In my desperate attempt to get 2nd evolutions to work 100% of the time for me, I did a ton of research. What I found went against the information that Chao Island had.
Correct me where I am wrong.
Here is what I found:
1: Stat Influence: Upon 1st evolution, a chaos' stat influence is none. It will take 20 animals or 40 drives of the same colour to maximize the influence of that stat. (I did not know about the 40 drives part before, why is that better? Because I can avoid skeleton dogs which give a random influence, on top of knowing the the EXACT maximum is 40 drives worth)
2: After leveling up all stats randomly (like skeleton dogs or lots of random animals/drives), it will take 80 drives or 40 animals to assure that the influence is maxed. (2 drives equals 1 animal. 40 drives is the max unit in any direction of influence, so if you don't know where it is at, it will take 80 drives worth just in case it was maxed in the opposite direction). By giving 80 or 40 of any colour, and then giving 40 or 20 of the opposite, it will perfectly balance those two influences no matter what the influences were before. Taking into account the opposite influences, you cannot change the evolution type without balancing the others. If I want a dark/fly/power, but my chao is a dark/fly/fly, I will need to balance the fly/swim influences at some point (So 80 or 40 of one stat, and 40 or 20 of the other). Finally, I understand why there are only 4 combination 2nd evolutions (Like fly/fly+power)
3: Feeding helps, but no reasons why were given. It allows them to evolve sooner. A general rule of level 30 stamina by age 3 will assure the chao will reach it's full 2nd evolution.
4: I never knew about stat dominance. When first evolution occurs, and the influence is perfectly equal between two stats (like fly and power, or fly and run), there is a stat dominance rule. Swim will win over power and run, but power or run will win over fly.
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#1, 2, and 4 all disprove what is posted on the Chao Island site. The example given, is 100 Run animals, then 100 Power animals, then 100 Fly animals, and then 100 Swim animals, and that because it recently had more swim animals, it will be a swim type. This is true and false. It will be a swim type, but not due to it's recent animals. It is a swim type because its influence on swim was raised to the max of 40 drives worth (20 animals worth). 100 fly animals raised it to the max, 40 fly, just before that. 100 swim animals after that (=200 drives) took that 40 fly influence away, and maxed the swim at 40 instead. Run was first, then power balanced the run and maxed out the power stat at 40 drives worth. When the chao evolved, the influence of stats was maxed with swim AND power, however, the roles of stat dominance caused swim to beat out power. If it was really based on which stat it recently had more of, what if we switch the fly and swim animals around? Now the example is 100 Run animals, then 100 Power animals, then 100 Swim animals, and then 100 Fly animals. According to the Chao Island website, this chao would evolve into a fly type, because that is what it interacted with most recently. This is false! Like the last example, the power influence gets maxed to 40 drives worth (20 animals worth). But this time, the swim stat gets maxed first, then the fly stat takes it over and the fly stat gets maxed instead. Now the chao influence is fly+power. Again, Chao island information states it will become a fly type, as that is the last thing it had last (and a lot too), but since both stats are maxed at 40 drives worth of influence, stat dominance comes into play. Fly is the lowest in the stat dominance, and so the chao will become a power type instead.
This has been tested recently, and all tests were successful.
Here are some of the tests so far for 1st evolutions.
Given (animals) 100 run, power, fly, swim = Swim
Given 100 run, power, swim, fly = Power
Given 40 run, power, fly, swim = Swim
Given 40 run, power, swim, fly = Power
Given (drives) 80 run, power, fly, swim = Swim
Given 80 run, power, swim, fly = Power
Given (animals) 40 power, run, swim, fly = Run
Given 40 swim, run, power, fly = Power
Given 40 swim, run, 0 power, 40 fly = Run
Given 40 fly, swim, power, run = Swim
Given (animals) 20 run, power, fly, swim = None! (If this confuses you, think again. The max is 40 drives or 20 animals. 20 run maxed run, 20 power balanced it again at 0. 20 fly maxed fly, 20 swim balanced that back to 0 also.
Given 20 swim, 40 run, 20 power, 40 fly = Fly
Given 40 power drives, 20 run animals, 20 swim animals, 40 fly drives = None
Given (animals) 40 run, power fly, 39 swim = Power
Here is a simple guide to all of this:
Stat Dominance - Swim beats Power and Run, Power and Run beats Fly.
Fly and swim are opposites.
Run and power are opposites.
Stat influences can only move to one end or the other. Fly OR swim. Run OR power.
The maximum influence in any direction is 40 drives.
1 animal = 2 drives
80 drives worth will max a stat in the opposite direction. (Example: 20 fly animals = 40 fly influence. 40 swim animals = -40 fly influence and +40 swim influence for the total of 80)
Giving 40 drives worth to any maxed opposite stat will balance those two stats at 0. (20 power animals given to a chao with 40 drives power (max) will take power and run influence to 0)
Any questions?
