If you’re interested in collecting the very best version of your Temtem possible, then you are going to want to dive deep into Temtem’s breeding system. While similar to Pokemon’s in some ways, it differs greatly when you’re trying to get a perfect Temtem due to a series of complicated and cumbersome steps required during the breeding process. We’ve got a guide for you if you’re confused, so worry not, Tamer.
Before we get into the guide, however, understand that breeding competitive Temtems are not necessary, even for competitive play — Temtem Showdown, an in-game simulation tool, allows you to build and tweak a team without investing the many hours needed to grind out Pansuns, capture wild Temtems, check their stats, and so on. You can then use that team in competitive play, including Ranked ladders.
However, you can’t use your Showdown team for Dojo Wars, PvE, or any of the other content, so if that’s what you’re aiming for, read on.
Understanding “Single Values” (SVs)
Single Values are essentially equivalent to Individual Values in Pokemon. Each stat, including Stamina, has an associated SV value that ranges from 1 to 50, granting bonus stat points in the associated stat. Ideally, you want 50 SVs for each stat for a Temtem to be considered “perfect” (however, some Temtems rely on low Speed, in which case a Speed stat of one may be desirable. This requires individual research on your part to find which ones are which.)
Understanding “Training Values” (TVs)
If SVs are equivalent to IVs, then Training Values are equivalent to Effort Values in Pokemon. In Temtem, however, these TVs go up to 1000 maximum, with a hard limit of 500 per stat. At level 100, that results in one stat point for every five TVs (four TVs per stat point for HP, and 10 TVs per stat point for Stamina.)
Understanding breeding restrictions
Unlike in Pokemon, there are no Egg Groups to worry about when choosing breeding partners in Temtem. So long as the two Temtems are opposite genders and share at least one Type, they can breed. This means that a Pigepic can breed with Barnshe, providing one of them is male and one of them is female. The female Temtem will be the determining factor in the species of egg you receive.
There is only one exception to this rule — a Temtem named Mimit. If you know about Ditto in Pokemon, this follows the same rules. Mimit can transform into any Temtem and breed with them, spitting out an Egg related to the non-Mimit species.
Understanding fertility
To prevent a single Temtem from being passed around and used to create infinite perfect versions of themselves, and also to prevent the in-game market from collapsing, Crema introduced a “fertility” mechanic. It may seem complicated, but here are the nuts and bolts:
- If a Temtem has zero SVs with a stat of 49 or 50, the fertility is 8.
- If a Temtem has one or two SVs with a stat of 49 or 50, the fertility is 7.
- If a Temtem has three or four SVs with a stat of 49 or 50, the fertility is 6
- If a Temtem has five or six SVs with a stat of 49 of 50, the fertility is 5.
- If a Temtem has seven SVs of 49 or 50, the fertility is 4.
Every time a Temtem is used in the breeding process, the fertility of the Temtem will go down by one. Temtems with a fertility of zero cannot be used in breeding. The resulting egg from two parents will have the same fertility as the lowest value of the two parents minus one.
For example, if you have a parent with 7 fertility and a parent with 4 fertility, the egg will have 3 fertility as a result (4 fertility minus 1.)
Understanding egg techniques
If a Temtem can inherit a technique from its parents, it will be denoted by an Egg icon in the summary screen prior to breeding. These techniques can often only be learned via breeding, so it’s important to check the Temtem Wiki for a list of Egg Techniques, to see if the Temtem you want has anything important on that list.
For example, Yowlar can only learn the move Toughen if it has a parental Rhoulder that knows the move when breeding.
Understanding stat inheritence
This is where it gets complicated. Stick with me, I’ll try to explain it as clearly as possible.
On a base level, with no modifying equipment, Eggs inherit SVs as such:
- 40% chance to inherit the highest SV value between the parents
- 40% chance to inherit the average SV value between the parents.
- 20% chance to inherit the lowest SV value between the parents.
In the example above, we have a 20% chance for Tuwai to inherit an SPD stat of 8, a 40% chance to inherit an average SPD stat of 29, and a 40% chance to get the optimal SPD stat of 50.
This is obviously sub-optimal — a 60% chance to get a non-desired stat is not great. However, there are two ways to guarantee a stat is passed down — first, if both parents have the same stat value (for example, 50) it will always pass down guaranteed. The second method (and most common) is to use DNA Strands.
DNA Strands are held items that are sold by the Breeding Shopkeeper. When a Temtem holds a DNA Strand, it will 100% guaranteed pass down the associated SV. For example:
- Parent A has 50 SVs in HP and is holding the VItality DNA Strand.
- Parent B has 50 SVs in STA and is holding the Endurance DNA Strand.
- Child C will inherit 50 SVs in both HP and STA as a result.
As such, you must breed in a specific order from a wide range of Temtems in order to end up with a “perfect” Temtem. The wiki has a flowchart for you to follow, but be aware you will have to either hunt or purchase the material Temtems first before you can get started.
You will need the following 10 Temtems to breed a perfect from scratch:
- 1x 50 SV ATK
- 1x 50 SV SATK
- 1x 50 SV DEF
- 1x 50 SV SDEF
- 2x 50 SV SPD
- 2x 50 SV HP
- 2x 50 SV STA
You will also need to purchase the following 20 items from the Shopkeeper:
- 1x Aggressive DNA Strand
- 1x Gifted DNA Strand
- 1x Hardening DNA Strand
- 1x Dominant DNA Strand
- 2x Vitality DNA Strand
- 2x Endurance DNA Strand
- 2x Lithe DNA Strand
- 3x Mighty DNA Strands
- 3x Immunity DNA Strands
- 4x Vigor DNA Strands
Once you’ve bred your perfect Temtem, be aware that at most you’ll be able to make one or two Eggs to sell on the market before its fertility drops to zero. We recommend buying your material Temtems as much as possible — it can take several hours just to gather up the associated materials by hand.
Written by Junior Miyai on behalf of GLHF.
