Confusion over how to raise pets has reached a breaking point, so we decided it would be best to drop some ‘tails (most people would probably say 'the deets.' I say 'the tails.' Just one example of innovation). Let’s break it down. Pets are awesome—they look cool, they help you fight enemies and you get to raise them. There’s a huge problem though, if you don’t know how to create one you’ll never know the joys of creating and shaping a life. Let’s go over some basics and get you started on your pet adventure.

Where to Start

Acquiring the seeds/eggs/package is undoubtedly the most important step; this is what makes pet raising possible. There are 3 types of pets at the moment: Plants, Boxes, and Chickens. The first step is to acquire “eggs.” These vary from pet to pet so let’s talk about how to get each.

Colorful Box
If you want to raise a colorful box pet that can eventually turn in to an epic mini-robot you’ll need to acquire a Paper Box Package. This item is exclusive to the Poison Secret Box and is probably the most elusive pet. Poison’s box is quite random, but if you’re lucky you’ll get a Paper Box Package and be set to start raising your Colorful Box pet.

Chicken
Besides being tasty with almost everything, they’re also solid companions in Rusty Hearts. You’ll need to acquire a Large Egg by completing all 10 chick-raising quests from Hen. This is the only way to receive this item and raise Chicken.

Nepethes (plant)
Plants are animals too! At least they are in Rusty Hearts… The Nepethes is the simplest way to embark on your pet foray. Getting the seeds necessary to nurse a plant is as simple as defeating the Giant Rafflesia by beating Arboretum. Once defeated, Rafflesia will drop the necessary seeds for raising a beautiful baby Nepethes giving you a companion for all your dungeon endeavors.

Nurse Me to Life

After unlocking the Shed in the Cemetery by completing the aptly named “Unlock the Shed” quest, you’ll be ready to lay down your seeds/eggs/boxes and start raising your own pet! Enter the shed and plant your seeds/plants as you see fit and get ready to get on schedule because you’ll need to run through an action schedule to get your pet ready for action. These action schedules can only be initiated by utilizing a growth accelerator or Paper Box tape.

While running through the Action schedule you’ll realize that any combination of actions will progress your pet’s state; however, these actions will affect your pet’s attributes. Test out different sequences and/or combinations for varied results. It’s important to remember that you can only nurse 3 pets at any given time.

Once you complete the three stages of acceleration/packaging you will now be able to take your bundle of joy from the nest to your inventory. Your pet will now be available to you in the Consume tab, just right click it to add it to your Pet Menu. It’s important to note that you can house 12 pets in this storage facility.

Summon Thy Pet

Pop open that Pet menu and prepare to be united with your pet. Left click on the pet you wish to summon and click “use.” From here you’ll need to right click on the pet for it to be summoned to your side. You can only carry 2 pets with you at any given time, but that just means you have 2 extra hands working for you.

Assuming you wish to cancel your pet summons, you can right-click the pet’s icon near the health bar or in the pet menu and select cancel.

As a pet master you can even choose whether you want your pet to live or die. This sounds morbid but sometimes you gotta’ do what you gotta’ do. You can put your pet to “sleep” by using an Undo Box, Boil or Harvest item to destroy dear “Fido.” Interestingly, once obliterated your pet’s soul is sent to your inventory ready to be resurrected at the cemetery resurrection tombstone. We’ll have more info on this later.

Attributes for Success

The Pet Menu is your hub for all things pets. You’ll find all the important Pet information in this window. Pet attributes are constantly changing depending on how often they run through dungeons, what they eat, and how they’re treated.

While glancing at the Pet Attributes you’ll find a variety of important points that you will need to focus on:

Life- This indicator will inform you of your Pet’s overall HP
Strength- You’re pet’s physical damage capabilities will be noted here
Eloquence- Don’t be intimidated, this simply refers to your Pet’s magic damage abilities
Personality- Your pets have a personality, this also translates in to your pet’s loyalty
Weight- While not a relevant statistic, you’ll want to keep your pet in healthy condition
Intelligence- This will identify your pet’s overall MP
Body Armor- Quantify your Pet’s physical defenses with this attribute
Attractiveness- Get the details on your magic defense capabilities
Height- Is taller better? This stat is simply superficial and has no technical relevance, but isn’t it fun?!

When Animals Attack

Besides being an unwavering companion and making you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, pets also fight alongside you. Summon your pet while in a dungeon to have it fight for you and protect your blindside. Your pet’s abilities will determine whether or not they can be attacked by enemies. At a certain point in your pet’s progression they will be vulnerable to enemy attacks.

Level your pet just as you would yourself; attack dungeons and pick up items for consumption. You’ll need to take your pet in to dungeons to help it level as well as feed it equipment. You’ll notice that most items are labeled as food consumption in their description. Feeding these to your pet will increase their EXP. You’ll need to be vigilant of what you feed your pets as different types of items affect your pet’s attributes.

As your pets level they’ll surely evolve in to larger and stronger iterations. Below you’ll see a progression table of what you can expect:

Colorful Box
Lv.1 – 19: Box with Legs
Lv.20: Box Chick OR Box Cat OR Box Tank (Random)

Large Egg
Lv.1 – 9: Egg
Lv.10 – 29: Chick
Lv.30: Chicken

Nepenthes Seed
Lv.1 – 4: Seed
Lv.5 – 14: Baby Nepenthes
Lv.15 – 24: Child Nepenthes
Lv.25 – 34: Teen Nepenthes
Lv.35: Adult Nepenthes

Dead Pet Walking

The final step for any pet, like humans, is zombification. They say you can sleep when you’re dead, but it’s hard to sleep when you’re “nomming” on brainz. Similarly, Pets work just as well after being awoken from the dead as they did when they were alive.

If your pet happens to die or you heartlessly murder it, you can resurrect it in the cemetery. There is a specific tombstone that will allow you to bring your pet back to life. We have to warn you, the results aren’t pretty… Still, zombie pets are awesome looking and have new a unique set of attributes, different than they’re living stats.

Final Thoughts

Will pets make you uber-strong and shoot you to the top of the Dungeon Ladder? Probably not, but having a helping hand makes things a bit more interesting and a heck of a lot more fun. Take the next step and start raising your pet today!