, you bet for the pair that's going to win first or second. It doesn't matter the order they place. The less the payouts are, the higher the chance that pair is going to place first and second. In that picture it is most likely for 1&3 or 1&7 to make first and second. Because 1 is listed twice, it's a pretty good indicator that they're going to make first place, while 3&7 have a tied shot at winning second.

I stuck around for the race, and they placed in this order: 3, 7, 1, 6, 8, 5, 4, 2. Chocobo races can be pretty unpredictable.

It's important to note that NPC chocobos scale up depending on the PC bird's stats. For example, if you're the only PC bird racing, and your stats are 637 combined, all of the NPC birds will also have a combined total of 637. If there's multiple PC birds, the NPCs will have a combined total of the average of the PC bird's totals. It doesn't seem like the weather preferences/items or abilities are affected by a PC bird entering the race.

If you lose a race, experiment with different saddles/jockey orders until you find something that works best for you. If your chocobo has a rain preference you might even want to try using a foulweather frog.

For C2-4 races, you have a higher chance of placing something that isn't first place regardless of your chocobo's build. However your placings in C1 races are mostly static, so if you're not getting first place, you need to try a different setup, or change times.

If you wish to re-get your various chocobo racing titles, please speak to Tuh Almobankha in Lower Jeuno.
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 Fenrir.Niniann
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By Fenrir.Niniann 2012-08-24 15:42:54
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Chocobo Digging

This may be a section sometime in the far, far future. 51st Century.
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 Fenrir.Niniann
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By Fenrir.Niniann 2012-08-24 15:43:13
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Speculation

Weather Preference

I have yet to find any hard proof, but it's speculated that to obtain weather preferences you must visit a zone that has both the positive/negative weather, and take walks during the positive/negative elemental day.

For example, if you want rainy weather preference, you would need to go to for example Konschat during Rain/Lightning weather on Water/Thunder days.

This guide is a work in progress, I shall finish it sometime after now.
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By Fenrir.Niniann 2012-08-24 15:43:28
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Placeholder number two~
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By Fenrir.Niniann 2012-08-24 15:43:54
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Placeholder
 Bahamut.Lalafel
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By Bahamut.Lalafel 2012-08-24 15:44:23
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GREAT GUIDE!

I'M FROM THE FUTURE!
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 Fenrir.Nightfyre
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By Fenrir.Nightfyre 2012-08-24 15:49:13
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Fenrir.Niniann said: »
asdasldkasdk
Very informative!
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 Odin.Minefield
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By Odin.Minefield 2012-08-24 15:50:39
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Requesting sticky in advance for Dr. Whof!
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 Siren.Kalilla
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By Siren.Kalilla 2012-08-24 15:52:52
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and sticky this :o
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 Leviathan.Celille
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By Leviathan.Celille 2012-08-24 16:16:32
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Bahamut.Lalafel said: »
GREAT GUIDE!

I'M FROM THE FUTURE!

If you're from the future, could you tell us what Nini wrote for the chocobo digging guide? Not that I'm interested, I just want proof that you are indeed from the future.
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 Sylph.Kaelin
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By Sylph.Kaelin 2012-11-04 14:43:39
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Thanks for the great, informative guide! I have a question about my chocobo. I've been struggling with the Dream Race after trying various items, and I recently realized that my bird's stats aren't capped. Currently they are SS/SS/C/E and all are on the low end of their respective level, so I figure I have enough points left to either cap STR or END, or "level up" DSC or RCP. Would the best use of the remaining points be to bring DSC to B, so he can make better use of his awesome END? (He has Gallop and Canter if that matters at all.)

Also, what jockey orders and item do you think would give me the best chances of winning the race with this build? The closest I've gotten was with Final Spurt and a Speed Apple, and lost by maybe half a length, but I haven't gotten nearly that close again since then. I think too much of it is based on luck. :(
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By Fenrir.Niniann 2012-11-04 22:47:25
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Sylph.Kaelin said: »
Thanks for the great, informative guide! I have a question about my chocobo. I've been struggling with the Dream Race after trying various items, and I recently realized that my bird's stats aren't capped. Currently they are SS/SS/C/E and all are on the low end of their respective level, so I figure I have enough points left to either cap STR or END, or "level up" DSC or RCP. Would the best use of the remaining points be to bring DSC to B, so he can make better use of his awesome END? (He has Gallop and Canter if that matters at all.)

Also, what jockey orders and item do you think would give me the best chances of winning the race with this build? The closest I've gotten was with Final Spurt and a Speed Apple, and lost by maybe half a length, but I haven't gotten nearly that close again since then. I think too much of it is based on luck. :(

I would raise DSC to B at the very least. You could even use tokens to move your stats around some too. Assuming you have the time/money etc, of course.

As for orders and item, Final Spurt + Chocobo Taping should work. If that doesn't work, you may want to experiment with Chocobo Blinkers/Shadow Roll/Chocobo Hood.

The races are definitely based upon luck to some extent, so I wish you luck. D:
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By Sylph.Kaelin 2012-11-16 10:35:47
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I have enough time/money to fudge with the stats some but I doubt it would be possible to achieve, say, the most recommended SS/B/A/C without completely starting over, which I'm not going to do. I cannot commit to checking on a new chocobo every single day for months. :(

At this point I think I have 3 reasonable options:

SSS/S/B/D

SS/S/B/C

SS/S/A/D

Sounds like the first option might be the way to go? I can't really lower END below S because it would be alternating with lowering STR, which I'd need to build back up again and it would just get absurd.
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By Fenrir.Othilda 2012-11-25 23:48:00
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Got a question! This is the first chocobo I have raised (well not counting the one I randomly raised 5 years ago).

I'm just about to change to start raising other stats, but do not want my current stats to decrease too much. I know that the care plans you set for the npc to do increase certain stats and lower others, but what about the care you yourself do when you check your chocobo? Like for example does the "go on a walk (long)" only increase affection and endurance or do they decrease a stat too (like receptivity or discernment)?

Thanks for any help! ^^
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By Shiva.Vosslerr 2012-12-14 07:02:10
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Thanks for the informative guide. Will help alot in this new endeavor I'm undertaking :) I find it pretty fun
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 Asura.Sechs
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By Asura.Sechs 2015-10-14 15:03:02
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Bumping this up, given how you need to successfully complete CRA Classic Race to receive a Vorseal.
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 Bismarck.Rosalee
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By Bismarck.Rosalee 2016-02-16 10:00:28
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Very necro bump, but Telling a Story apparently will also raise a chocobo's RCP and affection as well as DSC.
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 Shiva.Verohawke
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By Shiva.Verohawke 2016-04-09 20:10:52
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Bismarck.Rosalee said: »
Very necro bump, but Telling a Story apparently will also raise a chocobo's RCP and affection as well as DSC.


Without lowering STR + END?
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By Boshi 2016-08-09 13:43:35
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I can't find this info anywhere I've looked:

How many Solo Victory Points to I need to move up between C tiers?
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By Sylph.Elwynbelwyn 2016-08-11 11:37:47
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Now that you've bumped this, I'm going to ask my question, too.

How the hell do you use "Chocotrain: XXX" items?

I've tried trading them to Robino-Mobino, Rungaga, Chualulu, and Pulunono, alone, with a Chococard, and with a CRA Racing Form, and I am completely ignored (except that with the racing form, the Chocotrain item is ignored and I'm asked if I want to register).
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By Boshi 2016-09-01 16:38:39
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I keep getting 2nd place in the final race vs sakura.

First class / better than avg / impressive / avg
Gallop/canter male prefer rain
With a few extra skillups in end until cap.

Ive tried all 3 strategies with chocobo tape, and keep the pace with foulweather frog.


Also:
After i got my str and end to were i wanted it i was doing only (post day 62) zegham carrot + tell story and eventually both str and end dropped a level.
So either tell a story or zegham carrots have str&end -
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By Asura.Conor 2021-06-22 10:01:34
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Question: if you purge an ability, will you be able to learn it again, or have to make a new chocobo?
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By Chimerawizard 2021-06-23 09:03:05
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you'll have to make a new chocobo.
hm, actually depends. If the chocobo learned the ability from its parents (already knew at birth), it should still have access to the story to learn it with even if you remove it once.
If you taught the ability yourself, you'll lost the story and the other trainer won't give it to you a 2nd time.
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