Chocobo raising (Final Fantasy XI)

Chocobo Raising is an activity in Final Fantasy XI, released with the Treasures of Aht Urhgan expansion pack. Adventurers can own and care for their own chocobo, from the egg until its eventual retirement. There are many advantages to doing so, including the ability to raise a chocobo specially to suit the adventurer's own needs. Chocobos can also be selectively bred for better statistics, or to create Chocobos of rare colors. Chocobo raising also takes up only a little of an adventurer's hectic schedule each day, freeing him or her to do what adventurers do best as the chocobo grows.

How to Start
In order to start raising a chocobo, the player must obtain an egg. There are a few ways to go about this. A chocobo egg may occasionally be purchased from a vendor in Jeuno, obtained from the quest Chocobos on the Loose!, found as a reward in an ISNM, or obtained through breeding. Once a player has obtained a chocobo egg, they must bring it to a Vana'diel Chocobo Society, or VCS, chocobo trainer, found in chocobo stables in the three nations. Only one chocobo may be raised at a time.

Egg
For the first four days of raising the chocobo, it will still be contained in its egg. At this time, the only thing the player can do is watch over the egg as the chocobo inside grows ready to hatch.

Chick
After four days, the egg will hatch into a chocobo chick. All chocobo chicks are hatched yellow, regardless of their coloration upon adulthood. When the chick hatches, the player will be prompted to choose a name for it from the selection given. Chocobos are given a first and last name of no more than fifteen letters. Once a chocobo has hatched from its egg, it can be given care plan options to affect its stat growth, with more plan options becoming available as the chocobo matures. The player may also care for the chocobo personally upon stopping in to check on it, separate from the care plan laid out, by watching over it or taking it for walks. In addition, the player can feed the chocobo personally, causing stat changes based on the food given. The chocobo is considered a chick for fourteen days after its hatching.

Adolescence
After eighteen days, the chocobo is beginning to mature into an adult chocobo. It is at this point that the chocobo's tail feathers will taken on either a white, black, blue, orange or green coloration, which determines the color the chocobo will be when it fully matures; yellow, black, blue, red and green, respectively. When a chocobo reaches adolescence, more care plans and personal care options become available, and the chocobo may begin competing with other chocobos its age to relieve boredom. The adolescent stage of a chocobo's life lasts for ten days.

Adulthood
After twenty eight days of raising a chocobo, it will mature into an adult. At this point, several options open up for the player. All of the care plans and personal care options will now be available, the chocobo can be registered in races, its chococard may be obtained for breeding, and after completing the miniquest Obtaining your Chocobo Whistle, players can call their chocobo to their side in the field to ride them.

Retirement
At any time after reaching adulthood, a player may retire their chocobo. Doing so causes the player to be unable to raise the chocobo's stats and care for it personally, but the chocobo may still participate in races and be called with a chocobo whistle. In addition, retiring a chocobo allows a player to begin raising a new chocobo. If not retired early, adult chocobos are automatically retired on their one hundred and twenty ninth day.

Attributes
A chocobo's attributes are important to any adventurer who wants to make use of their chocobo. Attributes determine all of a chocobo's strengths or weaknesses. There are seven attributes related to chocobos, divided into three sections:


 * Physical Attributes
 * Strength: Affects a chocobo's speed when being ridden. In Chocobo Races, it affects the chocobo's base speed.
 * Endurance: Affects the length of time a chocobo may be ridden. In Chocobo Races, it affects the chocobo's stamina.
 * Mental Attributes
 * Discernment: Affects the chocobo's potential to learn abilities. In Chocobo Races, it affects a chocobo's pace setting and its item use timing.
 * Receptivity: Affects the chocobo's ability to communicate with other chocobos, and increases the chances a parent's abilities will be passed down to its child.
 * Other Attributes
 * Energy: Drained by care plans or personal care, and affects the success of care plans and the frequency of personal care options.
 * Affection: Greatly affects the success of care plans.
 * Satisfaction: Changes when fed and affects energy recovery.

The physical and mental attributes have eight ranks, depending on the chocobo's talent in that attribute:

In addition, a single chocobo may have no more than 637 points across all mental and physical attributes, which prevents players from raising a chocobo that is "perfect" in all stats.

Care Plans
A care plan is a scheduled routine for a player's chocobo that the player chooses from week to week. Choosing care plans effectively is vital to the growth of any chocobo. Care plans raise or lower different attributes of the chocobo, depending on which option is scheduled. A few plans also provide pay for the player.

Chocobo Breeding
Breeding chocobos is an effective way to produce a chick with the player's desired statistics and coloration. In order to breed a chocobo, the player needs two chococards, one from a chocobo of each gender. These cards can be obtained from your own chocobos, or given or purchased from another player. Once the player has two chococards, they must speak to Finbarr in Upper Jeuno in order to purchase a VCS Honeymoon Ticket, and then give Finbarr all three items. There are a number of variables involved in breeding that affect the child's attributes and coloration.