Reserve, Archive and Refinement
Working and resting beasts, the Archive, refining spare copies, releasing, locking and favourites.
Breeding soon gives you more beasts than your habitats hold. Every beast is either working in its habitat or resting in your Reserve; /beasts shows them all.
Working and resting
Only one copy of each species can work at a time, in its slot of its family's habitat. Working beasts produce; resting beasts in the Reserve make nothing but keep growing. Make active on a resting copy puts it to work and moves the working one to the Reserve.
The Reserve holds 45 beasts; working beasts don't count. The store's Collector Cabinet adds 45 places on islands you created. A full Reserve can't take a beast out of a habitat, and eggs that hatch wait for room. Beasts can't be renamed.
The Archive
/archive records every species your island has owned, whether it hatched, came from a trade or was bought. It never forgets: a species stays found after the last copy leaves. For each species it keeps the best Production and best Power ever recorded, which masteries read, and shows which pairs breed it. Co-op members share one Archive.
Unlocking the next family needs all three species of the previous one in your Archive; see Unlocking the next family.
Refinement
Refining feeds spare copies of a species into one beast of the same species to raise its rank. The donors are used up for good. Pick spare copies chooses resting, unlocked, non-favourite copies that are no better in either trait.
Each donor adds 1 credit plus any credit it already had. Ranks come at 1, 3, 7 and 15 credits.
| Rank | Credits | Production bonus | Training round |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | +2% | 1% shorter |
| 2 | 3 | +4% | 3% shorter |
| 3 | 7 | +7% | 5% shorter |
| 4 | 15 | +10% | 8% shorter |
Refining never changes traits. A refined beast is worth more when released, and refining a copy to rank 4 earns the title <Species> Master. A working donor can be used, but its habitat loses that beast's output.
Release
Releasing sends a beast away for good and pays 10 Islemarks, plus 10 for every refinement credit it carries. Only a resting, unlocked beast can be released, never a Legendary, and your last copy of your starter's species always stays.
Release several releases a batch at once. It opens after 5 Meadow breedings and never lists locked beasts, favourites or the last copy of a species.
Locking and favourites
A locked beast can't be released, refined, bred, traded or used as a donor until you unlock it. A favourite is skipped by Release several and Pick spare copies, but can still breed and be released one at a time.