Your pet has 9 primary status and 5 secondary status.

The primary status are general:


Hit Points (HP) - Number of hit points.
Power (POW) - Determines offense, the power level of the pet's normal attacks.
Dexterity (DEX) - Determines the power of skill based attacks.
Defense (DEF) - Determines the pet's resistance to physical attacks.
Magic (MGC) - Determines the resistance against magic attacks.
Constitution (CON) - Raises Hit Points and resistance against poison.
Mind (MND) - Determines the tolerance against status effects inflicted on the pet.
Charm (CHM) - Increases the duration of status effects inflicted by the pet.
Luck (LCK) - Raises the chance of getting a better item drop when a pet last hits an enemy.

The secondary status are related to the defensive capabilities of the pet:


Offense (OFF): Overall attack capability of the pet. Can't be directly raised.
Strike Def. (STK) - Defense against strike attacks.
Slash Def. (SLA) - Defense against slash attacks.
Thrust Def. (THR) - Defense against thrust attacks.
Magic Def. (MGD) - Defense against magic attacks.

From these 13 status, 2 are dominated by others and can't be directly raised: Hit Points and Offense.

Our goal is to raise all primaries to 99, while raising all the secondaries to the maximum possible.

Every species of pet has different status, synchro effects and natural growth rate in each of their primary and secondary status. They are like different classes in RPG games. In the same way a Warrior will have more Power and Constitution than a Cleric, a Land Dragon will have more of these status than a Rabite.

The status' growth rates are also fixed. They don’t ever change, and will stay the same from level 1 up to level 100.

So how do I know my pet's natural stat growth?
► Look for a chart online.
► Figure it out yourself.

How can I figure it out, then?
► It’s easy. Most pets status grow in multiples of four. A few show a growth pattern that can be seen in multiples of eight. A few level ups can reveal the pet's growth pattern.

So, to illustrate, this is a level 1 Rabite. Let's check it's primary status:


This is the same Rabite after it gained 4 levels. It is now level 5.


See the difference? After four levels, it's Power status went up by 1. Defense, Constitution and Luck went up by 2. But Dexterity, Magic, Mind and Charm went up by 3!

How come?
► Each level, the Rabite gained the following points in each status:


Now lets take a look at the Rabite secondary status. At level 1:


Defense status at level 9, after the pet has gained 8 levels:


Secondary status increase much, much slower than primary status. That's why we increase them as much as possible and not to the max.

► Rabite's secondary status growth per level

Now that we understand that every pet has a different stat growth rate, we can procceed.

So, my pet has a very low growth rate in a certain status, how can I fix it?
► By feeding it.

To feed a pet, you first have to go to the Monster Corral and select the Feed option:


Then, select the pet you wish to feed:


After this step, you can choose up to 3 produce/meat to give the pet. It will consume the food immediately after it gains a level.


Do I have to go back home and leave the pet so it can eat?
► No, the pet eats whatever it is in the feedbox in the exact moment he gains a level, wherever he is.

If you try to come back to the feedbox before the pet gains a level, this screen is shown.


Also, be careful, you can't switch one food for another after it has gone to the feedbox.

Every produce or meat concedes plus or minus points to a certain status growth. Let's take a look at the Cabbadillo produce:




It means that every time we feed a pet a Cabadillo, it will gain a bonus in the growth of the DEF, SPR, STK, SLA, THR status and a penalty in the growth of the CHM and MGD status.

Wait, so feeding my pet can decrease the pet's status?
► No, status will never decrease. The negative penalty only stops the growth of the status when the pet gains a level.

Let's take a look at the Polter Box to see if we can understand a little bit of it's natural stat growth:



Polter Box at level 5:



So, here's the Polter Box natural stat growth:



Now, let's reset the game and start back again from level 1. Let's give our Polter Box a diet of 3 Cabbadillos.

Starting from level 1 and after every level gain, we fed it 3 Cabadillos. Let's take a look at it again on level 5:



Noticed the difference? Let's write down our conclusions:
► Bonuses are cumulative. We fed our pet 3 Cabbadillos, so, per level, we gained 3 points of Defense from the Cabbadillos plus 0.75 points of Defense from the Polter Box's natural growth.
► However, did not gain any Charm or Magic Defense Growth. Since we fed 3 Cabbadillos, the Charm and Magic Defense status ended up with 0 status growth.
► A status can't decrease. Despite a penalty of -3 to Charm per level, our Charm status did not go down. Same thing happened with Magic Defense.
► There is a limit to how much points a status can gain per level.

Hey, in the last chapter you said that if i fed my pet 3 Cabbadillos, it would gain some nice bonuses to secondary stats. Why did your Polter Box didn't grow much in defenses after 4 levels?
► Because there is a limit to the growth cap of the statuses per level.

The maximum gain in any primary stat is 3.875 per level.
The maximum gain in any secondary stat is 1.875 per level.

Let's go back to the Polter Box. Considering its growth pattern in the secondary stats:


It should have grown like this (Extra 1.5 points to STK, SLA and THR - 0.5 MGD from each Cabbadillo):


But instead, it grew like this:


That's because all of the secondary status have a cap of 1.875 growth per level.

The same thing can be applied to the primary stats. It has a limit of 3.875 growth per level.

Decimals are carried to the next level, though. Be careful.

That means that the FACTUAL maximum growth per level for secondary status is 1 point per level and for primary status is generally 3 points per level. Decimal gains will be carried over to the next level and added in that calculation (as tested in Appendix I).

Primary status can sometimes gain 4 points if the leftovers from a previous level align perfectly with the produce fed, resulting in a multiple of 8, leaving no decimals for a next level.

Let's look at this tiny Bloodsucker at level 1:


4 levels later, at level 5:


Primary status' growth rate determined:


Woah! There are some huge natural bonuses to DEX, MAG and CHM! Why don't we try pumping 3 Rocket Papayas to max the charm stat right now?

► Let's first take a look at the Rocket Papaya Produce:



Next step is to feed our Bloodsucker 3 Rocket Papayas every level, for 4 levels. It Charm status should be 36 if there was no cap to stat growth:


But it's only 22:


So, be careful! Feeding the pet produce or meat that exceed the growth cap will result in wasted potential and overall lower stats.

When feeding a pet, you can put up to 3 produce/meat in the feeding box. When the pet eats the food, all the status provided by the food are not simply added up. Instead, each item grants its bonus and penalties in the order that they were placed in the box, one after the other.

To illustrate, let's look at our boy Land Dragon. As always, let's show it's natural growth:



At level 5, to verify all primary stats:


Secondary stats at level 8:


Land Dragon's natural growth:



Now, let's give the pet this diet for 4 levels:


Dialaurel Produce:




Honey Onion Produce:



A very funny thing is that the game encyclopedia is wrong about these two produce. Dialaurel gives no Luck and Honey Onion gives no Mind.

After 4 levels, lets look at our Land Dragon after it took that diet:


Now, compare the Power stat of this pet at level 5:


So, after every level up, the pet gained this bonus and these penalties to the Power status, in this order:


The same thing as if it has not been fed at all.

Now, let's invert the order of the produce put in the feedbox:


After 4 levels with this other diet, let's check the stat growth:

Now, let's compare the Power status, at level 5, using all three diets:


After every level up, the pet gained this bonus and these penalties to the Power status, in this order:


Notice that the Power growth was reduced to 0 before the Dialaurel. It didn't became negative.

So, now you understand that the bonuses are given to the pet according to the order of the produce placed in the feedbox. Even a difference of 0.5 point can mean a lot in 99 levels.


Let's end this section with words from The_MythMaker in a post on Gamefaqs from 2009, called "Cabadillo + Dialaurel = 0 magic resist?".

The_MythMaker stated: "All stat increases are done on a 0-15 scale. For defenses, they are eights of a point. Meaning, you need to add up increases and decreases to get an 8 total from a stat gain to happen."

What Mythmaker means is that the minimum point that a stat can increase is 0.125. We saw in previous chapters that some monsters have a natural growth of just 0.125 and that the status' growth cap is 3.875 or 1.875.

All of these are multiples of eight as 1 divided by 8 is 0.125. Take 0.125 and multiply by 8 and you get 1.

The_MythMaker continued:

"The order in which stats increase is:

1. Leftover from previous level
2. Creature's natural stat gain
3. First produce item
4. Second produce item
5. Third produce item
6. Check to see if total is 8 or higher
6a. If yes, add 1 to stat and subtract 8 from running total of stat gain
6b. If no, remember current stat gain for next level."

These are just like the steps that we applied here in the Land Dragon case. While the wording that The_Mythmaker used can be a little confusing, we can simplify it using our 2x Honey Onion + Dialaurel Land Dragon, assuming that you forgot to feed it for a level and it had 0.5 leftover to gain in Power.


While this example would not have changed a thing in our current diet, remember this information. This outlines the sequence of your pet's stat changes, including both increases and decreases.

Be sure to remember the growth caps.

Many produce can manifest personalities in a pet to make it behave in a certain way.

In 2012, the Gamefaqs user Mewseeker found a post in a japanese forum, explaining the personalities. The original post has been taken down, but Mewseeker has been so kind to provide translation to the explanation given by the japanese community.

I will present the personalities effects based on the translation by Mewseeker. Parts in bold are my take on what a personality does:

No trait: Pet is inneficient and moves rather randomly.
► The actions of Advancing, Retreating and Stand By repeat themselves. Pets Attacks once in a while.
Author's Notes: Pet attacks, moves and retreats randomly. A pet without nature sucks.


Aggressive (AGR): Pet will concentrate on one opponent and attack it.
► If target is in short range - Attack probability = 25% up, Strong attack probability = 10% up.
► If target is in short range and pet is not attacking - Retreat probability = 25% down.
► If target is in middle range - Advance probability = 25% up.
Author's Notes: Pet will leave you to rush down the enemy, attacking with heavy attacks most of the time.


Arrogant (ARR): Pet rushes head first into battle.
► If target is in short range and pet is not attacking - Stand By probability = 10% up.
► If target is in middle range and the pet is advancing towards the target - Probability to advance in a straight line = 25% up.
Author's Notes: Pet will leave you to rush down the enemy, sometimes idling arrogantly in front of it.


Calm (CLM): Monster attacks strategically.
► If target is in short range and pet is not attacking - Retreat probability = 25% up.
► If target is in middle range - Attack probability = 33% up, Strong attack probability = 10% up.
► If target is in middle range and pet is not attacking - Advance probability = 25% down.
Author's Notes: Seems to have been removed from this version of game.

Friendly (FRI): Monster will follow you and help attacking the opponent.
► When the attack axis does not match with a middle or long range target - Probability of getting near the hero = 25% up.
Author's Notes: Pet will rush to your position extremely fast. Then, if an enemy is on sight, it will prioritize battling no matter what.


Indecisive (IND): Pet will not know exactly what to do.
► If target is in short range - Attack probability = 10% down.
► If target is in middle range - 50% chance to decide an attack method. (Needs testing)
Author's Notes: Seems to have been removed from this version of game.

Lazy (LAZ): Monster does almost nothing in battle.
► If target is in short range - Attack probability = 15% down.
► When advancing towards a target in middle range = Probability to take a pause due to lack of motivation = 25% up.
Author's Notes: This was the hardest nature to narrow down and make a definition. I would say Lazy is not a bad nature per se, it's just very reactive. Pet seems to respond while under pressure, spamming light attacks if hit by the enemy. It will try to stay at middle range to attack and will idle sometimes if enemy is far away, as it will not chase enemies agressively. I would say it could be a viable nature for middle range control pets like the Sky Dragon.


Lonely (LON): Pet will cling to the player in battle.
► When determining pet movement - 15% chance to only go near the hero.
Author's Notes: Pet will battle and try to follow you, prioritizing the latter. It may fail to follow you if you are too far away or if the enemy is between you. In these cases, it will try to battle.


Scheming (SCH): Monster will stay away from close range.
► If target is in short range - 50% chance to decide an attack method. (Needs testing)
Author's Notes: Pet moves back a lot, seems to attack strategically.


In the end, Mewseeker asked for someone to test if the information was correct.

It is finally tested, Mewseeker, and you can rest in peace. I bet people reading this guide will test it too.

But how can I make my pet gain a personality?
► If you want your pet to manifest a personality, you have to feed your pet with a produce that gives points to the personality you want.

Note that the personality is given to the pet in the moment that the produce is placed on the feedbox. So save, feed the pet, leave him, put to graze and check.

Let's try to give our Gray Ox the Aggressive personality. Save the game.

Now, let's feed him 3 Diceberries:


So, first we level it up and leave it:


Let it graze and go pet it:


Well, no personality this time. Lets reset. Load your save and place your diceberries in the feedbox again. Level and leave him. Graze. Pet:


So, it seems that the way that a personality is applied to a pet is a bit random. It may occur after just one feeding or after several.

So, if you want to give your pet a certain personality:
► Either try giving to it at level 98, in the last feeding;
► Be patient and reset the game if your diet includes a produce that gives a personality that you want;
► Be careful of unwanted personalities. Always check your produce to see if it grants your pet an unwanted personality. Reset if necessary.

So this is the fun but hard part. You need to formulate a diet for the pet that you would like to use. It's mostly up to you.

Do you have any method that could help me do that?
► Of course, let's do it with Pilson the Rabite.

Step 1: Raise the level of your pet to 9 to figure out his primary and secondary stats. Reset after.

Rabite:



Step 2: We need to raise all primary status to 99 and all secondary to the highest level possible.

But to raise secondary status, we use Cabbadillo (a produce that reduces Charm) and Bug Meat (a meat that reduces Power and Charm).
So, we have to max Charm and Power ASAP in order to start raising the pet's defenses.

Pilson level 1:



Step 2, Phase 1: Diet - 25 levels of Pear O' Heels/ Rocket Papaya/ Dialaurel.


We are maxing out Charm and giving a boost to Power and Magic Defense.
Be careful if you don't want the Arrogant personality, because this step may manifest it. Pet it each level if you don't want it.

As stated before, every level will grant us 3 points in Charm, except for levels 5, 9, 13, 17, 21 and 25, where the points will align perfectly to grant us 4 points in Charm, as stated in section 6.

Pilson level 26:



We went hard on all that Power and Charm. We will max Charm in the next two levels and finish maxing Power soon. Also, look at all that 20 Magic Defense! Courtesy of Dialaurel.

Step 2, Phase 2: Diet - 12 levels of Mangolephant/ Whalamato/ Gold Clover.


Charm is maxed, now we need to max out Power while we raise our Constitution. Gold Clover helps with Luck.
Watch out for the Aggressive/Arrogant trait that the Mangolephant can manifest. After a level, send the pet to Graze and pet it if you don't want any of those personalities.

Pilson level 38:



Step 2, Phase 3: Diet - 3 levels of Mangolephant/ Honey Onion/ Gold Clover.


In this phase we are still raising Luck while raising our Constitution to a stable level.

Pilson level 41:



Step 2, Phase 4: Diet - 2 levels of Bug Meat/ Honey Onion/ Gold Clover.


Now we dont need the +2 to Constitution from the Mangolephant and we can use some Bug Meat to raise our Magic Defense a little.
At level 43 we should have 71 Constitution, the magic number to hit 99 Constitution at level 99.

Pilson Level 43:



Step 2, Phase 5: Diet - 4 levels of Bug Meat/ Bug Meat/ Gold Clover.


We are hitting the magic number 73 for Luck, which will get us to 99 Luck by level 99. We're done. All other status will reach 99 way before the last level.

Pilson level 47:



Step 3: Time to raise our secondary defenses.

From now on we have a branching path. You can feed your pet 3 Cabadillos from here until level 99. You will have 99 in all primary stats and 65/ 58/ 58/ 30 points in secondary stats.

I will opt to make a more balanced build, general defenses will be lower overall but the pet will have more Magical Defense. I will finish the diet with this alternate defensive path.

Step 3, Phase 1: Diet - 17 levels of Cabadillo/ Cabadillo/ Cabadillo.


Pilson level 64:



Step 3, Phase 2: Diet - 28 levels of Cabadillo/ Bug Meat/ Bug Meat.


Pilson level 92:



Step 3, Phase 3: Diet - 7 levels of Cabadillo/ Cabadillo/ Anything.


You can use the last slot to remove a personality, add one, or both. Just remember that you can't use any produce that reduces Luck or Constitution.

Pilson level 99:

► The max a pet can grow in any stat per level is 3.875 for all general stats and 1.875 for all defense stats;
► The order in which you place the produce/meat on the feeding box is important. Needs to be in the same order of the diets formulated;
► If you want a pet to manifest a personality, use level 98. If you don't a certain personality, the safest method is to be patient and reset the game if your pet gets it;
► Use the Forbidden Ring to level up your pet;
► Follow the diet in Section 9 for a Rabite diet.

A big special thanks for Square Enix for remastering this awesome game.

Thanks to the community for discussing the mechanics of the game for years now, trying to figure stuff out.

Thanks to HonestLiar, DXie, KurasuSoratobu, The_MythMaker, Anjo00 and Mewseeker for guides and discussion on Gamefaqs.

To you, for reading my guide.

Please rate me 5 stars. That's really important to me.

All of the data provided was tested. Raising mechanics have not changed from previous game, except for the removal of two personalities.

After publishing the basic version of this guide, some people came to observe that there was a problem with the part where we mixed two Cabadillo and Bug Meat/Dialaurel.

The objective of that previous last part of the diet was to finish leveling up some stats while also raising all defenses. But in the process, many users found out that the Magic Defense stat was not going up at all. Also, many users found out that the maximum growth output of the defenses was not 1 as previously stated, but 1.875. The decimal part of the growth would be added up in the next level.

Was there a problem with the mechanics of the remaster? Was there a problem with the Bug Meat? How did decimals get added up when leveling a pet?

I had to figure these out. So, I tried 3 different diets to answer these questions. The selected pet was a Polter Box and it was fed with Bug Meat in different ways. Let's check it out.

Polter Box at Level 1:

Level 1:


Polter Box's natural stat growth:



Bug Meat's stats:



Diet 1: No Diet
I just leveled up the Polter Box for control reasons.

Level 5:


Diet 2: 1 Bug Meat
I fed the Polter Box with 1 Bug Meat for four levels. This was done to confirm that there was nothing wrong with the mechanics of the remaster.

Level 5:


Diet 3: Sequence of 1 Level of 2 Bug Meat and 1 Level of No Feeding:
I fed the Polter Box 2 Bug Meats, then fed it nothing and raised another level. Then, again, 2 Bug Meats and no feeding. This sequence would repeat itself.

This was to test the fraction theory: The Polter Box would gain 0.5 point in Magic Defense from it's natural stat growth and 1 point from the 2 Bug Meats. Total of 1.5 points. It's status would raise 1 point after a level, and 1 more point in the level that it was not fed, proving that the extra 0.5 point it gained with the last feeding was added to the pet's natural growth, providing another full stat point every two levels.

Level 5:


Conclusions:

Most, if not all of previous versions of pet diets available online are invalid. All use the same principle of feeding the pet Cabadillo/Cabadillo/Bug Meat or Dialaurel in the last parts, to raise defenses and Magic Defense.

This principle was pioneered by HonestLiar and his original guide in Gamefaqs. While we thank him for his original efforts, it was later proved incorrect by the community, as pointed out by The_MythMaker in 2011.

The problem with the "tried and true" Cabadillo/Cabadillo/Bug Meat combo is that it is simply mathematically incorrect and it took a while to be tested and proved wrong.

See, Cabadillo adds -1 to Magic Defense, while Bug Meat adds +0.5. Taking the Polterbox as an example, with it's 0.5 Magic Defense natural growth we would have:

Level n:
+0.5 Natural Growth = 0.5
- 0.5 from Cabadillo = 0
- 0.5 from Cabadillo = 0
+0.5 from Bug Meat = 0.5 (this will be added up next level)

Level n+1:
+0.5 from previous level = 0.5
+0.5 Natural Growth = 1
- 0.5 from Cabadillo = 0.5
- 0.5 from Cabadillo = 0
+0.5 from Bug Meat = 0.5 (this will be added up next level)

Conclusions:

Magic Defense will never be raised with the original HonestLiar's guide in Gamefaqs or any other in that site.

This one works.

► Pilson, Berserker Rabite
1 - See section 9.

Pilson at level 99:
Agressive, Arrogant



►Pharros, Attached Polter Box
1 - 25 levels of Orcaplant/Rocket Papaya/Applesocks
2 - 1 level of Orcaplant/Orcaplant/R. Papaya
3 - 47 levels of Cabbadillo/Cabbadillo/Gold Clover
4 - 25 levels of Cabbadillo/Cabbadillo/Anything

Use the last step to remove or add personalities. Your Dexterity hit 99 at level 81, so don't use produce that reduce that stat before that.

Pharros at level 99:
Friendly, Lonely



►Firemaw, Land Dragon Friend
1 - 26 levels of Dialaurel/Rocket Papaya/Gold Clover
2 - 21 levels of Cabbadillo/Cabbadillo/Gold Clover
3 - 51 levels of Cabbadillo/Bug Meat/Bug Meat

Firemaw at level 99:
Aggressive, Friendly



I think Aggressive and Friendly is good to keep pressure on enemies and synchro effect on. Use the last few levels if you want a different personality or didn't get this from the start.

►Choco, The Chocobo
Chocobo's natural growth:



1 - 31 levels of Dialaurel/Rocket Papaya/Gold Clover
2 - 2 levels of Dialaurel/Mangolephant/Gold Clover
3 - 1 level of Dialaurel/Pine O'Clock/Gold Clover
4 - 6 levels of Bug Meat/Pine O'Clock/Gold Clover
5 - 2 levels of Cabbadillo/Pine O'Clock/Gold Clover
6 - 1 level of Cabbadillo/Cabbadillo/Pine O'Clock
7 - 55 levels of Cabbadillo/Bug Meat/Bug Meat

Choco at level 99:



►Excalibur, The Danslaif
Danslaif's natural growth:



1 - 24 levels of Dialaurel/Rocket Papaya/Gold Clover
2 - 14 levels of Rocket Papaya/Pine O'Clock/Gold Clover
3 - 1 level of Pear O'Heels/Pine O'Clock/Gold Clover
4 - 1 level of Pear O'Heels/Mangolephant/Pine O'Clock
5 - 18 levels of Cabbadillo/Cabbadillo/Cherry Bombs
6 - 40 levels of Cabbadillo/Cabbadillo/Anything

Excalibur at level 99:



►Chitto, The Best Bowman Around
Chobin Hood's natural growth:



1 - 25 levels of Pine O'Clock/Rocket Papaya/Gold Clover
2 - 10 levels of Pine O'Clock/Rocket Papaya/Dialaurel
3 - 9 levels of Pine O'Clock/Dialaurel/Cabbadillo
4 - 4 levels of Cabbadillo/Cabbadillo/Masked Potato
5 - 50 levels of Cabbadillo/Bug Meat/Bug Meat

Chitto at level 99:
Scheming



You can use the last levels to remove some personalities to add Scheming.